Marchin’ in the Streets

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It’s a nice day for the Women’s March in Montpelier with unseasonably mild temperatures (up to 41-degrees) and only a 10% chance of rain.

Over the past twenty-four hours, I have spoken with my sister who will join the March in Portland, Oregon and my son’s Significant Other, Sarah, who, with her mom, her sister and her sister’s boyfriend have made the drive to D.C. for the big March down there.

My friend Cheryl and I will head to Montpelier to join with  Progressive Party members at 1:00, at Montpelier High School, where we will merge with other activist assemblies in the Vermont Women’s March to the State House.

Our brand new Progressive Lieutenant Governor, Dave Zuckerman, will be among the speakers that include former Governor Madeleine Kunin,  Meghan Gallaher of Planned Parenthood, Ebony Nyoni of Black Lives Matter and former Transportation Sect. Sue Minter.

You can feel the crackle of connectivity in the air as parties of friends and family members all over the world make their way to the March routes.

Donald Trump’s angry supporters supposedly voted for ‘change,’ but what we are getting instead is regression.

The only real change will come when paleolithic patriarchy in America is finally left behind and women are represented in positions of power equal to their actual numbers in the population.

Donald Trump, one must hope, is the last desperate gasp of that regressive impulse, destined to be cast aside on the scrap-heap of historic errors in judgement and temporary insanity.

It is fitting that women should lead the keynote resistance against the man who single-handedly is attempting to reverse decades of progress in women’s and minorities civil rights, defense against climate change, educational opportunity and first amendment rights.

Donald Trump clings to the idea of American exceptionalism, yet his vision for the country would set this nation well-behind the rest of the developed world in so many fundamental ways.

Let’s make the next president (after Darth Pence replaces an impeached Donald Trump) a progressive female from one of our valuable minority communities. She is out there somewhere. Our job is to find and empower her.

See you at the March!

Burnt orange or pumpkin, what color will Donald Trump be today?

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Early on not many would have wasted a bet on Trump winning the election. And online speculation has been rampant about Trump’s changing color tone since before November. So, in a way it seems logical that now, as he takes office you can place a bet on what color he will be during the swearing in ceremonies.trump_skin_colour

An Irish betting website is taking wagers on the tone of President-elect Donald Trump’s skin at his inauguration, with options ranging anywhere from “deep saffron” to “vivid tangelo.”

The “Inauguration Skin Color” contest is just one of several tongue-in-cheek categories of bets that poke fun at Trump, famous for his orange-hued tan, on bookmaker Paddy Power’s website. The skin tone “Tiger’s Eye” is given 6/1 odds of appearing on Friday, while “Mahogany” is an 18/1 shot.

The online bookmaking site also offers 4/1 odds that President Trump will be impeached in his first six months in office.

Oh, and bets can also be placed on how soon President Trump will pay a visit to Russia-odds may be good Donald’s thank you visit to Vladimir Putin will be sooner rather than later.

Trump the Bugblatter: some survival suggestions

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A towel, [The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy] says, is about the most massively useful thing ; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-boggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.” If only it was that funny…or simple.trumpblatter2

A day or so after Trump won, I read Autocracy: Six Rules for Survival. Practical suggestions shared  by Russian/American journalist and LGBTQ activist Masha Gessen, someone familiar with the tactics of Trump’s buddy, Putin.

Now, about 2 months later, with Donald John Trump (no denying it, or hiding from it) about to be sworn in as the 45th President of the USA, it’s an additional  jolt to re-read the six rules … it can happen here.

 

Here are rules #1 and #3 of  Gessen’s six Rules for Survival:

Rule #1: Believe the autocrat. He means what he says. Whenever you find yourself thinking, or hear others claiming, that he is exaggerating, that is our innate tendency to reach for a rationalization.

Rule #3: Institutions will not save you. It took Putin a year to take over the Russian media and four years to dismantle its electoral system.

Of course, the United States has much stronger institutions […] The problem, however, is that many of these institutions are enshrined in political culture rather than in law, and all of them — including the ones enshrined in law — depend on the good faith of all actors to fulfill their purpose and uphold the Constitution.

The national press is likely to be among the first institutional victims of Trumpism.

One thing for certain: we’re headed into an unknown and wild four years (or more), so any tool at all could prove useful to survive Trump the autocratic Bugblatter.

An Independent Ethics Commission is STILL needed!

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It is always our great pleasure to share the words of Sec. of State Jim Condos with our GMD readers.  The topic this time is especially meaningful to me. – S.P.

