Tim Ashe is a Democratic Party candidate for State Senate in Chittenden County. He is also currently a Progressive Party elected official, serving since 2003 on the Burlington City Council.

What gives?

According to Ashe, simple pragmatism. Seven Days broke out the candidacy in its issue last week and surfaced some points of interest.

Making his political positioning especially dexterous, Ashe is also seeking the Progressive nomination for a Senate seat as a write-in candidate. But because running as a Prog would perpetuate the partisan divide he’s trying to bridge, Ashe said he would decline the party’s endorsement and sit out the November general election if he does not gain Democratic backing in the September 9 primary.

“The third-party box isn’t something I’ve ever been comfortable with,” he said. Unlike many fellow Progs, he added, “I’m not obsessed with the concept of a third party per se.”

If Ashe looks at political parties as a means to an end, that’s nothing I, for one, would argue with. Many in the Democratic and Progressive Parties see their respective institutions as ends in themselves, and it’s that kind of parochialism that mediocrity thrives on. Clearly he does not share the view that I (and some others on this site) espouse; that the system is hardwired in such a way that it will only accommodate two parties, but neither, it would seem, is he doctrinaire about the 3rd party in which he’s been successful.

But to some, it smacks of a threat. From the same article:

Democratic State Senator Jim Condos of Chittenden County said he is troubled by “what looks to be a Progressive move to hijack the Democratic Party.”

Hm. If by “hijack,” one means run as a Dem, get elected by Dems as a Dem, and participate in the political process as a Dem, I suppose myself, Condos, and everyone else with a ‘D’ by their name is guilty of hijacking. Last I saw, that’s usually called “Democracy.”

Look, this is exactly what a lot of us would like to see happen, and given his progressive record on the issues, he would likely be on my short list if I were a Chittenden County voter. I don’t see how we can complain that people like Ashe are working against our mutual interests by staying away from the Democratic party, and then castigate them when they engage with a straight face. I suspect what at least partly is in play is institutional “pecking order”; an implicit sure we want you to come over, but you should take your place in the back of the line. Yuck. And if by being afraid of “co-opting,” there are Dems who are saying they don’t want to see the Party moved to the left, well obviously I have no patience for that either.

In other words; welcome aboard, Tim.

(Side note… there are some interesting, even extraordinary statements in the article from Progressive Party Chair Martha Abbott that get us into a whole ‘nuther topic that’s equally worthy of discussion… more on that soon)

If you make your living reading palms, casting horoscopes, or some other manner of mystical fraud, St. Johnsbury is open for business.

That's right, folks, back in July, without much notice, St. Johnsbury repealed its ordinance prohibiting its ban on soothsayers, psychics, and other “practitioners” of mystical and nontraditional methods of divination.

The problem? Practitioners of new-age irrationality, like tarot card reading and feng shui, didn't like the idea that they couldn't ply their trade in the city limits. Now, if you feel uncomfortable visiting that spooky fake Gypsy lady with the crystal ball, you can visit her hippie granddaughter upstairs from the health food store.

A supporter of this move is quoted by the Times Argus as saying: 

“The government has no power to determine whether or not these people are committing fraud.”

Too late for Carlo Ponzi, but it looks to come up trumps for the New Irrationality here in Vermont.

I know there are all kinds of people who believe in this stuff, and probably a good number of them come here. We also know that the Northeast Kingdom has traditionally been receptive to superstitions like dowsing. Nevertheless, I think we're taking a step backward when we decide that anyone who wants to take money from unsuspecting dupes by convincing them that they have mystical powers is entitled to do so.

I also think the Times Argus is missing out by uncritically repeating  the backers of this move. For instance, here's a quote from the article:

“We have people who predict what the stock market is going to do. We have people who predict the weather and get paid for it,” said Haynes.

Is there any difference between predicting the weather and predicting people's fortunes based on feng shui? I can think of one: predicting the weather isn't infallible, but it's based on the laws of physics and it can be evaluated based on the evidence; feng shui, on the other hand, is based on the study of forces that nobody has ever shown to exist.

But if you're a practitioner in these things, and you think they actually work, James Randi has a million bucks for you if you can actually do it.

