The party line then (emphasis added):

Family groups believe Vermont’s “civil unions” law will have a negative impact on the state and may be used to undermine marriage laws across the country.
    Janet Parshall, chief spokeswoman for the Family Research Council, decried the lawmakers’ action.
    “This is ‘gay marriage’ in everything but name, and it is a direct assault on society’s most essential institution,” Parshall said.

The party line now:

“It appears that, from their side,” said (Stephen) Cable (President of the “Center for American Cultural Renewal” in Rutland), “it is a battle of semantics, and being in a position of being more accepted in terms of the word ‘marriage.’ From our perspective, ‘marriage’ is drastically different. The word marriage,” he said, “implies, you know, it implies [the] opposite sex can form a union. So it’s very, very different from our perspective.”

( – promoted by odum)

I’m on dozens of Email lists, everybody from the New York Times to Victoria’s Secret (great articles over there) sends me Email and I spend way too much time scanning and deleting most of it daily. I subscribe to Email lists from news organizations, campaign committees, government watchdog groups and all kinds of public service organizations. I also get stuff addressing me as Dear One, with great investment opportunities in Nigeria and missives that promise to make me larger, but I delete them all summarily as I have nothing to invest and…, never mind.

Most of what I receive is of a “progressive” or “liberal” nature but in the interest of knowing what the adversary is up to, I also subscribe to publications from conservative groups, the spectrum runs from the Coulter, Limbaugh breed of invertebrates to the American Enterprise Institute and other large lizards. I”ll tell you, a little of this stuff goes a long way.

I got a real dandy this morning from the Heritage Foundation, you know, the conservative think tank that has worked so tirelessly for the Bush administration, embroiling us in various wars of empire and providing invaluable aid and advice in support of administration efforts to relieve American citizens of such pesky irritants as habeas corpus, civil liberties and due process of law, while conducting additional studies aimed at relieving us of our money.

Heritage has long fought the good fight for corporate rights and limited government. These are the guys who burn the midnight oil to come up with ways to help corporations pocket employee pension funds without exposing themselves to criminal liability while working diligently to ensure that federal regulatory agencies are toothless, and in all ways impotent. The effectiveness of their efforts on behalf of corporate America can be measured in such events as the Crandall Canyon mine collapse.

The organization, which came into existence in 1973 was bankrolled by Joseph Coors, of the Coors Brewing Company and billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife, Paul Weyrich was one of it’s founders, there were no wild eyed leftists in that circle unless they were carrying a rake, polishing the crystal or cleaning the pool.

Heritage is now funded to the tune of 30 to 40 million annually by obscenely wealthy individuals and cash bloated corporations. They also receive large sums from foreign governments and such entities (it has been reported) as the Korean Intelligence agency. In return for their generosity Heritage spends about twenty percent of the take lobbying government on their behalf and publishing studies which tell them things that they want to hear and helping them market bullshit and lies to the rest of us.

In this morning’s Email from Heritage was a featured article written by “Senior Fellow” (please pause to genuflect) Robert Rector (Photo at right) at the National Review Online and titled “Poor Politics” in which he offers the following nuggets of conservative think tank wisdom regarding persons in this country who are classified as poor. From Mr. oops, “Senior Fellow” Rector:

“The following are facts about persons defined as “poor” by the Census Bureau, taken from a variety of government reports:”

“46 percent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.”

“Senior Fellow” Rector quoting from a “variety of government reports.”

I don’t know the actual numbers but I’m guessing that most of the 46% quoted own nothing more substantial than a 30 year mortgage which they struggle mightily to pay while staying ahead of such wolves as the costs of daily living and working in America. The idea that forty percent of those below the federal poverty level “own” their homes is nonsense and “Senior Fellow” Rector knows it.

In addition, what happened to the legions of people who live in houses with fewer than 3 bedrooms and the gazillions of apartment dwellers, not to mention the many people who call the porch or patio “home.”

“80 percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, in 1970, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.”

“Senior Fellow” Rector quoting from a “variety of government reports.”

