Another Vermonter has won Buzzflash’s ‘Wings of Justice’ award. This time it’s Dan DeWalt:

“Dan DeWalt, a citizen activist from Newfane, VT,” a BuzzFlash reader writes, “spearheaded the movement in Vermont and New England for holding the Bush Administration accountable through impeachment.”

And DeWalt lit a grassfire. His patriotic call for holding Bush and Cheney to be impeached was passed by 37 towns in Vermont on March 8.

“The founders wanted impeachment in the hands of the people,” said DeWalt, who has lived in southern Vermont for 30 years. “They knew there might come a time when the executive branch, the Congress, and even the press, fail us. And that’s the circumstance we find ourselves in today.”

An article from a Vermont paper noted, “Whatever you might think of Vermont’s impeachment drive, you’ve got to agree it makes more sense to impeach a president for making war, than making whoopee.”

Yes, indeed, and for that, Dan DeWalt merits being named the winner of this week’s BuzzFlash Wings of Justice Award.

Well deserved, Dan. Thanks, and a collective tip of the hat to you for elevating the idea of impeachment a bit higher.

Cross posted from Rational Resistance

I used to have a high opinion of Rudolph Giuliani. It was a long time ago, but it’s true, and this is a good time to write about it.

Back in the 1980’s when Reagan was president, one of the things he did was embark on a systemic practice of illegally denying and terminating Social Security disability benefits. It was universal across the country. One of their most egregious practices was a policy they called nonacquiescence, which meant that when a federal court decision went against them on some legal principle, they would simply ignore it, refusing to apply the same legal principle to other cases in which it applied. What was probably even worse, though, was “Bellmon review”. This was a policy they adopted in which the administrative law judges who decided appeals would be pressured and subjected to close scrutiny if they ruled against the government too often. Let me repeat that: the administrative law judges were supposed to be independent, but if they ruled against the administration they would be punished for it. The association of administrative law judges sued the Social Security Administration over that one, and won.

Here’s how Giuliani fits in:

Social Security has a series of steps of administrative review, in which a denied or terminated applicant or recipient can seek to have the initial decision changed, and after the appellant exhausts all the steps of administrative review they can sue the Administration in federal court. I don’t know how many cases are filed now, but it used to be tens of thousands. Like most other cases filed against the federal government, when a case like this is filed it is up to the local U.S. Attorney’s office to defend the government. In these cases, though, most of the actual work is done in Social Security regional counsels’ offices around the country. They would review the record, including the transcript of the hearing and all the medical and vocational evidence, research the law, and write the brief, and then ship the whole thing down to the local U.S. Attorney, who would have one lawyer assigned to handle these cases. That lawyer would sign it all and file it in the U.S. District Court,, and would then have to argue the case when it was ready.

As time went on the positions the Social Security Administration was taking in court grew increasingly outrageous, just without any legal, factual, or moral justification. Things got so bad that when Giuliani was U.S. Attorney in New York he announced that his office would no longer sign off on the briefs they were sent by the Social Security Administration without doing their own independent review of the merits of the case. This may seem like a small thing, but it really isn’t, because it meant that he was standing up not only to the Social Security Administration but also to the whole Department of Justice. (This was in the days of the “Experts Agree: Meese is a Pig” t-shirts.) In other words, he was saying that as a U.S. Attorney, confirmed by the Senate, he was not going to put his name and reputation behind the court filings prepared by his superiors until he could satisfy himself that they were justified. The credibility and integrity of his office, and his personal integrity, were too important for him to simply fall into step behind the bosses.

Turn the clock forward twenty-five years or so to another scandal affecting the U.S. Attorneys. Eight of them are fired for political reasons, whether it’s because they won’t persecute–oops, did I say persecute?–the political enemies of the Bush Administration, or just to give Bush cronies a boost onto one of the stepping stones to a federal judgeship down the road. You would think that someone concerned about the integrity and independence of U.S. Attorneys would have something very negative to say about that, wouldn’t you?

