Freyne Land

A little dicey on the weather front today, eh?

Thought I'd post this one from yesterday's sunset over the Adirondacks and Lake Champlain as seen from the Ol' Burlington, Vermont bikepath.

It's the homestretch. Sixteen days to go.

Busy time on the Vermont political columnist and blogger front. Almost finished the monthly "Under the Dome" column I've been writing for Vermont Business Magazine since the first Bush was in the White House,  - an Election 2006 forecast three Sundays out. The VBM deadline is the farthest out from publication of any that I have. And anything can happen in two weeks, right?

Well, cannot worry about that which I cannot control.

"Inside Track" is the last thing that goes in Seven Days each Tuesday afternoon.  I email it in to Pamela by 4 p.m., then drop by the office 45 minutes later to proof it one last time with the gang. It's on the printing press in Plattsburgh by 6 o'clock.

The Internet Age. And now the Blog World.

The VBM column, the approaching nasty weather,  as well as my growing distaste for spending time driving an automobile, are the reasons why I'm not going up to Sterling College at Craftsbury Common this evening for the legislative and Lite-Gov debates.

The incumbent, Republican Brian Dubie, has told debate organizers he will not be there. Democrat Matt Dunne is going anyway. Prog Marvin Malek is going, too. Dubie's looking a little worried as Dunne the Democrat looks anything but done.

No question, when it comes to debates, Dubie's ducking. After all, the Doobster's presided over the Vermont Senate, when it's been in session, for the last four years (except when out west playing American Airlines pilot).

State Sen. Matt Dunne has been serving right before his eyes. Literally. Their styles - and their political views - clash. Dubie knows well what he's up against. He's obviously decided "avoiding Matt Dunne" is his key to victory this time. Avoiding wind-power opponents and George W. Bush also appear to be items on his to-do list.

Lite-Gov Doobie-Doo had a miraculous conversion to publicly supporting industrial wind energy last month - something that did not endear him to Vermont's leading wind-energy opponent - his running-mate on the GOP ticket, Gov. Jim Douglas.

Think Young Dunne had any influence on that?

And speaking of debates, WCAX wll be hosting a Welch vs. Rainville congressional debate live at 9 p.m. tonight in Winooski - admission by ticket only.

And the Champlain Valley's Plattsburgh station, WPTZ-TV, Ch. 5, will be running a debate three-bagger this week. All debates 8-9 p.m.

Monday - U.S. Senate
Tuesday - U.S. House
Wednesday - Vermont Governor

P.S. Got some interesting emails from readers who contacted WCAX-TV about their decision not to broadcast a Vermont governor's debate. Looks like the news operation that calls itself "Vermont Own," is hanging firm and will not put Jim Douglas and Scudder Who? head-to-head on a Ch. 3 Vermont debate. 

In fact, News Director Marselis Parsons had a real treat for his "Vermont's Own" audience this morning. His guest on "You Can Quote Me" was Jack Stewart, the new mayor of Plattsburgh!

*Last Update* 3:45 p.m. re: Scudder-Siting

I keep telling myself,  “Pedro, no more Bernie Sanders and Richie Tyrant, er, Tarrant stuff.”

Enough, please!

It’s over. Finis.

The only thing in doubt is how huge Ol’ Bernardo’s landslide victory will be and, in the end, just how many millions of dollars Tarrant's ego required him to waste.

So, I didn’t attend the "Sanders v. Tarrant" debate at the Burlington VFW Friday afternoon. I didn’t even tune in on the radio - and it was “live”on both WDEV and WJOY.

But in the end, it was unavoidable.

We live in the Internet Age now, boys and girls. And Jess Wilson over at Ch. 17 sent me an email late Friday afternoon to let me know she was shooting the VFW political event and it’ll be available both on-air and online.

Swell.

And for today’s “Picture-Worth-1000-Words” Prize, we’ll steer you to a telling shot by “veteran” Freeps photographer Glenn Russell that some would say catches the inner Tyrant. It's with Terri Hallenbeck's "Sanders-Tarrant Debate Sizzles."

Then we went - online - to Ch. 17 this dark and windy morning to watch the debate. If you want to get to a defining moment quickly, fast-forward to 41:00 minutes in, and sit back and watch Richie Rich play healthcare genius, at least until Bernie reminds him of the 800 lb. gorilla sitting behind him.

The former Fletcher Allen Health Care board-member simply knows no shame.

Neither did Tom Daschle.

Amazing.

Said Vermont's next United States Senator:

"Literally, one month after Mr. Tarrant was asked to resign from Fletcher Allen by Gov. Douglas he wrote an op-ed in The Burlington Free Press, not expressing concern about the administration of the hospital - and some of those people are now in jail -you know who he attacked?  He attacked me and he attacked The Burlington Free Press!"

The next question, read by moderator Mark Johnson, was a flashback to the "Mayor Bernie" Years of the early 1980s and the “McCarthyism” that Ol’ Bernardo evoked from the clueless "Old Guard" Burlington Democrats he and his followers replaced.

"During one of your terms as mayor of Burlington between 1981 and 1989, it was reported by The Burlington Free Press that you, as mayor, refused to display the American Flag in your office for a period of time. Also there was a short time it was noticed by the public that it was conspicuously absent in front of City Hall."

Ah, the "good" old days when red-baiting was a favorite weapon of the political morons Bernie replaced - the "Old Guard" that used to run things in Burlington, Vermont. Said Sanders:

"Absolutely untrue. Period. In fact, one of the things that we did when I first became mayor we brought together the parents of those young men in the city of Burlington who had died in Vietnam. There was not even a plaque to honor their sacrifice."

Sen. Sanders recalled a "very moving ceremony."  Tarrant said:

"I believe Mr. Sanders. He was too busy harassing General Electric at that time. Who has since left the city along with IDX, Lane Press, Ben & Jerry's all of whom left around that period of time."

