( – promoted by Vermonter)

Just got an email from TrueMajority.org alerting me to the Vermont Speaks Up Rally to Stop the Genocide in Darfur.

Date: Sunday, June 11, 2006
Time: 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Place: City Hall Park in Burlington

Speakers will include Suliman Giddo, co-founder and president of Darfur Peace and Development, Ben Cohen, and members of Burlington’s faith community, among others.

Politicians on hand will be: Matt Dunne, Pat Leahy, Bernie Sanders, Rich Tarrant, and Peter Welch.

And featuring entertainment by Ethan West & Company Green, Jeh Kulu Dance & Drum Theater, and Phil Cohen.

A controversial Utah firm frequented by the GOP and implicated in scandal is push polling this evening for Rich Tarrant in Vermont.

Push polling, if you don’t know, is the practice of “polling” with loaded questions (“Would you vote for candidate X?” “Would you vote for candidate X if you knew he beat his wife?”). It is universally considered a sleazy, dirty campaign trick.

Callers are receiving “survey” calls asking them their opinions in the US Senate race, US House race, and then their general opinion of Governor Douglas. Callers are then asked if they’ve seen and approve of Rich Tarrant’s television ads.

Finally, if the recipient indicated support for Bernie, they are asked if they would still support Bernie after knowing he “voted to not allow rape victims to know if their assailants are HIV positive?”

This sort of polling is a smear, plain and simple. Bernie has one of the most pro-women voting records in the House and Tarrant knows it. This is another example of the GOP strategy of trying to take down a target by aiming at their strengths (Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, anyone?).

Although the caller wouldn’t identify herself to my source, caller ID revealed that the polling firm is Venture Data out of Salt Lake City. Venture is a usual suspect go-to firm for Republican push calls, having a track record in such states as Wisconsin, Washington and Missouri.

In Missouri where they were nabbed red-handed, the company had the nerve to deny it rather spectacularly:

On its Web site, Venture Data says it “has never conducted nor participated in what is commonly referred to as ‘push polling,’” a position company general manager Jeff Call reiterated.

“If we were involved, I can guarantee it was not a push poll,” he said.

Currently, it’s website has a link about “push poll” questions right on it’s front page. Apparently, it’s a very touchy subject. The website states:

We recognize that in the heat of highly charged election campaigns tempers will flare and accusations of impropriety are likely to fly.

In light of this, we want to make it clear that Venture Data L.L.C. has never conducted nor participated in what is commonly referred to as “push polling.” Our activities are strictly limited to conducting telephone survey research wherein we gather the opinions of a limited number of representative voters and deliver that data to our clients. We adhere to strict methodological standards.

In fact, the firm was embroiled in controversy a few years back when Pennsylvania Republican House Majority Leader John Perzel used his taxpayer-funded expense account to have Venture (and many other firms) do a hit job on a Democratic target:

Perzel paid $42,000 to Venture Data, a Salt Lake City polling firm, in December. His spokesman said pollsters called 800 Pennsylvania residents and asked them “public policy” questions, but that spokesman would not release the actual questions.

Jeff Call, the company’s general manager, did not return numerous phone calls seeking comment

This is the kind of mentality we’re dealing with. If you can’t make your case on the issues, resort to sleazy character assasination and deny, deny deny. In the end it doesn’t matter because they assume the electorate is just too stupid to notice or care that they’re being manipulated in such a craven way.

And mark my words, this will only be the beginning.

Another round of links. Consider these updates to be open threads as well. Whatever’s on your mind…

iBrattleboro reports that Democratic candidate for Governor Scudder Parker “won the milking contest today after the strolling of the heifers.” Now there’s a real Vermont candidate for ya.

The protest of the Negroponte graduation address at St. J Academy (referenced in this diary from yesterday) is becoming a very big deal, as local activist/pacifist superstar Joseph Gainza of the American Friends Service Committee is on point (I’d link, but the Argus/Herald websites are screwed up again). There’s no way I can be there, but I imagine GMD readers would appreciate a report diary from anyone who is.