In more evidence that Palin was a last minute, minimally-vetted choice to be John McCain’s running mate, bloggers are just scratching below the surface to find that her political allegiances likely include the Alaskan Independence Party, yet another partner organization of the Second Vermont Republic (shown here on the list of allies complied by Kirkpatrick Sale’s “Middlebury Institute”). In fact, Dexter & Lynette Clark, listed as Vice Chair and Chair, respectively, appear on SVR’s roundly criticized “advisory board,” viewable here.

Details below the fold with some You Tube clips of SVR Advisory Board member Dexter Clark praising Palin as an ally and (until recently) a member, as well as discussing the need to infiltrate the major parties (and major hat tip to Liz Arnett at dKos for turning these up).

At about 6 minutes into the following clip from the recent AIP Convention: “Our current governor who I mentioned at the last conference, the one we were hoping would get elected, Sarah Palin, did get elected… and there was a lot of talk about her moving up. She was an AIP member before she got the job as mayor of a small town… but to get along, to go along, she eventually joined the Republican Party.”

Here’s another clip where the SVR Advisory Board member states that secession organizations need a “plan,” which apparently includes getting involved in the major political parties such as Palin has done; “the problem remains you have to be at the table in the existing political realm – you have to a demipublican or a republicrat is what we call it…”

(Note reference to the “secessionist conventions” held in “cities with brick buildings”)

Clearly, this is a more interesting group as a standalone entity than the League of The South, and in fact in the second video, you’ll hear much of the anticorporate rhetoric consistent with SVR and VT Commons. Nevertheless, their beachhead into mainstream politics (and the Vice Presidency) is a creationist, anti-choice social mega-conservative, which puts the values and goals of the organization into a disturbing light. Here’s Palin’s “welcome” message to the AIP’s convention:

I don’t know what can be concluded from any of this at this point, but the connections are interesting and certainly eyebrow raising. What an odd choice.

In the speech introducing Palin as his VP, we saw McCain look down and to his left (our right).  According to Canadian blogger Toni (http://www.blifaloo.com/info/lies_eyes.php), Visual Accessing Cues come from how the “normally organized” right-handed person looks (from your viewpoint, looking at them).

Assuming that McCain is “normally organized” and right handed then to us he would be looking down and to his left thus to our right.  However McCain is left handed, so according to Toni, a typical left-handed person would have the opposite meanings for their eye-directions.

Thus McCain as a lefty would be considered to be looking in the opposite direction thus down and to our left. Ironic isn’t it?

“Visual Accessing Cues” are discussed by Richard Bandler and John Grinder in their book “Frogs into Princes: Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), go below the fold for more… by Toni regarding how eye direction can indicate the presence of a lie.

I keep wondering what kinesthetic response McCain is remembering if he is looking down and to our left, or if down and to our right, what is he saying to himself?

Eye Movement and Direction and How it Can Reveal the Truth or a Lie

This is a continuation of our previous article ” Detecting Lies”. Many comments by our visitors have asked about how eye direction can indicate the presence of a lie.

So can the direction a person’s eyes reveal whether or not they are making a truthful statement? Short answer: sort of. But, it isn’t as simple as some recent television shows or movies make it seem. In these shows a detective will deduce a person is being untruthful simply because they looked to the left or right while making a statement.

Read more by Toni @ Blifaloo:  http://www.blifaloo.com/info/l…

Great post from an Alaskan blog:

“Is this a joke?”  That seemed to be the question du jour when my phone started ringing off the hook at 6:45am here in Alaska.  I mean, we’re sort of excited that our humble state has gotten some kind of national ‘nod’….but seriously?  Sarah Palin for Vice President?  Yes, she’s a popular governor.  Her all time high approval rating hovered around 90% at one point.  But bear in mind that the 90% approval rating came from one of the most conservative, and reddest-of-the-red states out there.  And that approval rating came before a series of events that have lead many Alaskans to question the governor’s once pristine image.

There is no doubt in my mind that many Alaskans are feeling pretty excited about this.  But we live in our own little bubble up here, and most of the attention we get is because of The Bridge to Nowhere, polar bears, the indictment of Ted Stevens, and the ongoing investigation and conviction of the string of legislators and oil executives who literally called themselves “The Corrupt Bastards Club”.

 This guy bears watching in coming weeks and months.

