Fonzie edition!

Governor Peter Shumlin, for not only winning a second term, but (for all practical purposes) ensuring his re-election next time around. Or the time after that, or the time after that, depending on when he’ll actually need to unlock his campaign war chest. Shumlin raised over $1.2 million for his campaign, but thanks to the meager opposition posed by Randy Brock, the Governor barely spent one-fourth of his available funds.

Shumlin exits Campaign 2012 with a fairly staggering $932,975,40 in the bank. Which is practically enough — with no further fundraising effort needed — to pay for his next campaign. So Brock’s defeat was more than just a single setback for the VTGOP; it virtually ensures at least one more defeat.

And possibly more. If the Republicans nominate another no-hoper in 2014, and if they run another right-wing campaign designed not to appeal to the Vermont electorate, then Shumlin can head into 2016 with an overwhelming edge in campaign cash. And with Shumlin’s big money bomb waiting to be deployed, what are the chances that the VTGOP will be able to entice a credible candidate into challenging the Gov? Slim at best, more likely none.

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the Water and Sewer Commission in Bradford, Vermont, for ending the fluoridation of its water supply without seeking any input from the medical community. The panel’s chairman, who bears the oddly apropos name Robert Nutting, acknowledges that the Commission acted without talking to local dentists — or apparently much of anyone else. The vote was taken in April, but the Valley News reports that…

Residents and businesses on the Bradford water system only learned of the decision early this month when a small yellow slip, dated Nov. 2, arrived with their water bills.

Nice transparency there, Bob.

Nutting told the Valley News that the Commission “had some information” that fluoride poses a health risk. That information “came from Gregory Stone, an anti-fluoridation activist from out of the area who did not attend any commission meetings.” Nice: they sought advice from an out-of-stater with an axe to grind, and didn’t tell anyone in town about it until months later. When both the American Dental Association and the Centers for Disease Control are solidly in favor of fluoridation.

Now that the jig is up, let’s hope that Bradford returns to at least the 20th Century, if not the 21st.

After the jump: Tom Bodett, the Robster, an ill-conceived legal maneuver, and a bad case of Lou hysteria.

Tom “We’ll leave the light on for ya” Bodett, for his willingness to take on a tough task. Bodett, a resident of Dummerston, has been named to the Governor’s Energy Generation Siting Policy Commission, the five-member panel that will examine how to handle proposals for new power-generation projects. Not exactly a post guaranteed to make everybody happy, and Bodett could certainly sit back on his laurels if he chose. But he’s apparently a community-oriented guy; he’s also a member of the Dummerston Selectboard. So thanks to Tom for stepping up and taking on an important responsibility.

Bodett first came to prominence with comic stories about life in Alaska, where he used to live. And, of course, those Motel 6 commercials. Plus his frequent appearances as a panelist on NPR’s “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me.” He’ll bring first-hand experience with alternative energy to the panel; he lives in a net-zero home with solar-powered electricity and geothermal heating.

Rob Roper of the far-right website True North Reports. for having his hypocrisy inadvertently called out by one of his own acolytes. Recently, the Robster posted a piece complaining about liberal bias at VTDigger, based on a quick Google search of Digger headlines. Digger, as you may know, is a nonprofit enterprise. Well, someone writing under the initials “EH” posted a comment under Rob’s essay:

Those who siphon their livelihood from tapping the wealth of others are not compelled to achieve excellence in any realm, in this case unbiased reporting.

…If [Digger]’s survival were contingent on the sale of advertising, one could almost bet that their articles would have to take on a more impartial tone.

I don’t think you really have a point there, EH, but if you do, it’s more applicable to the Robster than it is to Digger. Because True North Reports is completely dependent on “tapping the wealth of others.” In this case, one Lenore Broughton. Digger, at least, draws its support from a wide variety of underwriters and advertisers, plus reader donations.

It would be instructive to compare the bottom lines of the two organizations and find out which one is more dependent on “the wealth of others.” But I think the Robster would be too embarrassed to ever open his books.

