Category Archives: National

Frankln County: Bernie decimates Hillary and GOP field

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The front page table in today’s St. Albans Messenger tells it all: Bernie Sanders is the best candidate the Democrats can field in the general election.

As one of the most conservative counties in Vermont, Franklin County is a pretty good place to consider in an up-close examination of the primary results.

According to today’s table, here is how things shook out:

Donald Trump got a total of 1,782 votes.

Hillary got a total of 888 votes in all municipalities, roughly half of Trump’s total.

Of the other Republicans, only Ted Cruz got less votes than Hillary, at 508.

Bernie got a total of 7,060 votes!!  That is six times Trump’s total.

Bernie got more votes than all of the others together!

When voters really get to know Bernie, they are overwhelmingly drawn to his message.  For months now, Bernie’s strength against all of the Republicans (and Hillary’s relative weakness) has consistently shown up in all the polls.

Primaries are relatively poor tests of ultimate match-ups.

As we discovered in 2008, the super delegates are party loyalists above all.  When they began to see the groundswell of support for Obama toward the end of the primary season, they didn’t hesitate to throw-over Hillary for Obama.   I have to believe that they will eventually come around to recognizing where their best hope of winning lies.

Otherwise, we are in deep doo-doo.

Bernie vs. Hillary: duelling meme’s in the dead of night

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Like many of our GMD readers, I was up late last night searching the intertubes for early
comments on Super Tuesday results.

If you are among our saner readers and simply went to bed, you might have missed a couple of contrasting blogposts that deserve greater attention.

The first, by Bernie supporter Cenk Uygur, appeared on HuffPost at 12:56 AM.

The piece focuses on a campaign narrative that I myself sensed was developing last night, but could not possibly have so well-articulated. It is well worth a read.

Hillary (predictably) won in all the deep southern states, but other than that, only Massachusetts went to her, and by the narrowest of margins.  Remember, despite all of her union endorsements, Hillary only scraped by in Nevada because the turnout was poor; and Iowa was a virtual tie.

This Tuesday, Bernie won in every state in which he actually spent some time letting people get to know him. The problem with Hillary’s southern wins is that in almost every case, Donald Trump outdrew her at the polls. . Those states aren’t even likely to be competitive; and when she lost to Bernie,  she lost big time.

In fact, in the states she won, Democratic turnout overall was down from the Obama years.

Her electoral delegate count looks impressive at this point, but so it did against Barack Obama.  The difference of course is that at this point in 2008, lots of super delegates were moving to Obama; but the super delegates are party loyalists like no others.  If they see that Hillary is not as likely as Bernie to win in the general, they will gradually begin to come around.

The second blogpost to consider is by Hillary supporter, Richard Wolffe, writing at 2:39 AM in the Guardian, presumably after reading Mr. Uygur’s earlier post.

I was not familiar with Mr. Wolffe’s reputation but was astonished by the ungracious tone. Mr. Wolffe seemed to have a major bug up his ass, making statements like

‘…it’s only a matter of time before Sanders stops perpetuating his own hoax and looks at the data of the delegate count.’

and

‘…“In Vermont,” Sanders explained, “billionaires don’t buy town meetings.” Well, they would be strange billionaires if they did.’

okay…

This is where all the dark energy goes in the really underground campaign…to seeding the ‘news’ shows, the blogosphere, Facebook and what-have-you with memes that favor your candidate. The Clinton’s are masters of that resource with an impressive network of seasoned operatives and powerful contacts.

What’s interesting is not so much the vitriolic and completely over-the-top attack Mr. Wolffe unleashes on Bernie, but the pushback in the comments section…all 3,282  of them!!   It’s a real reflection of those ‘unfavorable’ numbers we’ve seen for Clinton.

Somewhere in the first page of comments, I came across one that spelled out the connection of the writer to the Clinton campaign, something the casual reader wouldn’t know. Unlike Mr. Uygur, who wore his heart on his sleeve, Mr. Wolffe was not so transparent. Suddenly the angry tone of the article made perfect sense, and I read it in a new light.

Unfortunately, it would be a full time job spotting these things and where they come from.

VTGOP, Rubio flunk at Trump U.