If you haven’t yet heard, drive-thru voting has arrived in Williston. And I do believe this means Vermont has found yet another way to be a leader of the free world (heh). Love it or hate it, there’s one thing we can all agree on: by the end of Tuesday’s special election, Williston election workers will be long sick of the “…I’d like a large fries and a diet coke with that” jokes.

Check out iBurlington’s 10 Reasons Why Gay Marriage is Wrong. One of my favorites is “Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn’t changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can’t marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.”

The following quote is from new Vermont blog sam-poet.blogspot.com. It seemed worth passing on:

I haven’t written any war poems in awhile, or, more accurately, peace poems. Is this any time for poems anyway? Who reads them, who cares, who really makes a difference, or even a living from words, short words, long words, in proper placement, or haphazardly spread around, does it really matter what words we use? We are at war. People die each day and it is our will. By our, I mean collectively as a nation, though I don’t like to be connected to this nation’s reality. A thunderstorm here in my neck of the woods turns me blue, I can’t garden anymore, yet on the other side of our Earth people dig holes in the ground to plant their loved ones, water them with tears. A single teardrop is lost, but a nation of them creates a global storm.

The graduation speaker at the St. Johnsbury Academy this coming Monday, June 5th will be John Negroponte. Mr. Negroponte’s son is in the graduating class and Headmaster Lovett insists that the former Ambassador was invited because he is “an influential dad.” There have been alleged threats of disciplinary action against any students participating in demonstrative actions against Mr. Negroponte or possessing controversial information about him. There will be a demonstration in front of Colby Hall in St. Johnsbury at 9am on Monday. Please be cautious as there is armed “free speech zone” enforcement and there has been rumor that the Academy will treat public sidewalks as private property.

UPDATE: I uploaded the mp3 from the DNC site. You can listen to it by clicking here. Bottom line? No new ground, but a solid, hard-hitting speech. A bit stiff, but I do think Welch is doing a good job starting to find his inner populist. My expectations are definitely going up, up, up after hearing this, and I’m feeling better about this race than I have in months (and you all know I can be brutally honest if I’m feeling dubious or pessimistic…)

The AP has a few bits, but GMD has more. Nothing groundbreaking, but it’s good stuff and continues to draw a bright shining line of distinction between Welch and the mushy non-opinions of his Republican rival — particularly by squaring him off directly against Bush himself. Again, you should be able to hear it on WDEV or streaming from C-Span at 12:00 (I think). Click on the link for excerpts…

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“It is Time for Accountability, Credibility and Competence in Iraq”

“I have traveled all over the state of Vermont and from farmers to university professors, people are frustrated with the loss of life in Iraq and the way things are going on the ground.”

“We must ensure that 2006 is a year of significant transition to full Iraqi sovereignty. We must establish clear benchmarks for the Iraqis to take care of their own country and defend themselves, so that we can transition our troops out and move to fight a smarter war on terrorism — including doing a better job of securing our ports and our borders.”

“The Republican Rubber Stamp Congress has failed to do its duty when it comes to the oversight of this Administration. Congress has a responsibility to ensure accountability for the hundreds of billions of dollars spent on the Iraq war. Instead of allowing our government to be over-billed by companies like Halliburton, Congress should practice genuine congressional oversight and investigate the way the Bush Administration doles out contracts.”

“Our troops deserve to be treated like the heroes they are and should never face months of waiting for something as critical as health care. Yet, as recently as two weeks ago, the Republican Congress voted against saving veterans from paying $735 million in increased health care costs, and to maintain a tax on military families.”

“At a time when Congress votes for more tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans, votes like these against our veterans are a moral disgrace.”

“Families in Vermont and all over America are frustrated and rightly so. At a time when all the Bush Administration offers us is an open-ended commitment in Iraq, with no real strategy to meet America’s goals, the last thing we need in Washington is another Bush Republican who simply rubber stamps this Administration’s misguided policies on Iraq.”

“It is time for accountability, credibility and competence when it comes to Iraq.  When I get to Washington, I pledge to work for all three as part of a new Congress that offers a new direction for our country.”

I had to share this, with Judy’s permission; an op-ed in the Bennington Banner today, Friday, June 2.