And here are some reactions from local Republican politicians:

Alaska State Representative Mike Doogan (R): “Either Sarah Palin has talents and skills we were not aware of”, or “John McCain fell down and hit his head”. He also called the prospect of Palin potentially needing to take over as President”pretty scary.”

Alaska State Senate President Lyda Green (R): “She's not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president? Look at what she's done to this state. What would she do to the nation?” (Green is from Palin's home town of Wasilla.)

Alaska House Speaker John Harris (R): “She's old enough. She's a U.S. citizen.”

You know McBush's line about how Sarah Palin blocked the Bridge to Nowhere?

Turns out it's a lie.

And even more from the Anchorage papers:

The Alaska governor campaigned in 2006 on a build-the-bridge platform, telling Ketchikan residents she felt their pain when politicians called them “nowhere.” They're still feeling pain today in Ketchikan, over Palin's subsequent decision to use the bridge funds for other projects — and over the timing of her announcement, which they say came in a pre-dawn press release that seemed aimed at national news deadlines.

“I think that's when the campaign for national office began,” said Ketchikan Mayor Bob Weinstein on Saturday.

 And there's more from Mudflats, also cited just above:

Palin is McCain’s Bridge to Nowhere. Thanks, But No Thanks.

Damn.  I was really looking forward to their convention.

Let’s hope for the best for those in this storm’s path.

That is all.

It’s all about them and they show no hesitation about using the suffering of New Orleans to their advantage as a prop.

Unreal,this deserves contempt and derision in the media which is just not happening .The same McCain that was literally eating cake with Bush when Katrina hit New Orleans now needs the City and it’s people as back drop .What total shark jumping foolishness.At long last is there no Republican with any shame ?

ST. PAUL — Hurricane Gustav is blowing the Republican National Convention off course with tomorrow’s proceedings all-but-canceled and John McCain floating the idea that he might deliver his acceptance speech Thursday night from the area blasted by the storm.

……….”As long as we properly handle the Gustavication of the convention, it may be a positive,” said one GOP operative. He added that with the exception of speeches by Palin and McCain “everything else is just an opportunity to make a mistake or distract from the historic nature of the ticket.”

…………Gustav takes much of the focus off of Palin and, even if she does speak on Wednesday night, the tenor of her address will likely be much more in her comfort zone; she is likely to avoid direct partisan attacks and instead talk about the fundamental goodness of the country — a recipe for her speech to be well received by a nation looking for encouragement.

http://voices.washingtonpost.c…

IN voicing his support for the selection of Alaska governor Palin as John McCain’s VP selection, Governor Douglas said, on VPR, that she’s done some great stuff:  for instance, she’s the one who blew the whistle on that famous “bridge to nowhere”–which, the Guv said, was something that “Congress approved.”  

As in, Douglas took the opportunity of a VPR interview to blame the Democratically controlled Congress for one of our era’s most notorious bits of pork-barrel spending, and to praise Palin for pulling the plug.  She’s a hero, right, Governor?

Problem with that:  Palin was a solid supporter of this bit of pork–she flip-flopped later, when the absurd ratio between the cost and the benefit became a subject of some media attention.  And more importantly, the Congress “approved”  the funding for the bridge ONLY because Republican Senator Ted Stevens inserted the funding for it as an earmark into an unrelated bill.  That’s right:  REPUBLICAN Senator Stevens was the guy dipping into the public till for this bit of dubious public works.

So let’s be honest, Governor.  The “Bridge to Nowhere” was a bit of Republican pork all along.  Your attempt to blame it on  a Democratically controlled Contress is either an outright lie, or at best a bit of sleazy campaign-season dishonesty worthy of Karl Rove.  You are going to have to do better than that if you want to retain a reputation for probity, honesty, and worthiness for public office.

It would be great if the upcoming election became a referendum on gubernatorial honesty.  Do Vermonters want a Governor who has no problems joining Bush-Rove-Cheney-Rice in distortion of fact, as long as it serves the party interest?  Or are Vermonters tired of Republican liars?  

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This video speaks entirely for itself. The Republicans have out-dumbed Dan Quayle with their selection of Sarah Palin.

There’s really nothing, and I mean nothing, that I can add.

Please make sure this is spread far and wide. Email it to everyone you know. Post it on other blogs. Let the “brilliance” of Republicanism shine (under a thousand points of light?) for all to see.

OK, a couple of people had something to add:

Animated educational aid: