DEAN LEAGACY MARCHES ON

He wants to do to America what he did to Vermont. Not likely once America learns what he did here, creating the nearly highest electricity rates, health insurance costs, and workman’s compensation costs in America with a nightmare permit process to boot. This wonderful business climate caused Vermont to post net job losses for the first time in a decade in 2002. Of course worse than that was Vermont’s falling per capita income ranking compared to the other states, which fell from the mid twenties to the mid thirties. So not only are there fewer jobs, they pay less than jobs in other states. Cool. America will just love Dean.

Cornell Trading Inc. of Williston, Burlington, and Hinesburg announced that they are moving their warehouses across the lake to Plattsburgh with their forty jobs but may still keep their offices in Chittenden County. They plan to add another twenty new jobs in Plattsburgh. Wyeth Nutritionals Inc. plans to lay off an additional sixty-four folks at their Georgia operation. Tsubaki of Bennington announced that they are closing their sprockets manufacturing plant laying off one hundred workers.

Then there was the odd sand box battle. In their arrogant way of bashing business and just running over folks, the state’s Chittenden Solid Waste District took by eminent domain the Hinesburg Sand and Gravel’s sand pit for its landfill. Generous as always, they awarded the family which owned it $200,000. The owners thought they were being shafted and sued. The jury, a bit more realistic perhaps, thought the Solid Waste District was a bit off, actually 4,400 percent off, and awarded the Casey family $8,800,000. We are sure that stealing your property will go down well with the voters of America.

IN HIS OWN WORDS

Dean writes in his autobiography, Winning Back America, "We cut taxes by 30 percent over the lifetime of my administration," reducing the state's top income tax rate from 13.5 percent to 9.5 percent. Wrong. Most of this income tax reduction was signed into law by Governor Snelling. Dean takes credit for eliminating the sales tax on shoes and clothing, even though the credit belongs to Republican Representative John LaBarge, and he neglects to mention that he effectively raised the overall sales tax from 4 percent to 5 percent and authorized a host of additional taxes, including increases in the corporate income tax, rooms & meals tax, telecommunications tax, purchase & use tax, gas tax, and more. We won't even mention property taxes... 

The Boston Globe provided reaction to Dean's income tax claims with a quote from Richard Heaps coauthor of the Vermont Economy Newsletter. "No way. That is ridiculous. He didn't cut taxes by 30 percent. We would be dancing in the street if he did."

Waldo waxes, "In 1991, Vermont had the largest deficit in its history and also the highest marginal income tax in the United States." 

The Globe retorted, "The marginal tax rate refers to the highest tax rate paid by a taxpayer... In 2001 Vermont ranked third nationally in state tax collections per $1,000... In 2002, Bush's tax cut would have meant an automatic reduction in Vermont's state income tax, which is a percentage of the federal rate. Dean did not want to give Vermonters an automatic tax cut. Instead, Dean approved legislation that decoupled Vermont's income tax system from the federal government." Ah the Howard Dean we know and love.

Read the Boston Globe article here: http://www.boston.com:80/news/politics/president/dean/articles/2003/12/07/deans_tax_claims_bring_skepticism

As for Dean wanting to make America's taxes more like Vermont's, see: http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110004407 

LET THE PEOPLE DECIDE

With these words Gary Hart jumped back into the presidential race in late 1987 after having dropped out because of a bit of Monkey Business. Today these words might be a reminder to those who have anointed Howard Dean as the Democrat nominee. The press loves to think that they decide things to in part prove that they are smarter than the rest of us and to create a fait accompli. The Washington insiders sure do not want to be left off the appointment and access bus if our Waldo wins the presidency. The earlier they commit, the further up the food chain they stand if and when the benes are awarded.

AND SO IT WAS WRITTEN

But nobody has yet voted. Many a slip between cup and lip as our ancestors would say. And the slips of the lip are coming. We wrote two years ago in our 11/09/01 issue a piece entitled "The Case for President Dean": "What are his pitfalls? Howard Dean lies. It is one thing to be tripped up by Mr. Freyne, it is another to lie to the national press corps. Second, he is constantly exaggerating... He has the potential to win Iowa and New Hampshire. But if he does, can he ride the wave?" He has certainly caught the wave, but can he ride it?

BACK TO THE USSR

During a recent broadcast of "Hardball," Joseph Nye, Dean of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, asked Dean what he would do about Iran. "The key, I believe, to Iran, is pressure through the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union is supplying... We need to use that leverage with the Soviet Union... the Soviet Union was..." 

Dean apparently forgot that the Soviet Union has been out of business since before email and cell phones were household items (12 years ago). And this from a man whose basic campaign theme is that he knows better than Bush on international relations. Take that, Russia!  

