Crossposted from MY LEFT WING

Ross Sneyd writes:

Gov. Jim Douglas says he’s flabbergasted that lawmakers inserted deep in the state budget a provision that enables them to keep private some of the advice they get from their financial staff.

Douglas accused lawmakers of hiding what he described as a major change to state open government statutes.

Are you shocked, shocked, that Douglas would have the nerve to say this after his administration was public enemy #1 to “open government” over the so-called deliberative process privilege this year? Or perhaps you’re like some Democratic lawmakers and just feel annoyed:

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Bartlett, D-Lamoille, said she would not support such a proposal because it was not as sinister as the governor was making it out to be. “I think the governor’s a little thin-skinned,” she said.

He is not thin-skinned. He is smart. Douglas is in this for Douglas and the Republican Party. Republicans look at campaigns like boats. If there’s a leak, they move to plug it fast, hard, and efficiently. After this session, Douglas saw that the issue of government secrecy was a fresh hole in the GOP boat. He has moved to stem the leak at the Democrats’ expense — which should surprise no one — it’s part of what he sees as his job. He is playing smart, and he is looking out for the other members of his team aggressively (Yes, I’m complimenting the Governor. Deal with it).

Instead of rolling our eyes and pretending his behavior is silly somehow, we should be watching and learning from him. Or at the very least, calling it what it is — politics.

When a person’s life ends, a life in which they served their country honorably and well, and they are laid to rest, what reasonable person  would argue that the spiritual beliefs by which they lived their life are less worthy of respect than the person in question?
The reason I’m asking this question is below the fold.

President Bush said Monday we must continue fighting the war on terror to honor those who have already given their lives in the cause. He said it at Arlington National Cemetery, where no one agreed or disagreed. (HaBlog)

This angers me. In fact, it pisses me off wicked bad.

Wiccan War Widow Protests Husband’s Plaque

FERNLEY, Nev. — A war widow who failed to get a Wiccan religious symbol approved for her husband’s memorial plaque has held an alternative memorial service in protest.
Federal officials denied Roberta Stewart’s request to have the Wiccan pentacle placed above Sgt. Patrick Stewart’s name on the government-issued plaque at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery.
A space on the wall for his plaque remains blank.
The Wiccan belief is not among the 38, including atheism, that are recognized by the Veterans Affairs’ National Cemetery Administration.
As an official ceremony honoring her husband was held at the cemetery, Roberta Stewart told Wiccans at an alternative ceremony, “This is discrimination against our religion.”
Wiccans worship the Earth and believe they must give to the community.

More from the Las Vegas Review Journal
here.

FERNLEY — Nevada National Guard Sgt. Patrick Stewart gave his life for his country when the Chinook helicopter he was in was shot down in Afghanistan in September.
But those wishing to honor Stewart, who should have his name on the memorial wall at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Fernley, 34 miles east of Reno, would have a difficult time doing so.

The space reserved for Stewart, right next to Chief Warrant Officer John Flynn, his comrade from Sparks who also died in the attack as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, is vacant.

Stewart was a follower of the Wiccan religion, which is not recognized by the Department of Veterans Affairs for use in its cemeteries.

This is excerpted from “Religious Requirements and Practices of Certain Selected Groups: A Handbook for Chaplains,”. Would someone please explain to me why the Army will acknowledge the validity of a pagan’s belief while they are alive and serving but not once they have died and are laid to rest with the military honors their service entitles them to?