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Marco Rubio finished third yesterday behind Donald Trump and John Kasich. And thirty Vermont GOP leaders may be a little red in face today after deciding at the last minute to back Marco Rubio for President “because of his uplifting message”.havinalaugh

Phil Scott briefly seemed to wiggle toward Kasich but followed that with a barely visible, embarrassed nod from a distance to conservative Marco Rubio.

History could have guided them. Had they given it any thought beforehand they might have looked back in the state’s Republican past: “What would Calvin Coolidge do?” Vermont’s famous taciturn Republican  would likely have kept his mouth shut .

Rubio’s supposedly positive message the VTGOP thought they heard quickly proved an illusion.The endorsement risks alienating centrist Vermont voters in the general election due to Rubio’s conservative positions on women’s issue and climate change.

Today the New York Times describes Rubio (and Ted Cruz) in no uncertain terms:

Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio — are not only to the right of Mr. Trump on many issues, but are embracing the same game of exclusion, bigotry and character assassination. That Mr. Rubio would make double entendres about the size of Mr. Trump’s hands and talk about Mr. Trump wetting his pants shows how much his influence has permeated this race and how willingly his rivals are copying his tactics.

Coolidge once said, “I have noticed that nothing I have never said ever did me any harm.”  

Vermont’s gang of Rubio supporters might update Silent Cal’s observation : “No one we never endorsed could ever do us any harm.”   Phil Scott, Kurt Wright, and Randy Brock failed history at Trump U.

Why more young people don’t vote.

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Republicans, whose star seems to be on the wane, have been trying to suppress the vote of all but the narrow sector to whom their message still appeals.  Democrats, on the other hand, project a message of inclusion which should bring far more people into the process. Why is it not more successful?

Bernie Sanders’ support demographic is a particular challenge, being heavily weighted with new voters.

It annoys me when media types refer to young people as being ‘unreliable’ when it comes to voting. The implication is that they are a monolith with one defining characteristic: they are undependable.  That is so unfair.

In fact, younger voters tend to be far more mobile than their established elders…not because of any particular lack of reliability, but out of sheer necessity. They must move much more frequently simply to be in the vicinity of their schools and employment opportunities.

If they have already left school and have a job, they are probably renters. In the tight rental market young people on skimpy budgets often must move from one municipality to another nearby in order to pursue more affordable housing opportunities. Theirs is a constantly shifting environment of economic instability, something that the current voter registration practices do not recognize.

As teenagers, these good citizens registered to vote as soon as they were of legal age, and then life took over and set them on a dead run.  A couple of years go by, an important national primary or election looms; and thinking of themselves as already registered, a lot of busy young voters completely forget that, having moved once or twice in the interim, they are no longer qualified to vote without re-registering.

They show up at the polls on election day and are turned away, after which some simply abandon the democratic habit.

As of this writing, same day registration is available in only eight states. Vermont will soon join that number, but only in 2017.

Bummer.

This is another stupid flaw in the system that no doubt disenfranchises huge numbers of individuals who would otherwise be gladly participating in the process.

Why should national elections be subject to restrictive voting rules imposed by the individual states? Shouldn’t there be a national voter registry, accessible anywhere in the nation?

Like efforts by the Republicans to disenfranchise minority groups whom they view as unfriendly monoliths rather than individual constituents, the voter registration practices that make it difficult for students and people with no fixed address to participate in the process strongly favor the continuance of establishment politics over those of innovation and progressive

This does not serve the best interests of our democracy, nor does it bode well for our international competitiveness in the future..

Tulsi Gabbard: A new face for the future.

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I’d just like to take a moment to celebrate Hawaii’s Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, who is being hailed by the New York Times as “a new rising star in Democratic politics.”

As a vice-chair of the DNC, Gabbard has publicly criticized DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz over the dramatically poor debate scheduling that most took to favor the campaign of presumed nominee Hillary Clinton, by minimizing her exposure to debate scrutiny.

She has now gone one step further, resigning her position at the DNC in order to boldly endorse Bernie Sanders for President.

This gal has chutzpa, a commodity sadly lacking in the world of DC cronyism.

Ms. Gabbard explained her decision in a video on YouTube in which she said that, as a military veteran, she wanted the United States to avoid “interventionist wars of regime change.”