Jesus, Mary and Joseph! I haven't heard that crap in 20 years! There may have been Bernie-supporters protesting at G.E., but Bernie the Socialist Mayor had a special respect for "workers"  - especially unionized workers. And he was no dummy - G.E., unlike UVM and the Mary Fletcher Hospital, paid property taxes. Besides the old GE building is full today. The Waterfront, abandoned oil tanks and junkyard space back then, was turned into the jewel we all now enjoy and take for granted. It's a true Waterfront for the People. It took a big fight, and Bernie Sanders was in the vanguard.

Richie, c'mon. What are you smoking? That stuff didn't work in the 1980s - in fact, it sped up the demise of the "Old Guard" Burlington Democratic Party. Replied Ol' Bernardo:

Mr. Tarrant, you may have noticed an article in the Free Press a month or so ago, which called the City of Burlington, one of the most vibrant pro-business communities in the United States of America. That's Moody's. That's not Bernie Sanders. So I'm very proud of what we accomplished in Burlington...."

And he has every right to be.

Ah, memories!

Don't get me started.....

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*Update*

So we made to the bank just before the 1 p.m. closing and hung out for a while at the Farmers Market on the College Street side of City Hall Park. Next week's the final week of the 2006 season.

A good, steady crowd. That's  Democratic candidate for Governor Scudder Parker on the right. Assistant to the Candidate Alex MacLean, a Peacham, Vermont native, who, we're told, went to college in Scotland. And a registered voter and celebrant of John Dewey's birthday to her right.

You see, there had just been a Dewey Birthday "ceremony" and song around the fountain in the center of the park. I just missed it. I figured from a distance it might have been some kind of kooky wedding?

John Dewey was born in Burlington, Vermont on October 20, 1859.

Happy Birthday to you!

More on John Dewey.

Check out the video.

*Updated 5:30 p.m.*

Finally!

With just 18 days to go before the votes are counted - the Peter Welch for Congress Campaign has gotten Democratic State Rep. John Tracy of Burlap to ask the Martha Rainville for Congress Campaign and the  National Republican Congressional Committee to remove John Tracy's quotes praising Marvelous Martha from their websites. Here’s what Rainville has had posted for months:

Martha Rainville has proven to be an effective consensus-builder who won wide spread bi-partisan support as Vermont’s Adjutant General. Indicative of that are the comments of Rep. John Tracy, D-Burlington and House Majority Leader, who in nominating her for a 5th term as Adjutant General said, “Martha Rainville has been exceptional.  She has proved herself to Vermonters. I think we’re incredibly fortunate to have a leader like her.”

Same stuff at the NRCC.

Today,  John-John wrote Rainville Campaign Manager Judy Shailor and Carl Forti, communications director at the NRCC. Tracy, who lost the Democratic Lite-Gov primary to Matt Dunne writes:

While I was supportive of Ms. Rainville in her former role as Adjutant General, the implication or inference that I support her candidacy for Congress is misleading and inaccurate. Our Country must move in a new direction, one that puts the American people ahead of the misguided, perilous, and short sighted policies of the current Republican leadership in Congress.

Therefore, our Nation and our state would be best served with Peter Welch in Congress, and I fully endorse his candidacy.

I am concerned that Martha Rainville's campaign as well as the National Republican Congressional Committee has been less than forthcoming with the people of Vermont as to where Martha Rainville’s support lies. To that end, I ask that you remove my quote and any reference to me from your respective web sites, your literature or any other campaign materials immediately.

Thank you for your prompt action in this matter.

Sincerely,
Representative John Patrick Tracy
D-Chittenden

Better late than never, eh?

Don’t know if he’ll get his quote removed, but one thing John-John has succeeded in doing is reminding everyone how highly-regarded Gen. Rainville was by the leading male stars over at Team Democrat under the Golden Dome.

Now we’ll see if the Welch Campaign will follow up by getting former Democratic State Rep. John Freiden of New Haven to also write and request his quote, posted two paragraphs below Tracy’s about  “Martha Rainville’s record is one of optimism, creativity, initiative, determination and strength,” also be removed.

Bottom line: If you didn’t mean it, fellas, you shouldn't have said it in the first place.

*UPDATE*

And guess what?

Just went to check my Friday bird reports over at Reason and Brimstone (a new habit in the blogosphere) and this is sitting there waiting for me!  Scroll down under the falcons. John Freiden has spoken up - in a letter to the editor in today's Rutland Herald.

Good timing, eh?

*Updated" 12:40 p.m. re: Ol' Bernardo

It’s a cold, dark and damp morning in dreary Burlington, Vermont. The above shot was taken yesterday in Burlington's Lakeside neighborhood.  Ol' Ben, a retired French-Canadian gentleman who puts in the hours on that front porch - but is photo shy -  was telling me stories about the old days. The cotton-mill days of the 1930s and 1940s. And even about the time former Gov. Phil Hoff hit town. It was back around 1960.

"He came from Massachusetts," said Ben. And he lost his first race for alderman, he remembered. Won the second won for governor, though, and the rest is history. Ben also told me something I never knew about Phil - he was a champion arm-wrestler. Ben recalled watching Philsie, the Massachusetts transplant and Democratic lawyer, kick-butt, er, kick-elbow anyway,  in arm-wrestling contests held in the building behind the telephone pole on the corner. Used to be a private social club back then, said Ben. It's a residence today, just south of the currrent St. John's Club.

Not much on the news docket today- I’m avoiding the murder case - and I had a Friday plan: a little blogging and a little laundry.

No can do. It’s 7:45 a.m and this Internet baby - the one we take for granted everyday - ain’t working.