Details here: http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110004372 

LET’S GO SURFING NOW

The surf is up, Waldo is on his board, but can he hold it? "Howard Dean spent a good part of last week explaining why he decided to seal many of his official records as governor of Vermont for the next 10 years. The explanations didn't stand up to scrutiny - or to the brash, truth-telling image Dean has projected during his run for president." -- Boulder (CO) Daily Camera editorial, 12/8/03 

THE BOYS ON THE BUS ARE ZEROING IN 

"My moment of illumination about Howard Dean came one day in Iowa when I saw him lean into a crowd and begin a sentence with, "Us rural people..." Dean grew up on Park Avenue and in East Hampton. If he's a rural person, I'm the Queen of Sheba. Yet he said it with conviction. He said it uninhibited by any fear that someone might laugh at or contradict him.

"It was then that I saw how Dean had liberated himself from his past, liberated himself from his record and liberated himself from the restraints that bind conventional politicians. He has freed himself to say anything, to be anybody...

"At each moment, he appears outspoken, blunt and honest. But over time he is incoherent and contradictory. He is, in short, a man unrooted. This gives him an amazing freshness and an exhilarating freedom.

"The only problem is that us rural folk distrust people who reinvent themselves. Many of us rural folk are nervous about putting the power of the presidency in the hands of a man who could be anyone."

-- DAVID BROOKS, New York Times, December 9, 2003

For the whole piece, go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/09/opinion/09BROO.html?ex=1071995536&ei=1&en=a046b7a00b043db4 

DEAN MAKES GORE RELEVANT

Was the Gore endorsement significant? No posits Charlie Cook of the Cook Report. "Dean had about a 75 percent chance of being the nominee before Gore spoke up. And the odds have not changed much... If Gore had endorsed any of Dean's rivals maybe, they are the ones who really need the help."

So what was up? It seems that Gore still is trying to cut the Clinton cord. He was totally left out after his loss of organizing the Democrat Party. The Clintons installed their bag man, Terry McAuliffe as chair. He promptly installed the front loaded primary system which benefits early money and name recognition which Hillary has. 

Now Gore is aligned with the alternative grassroots candidate whose organization he might hope to inherit if Dean were to go down in flames. If he should win, he will inherit a piece of power. A win-win for Gore. For Dean, Gore might become a millstone in the values race in the Southern primaries. Gore is not so popular down South. 

TELEPROMPTER PLEASE

It was painful once again to watch Howard Dean read a speech. He does not connect. His music goes flat. The charismatic, free-wheeling speaker slowed to a crawl this week in his "foreign policy" special. He converted no one. 

GEPHARDT IS NO WILLIAM TELL

While it is apparent to all of us why Dean should not do to America what he did to Vermont, it is not because he gave tax breaks to Enron. Two time wannabe Dick Gephardt is criticizing Dean for promoting our captive insurance business. Good luck. Does anyone care or believe? Doubtful.

Dean's press secretary gave folks a clue of Dean's weakness, "Governor Dean created a strong economy." Now there is a joke for us natives. Go read the O'Neal Report at http://www.thinkvermont.com/publications/pdf/brand_study.pdf. The first conclusion helps Dean: Vermont has a great brand. The second conclusion is devastating: no rational business person would invest in Vermont. So much for doing to America what he did to Vermont. 

CRUMMY SHUMMY

Dick Drysdale on the editorial pages of the Herald of Randolph took exception to former Senator Peter Shumlin’s and Mayor Peter Clavelle’s remarks at the recent Orange County Democrat Committee Meeting.

"They intend to pretend that Douglas is President Bush. This is a familiar and distasteful strategy. It's the same one used by Shumlin in his failed campaign against Brian Dubie. Two years previous, Dubie had been candidate for lieutenant governor in an election that featured Republican Ruth Dwyer in a nasty campaign for governor. Shumlin spent his entire campaign in 2002 painting Dubie as an ultraconservative Dwyeresque monster. Shumlin's portrait of Dubie was not only unpleasant, it was duplicitous, as Vermonters discovered...

"In his new campaign against Gov. Jim Douglas, Shumlin is attempting to link him with Bush in the same way he earlier attempted to link Dubie with Dwyer. He told the Orange County Democrats that Douglas is 'a clone of his good friend Bush and they are leading this state in the wrong direction.' It won't wash. The characterization is so far from accurate as to be silly. Vermonters recognize hogwash when they see it..."

For the entire editorial, go to: http://www.rherald.com/news/2003/1211/Editorial/e01.html

LONG AWAITED AND FAR AWAY

Finally, the Senate appears to be moving towards addressing permit reform. They have been home for six months now and apparently have heard that there maybe be a glitch or two in the permit process. Certainly the Governor and the media have harped on it. Anything would help but as Chair of the Natural Resources Committee Ginny Lyons said, "This is not what we would call permit reform. It is not the end of what we need to do."

