Freyne Land

More than 250 people turned out at St. Paul's Cathedral in downtown Burlington on this sun-splashed Saturday morning to pay their respects to a legend in Burlington, Vermont journalism who is with us no more - Maggie Maurice. She passed away February 15 at the age of 82.

Maggie anchored the Living Section of The Burlington Free Press for many, many years with her "Maggie!" column and fine features. As Archdeacon Catherine Cooke, the Homilist, put it, "Maggie never lost sight of the individual."

Longtime Freeps writer Mike Donoghue was there in the front row, but didn't see Publisher Jim Carey or any editors. I went with Seven Days co-publisher/co-founder Paula Routly. Paula had a desk next to Maggie's in the Free Press newsroom of about 20 years ago. The magical, creative and, dare I say, politicially "revolutionary" 1980s in Burlington, Vermont!

Yes, indeed. Maggie Armstrong Maurice was a special one. She always had a smile and a hello for everyone, even this "Inside Track" columnist back in the 1980s when it was running in Steve Brown's one and onlyVanguard Press and The Burlington Free Press was my favorite pin-cushion. As we learned at the reception following Maggie's memorial service, she sincerely appreciated our efforts. In fact, we had something in common, me and her.  Several attendees at the memorial made a point of personally telling me that she "hated Gannett." (Ah, but she loved life!)

One, Sandy Post, approached with something she said Maggie would want me to know.

And what was that?

Sandy, you see, is a longtime Burlington hairdresser.  For the last 10 years she's owned and operated Venus & Crew downtown at 1 Lawson Lane.

But, more importantly, for the last 18 years, she's been Maggie's regular hairdresser.

Sandy wanted us to know that the first thing The Burlington Free Press Living Section columnist would do when she came in for her Thursday appointment each week was grab a new Seven Days off the stack and flip immediately to "Inside Track." It was the first, and usually, she said, the only thing she read.

God bless her!

And didn't she always have beautiful hair, too?

Hey, Maggie, save me a seat, will ya?

Haven't been many this winter. This is  just the second one in the People's Republic of Burlington. I have a doctor's appointment at 10 a.m. downtown. That's the Freyne Land Alley all shoveled by the columnist fighting the cancer with the chemistry.

Not going to catch Cindy Sheehan in Sen. Vince Illuzzi's tent in Montpeculier at noon. Assuming she makes it in from Chicago. It's bad weather all the way.

Commander Dave put the word out via email shortly after 4 a.m. that the Statehouse is going to try to dodge the storm:

Cindy's son was an American soldier who gave his life in George "WMD" Bush's anti-American War in Iraq. And yet, there are bozos out there who compare Cindy Sheehan to Jane Fonda of Vietnam War-era fame.

Sheehan is a Gold Star Mother ferchrissakes.

George Bush and Dick Cheney were draft-dodgers.

Such is life.

*Check afternoon update below, filed after Gov. Jim Douglas' weekly press conference.*

I’m an early riser and today I woke up curious about Chicago, my old stomping grounds of the late 1960s and 1970s. So I looked for a Chicago radio station and caught "The Voice of Chicago,"   WGN,  first.

And they have on live-from-Baghdad Brigadier Gen. Michael Walsh. Michael’s the new guy running the Army Corps of Engineers over there in suicide-bomber land.

How’s Bagdhad?

“High in the 70s,” said Gen. Walsh (on the right during the recent change of command), “sunny, and we’re taking it to em!”

Hip, hip, hooray, eh?

“It’s an extremely complex environment,” said the man in charge of rebuilding Iraq’s infrastructure to the point we can get the hell out. And to rebuild Iraq, Walsh said the U.S. contracts with Iraqi contractors and subcontractors. You didn't think we'd send in Mexican aliens, did you? From the Foster Farm in Middlebury?

Problem is, the Iraqi subcontractors, said Gen. Walsh, “get infiltrated by the bad guys.”

Surprise, surprise!

What’s the mood of the Iraqi people?

“One of anticipation,” answered Walsh. “Everyone’s concerned with the new operations.”

One problem is, he said,  we haven’t been able to restore the oil pipelines sufficiently. Walsh said we’re currently pumping 2.5 million barrels, but have yet to hit the 3 million barrel-a-day target.

