Freyne Land

It's been a strange year campaign-wise in Vermont thanks to GOP megabucks U.S. Senate candidate Rich Tarrant. The Rookie Republican's endless stream of nasty, sour, half-truth attack ads have guaranteed Bernie Sanders' upcomingNovember 7 landslide victory in the race for U.S. Sen. Jeezum JimJeffords' seat.  They've also pissed off more Vermonters of everypolitical stripe than any previous political ad campaign in Vermonthistory.

Congratulations, Richie Rich!  You are certainly a household name inVermont these days! Amazing what you can buy for a measely $5 million,eh?

But everyone we know was startled Wednesday when incumbent Republican Jim Douglassuddenly went into Tarrant-style, negative-attack-mode with a 30-secondTV spot trashing Democratic challenger Scudder Parker and a 60-secondversion doing likewise on the radio dial. Hey, I thought Ol' Scudderwas a long-shot?

Here's the radio script:

Some people make a name for themselves, andthey call Scudder Parker "Mr. Property Tax." Why?  Because ScudderParker has backed higher property taxes – even taxes like Act 60, theproperty tax that turned Vermont families against each other, and drovefamilies and jobs out of state.  Now Vermont taxpayers have somethingelse to worry about – now Mr. Property tax wants to be governor! 

Andhe's working on making a few new names for himself – how about Mr.Income Tax?  Mr. Payroll Tax?  He just told Vermont Public Radio hewants just that – higher payroll and income taxes.  He said under hisplan "everybody pays."  And even with prices at the pump over threedollars, he's ready to raise gas taxes.  Mr. Property Tax. Mr. IncomeTax. Mr. Payroll Tax. Mr. Gas Tax.  There's just one name Vermontersshouldn't call Scudder Parker – and that is governor.

Paid for by Douglas for Governor.

Candidate Parker had  a Thursday morning presser in the Cedar Creek Room at the Statehouse. His running mate, Lite-Gov hopeful Matt Dunne was at his side. After both saying very nice things about John Patrick Tracy who lost to Dunne, the Man Who Would Be Governor tore into the current one:

"Ihave to say that I am shocked to say that a sitting governor would beso tone deaf to the kind of campaign that Vermonters want theircandidates to wage," said Parker.  "Especially given the outrage that Vermontersare expressing at the the campaign being waged by Rich Tarrant. Hisbarrage of negative ads against Bernie Sanders is something that isturning Vermonters off and the same will happen with the ads Mr.Douglas has started to run.," said Scudder.

"Youknow what?" asked the Democrat. "This isn’t about me. This is about howwe conduct ourselves as candidates. And this attack ad represents thevery worst in politics and it has no place in  a campaign forgovernor....I call on Gov. Douglas to pull this add and pull hiscampaign back out of the gutter."

Fat chance!

So we called Dennise Casey, Douglas' campaign manager, and asked if she will honor Parker's request and pull the offensive Tarrant-style attack ad?

"No,"replied Ms. Casey, who has played a much more behind-the-scenes rolewith the Douglas, VT GOP Team until recently.  "We’ll continue withthis ad as planned with absentee voting occurring in just three weeks,"she told us. "We believe that Vermonters need to know that ScudderParker wants to raise their taxes."

At the moment,  Vermont Democrats and Progressives (and a quite afew Republicans we know) are startled by Gov. Douglas's negative attackstrategy. These Douglas ads will surely raise Parker's name-recognitionquickly, eh?  And they just might remind people that our nice-guygovernor is actually a Republican, just like Richie Rich Tarrant andjust like George W. Bush and his despised V.P. - Dick Cheney.

Is Jim Douglas sure he wants to remind people of that fact?

*Update* at 3:20 P.M. Re: "Capitol Domes"

No surprises, eh?

In fact, the latest news the morning after is that the NRCC has started running a TV spot for Marvelous Martha Rainville. This inaugural one is positive and just about Martha. That will no doubt change.

Our Freyne Land Interview this Wednesday morning was with Congressman Bernie Sanders' campaign manager Jeff Weaver. Weaver, a St. Albans, Vermont native, is a former Marine and Georgetown Law School grad. Mr. Weaver, a 41-year-old father of three, first hooked up with Ol' Bernardo on the 1986 governor's race. Then he was with him in the 1988 U.S. House race, both of which he lost. Sanders, the ex-Burlington mayor, first won his House seat in 1990 and has never looked back.

Q. Bernie did pretty well, eh?

A. We did very well. Obviously Bernie appreciates the strong showing he got from rank-and-file Democrats across the state and now that we’re in the General Election we hope that our opponent Rich Tarrant will stop the mudslinging, will stop the despicable negative advertising and we’d like to get onto a discussion of the real issues facing the people of Vermont.

Q. Top 2 Issues?

A. The top issue is the decline of the middle class in America. People working longer hours for longer wages, having a hard time affording health care, college education, you know, the bread-and-butter economic issues that Vermonters are facing.

