Freyne Land

The unionized Verizon workers' protest on the waterfront against the company's proposed sale to FairPoint Communications Inc. got the media attention in Vermont's media capital of Burlington on Saturday.

But here's a shot of the political demonstration that didn't get press coverage. About 70 folks participated plus one pro-Bush Middle East Policy protester who trailed along at the end protesting the protest. They rallied on the top block of the Church Street Marketplace and marched a loop through downtown Burlap, including right past the front door of the state's largest newspaper. Maybe next time, they could try entering the building?

Organizers of Vermont's "Impeach Bush" movement also partook, including South Burlington Attorney James Marc Leas [right], speaking to the bunch. Even when Iraq cools down, he said, the region will remain a hot spot until Israel treats the Palestinians the way it would like to be treated.

We're told two-thirds of our congressional delegation - U.S. Sen. Patrick J. Leahy and U.S. Rep. Peter Welch returned from their recess-week Middle East fact-finding tour Saturday. St. Patrick stayed down in Washington, but we're told Peter came all the way back to the land of no billboards.

They did a conference call with interested reporters last Wednesday, but have not been running for the microphones since getting back.

Very touch subject, eh?

And, don't know about you, but I'm a Bob Schieffer fan. Always try to catch his commentaries at the end of Face the Nation. Great one this morning:

Is it me or have we just come through one of the weirdest weeks ever?

For the record, it was the week a U.S. Government border guard ignored a worldwide warning to detain that guy with possibly contagious TB and instead waved him through security "because he didn't look sick."

With all the talk about improving border security maybe we should start by instructing government employees to read the directions.

It was the week that Barack Obama launched his religious outreach web site and we learned that he not only embodies Judeo-Christian values but also "the basic ideals and values of most Hindus."

Glad to hear it, but was that an issue?   More.

And be sure to catch the two profiles in the Sunday Rutland Herald/Times Argus.

One on Vermont's First Lady - Dorothy Douglas by TA Editor Sue Allen. Amazing Sweet Sue was able to get her to open up about intimate details of the sexual hanky-panky at the National Governors' Association gatherings.

Just kidding!

The other on Dan DeWalt, the Newfane woodworker, musician and selectman who got the "Impeach Bush" train moving back in 2006. Dan Barlow is the writer.

Finally, I've never been a Michael Kinsley fan, the old "...and from the Left" Guy on CNN's Crossfire, but he hit the bullseye Saturday in his latest forTime Magazine:

When this president first ran for national office, he campaigned on a platform of criticizing his predecessor for engaging in military action (in Kosovo and Somalia) without an exit strategy. He mocked the notion of trying to establish democracy in distant lands. He denounced the use of American soldiers for "nation-building." In 2000, if you were looking for a way to express your disapproval of the policies and prejudices that later got us into Iraq, your obvious answer would have been to vote for George W. Bush.

Check and mate.

According to the e-mailed official ”Public Appearance Schedule of Governor Jim Douglas,” the Republican Governor of Vermont is supposed to be in Los Angeles, California, as I write this at 9:30 p.m. on Saturday (6:30 PDT), delivering the “Keynote Speech” at the National Notary Association’s 29th Annual Conference.

Cool.

Given our curiosity and the accessibility to information provided by the Web, I went to the website of the organization, the National Notary Association, to learn more about a group that would want the current Republican Governor of Vermont to give its 2007 “Keynote” conference speech.

Couldn’t find a mention of Gov. Scissorhands, excuse me, Gov. Douglas of Vermont ANYWHERE.

What I did learn, however, was that Gov. Jimbo's 6:30 p.m.  listed appearance (Pacific Time) would put his entrance at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel smack dab in the middle of the 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. “Reception,” (i.e. cocktail hour?), which is followed, by a three-hour banquet.

The Notary Association describes its Saturday Night as:

An evening of elegance is planned for our Conference grande finale with fine dining, entertainment, and an inspirational and compelling speech delivered by Judge Marilyn Milian, the spunky firebrand who presides over The People’s Court. The evening concludes with the presentation of the coveted Notary of the Year and Special Honorees Awards.

What happened to Jim Douglas, governor of Vermont?

What did they do to him?

Not even a mention of the "Keynote Speaker's" name???

Stay tuned.

***UPDATE***

Sunday evening: Now we see a screen on the organization's main page that has a picture of Gov. Scissorhands and identifies him as the "Keynote Speaker" for the conference's Saturday night extravaganza in Los Angeles that is now over.

Didn't see it there before the above post, noting the absence of any acknowledgement of Gov. Jimbo despite his "Official" Vermont Public Appearance Schedule listing him as the "Keynote Speaker" Saturday night in Los Angeles.

Damage control?

After all, Vermont's Gov. Douglas was not mentioned on the "Official" National Notary Association conference program for Saturday night.

Very interesting.

Not "Clinton."

How about "Moyers," as in, Bill Moyers, who's back on PBS - and Vermont Public Television - with a Friday night program as only Bill Moyers does it [and available online!], called Bill Moyers' Journal. 

The topic: "congressional ethics," or the lack thereof.

And when it comes to buying Congress - a better return on investment than Wall Street - "No one," notes Moyers, "is better at it than the drug industry." And to hit home his point, Bill turns to a familiar face in Vermont - Independent United States Sen. Bernie Sanders.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (Senate floor, May 2, 2007): Since 1998, the pharmaceutical industry has spent over $900 million on lobbying activities; $900 million since 1998. That is more than any other industry in the United States of America. It is hard to believe, but there are now over 1,200 prescription drug lobbyists right here in America, many of them right here on Capitol Hill. That amounts to more than two lobbyists for every member of the House and the Senate. They have us all well covered.