WICCA
OTHER NAMES BY WHICH KNOWN: Witchcraft; Goddess worshippers; Neo-Paganism, Paganism, Norse (or any other ethnic designation) Paganism, Earth Religion, Old Religion, Druidism, Shamanism. Note: All of these groups have some basic similarities and many surface differences of expression with Wicca.
MEMBERSHIP: Because of the complete autonomy of covens, this cannot be determined. There are an estimated of 50,000 Wiccans in the United States (1).
HISTORICAL ORIGIN: Wicca is a reconstruction of the Nature worship of tribal Europe, strongly influenced by the living Nature worship traditions of tribal peoples in other parts of the world. The works of such early twentieth century writers as Margaret Murray, Robert Graves and Gerald B. Gardner began the renewal of interest in the Old Religion. After the repeal of the anti-Witchcraft laws in Britain in 1951, Gardner publicly declared himself a Witch and began to gather a group of students and worshipers. In 1962, two of his students, Raymond and Rosemary Buckland (religious names: Lady Rowen and Robat), emigrated to the United States and began teaching Gardnerian Witchcraft here. At the same time, other groups of people became interested through reading books by Gardner and others. Many covens were spontaneously formed, using rituals created from a combination of research and individual inspiration. These self-created covens are today regarded as just as valid as those who can trace a “lineage” of teaching back to England. In 1975, a very diverse group of covens who wanted to secure the legal protections and benefits of church status formed Covenant of the Goddess (CoG), which is incorporated in the State of California and recognized by the Internal Revenue Service. CoG does not represent all, or even a majority of Wiccans. A coven or an individual need not be affiliated with CoG in order to validly practice the religion. But CoG is the largest single public Wiccan organization, and it is cross-Traditional (i.e. non-denominational).
BASIC BELIEFS: Wiccans worship the sacred as immanent in Nature, often personified as Mother Earth and Father Sky. As polytheists, they may use many other names for Deity. Individuals will often choose Goddesses or Gods from any of the world’s pantheons whose stories are particularly inspiring and use those Deities as a focus for personal devotions. Similarly, covens will use particular Deity names as a group focus, and these are often held secret by the groups. It is very important to be aware that Wiccans do not in any way worship or believe in “Satan,” “the Devil,” or any similar entities. They point out that “Satan” is a symbol of rebellion against and inversion of the Christian and Jewish traditions. Wiccans do not revile the Bible. They simply regard it as one among many of the world’s mythic systems, less applicable than some to their core values, but still deserving just as much respect as any of the others. Most Wiccan groups also practice magic, by which they mean the direction and use of “psychic energy,” those natural but invisible forces which surround all living things. Some members spell the word “magick,” to distinguish it from sleight of hand entertainments. Wiccans employ such means as dance, chant, creative visualization and hypnosis to focus and direct psychic energy for the purpose of healing, protecting and aiding members in various endeavors. Such assistance is also extended to non-members upon request. Many, but not all, Wiccans believe in reincarnation. Some take this as a literal description of what happens to people when they die. For others, it is a symbolic model that helps them deal with the cycles and changes within this life. Neither Reincarnation nor any other literal belief can be used as a test of an individual’s validity as a member of the Old Religion. Most groups have a handwritten collection of rituals and lore, known as a Book of Shadows. Part of the religious education of a new member will be to hand copy this book for him or herself. Over they years, as inspiration provides, new material will be added. Normally, access to these books is limited to initiated members of the religion.
PRACTICES AND BEHAVIORAL STANDARDS: The core ethical statement of Wicca, called the “Wiccan Rede” states “an it harm none, do what you will.” The Rede fulfills the same function as does the “Golden Rule” for Jews and Christians; all other ethical teachings are considered to be elaborations and applications of the Rede. It is a statement of situational ethics, emphasizing at once the individual’s responsibility to avoid harm to others and the widest range of personal autonomy in “victimless” activities. Wicca has been described as having a “high-choice” ethic. Because of the basic Nature orientation of the religion, many Wiccans will regard all living things as Sacred, and show a special concern for ecological issues. For this reason, individual conscience will lead some to take a pacifist position. Some are vegetarians. Others will feel that, as Nature’s Way includes self-defense, they should participate in wars that they conscientiously consider to be just. The religion does not dictate either position, but requires each member to thoughtfully and meditatively examine her or his own conscience and to live by it. Social forces generally do not yet allow Witches to publicly declare their religious faith without fear of reprisals such as loss of job, child custody challenges, ridicule, etc. Prejudice against Wiccans is the result of public confusion between Witchcraft and Satanism. Wiccans in the military, especially those who may be posted in countries perceived to be particularly intolerant, will often have their dogtags read “No Religious Preference.” Concealment is a traditional Wiccan defense against persecution, so non-denominational dogtags should not contravene a member’s request for religious services.
OTHER: With respect to attitude toward military service, Wiccans range from career military personnel to conscientious objectors. Wiccans do not proselytize and generally resent those who do. They believe that no one Path to the Sacred is right for all people, and see their own religious pattern as only one among many that are equally worthy. Wiccans respect all religions that foster honor and compassion in their adherents, and expect the same respect. Members are encouraged to learn about all faiths, and are permitted to attend the services of other religions, should they desire to do so.