Her statement has extra gravitas, given that it comes from a seasoned veteran of foreign conflicts:

“As a veteran of two Middle East deployments, I know first hand the cost of war,” said Ms. Gabbard, one of the first female combat veterans to serve in Congress. “I know how important it is that our commander-in-chief has the sound judgment required to know when to use America’s military power and when not to use that power.

Once more, the island state of Hawaii, way out in the Pacific has put forth a leader for a new generation of Mainlanders. I look forward to following her future.Tulsi-gabbard-promoted-major

Antonin Scalia: International Order of Friendly Sons of the Raccoons

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Well sadly no, the late Justice Scalia was not a member of the fictional working class lodge the International Order of Friendly Sons of the Raccoons*. ninonorton 2

Scalia was a member in good standing in the very real International Order of St. Hubertus, a kind of a Raccoon Lodge for the 1%’ers — perhaps just as silly.

The US chapter of the Order of Hubertus was established in 1966 at the infamous Bohemian Grove in California. Originally the order was founded in Eastern Europe by Habsburg Count Franz Anton von Sporck in 1695. Now members of the worldwide, male-only society wear dark-green robes emblazoned with a large Iron Cross and the motto “Deum Diligite Animalia Diligentes,” which means “Honoring God by honoring His creatures.” Members hold titles, such as Grand Master, Prior, and Knight Grand Officer. And the Order of Hubertus is an IRS non-profit, too — tax free for the Prior and Knights.

That’s as brief a history as possible for fear of falling into a tangled web of well known conspiracy involving Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, flaming owls, and perhaps even lizard people.

Before his death Scalia flew on a private plane for his free stay at the exclusive remote Texas hunting “camp” with fellow Hubertians[?]. Scalia was a frequent flyer: between 2004 and 2014 he traveled 258 times on privately subsidized trips.

His companion on the Texas jaunt, C.Allen Foster, is a prominent Washington lawyer. Foster may be just a Hubertus Knight, but he threw himself a 65th birthday bash fit for Count Von Sporck.

In 2006, Foster was featured in The Post when he celebrated his 65th birthday with a six-day celebration in the Czech Republic. He flew his family and 40 Washington friends there to stay in Moravia’s Zidlochovice, a baroque castle and hunting park. The birthday bash included “tours of the Czech countryside, wine tasting, wild boar and mouflon (wild sheep) hunts, classic dance instruction and a masked costume ball.”

A strange semi-secret society with roots in Eastern Europe and the surprise death of a Supreme Court Justice at a remote Texas hunting camp is the stuff of more than a few conspiracy theories.

But plots and murder are less likely than the simple explanation about the Order of Hubertus. The truth is often odd and pedestrian:

“The main purpose of the International Order of St. Hubertus is to provide a venue for hunters who have been successful in their lives to gather and enjoy each other’s company outside of their normal business, social or religious groups.”

And of course there’s prestige and privilege. Among the privileges the Honored Raccoon Brothers enjoy are opening the first clam at the annual clambake and free burial with spouse at Raccoon National Cemetery in Bismark, North Dakota.

The equivalent in the International Order of St. Hubertus might be opening the first oil drilling rig in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve. But I am sure the Knights and Grand Masters would stress the camaraderie at the exclusive society is simply a venue for hunters who have been successful in their lives to gather enjoy each other’s company outside of their normal business.”

Well sure there’s all that. However, should the need ever arise; a good quiet way to subtly nudge a court case this way or that is just a quail hunt away.

But who believes all this conspiracy stuff anyway?

*For those too young to remember or old enough to have forgotten the Raccoons were the fictitious working class lodge of TV’s Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton on the Honeymooners.

Update: It takes an extremist to endorse an extremist.

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Update: Well, it appears that our current Lieutenant Governor, Phil Scott, who currently  aspires to be the next Governor, has also endorsed Rubio, albeit not in so full-throated a manner as has his predecessor.  It sounds as iif he would prefer to maintain his protective cover, but this endorsement outs him as an extremist enabler at the very least.

So Brian Dubie endorses Marco Rubio for President?

Dubie endorses Rubio for Vermont’s presidential primary

Let’s see what that tells us about our own former Lieutenant Governor.