I suppose that “Senior Fellow” Rector would feel more comfortable with the poor if they were sweltering in their “three bedroom houses” and dying quietly and unobtrusively of heat prostration. It must also be noted that those who rent houses or apartments don’t “own” their air conditioners any more than they own their homes. Either way they pay dearly in utility bills and taxes for the meager comfort of not sweating through their shorts.

“Only six percent of poor households are overcrowded; two thirds have more than two rooms per person.”

“Senior Fellow” Rector quoting from a “variety of government reports.”

I currently live in a five room house with my cat, which I suppose places us above “Senior Fellow Rector’s” mandatory squalor requirement average. I will soon be forced to move (due to poverty) from this spacious splendor to share an apartment with my brother and his Grandson. We will then share 5 rooms, I am doing my part to “walk the walk” of the poor by cramming myself into smaller accomodations so that the ruling class may have more room to ride their horsies.

“The typical poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)”

“Senior Fellow” Rector quoting from a “variety of government reports.”

It should be noted that America as she was growing in the 19th century and the early part of the 20th, had so many more times the available land area than most European countries that there can be no comparison. Except for those unfortunate millions who were crammed into urban tenements and company “housing” “provided” by railroad, mining, factory or mill owners we have historically been able to spread our elbows regardless of economic status. It does look bad though, I admit it, all those so called poor people with so much wasted space between them. Inefficiency.

“Nearly three quarters of poor households own a car; 31 percent own two or more cars.”

“Senior Fellow” Rector quoting from a “variety of government reports.”

I own a car, It’s 12 years old and I bought it used back when I was not disabled and working six days a week to stay just above the poverty level. I still drive it to my physical therapy appointments at the VA hospital and the grocery store when I can afford to pay the fuel prices that Heritage helped to arrange.

“97 percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions.”

“Senior Fellow” Rector quoting from a “variety of government reports.”

I have two, one is 8 years old and works well, the other was given to me by a friend and sometimes works as well, there is nothing on them but lying news people reading scripts prepared at the Heritage foundation. If that violates my status as “poor” I’ll be happy to turn one over to the “unnecessary entertainment police.”

“78 percent have a VCR or DVD player.”

“Senior Fellow” Rector quoting from a “variety of government reports.”

My wife made me buy a DVD player a couple years before she died. She was an invalid those last several years but found joy and laughter in rented Disney movies. She’s gone now, a year next month. I do feel a bit guilty for the extravagance and promise to atone.

“62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.”

“Senior Fellow” Rector quoting from a “variety of government reports.”

Got me again, and, I have wireless internet as well. I must have these things, they allow me to stay abreast of those who wage this unrelenting war against the middle and lower economic classes in this and other countries. I also need it to get my Email from the Heritage Foundation and Victoria’s Secret. (good articles over there)

“89 percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and a more than a third have an automatic dishwasher.”

“Senior Fellow” Rector still quoting from a “variety of government reports.”

In all his quoting of vague “government sources,” “Senior Fellow” Rector doesn’t mention wage stagnation, the continually rising cost of living in all areas, outsourcing and offshoring of jobs in all sectors of the economy, community crippling layoffs, pension defaults, natural disasters, catastrophic illnesses, death, war and a host of other legitimate reasons why good, honest, working people have fallen into poverty yet still have that embarrassing  dishwasher in their kitchen and still reside in the three bedroom house with a patio that they lived in before their jobs were shipped off to Timbuktu.

There may be a difference between the face of poverty in Dorothea Lange’s hauntingly beautiful “Migrant Mother” from 1940 at the top of this rant and the modern version in this new century but I doubt it, you have to look at the eyes, close up, and personal to see, to know the despair.

I don’t know, Maybe “Senior Fellow” Rector hasn’t heard about those things, yeah that’s probably it.

Anyway, I’m off the hook on the last one, (is he still running on?) my ten year old nuke died and I can’t afford another, that damn poverty thing again, and alas, no dishwasher. I’ve been waiting a long time for a veteran’s disability pension to show up in my mailbox and I’m sure that it will, probably the day after they plant my butt at the VA cemetery. I’ll celebrate, maybe buy a new microwave or a … they still sell “stereos?”

