BLESSED ARE THE POOR

It is a given among the local intelligentsia, the liberal power set, the media, and the Democrat controlled Legislature that we must take care of the poor, that we must at all times keep their interests in mind. From most any standard, this "fact" is a fiction.

Take for example the price of gasoline. Last year Representative Michael Obuchowski, D-Rockingham, a well known and tireless worker for the poor, introduced a resolution into the Vermont House, JRH 31:

"We are strongly urging the federal government to take immediate steps to lower retail gasoline prices. Whereas the nationwide average price of regular unleaded gasoline stood at $2.22/gallon, Vermont is a rural state with minimal public transportation, thousands must drive their cars to work daily, many for extended distances, and the severe economic consequences of sharply rising gasoline for Vermont can no longer be ignored, it is imperative that the federal government take every conceivable measure to halt and reverse this untenable and deplorable escalation in retail gasoline prices."

WORDS AND DEEDS ARE NOT ONE

However "imperative and deplorable" the price of gasoline was, this resolution is not longer "operative." Does this remind you of President Richard Nixon's press secretary Ron Zeigler? Today the price of gasoline is $2.44 and it is imperative now, only one year later, for the very same Democrat House to raise the gas tax, increasing the "severe economic consequences." According to a report in the Free Press, the House's "conviction is that fuel taxes are currently the best option to meet the critical need for extra money..."

The long suffering poor provide for the nurturing needs of the Democrat majority; however the poor have to drive to work and shop. There is no housing that they can afford anywhere near where they work.

Take Stowe for example. If you are a real estate agent, hotel owner, accountant, or lawyer working in Stowe, you probably live in Stowe. If you are a housekeeper, chamber maid, or lift operator, you probably do not. You have drive many miles, and not in a hybrid Honda getting 65 miles per gallon. If you are poor, the liberals "feel your pain." Their actions however just made you poorer.

THE LAW OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES

According to the state economist Thomas Kavat, the only group of Vermonters not doing better is the working poor. Kavat presented the data at the recent semi-annual Emergency Board meeting entitled "Change in adjusted gross income between 2004 and 2005." For those with incomes between $15,000 and $20,000 their income was down five percent. For those between $20,000 and $25,000, their income was down two percent. For those between $25,000 and $30,000, their income was down one percent.

On the other hand, for the working and non-working richer folks, those whose income was over $75,000, their income was up an astonishing twenty-five percent. For those whose income was between $500,000 and $1,000,000, their income was up forty-five percent, and for those over $1,000,000 their income was up sixty-two percent in just a one year period.

Whatever the Democrats have been doing since the Kunin revolution in 1984, it sure has been great for the rich and terrible for the poor. Perhaps it is just the law of unintended consequences at work. Perhaps it is their putting ideology before common sense. Your guess. However it was not for no reason that the socialist ideology of Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is in the dustbin of history after a seventy-five year effort.

COMMON SENSE

Though the Valley News, the Burlington Free Press, the Herald of Randolph, and others argued in favor of transferring money out of the Education Fund, money which had been "robbed" in earlier Democrat Days from the Transportation Fund, Speaker Symington, D-Jericho, nevertheless pushed the gas tax through the House.

"The Education Fund is in good shape. Judging from the condition of some of the state's roads, the same cannot be said for the Transportation Fund," wrote the Valley News. This was the Douglas plan, returning the money to its rightful owner, the Transportation Fund. Common sense.

THE SILVER CLOUD

If you own a Bentley Silver Cloud coupe, you pay the same license fees as the working poor with a beater. One would think that the Democrats would look under every rock for regressive taxes. But judging from the legislative parking lots, folks up there have some pretty fancy cars. Many states align registration fees with blue book values. Fees were another part of the governor's plan, but "no" said the Democrats, let's stick it to the poor.

LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL

For state treasuries nationwide, tax revenues are pouring in once again. For most, the economic slowdown in 2001 forced state after state to reduce its expenses. Not so here in Vermont. Vermont continued to chug along, raising more, spending more.

What do other states do when they raise more? In Connecticut, the governor recommends slashing the gas and electricity taxes. In Maryland, the governor recommends tax cuts for estates and the military pensioners. Not here. Revenues are up, but so are our "needs," so let's raise taxes again. Save us.

MUGGING LOW WAGE EARNERS

Here is another example: What is one of the liberal's biggest bugaboos? Wal-Mart. Were we not proud? Vermont was the only state in America without a Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart tried for years to obtain permits for a store in Saint Johnsbury. Fed up, they enquired across the river in New Hampshire, and they had their permits in thirty days. No one thought that poor folks could find Littleton.

Look at the data. According to the Washington Post, the average Wal-Mart shopper earns $35,000 a year, like those folks in Vermont whose income is going down. Deny permits to Wal-Mart, raise the gas tax and make the poor drive further to shop. Perhaps legislators do not avail themselves of Wal-Mart's bargains; maybe they use Costco where the average earnings per customer are $74,000.

When legislatures force Wal-Mart to provide health care or spend money on more and more permits, or delay the permit process, who is hurt? The working poor.

WAL-MART IS A PROGESSIVE FORCE

This was a headline recently in the Washington Post. "Wal-Mart is saving for its working poor customer $250 billion a year. Food stamps are worth $33 billion. The earned-income tax credit is worth $40 billion. Wal-Mart's discounting boosts the welfare of their shoppers.

"According to a leading Wal-Mart critic, Wal-Mart has caused a $4.7 billion annual loss in wages. Set against these savings, Wal-Mart's alleged lower wages appear trivial. When Wal-Mart opened a store in Glendale, Arizona last year, it received 8,000 applications for 525 jobs. Not everyone believes that the pay and benefits are unattractive."

When a hearing was held in Derby for a new 150,000 square foot Wal-Mart, Mary Lillian of that town said, "I am opposed to the size of it. I think that it is too small." Many residents work at the Littleton NH Wal-Mart, driving well over an hour to work. According to the Free Press, they "praised their working conditions and said that they make better money there then they could at home. Derby resident Greg Fleming said, 'The best place to see your neighbors is Littleton, NH.'"

IT'S ABOUT EXPANDING GOVERNMENT

It is according to the Wall Street Journal. "With the war on Wal-Mart now heating up in nearly three dozen state legislatures, let's first understand that the drive to enact anti-Wal-Mart legislation has very little to do with the retail giant except in two respects: dipping into its very deep pockets, and using the controversy surrounding the company to mask the larger agenda of expanding already-bankrupt entitlement programs."

That Wal-Mart already bests the government's food stamp and earned income tax credit program on a scale of three to one, is of no concern. Government rocks.

THE DEMOCRATS COALITION GOES TO WORK

In Derby, the Vermont Natural Resources Council, the Preservation Trust of Vermont, the Northwest Citizens for Responsible Growth, the Raging Grannies, and Environmentalist Bill McKibben have all been throwing sticks into the wheels of progress, trying to preserve the natural state of poverty of Vermont's poor.

In Saint Albans, Wal-Mart has for years been trying to receive the go-ahead to build a 160,000 square foot retail center. Our friends at the Vermont Natural Resources Council have come up with a stopper or a delayer that boggles the imagination and stands reality on its head.

PLAYING THE FROG CARD

This according to an article in the Saint Albans Messenger: It appears that the site for the Wal-Mart has the appropriate environmental habitat for the Western Chorus frog. No such frog has ever been seen in Saint Albans as its prime habitat is in the Midwest and its current range ends in upstate New York. But if one of the frog families ever decides to vacation in the Saint Albans area we want to make sure that we preserve what we think might be its destination resort.

FROGGY NEWS

"'Ecological records indicate that the 107.5 acre area that encompasses the project tract has been, and may continue to be, habitat for the state endangered Western Chorus Frog,' Jon Groveman of the VNRC said.

"The operative terms regarding the Western Chorus frog are 'has been' and 'may continue to be.' Although the frog was determined to have existed in Franklin County, no one has seen or heard one here since 1975.

"According to Middlebury College Research Herpetologist Jim Andrews, 'Right now, we don't know where these guys are at all.' They are more often found in the Midwest, particularly in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and Ohio. The little frog, measuring up to 11/2 inches long, sounds very much like the peepers often heard on summer nights.'

"According to Vermont Agency of Natural Resource's description of the Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge in Swanton, the frog is listed under native reptiles and amphibians as 'possibly' present in the refuge.'"

All this would seem funny if it was not true, which in this case makes it ridiculous. Howard Dean running for president spoke of how we are as the rest of country would like to be. We could all feel the swelling of pride in our breasts. It felt right. But of course it is not. Traveling the country as we do, people are quite happy right where they are, living, developing, accessing the world through wireless, broadband, and cell communication, wonders many of us have only read about.

Even Speaker Symington exclaimed, "At my town meeting, what people were most interested in was when they would have access to high speed Internet." Not the Western Chorus Frog or the Catamount Health Plan? Folks out there are not all pining to be in Vermont or live as we do.

AND OF COURSE THERE IS MORE

A permit for Wal-Mart to build a 112,000 square foot store in Bennington is being appealed by Citizens for a Greater Bennington. They have concerns about traffic, economic and social impacts of Wal-Mart's building a building.

WHAT ARE FRIENDS FOR?

In Vermont's senate, structured as it is with twenty-one Democrats, a couple of RINOS and a few Republicans, efforts have been under way to restrict box stores to 50,000 square feet. We guess that in their yearnings to care for Vermont's poor, they want them to know their place and need them to stay there.

Ironically, when Senate pro tem Peter Welch (D-Windsor) recently divulged in his financial disclosure required for his Congressional run, that not only did he have an $859,781 annual income while also doing his pro tem work almost pro bono, but also, lo and behold, Mr. Welch is an owner of Wal-Mart. He also owns part of the evil oil company Exxon-Mobil with its $62 billion profits, and greedy drug companies Bristol-Meyers Squibb and Ely Lilly which overprice their drugs to us daily.

For all Welch's talk, we harken back to President Reagan's words, "facts are stubborn things." We also recall Reagan's words relevant to the poor, "A job is the best welfare program." Welch's senate stands in the way of creating or expanding jobs by stopping an effective permit reform process, workman's compensation reform, tax reduction, infrastructure development, cell phone towers, lower electrical rates, and so forth.

VERMONT ASSISTANCE SOCIETY

An accountant told me that he "assists" four to six couples a year in declaring legal residence in Florida to avoid Vermont's onerous taxes. Fortunately, he says, while turning their back on their homeland, they do not turn their backs on him as their accountant.

The web site for the Vermont Society of Certified Public Accountants claims to have seven hundred members. If each one moves four clients to Florida per year, quite an unnecessary hole is being dug in Vermont's future tax receipts. We cannot imagine why anyone would ever want to leave the Green Mountain State; but we understand why they need to.

INSTANT RUNOFF WHINING

Senator Hinda Miller, D-Chittenden, and two time loser in Burlington's first in the state instant runoff voting (IRV), testified recently in Montpelier that she was opposed to IRV because, "A candidate is allowed to influence the minds of the voters." Is that not what elections are all about?

Ms. Miller outspent the winner, Progressive Robert Kiss, eight to one, and obtained the endorsements of every living Democrat in memory (not bad for a woman who began her political career as a Republican) trying to influence the minds of the voter. Nonetheless, devastating articles in Seven Days and the Burlington Free Press negatively quoting her former associates at Jogbra also may have influenced voters. Even her friends and associates would not vote for her. Would Ms. Miller recommend therefore that we do away with the press as well?

THE MUSCLE

Many attribute Kiss's victory not just to a mumbling stumbling Hinda Miller, but to the muscle of Bernie Sanders' grass roots operation. Practicing old time politics of identifying your voter and making sure that they make it to the polls, the operation was very impressive. Time will tell whether Sanders can produce the same kind of muscle statewide.

As for Sanders' opponent, Rich Tarrant's biographical story is almost told. Then, according to the Tarrant campaign, the media campaign will focus on issues while Tarrant puts in fifteen hour days meeting, greeting, and building his own grass roots operation.

