Monthly Archives: October 2016

What fresh hell can this Trump unleash?

National, , ,

It isn’t exactly unhinged to speculate on a wide range of things Donald Trump might unleash on the country should he lose. For now though, if you want to target your worries, here are a couple things Trump has been telegraphing — two things the GOP has a history with.

Since August or earlier Trump has been blathering regularly to his mostly white audiences about alleged voter fraud and rigged elections. On his website he reportedly calls for followers to sign up as poll watchers and says ominously “go down to certain areas and watch and study”  trumpmarchIn speeches he issues marching orders to “…make sure other people don’t come in and vote five times.” And on this there is no daylight between Trump and running mate Mike Pence. Indiana Governor Pence encouraged a crowd in Manchester, New Hampshire, to help ensure a fair election by serving as poll watchers because “you are the greatest vanguard for integrity in voting.”

Trump could rely on the party for help on this one as the Republicans have past organizational skill with proactive voter intimidation — meaning actions beyond the latest burdensome registration requirements Republican controlled legislatures enact. One notable example, the Donald might approve of is the action taken by the Orange County California Republican Party in 1988 ,hiring uniformed guards to monitor polling places during the general election. The blue-uniformed Republican guards greeted residents at mostly Latino polling sites with bi-lingual signs reading: “Non-Citizens can’t Vote.”

And how about potential outrageous Trump strategies for after the votes have been cast?  A small riot after a loss in the general election might be just the thing to soothe an ego savaged at the polls.

It’s pretty clear he isn’t a good loser. During the primary Trump often imagined out loud that he might be “cheated” out of winning, and he threatened that his supporters could riot in Cleveland at the RNC convention if he was not the nominee. Trump advisor and  Republican operative Roger Stone even threatened to retaliate against convention delegates who might oppose him. Stone spelled it right out for the troops: “We’ll tell you who the culprits are. We urge you to visit their hotel and find them.”

Stone’s long resume (going “back” to Nixon) includes organizing the Brooks Brothers riots, credited with shutting down the Florida recount in 2000. Stone marshaled about two dozen hired “angry” Republican operatives to storm into a Florida canvassing office shouting “Shut down the recount!” That demonstration effectively ended the long recount process in favor of George W. Bush, which, in concert with the Supreme Court’s decision, doomed Al Gore’s chance at reaching the White House.

It doesn’t take much of a leap to see that Trump might urge his disappointed/outraged followers to riot in the streets in favor of putting Trump on the throne, despite the outcome of the popular and/or Electoral College vote. He’s already propagated a democracy-undermining narrative about “crooked” vote counting and “rigged” elections.

trumpstageDonald Trump’s past performance offers little evidence he might choose to follow two hundred years of tradition (for the good of the country), and honorably concede electoral defeat, going off-stage quietly to fortress-Trump Tower. Whatever form his closing act takes may be limited only by Trump’s fevered imagination. Comedy or tragedy, at least it will soon be over. Hold the curtain calls.

Celebrating civility

Uncategorized, , , , ,

Perhaps under the poisonous influence of Donald Trump , civility seems in short supply this election season, even in some of Vermont’s statewide elections.

Randy Brock  has taken the low road in challenging Dave Zuckerman for the office of Lieutenant Governor (see below), and rather than focusing on policy, has chosen to run ads distorting Zuckerman’s words and assassinating his character.

I found that a pretty pathetic sign of the times..

So I was pleased to hear the high tone that Marina Brown, the Liberty Union candidate for Auditor of Accounts, adopted in an interview on VPR yesterday.

She explained that she wants the auditor’s office to create a web portal through which members of the public might more easily access all manner of government records. She says her goal is to improve transparency.

When asked what issues she has with two-term Auditor Doug Hoffer (D/P), Marina Brown (LU) said simply that she thinks he is doing a good job.

A minor party challenger complimenting the incumbent while simply presenting how she thinks the office could be improved would not usually be cause for much discussion; however, in this poisonous election cycle, it was as welcome to my Trump-weary ears as caroling on a snowy Christmas Eve.

Thank you Marina Brown.