Bob Higgins

Worldwide Sawdust

In my post a few days ago, one of the things that I touched upon was how people are waking up to the fact that in the conservatives' mad rush to privatize just about every aspect of our economy, that when profit is the ultimate motive, often human needs are pushed to the side with disastrous results, and that when you combine that with having people who are anti-government in power, the problem is compounded to epic proportions. Nowhere was this more apparent than the government's inept handling of the Katrina disaster. And even more infuriating is the mindset that was all too apparent by those on the right as to how to benefit from the tragedy, as Rick Perlstein's article over at TomPaine.com clearly illustrates. Jump below the fold for your morning outrage. Don't spill your coffee…

It's amazing how hypercapitalists see a silver lining in every cloud. You may remember a few years ago in Michael Moore's  “Fahrenheit 9-11” when there was a convention of sorts that was presenting all sorts of new business opportunities from the Iraq invasion, with businessmen openly declaring that the debacle was going to make a lot of people rich. In the Katrina debacle, not only were the vultures circling for economic opportunities, many saw it as a great opportunity to push through the other demented right-wing policies that had nothing to do witth the hurricane. As Perlstein points out:

Tod Linberg, editor of the right-wing flagship “intellectual” journal Policy Review rejoiced. “Bush has what Social Security and tax reform lacked: a real sense of crisis that places his political opponents in an awkward position,” he wrote on September 20, 2005 in the Washington Times. “He can make demands in the name of New Orleans, including demands for substantive policy changes that he could never obtain in the absence of a crisis.”…

Disgraced/corrupt-as-hell former Texas congressman Tom Delay could barely contain himself at the prospect:

Tom DeLay wrote that Katrina “has introduced a valuable forum to promote the triumph of our ideas and solutions for government over the crumbling and outdated policies of the Democrat-controlled Congresses of past decades.”

Yeah, the New Deal was in part responsible for the mess. Riiii-ght. And former senator Jack Kemp was practically drooling:

He called Katrina a golden opportunity on September 6—a “golden opportunity to 'green line' the Delta and Gulf Coast with government policies that facilitate and empower the private sector.”

What did he have in mind? Suspending those horrible regulations, such as the Davis-Bacon act, which requires the government to pay the prevailing local wage in construction projects. Kemp also said that “onerous regulations imposed by the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communication Commission, and the Environmental Protection Agency could be suspended.” Kemp also called for the suspension of numerous taxes, becuse you just know that in the wake of a disaster of this magnitude, the best thing to do is starve the public coffers even more. To add insult to injury, Kemp, who as of late has worked hard to help asbestos companies wrangle through litigation, quotes, of all people, Bobby Kennedy, in a thoroughly inappropriate context.

Other conservatives saw equally as ridiculous and unrelated opportunities here, such as reintroducing the effort to privatize Social Security and to cut the funding for public broadcasting even more than it already has been.

This is living proof of the fact that there is no tragedy too horrible for the right-wing in power to exploit for personal or political gain. They did it with 9-11, the Iraq War, and Katrina, and you can be damn sure should another tragic opportunity present itself, they'll be lining up at the trough to benefit their business buddies in any way possible. 

Let those other big-time bloggers cover the serious stories, like Fredo's last stand. Hey, he didn't even have the decency to tell us he was quitting to spend more time with his family, so where's the entertainment value there?

Still, when so many things are going badly, it's good to have everyone's favorite guilty pleasure to fall back on, so, partly at the request of my brother, here's a Top Ten of sex scandals and peccadilloes by our political enemies. It's not that Democrats are always pure and Republicans are always corrupt. It's not even that I think other people's sex lives are our business, unless those same people are taking a more than healthy interest in the sex lives of their fellow Americans.

When it comes down to it, it feels so much better when the guys who are hollering the loudest about those icky people and their icky practices get caught engaging in those icky practices themselves.

And, as much fun as that is, what makes it all the more fun is watching the explanations they really seem to believe will get them off the hook.