VOTE EARLY AND OFTEN

Our eleven year old son went into the polling area on town meeting day. Asked, whom did you vote for, he said, "I am not allowed to vote. But if I were, I would vote for the guy who played for the Celtics, even though my teacher was handing out stuff for the other guy."

LOST IN TRANSLATION

The other night, the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee called. They wished to know if we would contribute $100 to stop Karl Rove and Tom Delay. It seems that we read somewhere that Delay has been de-clawed, and Rove is awaiting a possible indictment. Perhaps the DCCC should catch up with the news. As much as Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi is criticizing DNC Chair Howard Dean, she might check out her own organization.

Then the next night a cheerful woman called to ask if we would mind adding our name to a group of Orange County citizens who are lending their "devout support" to Bernie Sanders's senate run. Is Bernie a religion now? We did not know that covering a recent Sanders lasagna dinner had characterized us as a devout supporter. Regrettably, we politely declined.

VERMONT'S ZONING MISSES A CHANCE

After allowing its old church building to be flattened to make way for housing, Pastor Paul Nzacahayo of the Wood Methodist Church in Dudley, England was told he would have to pay £75 for permission to erect the free-standing cross outside their new church.

According to an article in the Express & Star Ltd., the Dudley Council said: "All such crosses are defined as advertisements in the Town and Country Planning Act of 1990."

KENNEDY'S DREAM

Vermonters are keeping the dream alive. According the UVM's Cynic, the State of Vermont along with Oklahoma, had the highest increase in Peace Corps volunteers in the nation in 2005, as well as the highest number of volunteers per capita.

THE BIG EASY -- A TRAVELOGUE

There is nothing easy about visiting the Big Easy. You see it right away; though there are four concourses and seventy gates at the Louis Armstrong Airport, only six gates were being used. The jet ways along entire concourses droop silently.

You see a familiar sign, "Beinvenue à Louisiana." The greeting does not include jazz bands or beads, only "what agency or contractor are you with?" No conventioneers, gambling junkets, or international visitors. Only two African Americans on board.

HARD WAYS

Interstate 10 North from the airport is elevated above swamps full of trees, now all dead. The storm surge replaced the fresh water with salt water creating killing fields.

Interstate 10 South into town is deceiving; lots of traffic, operating buildings, and hotels. Take an exit, any exit, and you enter a ghost town. No people, no active businesses, small shopping centers, one after another, a restaurant, mail boxes, liquor store, video store, food market, all boarded up.

Drive on; traffic lights are not operating, 7-11's and Circle K's closed, corner markets closed, video stores closed. A sign proclaims, "Block restored, one by one." That block however had been above water. The only sign of life was a Salvation Army food truck, a hungry line waiting.

Turn off the broad avenues and head northeast towards Lake Pontchartrain. No life, block after block. Suddenly you are aware of a bathtub ring on each house, first a foot off the ground, then two, then three feet. Driving, you do not realize that you are going downhill; yet each block adds another six inches to the ring.

Buildings are marked, "dead K-9, 9/28", "two dead cats, 9/27", "one cat, found owner." Block after block. It is now seven feet to the ring and growing. The heartache is too much; you swing around to the next block and head back.

MARDI GRAS

It was Mardi Gras in New Orleans, parades from parish to parish. On Bourbon Street a crush of revelers; it was hard to move. Beads shared the street with beer cans, hurricane glasses, and grenade glasses. The balconies were packed; live music everywhere. Locals told us, "There is no joy, no life in this, no spontaneity. It all seems forced."

When dawn broke, the devastation was easy to see. Eighty percent of the globe street lights were gone, sixty percent of Canal Street's business were shuttered, traffic lights listing at seventy degrees, the famous Brennan's breakfast restaurant was closed flying a banner, "Opening as soon as possible."

SIGNS OF LIFE

There were signs of life; help wanted, experienced wait staff needed. People were commuting from Jackson, Mississippi, one hundred and eighty miles, commuting as there is no housing, coming from Jackson as there are few folks in New Orleans.