This is the third year in a row here in southern Vermont that we have suffered the ravages of tent caterpillars. These foul creatures eat their way through leaf and limb, wreaking havoc on whatever unsuspecting plant happens to be in the way of their insatiable appetites. They gorge on our apple blossoms, our roses, our maples, and oh, our poor willow was really weeping last summer. At first we merely flicked them off and stepped on them, then when that proved too slow started drowning them in soapy water. My husband devised a contraption that allows him to reach up high and burn the tents, and we’ve since learned about a bacillus spray that kills the caterpillars without affecting other wildlife. After hours of battling them, tree by tree, we’ll think we have things under control – at least until the next hatching.

In the throes of caterpillar combat, as I notice the telltale furry-looking branch or the tree trunk so thickly covered it appears cast in shadow, I recall that during the 2000 presidential campaign in response to a question, then-candidate George W. Bush said his favorite book was “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle. Never mind the smug anti-intellectualism – this from the fellow who once wanted to be known as the “Education President.” At the time people laughed this off (things were much lighter then, weren’t they?). Yet I can’t help but think of how perfectly the nonstop-feeding larva serves as a metaphor for the Bush presidency.

In the picture book, a staple of the pre-school bookshelf, the caterpillar chews its way through one apple, two pears, three plums, and a host of other foods including chocolate cake, Swiss cheese, a lollipop, and, improbably, salami. In the same way, Bush has decimated the nation’s budget surplus (now a record-breaking deficit), the viability and morale of the military (stretched thin in misguided, mishandled wars), our country’s moral standing in the world (shrugging aside international laws against torture), and our civil rights (through the so-called Patriot Act and unchecked citizen surveillance). The book has the caterpillar building a cocoon and emerging as a beautiful butterfly, a lovely idea indeed. What I imagine speaks to Bush was not the butterfly as symbol of nature’s wonder, but rather the primitive, raw appetite embodied in the voracious bug. This is also the appeal to young children, which is why Carle’s book has become a classic for pre-readers.

In my worst moments – just as I sometimes despair that our trees cannot withstand any more injury – I fear that there’s no stopping Bush and Co. With all the corruption scandals, presidential faux pas, and Three-Stooges-like appointees, this administration has long ago devolved into farce.

Eventually, of course, this will have to end (witness the numerous “1-20-09 Bush’s Last Day” bumper stickers around town). One can only worry about the damage that will be done in the interim – and fight to reclaim the democratic integrity we seem to have lost.

The greedy, plundering regime in Washington is the backdrop to life today. But we still have our own daily challenges. And for me right now it’s fending off that old Axis of Evil: the forest tent, eastern tent and gypsy moth caterpillars. Yesterday my 11-year-old son, Brendan, and I had a harrowing bike ride, as we literally had to duck and weave around Forest Tents dangling from their diaphanous threads. (They float down from upper branches in a kind of belaying fashion, unfurling silken filaments on their descent.) “There’s one on my shirt! On my leg!” he yelled, horrified. Threads were all over our hair, like cobwebs.

We raced back, and Brendan immediately took a shower. I mixed up another half-gallon of bacillus thuringiensis concentrate, and hauled out my spray bottle – to take on the one scourge I could at least do something about on a sunny afternoon.

——————————————————————————–

Judith D. Schwartz, a member of vermontpeacetrain, is a writer and editor who lives in Bennington.

Many weeks back I promised Norsehorse blogger Morgan Brown, who commented on this site that he intended to vote for Martha Rainville, that I’d post on why that would be a big mistake. In the cascade of life and news, I didn’t get around to it until now – which is actually for the better, as my perspective has developed further. With all due respect to those who have expressed concerns about his race (and GMD readers know I am very much among that number), there are two reasons why it’s time for all of us to stop whining and not simply vote for Welch in November, but to get our asses in gear and do whatever it takes to makes sure other Vermonters do as well.

First of all is the inconvenient truth of this election. So inconvenient that Morgan tersely dismissed it without explanation (and that’s because dissmissing it couldn’t be explained): that is, that a vote for Rainville is – like it or not – a vote to leave our Nation in the grip of the Constitution-shredding, corrupt, theocratic klepetocracy personified by His Majesty, King George III (I figure Washington and Bush I came first, and with Bush II claiming kingly authority…well, George III, yes?)