So, here we go, although this Top Ten does not come from the home office in Wahoo, Nebraska:

Number Ten–John Jenrette, D., S. Car. His downfall in Congress was probably the result of his bribery conviction, but what really catapulted him into glory was when he had sex with his then-wife, Rita Jenrette, behind a pillar on the steps of the Capitol Building.

Number Nine–Jack Ryan, R., Ill. He was married to TV star and former Borg Geri Ryan, but his campaign for the U.S. Senate ran aground when her divorce filings revealed that he had taken her to sex clubs in New Orleans, New York City, and Paris, where he had begged her to perform sex acts with him in front of other attendees of the clubs. Jeri Ryan described one as “a bizarre club with cages, whips and other apparatus hanging from the ceiling.” Brack Obama was eventually elected after Ryan was replaced in the Senate campaign by Alan Keyes.

Number Eight–Jeff Gannon. You may know him by his real name, James Dale Guckert, or you may just remember the guy who got preferential treatment by the Bush Administration for being just their kind of conservative wack job, at least until they figured out that he was a male prostitute masquerading as a journalist.

Number Seven–Ted Haggard. Before his scandal broke you had probably never heard of him, but he was a big name in the world of evangelical mega-churches. Too bad he got caught spending church money on the services of a male prostitute. He said it was just a massage, the prostitute says it was three years of sex and amphetamines. Buh-bye, Ted.

Number Six–David Almond, R., N. Car. He may deserve a higher spot on the list, except you've probably never heard of him because he was only a state legislator and he had the decency to step down as soon as he got caught. Still, what can you say about the family values politician who exposed himself in front of a female employee and chased her around the room yelling “Suck it, baby, suck it.” ? Oh yes, in true Republican fashion Almond was the vice chairman of the House committee on children, youth and families.

Number Five–Paul R. Balach. A top aide to former Labor Secretary Elizabeth Dole, Balach was forced out of his job when he  admitted “he had procured male prostitutes and was subjected to blackmail threats by one of the call boys.” Thanks, Washington Times, for driving this particular scandal to new lows.

Number Four–Robert Bauman, R., Md., another conservative extremist who served in the Congress from 1973-1980, where he received a perfect 100 on the Christian Voice Morality Rating. Too bad that was before he got caught interfering with young boys in a public toilet.

Number Three–Mark Foley, R., Fla. I guess the best he can say for himself is that he didn't actually have sex with them, but sending lewd e-mails to Congressional pages and asking them to send him pictures of themselves seemed just a tiny bit out of keeping with his family values and anti-child-pornography legislative positions. What puts him so close to the top here, though, is the way his sudden departure helped pave the way to a Democratic House majority in 2006.

Number Two–David Vitter, R., La., the first Republican ever elected to represent Louisiana in the U.S. Senate, family values guy, and early supporter of Rudy Giuliani. He got his start in Congress replacing Bob Livingstone, who stepped down as Speaker and resigned from the House after his own marital infidelity was exposed during Clinton's impeachment trial. Following in Livingstone's footsteps, Vitter has been implicated in the “D.C. Madam” case, with his number appearing repeatedly in her phone records.

Number One–Larry Craig, R., Id. It's just come out that he pled guilty earlier this month after he was caught in an airport men's room by an undercover cop. Larry made himself comfortable in a stall, put his briefcase down in front of the door, and began signalling to the man in the next stall.
“At 1216 hours, Craig tapped his right foot. I recognized this as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct. Craig tapped his toes several times and moves his foot closer to my foot. I moved my foot up and down slowly. While this was occurring, the male in the stall to my right was still present. I could hear several unknown persons in the restroom that appeared to use the restroom for its intended use. The presence of others did not seem to deter Craig as he moved his right foot so that it touched the side of my left foot which was within my stall area,” the report states.

“With my left hand near the floor, I pointed towards the exit. Craig responded, ‘No!’ I again pointed towards the exit. Craig exited the stall with his roller bags without flushing the toilet. … Craig said he would not go. I told Craig that he was under arrest, he had to go, and that I didn’t want to make a scene. Craig then left the restroom.”