Call Adelphia. Get a service rep in Kansas. Have trouble understanding her pronunciation, but I stay calm and patient. I realized long ago in these tech calls that staying cool is key. However, it sounds like we’re looking at two different screens on two different planets! She checks to see that I’m getting a signal - I am. But then she leads me down paths and has me open screens I’ve never seen before and they all dead enders. After 25 minutes, she offers to connect me to Apple for their customer service assistance. Not a good sign, eh?

Plus,  Apple’s on the west coast and does not open until 9 a.m. Eastern. It’s only 8:30.

My horoscope  said something about challenges today so I was on-guard to prevent anything from knocking me off-balance. No big deal, who needs the fricken Internet anyway?

Blogs are for buttheads, right?

And I did fine for decades reading newspapers that were actually printed on paper. Thank you very much.

Horrifying thoughts they are, however, in the 21st Century take-it-all-for-granted, high-tech, wireless world, eh?

So let’s mellow out a little and post a nice Burlington, Vermont picture. Hey recognize these two babyboomers?  Community leaders. I caught them Thursday afternoon about 2:15 scooting across Church Strreet to get coffee.  The one with the white shirt and tie is Chief Adminstrative Officer Jonathan Leopold. And on his right is.......c'mon, guess!

....the Progressive mayor of the largest city in the state of Vermont - Bob Kiss. And we had a nice chat on a number of topics including why the Democrats in this state haven’t won the governor’s race since 2000. Any thoughts out there on that, folks? Citizens in the other 49 states actually think we're a left-wing state.

I called Adelphia again. This time the customer service rep was in Louisiana. “Mikaela” - what a lovely name - sounded like she knew what she was doing right from the start.

The first thing she told me to do was disconnect the modem and turn off my Mac.

Why didn’t the first service rep in Kansas say that?

Funny thing happened when I reconnected and restarted - it worked!

Knowing my Internet doctor was in Lousianna made me think of Hurricane Katrina and the Bush administration’s pathetic and embarassing response. And the feeling rose within that things are going to change bigtime in Washington, D.C. after the votes are counted in the November 7 congressional elections.

I thanked Mikeala profusely and expresssed the wish that they’ll be some pay-back for Georgie Porgie and his cast of losers.   

“Oh, I hope so,” said Mikaela.

Amen, sister.

So, we’re a couple hours behind but we are back online. Blogwise, I’d planned to get into the brilliant back-and-forth at yesterday’s gubernatorial debate held at the Renewable Energy Vermont conference/convention. Enemy territory for Small-Scale-Wind-Only Jim, but he escaped unscathed.

How'd he do that?

Later....

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*Update* 

Lunchtime and here's a tasty, well-written morsel courtesy of the editorial page of today's Bratttleboro Reformer:

Many things can be said of Richard Tarrant's campaign for the U.S. Senate, but one thing is glaringly obvious -- he underestimated what Vermonters know about Bernard Sanders.

No shit, huh?

Sanders has been on the state's political scene since the 1970s. As a former mayor of Burlington for eight years and an eight-term member of the U.S. House, his record of accomplishment is known to all. He listens to his constituents, and his honesty and integrity is unquestioned.

Bernie Sanders did it the old fashioned way, folks - he earned it. I happened to be getting paid to watch. Lucky me.

When Tarrant began a barrage of ads in late August -- ads that portray Sanders as a coddler of pedophiles, drug dealers and rapists -- he succeeded in alienating voters of every political stripe.

Tarrant's ads, which took a few of Sanders' thousands of votes in Congress out of context, represented a new low in dishonesty and mudslinging in Vermont politics. For all of Tarrant's talk about being "a true independent in the Vermont tradition," his campaign tactics were straight out of Karl Rove's playbook.

"Pathetic" would be the proper description.

For Tarrant to suggest that Vermonters don't know Sanders or his record is disingenuous, bordering on dishonest. We know Bernard Sanders, and as we have many times over the years, the Reformer endorses him. We believe Sanders will make an excellent senator, and together with Patrick Leahy, will give Vermont a formidable presence in the U.S. Senate.

Amen. Read the whole Reformer editorial!

You know, old-timers wil remember that Bernie and I used to go at it pretty good during his mayoral phase in the 1980s. Someone had to teach the screaming leftist-radical taking his first successful baby steps in the world of American electoral politics  that, under the rules of this democracy game, the mayor does not determine what questions are kosher at a press conference.

The press does.

The mayor can only control the answers.

"That is not the topic of today's press conference" just doesn't cut it, Mayor!

To say Bernie was "rough-around-the-edges" in 1981 when he shocked himself and the entire world by sliding into the mayor's office on a 10-vote miracle "cushion," would be an enormous understatement. Since I'd spent 1974 to the fall of '79 living a nightime-cabbie's life in Chicago, screaming loudmouths were not intimidating. Au contraire, I was right at home.

Ah, the good old days.

Took a couple years, but he learned.

Now he's a freakin' statesman!

You know, C-SPAN's ratings will jump.

*Updated*

8:15 p.m.

Everybody knows syndicated editorial cartoonist Jeff Danziger's artistic style and political point of view, but not many folks would recognize him if they tripped over him on Church Street. Once upon a time he called Vermont home and taught at U-32 High School. Today his home is "Hell's Kitchen" on the isle of  Manhattan. Over the years Jeff and I have chatted on the phone, had mutual friends,  and exchanged emails, but it's been years since I've seen him - I thought he was taller? He's certainly aging gracefully, though. Aren't we all?

It was standing-room-only last night at Borders Books in beautiful downtown Burlington as Danziger presented a slide show of his cartoons and signed copies of his latest book. Great show! Too bad something like that isn't available live somewhere on TV or the Internet.

One day, eh?