If you read the excepts above, you can see that we uphold respect and tolerance for the beliefs of others as a core tenet. I would think – in a perfect world, which this ain’t – we should be entitled to expect the same respect in return.
I’ve never seen it happen.
I can see no justifiable reason for dishonoring this man’s life, or the path he chose to live it on.
Here’s a contact form for complaints. Use it, please.
never thirst

(Thanks to Spud for crossposting. Obviously it’s right next door to Vermont, and I know we also have NH readers… – promoted by odum)

Cross posted from Daily Kos:

You may remember Charles McGee, the man who plead guilty for conspiring to block the New Hampshire Democrats GOTV phone banks in 2004. Now that he has been rehabilitated, he is back as a political consultant:

The Republican operative who came up with the idea of jamming Democratic Party and union get-out-the-vote phone lines on Election Day 2002 is back in the political swim. Charles McGee, vice president of political and corporate communications at Spectrum Monthly & Printing Inc., sent out an e-mail recently inviting Republican candidates to a free “GOP Campaign School” hosted by the company, which publishes Republican mailers and fliers, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported.

My question is: can they limit this seminar to only GOP candidates?

Cannot anyone attend? Does one have to be a candidate, or simply a GOP member?

How much fun it would be if NH Dem’s decided to attend!

The workshop will be held June 3-4 at Southern New Hampshire University and will be taught by former Maine state Rep. Adam Mack. A flier about the class calls it a “nuts-and-bolts boot camp” to give participants “all the tools you need to win.”

And just what is meant by “all the tools”?

The following list includes Vermont KIA in Iraq and Afganistan:

Army Chief Warrant Officer Erik A. Halvorsen, 40, Bennington
Marine Cpl. Mark Evnin, 21, South Burlington
Army Sgt. Justin Garvey, 23, graduated from Proctor High School
Army Pvt. Kyle Gilbert, 20, Brattleboro
Army Capt. Pierre Piche, 29, Starksboro
Spc. Solomon C. Bangayan, 24, Jay
National Guard Sgt. William Normandy, 42, East Barre
Maine National Guard Spc. Christopher D. Gelineau, 23, graduated from Mount Abraham Union High School in Bristol
National Guard Spc. Alan Bean Jr., 22, Bridport
National Guard Sgt. Kevin Sheehan, 36, Milton
National Guard Sgt. Jamie Gray, 29, East Montpelier
Marine Lt. Col. David Greene, 39, Shelburne
Staff Sgt. Michael Voss, 35, native of Enosburg
Lance Cpl. Jeffery S. Holmes, 20, Hartford
Sgt. Jesse Strong, 24, Albany
Sgt. 1st Class Michael Benson, a Minnesota native, who married a woman from Colchester
Army National Guard Sgt. 1st Class Chris S. Chapin, 39, Proctor
Army National Guard 1st Lt. Mark H. Dooley
Army National Guard Spc. Scott P. McLaughlin Hardwick
Army National Guard 2nd Lt. Mark Procopio, Burlington
Vermont National Guard Sgt. Joshua Allen Johnson, 24, Richford
Vermont National Guard Spc. Christopher Merchant, Hardwick
Vermont National Guard Sgt. 1st Class John Thomas Stone, Tunbridge

The controversial Blier Watch crowd have a thought-provoking post about the recent Douglas veto of the Gender Identity Bill. They remind us what a big deal it is to veto any legislation that protects civil rights, and suggest that by doing so, he has drawn a straight line between the Douglas of today and his segregation-denial statements while a student at Middlebury College. Vermonters First was criticized for excavating that disturbing rhetoric from the Governor’s college days, but in light of the current veto, is it suddenly relevant? Check out their post and decide for yourself.

