tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51253587921330896372024-02-06T23:46:22.584-05:00The Vermont WayGreen Mountain Politics — Restless Spirits & Popular MovementsGreg Gumahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08780542632200130391noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125358792133089637.post-10180544693524166192021-10-15T17:24:00.010-04:002022-03-24T11:15:40.662-04:00 What is the Vermont Way?<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;"><em>A fresh look at a remarkable place</em></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbdEd7eXDiFdNDcKaEZZO14ATVIS_YOpoQp318x1pIrr6-6bjbeuPyfmb1nuDySbLrOOoaC0aHxaCLhG7Ohb_6fJxvFvLUKrVURrpIyl3wuPwtlvJfRmaAMAlLZiAQs_XbiEFYwUjTLEk/s1492/F8A2DDCD-1865-4609-BFA4-CDA40F746AA5.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1492" data-original-width="976" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbdEd7eXDiFdNDcKaEZZO14ATVIS_YOpoQp318x1pIrr6-6bjbeuPyfmb1nuDySbLrOOoaC0aHxaCLhG7Ohb_6fJxvFvLUKrVURrpIyl3wuPwtlvJfRmaAMAlLZiAQs_XbiEFYwUjTLEk/w418-h640/F8A2DDCD-1865-4609-BFA4-CDA40F746AA5.jpeg" width="418" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 28.799999237060547px;"><b><i>Restless Spirits & </i></b></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 28.799999237060547px;"><b><i>Popular Movements</i></b></span></span></div>
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<div align="center"><span style="font-size: 20.799999237060547px;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana;">A Vermont History</span></i></span></div>
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<br /></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span><b>“A definitive examination of how average people in one of the nation’s smallest states have influenced and continue to shape American history… A well-written and nuanced history of Vermont’s social movements.”</b> </span><i><span>- Kirkus Reviews</span></i></span></div><div align="center"><p class="yiv7935910845p1" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Regular, Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="word-wrap: break-word;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="yiv7935910845p1" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Regular, Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; word-wrap: break-word;"><b style="font-size: 18.239999771118164px; word-wrap: break-word;">“a hard book to put down and </b></p><p class="yiv7935910845p1" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Regular, Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-size: 18.239999771118164px; word-wrap: break-word;"><b style="word-wrap: break-word;">when you do </b></span><b style="font-size: 18.239999771118164px; word-wrap: break-word;">you keep on thinking…” </b><span style="font-size: 18.239999771118164px; word-wrap: break-word;"><i>- Melinda Moulton</i></span></p><p class="yiv7935910845p1" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Regular, Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-size: 18.239999771118164px; word-wrap: break-word;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p class="yiv7935910845p1" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Regular, Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-size: 18.239999771118164px; word-wrap: break-word;"><b>“</b><span style="word-wrap: break-word;"><b>a rollicking political and social history of Vermont…” </b></span></span></p><p class="yiv7935910845p1" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Regular, Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-size: 18.239999771118164px; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="word-wrap: break-word;"><i>- Sasha Abramsky</i></span></span></p><p class="yiv7935910845p1" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Regular, Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-size: 18.239999771118164px; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="word-wrap: break-word;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p class="yiv7935910845p1" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Regular, Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-size: 18.239999771118164px; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="word-wrap: break-word;"><b><i>“…an engaging read that helps explain what makes Vermont </i>Vermont</b><i>.</i></span></span></p><p class="yiv7935910845p1" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Regular, Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-size: 18.239999771118164px; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="word-wrap: break-word;"><i>- Seven Days</i></span></span></p><p class="yiv7935910845p1" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Regular, Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; word-wrap: break-word;"><br /></p><p class="yiv7935910845p1" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Regular, Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; word-wrap: break-word;"><b style="font-size: 18.239999771118164px; word-wrap: break-word;">“an effective and invaluable learning tool…” </b><span style="font-size: 18.239999771118164px; word-wrap: break-word;"><i>- Jim DeFilippi</i></span></p><p class="yiv7935910845p1" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Regular, Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-size: 18.239999771118164px; word-wrap: break-word;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p class="yiv7935910845p1" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Regular, Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-size: 18.239999771118164px; word-wrap: break-word;"><b>“A fascinating and energetic account of the history of Vermont…”</b><i> - Susan DeMasi</i></span></p><p class="yiv7935910845p1" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Regular, Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-size: 18.239999771118164px; word-wrap: break-word;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p class="yiv7935910845p1" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Regular, Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-size: 18.239999771118164px; word-wrap: break-word;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p class="yiv7935910845p1" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Regular, Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-size: 18.239999771118164px; word-wrap: break-word;"></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">“For readers new to Vermont history, this book will introduce key figures and important events that helped create the state they know today. For readers steeped in Vermont history, the book’s most rewarding parts will probably come in later chapters, where Guma draws from his decades of reporting to offer insights into some of the major political actors and movements from the late 1960s to the present.” </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: right;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">— <i>Mark Bushnell, Vermont History</i></span></p><p class="yiv7935910845p1" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Regular, Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-size: 18.239999771118164px; word-wrap: break-word;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p class="yiv7935910845p1" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Regular, Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-size: 18.239999771118164px; word-wrap: break-word;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p class="yiv7935910845p1" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Regular, Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-size: 18.239999771118164px; word-wrap: break-word;"><i>Available in bookstores and online</i></span></p></div><div align="center"><br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><b style="background-color: #b6d7a8;">From Ethan Allen to Bernie Sanders, Vermont has forged a separate path as a small, independent state with a strong sense of how to preserve its basic traditions while changing with the times. Restless Spirits and Popular Movements revisits its unique story through movements and memorable people who have created the delicate balance </b></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333;">of sovereignty and solidarity, political independence and mutual aid known as the Vermont Way. </b><b style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333;">The journey </b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333;"><b>f</b><b>eatures a memorable </b></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333;"><b>cast of</b></span><b style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333;"> characters. </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">New illustrated & expanded paperback edition</b></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div style="text-align: center;">From White River Press and The <a href="https://www.vermontresearchbooks.org/restless-spirits">UVM Center for Research on Vermont</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">(sample pages)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkUwpN7OUa4kQjhDHCMwRCMoJ_HerK5lsUk7i-wrtqTOhOTWLdfJHZfiv3ZWhiEVA034mkzirAYLMJLciYJ1rNVNRL4WYrI33-8oGIELWHTYFSHqbMZpMDr0gx1kvttRo0kRSxld8rf6A/s2048/131D89DB-72D9-4ED9-86CD-9585199A361B.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1343" data-original-width="2048" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkUwpN7OUa4kQjhDHCMwRCMoJ_HerK5lsUk7i-wrtqTOhOTWLdfJHZfiv3ZWhiEVA034mkzirAYLMJLciYJ1rNVNRL4WYrI33-8oGIELWHTYFSHqbMZpMDr0gx1kvttRo0kRSxld8rf6A/w400-h263/131D89DB-72D9-4ED9-86CD-9585199A361B.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwA6ABELIWIhFMDho-pPddq0VEoGram9pyHMwtdYVMpw9JW6dag0d8y2ZnL7HDYXBr8d0Rg0PgV5HmskuSo6UO3ltaJlXTZRqw4kSIyMlGOla251XEsLOLidxs9NGV3kj14jP4RiismNo/s2048/3652227C-C6E2-40EE-9B77-FE52EBDAE19A.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1478" data-original-width="2048" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwA6ABELIWIhFMDho-pPddq0VEoGram9pyHMwtdYVMpw9JW6dag0d8y2ZnL7HDYXBr8d0Rg0PgV5HmskuSo6UO3ltaJlXTZRqw4kSIyMlGOla251XEsLOLidxs9NGV3kj14jP4RiismNo/w400-h289/3652227C-C6E2-40EE-9B77-FE52EBDAE19A.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizcD952BV4SWRivZo6VLJJO60-OaGp-9_kl5GEb1npvrPGClnwJ1YFmd9thwrIAh0aS8d1_rgct9eK_I7liAfSyfQgJkD0KY08sc5BR4coPI1sBjaS45H_LsZyYFp5MAWVZJH1s-OEwoE/s2048/BD867838-3038-41FA-8520-DB23C00CB7E1.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1463" data-original-width="2048" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizcD952BV4SWRivZo6VLJJO60-OaGp-9_kl5GEb1npvrPGClnwJ1YFmd9thwrIAh0aS8d1_rgct9eK_I7liAfSyfQgJkD0KY08sc5BR4coPI1sBjaS45H_LsZyYFp5MAWVZJH1s-OEwoE/w400-h286/BD867838-3038-41FA-8520-DB23C00CB7E1.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>Early Reviews</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">"Vermont has a rich history of humanity who have challenged the status quo and changed the course for the State and in many instances the entire country. If one wonders how Vermont became what it is today — a trailblazer for human rights, climate, income equality, women's reproductive freedom, racial and judicial justice, etc. — read Greg Guma's book. It is all there — with beautiful enticing words that weave together a picture of the Green Mountain State and the humans who scripted and sent forth the progressive movement. It's a hard book to put down and when you do you keep on thinking .....it's a great read and a true assessment of the who, what, when and how Vermont's legacy of social change came to be the blueprint for change admired around the World." — <i>Melinda Moulton, co-founder and CEO of Main Street Landing in Burlington</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 21.8px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">“Greg Guma has written a rollicking political and social history of Vermont, one of the most fascinating, and least written-about, states in the union. He takes readers on a big journey from the pre-revolutionary years through to Bernie Sanders' runs for the presidency. In between, he introduces larger-than-life figures from the worlds of politics, religion, culture, journalism, industry and array of other areas. He brings to life great political battles in the early years of the Republic, including around Thomas Jefferson's agrarian vision of the country; struggles for regional dominance and relevance with neighboring states; union struggles; tussles between progressives and nativists over Vermont's identity; and the unique politics of a place that some have compared to the US's own version of Switzerland. The result is both a fun read and an authoritative read, delivered by a skilled writer who has immersed himself in Vermont life and politics for decades.” — <i>Sasha Abramsky, journalist and author of The American Way of Poverty</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 21.8px;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">“This book acts as an effective and invaluable learning tool for those of us who think we know the true history of the state of Vermont, as well as for those of us who know we don’t.” — <i>Jim DeFilippi, author of Jesus Burned</i></span></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><b>2017 KINDLE EDITION: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Green-Mountain-Politics-Restless-Movements-ebook/dp/B0751K5C5T/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1503493223&sr=8-1&keywords=Green+mountain+politics">ORDER HERE</a></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";">LIKE <a href="https://m.facebook.com/VermontWay/">GREEN MOUNTAIN POLITICS</a> ON FACEBOOK </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">SOFT COVER EDITION (2021): <a href="https://www.vermontresearchbooks.org/restless-spirits">VERMONT RESEARCH BOOKS</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial";"><i>Many episodes have also been released on other websites, as well as in live presentations. The project also includes rare photos, dramatic stories and an episode from The Vermont Movie</i>. Latest — <a href="https://vermontway.blogspot.com/2018/01/waving-flag-in-culture-war.html">Culture War in Bennington</a>; <a href="https://vermontway.