And I think the other big issue is the war, which Bernie and the whole Vermont delegation opposed from the beginning and we need a new strategy to bring the American troops home.

Q. Isn't this November 7 election really about whether or not the GOP will hold absolute control in Washington for two more years?

A. Look, it’s no secret that Americans and Vermonters in particular are tired of radical right-wing, one-party rule in Washington. We think it’s time to break up their monopoly on power so we can have some real accountability in Washington.

Q. What are your duties today?

A. Today I’ll be delivering Bernie’s petitions down to the secretary of state’s office to put him on the ballot in the General Election as an Independent and to respectfully decline the very generous Democratic nomination that Bernie won yesterday.

Q. What was the final vote total there?

A. It was a five-way primary and at this point it looks like Bernie got 94 percent of the vote.  We’re very pleased with that and we really do appreciate the strong showing Vermont Democrats put forward for Bernie yesterday. We look forward to the General Election where we’ll build a coalition of Democrats, Independents and many ran-an-file Republicans who are tired of George Bush/ Dick Cheney rule.

Q. And the reason Bernie will decline the Democratic nomination he just won with 94 percent of the vote is because why?

A. Bernie is an Independent, he has always been an Independent, and the Democrats put him on their primary ballot as a way to ratify the unanimous endorsement that Bernie received from the Democratic State Committee earlier this spring. That decision has been soundly ratified by the rank-and-file Democrats across this state. But Bernie is an Independent and will be running as an Independent on the ballot in November.

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Monday Afternoon Update: Thanks to ED in Lebannon, New Hampshire for alerting us to this one! It's about hair...on heads.

It comes from "Capitol Domes," an "insightful" article in something we've never seen before called Radar Magazine. Do check it out.

The character to Bernie's left , Rep. Cynthia McKinney of Georgia, recently lost her seat in an August primary. The character to his right, former Rep. James Traficant of Ohio, is in federal prison. Gave some snappy speeches, did he!

Interesting company...hairwise.

*Updated Below at 9:20 PM*

So, I wrote the column for the Seven Days print edition and voted. Ward 5 in Burlington. Lot's of sunshine and a healthy turnout at 4 PM on bustling Pine Street.

That's Democratic State Rep. Bill Keogh on the right. He's in a three-way for the two seats available. Incumbent Democrat Joey Leddy Donovan (not pictured) holds the other seat . (Her son T.J.'s running for State's Attorney.)  Also running, just to make it interesting, is Elisa Nelson (not pictured). One guy v. two gals. Interesting. It is the district of former Governors Madeleine Kunin and Howard Dean. Keogh, by the way, says people think he's me when he's riding his bike.  What, they scream and throw things?

Tonight our duty is to get the city hall numbers for the Associated Press. The last few times the system's worked quite smoothly. Fingers crossed.

The big one's are Tracy v. Dunne in the Lite-Gov contest and the three-way State's Attorney shootout: T.J. Donovan v. Ted Kenney v. Rob Backus. Young T.J. seems like the only one with higher office in mind.

Let's see, when the last time a Chittenden County State's Attorney went anywhere?

Later, gang.

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*UPDATE*  9:20 PM - Burlington "Unofficial" Results from City Hall

Democrat U.S. Senate Primary:

Bernie Sanders 3213*
Louis Thabault   125
Craig Hill             32
Peter D. Moss      22
Larry Drown         21

Democrat Lt. Governor Primary:
John Tracy   2251*
Matt Dunne 1041

Democrat State's Attorney Primary:
T.,J. Donovan 1634*
Rob Backus    1167
Ted Kenney       521

Republican U.S. Senate Primary:
Rich Tarrant  1002*
Greg Parke     383
Cris Erickson   58

Republican U.S. House Primary:
Martha Rainville  1117*
Mark Shepard       379

Democrat State Rep Two Seats (Ward 5):
Johanna L. Donovan  858*
Bill Keogh                  613*
Elisa Nelson              391

Assuming he will accept the fact that he needs a fresh, steep learning curve, Republican gazillionaire and rookie U.S. Senate Candidate Rich Tarrant would have benefited from tuning in The Mark Johnson Show this morning on WDEV. Mark was firing the questions at Middlebury College political  "scientist" Eric Davis and Ol' Eric was giving some very straightforward answers.

Davis, like everyone else with a TV, radio or mailbox, has been getting barraged for the last six weeks with the most negative political media campaign we've ever seen in the Green Mountains. There are indications - based on Bernie Sanders' tracking polls - that the intense Tarrant negativity has only soured stomachs, including GOP tummies, and made Bernie's already majority support not only larger but firmer and more appreciative.

Davis said the man who sold IDX Medical Software to General Electric last year for $1.2 billion, needs to completely relaunch his campaign!

Richie's rookie mistake, said Davis, was hiring the high-priced, out-of-state consultants. Professor Politics said in so many words that Tarrant's only hope is to stop the negative, crotch-level, best-that-money-can-buy campaign strategy and immediately fire his campaign manager. He would replace Tim Lennon with Kate O'Connor - yes, that Kate O'Connor, who's quietly been with the Tarrant Campaign for a couple months. Mr. Tarrant needs to tell us about who he is and look the camera in the eye while doing it, said Davis.