Fellow bloggers are telling me that audio and video files will be the next step here on "Freyne Land." And we've learned that Seven Days has created a position for an Internet chief. Brave New World.

Born in 1943, Jeff Danziger served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam. Bronze Star. Post-war in the 1970s he was a teacher at U-32. Later he was with the Christian Science Monitor for years.

A man of few words, Danziger lets his cartoons do the talking. But he had a few zingers, calling Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, "One of the oddest people to come along in our game for a long time."

Democratic Rep. John Murtha, the former Marine who puts our troops first is "one of my favorites," said Danziger.

Burlington, Vermont?

"Good town, bad paper," he replied. He was referring to the Gannett-chain daily, The Burlington Free Press. The Freeps, said the cartoonist, "is a Gannett product that one can pick up at the end of the driveway and finish reading it by the time you get back to the house."

Ouch! We should note that Danziger's stuff has appeared for years in the Sunday Rutland Herald/Times Argus. Thanks be to god!

  

Ahead today, we've got the big renewable energy conference at Burlington's Wyndham Hotel (formerly the Radisson). Hot topic and it's only getting hotter. Gov. Jim Douglas and his Democratic challenger Scudder Parker have an afternoon debate planned. Should be a hot one.

Do check back.

********************************************************************************************

*Update* 8:15 p.m.

Beautiful Thursday afternoon as the days shorten. Not many boats left in the water, but there were people out and enjoying what we have.

Was just finishing up an update an hour ago - with four fricken photos - and I hit the wrong button at the wrong time!

C'est la vie.

Lets' try again:

Was posting something on the Thursday afternoon gubernatorial debate on energy issues at the Radisson Hotel. I know, I know, it's got a different name, the Wyndham or something, but, hey, It opened as the Radisson Hotel in the late 1970s, and we all knew it as the Radisson. I've got old memories. Besides,  I don't support the name-changes of landmark buildings. Just 'cause somebody buys it, doesn't mean the Empire State Building can become the Exxon Building.

Anyway, now I remember. Two things:

1. I figured out a way I could have saved a Vermont businessman $7-8-9 million. I'd simply talk Richie Tarrant out of running for the U.S. Senate. I've lost track of the people who've called, writtten and stopped me on the street to express their absolute revulsion for Tarrant. I knew from his first TV commercial way back in January that the message of this first-time Republican statewide candidate was:"This Campaign is about one thing and one thing only - ME!"

Never before in Vermont history has someone so effectively spent so much money to end up  so despised by so many Vermont voters (and non-voters, too). Richie Rich, you have insulted the intelligence of the people of Vermont! You represent the worst of New Jersey!

Mission accomplished, Richie?

Hey, for 10 percent of the millions of wasted dollars you've poured down the proverbial toilet, I would have talked you out of it! But, hey, obviously, you know it all. And obviously, you don't need the money.

Obviously.

2. Can you folks tell from the photos of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Scudder Parker (above right)  and Republican Gov. Jim Douglas (left) which one was taken before the Big Energy Debate and which was taken shortly after?

Many on the left would imagine Gov. Scisssorhands was a "Daniel in the Lion's Den?"

Outside the "Lion's Den," Vermont's top Republican had a little support, though his side was outnumbered. That's former Republican State Rep. Frank Mazur of South Burlington in the shades with the Douglas for Governor sign and the baseball cap. And sorry, I have to do a better job getting names. It used to be the photographer who did that. Now I'm the photographer. The woman with Mazur, I think, is a legislative candidate.  Reader help, please?

Loyalty, eh?

And a SurveyUSA Vermont poll out today shows Gov. Douglas still looking comfortable, eh?

Approve            57 percent
Dissapprove      36 percent
Not Sure             7 percent

Margin of error +/- 4 percent.

Gentleman Jim Douglas' lifetime of campaign exprience is showing, folks.

*Last Update 9:40 p.m.*

Nothing on the schedule in Vermont political news land on Monday and Tuesday and then, all of a sudden on Wednesday, they come out of the woodwork like bugs. Go figure, eh?

Yours truly hit them all. From Scudster at 10 a.m. to Tony the Prog and the kick-off of the Vermont Milk Company (which will pump out everything but milk) at 1 p.m., with stops in between at the upbeat revivalist No-Tax crowd - all Republican - that calls itself Revolt & Repeal. They want to end the statewide property tax that pays for public schools, but they go no further than "Everything's on the table" when you ask them what they want to replace it with?

"Casino gambling?" we asked after sitting through a 30-minute revivalist/partisan pep rally in Room 10.

There were a few chuckles and a number of affirmative grunts. The Revolt & Repealers seated near me expressed no objection whatsoever, if not enthusiastic out-of-the-closet support from several of them.

Cool, eh?

Point-man Rep. Steve Adams of Hartland - born in 1949, same year as yours truly - said he personally didn't gamble but, yeah, sure, he had no problem with casino gambling replacing the current statewide property tax in the Green Mountains. "Everything's on the table," said Adams.

Prostitution?  Drug legalization?

Until they put some cards on the table, this minority Republican revivalist group lacks credibility. It's heavy on the theatrics and light on the taking questions from reporters.

And I even made it to Montpelier P.D. for Democrat Matt Dunne's endorsement for Lite-Gov by the state troopers union. Interesting that they're endorsing Republican Jim Douglas for governor over Dunne's Democrat running mate, eh?

That's the president of the Trooper's Union, Sgt. Mike O'Neil. Didn't get the name of the officer on the right. Was afraid to ask.

Just kidding.

Surprisingly, good old Ch. 3 state government reporter Anson Tebbetts showed up. I thought "Vermont's Own" WCAX did not cover endorsement pressers?