So would I, so I’ll bring you Rudy Giuliani’s official position on the U.S.Attorney purge: there will be no statement. That’s right, no comment.

So much for Giuliani’s integrity.

Yesterday in the Statehouse, the members of the VT delegation were all present to listen to Vermont farmers’ concerns about the state of the industry and the impact of federal policy on it. The federal Farm Bill is up for reauthorization, and the current one expires on Sept. 30th. The bill addresses farming, logging, conservation, nutrition programs and rural development.

As the Times Argus reports, a major concern of the farmers is the need for a more regional approach:

“I urge the (U.S. Department of Agriculture) to establish a national dairy policy which supports the regional production of milk,” said Mark Magnant, who runs a Fairfield dairy farm with his wife, three brothers and parents.

He and other farmers said they’re held captive by existing farm policy. The price they’re paid for their milk is controlled by that policy but the costs they’re forced to pay for feed, energy and other supplies is beyond their control.

“I would much rather extract the dollars needed to cover our cost of production from the marketplace versus through a government program,” Magnant said.

Another concern stated was that the current federal policies favor large agribusiness interests and their huge farms over those of the small family farm. From the Burlington Free Press:

Vermont’s farmers might be of one mind on federal dairy policy, but they are up against much larger dairy concerns in places like Texas, Arizona and New Mexico that run by a different set of economics than the state’s family-owned farms.

“The opposition to helping family-based dairy is going to be strong,” Sanders said noting that the Bush administration and large dairy processors are against regional programs.

Other concerns included the need for rural broadband, a simplification of the federal grant process, better forest and land conservation measures, and incentives for farmers to develop and promote renewable energy projects.

(with the rain coming later this week, this is on a lot of people’s minds… – promoted by JDRyan)

crossposted on EvolvingPeace http://www.evolvingw…

Here in the Capital City of Vermont, Montpelier we are patiently waiting the thaw of the winter’s snow and ice of frozen rivers. Many are hoping that the ice jam along the river does not unleash flooding that could cause havoc throughout the streets of town; however withholding our hope citizens of all are preparing for the worst and signs of preparation are abundant throughout town. Sand bags are stacked in front of buildings and signs of pre flood sales are at many of the downtown business. While the city of Montpelier braces itself for a possible flood, the rest of the human population should resolve themselves in embracing another thaw.

The ice and snow in Montpelier is a buildup from the winter season, while the planet’s buildup of ice and snow has been for centuries. Unlike the potential flooding of Montpelier, the results of a global thawing will be permanent and difficult to counteract. If a flood hits, Montpelier will be under havoc for a short time and eventually normality will return to the city streets and hopefully without any major casualties. For the planet, scientists are predicting world wide calamities are a possibility, and that serious actions are needed now.

Fortunately, there are only a few slivers of doubt shed upon global warming and the debate is spreading towards constraining it over denying it. But imagine, citizens refuting the potential of a flood. No preparations of moving storage or inventory to higher levels, no planning for evacuation routes and no advance placement of sand bags, everyone just leaving things alone and letting the events of Mother Nature unfold naturally and allowing the full scale repercussions to take place. Disaster strikes and people are left stranded, damage done to business, people drowning and homes destroyed.

So when it comes to the planning of a potential flood I am glad to see the community and government’s involvement in attempting to protect us and proceed with action instead of waiting in resistance or denial. I hope the same will hold true in regards to global warming. The majority of scientists have determined that man has directly attributed to the effects of global warming and global catastrophes are predicted, so like the flooding of a local river from a winter’s thaw, as a society we must take action in preparations of the thaw from an ice-age, whether it is man made or natural.

Peace
Robb Kidd

“There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat. And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.” William Shakespeare

Here’s your handy-dandy Tuesday linkdump…

The details of the latest Defense supplemental bill are starting to come out… some good, some not so good. Evidently the ‘Blue-dog Democrats’ (aka Repub-lite) have struck a provision from the bill that required President Bush to get congressional approval before attacking Iran. And you can get more details on the bill over here at TPM Cafe.