Not that a new beginning at this late date would get him elected, suggested the Professor. Hey, nothing could get Richie Rich elected at this point. And he's already dropped $5.2 million of his own personal stash!!!

Unfuckingbelievable!

It's personal respectability and no more double-talk that count now. And it's the potential negative impact that Tarrant the Tyrant will have on fellow Republicans with last names like Douglas, Dubie, Rainville and Brock that counts, too.

Live in the present.

I caught this little artistic gem while pedaling through the Five Sisters neighborhood on Burlington's southend. You know, the neighborhood with the famous neighborhood e-mail forum?

Not a lot of Republicans in that lovely old neighborhood.

Lot of Bernie signs and Welch signs. And this colorful bumpersticker that does cause a chuckle or two. Very colorful, too.

As for 9/11, I've done my best to keep busy - a Statehouse presser on the International Paper tire burn - and other duties. The utter horror of that day isn't far. Nor is the utter horror that has since been carried out in its name. In fact, the Bush-Cheney administration's deceptive, deceitful and "successful" response marks one of America's darkest periods.

I had a column to write on September 11, 2001. And I wrote it. Here's the ending:

2:33 p.m. New York Gov. George Pataki and New York Mayor Rudi Giuliani face the media. It was “an attack on freedom and our way of life,” says Pataki.

“One of the most heinous acts in world history,” adds Giuliani.

They look composed and call for calm. They assure everyone that New Yorkers would pull together and meet this challenge. The subways, notes Mayor Rudi, are still working. It’s good news on the baddest news day in memory.

2:53 p.m. On CBS, Dan Rather gives a Texas pep talk for George W. Bush.

“He’s the commander in chief. He’s in charge,” says Dan, with an air of Longhorn patriotism. Rather defends Dubya from crticism of the lengthening Pres-idential absence. Unfortunately, Dan doesn’t know where the President is, either.

2:58 p.m. Locally, ABC 22 breaks in with anchorman Eric Greene announcing most of University Mall is about to close. A prayer service is planned at the Unitarian Church at the top of Church Street for 7 p.m. Gov. Dean, he says, told reporter Keith Baldi, “It’s war!”

3:00 p.m. ABC reports the President has landed at an Air Force base in Nebraska. He’s on the run in his own country? But the President is not a running back, he’s our quarterback. Does anyone know where Bill Clinton is right now?

3:03 p.m. Ch. 5 breaks in with twin anchors Stephanie Gorin and Thom Hallock. They show a tape of Ho-Ho making “Pearl Harbor” references. Gov. Dean calls for blood donations and asks people to get off the telephones.

3:18 p.m. Still no information on the plane that went down in Pennsylvania. “This is a dark day in this country,” says Brokaw. Prominent people went down on the hijacked planes, he says, but no names have as yet been officially released. Bush, it’s announced, will have a teleconference with the National Security Council this afternoon.

That’s nice.

3:45 p.m. The president’s spokeswoman, Karen Hughes, is on camera announcing Bush is in Omaha. ”No one should doubt our country’s resolve,” she says before departing quickly without taking questions.

Following Hughes’ statement, Jennings accurately and politely remarks, “There’s not a whole lot of news in there.”

4:30 p.m. Deadline time for Seven Days. Still no Bush sightings. To say we’re not concerned is an understatement.

Weeks of funerals lie ahead. Stories of heart-warming human heroism will emerge. Calls for revenge will ring louder and louder. More blood will flow.

What can we learn from this?

I'm all ears.....

Meanwhile, let somebody you care about know you care about 'em.

Today.

Take a longer lunch today. It’s going to be a beauty according to Roger Hill who was just chatting it up with Dana Jewel on WDEV (550 AM - 96.1 FM). And Mr. Hill predicted “80 to 85” on the roof of the Waterbury radio station!

You know the last time it hit 80 degrees on the roof of WDEV?

Get it while you can, folks. Call that special someone. Take the afternoon off! It hasn’t hit 80 in Waterbury since August 14.

Full disclosure: I’m a news stringer for ‘DEV. Paid per story like news was pork bellies. Started in 1981. Why?

WDEV News Director (in radio the title usually means news department) Nedene Martin was in the market for Burlington coverage. And Ken Squire, WDEV’s distinguished president and host of “Music to Go to the Dump By,” was willing to pay five bucks a story!

Why?

Because a wild, screaming left-winger with a Brooklyn accent and no plan had just been elected mayor of Burlington, Vermont by 10 votes in a three-way race.

Get me central casting. One radio reporter, please! 

The Burlington winner was Bernard Sanders and it's fair to say, the town hasn't been the same since. Bernie received 40.1 percent of the popular vote, just above the required 40 percent. If today’s Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) system had been in play, Bernie would never have won. Surely the vast majority of Dicky Bove’s 1500 third place votes would have gone to Mayor Gordie Paquette on the second round.