But the highlight of the day was crossing the path of State Sen Bill Doyle to start the Montpeculiar part of the day. Bumped into each other in the lot behind the Thrush. Professor Doyle had picked up the papers and was heading back to the Statehouse. The Republican living-legend invited me to hop in for a ride up to the Golden Dome. It's his second home. Off-the-record, we sat in the vehicle and reviewed the November 7 ballot.

Great minds think alike, eh?

Anyway, let's get a picture up that says if not a thousand, maybe a couple hundred words about the gubernatorial race. In the print edition, we gave the nod to Gov. Scissorhands.  Scudder will do better than the last two Democrat losers - Doug Racine and Peter Clavelle, but he hasn't given enough folks who voted for Jim Douglas the last two times a reason to vote for him  and Ol' Bernardo and Peter Welch.

Why didn't Scudder Parker hold the above press conference  highlighting the incumbent's crystal-clear record of underfunding housing two, or three, or four months ago? And follow it up with another one on another topic the following week? And on and on? Take the major issues head-on?  It's called "Free Media."

One problem in the real world is there are too many Democrat political-adviser geniuses in Vermont these days who are so convinced of their superior political talent that they just don't have a clue. Know what I mean?

What else explains a four-year, soon-to-be six-year long Republican reign in the Vermont governor and lieutenant governor's offices?

I keep having to explain to flatlander journalist types that, yes, this is the same Vermont, the very same left-wing state that the current bicycle-riding chairman of the Democratic National Committee - Ol' Howard Dean - made famous. Speaking of Ho-Ho, his his old pal Tony the Prog.

That's Freeps photo grapher Peter Huoppi shooting Pollina & crew in Milk Land.  I mistak- enly  identified him as the shooter in the shot of Marvelous Martha and Christie shown in the item below. Well, Peter and Jordan Silverman sure look alike when they have their arms, hands and camera hiding their faces. Sorry, guys.

The Vermont Milk Company is starting small and will be marketing dairy products other than bottled Vermont milk. Do they hope to one day market milk to drink?

"I think we all do," said Pollina. "It was a hard decision not to do that. There's a lot of logistics. If you bottle milk you bring it to the store. Of course, if it doesn't sell, you have to take it back. There's a lot of process that goes on. Putting it in the bottles is the easy part."

Bet you never realized that before?

"I think it would be a no-brainer," said Anthony, "to have a second Vermont Milk Company milk-bottling plant on the outskirts of Burlington to meet the growing Chitttenden County market. I think the people in Chittenden County would love to reach for Vermont Milk Company Milk. When that will happen?" he asked rhetocically.

"We're not sure."

How about when a Vermont Progressive Party candidate wins statewide office?

That's Jenny Nelson and Rep. Dexter Randall to Anthony's right. Good people are they.

Check out the Vermont Milk Company website for more.

Hey, just got home from catching political cartoonist Jeff Danziger  at Borders. More on that tomorrow.

Charlie down on Linden Terrace in Burlap's Southend pointed it out to me on Sunday - a tree with one and only one leaf left on it. The retired GE worker did not know the name of the tree. Anybody out there got it? Can't recall a similar sight - the very last leaf.

Speaking of last leaves, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Scudder Parker is finally going to hold a Statehouse presser to go after Gov. Jim Douglas on his record on housing. Not exactly a quick response to Commerce Sec. Kevin Dorn's letter in last week's Seven Days whacking Scudder for his "innacuracies" in criticizing Gov. Scissorhands housing record. That'll be at 10. a.m. in the Cedar Creek Room at the Statehouse. Too little, too late for Scudder?

At 11 a.m. Republican State Rep. Steve Adams of Hartland is having a "Revolt & Repeal" presser in Room 10. This is the throw out Act 60 and the statewide property tax group, right? Maybe they have a replacement tax?

Don't hold your breath.

At high noon, Democrat State Sen. Matt Dunne officially picks up the endorsement of the Vermont State Police union - the Vermont Troopers Foundation. Two years ago it went to Republican Brian Dubie. That race, by the way, is turning into an ice hockey brawl. Finally, Dunne's doing what he has to do and Doobie-Doo's doing his best to avoid him.

And at 1 p.m. in the Montpeculiar law offices of McKee, Giuliani & Cleveland the "Dairy Farmers of Vermont" will announce the launch of the "Vermont Milk Company." We're told it's Tony the Prog, er, Anthony Pollina's baby. Couldn't wait three weeks until after Election Day, eh?

Something called Spike Advertising of Burlington put out the email press release.

And somewhere in between we've got to pick up coffee beans at Capitol Grounds (Ethiopian Harrar) and make a pit stop at Hunger Mountain Coop.

Check back late Wednesday afternoon for an update. Here's a shot from the lakefront last weekend. It's one of the reasons Burlington, Vermont's been HOME for 27 years.

*Updated Tuesday morning 8:25 a.m.*

"You only get up and go to bed with one person everyday of your life,” said Christine Todd Whitman, “and that’s you. You’ve just got to be comfortable in yourself."

The former New Jersey governor and former head of the EPA under George W. Bush made those comments to students at Champlain College Monday afternoon where she appeared with Republican congressional candidate Martha Rainville.

Unfortunately, perhaps, there were as many journalists as students in attendance. You see, only six Champlain students showed up at the corner conference room in the gorgeous library with the gorgeous view. By the close of the 45-minute session the student toll had risen to nine. Meanwhile there were three photographers, one videographer and four reporters, two Rainville campaign staffers, a driver and a Welch Campaign "observer."

One can imagine Camp Rainville avoiding UVM around the corner in order to avoid potential anti-Bush, antiwar protesters. But if one does go to the trouble, one has to get more than nine freaking students to turn out, doesn't one?