LET IT SNOW

And then it melts. And then it runs off. But alas, stormwater is not allowed to run off. Hold the phones, halt all development, tell God no more snow! So much for the Dean days. Today The Water Resources Board, reconstituted with some Douglas appointees, is "cheering progress ending the stalemate over state regulations of stormwater." Former Republican nominee for Windham County Senator Michael Hebert said, according to the Burlington Free Press, "It is very encouraging to see people coming together." Even the Darth Vader of development, the Conservation Law Foundation, said through their attorney Rob Moore, "We have made a lot of progress..." 

YOU’RE OPEN, SHOOT

Rich Tarrant, current Grand PooBah and founder of IDX and former basketball star for Saint Mikes, is seriously considering a race against Saint Patrick Leahy. First he would have to get around Jack McMullen in a GOP primary but with moves like he has, that should be no problem. Peter Freyne first mentioned this possibility in Inside Track a few weeks back. Reports to DPR suggest that not only is Rich talking to Washington folks, he is returning phone calls to strangers who leave messages wishing him well. Rich says that he is getting many calls and letters encouraging him to run. 

A TARNISHED HALO

Back in the glory days when Patrick Leahy was chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, it appears he either sullied himself or obstructed justice. In an almost silent murmur, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Times have written about leaked memos from the Judiciary Committee during Leahy’s tenure. The rest of the media seems to have taken a vacation on the issue.

"Elaine Jones, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense Fund, asked (the committee) to block the nomination of Tennessee Judge Julia S. Gibbons to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals until after that panel had ruled on last year's landmark affirmative action case, an internal Democratic memo showed. Jeffrey Mazzella, director of the Center for Individual Freedom said, ‘It's no less than tampering with a jury or bribing a judge.’"

CUT TO THE CHASE

"In a memo to members of the committee, a Judiciary Committee staffer writes, ‘Elaine would like the Committee to hold off on any 6th Circuit nominees until the University of Michigan case regarding the constitutionality of affirmative action in higher education is decided by the 6th Circuit. The thinking is that the current 6th Circuit will sustain the affirmative action program, but if a new judge with conservative views is confirmed before the case is decided, that new judge will be able, under 6th Circuit rules, to review the case and vote on it.’ 

"’Rather than allow the confirmation process to continue in the regular course, (they) deliberately manipulated both the judicial confirmation and legal processes to achieve his partisan political goal.’ Judge Gibbons was not confirmed until July 29, 2002, less than two months after the 6th Circuit ruled in a 5-4 decision to uphold the University of Michigan's affirmative action program."

There are a series of memos from People for the American Way, the Alliance for Justice, NARAL Pro-Choice America and the NAACP pushing their views and memos from committee staffers to members doing just that. To follow the sordid trail, go to: http://fairjudiciary.campsol.com/cfj_contents/press/collusionmemos.shtml

Concerning the lack of media attention see "The Sound of Silence" http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110004370 

MADONNA MOMENT ENDS

"Look at the way Jim Jeffords sank into obscurity when the moderate Vermont senator abandoned Mr. Bush’s party to become an independent." -- The Economist, November 29, 2003

NOT A GREAT INVESTMENT

In a stroll down memory lane, we checked Amazon.com on how Jimmy Jeffords, author, was making a killing for his publisher Simon and Shuster. His Declaration of Independence is now 95,542th on Amazon’s best seller list with sixty-seven "new and used" copies offered for as low as eighty-five cents. His more recent literary effort, An Independent Man, is 380,551th on Amazon’s best seller list with thirty-three "new and used" books offered for as low as seventy-nine cents. 

IT’S MONDAY, TIME FOR HEADLINES

ACLU files lawsuit to ban all elections claiming that allowing citizens to vote deprives Democrats of their Constitutional right to power.

Hillary, "I am sick and tired of people who say that if you hate America, its principles, its leaders, and its military that somehow you are not patriotic."

For more go to: http://www.starspangledicecream.com 

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY

This past week in a narrow 5-4 decision the Supreme Court upheld the McCain Feingold Campaign Reform Act of 2002. Its acceptance by the court elicited local editorials praising the "worthy goal" and "to feel that they system is fairer....major victory for democracy." The law, the first campaign reform law passed since the Watergate era, is to do away with soft money. But it also does away a bit of free speech. Justice Scalia wrote, "a sad day for freedom of speech."