My favorite thing about Bob Kiss, the newly elected Progressive Mayor of Burlington? Every time he opens his mouth I can just envision Rep. Kurt Wright (R-Burlington) going absolutely apoplectic. First it was the notion of making Burlington a sanctaury for illegal immigrants, and now it’s a call for greater gun control. That rumble you hear in the distance is Wright’s head exploding.

Heeee’s baaaack! Former Windsor State Senator Dick McCormick is coming out of retirement, and will announce his candidacy for his old seat June 1st in Springfield. Watching McCormick and current Senator John Campbell try to work as a team could make for interesting viewing.

Morgan Brown at Norsehorse’s reports that in the wake of an outpouring of emails, there’s a New England Cable News (NECN) sponsored blog helping to coordinate help and assistance to flood victims in the Northeast. Check it out and get involved if you can.

Is Obama getting that Presidential itch? Check out Carpetbagger for the scoop.

When right-wingers are funny (and even right!). Two great posts from Tiradeparade. First this great piece complaining about annoying concert-goers, and this one telling all the people whining about The DaVinci Code to chill out and watch (or read) something else (unfortunately she starts backing down and giving ground to the complainers in the comments. Ah well.)

Hall Monitor Reports that congress.org’s rankings of Congressional Influence puts Bernie practically at the bottom. The GOP is trying to make hay out of it, Bernie’s folks are trying to spin it, but at the end of the day, Bernie’s fans will probably just see it as a GOOD thing — proof that the beltway power structure despises him, looks down on him, and therefore proof that he should be promoted to the Senate, so he can stick it to them even more.

It’s been more than a decade since the Douglas vs. Leahy Senate race back in ’92, but every now and then a hint of the lingering, visceral dislike these two politicians have for each other bubbles up. Case in point this week, when Governor Douglas (as he often does) let his snide streak shine unfettered. Usually the press gives him a pass on his needlessly childish verbal jabs at political opponents because it doesn’t fit in with the “nice guy” narrative they’ve perpetuated on his behalf, but this time when his own staff tried to backpedal, they had to take notice.

From the wires:

The contretemps began Wednesday when Douglas pointedly told reporters at a business and industry show in South Burlington that it was Leahy who was co-author of a bill being setting up the framework that permitted wiretaps of such new technology as cellular telephones.

“Obviously, one of our U.S. senators was the sponsor of the legislation that facilitated some of this information gathering and you may want get his thoughts on it,” Douglas said earlier.

Asked by WDEV-AM if he were referring to Leahy, the senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee and an expert on civil liberties, Douglas said: “He and U.S. Rep. Edwards were the sponsors in 1994 of legislation that required telecommunications companies to maintain and when appropriate transmit information to the United States government.”

Douglas historically has poor impulse control when he’s in the mood for neener-neener-neener-ing. But again, he never gets called on it by the media. Still, this is one of those times where his impulsiveness wasn’t necessarily in sync with his best interests.

His staff could see this, which is why Jason Gibbs rushed to rewrite history:

Douglas press secretary Jason Gibbs said the governor did understand the law and was not trying to pick a fight.

“The governor has great respect for the work that Sen. Leahy has done to protect Americans’ civil liberties, as well as the work he has done in so many other areas on behalf of the people,” Gibbs said

The Governor’s staff knows that the very last thing Douglas should want to broach is any topic that is even in the neighborhood of the NSA wiretapping scandal. They spend a lot of time attempting to innoculate him from any association with the unpopular Bush, and this is the worst topic imaginable on which to pick a fight with Leahy — one of the President’s highest profile critics on the matter, as well as being an immensely popular figure in Vermont. Leahy’s staff, on the other hand, is more than willing to gleefully pounce on the blunder and stuff it right back in Douglas’ face. After Gibbs’ “clarification,” Leahy’s office continued to push the Douglas-Bush connection:

“The clarification is welcome, and it would also be welcome to know whether the governor agrees the Bush-Cheney administration needs to be accountable by following instead of ignoring safeguards like the Leahy laws,” Pagano said. “That is an issue of vital importance to every American, not just for debate in Congress.”