Gov. Whitman, who I had last spoken to at Sweetwaters one evening during the annual NGA summer meeting Dr. Dean hosted in 1995, told a story about a new way of looking at water pollution while she was at EPA:

“I was telling Martha there’s as much oil deposited along the coastline of the United States every eight months from non-point source pollution, stuff that we all do, as was released during the Exxon Valdez spill, which remains the largest single environmental disaster in this country.

“Our challenge is how do you communicate to people that they live in a watershed? How do you get people that don’t live near a river or stream to understand that in fact it does matter even if it’s just you, and just this one car and you only change the oil every six months. That there’s a cumulative impact that really makes a difference.”

“I’m not saying we’ve been successful at it.”

Oh, thanks for sharing, Christine! And thanks for reminding us that New Jersey is one of only two states where junkies cannot get clean needles for free. Why?

Because drugs are illegal! And Gov. Whitman said she was not going to assist people in the commission of a crime. Bet she sleeps like a baby, eh?

And yes, in fact, there were three older guys, including the Church Street dude who had the huge sign at Ho-Ho's presidential kick-off, protesting out on the sidewalk about a 9/11 cover-up.  And what a campus! President David F. Finney showed up to personally welcome the GOP Chicks, excuse me, the distinguished Republican female politicians, to campus, and he gave us all a look at a very special view of the Burlington skyline and beyond!

When we got home we had this statement from Montpeculiar, Vermont in the inbox. It's from  the Executive Director of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG) - Paul Burns:

Inviting Christine Todd Whitman to bolster her (General Rainville’s) environmental credentials is like asking the Keystone Cops to endorse her stand on tough law enforcement.

The current Bush administration has been more antagonistic toward public health and environmental programs than any other in recent American history.  President Bush’s shameful record on the environment includes rejection of modest steps to address climate change, more logging and motorized vehicles in our national forests, support for oil drilling in pristine wildlife preserves, weakened air pollution standards for aging industrial plants, increased secrecy concerning industrial toxic emissions, and initial support to allow more arsenic in drinking water.

As Administrator of the EPA, Ms. Whitman presided over one rollback after another of landmark programs designed to reduce pollution, protect public health, and preserve our precious natural heritage.

As a willing participant in the Bush administration’s army of environmental destruction, Ms. Whitman lacks credibility as a serious environmental leader.

Anyway, welcome back to Vermont, Christine. Tough year to be promoting Republicans, isn't it?

**************************************************************************************

*Update Tuesday Morning*

Up bright and early catching Christie and Martha on "Charlie & Ernie" on 620 WVMT.  And I hopped online to check out the local daily. What a surprise - I'm in it!

In the photo, that is, by Peter Huoppi that accompanies the "Whitman Stumps for Rainville" story by Terri Hallenbeck. And that's my Radio Shack tape recorder on the table in front of the female celebrities. I know, tape recorders that use tape are old fashioned, but, hey, it works.

For WDEV NEWS purposes, I edit on an old dual-cassette boom box. I know, I know, Bob Kinzel and John Dillon  at Vermont Public Radio use these high-tech little digital thingies that are "state of the art," but, hey, just because  a technique may be "old" doesn't make it "bad."

That's Marvelous Martha' press secretary Brendan McKenna (formerly of the Rutland Herald) standing next to me in the Freeps photo and whatshisname from the Peter Welch Campaign seated to my left.

As you can see, there wasn't much for him to keep an eye on. Christie and Martha did not exactly draw a crowd.

OK, now it's time to work on the print column for tomorrow's edition of Seven Days. Aren't newspapers made out of paper so-o-o-o old-fashioned?

Look, when a major-party congressional candidate (in a state that only has one congressional seat) gets popped for campaign-website plagiarism the way Republican Marvelous Martha Rainville did earlier this month - that’s news! Especially when the candidate hasn’t run for political office before and in many, many ways is an unknown commodity.

I mean, did the GOP candidate really approve - as she says she did - a policy statement that was literally ripped right from the jaws of Hillary Rodham Clinton?

Unfortunately, the answer is “yes.” And unfortunately, there were more cases of stolen words on her campaign website.

Bummer.

And this Vermont political embarrassment came with an unusual one-two kind-of-punch.

The story broke, as you recall, on Sunday evening, October 1. And it broke first, not on radio or TV, but in this brave, new and lightning-fast world one enters through one’s fingertips - El Blogosphere!

A Vermont blogger - Julie Waters at "Reason and Brimstone" - landed the first punch. Well done, Citizen Waters. Nice birdie pics, too, on Fridays!

The mainstream Vermont press followed quickly on Monday.  Marvelous Martha blamed it on a campaign staffer and promptly fired the gentleman (despite his U.S. Supreme Court lineage.)

The Rainville Plagiarism story went out on the A.P. wire, and VPR, WDEV and WPTZ-TV produced their own reports for their Monday evening newscasts (also was a front-pager in Vermont’s top daily newspapers the following morning).

The second punch came when yours truly tuned into WCAX-TV News at 6 p.m. Monday evening to watch news readers Marselis Parsons and Kristin Kelly tell Vermont all about it. Wanted to see how “Vermont’s Own” would play it. In fact, we tuned in early to catch the political ads.

As everyone in Ch. 3 Land that Monday evening knows, “Vermont’s Own” definitely separated itself from the rest of the news pack on this one! WCAX did not mention one single word about Rainville’s sloppy, shallow and embarrassing plagiarism mess at 6 p.m. Nor did Ch. 3 News mention a single word during their 11 o’clock news.

O.K. I could see somebody over there argue it shouldn’t be the top story, but...no story whatsoever? Not a peep? Hello, Kirk to Enterprise!

Needless to say, we took note of that omission right here in “Freyne Land.”