Randy Brock goes negative … again

local/regional, ,

Well, with just a couple weeks left until Election Day, Republican candidate for Lt. Governor Randy Brock has gone negative. In two 60 second radio ads Brock is questioning the character of his opponent, David Zuckerman, and wonders ominously whether he should be “a heartbeat away from being governor.”

When asked: “With issue differences, why go after character?” today on VPR’s Vermont Edition Brock defended his negative ads against Zuckerman, saying: The election is about character, who you trust — and adds, “Character is the core issue.” thatrandycharacter

But you know,speaking of character Randy Brock has done this negative bit before and still come up short and lost.

Running for governor in 2012 against Peter Shumlin, behind in the polls Brock went negative in a series of TV ads.  From 2012: With less than a week until voters head to the polls, Republican Randy Brock has broken out the political knives with a new television ad that insinuates lies and corruption by incumbent Democrat Peter Shumlin. And back then fellow-Republican Lt. Gov. Phil Scott, nothing short of aghast, had to flop down on his fainting couch about Brock’s attack. Said Scott in 2012:

“…[Brock’s] spot was “unlike anything I’ve seen from a campaign perspective here in Vermont.” randybrockbear2

Fast forward to now — and Brock is at it again.

So it  bears asking: what does this willingness to repeatedly resort to negative ads at the last minute of his latest campaign say about Randy Brock’s character?

The GOP are all Trump-heads now

National, Uncategorized, ,

trump-falls-3

A poll conducted by Politico/Morning Consult allowed respondents to view the  lewd “Access Hollywood” video and Trump’s subsequent “apology.”

Those who took the poll rated their reactions to the clip on a scale from zero (very negative) to ten (positive) and a 74-percent majority had a negative reaction. However, other findings are unsettling but probably not surprising.

As of now, GOP voters largely want the party to stand behind Trump. Nearly three-quarters of Republican voters, 74 percent, surveyed on Saturday said party officials should continue to support Trump. Only 13 percent think the party shouldn’t back him.

Well, Trump knows he solidly captured the GOP base and did so early on. I am thinking back to his remark from back in January: “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.”

The Washington Post broke the story!

NBC News had access to the Trump Access Hollywood tape for four days last week but due to legal  hemming and hawing it was finally scooped by The Washington Post. The Post moved quickly and took just five hours to vet the tape and decide to make it available to the public.

It is worth recalling that months ago a vengeful Trump took away The Washington Post’s campaign press credentials,  banning the newspaper’s staff from his campaign events. In June, Post executive editor Marty Baron wrote this: “Donald Trump’s decision to revoke The Washington Post‘s press credentials is nothing less than a repudiation of the role of a free and independent press,”

Shortly afterward blogger Charlie Pierce wisely noted what this meant for Trump:

“ […] See, in my experience, this is how Marty Baron tells someone that they f*cked with the wrong executive editor.”

Pierce suggested helpfully that it might aid Trump’s understanding of the gravity of what he had done for him to  visit disgraced Cardinal Bernard Law “[…]  at the Basilica of Our Lady Of The Clean Getaway in Rome” [also see the movie Spotlight].

What has Corey Parent got that Carol Breuer wants?

local/regional, , , , , , , , ,

What interest does a family of gay marriage opposition activists in Massachusetts have in heavily funding one Franklin County Republican House member’s campaigns, in particular?

I was taken aback the first time a billboard-size banner for local Republican senate candidate Dustin Degree popped up near the access road to I-89 in St. Albans. When an equally gigantic banner for Republican House candidate Corey Parent joined it, I must confess I almost veered off the road! Phil Scott’s banner at the same location is roughly one-third the size!

Now I know where some of the money is coming from.

When this story first came to my attention more than a week ago, I decided to do a little additional digging to try and put some flesh on the bones before setting the question before GMD readers.

I am honestly stumped.

According to records, one Carol Breuer of Winchester Massachusetts, and her husband Tom Breuer, appear to have given my St. Albans City Representative, Corey Parent, the princely sum of $8,000. in campaign contributions since 2013.

In the notorious world of quid-pro-quo (gleefully played like a fiddle by Donald J. Trump), one must ask what exactly they expect to get in return for their considerable investment?