His explanations and excuses are priceless:
“At the time of this incident, I complained to the police that they were misconstruing my actions. I should have had the advice of counsel in resolving this matter. In hindsight, I should not have pled guilty. I was trying to handle this matter myself quickly and expeditiously.” And Craig stated “that he has a wide stance when going to the bathroom and that his foot may have touched mine.”
Do I need to say it? A very quick check of Craig's record on gay issues turns up the fact that he  voted in favor of an Idaho Constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman, and  also voted in favor of last year's Federal Marriage Amendment doing the same thing.

So come on, people. Let's hear it for those upstanding men and women–oops, men only, sorry–who are working so hard to uphold the values our nation was built on.

I didn't see this coming:

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, whose tenure has been marred by controversy and accusations of perjury before Congress, has resigned. A senior administration official said he would announce the decision later this morning in Washington.

It looked for all the world like Bushco was dug in on this – as they are on everything. What changed? If they were going to care about political pressure and public standing, why now and not months ago when the writing was all over the wall? Perhaps Rove was the driving force behind the stubborn support of Gonzales, and now that he's gone…

Who knows. I'm sure all these questions and more will be asked. Hopefully there will be a Washington reporter or two that will do their jobs and dig a bit for the answers. In the meantime, it begs the question as to who comes next? Rumors place DHS boss Michael Chertoff as the next name in line, but Victoria Toensing (mother of fellow national GOP hack and Charlotte resident Brady Toensing) strikes me as a possibility.

Stay tuned… 

(Promoting for comments on the new developments in Michigan and Florida. Maybe I’ll have time to update this tonight. – promoted by Jack McCullough)

The Democratic National Committee has told Florida that it won't get any delegates to next year's national convention unless they back down from their calendar move, which puts the Florida presidential primary ahead of New Hampshire and other annointed states in the presidential race next year.

 The committee gave Florida Democrats 30 days to propose a primary date that conformed with Democratic rules prohibiting all but four states from holding their primaries or caucuses before Feb. 5. But Florida leaders, who seemed stunned by a near-unanimous vote and the severity of the punishment, said they were doubtful they could come up with an alternative.

This is something that's bugged me for some time. Not just the random fact that New Hampshire and Iowa have such a disproportionate role in the selection of presidential candidates, but more importantly, the obvious sense of entitlement that the residents of those two states, and especially New Hampshire, have, and the supine attitude of the parties in the face of this sense of entitlement. 

This year the rest of the country is catching up with this, and other states who have in prior years been deprived of any say in who the presidential candidates will be are trying to get in the game, but our party, which ought by nature to be the voice of the people, is trying to squelch these efforts.

There are two good alternatives to the current system, either of which would be immeasurably better than the current system. Probably the best known is a proposal for rotating regional primaries. Even though Holy Joe supports the idea, it makes a lot of sense, by creating regional primaries that will spread the primary voting over time and take away the advantage that the early winners in insignificant states now have.

Another appealing idea is called the American Plan, and it front loads the smallest states, so that candidates get started early and have to ask the voters of small states for their support before they get to the big states that will put them over the top. 

The American Plan is intended to correct these faults. First, it introduces a random element into scheduling while preserving the door-to-door politicking needed early in the race. Second, it arranges the schedule so that large “block” primaries take place at the end of the calendar, not the beginning. Finally, it condenses the schedule into a time span of 20 weeks that culminates with a large primary of both small and large states.

Here's how it works: The American Plan is designed to begin with primaries in smaller states, and grow progressively larger and more challenging as the nominating process advances. The schedule consists of 10 multi-state primaries evenly spaced over twenty weeks. The first primary would take place in a randomly selected group of states whose Congressional Districts total exactly 8 – for example, Alaska (1 CD), South Carolina (6 CDs), and Delaware (1 CD). The succeeding primaries would grow progressively larger – 16, 24, 36, etc. – up to the 10th primary, which would cover 80 CDs. A hypothetical sample schedule can be viewed here.