“The Vermont Constitution (Chapter 1, Article 6) demands that our elected officials are open, transparent, and accountable. The authors understood how transparency in government is the very basis of trust. State statute also demands access and accountability:

It is the policy of this subchapter to provide for free and open examination of records consistent with Chapter I, Article 6 of the Vermont Constitution. Officers of government are trustees and servants of the people and it is in the public interest to enable any person to review and criticize their decisions even though such examination may cause inconvenience or embarrassment. (1 V.S.A. § 315)

The overwhelming majority of our dedicated local and state public officials are trustworthy, hard-working individuals striving to better the lives of those they serve. They are people who give generously of their time and want to do the right thing.

However, corruption can exist, and seemingly innocent conflicts of interest pop up everywhere in a small state like Vermont. These issues, even in small doses, can be just as corrosive to our democracy as more prominent scandals, undermining the public trust.

The key to our democracy is the public’s access to open and transparent government. This sacred trust must not be taken lightly. We must restore and improve that accountability or risk Vermonters’ faith in our ability to govern.

Vermont remains one of only a handful of states without an Ethics Commission. The 2015 Center for Public Integrity ranking of the states had Vermont with an overall grade of D-. Essentially, this ranking exists because we do not have an independent ethics commission or the required financial disclosures existing in nearly every other state.

Vermont can and must do better!

The time has come for Vermont to enact a clear ethics law with a code of ethics and financial disclosure for our elected officials.

The time has come for Vermont to create an independent ethics commission to provide education and insight, addressing ethical issues across the Legislative, Executive, and Municipal sections of government.

I am encouraged by the Legislature’s growing enthusiasm around the issue, as well as the Governor’s supportive statements during his campaign. I am hopeful this will translate into meaningful ethics reform.

To be effective, a commission must be independent, adequately resourced, and empowered to fairly and impartially field and investigate complaints from the public.

Yes – this will require a budget and a small staff, but these investments will be a small price to pay for a more accountable government and a place where affected Vermonters can seek redress and where unsure government officials can seek advice.

Establishing an ethics committee will not suddenly provide government with a moral compass. However, it will be a step in the right direction and by shining a brighter light on improved transparency and accountability.”

-Jim Condos, Vermont’s Secretary of State

 

Twilight in America

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Truly inauspicious  beginnings.

Even mainstream media outlet CNN is beginning to acknowledge the cancer they enabled with unlimited access to live air time whenever Donald Trump called into the station in his early candidacy. Remember how shamelessly they stooged for him? Even as they rolled their eyes at his outrageous antics, they never held him accountable for the poisonous lies he embraced.  Donald Trump was making them his creatures, only to later dash them against the wall.

This opinion piece on CNN.com is well worth sharing; but what truly is disturbing are the comments it has provoked.

Many of us saw signs of proto-facism even in the early days of Trump’s bid for the presidency, when CNN and others, not recognizing his authentic potential to do harm, allowed Donald Trump free reign of the airwaves to propagate messages of hate, misogyny, dystopia and pathological nationalism. CNN slavishly covered every minute of his blood-thirsty rallies, accepting abuse and coming back for more.

Like a malevolent Pied Piper, Trump cleverly used these broadcast opportunities to reach into the dark hearts of all those in the shadows who have chafed at the evolution of race and gender roles in America, and felt their impotent rage suppressed by the forces of political correctness.

It is an all too familiar scenario, replaying the script of authoritarian adventure that has undone older republics than our own. Now, even this CNN opinion writer sees that it won’t end well for American democracy.

Amid a frenzy of increasingly irresponsible tweets, on Martin Luther King Day, Trump upped the ante by savagely attacking civil rights icon John Lewis for simply refusing an invitation to the Inauguration. If he had it in his power now to impose penalties for non-attendance, I have no doubt that Congressman Lewis would be in jail, once again, right now.

What’s crazy is that a number of pundits, and even a few Democrats, have taken the position that even though Mr. Trump’s characterizations of Congressman Lewis were clearly out of line, Lewis was somehow also in the wrong, simply  for stating his reason for refusing  to attend. Unprincipled shills for corporate ‘neutrality’, they priggishly invoke the importance of upholding the outward appearance of an “orderly transfer of power”  etc., etc.

That is absolute bullshit! This is not the time to indulge in a game of false equivalence.

The President Elect set fire to those traditions himself, long ago; first of all by falsely imputing the legitimacy of the previous president; then by refusing to share his taxes with the American people; by indulging in flamboyant acts of cronyism and nepotism, and refusing to divest in order to avoid conflicts of interest; by public disloyalty to the national interest; and finally by lying so fabulously and unapologetically as to consign the notion of executive honor permanently to the scrap heap.

Other behaviors and comments showing a pattern of disrespect for minorities and women have so thoroughly violated his responsibility as the head of state as to leave little doubt of his illegitimacy, even before we consider the evidence of interference by a hostile foreign state and the possibility that his campaign was in cahoots with the Russians.

Donald Trump has no respect for the office or for more than half of his constituents; so why on earth should we be expected to indulge his vanity by pretending nothing’s rotten in DC?