Governor Douglas stated the obvious and the not so obvious, "Campaign contributions are not offered for the purpose of good government." Former Governor Howard Dean once said, "I do return the phone calls of those who contributed to my campaign." Douglas went on, "We lowered the contribution from $2,000 per person to $400 with the expectation that spending would go down. It did not. It went up dramatically. 2004 will be different than in the past, but ways will be discovered to make lawful contributions to both parties. Disclosure is the most important thing." Even Justice Stevens and O’Conner wrote, "Money, like water, will always find an outlet." 

CAN WE TALK?

Not likely. Connectivity in Vermont is limited. But here in England, fully ninety-six percent of youth from 15-24 own a cell phone with text messaging to boot just in case they do not want their friends to know that they are checking in with mum and dad. But of course not in Vermont where folks prefer the Dark Ages to the Communication Age. 

MOON SUITS NOT FOR THE MOON

Maybe you have seen pictures of the workers at IBM-Essex all gussied up in there moon suits. One might think that, like moon suits worn by the enviro-men who come to clean up a toxic spill, these suits are to protect the workers. Alas, not so, they are to protect the chips. Chips are very sensitive. Humans are by far the worst sort of contamination in a chip factory. Sodium from perspiration is a real problem. Dust and dander are other real problems at modern geometries.

MOON SUITS FOR EMPLOYEES

"Alida Hernandez was a model IBM-San Jose employee with an exemplary record. She never thought the chemical fumes she inhaled on the job were dangerous -- even though they sometimes gave her headaches, made her eyes water and left her lightheaded and unable to focus, she testified last month.

"’I believed they were safe,’ said the 73-year-old great-grandmother of five, who is suing the company she left in 1991. ‘Many times we were told the chemicals were safe.’"

"Now, having since been diagnosed with breast cancer, which resulted in a mastectomy, Hernandez has a different view. ‘IBM lied to me,’ she said Wednesday on the stand. ‘They never told me that the chemicals I worked with were going to cause me to have cancer.’" -- The San Jose Mercury News, November 6, 2003

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=list&p_topdoc=11

THE WAY WE WERE

The learning curve was slow and slippery. Essex-IBM is an old plant. If the lawsuit in San Jose for Alida at a newer plant is successful and given the "greenness" of a well chosen Vermont jury... Kelly bar the door.

There are two varieties of "trichlor," really nasty and moderately nasty. TCE was used in the older days and was later replaced with TCA, the latter being seen as a "safer" alternative. TCE is evil-looking stuff, a bit viscous and not completely transparent. TCA is much like acetone, transparent and non-viscous.

There is a significant reservoir of liability in the industry for exposure to trichlor; trichlor is pretty carcinogenic. Trichlor was thought harmless. Nobody even worried about spills on the ground, and nobody really worried about exposure. But that's changed with research.

Trichlor is bad and there is a lot of it under Essex-IBM. They continually monitor it and pump water to control it. It is likely that workers from the days when Essex-IBM made circuit boards could claim exposure and win. If they can win in Silicon Valley, the floodgates will open unless the industry can find cover from the legislature. In Montpelier with their general distrust of business, that will be hard.

HERE COMES THE JUDGE

Recent reports in the San Jose Mercury News in Alida’s case confirms this, "A former IBM engineer testified Tuesday that working in the company's San Jose clean rooms was a ‘dirty job,' where hazardous chemicals stained floor tiles, discolored machines and splashed workers.

"William Sprague took the stand in Santa Clara County Superior Court in a case brought against the computer company by two former employees who contend chemicals used in IBM's manufacturing processes caused them to develop cancer. Two other former IBM employees who also worked in the clean rooms gave similar testimony. Christopher Ramm, 41, and Gregory Sisk, 46, said dangerous mixtures of chemicals would get on their wrists and arms. Both men subsequently developed testicular cancer.

"Sprague gave jurors a detailed explanation of how a clean room functioned. He testified that chemicals that were sprayed on computer disks by a coating machine would fly everywhere, plugging the drains of the coating machines, getting sucked into air ducts and degrading the ventilation system on the machines."

This past week Sixty Minutes ran a twelve minute segment which concluded that employees in IBM’s clean rooms in California and New York developed cancer after IBM told them that it was safe. Dr. Richard Clapp of Boston University reported that IBM employees were developing cancer at an earlier ages and at higher rates than the national averages. 

NOT IN A LEAGUE OF HIS OWN

ABC7's Rob Johnson asked Reverend Jackson why he felt like so much verbal venom was aimed in his direction (for not helping black youth find work.)

"They lashed out at Dr. King, they lashed out at Nelson Mandela, they lashed out at Jesus, so all of those who fight for change become the object of frustration," said Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rainbow-Push Coalition. 