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-birth-of-burlingtons-assemblies.html">Birth of the NPAs</a> 2017 additions -- <a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2017/04/cleaning-up-world-memories-of-vermonts.html">Cleaning up the World: Vermont's First Earth Day,</a> <a href="http://gregguma.blogspot.com/2017/04/making-peace-with-planet-wont-be-easy.html">Earth Day 1990: Making Peace with the Planet</a> and </span><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2017/01/dark-shadows-in-vermonts-past.html">Dark Shadows in Vermont's Past</a>. </span>Also check out <a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2016/12/class-struggle-in-vermont-from.html" style="font-family: arial;">Class Struggle: From Socialism to the American Plan</a><span style="font-family: "arial";"> and </span><a href="http://www.vermontindependent.org/how-traditions-and-values-have-defined-the-vermont-way-by-greg-guma/" style="font-family: arial;">How Traditions and Values Have Defined the Vermont Way</a><span style="font-family: "arial";"> </span><em style="font-family: arial;">(Green Mountain Noise, 2VR, Spring 2014) Publishing partners include VTDigger, Center for Global Research, Second Vermont Republic, ZNet, and Toward Freedom. </em></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZYiCwJK0RvwlITY7e1Nz311XQs7HC4cARIyPvTFDBLXWVhO5QEqUdWkzvUIR_wFMdMtgFjvo2hUzIG_VksQjjBZCc7pCFhxD9jrOrrmAwuNIdWCXf6NROFIyVcwuAf1ciYDwbCth8pA0/s1600/IMG_5503.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZYiCwJK0RvwlITY7e1Nz311XQs7HC4cARIyPvTFDBLXWVhO5QEqUdWkzvUIR_wFMdMtgFjvo2hUzIG_VksQjjBZCc7pCFhxD9jrOrrmAwuNIdWCXf6NROFIyVcwuAf1ciYDwbCth8pA0/s320/IMG_5503.JPG" width="223" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENTS<br />
<a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8BC6o7lVaWNeG9iWlVzOE4xX2M">Monograph available as PDF</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><strong>What is the Vermont Way?</strong> The term has been used to describe everything from the traditional way to make maple syrup and smart farming in general to a political campaign agenda and the ability to make something out of almost nothing. Sometimes it extends into the phrase “the Vermont way of life.” When he left the Republican Party Jim Jeffords said, “Independence is the Vermont Way.” In her autobiography Consuelo Northrup Bailey, the first female attorney admitted to practice before the US Supreme Court and the first female lieutenant governor in the nation, said the character of Vermont was defined by “everyday, common, honest people who unknowingly salted down the Vermont way of life with a flavor peculiar only to the Green Mountains.” </span></div>
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<b>"Serenade in Green"</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><em>Green Mountain Politics</em> describes the state’s delicate dance of sovereignty and solidarity, independence and mutual aid. The subtitle refers to the focus on political, economic and social events, trends and personalities. Covering centuries, this transmedia project features unique stories, sketches of key figures, and original analysis that explains how the Vermont Way evolved. The following installments are available:</span><br />
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<a href="http://vtdigger.org/2011/11/24/the-vermont-way-is-myth-riddled-and-hard-to-define/">The Vermont Way Is Hard to Define</a> </div>
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<a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2011/04/path-to-marriage-equality.html">The Path to Marriage Equality</a> <a href="http://vtdigger.org/2011/11/24/how-gay-marriage-contributed-to-vermont%E2%80%99s-iconoclastic-brand/">VTDigger version</a><br />
<a href="http://muckraker-gg.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-vermont-was-born.html">How Vermont Was Born</a>. <a href="https://zcomm.org/znetarticle/how-vermont-was-born-by-greg-guma/">ZNet version</a><br />
<a href="http://gregguma.blogspot.com/2016/11/blaming-outsiders-american-tradition.html">Blaming Outiders: Matthew Lyon and the Election of 1800 </a> <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/elections-2016-blaming-outsiders-an-american-tradition-since-1800/5555508">CGR version</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2012/03/road-from-republic-to-state.html">After the Revolution: The Road from Republic to State</a> <a href="http://vtdigger.org/2012/03/04/after-the-revolution-the-allen-family-and-vermonts-road-to-statehood/">VTD</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2011/06/mormons-and-presidency.html">Mormons and the Presidency</a> (with audio) <a href="http://vtdigger.org/2011/11/25/when-the-first-mormon-ran-for-president/">VTD</a><br />
<a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-first-third-party.html">The First Third Party</a></div>
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<a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-vermont-went-republican.html">How Vermont Went Republican</a> <a href="http://vtdigger.org/2011/12/29/how-vermont-went-republican/">VTD</a></div>
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<a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2011/09/vermonters-go-to-white-house.html">Vermonters Go to the White House</a> <a href="http://vtdigger.org/2011/12/27/vermonters-who-went-to-the-white-house/">VTD</a></div>
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<a href="http://vtdigger.org/2011/10/30/out-of-this-world-the-chittenden-mysteries/">Out of This World: The Chittenden Mysteries</a><br />
<a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-age-of-burke.html">The Age of Burke</a></div>
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<a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2011/10/burlington-public-power-story.html">Burlington: The Public Power Story</a> <a href="http://vtdigger.org/2011/12/30/burlingtons-public-power-story/">VTD</a></div>
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<a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2011/08/progressive-censors-red-emma.html">A Progressive Censors Red Emma</a> <a href="http://vtdigger.org/2011/12/28/the-progressive-who-silenced-red-emma/">VTD</a></div>
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<a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2011/10/boom-and-bust-in-quarry-towns.html">Boom and Bust in the Quarry Towns</a> <a href="http://vtdigger.org/2011/12/25/from-boom-to-bust-in-company-towns/">VTD</a><br />
<a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2016/12/class-struggle-in-vermont-from.html">Class Struggle: From Socialism to the American Plan </a> <a href="https://vtdigger.org/2017/01/06/greg-guma-class-struggle-early-20th-century-barre/">VTD</a></div>
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<a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2011/12/parkway-that-never-was.html">The Parkway That Never Was</a> <a href="http://vtdigger.org/2011/12/26/the-parkway-that-never-was/">VTD</a> (see Vermont Movie segment below)<br />
<a href="http://muckraker-gg.blogspot.com/2012/02/power-of-no-thoughts-on-road-not-taken.html">The Road Not Taken </a>(UVM talk) <a href="http://www.retn.org/programs/road-not-taken-green-mountain-parkway-decision-tipping-point-vermont-history">on Video</a><br />
<a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-trouble-with-sprawl.html">The Trouble with Sprawl</a><br />
<a href="http://gregguma.blogspot.com/2016/03/progressive-republicans-when-that-was.html">Progressive Republicans:The Aiken-Gibson Wing</a><br />
<a href="http://gregguma.blogspot.com/2016/03/defeating-demagogue-it-has-happened.html">Defeating a Demagogue: How Flanders Took on McCarth</a>y <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/defeating-a-demagogue-it-has-happened-before-the-mccarthy-era/5514279">CGR</a> </div>
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<a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2011/05/voting-equality-and-hoff-effect.html">Voting Equality and the Hoff Effect</a> <a href="http://vtdigger.org/2012/05/06/voting-equality-and-the-hoff-effect/">VTD</a><br />
<a href="https://vermontway.blogspot.com/2018/01/waving-flag-in-culture-war.html">Waving the Flag in a Culture War</a><br />
<a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2017/04/cleaning-up-world-memories-of-vermonts.html">The First Earth Day</a><br />
<a href="http://gregguma.blogspot.com/2017/04/making-peace-with-planet-wont-be-easy.html">Making Peace with the Plane</a>t<br />
<a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2017/01/vermonts-decentralists-questioning.html">Vermont's Decentralists: Questioning Authority</a>...<br />
<a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2014/01/almost-president-impossible-dream-of.html">Almost President: The Impossible Dream of Howard Dean</a><br />
<a href="http://www.progressiveparty.org/media/2011/vermont-s-progressive-era-turns-30">Burlington and Bernie: The Beginning</a><br />
<a href="https://vermontway.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-birth-of-burlingtons-assemblies.html">Birth of the NPAs </a><br />
<a href="http://gregguma.blogspot.com/2017/01/another-realignment-in-peoples-republic.html">Another Realignment: How Progressives Lost City Hall</a><br />
<a href="http://gregguma.blogspot.com/2017/05/progressive-vermont-road-to-realignment.html">The Winding Road to Fusion </a></div>
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<a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2012/01/local-control-short-terms-and-vermonts.html">Local Control, Shorter Terms and Vermont’s Citizen Legislature</a> <a href="http://vtdigger.org/2012/01/23/short-terms-and-a-citizen-legislature-reflect-state-values/">VTD</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2017/01/dark-shadows-in-vermonts-past.html">Dark Shadows in Vermont's Past </a></span><br />
<br />
<b>The Parkway That Never Was</b><br />
From <i>The Vermont Movie</i>, directed by Nora Jacobson</div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="380" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/IMG5280" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="530"></iframe> <i style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;">This 5:53 film segment streams on this site and allows scrolling with audio</i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">An illustrated print edition will be released in November 2021, with new insights about influential Vermonters like revolutionary leaders Matthew Lyon and Ethan Allen, Anti-Mason Governor William Palmer and feminist Clarina Nichols; railroad and marble tycoons, anti-slavery activists, major strikes and labor protests; Vermont-born Presidents Chester Arthur and Calvin Coolidge and progressive politicians James Burke and Ernest Gibson; intimate portraits of Governors Phil Hoff, Tom Salmon, Richard Snelling, and Madeleine Kunin, as well as Bernie Sanders, James Jeffords, and Howard Dean. Plus, the Vermonter who rescued America from McCarthy. </span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Excerpts from Greg Guma's <b>Dangerous Words</b> and </span><b style="font-family: arial;">Maverick Chronicles</b><span style="font-family: "arial";"> are also available:</span></div>
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<a href="http://vtdigger.org/2012/07/03/maverick-chronicles-coming-to-vermont/">Coming to Vermont</a> </div>
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<a href="http://vtdigger.org/2012/07/13/maverick-chronicles-bennington-holds-a-culture-war/">Bennington Holds a Culture War</a></div>
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<a href="http://vtdigger.org/2012/07/22/maverick-chronicles-living-with-polarities/">Living with Polarities</a></div>
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<a href="http://vtdigger.org/2012/07/27/maverick-chronicles-bennington-break-down-and-the-road-north/">Bennington Breakdown</a></div>
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<a href="http://vtdigger.org/2012/08/03/maverick-chronicles-the-years-of-living-bureaucratically/">The Years of Living Bureaucratically</a></div>
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<a href="http://vtdigger.org/2012/08/10/maverick-chronicles-the-mayor-and-the-connector/">The Mayor and the Connector</a></div>
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<a href="http://vtdigger.org/2012/08/17/maverick-chronicles-alternative-voices-question-the-consensus/">Alternative Voices</a></div>
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<a href="http://vtdigger.org/2012/08/24/maverick-chronicles-in-a-time-of-democratic-distemper/">In a Time of Democratic Distemper</a></div>
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<a href="http://vtdigger.org/2012/08/31/maverick-chronicles-teachers-and-a-school-without-walls/">Teachers and a School Without Walls</a><br />