On Canal Street where the big Mardi Gras parade takes place, new barricades are up, new uniform palm trees are planted and staked. Sneakers, once so in demand as to break into a store and grab them, are now piled high next to an overflowing dumpster on the sidewalk. Amazingly, there is money for political billboards; "Re-elect Mayor Nagin, reunite our city."

The hotel room was just vacated by a long term rental, still with signs of semi-permanent occupation. Television has five channels devoted to different help lines and home photos. The sign on the Super Dome reads, "Re-opening, September 24, 2006 - New York Giants."

AU REVOIR

As the plane lifts off, you see the all too common blue roof tops, maybe a third, partially covered with a temporary plastic roof. You see the odd white trailer beside one out of fifteen middle class homes, supporting owners while the house is being made ready.

Reading the Sunday Times Picayune, you glance at "Business people shaping the metro economy," and notice that each person is white. You read a section on local Mardi Gras celebrations and admire the forty odd Mardi Gras queens, but notice that they are all white.

THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED

The black people for the most part were evacuated and have not returned. "There is no joy, no life, no spontaneity." Recall Mardi Gras; black folk making music, dancing, reveling. There is no longer a critical mass of black folks. The music in the Quarter is mostly white boy bands. The old folks playing on the street corners were all white.

Howard Josey, a southern gentleman, told us, "The right metaphor or analogy for Hurricane Katrina is September 11th. Look at New York City. There is still a hole where the World Trade Towers once stood, now almost five years later. The 'hole' here is deeper and wider and will take longer to fix."

IT WILL NOT BE A KAKE WALK

There are signs of life. Schools have re-opened mostly as charter schools, breaking free of the corruption and dysfunction of bureaucracy. Yet it is hard to argue with the demographic transformation. In the 2000 census, the city was 67 percent black and only 28 white. Today it is 52 percent white and 37 percent black.

DO YOU HAVE A SILVER MEDAL?

As Bob Costas of NBC was chastising Vermonter Lindsey Jacobellis for costing America a gold medal with a showy but unnecessary board grab in sight of the finish, we thought, "Lindsey, ask Bob, show me your silver medal." The New York Times, whose own coverage was almost all Bode all the time, wrote, "Ms. Jacobellis had an amazing race, built a huge lead, got exuberant and went splat. What did she think these were -- Games?"

MEDIA OF THE SHOT HEARD ROUND THE WORLD

"In normal life, people would look at this event and see two decent men caught in a twist of fate. They would feel concern for the victim and sympathy for the man who fired the gun. But we in Washington are able to rise above the normal human reaction.

"We have created a political climate impeccably sterilized of spontaneity and normal human response. We have our roles, dear audience. Ours is not to feel and think. Ours is but to spin or die." --David Brooks, New York Times, 2/16/06

COMMENTS ON VTNEA WATCH

»» Doug Richmond, Underhill: You suggest that school votes should not be held on separate days, or on school property. Since industry has replaced agriculture in March, ONLY the teacher's union has wrangled paid days off from work for town and school meeting -- so they can vote for each others budgets and raises. The rest of us work to pay those Act 60 taxes on town and school meeting days.

»» Judy Crowley, Rutland: Interesting data on schools, lack of students,etc. Are there any numbers, re: how many homeschooled kids there are or a total of private school kids in the State? My guess is that those figures have risen as public school census has dropped. Would love to have you make comment or present this information.

Editor's Note: A quick Internet search suggests that there were 100,817 public school students, 6,413 public school teachers, and 1540 home schooled kids in 2001-2. In 2004-5 the figures were 98,361 public school students (down 2.4%), 2090 homeschoolers (up 35%), and 6,790 public school teachers (up 5.9%). Go figure.

CONVENTIONAL WISDOM IN VERMONT

»» Rob Roper, Stowe: Mainstream media says that would be Rainville would be the stronger candidate. But consider this: The two stars on General Rainville's uniform pretty much guarantee that the War in Iraq and U.S. military policy will be the focal issue of her campaign. She won't be able to get away from it, and this issue in Vermont is a loser.