Gordie, by the way, had been so confident of an easy victory and so dismissive of Bernie and Bove that he didn’t even mount a campaign effort of any kind. Heck, Paquette was the successful Blue Collar Democrat from the Old North End who had led the effort to get federal buckaroos to turn Church Street into the pedestrian shopping mall you see today - it wasn’t Bernie’s doing. But talk about good timing, eh?

Change was in the air in dusty old Burlap in more ways than one in the early 1980s. Hey, I know a guy who started selling Teddy Bears off a street cart. Who’d a thunk John Sortino was founding a trademark, eh?

Bet you didn’t know the official City of Burlington record book that holds the March 1981 vote total and others from that era is missing! Disappeared when the city’s records were moved out of the city clerk’s vault during remodeling a couple years ago.

Ah, a memory lane Friday morning! May be a few more memories when we catch former Georgia U.S. Sen. Max Cleland appearing at the VFW with the guy who won the mayor’s race 25 years ago. A U.S. Senate campaign event. The Los Angeles Times is sending a reporter up from its Boston bureau to check out the Vermont political scene November-wise.

And on the subject of professional double-talk, did you catch John McClaughry’s snide editorial comment on ‘DEV this morning mocking Sanders, along with Patrick Leahy and Peter Welch, for holding that "raise-the -minimum-wage" press conference in a Burlington delicatessen "owned by a Democratic state rep who voted against raising the minimum wage?"

Hey, Freyne Land bloggers, that one was covered right here. And the alleged “owner” of the Radio Deli, Rep. Jim Condon of Colchester, posted this comment on September 1:

"I just wanted to respond to an earlier post about the news conference at the Radio Deli. I do not own the Radio Deli, I am a manager. I supported the 2005 Vermont Senate Bill raising the minimum wage to 7.25, but I opposed the House version because I believe the Legislature should have the flexibility to raise the minimum wage at a higher or lower rate than proscribed by the COLA that was adopted as a house amendment. I also fully support a federal minimum wage increase to the level we are currently at here in Vermont (7.25)."

"If this is the best Mr. Barnett can do (antagonizing a blue dog), then perhaps 7.25 an hour would, in his case, be a bit over-generous.
His "Gotcha" Gun is firing blanks!"

Interesting, eh?

Moonlight in Vermont tonight. And the moon is in compassionate Pisces. Thought you’d want to know.

Good morning. It's 7:15 and the Freeps hasn’t posted its online stories for today, so I checked the “Corrections” still posted from yesterday's edition.

Poor Mark Shepard.

When it’s not going your way, it’s not going your way. The Sunday Freeps carried Terri Hallenbeck’s excellent feature profile on the two talented Republicans running for the U.S. House. Generalissima Martha Rainville and Bennington County State Sen. Mark Shepard. Very different campaign operations. The Rainville part was about all her staffers. The Shepard part was about the wife and the kids campaigning in the old RV.

By the way, Mark Shepard isn’t going to win Tuesday’s primary. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t one of the most decent, intelligent, interesting and caring individuals you will ever meet in politics.

Apparently the Freeps provided the wrong website address for Shepard on Sunday, since they ran this yesterday:

CANDIDATE WEB SITE
Republican congressional hopeful Mark Shepard's web site is www.markshepard.com. The address was incorrect on Page 4A of Sunday's Free Press.

So since the local Gannett chain paper is late posting today’s edition, I had the opportunity to notice it and time to click it. Go ahead, you, too!

What the____?. That sure doesn’t look like the Mark Shepard I know who's running for Congress in Vermont. This one's a hypnotherapist, “Courage Coach” and performance artist in New Haven Connecticut.

A new career for Sen. Shepard?

The funny thing is, The Burlington Free Press didn’t really have to run the Wednesday inaccurate "correction" in the first place.

That because the address provided loyal readers in the Sunday story was www.markshepard.us.

Go ahead, try it. You’ll see what I mean.

Sometimes absolute perfection need not be the end result.

On today’s playlist:  Marvelous Martha doing a 10 o’clock presser at her HQ. And Scudder's booked for a 1 o'clock at the DEMOCRACY “statue” downtown. Let's see if he gets TV cameras to capture his planned "visual,"  eh?  And, yes, we’re hoping for sunshine. Improves the bicycling.

Just heard it -  the first aerial quaking of the season by flocking ducks getting ready to head south.

And earlier there was lots of political quacking on WVMT’s “Charlie & Ernie Show” with a 7-8 A.M.  in-studio, head-to-head, bill-to-bill debate between Mad Dog Jim Barnett (GOP) and Bill Lofy (Democrat).

Four years ago,  Barnett was the fiery young opposition researcher and attack dog serving on State Treasurer and gubernatorial candidate Jim Douglas’ talented campaign team. (Neale Lunderville was the campaign manager.)

Fast forward to the present. Mad Dog is the salaried chairman of the Vermont Republican Party. Mr. Barnett turned 30 a couple weeks ago. Happy birthday, James!