<a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/vermont-politics-threats-to-civil-liberties-and-freedom-of-information/5337384">Threats to Civil Liberties: The FBI-Census Case</a><br />
<a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/bernie-sanders-i-think-id-make-a-good-candidate/5453217">Burlington at the Tipping Point</a><br />
<a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/searching-for-peace-in-cold-war-germany/5340196">Searching for Peace in the Cold War</a><br />
<a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/nicaragua-and-the-road-to-contra-gate/5340646">Nicaragua and the Road to Contragate</a><br />
<a href="http://muckraker-gg.blogspot.com/2013/07/restless-times-great-love-and-nagging.html">Restless Times & Nagging Questions</a><br />
&</div>
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<a href="http://www.alternet.org/story/153882/signs_of_change_how_americans_turned_disaster_and_outrage_into_upheaval">Signs of Change (2011)</a></div>
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<a href="http://vtdigger.org/2012/03/10/campaign-notebook-burlington-democrats-rising-progressives-in-eclipse/">Democrats Rising, Progressives in Eclipse</a> (2012)</div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: "arial";">Subscribe to The Vermont Way for articles and event announcements. </span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "arial";">See more excepts at <a href="http://vtdigger.org/">VTDigger.org</a></span></strong><br />
<strong><br /></strong>
<strong>Video: Vermont Pastoral </strong></div>
</div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="380" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/IMG5068" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="530"></iframe><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Photo Montage & Music by Greg Guma </div>
Greg Gumahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08780542632200130391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125358792133089637.post-41094904635246655082021-02-20T15:58:00.000-05:002021-02-21T11:28:18.172-05:00Coming in 2022 — Maverick Library<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='519' height='418' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwY0LNovE9Sqx90w3V5YIVY4wH_193iYZ5ZjA8FOayQ2kxELwOHqkUTrurz5wnFMUOCs9Et0CFFiJD5Vjz80Q' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Preview video</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">A private library (in development): Maverick Library will have both General and Special Collections. In <b>Special Collections</b>: </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Art & Photography books</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Artworks </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Audio</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Burlington books and materials </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Comics </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Files and manuscripts </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">First editions </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Periodicals (antiquarian) </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">photographs</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Theosophy</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Vermont</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Videos</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Vinyl</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Subjects / individuals </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Selected publications </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-size: medium;">(e.g. Toward Freedom, Vanguard Press, Vermont Guardian)</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7lUY-EO3JZ1UuEM1qnS22Ri_DqBvuPjVOabTUqLL10gtINJ-Ei1dIgBz7lXoj6IqcxugSJp94u5t98TNSRXV37dg0yAgahyphenhyphen5DRMoZWDu86FoAfcmMPekUh9cH5sF95NDwLx9gMDS6VyM/s3743/B5E007B9-E37D-45BD-9026-96097D2BE370.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="840" data-original-width="3743" height="90" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7lUY-EO3JZ1UuEM1qnS22Ri_DqBvuPjVOabTUqLL10gtINJ-Ei1dIgBz7lXoj6IqcxugSJp94u5t98TNSRXV37dg0yAgahyphenhyphen5DRMoZWDu86FoAfcmMPekUh9cH5sF95NDwLx9gMDS6VyM/w400-h90/B5E007B9-E37D-45BD-9026-96097D2BE370.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="font-size: x-large;"></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">In the <b>General Collection,</b> major categories to include: </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Biography</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Current Affairs</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Fiction</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">History</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Journalism</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Magazines</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Mass Media</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Maverick Books</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Philosophy</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-size: large;"></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Political Science</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Reference</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1">Advisory Board to be established for management and acquisitions. Projected opening date: March 2022</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQfvXFtygp_rKv5-8vC0aaM1niUil5byJ54A_-DcYJHJJ0MwZFEeqAs326ys252Z2n8QSDUIm0_KCGEFjoJYPL2JPDq1ycD6Bg4bgg8QrUJI4QbYlqmKtzI7cMDmrh5S_2bRXNPzknHCU/s2000/8AC1FA89-8943-482D-979B-99BC0CC69593.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1496" data-original-width="2000" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQfvXFtygp_rKv5-8vC0aaM1niUil5byJ54A_-DcYJHJJ0MwZFEeqAs326ys252Z2n8QSDUIm0_KCGEFjoJYPL2JPDq1ycD6Bg4bgg8QrUJI4QbYlqmKtzI7cMDmrh5S_2bRXNPzknHCU/w400-h299/8AC1FA89-8943-482D-979B-99BC0CC69593.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtLD28hfGQ4sAMXANGMsJ34qxUsGLzQkbasIH3M43CoU0BjiEclAvj6_XDrPo78DqTjHNHxsaBoyef4AWHeqZgb2YrZ2N6xMBQ-XrBK07aubVgzV6EF1xhz8SjUoMktdnb6MbNN5OagxQ/s1692/35CD388A-6A7E-4144-9069-585075C3A91A.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1128" data-original-width="1692" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtLD28hfGQ4sAMXANGMsJ34qxUsGLzQkbasIH3M43CoU0BjiEclAvj6_XDrPo78DqTjHNHxsaBoyef4AWHeqZgb2YrZ2N6xMBQ-XrBK07aubVgzV6EF1xhz8SjUoMktdnb6MbNN5OagxQ/w400-h266/35CD388A-6A7E-4144-9069-585075C3A91A.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Greg Gumahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08780542632200130391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125358792133089637.post-42433663882279907952021-01-09T13:03:00.006-05:002021-01-09T13:14:01.524-05:00Vermont: From Republic to State<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>After 14 years as an independent republic Vermont became the 14<sup>th</sup> US state and entered the union on March 4, 1791. Here are highlights from that post-revolutionary journey.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><em style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: medium; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-top: 0in; padding: 0in;">An essay adapted from <b>Green Mountain Politics: Restless Spirits, Popular Movements</b>, Greg Guma's book on the state’s evolution. </span></em></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: medium;">Vermont emerged from the American Revolution in the best economic condition of any former colony. It had no state debts, and since the Continental Congress had refused to admit it as a member state, no responsibility for the national debt. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUrxgbwHD86WYlLMOatgJcvZigZsY5wvbwDOz91DINxm9Gidkp00bgSKpWCBVxdMhipV-aQVgAUsVCqUQS16IiJJBWl2YkkQEoJy1SHs90ti4jDLLmS2LXt9s8Dx-lu3anF00EPfZniSw/s1600/Creation+Stories.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUrxgbwHD86WYlLMOatgJcvZigZsY5wvbwDOz91DINxm9Gidkp00bgSKpWCBVxdMhipV-aQVgAUsVCqUQS16IiJJBWl2YkkQEoJy1SHs90ti4jDLLmS2LXt9s8Dx-lu3anF00EPfZniSw/s200/Creation+Stories.jpg" width="152" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Its currency was relatively strong and a stream of settlers had begun to arrive. The estimated population jumped from around 20,000 in 1776 to 85,000 when a census was taken 15 years later. After issuing its own Declaration of Independence and holding a Constitutional Convention the independent state had held elections and begun to call itself the Republic of Vermont in early 1778.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">In the western region, where the <b>Allen family</b> held the greatest sway, commercial ties were pursued with Quebec. Timber, potash and meat went through the Richelieu rapids to Canadian markets. On the eastern side people shipped their goods south, down the Connecticut River to the American states. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">With land as a foundation the Allen family essentially ran the new republic through their agent <b>Thomas Chittenden</b>, who became the Vermont’s first governor long before it joined the United States. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">A farmer and land speculator, possibly the first settler of what became Williston, Chittenden launched the Onion River Company with three Allen brothers. Many people resented their grip on the state. But Chittenden was popular with the voters, a practical leader who successfully balanced the factions groping for influence during negotiations with the British and the new Congress. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Despite his political gifts, however, repeated attempts to send delegates to the Continental Congress during the revolution were rebuffed. In fact, delegates were treated downright shabbily and felt they were forced to fight their neighbors as well as their enemies. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Letters from Chittenden to George Washington professed loyalty to the revolution. But they also made it clear that Vermont would change sides rather than be swallowed up. Disappointed with treatment by both Britain and the new nation’s Continental Congress, state government eventually called Vermont’s soldiers home, and the independent republic adopted a stance of neutrality while leading citizens continued to negotiate for permanent sovereignty. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">In 1783 American and British representatives signed the Treaty of Paris. The map accompanying the agreement indicated that Vermont was outside the protective boundary of Britain’s Canada. But it wasn’t obligated to join the American states. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The Allens wanted to continue building commercial ties with Quebec. But economic interests in the east and southwest had different objectives. This group of land speculators, merchants, lawyers, and “Yorkers” began to openly challenge the state’s leading family and their hand-picked governor. In other words, outside interests wanted a greater share of Vermont land and resources for themselves. Rebellion and competition wore away at the Allens’ influence and holdings for years after independence was won.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Farmers and workers had their own concerns. They complained, for example, that Vermont had too many merchants, whom they blamed for draining the region’s wealth. Many also opposed the harsh tactics used by lawyers and sheriffs to foreclose on settlers. Through calculated, expensive legal proceedings encouraged by the state government, poor people were being forced deeper into debt. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Merchants and land speculators were doing well, but others were hit hard in a post-revolutionary depression. In response, some inhabitants returned to combat, confronting their new rulers just as they had their previous feudal overseers. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">One memorable incident was the October 1783 raid on a creditor’s house in which a group of Bennington settlers seized notes, obligations and bonds. In November 1786 another band tried to close the courts of Windsor and Rutland counties, mainly in order to prevent lawsuits from moving forward.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The state also experienced its first Watergate-style scandal: <b>Ira Allen</b> was caught with his hand in the till. He had secured ownership of the Town of Woodbridge – now called Highgate – as a favor from Governor Chittenden. In 1789 the state Assembly investigated. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The outcome: Ira lost much of his influence, and Chittenden lost his first election in ten years. He was back in power a year later, however, and remained in office until shortly before his death in 1797.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The Jeffersonian wing of Vermont’s new power structure, originally led by the Allens, was weakened by such controversies. Leaders from other parts of the state meanwhile began to assert more influence. This shift was accompanied by a renewed move toward statehood. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">New York needed more political allies in Congress, particularly in the Senate, and approached the Republic of Vermont. Once former enemies worked out mutually advantageous reasons to drop their past disputes and become friends, winning support from the US Congress didn’t turn out to be a problem. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">On January 10, 1791, the Vermont Convention on Ratification of the Constitution voted yes. Five weeks later, on February 18, the US Congress agreed to admit the region. The independent Republic of Vermont became the 14<sup>th</sup> US state and officially entered the union on March 4, 1791. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirjr9Te2b8Gvh8eTf4FIJUaT1WvieGv4lxCecF9kZNok-sWzzgI30KZMBC2IhS4wQAZEpQaernzVcti31Q-NNHS_ychW_VlQ9JEefM-QxS1xy99Ejzb8Oi3XJ01lYKiGPirbBVgbv-1c0/s2048/E80C3D0E-EFB5-48DF-8D4A-466C24EF89F9.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1356" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirjr9Te2b8Gvh8eTf4FIJUaT1WvieGv4lxCecF9kZNok-sWzzgI30KZMBC2IhS4wQAZEpQaernzVcti31Q-NNHS_ychW_VlQ9JEefM-QxS1xy99Ejzb8Oi3XJ01lYKiGPirbBVgbv-1c0/s320/E80C3D0E-EFB5-48DF-8D4A-466C24EF89F9.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Green-Mountain-Politics-Restless-Movements-ebook/dp/B0751K5C5T">Buy the Book</a></td></tr></tbody></table>At this point there were 85,539 people living in 185 towns, according to a general census. Some leaders tried to stack the electoral deck, pushing unsuccessfully to restrict voting rights to property owners. But as Andrew and Edith Nuquist put it in <i>Vermont State Government and Administration</i>, “The inhabitants of Vermont were restless spirits who, having escaped from their former confines, were more than willing to try new ideas and to rebel at restraints normally imposed by society.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Ethan Allen eventually settled in Burlington and passed away in 1789. His brothers Ira, Levi and Ebenezer, the last of whom resettled in Quebec, continued to look for economic opportunities. A timber deal with Canada proved disastrous, however, and Ira’s dream of a canal around the Richelieu rapids led to a personally damaging international incident. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">In 1795, Ira Allen went to London to secure support for the canal plan. The point of the project, at this point, was to improve his commercial position and help Britain defend Canada from France. But Allen was frustrated at the lukewarm response he received. </span>He was also in need of money and moved on to Paris to purchase some guns, ostensibly for the state militia back home. Records suggest he actually cut a deal with the French to help bring the recent revolution there to Canada. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Caught at sea by the British, Ira returned to France to obtain proof of his intentions. But the French also doubted his loyalty and threw him in jail for a year. When he finally returned to Vermont he was a broken man, outcast and in serious debt. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Ira Allen deeded his last property to his brother Heman in 1803, and then fled the state to avoid imprisonment. In 1814 he died a pauper in Philadelphia.</span><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>Greg Gumahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08780542632200130391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125358792133089637.post-73577944261060161202020-08-30T11:11:00.000-04:002020-08-30T11:14:28.357-04:00A Progressive Censors Red Emma<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">September 3, 1909: Burlington Mayor stops Anarchist from speaking<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">James Burke, Burlington's first Progressive mayor, in 1906.</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Geography made Burlington the fastest growing part of Vermont as early as the 1820s, when a canal at the southern end of Lake Champlain created a trade route from Canada to New York. Once railroad lines were added along the burgeoning waterfront, what became known as the Queen City emerged as the region’s transportation and business hub.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">“In a commercial point of view,” crowed the <i>Burlington Clipper</i> newspaper, “Burlington is most favorably placed.”</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">What was true for commerce also held for immigrants. Waves of Irish, French Canadians, Italians, Jews and Germans rolled in. The effects were clearly felt by the turn of the century. Vermont remained a rock-ribbed Republican state, but an active working class emerged in Burlington and Democrats, albeit some of them prosperous “charter members” of the community, took control of City Hall.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In the years that followed Burlington hosted “progressive era” reforms like a municipally-owned electric company, public dock and restrooms, an attractive train depot with modern amenities, playgrounds for children, and a public wharf. A central figure during this period was James E. Burke, a Democrat first elected Mayor in 1903 and re-elected six times over the next 30 years.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">A Catholic blacksmith and son of Irish immigrants from Canada, Burke began his political career when he was almost 50, becoming a champion of the poor, labor, and ethnic newcomers. After rising to prominence largely on the freedom to reach the public with his ideas, you might think he would cherish the right of dissent no matter who was speaking. Yet Burke sometimes revealed a tendency to drown out his opposition.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There was the night when the Masons visited the City Council to request tax exempt status on their Church Street property. Hamilton Peck, a former Republican mayor with whom Burke had battled over control of the Street Commission, represented the Masons. When he asked to speak, Burke rapped his gavel angrily and refused.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Assuming that he spoke for everyone, the mayor told the lawyer that they’d heard as much of his talk as they wanted. Peck accused Burke of denying his right to speak. A Board majority decided to give him five minutes.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">“The mayor not being a mason,” Peck began. That was too much for Burke. “I resent that,” he interrupted, “be a gentlemen.” Peck continued, threatening a lawsuit in the process. Burke was defiant, virtually daring the Masons to file. Members in the audience stormed out in disgust.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Given his short fuse, it’s no wonder that Burke often found himself in legal battles. Luckily for Burlington, he was frequently sustained in court. That was the case with the Masons, who refused to pay their taxes until 1910, when the State Supreme Court ruled against them.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But his most infamous moment of intolerance came on September 3, 1909. In the midst of battles with corporate power, he used police power to deny the freedom to speak to a woman whose philosophy he abhorred.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Emma Goldman was one of the most famous radicals in the country, a forceful speaker who had come to Vermont to discuss “anti-militarism” and the truth about anarchism. In Barre and Montpelier, although some people did object, she found public venues. Her audiences paid 25 cents for admission and were certainly educated and entertained, if not persuaded.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The night before her Burlington engagement at City Hall, however, Mayor Burke sent a telegram to Montpelier telling her that the auditorium wasn’t for rent, even though her manager had put down a deposit. On September 2, the <i>Burlington Free Press</i> printed the mayor’s statement:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">“Announcement having been made that Miss Emma Goldman, apostle of anarchy, would speak at City Hall Friday night, I wish to say that she will not be allowed to preach any of her un-American doctrines in any building owned by the City of Burlington; and I would also request that the proprietors of all other halls refuse to let her have them for the above-named purpose, and I believe it is about time that the American people should insist that Miss Goldman while representing her anarchist teachings, should not be allowed to address public audiences.”</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Burke’s hard-line position confused the city’s small Jewish community. The mayor was popular among them, but Goldman was, to be sure, a well-known Jew. Some people wanted to see her. Reacting quickly, her manager Ben Reitman made emergency arrangements for Goldman to speak at Isaac Perelman’s Hall on the corner of Ceder and LeFountain Streets. On the day of the talk he distributed red posters around town.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Goldman’s topic was supposed to be “Anarchism and What It Really Stands For.” She wanted to respond directly to the mayor’s attack. To draw the line more clearly, the following words were emblazoned on the publicity flyers:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Most storekeepers refused the flyers or tossed them out. But a large billboard with the same message was propped against the fence in front of the Unitarian Church.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">At 7 p.m. “Red Emma” and Reitman arrived at the hall. A large crowd was already inside. Burke was outside with two policemen. When Goldman tried to enter, the officers took up positions in front of the door and Burke made a speech. She was forbidden to enter, he said. Attacking her politics again, he added that citizens were angry and at least one merchant in the neighborhood feared violence.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Goldman and Reitman, known as "king of the hobos," had seen this kind of hostility and disregard for speech rights in other places. Deciding to withdraw, they asked if Reitman could enter alone to address the audience as a member of the New York Free Speech Committee. Burke refused, ordering both of them “in the name of peace, of society and of law and order” not to speak anywhere in his city.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The next day the anarchists departed for Massachusetts and the mayor proudly claimed that he had done his duty – protecting Burlington from un-American ideas and “treasonable utterances.” </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It wasn’t one of Burke’s more progressive moments.</span></div>
Greg Gumahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08780542632200130391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125358792133089637.post-85432603998118337032020-07-24T10:02:00.000-04:002020-07-24T10:33:04.850-04:00The Decentralist Way: Questioning Authority and the Power of Elites<span style="font-size: medium;">By Greg Guma</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><i>"Centralization in our social, economic, and political systems has given rise to a deep sense of powerlessness among the people, a growing alienation throughout society, the depersonalization of vital services, excessive reliance on the techniques of management and control, and a loss of great traditions." </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In the late 1970s, an alliance of the political left and right, led by both Democrats and Republicans, created a “third way” called the Decentralist League of Vermont. It was convened by Robert O’Brien, a state senator who had just lost the Democratic primary for governor, and John McClaughry, a Republican critical of his Party’s leadership. Each invited some allies for a series of meetings to forge a new political vision. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> <b> "We oppose political and economic systems which demand obedience to the dictates of elite groups, while ignoring abuses by those who operate the controls,"</b> its founding statement announced. The goal was to “speak out for the interests of persons not protected by rigged deals.” </span><span style="font-size: large;">Today its principles and proposals resonate anew in a global atmosphere of resurgent authoritarianism.</span><br />
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Vermont had been fertile ground for “outside the box” thinking before. To start, it didn’t immediately join the new United States after the War of Independence, remaining an independent republic until 1791. Almost half a century later it was the first US state to elect an Anti-Mason governor, during a period when opposition to elites and secret societies was growing.<br />
The Anti-Mason movement — which also elected a Pennsylvania governor and ran a candidate for president in 1832– lasted only a decade. Most of its political leaders eventually joined either the short—lived Whip Party or the more durable Republicans. Along the way, however, it exposed the dangers of special interest groups and secret oaths, and on a practical level, initiated changes in the way political parties operated — notably nominating conventions and the adoption of party platforms, reforms soon embraced by other parties.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Early in its history, Vermont also had direct experience with another type of challenge to centralized power— nullification. The general idea is that since states created the federal government they also have the right to judge the constitutionality of federal laws — and potentially refuse to enforce them. It happened when American colonists nullified laws imposed by the British. Since then states have occasionally used nullification to limit federal actions, from the Fugitive Slave Act to unpopular tariffs</span></div>
