Those of you in central VT may have been following with interest the story about Home Depot's plans to put a big-box store in the abandoned Ames shopping center on Rt 302 (the Barre-Montpelier road). Apparently, Home Depot unexpectedly pulled their plans yesterday, so says the Argus:

In a bizarre development involving the controversial project, the company, which bills itself as “the world's largest home improvement specialty retailer,” Tuesday scrapped its plans to redevelop a partially abandoned strip mall on the Barre-Montpelier Road.

The April Fools' Day revelation came during an Environmental Court hearing concerning the project Tuesday afternoon, but Montpelier lawyer Paul Gillies assured Judge Thomas Durkin that his client wasn't kidding.

“The applicant (Home Depot) will be withdrawing the application for this use as soon as I can put the paperwork into the District (5 Environmental) Commission,” Gillies told Durkin and a courtroom filled with Home Depot opponents.

No doubt that there was a sigh of relief from our many fine merchants in the area, such as Allen Lumber, Somers Hardware, and Nelson Hardware. While the details at this point are somewhat murky, it's not necessarily becuse of the opposition; hearings had yet to even get underway. Many speculate it had to do with the economy.

Personally, I'm somewhat relieved. For the three or four times a year I actually go to HD for something I just can't find locally, it's not that big of a deal to go to Williston. And I doubt that the area will suffer from the loss of  the potential low-paying jobs the project would have brought; we already have plenty of those in the area, thank you, not to mention the effects it would have on our downtown local businesses whom HD could never hope to ever touch in terms of quality and personalized customer service. And the big-boxes, even though they have to put up with more resistance than in other states, still almost always end up getting their store when it all comes down to it.

But enough of my editorializing here. My question is how long before Whinin' Jim Douglas points out yet again this as another example of just how rotten it is to live in Vermont? Not like the guy's ever shopped for his own hammer or anything…

I really don’t know what to make of this, I’ll leave it up to y’all to discuss amongst yourselves. I’m hoping it’s a joke, but considering how clueless Repubs are when they try to be hip, I’m not so sure…

I’m warning you ahead of time, it’s painful. Really painful.

My Clinton fatigue is only rivaled by my Bush fatigue, and to be honest, it's made blogging, both here and at FBC, quite difficult for me lately. Whether it be the playing the race card, Bill Clinton's arrogant and asinine statements, praising John McCain, or blackmailing Pelosi and th DCCC, no politician, save Bush, enrages me on an almost daily basis.

Part of that frustration in undoubtedly rooted in a frustration with the media and Clinton's “inevitability” narrative; they've been fed this line of crap for years and seem reluctant to really talk about the real “inevitability”: – that Hillary will not win the nomination. Thankfully, the morning lede from Reuters gave me a bit of hope…

Somebody forgot to tell Hillary Clinton the Democratic presidential race is over and Barack Obama won…

The article goes on to explain the many reasons why this is the case, along with the obliviousness still shown by the Clinton campaign. She really doesn't seem to give a rat's patoot about how this will affect the party, reinforcing that “will do anything to win” meme. But as Stoller aptly pointed out, there's not a lot of truth to that meme (emphasis mine):

I've never liked the line 'the Clinton's will do anything to win'. Hillary Clinton won't, for instance, renounce her support of the Iraq war or get rid of an obviously incompetent Mark Penn as the captain of her campaign. And many politicians face a similar incentive structure to the Clinton's and are just as ruthless. More accurately the line should be 'the Clinton's will turn their back on you for short-term political gain'.

I still don't think this is going to go all the way to the convention. As Clinton acts more and more desperate, I really think more and more superdelegates are going to come out and do what they can to end this circus. As, Jack pointed out below, it's long past time. And it won't be a moment too soon for me.

Someone should have told Hillary Clinton that if you’re going to have your “experience” be the major theme of your campaign, you should at least make sure that those so-called “experiences” actually happened, and if they didn’t, at least don’t tout ones that can be instantly refuted by news footage:

At least when this stuff happened with Al Gore, it was the media making stuff up, not the actual candidate himself. Makes me wonder if Hillary even knows where that 3am phone even is. Does it even exist?

At the WaPo, Michael Dobbs’ Factchecker has a rather in-depth analysis of the latest HRC embellishment.

And I'm not talking about Galbraith. Activist “Snarky Boy” Michael Colby announced today that he's considering throwing his hat in the ring, in the Progressive primary:

The only declared candidate for governor in the Progressive or Democratic parties is Anthony Pollina, and he has been seemingly more interested in playing footsie with the powers-that-be than offering a true alternative to them. I, on the other hand, believe in the importance and necessity of building an alternative base to politics as usual amongst the dominant two parties.

I think it’s important for a progressive to be in this race to offer a true contrast to the failings of the other major parties when it comes to stopping the war, providing health care for all, addressing economic inequality and celebrating and protecting Vermont’s natural resources.

Well, this should be interesting, to say the least. It's a 180 to the 'unity' theme that has been the focus of the discussion so far. Colby is a very polarizing character, so this is definitely news, to say the least.

Yeah, celebrity endorsements are silly, I know. Apparently Jack Nicholson did a Hillary commercial a little while ago…

And someone came up with another Jack Nicholson “buyer’s remorse” commercial. Funny stuff.

Please, let this be over, sooner than later.

Those of you who follow energy and environmental issues are probably aware of the EPA's recent ruling that nullified California's recent auto emissions rules which were much stricter than the ones passed recently by Congress. There's a lot of evidence that points to it being politically motivated, and the person at the EPA in charge was repeatedly told by advisers that it would not hold up in court, yet they went ahead with it anyways. I know, not surprising due to the pressure from the automotive industry that has a tight grip on Washington, in particular the branch led by former oilmen.

VPR is reporting that Congressman Welch has just sponsored legislation that would overturn the ruling:

Essentially the bill would overturn a recent decision by the Environmental Protection Agency that denies a plan by California to put auto emission standards into place that are tougher than those imposed by the federal government.

The E.P.A. ruling also directly affects the state of Vermont because the Douglas Administration wants to implement the California standards here. The EPA decision is now being challenged in court.

Congressman Welch says the intent of this new bill is to override the E.P.A. ruling:

(Welch): “What we need to do is pass a law that makes very clear that California and states like Vermont that have joined them can implement their higher fuel efficiency standards you know this is something that has always been an environmental issue it's always been a health issue but today with the price of a barrel of oil reaching a record of 106 dollars a barrel it's also an economic issue.”

Welch also stated that its best chance of passing is as an amendment to another piece of legislation that has a chance of passing in Congress. Of courese, we can expect Bushco to fight this one.  Tip of the hat to Welch for taking the lead on this one.

I originally posted this over at FBC but figured why keep it to myself? Plus with all the seriousness abounds lately, we could use a good laugh. So, by all means, give us a good caption for this photo:

A few to get you started:

“Bush headbutts small Ghanian boy after he asks question about Obama”

“Bush asks boy to stand still while he signs the top of his head”

and from wdh3:

“Bush uses powers of telepathy to psychically siphon moral intelligence from young Ghanian boy.”