Mr. Lunderville, the Boy Wonder, worked on the governor’s Fifth Floor staff until this spring. He briefly took a job with Pfizer Pharmaceuticals out of Boston (yes, the Viagra manufacturer). But Sec. Dawn Terrill's sudden departure over at AOT quickly brought the Boy Wonder home to Vermont to fill  the important hole. Lunderville is our state’s current Secretary of Transportation at 32. ( Hey, you can drive at 16, right?)

OK. Who is Bill Lofy?

Whoever he is, that’s the best performance I’ve caught by a Democrat in a radio cockfight with Mad Dog Barnett....ever!

So, who the hell is Bill Lofy?

Well, Bill was a friend and confidante of  U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota. He worked on Wellstone’s staff for six years. Wellstone died in a plane crash on October 25, 2002 along with his wife, one child, two pilots and three campaign staffers.

In 2003, Bill went to work for as communications director for Wellstone Action. Lofy wrote and in 2005 published Paul Wellstone: The Life of a Passionate Progressive. But guess what?

Vermont is where he’s always wanted to live. His wife went to UVM. (Besides, I spent three winters in Minnesota in the early 1970s - it’s too damn flat!)

Bill popped up on the Vermont political scene last January as a part-time communications consultant for House Speaker Gaye Symington. Gaye was frustrated her message wasn’t getting out. So she organized a political action committee, raised the bucks and hired Lofy!

Today he’s running the coordinated campaign for the Vermont Democratic Party. Bright guy and it showed against Mad Dog in Mr. Lofy’s inaugural appearance on “Charlie & Ernie” this morning.

Hey, who in the Vermont press has paid heed sooner and shown more respect for Young Barnett’s talent than yours truly? A master at opposition research and a brutal debater - no one changes subjects faster when cornered - Mad Dog is one key reason the party of Bush-Cheney holds three top jobs in DNC Chairman Howard Dean’s home state: governor, lieutenant governor and state auditor. Does Karl Rove somehow not know this?

Meanwhile, the rest of America thinks of Vermont as the most left-wing, anti-Republican state in the nation.

Interesting.

We look forward to the Barnett v. Lofy rematch!

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*Update*

Lunchtime, Wednesday ! And I just updated the Tuesday Rummy item below.

St. Patrick's remarks on the U.S. Senate floor last night are worth a little read.

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**Update**

After reading today's “Inside Track” item on the Democratic Lite-Gov Primary, State Rep. Harry Monti of Barre just called to point out the fact his name is posted as a supporter on both Matt Dunne and John Patrick Tracy’s websites!

“I don’t know why [Dunne] has my name down,” said Rep. Monti. Harry made it perfectlty clear over the phone he supports Tracy, not Dunne, in the Democratic Primary.

On Dunne’s website, we found 40 Democratic House members listed as supporters.

On Tracy’s website, we counted 35. Hadn’t noticed the duplicates. Bummer.

Also posted as supporters on both Tracy and Dunne’s campaigns are the names of State Rep. Kathie Keenan, State Rep. Richard Howrigan, State Rep. Alice Nitka, State Rep. Linda Martin, State Rep. Helen Head, State Rep. Tim Jerman, State Rep. Al Perry and State Rep. Ken Atkins.

Interesting.

Tuesday is "Inside Track" writing day for the print side of Seven Days, so we did not attend Democrat Congressional hopeful Peter Welch's presser on Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Welch said in his press release:

“Secretary Rumsfeld first misled us to war, then failedto execute that war effectively, and now has gone out of bounds in our democraticsociety by challenging the patriotism of citizens who question his failures. He must go.”

No surprise there. Welchie's been saying it since last December.

But what is a surprise is that two prominent Republican candidates have gone public with their calls for Rummy to go ober the weekend. The Associated Press reports out of Trenton, New Jersey that "New Jersey Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tom Kean Jr. called for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld yesterday, days after a new poll showed the Iraq war was hampering his U.S. Senate bid."

In Ohio, The Columbus Dispatch reports that Republican U.S. House Rep. Pat Tiberi has also gone public with a call for Rummy to resign.

"I can’t defend how the president laid out the need for (going to war in Iraq). I don’t support Rumsfeld," Tiberi said.

A trickle that will become a waterfall?

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*UPDATE*

(Wednesday September 6 at noon.)

Last night, Vermont's senior senator, Patrick J. Leahy, had a few points to make on the Senate floor and, would you believe, Rummy's name came up:

"Secretary Rumsfeld and Vice President Cheney struck the absolute wrong note when they recently labeled as "appeasers'' the majority of Americans who recognize the disastrous war in Iraq as distracting them from winning the war on terror. Basically, they are saying anyone who questions their mistakes or points out their mistakes is nearly treasonous. My God, we have not heard talk like that since the days of King George. And that led to the revolution that made us a country!

"Again, this week, the Democratic leadership reached out to the President on this important issue. Rather than name-calling and seeking to divide Americans, rather than fostering fear and seeking to scare Americans into staying the disastrous course on which the Government remains headed, I urge Republican leaders to join to fight a smarter war on terror so we can make America safer....