-- ABC7Chicago.com, November 25, 2003 

AS VERMONT GOES, SO GOES MASSACHUSETTS

When the Vermont legislature changed hands in 2001 to Republican control, the national gay community folks pulled up stakes and gave up on gay marriage in Vermont to move on to Massachusetts. There they won a complete victory. Last month, the Massachusetts Supreme Court decided by a vote of 4-3 to impose gay marriage on the Massachusetts legislature and population.

Chief Justice Margaret Marshall, not to be confused with John, wrote, "The Massachusetts Constitution affirms the dignity and equality of all individuals. It forbids the creation of second class citizens." Ms. Marshall, a native of South Africa, former general counsel of Harvard University, and the court's first female Chief Justice, knows something about creating second class citizens.

Dissenting was Ms. Sosman, Massachusetts native and Middlebury College graduate and joined by Mr. Cordy a Dartmouth College graduate, who wrote, "Reduced to its essence, the court's opinion concludes that because same sex couples are now raising children, withholding the benefits of civil marriage makes it harder for them to raise those children."

Stuart Taylor writing in National Journal goes further. While accepting gay marriage as good public policy, he concludes that it is not good constitutional law. "It is frivolous to claim that the marriage laws of every state and every civilization in the history of the world violate any clear constitutional command... The Massachusetts court was hyperbolic to say that current marriage laws inflict 'a deep and scarring hardship on gays.' It was ahistorical to imply that gay marriage is a 'fundamental right', a doctrine that would also require endorsement of polygamy and adult incest.

"The Massachusetts court was certainly on firmer constitutional ground than Vermont which it based its gay-union decision on a completely irrelevant constitutional clause that had been adopted in 1777 for the apparent purpose of precluding creation of legally privileged aristocracy. In a bold example of the let's-do-it-because-we-can-get-away-with-it' school of jurisprudence, the Vermont court 'interpreted' this clause as requiring recognition..."

For the complete court ruling, go to: http://www.state.ma.us/courts/courtsandjudges/courts/supremejudicialcourt/goodridge.html

For the rest of Stuart Taylor's piece, go to: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/nj/taylor2003-11-25.htm 

LISTEN TO THE HEARTBEAT

Here in Great Britain reproductive choice has prevailed since the Abortion Act of 1967. After the twenty-third week of pregnancy however, abortion is illegal unless there is a risk of a "serious handicap." A doctor performed an abortion at a woman’s request in her twenty-fourth week of pregnancy upon learning that her child had a cleft palate.

Reverend Joanna Jepson, a Church of England curate, sought the High Court’s permission to contest the refusal of the police to prosecute the doctor. The court agreed saying that there are "issues of public and legal importance" and implied that a cleft palate did not constitute a "serious handicap." Ms. Jepson was born with a congenital jaw defect.

"WE WARNED THEM, THEY MOCKED US"

Back in 1990 when amendments to the Abortion Act were being considered, an academic paper concluded that under the Abortion Act of 1967 "it will be lawful to destroy the fetus during birth for any reason at all, from harelip to hair color." Labor MP Frank Doran derided the report saying that it was "pure scare-mongering and outrageous to suggest that cleft palate abortions would take place." Labor MP David Steel suggested that these worries "grossly calumniated the medical profession. A doctor does not an Act of Parliament to teach him that elementary duty." Despite such comments, there have been at least twenty-five abortions for cleft palates since 1995. 

BRIGHT SIDE, BRIGHT LIGHTS

On the brighter side, the owners of the old race track in Pownal have signed an agreement with the Kleiser Walczak of North Adams, Mass to buy the 180,000 square foot facility to expand their computer animation company. They have screen credits for X-Men, Clear and Present Danger, Mortal Kombat and others. Scores of jobs would come but they still need financing and the ever elusive permits. 

OLD EUROPE IMPLODES

In creating the Euro currency, all countries agreed to keep their deficits under three percent of GDP. The EU is a "community of laws." France and Germany, the elephants at the party, have exceeded this level for three years running with no plans to reform. They recently used their "veto" to overrule the European Commission vote to force them to get back in line.

The central bankers held emergency talks, "fearing that the disintegration of spending discipline could destabilize monetary polices and warned of serious dangers to the Euro. The outcome is a disaster for the authority of the commission." Soon they will adopt a constitution with legally binding commitments. Say again?

HE’S NO THOMAS JEFFERSON

The EU is about to have a constitution. Nobody is happy except Giscard d’Estaing who wrote the rambling preamble of six paragraphs. Nothing so simple as "We the people of the United States in order to form a more perfect union..." Unfortunately, no member country now polls above fifty percent support of the constitution, including France.

The Economist wrote, "d’Estaing has suggested that future generations of European schoolchildren might learn the preamble by heart. But this would seem to be in contradiction to Article II-4, ‘no one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.’"