Then a week ago, I contacted Ch. 3 General Manager Peter Martin, and Ch. 3 News Director Parsons by email on a different matter - i.e. to ascertain why “Vermont’s Own” had decided not to sponsor/produce a TV debate in this year’s Vermont gubernatorial race between Jim the Incumbent Republican and Scudder the Democrat Challenger.

As you may have read in "Inside Track," and in the Saturday item below this one, Peter Martin responded professionally. Unfortunately, my inquiry inspired Marsillyiss to get something off his chest. He sent the following letter to Seven Days coeditor Pamela Polston, and also sent a copy to me personally.

My first inclination was to just have a wee laugh and toss it. But then, Marselis Parsons is an important and powerful figure on the Vermont News scene. Shelburne Bay, pictured above on a windy dark Sunday, is the Ch. 3 News Director's front yard. As we see, Marsillyiss makes the call on what we get to see and what we don't. Our readers/viewers might find it insightful:

                                                                October 10, 2006

Ms. Pamela Polston
Seven Days
By fax

Dear Ms. Polston:

Peter Freyne fairly criticized us for not running the Martha Rainville aide plagiarism story last Monday October second.  It was a mistake not to run that story on that day and the responsibility is mine.

However, Freyne said in his blog that Anson Tebbetts never filed the story Monday.  That is a lie.  Freyne either assumed, or made it up. 

I rarely talk to him as I have lost my regard for his professionalism.  I have not written to you before to complain about him, but the number of errors or distortions has come to the point I felt it necessary.  This statement is a lie and impugns one of our reporters.   

Your readers should know the truth.  Anson DID write the story and filed it late in the day Monday.   I did not notice it in the lineup till after the 6pm program.   It was my fault it was not included, not Anson's.

Peter Freyne has let his obvious animus toward channel three news affect his judgment.  An apology to Anson would probably be too much to ask for, but I would certainly appreciate a correction.   

I have not written on numerous other occasions when he has made a number of errors involving us, and I don't intend to begin now. But I think the editors of Seven Days ought to monitor his work more often.

Sincerely,
Marselis Parsons
News Director

Busy guy. Thanks for taking the time, Marselis.

A “lie,” eh?  You sure about your “accuracy” on that baseless charge?

I ask because my dictionary defines a “lie” as “an intentionally false statement.”

You claim in your letter that I “lied” by reporting, er, blogging on Tuesday morning that your chief political reporter Anson Tebbetts never filed a Rainville Plagiarism story on Monday, the day the story broke. The day when the rest of the pack all carried it:

“Your readers should know the truth.  Anson DID write the story and filed it late in the day Monday.  I did not notice it in the lineup till after the 6pm program.”

Let’s assume for a moment, folks, that’s accurate. But if it is accurate, why wasn't the Tebbetts/Rainville/Plagiarism story - the top story that fell completely through the hour-long 6 o’clock News cracks - not broadcast on the 11 o’clock news that Monday night?

Here's what I blogged that Tuesday morning:

"Marvelous Martha's campaign plagiarism story was completely and totally ignored by Vermont Chamber of Commerce TV News, a.k.a. WCAX-TV - Channel 3. I'm not making this up. Just double checked the Ch. 3 Monday news scripts. The top Vermont political story of the day, a story showing GOP Candidate Rainville in a very bad ethical light, got absolutely no coverage Monday evening by Vermont's top TV news operation, the one I've called WGOP-TV for years!"

One can’t help but wonder how many regular viewers think it likely that Marselis, Anson and Ch. 3 News would have handled it the same way if the guilty plagiarist in the spotlight had been a Democrat, an Independent or Progressive, instead of a "Jim Douglas Republican?"

And, Marsillyiss, like your other regular viewers, the only way I know what Ch. 3 is covering on any given night is to tune in. Please tell us how anyone outside of Ch. 3 could possibly have known that Mr. Tebbetts had, as you claim, filed a little plagiarism story “late in the day,”  but that you, the anchorman/news director, completely overlooked it!

Perhaps, from here on out, you’ll post your daily assignment sheet on your website for all of us to read, eh?

I won’t hold my breath.

But I will use this opportunity to appeal to your sense of public service.  Information-wise, a whole lot of Vermont depends on Ch. 3 News. A gubernatorial debate between these two talented candidates  - Jim Douglas (R) and Scudder Parker (D) - is something "Vermont's Own" Ch. 3 viewers deserve, don't they? I mean, how many more commercials do you expect us to watch?

P.S. To make your claim credible, Marselis, that I have on “numerous occasions” made “errors” and “distortions” in my coverage of WCAX-TV News, you have to at least give a few examples. It’s called "proof."

However, if you put this absurdity together with the glaring and factually-false hatchet-job you pulled on Judge Edward Cashman last January, it's fair to say "credibility" is not your strong suit in 2006, is it?

By the way, I like Ch. 3 News and have been a faithful viewer for decades. Some very nice folks work there, too. Get your facts straight, will ya?  You're an embarassment to them.

Sometimes it looks so peaceful. So in order. Ducks being ducks. People being people. Equals. Wouldn't you like to slip into one of their bodies, just for a day?

I would. I'd love to chat with the other ducks, get to know a few, pick up their perspective on homo sapiens and, last but not least, fly!

But this recent shot in Burlington Harbor betrays a peace that has been in flight the last few years. Everyone's been feeling it. Endless war is the current administration  policy: "The War on Terror."

It's pure propaganda just like the phrase "weapons of mass destruction." Over and over and over again. Guess what?  The WMDs did not exist. Oh, yes, folks, the poisonous legacy of the Bush-Cheney Administration will be long and dark.

Ha! I'll always remember when a business-lobbyist friend told me way back in 1997 that Texas Gov. George W. Bush was their team's next president. A done deal.

