No matter what you think of the Tea Party movement, or of a fringe element of it, they have focused like a laser on a major long-term and long ignored problem - the federal debt. If nothing else, both parties might even have to deal with deficit spending in a grown up manner for the first time since the mid-1990s, and that is a good thing.
-- Jim Therrien
It seems that, once again, the Obama administration is making a mistake in not choosing Hillary Clinton for a high-profile post, the first time being as vice president. The Democrats could use an emotional boost right now, and her nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court would do just that, and the lift might carry into the November elections. But the president gives the impression of doing it his way or no way whenever a Clinton is involved. Oh well....
The president's health care plan seems to be wimping out and the financial reform plan is too easy on stock and other speculators. This is a bad sign. His window of opportunity could be closing.
Indian Massacre Road in Pownal is a beautiful Vermont country gravel road. Just a short distance from Route 346 in North Pownal, it seems a world away when there is no noise from the highway. It also happens to be a favorite dumping spot for people too lazy or too cheap to take their garbage and trash and old appliances and tires to the Pownal transfer station. In other words, they toss their refuse over the banks along the road so that volunteers on Green Up Day will have something to pick up. How thoughtful. If only their were still a few Indians around to scare these dufuses off before they dump.
-- Jim Therrien, Editor
The daring rescue of ship captain Richard Phillips brings some comparisons to some of the greatest big box-office Hollywood thriller.
According to the news reports, over the five days between when Phillips, an Underhill, Vt., resident was captured by Somali pirates, he was captured, tried to jump off the lifeboat where he was being held and swim to shore, got shot at by automatic weapons in the water, re-captured, then saved by Navy seals when naval snipers killed three of the four pirates that held him hostage.
Holy cow! It has all the makings of a Bruce Willis or Kevin Costner flick. But it's all real. And there's a lot of heroes involved, no one leading man.
Easter Sunday, in the Christian term, is the day when Jesus was resurrected... it seems a very fitting day for the return (safely) of a hero on the high seas.
-Adam Samrov
Like the title says, congratulations to the legislature in Vermont for legalizing gay marriage. After a veto by Governor Jim Douglas on Monday, the Senate overrode it 23-5 and the House did by the slimmest of margins, 100-49. One member of the House, one who voted no in the first vote -- Albert "Sonny" Audette, D-South Burlington, didn't attend the override vote.
While the gay marriage debate is a very hot-potato type topic, allowing it in Vermont, one of the most liberal states in the country, will be a boon for the Green Mountain State financially.
Gay and lesbian couples will flock to Vermont to get married, and companies that deal with weddings will boom -- florists, DJs, bakers, etc. Every corner of Vermont, from Bennington, Burlington, St. Johnsbury, Brattleboro and back will see a big boost in revenues.
Massachusetts and Connecticut also allow gay marriage, so now half the states in New England have taken that progressive step. Vermont has always been at the forefront in the gay rights arena, as the first state to approve civil unions back in 2000. This is just the next step.
On the local angle, Arlington representative Cynthia Browning and Bennington rep Tim Corcoran, both Democrats, both voted no on the first vote and to uphold Douglas' veto.
Unfortunately, an issue like this can be bad for a political career if you're on the wrong end of it, as Browning explains:
"I'm probably now in the doghouse. I'm going to be in the outhouse, and probably soon in the wilderness," Browning said in a Banner article from today (Wednesday). "I'm very proud of my vote, and I'm very proud that I stood up for what I believe in."
It takes guts to vote the way you believe and not just with the rest of the party or because there's pressure from other party members. Hopefully Browning's consitutents will understand her vote and why she chose what she did, and not have her political career based on two votes on one issue in the legislature.
Freedom and unity is the Vermont motto... this decision proves it.
As the Banner’s religion reporter/editor, I had been interested in seeing the Dalai Lama in Albany, N.Y., since a story in the Albany Times Union said that he would be appearing at the Times Union Center on April 19. Our staff photographer, Peter Crabtree, was interesting in going also. I tried a number of times to find out from the Times Union Center about press credentials, without success. Just as well. When I came into work on Monday, April 6, there was a fax on my desk saying that the visit had been cancelled.
The fax bears a Times Union Center letterhead, and reads in part: “All tickets purchased for the event will be refunded at the original point purchased. If ordered over the phone, patrons must call 1-800-30-EVENT to receive their refund. If purchased online, credit cards will be automatically refunded, and if purchased at the arena box office or an outlet, patrons must return to the original point of purchase to receive their refund.”
The Albany Times Union reports that there were some issues with the organization hoping to sponsor the visit that apparently led to the cancellation.
— Mark Rondeau