Consider the following from MyDD:

The Democrats cannot win back the House solely by winning the seats that are most competitive today, the “toss-ups.” Were the Dems to sweep all 11 seats, they would still need six more pick-ups in order to retake the House.

The Democrats can win back the House solely by winning back seats that are competitive today, the “toss-ups” and “leans” categories, though it would be very difficult. For the Democrats to win back the House only in these two categories, they would have to win 25 of 35 seats — or about 71 percent of the seats. This would be a possible, however less than likely task, even in a year in which one party has a general advantage in the double-digits.

By expanding the race to incoporate all seats that Cook views as possibly competitive at this juncture — the “toss-ups,” “leans,” and “likely” categories — the Democrats’ path to victory would become slightly easier. To win back the House with only seats deemed today to be potentially competitive, the Democrats would have to win 42 of the 68 races, or roughly 61 percent of the elections in question. While this might be difficult, it is not impossible, either numerically speaking or politically speaking.

The math is there, folks. The Democrats could pick up precisely the amount of seats in the US House to regain the majority — and then be foiled by an unexpected GOP pickup in Vermont. And if that doesn’t scare you right there, you’re either a Republican yourself, or you’re in serious, serious denial.

Everything — stopping the takeover of the courts by the religious right (if that’s even possible anymore), civil rights, privacy, the fundamental rights to due process, counsel and a fair trial, the rule of law and the Constitutional system of checks and balances, the principle that you don’t wage war because you think it’d be cool to kick somebody’s butt, the integrity of our military, our intelligence services, federal crisis management, the prospect of holding anyone who supports or works for Bush accountable when they break the law, true religious freedom, protecting our most vulnerable citizens, real medical research, the integrity of our electoral system, the fiscal stability of the nation, the right not to be tortured, and the future of our rivers, forests and the entire freaking planet – everything – depends on taking back at least one branch of the legislature, and the House is the best bet.

This is why I believe the case is as strong as for any election, that if you take the potential for pickups in currently Republican held districts in a bloc, the Vermont-At Large election is arguably the most important one in the nation for Democrats, and for America.

So that’s reason one. If that weren’t reason enough, there is another more personal one – and that is Senator Welch himself.

As I mentioned, several folks have been frustrated over Senator Welch’s recent legislative performance. Most over policy issues – I’ll tackle those in a moment. My own frustrations of late have been more campaign oriented. As important as this race is, I’ve been panicky that he didn’t used his unique and powerful platform – the office of President Pro Tempore of the State Senate – for full political advantage, both by stepping in the spotlight himself and showing political leadership, or by bringing up important issues that could shine an ill light on Rainville. Instead he chose to make few waves, try not to piss anybody off, while attending a lot of insider fundraisers.

This is the strategy of a leader in the polls, such as a well-monied incumbent. It is a strategy appropriate to the last Leahy campaign (also run by Campaign Manager Carolyn Dwyer) which was more of a coronation than a campaign. But Welch was not ahead in the polls. And this race will clearly be a slugfest rather than a coronation. Keeping his powder so very dry until after the session – by which time Rainville may have finally gotten her act together – was a very, very dangerous gamble.

But that was then and this is now. Rainville didn’t get her act together. Her act utterly imploded. She continued to shoot herself in the foot so badly that she tanked her own poll numbers, so that by the time the session was over, they were no longer neck-and-neck, Welch had a significant advantage among the sector of the electorate that was paying attention.

Under the guidance of Washington Republicans, Rainville is repairing her campaign, but she is now at a disadvantage. The campaign many like myself had wanted to see from Welch has now arrived. Welch is staffed up and running a smart campaign. Not only is he releasing substantive issue pieces (at this point they’re all “safe” issue pieces sure, but hopefully when the time comes to get more daring he won’t shy away), but his campaign is doing well what Democratic campaigns never do well in Vermont: rapid response. From the AP:

Republican Martha Rainville called a news conference to announce her views on FEMA a day ahead of the official start of hurricane season. But before she even was able to get to the podium in her Williston campaign headquarters Democrat Peter Welch’s campaign had issued a news release announcing essentially the same thing.

Now that’s impressive.

