posted July 7, 2006

No reason to celebrate

July 4th is supposed to be about this great country celebrating its independence and freedom. How about all the families that will be burying their dead? These families are not celebrating, but mourning their unnecessary losses. Mothers will grow old without their sons. Children will grow up with no father, no uncles, no brothers. In my eyes, this is no reason to celebrate, but a reason to sit back and really think about the loss and sadness this country is suffering.

Every day, the citizens of this country lose our rights, our freedom, and most of all our dignity. Countries all over the world have no respect for the United States anymore, and rightly so. We have an irresponsible, irrational leader who is running this country into the ground. Even Bush’s own party is against him for all the harm and shame he has brought upon us.

Wait until this winter when no one will be able to afford oil to heat their homes. I’m sure this problem and all the other horrors caused by Pres. Bush doesn’t cause a bit of anguish on his part. He still has the audacity to stand at a microphone with his arrogant smirk and phony smile.
It is up to the people of this country to help our fellow citizens cope with their losses. Nothing that anyone can do can bring back the thousands of killed soldiers, but we can honor them and pray for their families.

Hopefully soon — but not soon enough — there will be a new leader in the White House. I don’t know how anyone can even start to clean up the mess that the Bush administration has caused. My prayers are with all the families that have lost their loved ones and for all the people that still have loved ones fighting on foreign soil.

I will end this letter with a question: Is Saddam Hussein the only war criminal? May God bless and keep and guide this country, as he is the only one who can.
Barbara Siegal
Danby

Vermont vets support Ward Churchill statement

Veterans for Peace (VFP), Chapter 88, held its monthly meeting at the Veterans Home in Bennington on June 11. The members agreed by consensus that the following quote would be supported and endorsed. The statement was made by Ward Churchill and is taken from Derrick Jensen’s book, Endgame.

“What I want is for civilization to stop killing my people’s children. If that can be accomplished peacefully, I will be glad. If signing a petition will get those in power to stop killing Indian children, I will put my name at the top of the list. If marching in a protest will do it, I’ll walk as far as you want. If holding a candle will do it, I’ll hold two. If singing protest songs will do it, I’ll sing whatever songs you want me to sing. If living simply will do it, I will live extremely simply. If voting will do it, I’ll vote. But all of those things are allowed by those in power, and none of those things will ever stop those in power from killing Indian children. They never have, and they never will. Given that my people’s children are being killed, you have no grounds to complain about whatever means I use to protect the lives of my people’s children. And I will do whatever it takes.”

Speaking only for myself and not the other members of VFP, I make the observation that many in VFP are total pacifists, some are not. Some are Democrats, others are not. Some participate in partisan politics, others do not. Some are totally committed to nonviolence, others accept resistance by any means necessary to stop aggression. To have any group with such a full range of political views endorse any statement is quite a process. The members of Chapter 88 who were involved in the discussion of the Churchill statement are an exceptional group — mostly old vets who possess a firm commitment to dedicating their lives to working for global peace and justice. Each member put forth his/her argument with skill, passion, and an admirable level of emotion.

The vets in Vermont have now taken a stand.

When I first saw this Churchill statement, my initial reaction was that it was beautifully constructed poetry. Ward Churchill, the gentle poet, that was a new concept. As I read and re-read it over and over, I came to the conclusion that it is one of the most powerful pleas for peace and justice in literature.
Rosemarie Jackowski
Bennington

Bernie remembers the little guy

Bernie Sanders’ critics suddenly like to say that Bernie has “forgotten the little guy” because he took a campaign contribution from a political action committee representing sugar interests. These people must have never heard the axiom that the exception does not disprove the rule. A quick peak at the Federal Election Commission’s website shows that Bernie has overwhelming support from the little guy, and a quick glance at Sanders’ history in Congress shows the same. Bernie has fought for veterans, for health care for low-income Vermonters, against the Republicans’ war in Iraq, and for our civil rights in the halls of Congress. To say that Sanders has forgotten about the average Vermonter is beyond ridiculous, it’s simply untruthful.

This contribution issue is a red herring. Sanders’ opposition would like to make us think that Bernie is backed by big business. That’s patently untrue. He is on pace to get more contributions from Vermonters than any other candidate in history.

Our representative has done great things for us. Let’s put him in the Senate.
Josh O’Hara
South Royalton

Just-in-time politics

As Vermonters begin to wake up to the prospect of renegotiating electrical power rates, as our existing agreements for hydroelectric and nuclear power all expire in the coming years, the Douglas administration is content to speculate about building new nuclear and coal plants in the state. This is criminally dense.

Douglas squandered the opportunity to buy the hydroelectric dams on the Connecticut River. He refuses to consider wind generation out of hand, and has shown only middling interest in energy efficiency. With his market-based ideology blinding him to actual solutions, rather than leading Vermont, Douglas seems to have simply stood still for four years while Vermont has been sliding steadily backward. If he thinks government should not come up with solutions, what is he doing up there?

Douglas’ just-in-time politics have failed us. We are now four years closer to the expiration of these energy contracts, but we are not four years closer to a solution.