Superior Court Judge Howard VanBenthuysen, for refusing to dismiss criminal charges against nearly 30 Northeast Kingdom defendants. Attorney David Sleigh had sought the bulk-rate dismissals on the rather specious argument that the prosecutor was improperly appointed to his office. Alan Franklin was named Orleans County State’s Attorney shortly after the 2010 election, when his predecessor Keith Flynn was named state public service commissioner.

Sleigh, who plans to appeal, argues that the post should have been filled in a special election rather than by appointment. The reasoning seems a stretch, and if he were to prevail, a whole lot of defendants would go free for reasons that have nothing to do with their guilt or innocence. One of them is Roger Pion, the Newport man who’s accused of driving a giant farm tractor over seven sheriff’s department cruisers.  

Father Time, for taking away two memorable people from my home state of Michigan. Helen Milliken, wife of former Governor Bill Milliken, died at age 89. Her husband was the last great moderate Republican governor of Michigan, respected by nearly everyone as a fair-minded politician who actually combined solid managerial skills with honest concern for the environment and for people in need of help. But Helen herself became a beloved figure in Michigan politics for leading the effort to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, and for her activism on reproductive rights, the arts, and the environment. In 1980, the Republican convention was in Detroit and her husband was the official co-host; but she skipped the opening ceremonies to take part in a rally outside the hall, protesting the GOP’s decision to remove the ERA from its platform. A tough, and dignified, and principled person.

And on a much different note, we also said farewell last week to Sonny Eliot, known to anyone who grew up in Michigan in the 50s, 60s or 70s as the TV weatherman who combined forecasts with Borscht Belt humor. After a long career in television, he continued to work part-time in radio until his 89th year. He died last week at age 91.

Sonny was a clown, but off-camera he was an intellectual and bon vivant who’d had an eventful life before he ever stepped in front of a television camera. He was a bomber pilot in World War II, and his plane was shot down over Germany. He spent 18 months in a prisoner-of-war camp. Not the best of turns for a man born Marvin Schlossberg.

His identification card [at the POW camp] had the word “Juden” scrawled across the bottom – indicating that his captors knew his religious heritage. Asked how he survived, he said: “I was too tough for them.”

Sonny’s shtick was old-school, Henny Youngman-style comedy with a light touch and a constant smile. He was a small but happy part of my childhood. I’m sorry to see him go, but he certainly had a long and satisfying life.

the Chittenden County Transportation Authority, for responding to record ridership on its Montpelier-Burlington commuter line by adding new and substantially larger buses. The LINK Express offers an inexpensive and environmentally friendly way to commute between the capital city and the Queen City and points in between. And anytime the price of gas creeps up toward $4.00 a gallon, the buses are overcrowded at peak travel times. The old buses has 39 seats; the new ones have 57. Glad to see ridership on the increase, and glad to see CCTA respond to the demand. Of course, they can only do so because of a federal grant that paid for 80% of the buses’ purchase price. Ah yes, the oppressive hand of Big Government interfering with our lives. How dare they make it easier and more comfortable for people to get to work?

the animal rights activists who made complete asses of themselves while trying to prevent Green Mountain College from doing what any actual farm would do: slaughter a work animal at the end of its useful life and turn it into food for the table. Last week, the College abandoned its plan to turn Bill and Lou, a pair of oxen, into meat for the student cafeteria. Lou was euthanized, and Bill has been put out to pasture.

“Essentially we were forced into euthanasia,” Philip Ackerman-Leist, director of Green Mountain College’s farm and food project, said.

Animal rights activists had “terrorized, called, harassed, made threats of bodily violence and damage to their plants” to every slaughterhouse in the state, as well many in eastern New York and western New Hampshire, Ackerman-Leist explained.

Good on ya, animal-rights defenders. You bullied a small college that teaches sustainable farming, and you bullied a bunch of small local businesses. You made yourselves look like overbearing jackasses. Some of you are still pursuing a boycott of the College, and I hope you fall on your faces in that ill-conceived stratagem.

And there are so many other, better battles to fight than this. Go protest the hog factories of Iowa and North Carolina, for God’s sake. Green Mountain College is the least of your problems.