Perhaps it’s the Democratic partnership with Bernie Sanders, who has always been the master of rapid response. Whatever the reason, the Democratic tendency to be too complacent by trusting too much in their own perceived communications skills — to spend inordinate time micromanaging exactly how responses should be finessed in order to micro-surgically deliver the content without collaterally pissing anybody off — has given way to the understanding that a possibly imperfect response to an attack or proposal by an opponent, is vastly preferable to an over-thought, narrowly targeted response that comes too late to matter. Perception is reality in politics, and a robust rapid response system gives the perception of strength.

Maybe it’s the return of my inner Candide, but I truly believe that this campaign understands that you do not cede any ground to the opposition because fighting back doesn’t meet your campaign narrative. I think (I hope) that the Welch campaign understands that you don’t insist on playing chess while your opponent is playing paintball.

Now, on the matter of policy, and whether or not Welch is “progressive enough”…

Do you know what the most destructive quote in politics is? It’s the oft-repeated and fawned over line:

“Politics is the art of the possible.”

-Otto Von Bismarck

Feh. This single line and the sentiment behind it has lead to the steady marginalizing of anything that could be considered visionary from so many elected Democrats. It is the poison of cynicism masked in rhetorical elegance. It is both the implicit permission to surrender on policy, as well as a suggestion that working towards truly far-reaching goals is immature and unrealistic. If only the following were as readily quoted:

“Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists in choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable.”

-John Kenneth Galbraith

A little silly, sure. But it’s true. We are looking at the disastrous all around us. And while it may be unpalatable to step out in front and brave the inevitable slings and arrows that come from advancing visionary, progressive positions, disaster is simply not an option.

When I spoke ever-so-briefly with Senator Welch about health care at a forum in 2005, it was clear to me that the complaints from liberals were off the mark. Now I don’t really the know the guy, but it seems to me that Welch has never “sold out” by backing away from many leftist positions such as single-payer health care. He hasn’t sacrificed his opinions at all. What has perhaps taken a hit is his idealism as he has come to see politics as “the art of what’s possible.”

Now seriously, who is to say what’s possible? Welch – and many others – are battle-scarred veterans of an ongoing culture war. As politicians like him gain in skill and policy prowess, there is usually a corresponding drop in what they truly believe they can accomplish. Do you really think Welch wouldn’t do back flips of joy if he woke up tomorrow and a single payer system had magically descended upon us? Or if George Bush were suddenly impeached? Of course he would, but to him and many other of our most skilled politicians, such visions have become pipe dreams.

As he is, Peter Welch would be an excellent addition to the US House. He would do Vermont proud. Indeed, he would probably be one of the best and most reliable progressive voices in Washington. To be the best – to throw out his preconceptions of the “possible” with a re-injection of his genuine progressive social vision, he just needs a little inspiration.

And I can think of nothing more inspiring than getting elected to the US House of Representatives as part of a new majority primed and ready to take back our Constitutional Republic from those who would tear it to shreds in their own self-interest.

Now get out there, write him a check or lick some envelopes, and feel good about it…

C’mon… Can’t we help this guy out?

Greg Parke’s not some latte-sipping, Bentley-driving elitist, on a swan-song ego trip.

Oh no, he’s the real deal, folks. Air Force veteran, Middle Eastern diplomatic experience. I mean, just look at his issues page. He’s not equivocating about his views. He’s just about 100% in the Bush camp.

And his campaign signs are far less obnoxious to boot!

See, it’s been floated around these parts lately that the Republican Party insiders are placing a choke-hold on democracy, trying to force Parke to get out of the race in order to clear the way for Rich Tarrant’s big money challenge to Bernie Sanders.

Today, PoliticsVT pointed out information from an AP report titled "Tarrant’s self-funded campaign could boost GOP rival."

Parke says he’s invoking the “millionaire amendment.” The AP explains…

 

Richard Tarrant’s donations of his own money to his GOP campaign for the U.S. Senate could boost the fortunes of another Republican seeking the nomination.
 

A provision of the campaign finance law allows a candidate running against a self-funded rival to accept higher individual donations.
 

In the case of retired Air Force pilot Greg Parke, he’ll be able to accept a little more than $12,000 per individual, six times higher than the $2,100 typically permitted candidates for federal offices.
 