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In November 1850 the Vermont legislature joined the club, approving a so-called Habeas Corpus Law that required officials to assist slaves who made it to the state. The controverial law rendered the Fugitive Slave Act effectively unenforceable, a clear case of nullification. Poet and abolitionist John Greenleaf Whittier praised Vermont's defiance, but President Millard Fillmore threatened to impose federal law through military action, if necessary. It never came to that.<br />
Even a short-lived political movement can produce new thinking and unexpected change. In 1912, for example, the new Progressive Party inspired by Theodore Roosevelt when he lost the Republican nomination to William Howard Taft led to the election of Woodrow Wilson. Roosevelt left the Party, but its work continued under Robert La Follette. Although La Follette’s run for president in 1924 netted only 17 percent, he won Wisconsin, his home state, and successful reforms were implemented there.<br />
In recent times, Vermont has been a testing ground for political, economic and environmental thinking that challenges conventional wisdom. But the ex-urbanite professionals and members of the counterculture who arrived to help make that possible built on a solid foundation. Questioning of illegitimate, centralized power began before the American Revolution, as early settlers in the Green Mountains organized to declare themselves free of British rule and exploitation by land speculators. It continued with the jailhouse congressional <a href="http://gregguma.blogspot.com/2016/11/blaming-outsiders-american-tradition.html">re-election of Matthew Lyon</a> in defiance of President Adams and the Alien and Sedition Acts, resistance to an embargo of Britain and the War of 1812, rejection of slavery and Masonic secrecy, and Town Meeting defeat of the <a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2011/12/parkway-that-never-was.html">Green Mountain Parkway</a> during the New Deal. The pattern reflects a libertarian streak that has resisted the excesses of both liberal and conservative leadership.<br />
One key reason is localism, a long cherished Vermont value. Even when Gov. Deane Davis, a conservative Republican, backed a state land use law in the late 1960s, he chose to call it “creative localism.” Town Meeting exerts a powerful enduring influence, both practical and symbolic. A form and reminder of direct democracy, it holds out hope that self-government remains possible in the age of powerful administrative states. The stakes may be overstated at time, but the use of this forum – in some cases the only one available – can be a form of self-reliance and self-determination reminiscent of the early Jeffersonian impulse.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Re-orienting the Spectrum</span></b></div>
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In a similar spirit, the group of Vermonters who launched an alliance in 1976 aimed at decentralizing political and economic power. Invited by Bob O’Brien, I acted as secretary and helped to craft its Statement of Principles.<br />
That Fall, Bernie Sanders made his second run for Governor as a Liberty Union candidate and called for the break up of big banks. The winner was Republican businessman Richard Snelling, who defeated Employment Commissioner Stella Hackel after a fractious primary season. But Jimmy Carter became President and soon appointed Hackel as Director of the US Mint. According to a March 28, 1977 article by UPI, the Decentralist League was officially launched in Montpelier with a press conference and had 12 initial public signatories. The plan was not to become another political party, the press coverage said, but to "speak out for the interests of persons not protected by rigged deals."<br />
Charter members included McClaughry of Kirby; Sen. O'Brien of Orange County; Sen. Melvin Mandigo, a Republican representing Essex-Orleans; Rep. William Hunter, a Democrat from Weathersfield; John Welch of Rutland, who sought the 1976 GOP nomination for U.S. Senate; and Frank Bryan, a UVM professor. Also on the eclectic list, I was identified as a magazine editor and activist from Burlington, joining former Democratic party vice-chairman Margaret Lucenti from Barre; James Perkins of Sheffield, co-chair of the Vermont Caucus for the Family; William Staats of Newfane, founder of the Green Mountain Boys; Martin Harris of Sudbury, leader of the National Farmers Organization; and John Schnebley Jr. of Townshend, who ran in the 1976 Democratic primary for the U.S. House.<br />
As I had written in <i>Decentralism & Liberation in the Workplace</i>, a July 1976 essay published in response to the US Bicentennial celebrations, <b>Decentralism involves participatory democracy and worker ownership, home rule and neighborhood assemblies, regional self-sufficiency in food and energy, and voluntary inter-community alliances. Through efforts at both the industrial and local political levels, it can move us toward a social libertarian culture that respects the traditions of freedom and independence in America's past, and that adds to this heritage a more positive vision of human nature, ethical and ecological tools, and an internationalist perspective.</b><br />
The basic purpose of the League, McClaughry argued at the time, was to "re-orient the political spectrum so that people begin to see issues in terms of power widely dispersed -- close to them in communities, and power centralized -- in large institutions over which they have no control."<br />
Bryan and McClaughry continued to explore the concept and Vermonters' attraction to decentralism in <i>The Vermont Papers: Recreating Democracy on a Human Scale</i>. “God-given liberties, hostility to the central power, whatever it may be," they wrote in 1990, "their attachment to their towns and schools and local communities, their dedication to common enterprise for the common good – all these have been among the most cherished Vermont traits, the subject of countless eulogies of Vermont tradition over the years."<br />
Although the League lasted only a few years -- a casualty of Reagan-era polarization -- it did identify a set of core beliefs, priorities and policies that could unite those who find the current national and global order unsustainable and dangerous. In Burlington, one concrete legacy was the creation of Neighborhood Planning Assemblies. Taking aim at centralized power and wealth, the League asserted that decentralizing both, where and whenever possible, is the best way to preserve diversity, increase self-sufficiency, and satisfy human needs.<br />
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The League’s founding principles, released in March 1977, resonate anew in the current global atmosphere of resurgent authoritarianism.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Decentralist League of Vermont</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Statement of Principles</span></b></div>
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In a free and just society all men and women will have the fullest opportunity to enjoy liberty, achieve self-reliance, and participate effectively in the political and economic decisions affecting their lives. Wealth and power will be widely distributed. Basic human rights will be protected. The principle of equal rights for all, special privileges for none, will prevail.<br />
When economic and political power is centralized in the hands of a few, self-government is replaced by rigid and remote bureaucracies, the independence of each citizen is threatened, and the processes of freedom and justice are subverted. Centralized power is the enemy of individual liberty, self-reliance, and voluntary cooperation. It tends to corrupt those who wield it and to debase its victims.<br />
The trend toward centralization in our social, economic, and political systems has given rise to a deep sense of powerlessness among the people, a growing alienation throughout society, the depersonalization of vital services, excessive reliance on the techniques of management and control, and a loss of great traditions.<br />
Decentralists share with “conservatives” repugnance for unwarranted governmental interference in private life and community affairs. We share with “liberals” an aversion to the exploitation of human beings. We deplore, however, conventional “liberal” and “conservative” policies which have concentrated power, ignored the importance of the human scale, and removed decision making from those most directly affected.<br />
Decentralists thus favor a reversal of the trend toward all forms of centralized power, privileged status, and arbitrary barriers to individual growth and community self-determination. We oppose political and economic systems which demand obedience to the dictates of elite groups, while ignoring abuses by those who operate the controls. We believe that only by decentralization will we preserve that diversity in society which provides the best guarantee that among the available choices, each individual will find those conditions which satisfy his or her human needs.<br />
Decentralists believe in the progressive dismantling of bureaucratic structures which stifle creativity and spontaneity, and of economic and political institutions which diminish individual and community power.<br />
We support a strengthening of family, neighborhood and community life, and favor new forms of association to meet social and economic needs.<br />
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We propose and support:<br />
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-- Removal of governmental barriers which discourage initiative and cooperative self-help<br />
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-- Growth of local citizen alliances which strengthen self-government and broaden participation in economic and political decisions<br />
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-- Widespread ownership of productive industry by Vermonters and employees<br />
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-- Protection of the right to acquire, possess and enjoy private property, where the owner is personally responsible for its use and when this use does not invade the equal rights of others<br />
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-- Rebuilding a viable and diverse agricultural base for the Vermont economy, with emphasis on homesteading<br />
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-- A decent level of income for all, through their productive effort whenever possible, or through compassionate help which enhances their dignity and self-respect<br />
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-- Reshaping of education to promote self-reliance, creativity, and a unity of learning and work<br />
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-- A revival of craftsmanship in surroundings where workers can obtain personal satisfaction from their efforts<br />
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-- The use of technologies appropriate to local enterprise, and which increase our energy self-sufficiency<br />
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-- Mediation of disputes rather than reliance on regulations and adversary proceedings<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">This decentralist program implies a de-emphasis of status, luxury, and pretense, and a new emphasis on justice, virtue, equality, spiritual values, and peace of mind.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Decentralism will mean a rebirth of diversity and mutual aid, a new era of voluntary action, a full appreciation of our heritage, an affirmation of meaningful liberty, and a critical awareness of Vermont’s relationship to the rest of the nation and to the world.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><em style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; color: #362f2d; font-size: 15px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Greg Guma</strong> is the Vermont-based author of </em><span style="border: 0px; color: #362f2d; font-size: 15px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">Dons of Time, Uneasy Empire, Spirits of Desire, Big Lies, </span><em style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; color: #362f2d; font-size: 15px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">and </em><span style="border: 0px; color: #362f2d; font-size: 15px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">The People’s Republic: Vermont and the Sanders Revolution</span><em style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; color: #362f2d; font-size: 15px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">. He helped to write the Decentralist League's Statement of Principles and led a successful campaign for neighborhood assemblies in Burlington. </em></span>Greg Gumahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08780542632200130391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125358792133089637.post-28060056542184119002019-10-06T10:33:00.000-04:002019-10-06T17:24:09.897-04:00Waving the Flag in a Culture War<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>sparked </i></b></span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">censorship, backlash and misunderstanding,</span></i></b><br />