He didn’t endorse Kasich, who is still in the race. He didn’t simply abstain from an endorsement.  He went out of his way and endorsed Marco Rubio…the third most extreme conservative in the race…and I quote:

“I am pleased to announce my support for Sen. Marco Rubio,” Dubie said in a statement. “Sen. Rubio can win this election and put forward bold conservative ideas once in the White House that would ensure the American Dream is passed down to future generations. Sen. Marco Rubio is a strong conservative nominee who can win.”

How about them apples?

For all of his chameleon-like posturing as a moderate, Brian Dubie has just flown his true colors and they are screeching right-turn red.

Let’s see what Marco has espoused in the primary.

Exhibit A: Immigration?

Like the Donald, he’s “going to build a wall.” It will be 700 miles long and we’re going to have to pay for it.

Commenting on Meet the Press, and in complete denial of the fact that illegal immigration has been in sharp decline since 2005 he said

“We are worse off today than we were five years ago,” he told host Chuck Todd. “We have more illegal immigrants here.”

Exhibit B: Healthcare?

Rubio vows to repeal “Obamacare,” even though he and his family have chosen to enroll in the D.C. exchange, benefitting from the much greater subsidy available to members of Congress than that which is available to the general public. Nice.

Exhibit C: Minimum Wage?

Marco doesn’t believe there should be one. That’s right. In Marco’s perfect world (which, presumably, is Brian’s as well), trickle down economics from the tax breaks he wants to give to the rich will take care of all that. Just like it did in the reign of George II.

Exhibit D: LGBT Rights?

He’ll have no more of that! Marriage is between a man and a woman. Period. His words:

…he threatened to render the decision on gay marriage ineffectual by using his presidential powers to appoint only conservative justices to the bench who would supposedly interpret the ruling differently.

“Ultimately, I will appoint Supreme Court justices that will interpret the Constitution as originally constructed,’ Rubio said Sunday.”

I guess that means interracial marriage will once more be in danger under a Rubio reign, too.  It’s good to be king.

How moderate is Dubie looking now?

Exhibits E & F: Women’s right to choose? Women’s right to affordable healthcare?

Rubio doesn’t recognize those rights…not even in the event of rape or incest.

Furthermore, he has vowed to defund Planned Parenthood, completely mischaracterizing the charitable women’s health service as being in the business of promoting abortion for profit.
Exhibit G: Freedom of religion?

Not so much for Muslims,.

Rubio has compared Muslims to Nazi’s and even suggested that mosques and other places where Muslims gather should be shut down.

I could go on, but you get the picture.

Brian Dubie endorses Marco Rubio’s brand of conservatism, which isn’t at all conservative in the usual sense of the word.

It is extreme and anyone who agrees with Mr. Rubio is an extremist.

Vermonters as a whole do not tend to be extremists so it is difficult to see what Mr. Dubie’s path to victory in the Governor’s race would have been, given that he so enthusiastically endorses the extreme views of someone like Marco Rubio.

VY fuel rods: behind the barn or deep in the heart of Texas?

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In a recent visit to Brattleboro Vermont Rep.Peter Welch suggested a solution for Vermont Yankee and other location’s spent nuclear fuel storage problems may be at hand.wcsgmd

A location to store/dispose/bury high level nuclear waste is desperately needed for the federal government to avoid nuclear power industry related lawsuits. This would be since the US Government’s long promised Yucca Mountain radioactive storage site appears locked permanently in limbo.

Welch said he and some congressional colleagues are making a fresh push for an interim storage area – possibly in Texas – that could accept spent fuel from plants like Vermont Yankee.

“Here’s what’s changing: There are more communities that are having their plants decommissioned … so it creates the potential for me to work with allies,”

In the US House and Senate proposals to adjust laws that regulate storage of high level nuclear waste may soon make possible a solution of sorts.

Texas Congressman Michael Conaway (R), perhaps Welch’s key ally, has introduced legislation called the Interim Consolidated Storage Act in 2015. (Conaway, by the way, is also champion of federal legislation that would kill Vermont’s GMO labeling law.) The nuclear waste storage bill amends existing regulations so government agencies can partner with private companies for storage of deadly high-level nuclear waste. Draft language makes more than $30 billion from the Nuclear Waste Fund available. The NWF consists of fees charged to nuclear customers and was intended to fund the federal Yucca Mt. waste facility in Nevada.