Scudder Parker has a long history in promoting energy efficiency across the state and a common sense, consensus-based approach to developing solutions to the issues that face Vermonters that are not hemmed in by the narrow, anti-government rhetoric of national Republicans. It is time we have a governor who will actively engage in the issues facing Vermonters. Douglas is not that man.
Scott Ainslie
Brattleboro

A bad idea

An open letter to the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee:

As national and local public interest organizations, we are writing to urge you to oppose the provision in the FY 2007 Energy & Water Appropriations bill that would rush the transport of commercial irradiated nuclear fuel onto roads, rails, and waterways across the United States in order to store these highly radioactive wastes at “interim” surface storage sites. Creating centralized surface storage would not solve our country’s commercial irradiated nuclear fuel problem. In fact, centralized “interim” storage is a worse option than leaving most of the waste stored at the reactor sites for the time being.

This proposal would give the U.S. Department of Energy authority to site a waste dump within a state over the objections of the state and local governments. As we understand the provision, DOE sites that could be targeted for centralized surface storage include facilities in California, Illinois, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington. In addition, private sites could be purchased for a storage facility in any state with nuclear reactors.
Robert Lincoln
Rutland

Rovian diversions

Rovian diversion and distraction continue, while our disillusion goes on and on and on. Social Security privatization gives way to the gay marriage amendment, which is succeeded by flag burning, which is suddenly supplanted by a new version of the line-item veto. None of this goes anywhere, but it provides stuff for the congressional in-basket where our 535 delegates seem to have little will for their own work, other than getting reelected, 97 percent of them every time.

There is one congressional exception to this do-nothing rut. After five years, the Senate Judiciary Committee has opened hearings on the legality of 750 presidential signing statements negating any progressive legislation enacted since 2001. Whoopee! But we still wonder if the SEC, FCC, FDA, and other federal agencies will ever get back into the regulatory business. We wonder how many more human beings died in the Middle East today. Are we all healthy? Are the world’s people well fed? Is our climate surviving? Will the levees hold?
Alan O. Dann
Marlboro

Care for nurses

I’m writing to give a big thank you to Fletcher Allen, and to advocate for a speedy and fair settlement in the labor dispute with the nurses there.

Kudos to the nurses, nursing assistants, doctors, and all the staff at Fletcher Allen for all of their excellent, caring, and nurturing work during the birth of our son six weeks ago. When we talk about the need for quality health care, we’re talking about more than just sound medical practice. It also necessarily includes devotion and caring for patients, which is what the staff demonstrated to us in spades.

I hope that the management incorporates such intangible caring in the way they treat their staff. Good compensation is not just about dollars and cents. It should also include respect and caring. I urge all parties at Fletcher Allen to compromise on a fair and equitable solution that respects and incorporates those qualitative aspects of healthcare, including improving patient and worker safety, recognizing nurses’ rights and responsibilities to advocate for patients, making it possible for nurses to retire with dignity, and investing in more training time to keep nurses up-to-date on new technology and medical advances.

For all the caring that nurses provide, let’s treat them with care.
Rep. Jason P. Lorber
Burlington

Prue has heart

Anyone who knows Sheila Prue at all knows that she is a person with tremendous heart and integrity, a true public servant. Anyone who knows Prue at all knows that most of the charges that were brought against her are a pile of crap.

I have tremendous empathy for Prue. I’ve recently played a game with the IRS in which accurate information never once hindered their process. And, despite the fact that I’ve now paid an original “liability” of $848 plus interest and penalties, an IRS agent in Utah took the time to write to me to inform me that nothing will be done anytime in the near future to facilitate the removal of the corresponding $421,346 lien from my house. (That’s right, that’s exaggeration by a factor of 496.) I guess the Utah agent just enjoys being a rectum outlet.

So, it’s my very personal experience that when someone in government has an agenda, they just make stuff up. Sound at all familiar? (Here’s a hint: WMD … ) If reasons can be fabricated to destroy an entire country, imagine how much easier the destruction of a single individual might be.
Whatever the reason that Auditor Randy Brock sought to destroy Prue’s reputation and life, he was, in effect, not only destroying her life, he was also destroying the lives of three other people — those of Sheila’s partner and two kids.

So, why was it so imperative to remove Prue from the office to which she was elected, only months before the end of her term? What is so important about the Windham County Sheriff’s department? Why is it, seemingly, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? And, more importantly, who does Brock really serve?
Jacqueline Brook
Putney

As the rich get richer

Our U.S. Senate is currently working to pass the Thomas Estate-Tax bill. This is a tax bill designed to give estate tax relief to, once again, the wealthiest of our citizens. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, “the legislation to eliminate most of the estate tax would trigger cuts over 2006-2016 of: $121 billion in Medicare, $64 billion in Medicaid, $8 billion in veterans benefits, $3 billion in school lunch and child nutrition programs.”

Those of us who support our veterans believe that those who serve our country deserve the benefits promised to them. How does a cut like this show support? How does cutting billions out of our food programs for children show that we value our future leaders?

When our children return to school this fall and schools are expected to feed them wholesome, nutritional foods, it will be up to us to make up these differences through our local budgets. We must keep in mind the trickle-down effects of this administration’s need to support and feed the wealthy.

By the way, Bernie Sanders voted no on the Thomas Estate-Tax bill, once again showing his support for us not so wealthy folk. Thanks Bernie!
Audrey Tomasi
West Burke