This weekend members of the EU gathered to ratify the new constitution but a funny thing happened on the way to democracy; France and Germany did not want it. The concept of one man one vote is still alien to them. That would mean that the great unwashed of Central Europe and those olive eating spirits of the Iberian Peninsula would outvote the older and of course wiser folks in France and Germany. So the ratification has been put off a year. 

DO YOU WANT VERMONT TO BE LIKE EUROPE

The European Commission for Standards reportedly will not allow any hobby horses to be built higher than twenty-three inches. That there is a tradition of craftsmanship of larger hobby horses is no matter. Knowing that there are those in our dear state who dream of Vermont being like Europe and with the tradition that liberals know better than the unwashed, we continue with some subtle reasons why we might rethink that assumption. 

IN THE YEAR 2025

By 2025 if the current growth of the Muslim population and immigration continue, Germany, France, and the Netherlands are all expected to have Muslim majorities. In order for Europeans to live the life of social services, early retirements, long vacations, extended holidays, free health care, and spa treatments, they need workers to pay into the system. The youth from Muslim countries have been and are happy to oblige. Soon however the folks paying the fiddler will call the tune. We can hear their rehearsing now. 

IS DACHAU STILL OPERATIONAL?

Luckily no, just a tourist destination. But the Anti-Semitism Research Institute of Berlin was asked by the European Union to examine the increase in anti-Semitic attacks. Researchers found that Muslim youth were responsible for many of these attacks.

However, the European Union refused to publish the results "because they were not politically correct," according the researchers. In November, a French Jewish school was burnt. France’s Chief Rabbi suggested a baseball hat instead of a yarmulke. Okay, if Jews just were not Jews, there wouldn't be anti-Semitism. Right? 

THE GREATEST ROLL OVER IN GRAVES

The Greatest Generation must be rolling over in their graves if they are reading the recent musings in Germany. Hundreds of thousands gave their lives to liberate Europe and billions more of their money was spent to reconstruct.

Thirty-three percent of young German adults believe that the United States government ordered the September 11th attacks. Andreas von Bulow, a former government research minister, penned a popular book, "The CIA and September 11," which has sold "over 100,000 copies, a vast print run in Germany" claims the Independent. Thierry Meyssan "has had similar success with such theories in France."

Mr. von Bulow writes, "They invented the story of nineteen Muslims working within Osama bin Landen’s al-Qa’eda in order to hide the truth of their own covert operation. What I saw on September 11 was a perfectly executed act that could have happened only with the support of intelligence services. I am not the least anti-American. I am just part of a growing momentum against Bush."

GERMANS DO THE OSTRICH

"Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, the German Minister for Economic Cooperation, lashed out at the US for its huge defense budget. She explained that by contrast, Germany preferred to channel its modest funds toward schools and universities, since those institutions ‘make people invulnerable to becoming candidates for committing terrorist atrocities.’

"She received great applause, the audience forgetting that the suicide bombers who killed more than three thousand people on September 11, 2001, Muhammad Atta included, came straight from a prestigious German university in the city of Hamburg.

"For some reason, Europe just won't listen. The core problem of suicide bombings is the systematic indoctrination that sucks its subjects into hallucinations and religious madness. Most individuals recruited to explode themselves in crowded places were well educated, in many cases university students or holders of academic degrees."

-- Daniel Dagan, Jerusalem Post, December 2, 2003 

HE MARKET SPEAKS

Property prices in Baghdad since the war’s end have more than doubled. According to an article in the Daily Telegraph before the war middle class houses were going for $35,000, today they go for $85,000. Renting upper class properties has increased from $50,000 a year to $170,000 a year.

"For years people have been scared to build anything new for fear that Saddam or the Americans would destroy their property," said a real estate agent. 

"OH YUCK"

Talking head Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times was listening to the discussion on Washington Week on our public television station when she was reminded that last Friday was the third anniversary of the election of George W. Bush.

She crinkled up her face in disgust, went slack jawed, and shook her head. Ah, those unbiased journalists. 

SORE LOOSERS STILL BEATING DEAD HORSE

An AP column by Ron Fournier on the front page of last Tuesday's Burlington Free Press explains, "Gore won the popular vote by half a million votes in 2000 but conceded to George W. Bush after a tumultuous 36-day recount in Florida and a 5-4 Supreme Court vote against him."