To my mind, anyone who treats this transition and Donald Trump’s presidency as ‘legitimate’ is guilty of complicity.

Surely there has never been a better reason to set aside tradition than when the President Elect himself shows no interest in upholding the traditions of democratic consent.

Donald Trump and his sycophants have wrapped themselves in the delusion that he is somehow above reproach and possessed of an unimpeachable mandate from the people, when nothing could be further from the truth.

But even “truth” doesn’t have the weight that it did a year ago, before Donald Trump reshaped it as a negotiable commodity.

Donald Trump: Yes, to Beans, No to Don’s Johns

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The Office of Governmental Ethics issued a general reminder to the incoming administration that government officials should refrain from endorsing any product, company or service days after Donald Trump tweeted we should go out and buy LL Bean products. Is it possible they have taken it to heart? Or is Team Donald simply picking winners and losers: ‘Yes’ to Beans and ‘No’ to Don’s Johns ?donaldsjohns

 

In an “unpresidented” move, the logo reading “Don’s Johns” (Motto: We’re #1 in #2 ) on almost three thousand portable toilets rented by the government for use along the National Maul during the inauguration are having their logos hidden from view with tape.

Don’s Johns has provided portable toilets for many large events in Washington, including the 2009 and 2013 inauguration ceremonies for President Barack Obama, Weghorst said. No logos were taped over during those events, he said. And here is Don’s Johns homepage  — he has testimonies and a blog … really!

The Washington Post reports the Architect of Capitol has come clean and is taking responsibility for ordering the cover-up, which, they say, will bring the toilets into compliance with previously ignored restrictions on Don’s Johns logo “advertizing”.

It could be sensitivity to the Ethics Office warning. Or perhaps someone in the Trump camp is hyper-sensitive after his rumored Russian hotel exploits to the possibility of  the logo Don’s Johns  being shown around the world and permanently associated with Donald’s Presidential inauguration ceremony. Always protect the TRUMP™ brand — keeping him #1.

Ethics, anyone?

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Ethics in elected office has been a big topic of discussion since the latter part of the 2016 presidential campaign.

The highest profile issues are those surrounding President-Elect Trump, who still hasn’t shared his taxes with the public, and apparently doesn’t intend to distance himself from his business holdings; and from his roster of administration appointments in which billionaire tycoons and former lobbyists figure heavily.

Apparently Republicans aren’t interested in questioning anybody’s ethics but those of Democrats.

Emboldened by majorities in the House and Senate, as well as control of the Oval Office, Congressional Republicans attempted to castrate the independent Office of Congressional Ethics. That effort was scrapped only twenty-four hours later, when news of the sly maneuver reached the greater constituency and all hell broke loose.

Still, it was a reminder to me to check on the progress of Vermont’s own belated attempt to establish ethics rules in the wake of the sensational Norm McAllister sexual assault scandal.

Efforts to establish a State Ethics Panel were allowed to languish and die before summer recess. In a measure of progress, though, the Senate’s own version, propelled forward by the McAllister debacle, does establish certain new disclosure guidelines for senators.
With the 2017 winter session comes new hope that a State Ethics Commission, which already has broad support in the Senate, will finally obtain House approval.  It’s far from all we might wish for, but it’s better than nothing.

Here in Franklin County, the salacious topic of Norm McAllister’s unwholesome appetites simply refuses to go away. Shortly after a jury was selected to hear the case of the second of his three alleged victims, it was announced that Mr. McAllister had copped a plea to avoid a trial and was facing up to seven years in the sentencing phase, but would avoid potential penalties (up to life in prison) for the most serious charges.

That was Tuesday. Today came the news that McAllister had told WPTZ that he “might” change his mind.

While I would relish the opportunity to finally hear McAllister being examined on a witness stand, I can’t imagine that the continued suspense provides anything but further suffering for his victims.

Who knows whether he will really change his plea? This is the same guy who has essentially both admitted to and denied his guilt in the assorted pre-trial depositions.

In Post-Truth America I suppose we shouldn’t be at all surprised.

 

Does Trump really know beans about brands?

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Donald Trump is once again demonstrating his knack to distract. Trump found time amid confirmation hearings for his cabinet and a brewing scandal over his relationship with certain Russian men and women to tweet this:beans

The Trump tweet is referencing a squabble about oversized donations Linda Bean, the granddaughter of the founder of LL Bean,  made to Making America Great Again PAC, a Trump campaign organization. These contributions resulted in a call by a group called Grab Your Wallet to boycott LL Bean products.

The AP reported in Maine days ago that Bean’s contributions to Trump’s Making America Great Again PAC that may have been more than ten times  the amount allowed for individual donations.