Douglas will get away with it this time, but this incident may be indicative that the days of the free rides from the press on his impulsive snarkiness may be coming to an end — especially if his jabs come to close to Leahy.

What people forget — again because it’s contrary to the “nice guy” traditional media narrative — is that Douglas virtually invented modern negative campaigning in Vermont during his ’92 battle with Leahy (remember when Douglas accused Leahy of “screaming like a stuck pig” over Douglas’ attempt to make an issue of a congressional pay raise?), and the Leahy team has never forgotten that. They wanted badly for Racine to take him down a few pegs, and got over a lot of their concerns about Progressives in order to back Clavelle in his battle with the Governor.

These two guys really don’t like each other.

Here’s a commentary I got from the Vermont Progressive Party. It’s by Kurt Staudter and I think it expresses some of the dissatisfaction that many of us have with the Legislature’s deal on health care.

Health Care Commentary:

Historic Health Care Reform?
By Kurt Staudter

“The politics of health care reform in Vermont and in the nation will remain the politics of the center for the foreseeable future. In the case of Vermont – and I suspect the nation as well – it will take a coalition of the left (who after all wants something, as opposed to those on the extreme right who want either nothing or something so minor as to be inconsequential) and the center to enact reform. This will mean that single-payer advocates will have to reconcile themselves to the fact that they may not get all they want immediately.” Howard M. Leichter, Winter 1994 issue of Health Affairs

  That was written more than a decade ago after our last attempt at historic health care reform. Meanwhile, the costs have gone out of control, the quality of care has deteriorated, the number of people uninsured or under-insured is climbing to record levels, and we haven’t a clue as to how we are going to pay for this dysfunctional system. Yet, after intense negotiations, and in the dark of night, a deal was brokered between Governor Douglas and the Democrats in the legislature. A deal for which both sides are now claiming victory. With all of the back-slapping and self-congratulatory speech making going on, one would have to believe that maybe the state has finally gotten their act together and passed historic systemic healthcare reform. I wish that I could tell you that were true, but the reality is actually quite different.

For those that have been working on the issue of healthcare justice for more than three decades, the work done last year in the legislature was the source of great hope at the end of a long fight. The fact that Governor Douglas wasn’t going to buy into a plan that would represent true systemic reform really wasn’t that surprising, but after his veto, I was stunned by the behavior of Senator Jim Leddy and Rep. John Tracy as they pointed the finger at you and me for not being more outraged at the governor. This somehow justified for these legislative leaders to move the whole discourse to the right, and despite what has been reported in the news, Catamount Health is neither historic nor reform.
 

As precious time ticks away we are now going into the next round of waiting for the latest scheme to work, and the problem is that we can’t afford another four year delay to solve the crisis. However that is what we now have, and because we will all dutifully wait a see if Catamount works, during the next two election cycles the issue won’t even be on the table. Incidentally, even Karl Rove couldn’t have manufactured a more effective scuttling of Scudder Parker’s campaign for Governor. Before the deal Scudder said on the steps of the Statehouse, “If I were governor we would be talking about a very different bill,” then adding, “Jim Douglas just doesn’t get it… Jim Douglas thinks voters will just throw up their hands and think nothing can be done.” Governor Douglas is no fool, and as the week wore on he saw that he was clearly seen as the one unwilling to compromise, and after gutting any sort of true reform from the bill, he was ready to sign on. And Scudder Parker might as well pack it in and enjoy the summer.
  This is of course the problem when the right/center coalition is permitted to write healthcare reform legislation. We ended up with yet another version of the employer benefit/insurance company model that has led to the crisis in the first place. Did we uncouple the financial link between employment and health insurance coverage? No. In fact Catamount forces a greater link between employment and health care by encouraging employers to carry their employees on their insurance, and if they don’t, then they will be forced into the Catamount pool. I will say that charging employers a piece of the cost of public programs is a step in the right direction. However, any way you slice this, the cost of the employer based benefit system is not sustainable and will eventually collapse of the shear weight of the costs.
  Add to this the fact that families will have to pony up to $1,600 that they can’t afford to buy into the program. We’ve just moved the bar a little for low-income Vermonters for a program that will remain unaffordable. Then one of the parts of the backroom deal capped the state involvement in Catamount to only cover the first 25,000 of the 60,000 uninsured. I guess those that get neglected can just suck it up. And nothing is done for the rest of us that are being crushed under the weight of unaffordable insurance, and nothing is going to be done to reign in the out of control costs of our inefficient system.
  Perhaps what disgusted me the most about Catamount is that it is just another insurance company product. The new program is going to be offered through the insurance companies, and we all know that if they can’t make a profit on Catamount, they’ll just have to make up the difference with rate increases in our already too high premiums. Here we go again with private sector gatekeepers whose job is to limit care and maximize profits. The whole point was to move beyond the employer/insurance company model to a program that actually took care of our healthcare needs in a way that was effective and efficient. Catamount does neither, and 4 years from now we will realize that we have to start all over again. Let’s hope it’s not too late. But for those of us that didn’t get timely affordable care during that time, sadly, it will be.

