Gone Baby Gone: Dubie skips out on his job and the AP commits unexpected acts of journalism

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We covered this yesterday and today, the Rutland Herald picked up the AP piece as well.  Not only does reporter Dave Gram go into a level of deep detail we rarely see in contemporary newspaper journalism, he does so in ways which are generally precise, factual and clear.  

Items included in this piece are that:


  • Out of 62 legislative sessions, Dubie missed 25, whereas Shumlin missed 2;


  • Out of those 25 Dubie missed, only five were due to his conflicting duties as temporary governor while Douglas was away.  Those are fair and valid reasons to have missed the sessions;


  • Shumlin had to step in to fulfill Dubie’s duties on 22 separate occasions;



  • Dubie claimed that his “jobs tour” didn’t interfere with his duties as Lt. Gov, but on Feb 4th, the legislature was in session while Dubie was campaigning touring in Chittenden County;


  • Dubie’s campaign referenced his deployment as a col in the Air Force Reserves apparently as an excuse for some of the absences, but later acknowledged that that deployment did not actually coincide with any legislative session;


  • Dubie claims that in some cases, he “may” have been in conversation with constituents when he was failing to fulfill his role as described in the constitution.

And just in case we’re unclear as to what the VT constitution has to say about his role:

§ 19. Powers of senate; Lieutenant-Governor’s duties

…The Lieutenant-Governor shall be President of the Senate, except when exercising the office of Governor, or when the office of the Lieutenant-Governor shall be vacant, or in the absence of the Lieutenant-Governor, in which cases the Senate shall appoint one of its own members to be President of the Senate, pro tempore. And the President of the Senate shall have a casting vote, but no other.

With the exception of the Lt. Governor’s role to replace the Governor or serve as acting governor, the above is it.  The Lt. Governor’s job is to be President of the Senate and to, when necessary, serve as acting Governor.

Does Dubie know that being Governor is a full-time job?  If not, someone should really tell him.

4 thoughts on “Gone Baby Gone: Dubie skips out on his job and the AP commits unexpected acts of journalism”

  1. Just imagine for a moment that Brian Dubie had been present at his $60,000 per year part time tax payer funded Lt. Gov job as often as he should have been. Dubie would know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Act 157 as passed by the legislature and signed into law by Governor Douglas just this spring defined child pornography as a violent crime.

  2. But Gov Lite Dubious was promised by Douglas’ out-of-state ‘handlers’ (controllers) that the Lt Gov was strictly a sinecure and no actual time was required for him to collect his welfare check from the citizens of Vermont.

    Dubious has been promised the exact same deal as ‘Governor’.  The out-of-state handlers will do all the work and all Dubious has to do is exactly what Douglas has done all these years: show up for ribbon cutting ceremonies.

  4. It was interesting to me that at the debate on Sunday when the discussion got around to a chance to say “what you do” Brian chose to profess to be a Pilot, not a LT Governor.  Odd choice on a statewide televised debate.  Clear indication that he doesnt consider being #2 his primary responsibility.

    SO, IF he gets elected will he give up his National Guard and Commercial Pilot certificate similiar to Gov Dean gave up his doctor slip??  In order to be certified and keep that certification you need to continue to have seat time that is measured in hours.   How often would he be off entertaining folks with the “Governor Captain Dubie in the left seat” routine from the flight crew??  

    We need to ask Brian if being Governor would be his only job…

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