I nearly laughed him off the bar stool (ah, the good old days!). You see, I simply could not look at the face of George W. Bush, in a newspaper or on TV, without seeing the face of Alfred E. Newman from the "What, Me Worry?"  Mad Magazine-days of my innocent youth. I thought he was just teasing me. I thought he was joking.

I thought wrong.

Talk about a bad joke, eh?

It's no longer possible to pretend, folks. We all know it. This is the most incompetent and dishonest White House in American history and the Bush-Cheney Team has inflicted more damage on our beloved nation - a nation we took too-much-for-granted - than any of our off-shore "enemies."

I don't know about you, but I want my country back.

Hey, do yourself a favor and read Ed Barna's excellent story in Friday's Times Argus/Rutland Herald:

Lt. General advises Bush: 'Get out of Iraq'

MIDDLEBURY — Get out of Iraq as quickly as possible, Lt. Gen. William Odom, U.S. Army (Ret.), urged at Middlebury College on Wednesday...."The invasion of Iraq is likely to be "the greatest strategic disaster in American history."

...We should leave Iraq "no matter what kind of mess is left behind," Odom said. There would have been a mess if we left in 2003, but not as much as if we had left in 2004, and that wouldn't have been as bad as 2005, he said.

"Every day longer that we 'stay the course' the cost goes up and makes the eventual defeat much larger," Odom said. He predicted that United States forces would finally leave the heavily defended Green Zone in Baghdad with the same desperate haste with which the last Americans left Saigon after the Vietnam War.

And, in just the last month, we've seen the first flickers of light at the end of this long American tunnel. Now, at long last, their House of Cards is finally crumbling. Did you catch Paul Krugman's Friday column in The New York Times?

Will the Levee Break?

By PAUL KRUGMAN

The conventional wisdom says that the Democrats will take control of the House of Representatives next month, but only by a small margin. I’ve been looking at the numbers, however, and I believe this conventional wisdom is almost all wrong.

Here’s what’s happening: a huge Democratic storm surge is heading toward a high Republican levee. It’s still possible that the surge won’t overtop the levee — that is, the Democrats could fail by a small margin to take control of Congress. But if the surge does go over the top, the flooding will almost surely reach well inland — that is, if the Democrats win, they’ll probably win big...

...So if the Democrats win, they’ll probably have a substantial majority. Whether they’ll be able to keep that majority is another question. But be prepared to wake up less than four weeks from now and learn that everything you’ve been told about American politics — liberalism is dead, whoever controls the South controls Washington, only Republicans know “the way to win” — is wrong. (Are we seeing the birth of a new New Deal coalition, in which the solid Northeast takes the place of the solid South?)

(For Krugman's column you have to buy the hard copy or sign-up for TimesSelect.)

Here's a couple more things you might be interested in:

Interesting Strategy - Woke up this morning to an email informing me Republican Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie has canceled yet another debate against his Democrat challenger Matt Dunne and Progressive Marvin Malek. This one was scheduled for 6:30 p.m. next Sunday October 22 at Sterling College in Craftsbury Common.

Looks like both Doobie-Doo and his running mate, Gov. Scissorhands, are keeping the lowest profiles possible since the leaves started dropping.

Not a good time to have "Republican" after your name on the Vermont ballot, eh?

Wonder why that is?

Rethinking Debate Blackout??? -  Heard a rumor, and it is no more than that at this point, that WGOP, er, WCAX-TV NEWS may be rethinking its decision not to televise a Vermont gubernatorial debate this year. We've heard from many viewer/readers who were surprised by Ch. 3's decision to completely ignore the governor's race since the chances of a Scudder upset of Gentleman Jim remains "in play."

Instead, Ch. 3 broadcast a Bernie Sanders vs. Richie Rich Tarrant debate, even though Tarrant had effectively flushed himself down the you-know-what months ago with those nasty, half-truth attack ads that he's spent millions on. Ch. 3 is also doing a congressional debate between Martha Rainville (R) and Peter Welch (D).

In case you missed it in "Inside Track," here's what veteran Ch. 3 GM Peter Martin kindly wrote us in response to our "press inquiry" about the gubernatorial omission.

“We traditionally do debates on weekends. In thinking about this year, the first thing we looked at was which weekends we could count on for a reliable start time given the NFL and college football schedules. When there is a 4 p.m. game start, we almost invariably end up with an overrun, which pushes back the network schedule, which in turn makes the debate start time an unknown. As well, we had to consider the network schedule of programs.

“We ended up with two weekends in which we could reliably schedule debates. Given that there were two, we determined that the senate and congressional races were the priority in terms of the nature and significance of the races.” 

Look, folks, like it or lump it, if one lives in beautiful Vermont, one turns on WCAX-TV for local news. We depend on Ch. 3 for Vermont news, and there is, after all,  only one Marselis Parsons, eh?

But in our little state of few people and fewer TV News operations (two if one counts Plattsburgh N.Y.-headquartered WPTZ),  would it be asking too much for Vermont's largest "award-winning" TV News station to, as a public service, broadcast a quality, Made-In-Vermont gubernatorial debate?

A Ch. 3 Vermont Governor's Debate between Republican Jim and Democrat Scudder  that would surely attract the largest Vermont debate audience of the entire 2006 Election?

Have to ask: Has "public service" become just a public-relations catch phrase over there?

Right now "Vermont's Own" sure isn't looking like "Vermont's Own." Know what I mean?

So.... Let's give the Ch. 3 brass a chance to rethink this, eh?

WCAX General Manager Peter Martin posts his email and phone number on the wcax.com website. Just scroll down. In my dealings with him over the years, Peter's always been a gentleman, too. 

So if you're a Ch. 3 regular (like me) who wants "Vermont's Own" to air a Vermont gubernatorial debate, give the GM a call or send him an email. There are more than two weeks remaining.

Besides, it's still a free country, isn't it?