Making America Great Again LLC [not a super PAC, and which also goes by the name “Making Maine Great Again”] was limited to individual contributions of $5,000, according to a letter Wednesday from federal regulators obtained by The Associated Press. Federal campaign finance reports show Bean contributed $60,000 while the group spent $66,862.

A longtime Republican activist, Linda Bean has run for a seat in the US Congress, operates Linda Bean’s Lobster Dreams in Maine and also is on the LL Bean board of directors. LLBean Inc. was forced to reiterate an earlier statement that the company is “apolitical” following Trump’s enthusiastic shop at LL Bean’s message.

The donation to MAGA and Trump’s subsequent tweet of solidarity could prove grating to many people not enamored by the soon-to-be president. LLBean may be just another sporting goods and outdoor clothing retailer to some, but for others the clothing is a sort of liberal/outdoorsy ID badge or icon. Just take a look at former Vermont Governor Howard Dean’s official state portrait. govdeanbean

Howard Dean, as you can see, is practically wrapped in LLBean outdoor iconography. The painting could stand in for the cover any LLBean fall catalog.

And as for Donald Trump? Well he may not know beans about the outdoors but he knows how to engineer a good distraction from his daily crisis — LOOK SQUIRREL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Donald’s poll numbers are falling, not good…sad.

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How bad are President-elect Trump’s poll numbers? Well, so bad they may be record setters. You can find the newest Quinnipiac poll results here. And the Washington Post has rundown of how bad they are and what rough a honeymoon Trump is having as president elect. The poll was conducted here in the USA, not Russia.

Trump’s favorability rating, which had risen slightly since the election, is shown by Quinnipiac to be quickly dropping back to record lows for a president-elect. Here are some highlights or low-lights if you want: American voters give President-elect Trump a negative 37 – 51 percent favorability rating, compared to a divided 44 – 46 percent favorability rating November 22. trumpoww

Vice President- elect Mike Pence gets a split 37 – 34 percent favorability rating. [Note: the second number is the unfavorability rating.]

Before entering office recent U.S. Presidents have had much higher numbers than Trump now has: Bill Clinton 58%, George W. Bush (2000) 59% and Barack Obama 68%.

Before he’s even sworn in Trump has already got a rough task ahead — making his favorability poll numbers “great” or even “good” again.

GOP governors: It’s Numberwang !

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Does anyone wonder how Vermont GOP Governor Phil Scott’s fellow “fiscally responsible” Republican governors have done keeping their state’s fiscal houses in order? numberwanged

Well, as early as last spring US News&World Report noted that at least a half dozen Republican-governed states that had been running “real life experiments” with Laffer inspired tax and budget cuts were “awash in red ink, facing nine- and ten-figure deficits heading into the new fiscal year.”  So mostly, It’s Numberwang!

In Kansas, as of early this past year, Governor Sam Brownback’s program of budget and tax cutting had created a state budget that’s nearly $1 billion in the red, forcing deep cuts in education, social programs and some services.

Now, with Trump about to be in control of the White House and GOP majorities in the US Congress — all poised to do god-knows-what in terms of tax “reform” at the national level, some GOP red states are now considering the unthinkable — raising taxes to correct severe budget shortfalls.

The GOP tax ideas run the board from raising gas taxes, shifting from property taxes to some combination of sales taxes, gross receipts taxes, and internet sales taxes, and/or raising taxes on alcohol or cigarettes (sin taxes). That’s quite a menu of choices, but not surprisingly for states enjoying Republican rule, raising income taxes on the wealthy or perhaps capital gains taxes seem to be off the table. You may notice too that most of these suggested revenue enhancers under consideration would have a heavier impact on lower-income earners — those already under stress from GOP cuts to education and social services.

And with Republicans’ “real life” Laffer-curve experiments knocking budgets out of whack and their resulting looming fiscal disaster, can you guess what is about to happen in states that now have newly elected GOP governors and majority legislatures?  Well … In New Hampshire and Iowa, states now wholly run by Republican governors and legislatures, leaders say they will work to reform the tax code by condensing the number of individual tax brackets or by cutting corporate tax rates.

It’s almost unbelievable, but it appears that states currently on reasonable financial footing but now under Republican control are about to swallow the same GOP tax-cut medicines that failed so spectacularly elsewhere. With President Trump and GOP control at the federal level the Laffer dose could be double strength.

Here in Vermont Democrats control the legislature which likely may save us from a full-scale GOP Numberwanging.

But why take foolish chances? Keep an eye on Phil Scott. He may just be settling in but right off has drawn a line in the sand — promising to veto any budget that grows faster than wages or the state economy in the previous year.

The Numberwang game: Once finished, becomes “WangerNumb”, where the players, in a more tense situation, say numbers until one gets “WangerNumb.” In the end, one contestant loses (almost always the same contestant) and is tortured in a way such as being arrested by the police.

Makes about as much sense as the numbers games Republican governors are playing.