Rainville will quickly and permanently find herself between a rock and a hard place, having to be either a General for Bush War (she just lost the middle), or a General against Bush War (she just lost the base). Every move she makes will create an opening for a wedge that a crafty, veteran politician like Peter Welch will gleefully exploit. This will be particularly problematic for Rainville because until recently she didn't even know if she was a Republican herself, which means she will have to prove her bona fides to core Republican voters while appealing to Independents and crossover Democrats all for the first time, and all at the same time. Surviving this game of political Twister would be challenging for even the most experienced candidate, yet Rainville has never run for public office before.

Senator Mark Shepard, however, has already earned the confidence and affection of the Republican base, so he has more liberty to concentrate on reaching out to the vital center. This critical component to winning a race in Vermont is something with which Shepard has both experience and a successful record. He is, after all, a Republican who won elections in liberal-leaning Bennington County in 2002 and 2004 -- not good years for other House and Senate Republicans if you recall.

Chris Graff of the Associated Press has taken to calling Rainville's appeal as rock star. Mark Shepard's appeal, I would say, is a work horse. Which approach to politics will have a stronger pull with a majority of Vermonters?

ISSUES VERSUS ELECTABILITY

»» Robert Maynard, Williston: In your 02-12-06 Report, you make an electability case for both Senator Mark Shepard and General Martha Rainville. If an argument can be made for either candidate regarding electability, as you illustrate, then the criteria for backing one candidate over the other lies elsewhere. For me that criterion is who would best promote an agenda most compatible with traditional Republican concerns regarding the proper role of government.

Mark Sheppard has a history of standing firm for those issues associated with the above mentioned concerns. General Rainville is an attractive candidate and "may" be just as solid on those issues. The problem is that we do not know this to be the case. I see in her a big question mark in regards to the issues close to the heart of traditional republicanism.

Too many Republicans supported Jim Jeffords to insure that we had someone with an "R" after his name representing us in office. The problem is that he often voted against the issues that Republicans were for. The end result was his leaving the party. I am not suggesting that General Rainville is another Jim Jeffords, but I have no assurance that she is not. With Mark Shepard, there is no question mark.

ON THE OTHER HAND

»» Rand Larson, Richmond: Mark Shepard is not a great campaigner, he recently attended a meeting I held and he failed miserably to relate to people. Reports have come in time and time again where Mark just stairs at his shoes rather than to engage people. At this point he is nothing more than an embarrassment to the GOP.

The Welch camp loves him, "Vote for Mark he's just a lark".

Martha on the other hand is the real deal. She embraces many of the same beliefs that I do and she has integrity, courage, intelligence, determination, faith and the ability to relate to people. Yes, there are a couple of views that we differ on but overall she represents a fantastic opportunity for the GOP and for my core values.

DPR USELESS IN THE OUTHOUSE

»» Rand Larson, Richmond: I am a conservative Republican and I find your bias only second to Peter Fryne's. I guess my computer knows because it always puts your letter in the "junk" file,... isn't that appropriate.

As a conservative who has actually done something for the party I am fed up with people like you who are great at pontificating but fail to do anything else. Delete me from your e-mail list, at least I can use Seven Days in a pinch if the toilet paper runs out.

THEY LIKE US

»» Roberta Borland, Greensboro: It feels good to laugh, and I thank you. I think you should have your eight year old add commentary more often! What a hoot: she reminds me of my nine year old granddaughter.....says it like it is, straight up, and right AT you....some say she "got that" from me. I assume your daughter might have, too! Thanks!

»» Dave LaBelle, Derby: Keep up the good work.

»» Jeff Chapple, Juniper, FL: Love your stuff.

»» Peter Brownell, Williston: Always a pleasure.

»» Dennis Siwirski: Wonderful newsletter! I've passed the link along.

IT'S YOUR OWN DARN FAULT

"You shouldn't be angry about how much teachers get paid, but how little money most everyone else makes." ­- Portland Oregonian columnist S. Renee Mitchell

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/114091890428650.xml&coll=7

STALINISTS

"I am clearly in the leftist twenty percent of the country. I am a Ted Kennedy liberal. But in Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, I am in the side of conservatives. That does not show that I am out of sync with the country; it shows how out of sync Harvard is." --Professor Alan Dershowitz, AP, February 27, 2006

HELPING THE POOR, THE DISADVANTAGED

"Something momentous is happening here in the home of prairie populism: black flight. African-American families from the poorest neighborhoods are rapidly abandoning the district public schools, going to charter schools, and taking advantage of open enrollment at suburban public schools.