United States Presidents are elected by the Electoral College, not the popular vote. Bush won the Florida election, and with it, Florida's 25 electoral votes. Gore sued for a recount. Bush won and the results were certified. Gore and the Democrats kept suing. Bush won two more recounts. Florida law puts time limits on this process, but Gore sued again and the Florida Supreme Court extended the deadlines to allow additional recounting. Finally, on December 13th, more than a month after the election and not long before Bush was to take office, the United States Supreme Court said enough is enough; stick with the consistent result of the election and recounts. And so it was that Al "Sore Looser" Gore failed to steal the election.

An unbiased AP story might simply have said, "Former Vice President Al Gore lost the 2000 election to George W. Bush."

P.S. "Isn't it a sweet coincidence that Saddam's capture occurred on the third anniversary of Gore's concession?" --Opinion Journal 

JOKE RADIO

Rush Limbaugh commented, "Please! On TV [liberals] own C-Span, PBS, C-Span 2, CNN, ABC, CNNfn, CBS, MSNBC, CNN Headline News, NBC, CNBC, Bloomberg, Lifetime, Oxygen, etc., ... You have radio guys on NPR 24/7!"

In response, organizers of a new "liberal radio network" replied, "While individuals on those networks may occasionally express views that are left of center, on balance we find those organizations to be pretty centrist. Our task is more than to be left leaning..." 

Story here: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/01/national/01RADI.html?ex=1071285686&ei=1&en=94fc3e6e6f37ba79  

RUDE MEDIA SICKENING

»» Dr. Ian Robertson, Elmore: More and more I am sick of our political discussion being dominated by throwers of red meat. It doesn't have to be like this. Columnist Bill Raspberry from the Washington Post articulates the liberal point of view in such a thoughtful way, I have to respect it. I admire him immensely. On the conservative side there is David Brooks, also a very reasonable, thoughtful voice for conservatives, his commentary does honest conservatism proud. Why can't our national press produce a decent, thoughtful, informative commentary such as that provided by Brooks and Raspberry? Why are these two guys rare exceptions to the rule?

One huge problem this country faces is the ever-growing polarization of voters on issues as political commentary becomes ever more stupid, mean-spirited and ideological. This mindlessness does not help our country to solve problems such as terrorism, school funding or trade. The New York Times is to be praised for publishing Brooks columns, but, on the other hand, opposite from Brooks columns they publish those of Paul Krugman, an obsessed man desperately in need of treatment for his personal, completely over the top hatred of the president. The Times publishes as well the feather-light but acidic musings of Maureen Dowd. What are we coming to?

The New York Times, once a giant, has lowered itself to being just another waste of newsprint. They should be embarrassed, but aren't, to devote so much of their finite space to Krugman and Dowd. As the Times allows itself to become a platform for mindless partisan crap, we lose something. Its just one more big step down for our national political culture.

Politics should be about honest attempts to find solutions to problems, instead it has degraded into a conversation between angry, childish, self-righteous persons who rarely begin to understand the issues they write about. Voting is becoming a Hobbsian choice between which candidate you despise more. There really is such a thing as Political Correctness, and it is a terrible and dangerous thing. Thanks to the culture of PC we now suffer from an inability of people to speak their minds openly and have an honest discussion about race for fear of saying something which, although true, is offensive to someone and from fear of being falsely labeled as a racist/hater. This actually greatly inhibits honest attempts to improve racial conditions. But for the deliberate throwers of red meat, PC is not the issue. Their desire to attract an audience by making useless, unhelpful and frequently outrageous statements is the issue. 

LEADING EDGE

»» Russell Spreeman, LaPorte IN (formerly of VT}: Great to see a new edition of DPR online. Thank you! 

I was a contractor at IBM from 1985 to 1997, in two different lines of work - with the vending machine service for six years and installing telecom systems in the production areas for six years. When I moved away from Vermont in 1997, one thing I knew quite well was how vital IBM was to the economic health of Vermont and especially the Burlington area.

We've seen the decline and stagnation of the technology at that plant as IBM has chosen to build elsewhere and put their truly state-of-the-art facilities outside of Vermont. I am told equipment is being taken down and moved out of that plant; investment in Essex has been minimal. Then comes Pat Leahy with the wonderful news of a rather small, long-term contract to provide some military / defense items. 

Nobody said that the military could cancel the contract at any time. Nobody pointed out how little $60 million a year at a plant that size really means. Instead one might have thought it heralded the rejuvenation of IBM Essex. I believe it was one of Leahy's staffers who then went on to say something about this contract demonstrating that Essex was right at the "cutting edge" and other such nonsense.

Do these people really believe what they are saying? Doesn't Leahy think this 'cutting edge' plant can compete and succeed without him bringing in some defense work? I suppose it's hard to tell, with someone who regards City Market as some sort of success. 

RE: FRENCH AIRPLANE RULES

»» Steve Cosgrove, Rutland: Please buy 10,000 copies of Robert Kaplan's book OF PARADISE AND POWER and distribute to the French population, so they know who maintains their "xenophobic, statist, anti-competitive mindset ". 