Bush-enabler Sen. Susan Collins(R-ME) is going to have quite a challenge on her hands in ’08. due to the emergence of the netroots in Maine, something that wasn’t present last time she ran. Americablog has the details.

What is it with the Caledonian-Record? Apparently, there’s no problem with generosity in this country, and get this, John Edwards is a ‘far left liberal’.

Also from the C.R., Sen. Vince Illuzi clears the way for bringing Wal-Mart to Derby.

Gay-bashing… it’s as American as apple pie. First up, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Peter Pace said that he thinks “homosexual acts are immoral.” Interestingly enough, he’s silent of the immorality of that little war he’s helping to run. Also, Truthdig has a great piece on intolerance, the Christian Right, and their concern over the ‘decline of male prowess in America’, with When They Came for the Homosexuals… UPDATE: General Pace “expresses regret” over his comments.

Remember that sinking feeling you got when Michael Dukkakis (or John Kerry) was the Dem nominee? Time to sit back and gloat a bit. Now it’s finally the Republicans’ turn. The NYT has more on that.

In labor news, why the “Employee Free Choice Act” that will be voted on in the Senate soon is important.

And finally, as compensation for having me read the Caledonian Record to give you this linkdump, I point you homeward for “Yet another reason to love VT.”

Happy Tuesday!

Every time there is a new constitutional crisis, or, to be more accurate, every time there is a new abuse by the Bush Administration, they trot out Alberto Gonzalez to paper it over, to put up his bland, seemingly open and forthright, countenance, to cover over the latest outrage his boss has perpetrated. One of his more striking public performances lately was his defense of the Bush abolition of habeas corpus. “There is no express grant of habeas in the Constitution.”

Now the Times says enough is enough: Mr. Bush should dismiss Mr. Gonzales and finally appoint an attorney general who will use the job to enforce the law and defend the Constitution.

This is clearly right.

Time to contact our congressional delegation and get them to push for Gonzalez to be fired:

Bernie Sanders: 1-802-862-0697 – or – 1-800-339-9834 (In State Only)
Pat Leahy: senator_leahy@leahy.senate.gov

Peter Welch

The Montpelier Downtown Community Association is looking for volunteers to help fill bags with sand on Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. at the recreation fields on Dog River Road.

The sandbags will be available to downtown businesses and property owners for free on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Philip Baruth has come up with the news that one of the papers that haven’t canceled Ann Coulter’s syndicated column is the Caledonian-Record, Vermont’s own version of the Washington Times. Follow the link to Philip’s blog and start applying the pressure to kick Ann Coulter out of Vermont.

(crossposted at five before chaos)

I was just going through a quick news peruse and something caught my eye. I was reading this article about Bush threatening the Dems’ latest effort to end the war (this time it’s by getting a mandated withdrawal date). Something stood out:

Pelosi and other Democratic leaders have struggled in recent days to come up with an approach on the war that would satisfy liberals reluctant to vote for continued funding without driving away more moderate Democrats unwilling to be seen as tying the hands of military commanders.

Democratic aides said their greatest concern was persuading liberals to come aboard, and they were hoping anti-war organizations would come out in favor of the House measure.

I don’t remember the last time I read a mainstream news article where the world ‘liberal’ wasn’t used as a slur or pejorative. Even when reading about things Democrats say, the usual tone is that like we’re the crazy uncle that they want to hide in the attic.

Now, I’m not going to read too far into this, but it might be another indicator of that pendulum swinging back. I’m going to keep an eye out for more of this and see if this is really a change in tone from the media and the Democrats.

The Montpelier Democratic Committee met tonight to nominate candidates to replace newly elected Sergeant at Arms Francis Brooks in one of two seats in the House of Representatives. Although there was speculation that there would be tension or conflict at the meeting, comity prevailed. Five people were nominated, each nominee made a brief presentation of his/her qualifications and interests, and the committee conducted a secret ballot.

The nominees, whose names will be submitted to Governor Douglas Friday morning, are Cary Brown, Mary Hooper, and Matt Levin.