In Iraq, fuel oil is burned to make electricity, said Walsh. But the oil refineries where the fuel oil is produced, he explained, need electricity to operate and sometimes it runs short.

Kind of a Catch 22, eh?

“We’re rebuilding the infrastructure of an entire country,” said Gen. Walsh. “It’ll take a long time, until 2013,” he said, before Iraq’s electric grid is operating properly.

What a fricken mess!

At least he didn’t sugarcoat it, this Walsh guy, did he?

Now can someone explain to me why no congressional leader or leaders can stand up and take the steering wheel away from the incompetent madman sleeping in the White House?

Someone, please, before America and the freedom its people hold dear is no more.

MORE, MORE MORE!!!

Thursday Afternoon Updated:

I carried the "Bagdhad" theme all the way to the Guv's ceremonial office at the Statehouse in Montpelier for his 11 a.m. Thursday "official" weekly presser.

The rest of the capitol press corps was in a ditherover inside-baseball budget issues, particularly one regarding about $3.4million going into the "new" Catamount Health Plan or not going into the Catamount Health Plan.

Chump change.

Besides, most Vermonters haven't a clue as to what the hell the Catamount Plan is.

My mind was on the war with no end in sight - George "WMD" Bush's War in Iraq. And I knew Gov. Jim Douglas just spent two nights sleeping in the Lincoln Bedroom at the White House with his lovely wife.

George W. Bush's White House.

I also was well aware that at least 70 percent of Vermonters currently oppose the Bush Administration's disastrous, corrupt and anti-American Iraq War Policy.

If Vermont ran the country, we would not be there.

I knew that our congressional delegation (Patrick Leahy, Jim Jeffords and Bernie Sanders), was against it from the very beginning (2002), when such courageous, patriotic oppositon was not fashionable.

That Vermont's congressional delegation continues to oppose the bankrupt Bush War Policy (Patrick Leahy, Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch).

That Kevin Sheehan, 36, of Milton, a project manager in the local construction trade, a husband and dad and a very decent guy I'd see now and again at a certain downtown watering-hole, should still be with his family and friends. Kevin, a sergeant in the Vermont National Guard, was killed in an ambush May 25, 2004. More than 20 other Vermonters have been killed there with him, too. For what, Mr. President?

So, I had to ask Governor Jim, given the fact 70 percent of his constituents oppose the Iraq War, didn't he say anything to Mr. Bush about it?

Governor Jim: "We did talk about the War in Iraq among other subjects. He understands how I feel."

Press: "And what does that mean?"

Governor Jim: "I’m not going to get into the details."

Press: “No, don’t get into the details, but so we understand and everyone in the room understands, how do you feel?”

Governor Jim: “Well, I’ve expressed many times from this microphone, I..."

Press: “But it changes, so I just wondered how you feel now.”

Governor Jim: “Well, Peter, I’ve been quite consistent for some time in suggesting that I don’t believe that, ah, I’m not persuaded that the 'Surge' will lead to what I think is an ‘exit strategy’ that we need. I’ve said for sometime that ought to be the objective of our national policy now, and I hope that Congress and the administration will find a way to accomplish it.”

Press: "What should be the objective of our policy?"

Governor Jim:  “Well, to find a way to get to, ah, to, to, to get to an exit strategy.”

Press: “I just want to be clear about what the governor of Vermont said to the president of the United States.”

Governor Jim: “Well, I’m not going to be too clear.”

Press: “You can be as foggy as you want.”

Governor Jim: “Thank you.”

Press: “You said he understands that you are not persuaded that this 'Surge' will lead to an exit strategy and that that ought to be the goal here.”

Governor Jim: “Right.”

Press: "But does the President of the United States understand that the people of Vermont oppose this war, are upset that lies were used to get us into it, and are upset we’ve lost more people per-capita in this war than any state in the country. Does he understand that?”

Governor Jim: “Oh, I think he’s well tuned in to public opinion all across the country.”

Press: “That people are opposed to it?”

Governor Jim:  “Oh, yeah.”

Press: “Where does he think this war is going to go, Governor? There’s no end in sight.”

Governor Jim: “Well, I don’t know where it’s going to go. He’s very firm in his conviction. I think we’ve seen that and he has a view that’s different from a lot of other Americans. He certainly is firm in his convictions.”

Well, what did you really expect him to say?