BILL MOYERS: Money well spent.

Look at what happened just last month when the drug companies fought an effort by Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota to lower the prices we pay for our medication.

SEN. BYRON DORGAN (D- ND; Senate floor, May 1, 2007): The fact is, the American consumers are charged the highest prices for prescription drugs anywhere in the world.

BILL MOYERS: So Dorgan proposed to let Americans import drugs from abroad, where they are often sold at far lower prices — like the cholesterol drug, Lipitor.

SEN. DORGAN: FDA-approved medicine produced in an FDA-approved plant in Ireland and then sent to Canada and the United States. The difference? Well no difference — same plastic in the bottle, same medicine inside — except the price. The Canadian pays $1.83 per tablet, and the American pays $3.57--96% more. The American consumer is told: Guess what, we have a special deal for you, you get to pay 96% more for the same medicine.

BILL MOYERS: It's no wonder 80% of Americans in one Harris Poll favored allowing drugs to be imported from abroad.

But 80% of the public can't compete in the Senate with the Washington drug cartel. In the end, industry won and Dorgan's proposal for cheaper drugs was buried.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (interview): As powerful as the oil companies are, as powerful as the banks are, as powerful as corporate America, in general, is, in influencing legislation, the pharmaceutical industry stands as a world unto itself. They never lose.

BILL MOYERS: For Senator Bernie Sanders, the issue goes to the very heart of the political process.

SEN. SANDERS: It's not just the need to lower the cost of prescription drugs. It's really a question as to whether or not the United States Congress can, in fact, represent ordinary Americans, and stand up to extraordinarily well funded, powerful, special interests. And so far, for the last many years, we have been failing that test.

BILL MOYERS: Many new members of Congress agree with him.

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

*VIETNAM FLASHBACK*

Bill Moyers was President Lyndon Baines Johnson's press secretary. And he shared with viewers the audio of a phone conversation LBJ had in May of 1964 with McGeorge Bundy, National Security Adviser. Here's a snippet, but do check the whole thing out.

"Reality." What a concept!

LBJ;  I would tell you...the more that I stayed awake last night thinking of this...and the more that I think of it...I don't know what in the hell...we...looks like to me that we're getting into another Korea. It just worries the hell out of me. I don't see what we can ever hope to get out of there with...once we're committed.....and I just thought about ordering...ordering those kids in there...and what in the hell am I ordering them out there for? It's damn easy to get into a war, but it's...going to be harder to ever extricate yourself if you get in...

BILL MOYERS: That was May, 1964. 260 Americans had been killed in Vietnam by then. Eleven years and two presidents later, when U.S. forces pulled out, 58,209 Americans had died and an estimated three million Vietnamese.

When will we ever learn?

When will we ever learn?

This was downtown Burlington in front of city hall about 5 p.m. this evening. The 2007 Discover Jazz Fest now in its 24th year. Runs through next Sunday June 10.  Ah, the fruits of socialism at the ballot box!  New England's Little Havana, eh?

It wasn't just Bernie, himself, aka Mayor Bernie Sanders, elected by 10 votes in a stunning March 1981 upset of incumbent Gordie Paquette  (the old bread-truck driver), it was all the people who strode through the doors Bernie opened in the 1980s. All the "new" things, like the notion of fighting for and establishing a "Waterfront for the People," a Mayor's Council on the Arts, and one on Youth (hey, didn't he marry the boss of that one?), a Community and Economic Development Office, noise control on Budweiser Hill, excuse me, in the student ghetto, and much more, including recognizing and respecting the homeless, starting a shelter, getting government grants etc.

Some would say it's become an industry in itself, eh?

Caught Tina and Jamie on the next block across from the Church Street Tavern.

Declined to give last names, though Jamie, 35,  said he was a "black sheep" in a certain Burlington "Pearl Street restaurant family."

Tina, 28,  said she graduated Lamoille Valley Union High School, and has "lived up and down the East Coast."

Said they got all their stuff stolen from a Burlington campsite about a month ago.

When I asked where the campsite was, all I could get was "towards North Union [Street]."

Tina said they were currently crashing "at a friend's house."

Jamie said they were trying to raise some cash for "a tent and some food." Had collected "about 10 bucks" in two hours.

The cops, they said, had spoken to them. Burlington's "Finest" laid out the ground rules. Were "very friendly."

"We have to stay nine feet from the buildings," said Tina.

"We can't ask for money," she said, "and can't be putting the sign right in people's faces."

Cool.

"The world's going to crap," said Jamie.

"It's a spiritual thing," said Tina. "You've got to open your heart."

The only person to toss some change into their hat in the 15 minutes I hung around, was a gentleman traveling via motorized wheelchair.

Happy Jazz Fest!

The phone lines were buzzing this morning with chat about Democratic House Speaker Gaye Symington's political trip to Brattleboro to "listen," and apparently talk a little bit, too:

Symington gets an earful from locals
By NICOLE ORNE, Reformer Staff

Friday, June 1
BRATTLEBORO -- House Speaker Gaye Symington's "listening tour" to Brattleboro Thursday resembled a serious debate much more than a casual conversation.

The room was crowded, with about 35 residents of the area in attendance. The questions tended to take the format of complaints or demands, forcing the Jericho Democrat to defend her legislation and Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin, D-Windham, to come to her aid.

"I think your analysis is correct, but your conclusion is dead wrong," Shumlin told a resident at one point.

"This is a legislature that is willing to tackle complex issues," Symington said. "When you tackle issues that complex, especially when you have a governor who's not willing to tackle it in that same way, you're not going to walk away saying, 'Oh, that's done.' And yet we tackle them anyway." -  more.

Interesting.