Kurt Staudter appears regularly in the Springfield Reporter and Vermont
Standard

We have good news this week. Two advocacy organizations have settled major cases and demonstrated, once again, that change doesn’t happen without a fight.

The Conservation Law Foundation, which for years has been in the forefront of environmental advocacy in Vermont, and for almost as long has been the governor’s most hated organization, sued Lowe’s over its plans for a store in South Burlington. They just announced a new agreement to change the plans to reduce stormwater runoff from the site, and Lowe’s even agreed to new roofing technology, in which the roof will be covered with soil and planted with vegetation, in a future store. None of this would have happened without the CLF lawsuit.

In another case, Vermont Protection & Advocacy settled a suit with the Vermont Department of Corrections over its treatment of prisoners with psychiatric conditions. Believe it or not, before this case the prisons would actually punish prisoners by putting them in solitary for cutting themselves or doing other self-harming behavior arising out of their psychiatric disabilities. Yes, you got that right: when prisoners were driven to hurt themselves, rather than provide treatment, the Department would punish them.

“There are numerous instances of (inmates) being pepper-sprayed, assaulted, isolated, restrained, held naked or barely clothed, and losing various privileges, including liberty, visitation and programming based on self-harming behavior related to their (mental health) disabilities for which they did not receive adequate treatment,” the lawsuit alleged.

Now, after being taken to federal court, the state has agreed to do what they should have been doing all along.

Congratulations to both of these organizations for their great work!

The Rainville reboot is under way. Freyne reports she has a spiffy new look:

They look like some D.C. political fashion consultant’s idea — outfits that show her feminine side while reminding everyone of her military past. On Saturday she had a stripe of stars running down the front.

…and she almost gave an opinion today (a brave one too – she is apparently against “bickering”). And now that Communications Director Bill Noyes has been disappeared by the National GOP powers-that-be, his replacement has been named. It’s Rutland Herald reporter Brendan McKenna of the liberal media elite (I guess WCAX’s Marselis Parsons and the Caledonian Broken Record’s Lyn Bixby weren’t available).

What qualifies Brendan McKenna to be the press mouthpiece for the general? How about his promotional piece touting her “strong stance” for the troops? Or this one, explaining how “Rainville has made it her duty to understand the frustrations, hopes and fears of Vermont National Guard soldiers serving in Iraq” (penned in December and January respectively — long after Rainville had decided her “duty” was actually to run for US Congress while exploiting the National Guard by “unofficially” running her campaign and refusing to step down honorably — no mention of that little detail in either piece, of course).

Darren Allen at Hall Monitor assures us McKenna won’t be reporting on politics before the job starts. And why should he? The audition is over. He got the part.

She still hasn’t settled into the new paradigm yet, though. From the Republican luau last weekend, Freyne at Seven Days reports:

Rainville also mentioned she had been recruited by “influential leaders” of the Democratic Party and had “politely declined” their invitation. “Their principles,” said Martha, “are simply not my principles.”

Whoops! Better give her a good talking to Brendan. Democrats aren’t supposed to have principles, remember?