Both of these choices are obvious responses to the Super Tuesday system we have now, which has largely done what it was intended to do: advance conservative Democratic candidates (see, e.g., Carter, Clinton) 

Either choice makes more sense than we have now, and either choice would hopefully protect us from more news stories about some geezer in New Hampshire who's decided that nobody who hasn't slogged up to his general store and listened to his hilarious outhouse story is qualified to be president.

So come on, DNC. Let's get off this infatuation with New Hampshire and Iowa and move to a system that actually makes sense. 

Here's a doozy. Bush-supported Iraqi Prime Minister (such as the position is) Al-Maliki is bristling at criticism that he's inneffective and irrelevant – particularly the recent calls (from people like Hillary Clinton, Carl Levin and a bunch of Republicans) that he step down.

“There are American officials who consider Iraq as if it were one of their villages”

Okay, so far so good…

“for example Hillary Clinton and Carl Levin,”

Hm. Leaving out someone a little more obvious, aren't we?

But here's the payoff quote. Why should the criticism of Maliki stop? Because… 

“This is severe interference in our domestic affairs.”

Now just think about that one for a few minutes. 

From today's Times Argus/Rutland Herald: 

Lincoln vs. Douglas. Ali vs. Frazier. McKibben vs. McClaughry?

Ripton environmentalist Bill McKibben and Kirby economic commentator John McClaughry may not be household names in popular culture, but Vermonters clued into climate change know the two men for their ongoing debate over global warming.

 Right wing blather and bluster vs. reason and evidence from our own gubernatorial draftee. 

(crossposted on five before chaos)

It's not easy being a right-winger in Vermont. They're a real minority,  especially the far right-wing variety, such as WDEV's blowhard crybaby  hatemonger Paul Beaudry, or corporate apologist “anything for the almighty  dollar” John McLaughry, both great cases of “reality-challenged” people if I've  ever seen any.

And that's not likely to change anytime soon. The neo-con agenda is about as  popular as spring-thaw dogshit, as is its President, the healthcare crisis is  getting out-of-hand, there's that disastrous war of choice, and many people are  slowly waking up to the fact that the private sector doesn't always do certain  things better than the public sector (yeah, I know, there's a million other  things, but if youre' reading a political blog you know about them already). And  it's becoming very apparent that when you have people in charge who feel that  the government should be doing as little as possible, well, that's what  happens. They do as little as possible, not a good thing when  you have disasters such as Katrina or ever-increasing numbers of children who  don't have access to quality healthcare. You can only sing the praises of “the  market” so much before people start figuring out that “the market' could really  care less about them in any way except as a dollar sign, and the hell with their  well-being if it doesn't make someone some money somewhere.

But that's not stopping the downtrodden few in Vermont who like to think of  themselves as the “right-wing intellectuals” of the state. C'mon, don't laugh,  that's mean. There's a new Vermont right-wing think tank out there, the Lyceum Society of  Vermont. What's this all about? Jump below the fold for more.

From the front page of the Lyceum Society:

The Lyceum Society of Vermont is an intellectual forum founded in  2007 which  is dedicated to providing an exchange of ideas among  traditionalists,  paleoconservatives, classical liberals, libertarians,  neoconservatives, the New  Right, and others devoted to a philosophy of ordered  liberty…

The mission of the Lyceum Society is to promote the intellectual  discussion  of principles and ideas essential to the preservation of traditional  culture and  human liberty, the creation of abundance, and achieving a good and  just society. 

So it seems like it's trying to unite conservatives of all stripes together.  This is even more clear in their links page, where you can see a rogues' gallery  of the various stripes of what is known as conservatism, in all its shades of  turd-brown. There's everything from the well-known libertarian Cato  Institute, chickenhawk and perpetual liar Bill Kristol's The Weekly  Standard, and a host of other known and not-so well known organizations.  I'm having a really hard time seeing how the society's aim of a “good  and just society” fits in with groups like The Christian  Coalition and hate groups such as  Tony Perkins' American Family  Association, or the Traditional Values Coalition, which boasts  such headlines as Pro-Homosexual/Drag  Queen Bills Coming Back In  September! and Planned Parenthood’s Child Molester Cover Up  EXPOSED!  What? No link to Worldnut Daily? There's even VT  Commons on there, those people who didn't know about the racists in the  secession movement, and quite frankly, didn't care, according to VTC's Rob  Williams.