<b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">a harbinger of deep polarization during the Nixon era. This summer it inspired an exhibit at the Bennington Museum.</span></i></b><br />
<b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://benningtonmuseum.org/portfolio-items/fields-of-change-1960s-vermont/">FIELDS OF CHANGE: 1960s VERMONT</a></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>Fragile Paradise — Part Five: Impossible Dreams</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Being a reporter in a small New England community at the end of the sixties reminded me at times of playing a witness in <span style="font-style: italic;">Inherit the Wind</span>, the classic dramatic reworking of the Scopes Monkey Trial. But Bennington seemed to have no Clarence Darrow (or Spencer Tracy) to defend it against an assault on reason.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The first public flashpoint I saw there surrounded a musical production at the high school, an experimental adaptation of <span style="font-style: italic;">Brecht on Brech</span><i>t</i>, George Tabori’s innovative sampler of the German artist’s plays, essays, poems, aphorisms and struggles. Students and teachers were attempting to challenge the limits of what high school drama could be, just as Brecht had once challenged Broadway’s theatrical conventions. They were on the defensive before the curtain went up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The spark was a clever poster idea — a swastika over sections of a US flag against a plain black background. At a school board meeting, the art department coordinator explained innocently that the intention was to represent “America’s victory over Nazism, with the American flag shining through the swastika.” Not everybody saw it that way, however, and the design was certainly open to interpretation. To some it suggested police state tactics disguised as patriotism at home. To others it felt insulting and un-American. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">As the posters went up around town over the weekend before the first performance, complaints came in to the Vermont State Police barracks in Shaftsbury. Mt. Anthony Union High School Principal Charles Keir soon got a call. The cops “were invoking the Uniform Flag Code, which says its illegal to use the flag or any part of it for advertising,” Keir told me. “We didn’t want to make an issue about it, so on that basis we removed them.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In fact, he had already sent students around town to retrieve posters from dozens of walls and store windows, then locked them all up at the high school. The new superintendent agreed with his decision. “It didn’t strike me as offensive at all,” Catherine Corcoran acknowledged. But the graphic image could be misinterpreted, “and for that reason we felt we should take them down.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Using the so-called “Uniform Flag Code” as a pretext was somewhere between a wild overreach and a red herring. Prior to the original Flag Day back in 1923 there were no federal or state regulations governing the display of the US Flag. After that the Army and Navy developed their own procedures, and in 1941, Congress stepped in with a law on use and display of the US flag for official purposes. Taken together, this collection of laws and procedures was called a code. But there were no penalties for misuse, no federal agency had the power to issue “official” rules on private use, and each state was free to pass (or not) its own flag law — within constitutional limits. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In 1941, Vermont passed such a law banning - among other actions - publicly mutilating, defacing or defiling any flag, ensign or shield. But the US Supreme Court later ruled that even burning a flag is protected free speech, and the state’s existing law was basically unenforceable.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Uncertain whether to endorse the administration’s move, the School Board told Keir to confer with their attorney. But before he could do that the next morning, an officer at the Shaftsbury barracks was on the phone, asking him to turn over the posters. “I told them I wouldn’t do that,” Keir said, “and when I talked with Clark (the lawyer) he told me not to let the posters go until he could investigate whether there was actually a violation of the law.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">James Rigg, the art department coordinator who had defended the poster, insisted that this wasn’t about the law. “The state police received complaints and then looked for a statute that would cover the situation,” he charged. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Corcoran and Keir tried to downplay suggestions of censorship and look at the bright side. If the school’s attorney established that the posters did not violate any law, Keir promised, “we’ll put them back up again.” Corcoran was less definitive. “It will probably take quite a while to prove whether it was legal or not,” she hedged, quickly following up with consolation. No more publicity was really needed, you see, since “we should do quite well after all that talk.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">My Feb. 1, 1969 story on the dispute ran under the upbeat headline, “Uproar Over School Poster Also Publicizes ‘Brecht’.” But it led with the point that the image of a swastika superimposed over Old Glory had almost overnight “become the center of a controversy involving the US flag, Nazism, advertising and censorship.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">No surprise, the posters never went back up, and not all of those that went out were ever recovered. Word of mouth had made them instant local collector’s items. But the publicity did not translate into ticket sales. On opening night the house was only half-filled. It almost felt like a boycott. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">As the drama unfolded on stage, a nervousness born out of misunderstanding spread through the auditorium. The director had constructed a polished example of what he described as “non-involvement” theater. Although employing multi-media effects and dramatic blackouts, the main objective was to “make the audience listen to Brecht.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The production may have been “doomed before the house lights went down,” I wrote in a review. After covered the controversy I was still hoping for the best a week later. But many people in the audience seemed confused, unaware that this would be no conventional drama or popular entertainment, the type of “escapism” that Brecht found disgusting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Production notes might have helped. The narrator, called “the Playwright” in the cast list, might also have asked everyone to read them before the performance began. But to be honest, there was probably no real fix.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Brecht didn’t want his audiences to feel obvious emotions and leave the theater refreshed. He wanted them to think. To that end, his approach was to destroy the illusion of reality and instead produce alienation, separation, even estrangement from the action. He described the theater of illusion as a “branch of the bourgeois drug traffic.” He wanted to create “epic” historical theater that reminded the audience they were not witnessing life itself. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">That said, attending such theater can be an uncomfortable experience. The form is almost an indictment of its audience. During <span style="font-style: italic;">Brecht on Brecht </span>at Mt. Anthony High School, when actors decried a society that resembled modern America, nervous laughter spread through the room. At other times the silence, when applause might well have been expected, was cold and deadly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Although comparisons between Hitler’s Germany and Nixon’s America were never intended by the playwright nor underlined by the production, they were implicit. And at one point, during a sequence involving soldiers who were too smart to fight because they think for themselves, a suitcase was marked “To Canada.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Not only the audience had trouble adjusting to the demands of Brecht’s approach. Much of the production consisted of short scenes, stiff monologues and political songs, and the actors often spoke as if they were disembodied, constantly telegraphing “I am not real.” Right, we get it, I thought.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">At its best Brechtian theater isn’t an exercise in detachment, but instead promotes epiphanies by luring the audience in, then suddenly, at a crucial moment, destroying that reality. The playwright understood he couldn’t just preach. But this production emphasized Brecht’s more didactic tendencies, radical politics, horror of war, and disgust with bureaucracy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">And the sparse design didn’t always help; three levels on a bare stage, a large screen that flashed projections, frequent blackouts that became monotonous, and actors dressed so similarly it was hard to tell them apart. It was a lot to ask of high school performers, no matter how talented. Every flaw in pacing, emphasis and delivery was placed on full display. On the other hand, the screen projections — scenes of destruction, rebellion and Hitler’s rise — were excellent and effective. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It was encouraging to see such a courageous production and students responding to changes in art, society and culture. <span style="font-style: italic;">Brecht on Brecht</span> was a difficult play, but both the performers and the faculty had taken a giant step. Considering the time and place, they were heroes and pioneers. In the review, I noted that “Students are concerned about the state of the world. They make it an integral part of their daily conversations.” Suggesting that their theater should also be a forum for such discussions, I finished with some encouragement — “no matter what protest is lodged against the students or the school, it was an experience worth watching.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Nonetheless, it was also all too clear; the opening shots of a “moral majority” culture war had been fired. Not long after <i>Brecht</i>, two English teachers made the mistake of teaching a lesson about language with examples that included some sexual phrases. The outcry was immediate, irate and overwhelming, further deepening the community’s emerging cultural divide. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This time “concerned citizens” packed the high school cafeteria, heckled the school board and demanded action, namely removal of the offending teachers. At one point, a parent sincerely argued that “Broadway plays” just shouldn’t be performed in small towns. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Ironically enough, Brecht would agree. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUFk6sQ65Xd_Groj38DDqFHFaJ8vqteMbT2WO7Wjq3fOL_unWkqqbCQxfMQJDqMT8Fs6q-1P5Z8wJxNs2Q0ej-exV7hQjQzo4Ie63T9M21fmU5mM_tvGBZYDdphaREuvN6GaMkOKzYP24/s1600/Bennington+Standoff+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1037" data-original-width="1600" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUFk6sQ65Xd_Groj38DDqFHFaJ8vqteMbT2WO7Wjq3fOL_unWkqqbCQxfMQJDqMT8Fs6q-1P5Z8wJxNs2Q0ej-exV7hQjQzo4Ie63T9M21fmU5mM_tvGBZYDdphaREuvN6GaMkOKzYP24/s400/Bennington+Standoff+001.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Concerned citizens fill the cafeteria for a showdown at MAUHS (1970), </i><br />
<i>one of the photos included in the Fields of Change exhibit. </i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgAWRSH9VYMsgUPPh-UpPdO2yonRJbyGcZf2tQI4YBOjEn9QEkYmj9l_VGr3SH43uNhVWtIuwf0xZuOS56tGkREkaDz4da0ETObiAGr8k-4-_B24nBjVZAwJsDwL4rgiEqrqQN_64LdCw/s1600/5C6AAF0D-85E9-4A04-A405-B4E0D7474836.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgAWRSH9VYMsgUPPh-UpPdO2yonRJbyGcZf2tQI4YBOjEn9QEkYmj9l_VGr3SH43uNhVWtIuwf0xZuOS56tGkREkaDz4da0ETObiAGr8k-4-_B24nBjVZAwJsDwL4rgiEqrqQN_64LdCw/s400/5C6AAF0D-85E9-4A04-A405-B4E0D7474836.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Greg with one of the few remaining Brecht posters, a gift from<br />
David Wasco after the Bennington exhibit opened.<br />
His father Lon Wasco created it. </td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">For more, go to <a href="https://vermontway.blogspot.com/2018/10/fragile-paradise-sixties-bennington.html">Fragile Paradise: Sixties Bennington </a></span></div>
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Greg Gumahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08780542632200130391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125358792133089637.post-14318485356809528312019-04-17T21:44:00.003-04:002023-04-14T16:35:11.828-04:00Nukes, Pot and Grassroots Battles: Vermont Vanguard Press - April 1979<div style="color: #454545; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Nuclear disaster at Three Mile Island, Vermont legislation to decriminalize pot, and new alliances rising across the state. In early April 1979, as flaks and officials said evacuation in Pennsyvania was “unneeded at this time,” 200,000 people were leaving their homes. As everyone was told a meltdown could be avoided, it was already underway...</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Doorknob to Hell </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Vermont legislature came close to decriminalizing pot in 1979 with a bill to reduce the possession penalty to $100. But it stalled after State Police spokesmen warned of all manner of calamity — fires, car accidents, weed-fueled homicide! “...its very nature requires that it burn in order to be used,” noted Major James Ryan at an April public hearing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Claiming pot was “involved” in fatal fires and deadly auto mayhem, Ryan urged lawmakers to take his word that reduced penalties would be “taking away the only deterrent we have.” A year earlier decriminalization had passed in the Vermont House. But Sen. Chester Scott derailed that push with a floor speech about weed as the “doorknob to hell.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Things got even worse after that.</span></div>