Parke accused his Republican opposition – moderate Rich Tarrant of buying the election.

Parke makes a good case for his appeal to the Republican base in this press release from April 17, 2006…

 

The Friends of Greg Parke announced today  that they have received over $1,000,000.00 in campaign contributions  for Republican Senatorial candidate Greg Parke. 
 

In response Parke stated, "We are getting a tremendous response with  our grassroots campaign.  Support is pouring in from people who are  concerned about our soldiers and our military situation.  They want the  kind of leadership that I bring to the table as a veteran and as  someone with real experience in the Middle East," said Parke.
 

Parke’s campaign has received donations from over 26,000  contributors. Parke has been fundraising primarily through direct voter  contact mailings. Parke has raised over $85,000.00 via the internet  from over 1,500 contributors.

Can’t we help a brother out?

Let’s not forget how much fun we Vermonters had crossing over to vote in a little Republican primary that made a national star out of Fred Tuttle.

So, stand up for democracy and say it loud and proud: Greg Parke for U.S. Senate.

[Crossposted at What’s the Point?]

Darren Allen reports that this week’s Democratic Response to President Bush’s weekly address will be delivered by Senate President Pro Tem and US Congress candidate Peter Welch (Sen. Welch must have friends in high places).

If you’re interested, WDEV usually carries the two addresses during their mid-day News Service slot at 12:00-12:30 on Saturday. Welch will record the response tomorrow and will make it a press event. In a lot of places, this wouldnt be as big a deal, but in little Vermont, it should generate some great media for Welch.

Gravity over at the Vermont blog Everybody Falls generally writes about “music, anime and games,” but these extraordinary times we live in, — where basic liberties that we are all raised to take for granted (like the open access to information and press freedom) can no longer be taken for granted — tend to force people of good conscience into the political. From this context, Gravity’s brief post on the matter reads like a lament, so I asked for and received her permission to reprint it here:

When I was growing up, I never thought that the freedom of the press would ever be a stake in a political game. In civics class, it was a foregone conclusion that the press was untouchable – as long as they were telling the truth.

I’d be the first to admit that a whole lot of things have changed since 1988.
When watching older movies and TV shows, I notice how often the whole plot would fail because someone in the group would have a cell phone.

Continued after the link…

Things change, that is life. When my AunT was in school, she was taught that the sun would burn out within about 100 years. Granted this was probably just a Podunk backwater teacher airing personal alarmist views, but it wasn’t presented that way. Now we know that it’s not the sun blowing up that’ll get us. We got lots and lots of time on that score.

In Civics class, we learned about libel and slander, and the role of a free press in society. We learned that if the reporter was telling the truth, then they were doing nothing wrong in bringing the public’s attention to matters that they need to be informed about.

Now, the Attorney General of the US has made sounds relating to prosecution of reporters for printing true things, because these things were “secret”.
I am wholly a supporter of free information. I do believe the ol’ 80s cyberpunk meme of information needing to be free.
It’s true. I believe that 99% of the information in the world should be accessible to anyone who cares and knows where to look. Frankly, who is going to search for info on auto-erotic asphyxiation unless they have some sort of interest in it – either they read a reference to it or whatever – so there would be no harm in having that information freely available (yes, I know it is. Please send no links. Really.)
Having that info available does not incite someone who has no interest to read about, try, and/or die by way of AEA. It does, however, promote understanding.

I have a problem with a lack of transparency in government. This came up recently in Vermont with a whole bunch of really stupid stuff being exempted from Freedom of Information Act filings because they were deemed privilege of “Deliberative Process” by the very same people who created the documents.
This reminds me very much of how the federal government thinks that marking a huge wodge of the papers that they touch “top secret” will mean that nobody can ever ever find out about the bad things they are doing.
I really, really don’t like this.

Someone should start a little newspaper or website where reporters or others can anonymously submit the info that they know to be true and that the public is being denied.

Oh, wait… that won’t work either, since it would all be traceable by phone and email records.

I hate this crap.

Give me my information. Give me my privacy.
This is insane.
Just freaking re-name the DHS the “Ministry of Truth” and get it over with.