MACRO ERRATUM

»» Joe Sinagra: I was reading your report and noticed one minor error. Judy Bloomer was appointed by Dean to replace John Bloomer in the Senate after his death. John Bloomer Jr. ran in 1997 and won the seat that his mother held. Thanks for everything keep up the good work.

»» Tom Little, Shelburne: Please get your facts straight on the Bloomer Senate succession.

»» Rep. Judy Bloomer Crowley, Rutland: I was appointed to fill John Bloomer's seat at his untimely death. Your facts are incorrect. Where do you get your information? I served in 1995 and 1996 on the Judiciary Committee and also the Health and Welfare Committee. It was an honor to serve the citizen's of Vermont. Such an honor I am presently serving on the House Local Government Committee as chair. This is my 3rd year in the House and I am equally privileged to serve 4 wonderful towns in Rutland County.

Editor's Note: Our apologies for making this thoughtless error. 

THEY LIKE US

»» Fran Rice, Tucson: I always look forward to your mailing. Thanks. 

»» Herb Hillman, Stowe: Keep up the good work!

»» Skip Jones, Bennington: Keep up the good work.

»» Beverly Larocque, Barnet: Your report along with the Weekly Standard and Insight magazines are a must read for me.

During his 2000 campaign, Dean could not find enough negative adjectives such as "hate filled," "intolerant," "bigoted," "religious fanatics" and more to describe native Vermonters and some enlightened flatlanders who dared to display the "Take Back Vermont" signs. Today his campaign’s motto is "Take Back America." Is it not ironic? Shouldn’t he be charged with plagiarism? 

PARTISAN POLITICS 

"I was not surprised to see ordinary Iraqis cheering Saddam's capture and firing rifles into the air. What has been surprising is the negative media coverage and the shameless exploitation of the war for partisan political purposes that I've seen since returning from Iraq in September."

--Lance Cpl. Guardiano, field radio operator with the U.S. Marine Corps' Fourth Civil Affairs Group http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110004433 

AN ODDLY FAMILIAR RING TO IT... 

"Howard Dean and now Al Gore want to take our country back, I want to take it forward." -- Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT), in the National Journal 

A SHALLOW, BABBLING... 

"Howard Dean is no fool. He is, however, not much of a thinker. His talk flows as rapidly as a mountain brook but is no deeper than one of those." -- George F. Will, Washington Post, December 8, 2003 

ASPEN BOY 

"We cannot afford to have a leader who weaseled out of going to Vietnam on a medical deferment for a bad back and wound up on the ski slopes of Aspen like Howard Dean." --Former Sen. Max Cleland (D-GA) -- NBC's "First Read," 11/24/03, http://www.msnbc.com/news/924508.asp 

QUAGMIRE? 

"The U.S. military has had considerably more success in turning Iraq around than liberals have had in turning the ghettos around with their 40-year 'War on Poverty.' So far, fewer troops have been killed by hostile fire since the end of major combat in Iraq than civilians were murdered in Washington, DC last year (239 deaths in Iraq compared to 262 murders in DC). How many years has it been since we declared the end of major U.S. combat operations against Marion Barry's regime? How long before we just give up and pull out of that hellish quagmire known as Washington, DC?" --Ann Coulter 

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/anncoulter/printac20031106.shtml 

LOVE THOSE DEMOCRATS I 

"By a two-to-one margin, people believe that lawsuits are hurting the economy and discouraging the creation of jobs. Yet every effort to reform the system is blocked by the trial lawyers who have gotten rich off of it. And as the biggest contributor to the Democratic Party, they have the clout to do it." -- Bruce Bartlett

http://www.creators.com/opinion_show.cfm?columnsName=bba 

LOVE THOSE DEMOCRATS II 

"They approach every problem with an open wallet and an empty mind. They tax and spend and fail." -- Michael Howard, UK Conservative leader 

THE BAD NEWS DONKEYS 

"It seems like the bad news never stops. Economic indicators are up. Unemployment is falling. Seniors are about to get prescription-drug coverage. And the United States is moving forward on a plan for Iraqi self-government. Can it get any worse?

"As the turkey is being carved on Thanksgiving, there will be little joy for Democrats sitting around the table. For the fact is, everything is breaking George W. Bush's way." -- Columnist Thomas Keane Jr. of the Boston Herald

http://news.bostonherald.com/opinion/opinion.bg?articleid=18 

OUR HERO 

"No governor has ever come into office as prepared as Jim Douglas. His first year has with a few exceptions run like clockwork." -- Chris Graff, Vermont View, December 14, 2003 

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