This will work a real sweet deal for one of Rep. Conaway’s district’s largest businesses — Waste Control Specialists LLC — which will reportedly apply for high level waste storage permitting. WCS happens to own the country’s only for-profit, private facility that handles low-level waste. Slightly misnamed ‘low level waste’ covers a very wide range from slightly radioactive trash to highly radioactive activated metals from inside reactors. The thousand-plus-acre nuclear waste dump is located in Andrews, Texas, just over three-hundred miles from Dallas.

The daughter of WCS founder billionaire Harold Simmons now controls the business. Simmons, who died in 2013, was heavily involved in conservative national politics. He provided funding for the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, and was a top conservative super PAC contributor in the 2012 Presidential race. Notably he referred to President Obama as the “most dangerous man in America”

The state of Vermont has for many years enjoyed its own sweet deal in Texas, a near-exclusive agreement with WCS to accept “our” low level nuclear waste. There are two Vermonters and one alternate (also from VT) who sit on the board of the Texas Low-level Radioactive Waste Compact Commission that oversees some of what WCS can do. Looking out  for our low-level nuclear disposal needs deep in the heart of Texas are: Peter Bradford, a former NRC official, and Richard H. Saudek,  former Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Public Service; Jane O’Meara Sanders is an alternate board member.

The environment around Andrews County, Texas, will bear the long-term effects of the nuclear dump.

However, senior Project Director of the WCS Commercial Interim Storage Facility Mike McMahon sees quick  Texas sized profits: “We can de-inventory these sites quickly, in a straightforward way – we get a very high [return] for it, we get very strong political support,”

In 2013 The Texas Observer online wondered whether WCS or Andrews County, TX, could cover potential liabilities and potential future costs associated with the private nuclear dump.

“It’s an important question because although the dump’s profits flow to its owner, Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons, the state and federal governments will eventually own the dump and its millions of cubic feet of radioactive waste. In other words, the taxpayers could be on the hook for a lot of dough. What’s to guarantee that Waste Control won’t take the profits and run?”

After reports about plastic swimming pools filled with contaminated water at the  Vermont Yankee power plant, Vermonters will probably be fine if the spent nuclear waste gets buried in Texas – never to be seen here again. And deep in Texas, “Swift Boat” Simmons’ WCS may just take the money and run.

Peter Welch stands with Bernie

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I, like many Vermonters, found Peter Shumlin’s and Pat Leahy’s extremely early endorsement of Hillary Clinton disappointing.

Coming as early as they did, those endorsements rang of quid pro quo for campaign support from the powerful Clinton bloc, or currying political favor with the presumptive nominee.

They also carried the distinct message, “ he’s not with us.”

To some this was an unnecessarily disloyal thing to do, since Bernie Sanders has, with few exceptions, pulled with the Democratic “team” since being sent to Congress, and more than given back to the others’ campaigns from his own well of regional popularity.

I immediately credited Peter Welch for shrewd independence and character under the circumstances.

His endorsement for Bernie coming now, at some distance from Shumlin’s and Leahy’s rush to declare, not only casts a positive light on Welch’s own greater discretion, but it gives him valuable cache amongst the groundswell of young voters who have been attracted to the race in support of Sanders.

Congratulations, Congressman Welch, and thank you for giving me another good reason to celebrate your service to your constituents.

Kakistocracy: when the worst rule

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Are you coming to grips with the fact that we live in a world where pondering the possibility of a Donald Trump presidency is no longer considered completely delusional?WYLXUS~E

Well, journalist David Clay Johnson suggested in the National Memo.com that kakistocracy is a helpful but underused descriptive word to keep in mind.

We can see a troubling future looming for America in two seemingly unrelated events — the water crisis in Flint and the Republican presidential primaries.

Both suggest that America is moving away from the high ideals of President Kennedy’s inaugural address — “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” Instead we see politicians who say they love America, but hate the American government.

There is a word to describe the kind of government Michigan has and America is at risk of developing. It’s called kakistocracy.

It means government by the worst men, from the ancient Greek words kákistos, meaning worst, and kratia, meaning to rule.

And in the Republican party, currently full of the worst, front runner Donald Trump might be the biggest kakistocrat ever.