Several Franklin County Republican candidates received support form the Breuers in 2013-2014, including Larry Fiske (Franklin 7) who was also remembered in 2016. His total in contributions from the Breuers for both campaigns has run to $4,000., with only $1,000. so far in 2016.

In 2013-2014 Tom Breuer also gave $4,000. each in contributions to Franklin County Senators Norm McAllister and Dustin Degree among a host of statewide Republican candidates including Phil Scott who netted a relatively modest total of $4,000. for 2014 and 2016 combined.

Though they seem to be Massachusetts based, the Breuers appear to have acquired a property in Stowe in 2013, and have contributed heavily to Vermont Republicans ever since. Whereas most candidates get only one bite of the Breuer apple, Parent is one of the very few in 2016 to get $1,000. from Carol and then another $1,000. from Tom.

Other “big winners” from the Breuer bankroll have been Robert L. Bancroft (Chittenden 8-3) $7,000. since 2013; Scott L. Beck (Caledonia 3) $6,250 since 2013; and Warren Van Wyck (Addison 3) $6,000. since 2013). Details of all contributions are available on the Secretary of State’s website, if you have a lot of time to kill.

Overall, the Breuers have invested more in Parent ($8,000.) than in any other individual candidate. As a constituent, this has definitely provoked my interest.

These seem extraordinarily high figures for what are essentially out-of-state, individual contributions to a House race representing relatively few constituents.

In July and August of 2016, the Breuers also contributed $8,000. to Commonsense Leadership, a PAC heavily weighted with tobacco and pharmaceutical industry interests.

Commonsense recently ran afoul of Vermont campaign finance law, as detailed in Seven Days on March 18, by Paul Heinz

There is an intolerant tinge to the money that comes from the Breuers and we must wonder what they are peddling this time. http://bluemassgroup.com/2008/09/gang-of-three-state-republicans-get-funding-from-bigoted-group/

The Breuers have supported the Massachusetts Independent Political Action Committee for Working Families, (MIPAC) and the Family Research Council Political Action Committee, identified in 2010 as a “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center https:// www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/family-research-council.

Carol Breuer has also given generously to the infamous Family Research Council Action PAC.

All of these entities have focussed on undermining the rights of the LGBTQ community.

I, for one, would appreciate a much more in-depth examination by the media of where the big money that is invading our local races is coming from.

One has to ask why a Massachusetts-based family with such a negative political agenda has chosen to focus so much of their financial support on my legislative representative, and why he has chosen to accept it.

*(Here again is the link that the SS office gave me to campaign finance filings from 2014: https://www.sec.state.vt.us/elections/campaign-finance/search-previous-years-reports/ post-2009-report-search.aspx )

Howard Dean “twitters” and Sanders puts on his traveling shoes

National, , ,

Now just suppose that back at the most contentious part of the primary race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders someone had asked who might eventually be a more effective campaigner for Clinton: Howard Dean or Senator Bernie Sanders. Would anyone have said or guessed Sanders?

Well former Vermont Governor Dean tweeted the week away following a post-debate twitter comment insinuating that Donald Trump might have a cocaine problem. donaldcoke At first he seemed to double down on his remark, until on Friday in more tweets he backed off a bit. I’ve got to side with what David Axelrod tweeted about Dean’s tweet “I love it, but this is nuts”.

Meanwhile Bernie Sanders is preparing to hit the campaign trail for Hillary Clinton, hoping to draw large crowds in Iowa and Minnesota. togethercs

A spokesperson said: Sanders hopes to reach a broad audience, including young people, working families and people involved in the labor movement. […] his message: People need to get out and vote for Clinton because either she or Donald Trump will be president and the stakes are too high to vote for a third-party candidate.

“We’re going to go wherever Secretary Clinton’s people think that I am needed,” Sanders said on MSNBC. “And I am going to work as hard as I can to make sure that Donald Trump does not become the next president.”

So you have to wonder who is helping more to defeat Trump and elect Hillary, the former head of the DNC, Howard Dean or the “self-avowed socialist” Senator Sanders.