"They can do so because of the state's longstanding commitment to school choice. In 1990 Minnesota allowed students to cross district boundaries to enroll in any district with open seats." --Katherine Kersten, Wall Street Journal, March 2, 2006

NUREMBURG REDUX-JUST FOLLOWING ORDERS

"Tempers are flaring over a United States demand to open to scholars and researchers a huge repository of information about the Holocaust contained in the files of the International Tracing Service at Bad Arolsen, Germany.

"A treaty says the facility must take all reasonable steps to avoid divulging information about a person or persons which might prejudice the interests of persons concerned. Refusing to open the files, director Biedermann said, 'As director, I must fulfill my orders.'" --Roger Cohen, New York Times, 2/20/06

REVERSE VOTING

"It used to be that the idea was, once every two years voters elected their representatives. Now, instead, it is every ten years that the representatives choose their constituents. Congressmen are more likely to die or be indicted than they are to lose an election." --Professor Pamela Karlan, The New Yorker, 3/6/06

ON THE ROCKS

"There is a larger question which is yet to be settled: Have Americans now decided that it is acceptable to exhibit bigotry against all Arabs from any country?

"If we are to officially hate Arabs, do we only hate Islamic Arabs or should we also hate Arabs who are Christians?

"If it is Islam, then are we to also hate Muslims in Africa? Or in Indonesia? How about Muslims who are American citizens? And, if so, should we hate White and Black Muslim Americans equally, or do African-American Muslims get a bye based upon how their forebears were treated?

"We may have found a political port in this Dubai storm, but if, for the price of it, we have agreed that state-sponsored racism is acceptable public policy, then we will be sailing into a great deal of troubled water in the years ahead." --Mullings, Rich Galen, March 10, 2006

ON THE ROCK, PART TWO

"When it came to the Dubai ports issue, the facts never really had a chance, not in this political season. Still, it's hard to imagine a more ignorant, bogus, xenophobic, reckless debate than the one indulged in by both Republicans and Democrats around this question of whether an Arab-owned company might oversee loading and unloading services in some U.S. ports.

"What is so crazy about the Dubai ports issue is that Dubai is precisely the sort of decent, modernizing model we should be trying to nurture in the Arab-Muslim world. Dubaians are building a future based on butter not guns, private property not caprice, services more than oil, and globally competitive companies, not terror networks. Dubai is about nurturing Arab dignity through success, not suicide.

"So whatever happens with the Iraq experiment but especially if it fails we need Dubai to succeed. Dubai is where we should want the Arab world to go. Unfortunately, we just told Dubai to go to hell." --Thomas Friedman, New York Times, March 15, 2006

ON THE ROCKS PART THREE

"The Dubai ports deal was a test of character. John McCain and Chuck Hagel passed. Hillary Clinton, though, joined the ranks of the nakedly ambitious demagogues.

"Clinton didn't seem to mind when the United Arab Emirates kicked a million dollars into her husband's presidential library. She didn't seem alarmed when Dubai poured $450,000 into her family bank accounts through her husband's speaking business. She didn't object when the Clinton administration approved a deal for a Chinese government firm to run the Port of Long Beach. But when the Dubai ports deal set off Know-Nothing mobs, she made sure she had the biggest pitchfork. She played to the rawest form of xenophobia." --David Brooks, New York Times, March 12, 2006

ON THE ROCKS PART FOUR

The Vermont House, always known as a national player, got into the act as well. Representatives introduced HR0014 which read, "to permit Dubai Ports World to operate these ports represents a grave threat to our nation’s security which the federal government should not have approved..."

http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/legdoc.cfm?URL=/docs/2006/resolutn/HR0014.HTM

THE DUSTBIN OF HISTORY

"He does not deserve a funeral. He deserves to be disposed in the garbage dump of history." --On the death of former Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic, Nedjeljko Canak, AP, 3/17/06

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