"During this past month, I have gone all over the State of Vermont.  I have talked to people. I have attended funerals of brave soldiers killed in Iraq from Vermont. Vermont has lost more soldiers per capita than any other State in the country. And it is interesting, in a small State such as ours, as to the people you see at these funerals, everybody knows everybody else. I walk out and I see people whom I went to grade school with or people who knew my parents or I knew them or their families. We are there, and the other Members of the congressional delegation, the Governor, and nobody goes by a title. Our adjutant general is usually referred to as Mike. I am called Pat. There is Jim and Bernie and so on.

"We're a very proud State. We're a very patriotic State. We're a very honest State. We're the 14th State in the Nation, and we have answered the call. People wonder if maybe the call has been distorted this time. They wonder what this war does for our security. As I said earlier, I believe it has made us less secure as a nation, not more secure. They wonder where the failures were in Government that allowed 9/11 to happen in the first place. And, of course, as more information has come out, it could have been avoided, should have been avoided, should have been avoided. And they wonder if the lessons have been learned about that.

".....and I heard this from Republicans and Democrats alike in my State--when the Secretary of Defense and others in the administration say if you raise questions, if you point out their mistakes, somehow you are aiding the enemy, however defined, that you are not being patriotic. I am reminded to paraphrase Mark Twain. He said: Love your country. Question your Government.

"A lot of people in my State--Republicans and Democrats--say there is a great deal to question today.

"I hope they will continue to do so. I hope they will never fail to do so. I hope that those people who have the audacity in America -- the freest democracy on Earth -- that those leaders in our Government who have the audacity to question the patriotism of Americans who question their mistakes will themselves be quiet and leave--leave the stage!!!"

Thank you, Sen. Leahy, for sharing!

If you like chilly, damp, dark, dreary Vermont mornings, this one's for you! The west coast of New England will be cloudy but rain-free according to the National Weather Service:  A slight chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 69. West wind between 6 and 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Two big items on the agenda - three, actually -  and lots of politician-sightings in the forecast. Burlington's Old North End Labor Day March this morning (10:30) and noon rally at Battery Party. Sources say even Republican politicians will be in attendance!

Then at 3 p.m. - same location - a new band of tree-huggers will be wrapping up their five-day walk from Ripton. They've called themselves "Vermonters Walking Toward a Clean Energy Future." More here. And the group's key organizer and promoter, Bill McKibben, is someone intimately familiar with the subject matter at hand.

As you know,  McKibben is the polite gentleman and the intelligent, visionary and courageous  writer whose 1989 best-seller "The End of Nature" allegedly opened eyes to Global Warming. McKibben became an award-winning writer and a much sought after after-dinner speaker at the best conferences and conventions coast-to-coast. Everyone smiled, applauded, bought the book and went on with their lives as they had been living them.

So fast-forward 17 years. Ol’ Bill lives in Ripton, Vermont. Has some gig going at Middlebury College. And today in 2006, the center of the planet's global-warming blind spot if Washington, D.C. And he’s reached what I’d call the  “I’ve Got To Do SOMETHING Besides Write Fricken’ Books And Give Friggin’ Speeches” Phase of his life.

About fecking time, eh?

After all, Texan Joe Barton, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the committee that controls energy issues and items, thinks “Global Warming” is total BS.

As he said when the Bush administration took office (looking back, was that a dark day or what?),  "As long as I am chairman, (regulating global warming pollution) is off the table indefinitely. I don't want there to be and uncertainty about that.”

No, sir!

After all, he's on the same page as the White House...when it comes to uncertainty.

Check back for a late afternoon update. And all the while, the third big Burlington, Vermont event of the day will be underway on the streets of downtown - bike racing! It's the 2006 Green Mountain Stage Race and today is the Louis Gameau Burlington Criterion.

One day a year - downtown streets without cars and trucks. What a sight!

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****UPDATE*** 7 p.m.

The Labor Rally attracted all the usual suspects. In fact, only the usual suspects. Bernie gave the expected pro-worker stemwinder. After all, Eugene Debs is his hero, was on the wall of his Burlington Mayor's office in the 1980s. Ah, memory lane!

Even with free food, the Labor Rally crowd was only around 250. Democratic pols for everything from governor to state rep and Chittenden County state's attorney. On Ch. 3 News Brian Joyce even managed to work the "usual suspects" angle into his report.

Come back two hours later and it's a whole new crowd, a much bigger crowd, and a stream of Bill McKibben's global-warming walkers stretching for blocks and blocks up Pearl Street towards the post office. Big crowd -  estimate based on me and Jeezum Jim Jefffords' rep splitting it in half and counting  = 1000 plus) Also, in addition to the usual suspects, Republican candidates attended and spoke at this one.

An unscientific survey in the back of the crowd indicated there was a high expectation Tarrant would attract some heckling. After all, everyone's seen those TV commercials he's been showing down Vermont's throat, right?