It's a really big tent, I guess. Even though the various factions are really  diametrically opposed to each other in many ways (like how the corporatist wing  exploits of the oft-poorer and less educated theocratic wing) you gotta give 'em  props for trying. 

Now, I'm not judging it soley on the content of its links page. Its intention  is to bring together cons of all stripes, and it shows in the links page, so I  can't fault them for that. But who's behind all this, you ask? Again, from the  Lyceum site:

In 2007 John McClaughry of the Ethan Allen Institute and former congressional  campaign staffer N. P. West envisioned the creation of a forum for the  intellectual Right in Vermont and the Lyceum Society of Vermont was  born.

Ah, shoulda known. We all know John McLaughry, from his curmudgeonly op-eds  praising the virtues of the mythical “free-market” in local newspapers and VPR,  where he rails against anything that might keep someone, somewhere,  from making a buck. In the last year or so, he's been on this big global warming  denial kick (because, you know, certain people might make less money if  we had to do something about it), where he often quotes  questionable and/or thoroughly discredited scientific reports to make his  case. 

Having one think tank that nobody listens to or takes seriously wasn't enough  for John, so one night, after his eighth snifter of Hennessy, instead of  rambling for the umpteenth time to the portrait of Ethan Allen hanging over the  fireplace in his den about how wealthy businessmen just can't ever seem to get a  fair shake, he got a brilliant idea: form another think tank that  nobody cares about or takes seriously.

And who's the new sidekick, this N.P. West?

He was a volunteer for the gubernatorial campaigns of former State Rep. Ruth  Dwyer (Ret.) (1998, 2000) and has served on the congressional campaigns of  attorney Bill Meub (2002), Lt. Col. Greg Parke, USAF (Ret.) (2004), and former  State Sen. Mark Shepard (Ret.) (2006).  His writings have appeared on  TrueNorthRadio.com and he maintains a web log, the Vermont  Traditionalist.  

Whoa, that's quite the resume, eh? Ruthless Ruth Dwyer? The gay-obsessed Mark  Shepard? Bill Meub? I'd completely forgotten about that guy. It's like a who's  who of Vermont political losers. He's quite the poli-sci wonk too, not a bad  thing by any means, but it might be a problem when reaching out to some of those  on the right who speak in monosyllabic words or consider the writings of Ann  Coulter as an example of literary genius. Or the majority of people on all sides  who could care less about the nuances of agrarian distributism and just want you  to tell them what you're going to do and what you stand for in less than a  book-length diatribe.

So we now have another right-wing think tank, heavily involved with the guy  who has the other right-wing think tank. And if you sign up and pay  your dues to the Lyceum Society, you get a complimentary membership to  that other think tank, the Ethan Allen Institute. McLaughry's so desperate, he's  giving them away! Like the EAI, its real effects will be hardly noticed in the  political landscape, but now when VPR or the Times Argus needs a token  conservative to write an op-ed, at least they have another choice.

From the “methinks thou dost protest too much” department…

I find it interesting that the Republicans are pushing so hard to give Democrats a black eye over the fact that the law has unexpectedly provided an opportunity for shady operators to access the personal financial information of Vermont taxpayers through Town Offices. Consider some of those shady operators who are swooping in, doing that vulture-thing (from VPR, emphasis mine):

 

There's disagreement among town clerks – and among state officials – about whether the income adjustment information should be public.
 
Secretary of State Deb Markowitz has said it should be kept private.
 
But Montpelier's clerk relied on advice from the (Douglas) Tax Department. So she released 24 pages of data to two individuals who asked for it. One of the requests came from the state Republican Party.
 

Uh-huh. I guess they were for it before they were against it (before they were for it, since the changes in the law that created the privacy loophole were approved with a bipartisan majority). Or maybe they want to exploit the privacy hole themselves and close it up behind them as soon as possible.

Real class act, the Vermont GOP…