While waiting his turn, Richie, stood off to the side with Tim Lennon his campaign manager. We did not see him approach voters one-on-one. Strange. Though not mixing with the crowd,  Tarrant deflected their potential hostility by quickly signing the big Global Warming Pledge and then telling the attentive crowd he realizes "the Bush administration is taking the country in the wrong direction."

I got my copy of the pledge in a nice folder handed out by Marijke Unger, a "media officer" for  Greenpeace-sponsored projecthotseat.org.  Marijke flew in from Greenpeace in Denver, she said. She's a Middlebury College grad. Damn, they're everywhere!

The punch line on the Big Pledge is: "I will work to promote global warming solutions, such as a national renewable energy standard of 20 percent by 2020 and an increase in mileage standards to 40 miles per gallon."

Republican U.S. House candidate Martha Rainville also signed the Global Warming Pledge and spoke. A different kind of crowd for the Generalissima. Candidate Rainville  made note of the fact she didn't see many Republican candidate signs or stickers in the crowd. "If this is going to work," said Martha, "we have to find ways to bring people together."

Good point. In fact, she didn't see Vermont's current Republican governor or Republican lieutenant governor in that crowd.

Ol' Bill McKibben brought 1000-plus people together today for a reason and they're not going to forget it.

Gutsy performances by the two Rs who did show.

Well, it sure would have been an interesting story to cover - District Court Judge Ed Cashman's appearance at the Statehouse this coming winter to seek reappointment to another six-year term on the Vermont bench. But it ain't gonna happen. Cash will retire after his next cycle on the bench - this time up in Newport. The A.P.'s Dave Gram reports in Saturday's Vermont press.

Ol' Cash gave us the first big story of the year with a controversial sex-offender sentencing back on January 4 at the Judge Edward Costello Courthouse across from what's now Macy's in downtown Burlington. Because of that sentencing, yours truly ended up watching right-wing forked-tongue Bill O'Reilly on Fox for three whole weeks that month! Yuck! And we heard a lot of familiar names. We called it "Fox News Declares War on Vermont." You remember, right?

And here's a Cashman profile by Chris Graff (requires Boston Globe registration.)

****Update**** But all were topped by the Jan. 20 op-ed article that Republican state senator, Essex County prosecutor, St, Mike's grad and former Freeps reporter (in the 1970s) Vince Illuzzi penned for the Boston Globe:

A Rush to Judge the Judge

By Vincent Illuzzi

THE LAST TWO weeks have seen a frenzy of publicity, both in Vermont and across America, over the sentence handed down by Vermont District Court Judge Edward Cashman in the case of State v. Hulett.

Unfortunately, much of that national outcry has been based on the grossly inaccurate report of a remark the judge never actually made.

Mark Twain, a one-time reporter, said, ''A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes." If you wanted an example of the truth of that saying, this case is it.

And that's why we need to avoid a rush to judgment of Judge Cashman.

Television reporter Brian Joyce of Burlington's WCAX began the national roller coaster coverage on Jan. 4 with this inaccurate and highly inflammatory lead, according to the WCAX website:
''There was outrage Wednesday when a Vermont judge handed out a 60-day jail sentence to a man who raped a little girl many, many times over a four-year span starting when she was 7. The judge said he no longer believes in punishment and is more concerned about rehabilitation."

That was the lie that made it halfway round the world. The truth was quite different.

Cashman never said he did not believe in punishment. What he did say, which Joyce never quoted in that first story, was the following, according to the court transcript:
''And I keep telling prosecutors, and they won't hear me, that punishment is not enough."

Cashman used the example of Ed Towne, a graduate of the sex-offender treatment program who later murdered a 15-year-old girl. The judge wanted to be as sure as possible that defendant Mark Hulett did not reoffend. The sentence was structured -- based on available options -- to ensure treatment sooner rather than later, and to ensure long-term supervision.

But soon, across America, there were headlines about a Vermont judge who didn't believe in punishment and who felt that 60 days in jail was enough of a sentence for a child rapist.

The national news media had no idea what Cashman actually said or did, and no idea what options the Department of Corrections told him were available at the time of sentencing. They relied on the WCAX report.

Self-proclaimed victim advocates began to call for a boycott of Vermont if we did not get rid of this judge.

Some of my colleagues were only too happy to grab some national press, repeating the WCAX story, calling the judge names, and demanding his resignation. These ''probusiness" legislators readily spread the misinformation that has led to national radio and television commentators calling for people to shun the Green Mountain State.

I respect the importance of punishment, not only for public safety or rehabilitation, but for the value of punishment itself. Justice demands that when someone does a very bad thing, something very bad ought to happen to that person as a consequence. But punishment alone is not enough.

The inadequately punitive aspect of the sentence has been widely reported, but the role played by the Department of Corrections in the formulation and execution of that sentence has been largely ignored. I guess it's easy to criticize an individual instead of a faceless department. One policy would not offer treatment for this offender while incarcerated, while another policy would release him after serving just 60 days of his 60-day to 10-year sentence, followed by treatment.

Did the judge properly balance the statutory objectives of sentencing -- punishment, rehabilitation, incapacitation, and restitution? The reconsideration motion filed by the state last week will give the court a chance to revisit that question. The case isn't over yet.

In the meantime, I would urge all reporters, before they write another story about this case, and all legislators, before they take any action relating to this case, to read the Jan. 4 hearing transcript.

In its words lie the facts of the matter -- not in the sadly inaccurate reporting that has helped to make this case a national sensation and create a lynch-mob mentality.
Vincent Illuzzi is a Republican state senator in Vermont. 

Finally, (for now,) here's Ol' Cash's retirement letter to Chief Justice Paul Reiber:                                                                                     

                                                                                        August 30, 2006                   
Chief Justice Paul L. Reiber                   
Vermont Supreme Court   
111 State Street Drawer 9
Montpelier, Vermont 05609
                        
Dear Chief Justice:
    Please be advised that I will retire from the position of District Court Judge at the end of this judicial term in April of 2007.  I will have completed 25 years of service as a Judge, and 36 years of service to the State of Vermont in a variety of other capacities.  I feel very fortunate to have had these opportunities.
    I send this letter now, rather than in January, because 4 V.S.A. 604 sets September 1 as the deadline for announcing my intention to seek another judicial term.   I did not want you or the others in the judiciary left wondering.
    My family and I have discussed this issue for some time.   Now in my mid-sixties, I must face the reality that I am no longer a young man.  The prospect of another six years of the intense effort and attention needed to properly perform this function may exact a cost my family and I are no longer willing to pay.  I have serious reservations as to whether or not I could continue with the 60-70 hour weeks the position demands. The stress of the decision-making in the trial courts, while difficult at times, is not as draining as other less visible demands of the position.    
    The toll also comes from the nature of the work and the timing of tasks.  I feel a constant concern about keeping up with the work load and allocating the time to write quality findings.  The multiple demands after normal work hours    (preparing jury charges, awaiting jury verdicts, the long commuting requirements) all contribute to daily fatigue. 
     Added to that is the work at home the public is unaware of:  calls at all times of night for juvenile emergencies, temporary orders in the relief from abuse petitions, and applications for search warrants.
    The social isolation has also had its impact over the years.  A judge’s life is indeed monkish, yet ironically, also lacks privacy. Both of these add to the load.
    I would like to take this opportunity, while I still have the vitality, to redirect my energy and efforts in two areas that interest me intensely:  my family and teaching. 
    Like most families in this mobile society, my children have spread to the winds.  I would like to visit them on a regular basis.  The demands of the trial bench do not permit this.
    Secondly, I have taught at the college level for the past nine years, and I would like to expand that part of my life to offer more courses at several local colleges, and in some graduate programs.      
    I do not see myself leaving the judiciary, as much as playing a reduced role.  I am looking forward to part-time activities, not only in traditional retired judges’ duties as needed, but more importantly, in continuing work with the mentally ill who come into our court system.
    I am deeply indebted to those within the judiciary:  the Supreme Court justices, the trial court judges, and the assistant judges, who have supported me over these years.  I would also include the patience and support of the trial lawyers, the bar association, the clerks and court managers, the many jurors I have worked with, the sheriffs departments, the Department of Children and Family social workers, the many employees of the Department of Corrections, the police, and most importantly, the ever polite, ever patient, and ever supportive trial court staffs.   
    I especially want to acknowledge my indebtedness to the Court Administrator and his employees.   I began in the judiciary in May of 1972 as a County Clerk.  At that time, lawyers referred to the Supreme Court Building as the State Library.   Three employees managed the work within the clerk’s office. Time and conditions have changed for the better for all in the judiciary. We now have an excellent, well-coordinated and well-managed trial court system because of the long time efforts of our current court administrator and his staff.   I am grateful to have been part of these changes.

With warmest regards,

Edward J. Cashman
District Court Judge

I stood by Ol' Cash last January when the you-know-what hit the fan. And, as I recall, with the exception of the local Gannett-chain Freeps,  Vermont's editorial pages did, too.

Why?

Because Cashman was right. Not popular, but right.

Change is the only constant in life, they say. These days we're hearing that Rutland Republican State Sen. Wendy Wilton, a top Cashman critic who appeared on O'Reilly, is facing a tough reeelection bid.

The thing that got me back in January was to hear Wilton and other Cashman attackers like Burlington GOP Rep. Kurt Wright (who also appeared on O'Reilly), freely admit they knew absolutely nothing about Cashman, his 20+ years as a black robe, or even a single other case he's handled that they had a problem with. Not one!  But they still wanted him strung up.

Ah, but there was a Fox TV spotlight waiting to be filled!

Still, since it was a fellow Vermont public servant's head in the noose, you'd think Wilton and Wright would have had the decency to do a little nosing around and research to learn something about the judge and his record before calling for his execution.

Live and learn, eh, when political grandstanding is involved?