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<div style="color: #454545; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Vermont Vanguard Press had just started running a weekly national news column when the Three Mile Island nuclear plant went critical. John Dillon and I produced stories for page 2, but we also covered the issue in Nation — and the entertainment section. Even today, the list of worst “incidents” is startling. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Along with covering the activist angle, a second item noted that Vermont’s US House Rep. James Jeffords had introduced a bill calling for “a moratorium on construction and licensing of new plants until a review of all ‘significant health and safety questions’ has been completed.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In Listings, the TV Highlights column reported, “Staying better than 24 hours behind what was happening, the networks preferred to let the fallout spread throughout the U.S. via charts, graphs, and experts’ opinions on radiation destruction instead of responsible reporting on evacuation procedures that were being carried out on Sunday and Monday, and not reported by the TV press.” Only ABC handled the disaster with some perspective, mainly because anchor Frank Reynolds showed a “true sense of concern for the people he reports on.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">One version of the Three Mile Island meltdown was that a valve became stuck, coolant tank discs ruptured, and staff tried to manually stop water replacement. But, as I reported less than a week after, pumping in cold emergency feedwater pushed a toxic gas bubble into the reactor core. And the core’s exposure led to damaged fuel rods and melting uranium. Ultimately, after pump seals also failed, the gas was released. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It was a major disaster. But another one was the early government response. Only few thousand people were advised to evacuate at first, then more and more. Was there actually a meltdown? “Part of the reason that things appeared to improve was that less was being told to the public.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">As J.D.’s story revealed, Vermont companies that made valves and pumps for nuke plants were quick to deny responsibility. Velan Valve was making 90 percent of the valves, yet the company’s president was sure it wasn’t one of theirs. The NRC wasn’t so certain: “We don’t have a scenario on that yet,” a spokesman said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Hayward Tyler Pump Co, making 50 percent of the pumps used by the nuclear industry at the time, was just as sure about its innocence. But manager Dave Woodcock was not so enthusiastic about the future of nuclear power. Hayward Tyler was already diversifying — to pumps for other industries and water desalinization in Saudi Arabia and Africa. “Nuclear power is not going away,” he predicted, but it’s also “the riskiest means of generating electricity.” Thanks for the warning. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Week That Was </span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Selecting events for the Vanguard’s weekly calendar spread could be tough, given the space limits of the design. But it looked cool! My favorite listing from 40 years ago this week is “Money and You,” an all-day workshop with “new age millionaire Marshall Thurber,” who had recently established an institute in Vermont to monetize the human potential movement. He’s still at it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The editorial column, which ran on page 3, focused on marijuana decriminalization in Vermont and nuclear issues surrounding the Three Mile Island meltdown. On pot, we concluded that “it is high time for a change.” In reality, it took almost 40 years. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">On nuclear power we discussed technical dependence and media complicity in “news management.” Our proposals included “developing local expertise” to handle future emergencies, seriously discussing decommissioning Vermont Yankee, and suspending future plant construction nationally “until the questions surrounding this risky route to energy ‘self-sufficiency’ are resolved. We will probably find, just as the anti-nukers have been saying for years, that this so-called peaceful atom represents an unacceptable risk.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">That took over three decades. But Vermont ultimately did decide to close its plant. Now the nuclear questions surround F-35s in Burlington.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">And finally, some good news ... </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">Small Battles, Big Victories</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Vermont Alliance changed direction in 1975, becoming a multi-issue, direct action community organizing effort. Its first focus was Barre — during a utility municipalization drive. By early 1979, when my cover story appeared, Vermont’s new “voice for the voiceless” had also established grassroots chapters in Hartford, Winooski, Bristol, Vergennes and Brattleboro. An early sign of progressive things to come.</span><br />
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Greg Gumahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08780542632200130391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125358792133089637.post-83860953203258414972018-10-22T19:14:00.000-04:002019-10-02T15:08:06.292-04:00Fragile Paradise: Sixties Bennington<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="350" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/VermontThatWasThen" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="500"></iframe>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 17pt;">Part One</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 17pt;">The newsroom was a large, open bullpen filled with manual typewriters and competing conversations. At one end a picture window loomed over a picaresque main drag in the heart of the village. At the other, this side of the swinging door to production, Editor-in-Chief Tyler Resch worked over our copy. In a corner, the teletype cranked AP reports onto a long roll of yellow paper that spooled down to the floor.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">During my first week on the job at the Bennington Banner, in early December 1968, Richard Nixon was back in Washington selecting his cabinet. Vietnam peace talks were stalling in Paris and the Defense Department called up another 33,000 young men to fight the war. That brought the total to half a million troops. My beats in southern Vermont were less momentous – district court, local schools and the village trustees.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 17pt;"><i>Video Preview</i>: <i>A</i> <i>Fragile</i> <i>Paradise</i></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">A few days on the job, I met Resch at a school board meeting. He drew a crude diagram identifying the people around the table — and then left. It would be sink or swim. But as luck would have it, a political storm was brewing. A new high school had been built in the blush of a progressive educational era. It was also at the hub of Bennington’s pain. Its alma mater, “The Impossible Dream,” turned out to be prophecy. An idealistic plan for local education was about to be derailed by a repressive backlash.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">After the school superintendent resigned a dispute had developed over who would replace him as acting chief. The elementary school board wanted Assistant Superintendent George Sleeman. The supervisory union, which included representatives of both the elementary and high school boards, wasn’t as sure.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">On the surface it looked like a minor bureaucratic fracas, a question of who could sign checks and make decisions until a permanent chief was selected. But it was actually part of a long-running cultural clash over the fundamental direction of education and community life.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">Apart from a two-week “wilderness” experience before college, my life in Vermont had begun six months earlier with the American Film Academy, which brought several of us to the area — and indirectly led to my marriage to a young woman from Shaftsbury. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">I was 21 at the time, just graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in Mass Communications. Things flowed from there through local education, politics and the counterculture, and took me on an intense personal journey, from living an “alternative” life, at least at night, while daily witnessing a slow-moving culture war, then a doomed revolt at the college, before taking up public service as a counselor and job developer. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">In the end, conflict with the same school board conservatives I had covered for the newspaper two years earlier led to my departure — and a promotion that opened up new opportunities. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 17pt;">Part Two</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 17pt;"><b>A</b> <b>Light</b> <b>Show</b> <b>at</b> <b>the</b> <b>Paradise</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">A few months after arriving in June 1968 with other recruits to the American Film Academy, an independent media company, three of us were asked by three young Republicans — </span><span style="direction: ltr; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-size: large;">John</span> <span style="font-size: large;">Williams</span></span><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">, Harvey Carter and Marshall Witten — to produce a multi-media light show for a state GOP meeting at the Paradise motel in Bennington. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">It was a strange project and the reaction was less than enthusiastic. But afterward, Liz Dwyer wrote such a scathing article for the Bennington Banner that David Kelso and I felt honor bound to reply — in a long letter to the editor printed in early October. Although we viewed ourselves as creative entrepreneurs — in my case, that included producing ads for 1968 Republican candidates — others saw us as evidence of an unwelcome hippie invasion.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">“As AFA employees, we are upset most about the glib manner in which our organization is maligned by people who do not understand our work and are afraid to inquire about it,” we wrote in response. “We are teacher, students, and artists. We work with over 50 high schools and colleges in running film courses and societies. We are incorporated and work in harmony with the major film companies. We do not circulate underground or low-life films, but general release work. In fact, we are now supplying the films for the YMCA film program.”</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">By then, David and I had also been hired temporarily by The Prospect School. But I opted to leave when the credentialed teachers expected from England finally got their visas. Less than two months later, however, I was hired by the Banner and found myself working with Liz, the editorial page editor who had panned our Paradise light show. We became great friends. Considering our letter to the editor, I’m still amazed by their openness. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">My new job included beats like local education, Village government and the courts, as well as running the darkroom. I also wrote and designed many weekend features, and in Fall 1969, had a weekly editorial page column called “Polarities in Our Time.” </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Part</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Three</span> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: large;">Talking</span> <span style="font-size: large;">Black</span> <span style="font-size: large;">Power</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">Early in my time at the Banner, Rev. Edward Geyer, the black rector of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, addressed the annual interfaith dinner at Mt Anthony Country Club. That February 1969 talk raised some eyebrows in the room. Geyer began with a reading of satirical </span><span style="direction: ltr; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-size: large;">Tom</span> <span style="font-size: large;">Lehrer</span></span><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"> lyrics about hypocrisy, and then dove into black power, student revolt, and the rocky path to brotherhood. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">“The development of a new mind-set among our youngsters has led them to expose the myths of American life,” he said as the establishment audience nervously nibbled desert. “All men are not treated equally. All men are not given comparable access to higher education.”</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">About the challenges facing Black youth, he explained, “they want peace at home and peace abroad. They shudder at the thought of inheriting a world subject to instantaneous nuclear annihilation. They are dismayed by the hypocrisy which pervades our culture... From this cultural milieu has come the anguished cry for ‘black power.’ The term ‘black power’ has rung like the peal of church bells from one end of America to the other.”</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Educational</span> <span style="font-size: medium;">Inspirations</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">My first Saturday feature for the Banner presented The Prospect School, where I had worked briefly the previous year with David Kelso. Another looked at a Title III program that combined eye-hand-mind activities with the regular curriculum, and led to a grant to produce a film. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">Still another innovative program I followed closely — influenced by State Education Commissioner Harvey Scribner and his Vermont Design for Education — was DUO, a service learning initiative launched by Peter Smith, who soon founded CCV and later became a Republican Lt. Governor and Congressman. A</span></span><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">t Bennington College, I saw a related higher-education approach - the non-resident term. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">These programs inspired my own efforts, while working for Bennington-Rutland Opportunity Council and statewide for Champlain Valley Work & Training, to develop experience-based education and credentialing for para-professionals. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">But other forces were also at work in public education. Prominent among them was </span></span><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">Assistant School Superintendent George Sleeman, who had a brother named Richard. He was a leading local conservative, chaired the elementary school board, held an administrative job at a local college, and supervised the local property assessments. The family, which owned more rental property than anyone else in the area, had strong support among the local working class. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">On the other hand, the village was literally surrounded by another legal entity, the Town of Bennington, a growing suburbia populated by more liberal professionals. </span></span><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">I was witnessing a struggle for power between two factions – working class traditionalists and middle-class modernists.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">Beyond resentment of Bennington College, the traditionalists disliked the “modernists” because of the progressive agenda they had imposed in the construction and curriculum of the new high school. Still, their deepest antipathy was reserved for the state’s bureaucratic establishment, particularly the commissioner of education, Harvey Scribner.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">A no-nonsense teacher from Maine, Scribner had come to Vermont after presiding over the integration of black children into white schools as Teaneck, New Jersey’s school superintendent. In the 1970s, he went on to become chancellor of New York City’s school system during its turbulent shift toward local control. But to Vermont conservatives in the late 1960s, Scribner represented the heavy hand of the state. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">During my second week on the job, he made a fateful decision that turned the traditionalists’ simmering hatred into an open feud with bitter long-term consequences. </span></span><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">To break the stalemate, Scribner — usually a proponent of local control – exercised his authority to merge Bennington’s Supervisory Union with an adjacent board and appoint its superintendent as head of a new “super district.” </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">George Sleeman could keep his job, but his promotion had been blocked by a state dictate. His allies were stunned and his brother was hopping mad.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Welcome</span> <span style="font-size: medium;">to</span> <span style="font-size: medium;">Carrigan</span> <span style="font-size: medium;">Lane</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">My first investigative expose, on Memorial Day weekend in 1969, was titled “Welcome to Carrigan Lane.” Published as a Saturday “broadside” feature page — a counterpoint to that day’s front page parade photo spread — it revealed one of Bennington’s hidden pockets of extreme poverty and featured pictures of grotesque living conditions – broken pipes, lack of running water, roofs with gaping holes, un-insulated walls, and all manner of hazards that endangered children.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">The article let the poor tenants speak for themselves. It also pointed to why such conditions had been allowed to fester for so long: Bennington had no housing codes.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">The response was public outrage and sufficient pressure to force village officials to act. A study committee was formed, and decided that minimum standards and effective enforcement were essential solutions. Its most influential member became David Putter, a friend from Syracuse — and part of the American Film Academy group — who had become a legal aid clerk.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">It would take a few years for the practical impacts to be felt. But public exposure and persistent followup had sparked a local reform movement with the potential to improve local living conditions.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Phil</span> <span style="font-size: medium;">Hoff’s </span><span style="font-size: medium;">Struggles</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">That fall, I met the former governor, Phil Hoff, while covering a local anti-Vietnam war demonstration headlined by Harvey Carter, then a young Republican legislator. A year before, Hoff had leapt into the national spotlight as the first Democratic governor to break with President Johnson over the Vietnam War. In June, after Robert Kennedy was assassinated, he had delivered a moving speech to the Vermont General Assembly.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">When the Democrats gathered in Chicago in 1968, Hoff’s name circulated as a “protest” candidate for vice president. But after three terms as governor in a tumultuous period, he was worn down by political struggles and did not pursue it.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">That summer, when someone fired into the home of Reverend David Johnson, a black minister who had come to the rural town of Irasburg from California, the police had focused on the victim and charged him with adultery. Johnson’s alleged crime, apparently, was sharing a couch with a white woman.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">Hoff called for an investigation and discovered that the state police knew the identity of the shooter — but didn’t go after him. He also realized that when the Public Safety Commissioner refused to discipline his staff, there was nothing he could do about it.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">In 1970, Hoff returned to the political arena, but lost a run for the U.S. Senate to incumbent Republican Winston Prouty. The main reason, he confided years later, was his civil rights activism, particularly sponsorship of the Vermont-New York Youth Project, which brought Black teenagers up from New York to work and play with White Vermonters.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">“It was enormously successful for the participants,” he insisted. “But it wasn’t well understood, and all the latent racism began to emerge. There’s no question it defeated me in the Senate race.”</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Capturing</span> <span style="font-size: medium;">the</span> <span style="font-size: medium;">Campus</span> <span style="font-size: medium;">Mood</span> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">Quadrille, the Bennington College magazine, had been edited for several years by Laurence Hyman, son of writer Shirley Jackson and literature professor Stanley Edgar Hyman. But Hyman wanted to make films and resigned in 1970.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">Succeeding him as Publications Director, I edited just one issue, but it proved to be unique in format and and scope, and combined both student and alumni news. Assembled in early fall it includes feature articles, lecture excerpts, recent artwork, conversations on the draft and women’s liberation, and expert reports on the emerging environmental crisis and organic gardening.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">In the opening for the feature section, I offered some observations, including a quote from Kurt Vonnegut, who was Bennington’s commencement speaker in 1970. His address that warm June day appeared soon afterward in his essay collection, Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons. I remember well skimming various drafts of the speech before his visit, not to mention my own encounter with the author of some of my favorite books. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">The previous Spring had seen the first Earth Day activities in Vermont and elsewhere, an event I had covered for the Banner. But Quadrille reflected a more urgent mood on campus — except for its exclusion of The Plan.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">A radical proposal for change by students and faculty, The Plan was being suppressed by the administration. This was not surprising, since it argued that school’s growth should end, called for the end of the Development Office and election of the president, and envisioned an organic community in which teacher-students and student-teachers worked together as equals.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">By the time Quadrille appeared, I was in the middle of the fight.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"><i>To</i> <i>be</i> <i>continued</i>...</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">For more on Bennington’s educational struggle, read <a href="https://vermontway.blogspot.com/2018/01/waving-flag-in-culture-war.html">Waving the Flag in a Culture War</a></span></span></span><br />
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Greg Gumahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08780542632200130391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125358792133089637.post-1007301572395120092018-01-23T08:43:00.000-05:002018-01-23T08:43:32.117-05:00Thinking Globally and Acting Locally<h1 class="entry-title" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; clear: both; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, "Nimbus Sans L", sans-serif; line-height: 1.3em; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "bitstream charter" , serif; font-weight: normal;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">An Interview with Greg Guma</span></i></span></h1>
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<a href="http://peaceeconomyproject.org/wordpress/thinking-globally-and-acting-locally-an-interview-with-greg-guma/"><span class="meta-prep meta-prep-author">Published on July 13, 2017</span> by the Peace Economy Project</a></div>
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Greg Guma has worked for the twin causes of peace and justice through journalism, essays, politics and civic activism over the past several decades. A resident of Burlington, Vermont for more than 40 years, he edited the <i>Vermont Vanguard Press</i> from 1978 to 1982. He also published a syndicated column in the 1980s and 90s and from the mid-90s to 2004 edited <i>Toward Freedom</i>, which was then a print magazine covering global affairs. Guma organized one of the first independent media conferences and served as CEO of Pacifica Radio.</div>
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In 2003, he published <i>Uneasy Empire: Repression, Globalization, And What We Can Do</i>. Even though the book was released 14 years ago, Guma feels the trends and dynamics he dissected then remain relevant today.</div>
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<i>Question: In “Uneasy Empire” you talked about the growth of an American Empire and the dominance of organizations like the North American Free Trade Agreement, the World Trade Organization and huge corporations in that empire. You see corporate globalization as crushing the power of the individual and placing it in the hands of transnational corporations and governing bodies that work on their behalf. Are you saying something about scale in our economy?</i></div>
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“Scale is an issue on a number of levels,” Guma said. “The world government we see around us seems to be in a period of realignment, and some of the old architecture is being taken down. <i>Uneasy Empire</i> is a globalist perspective. There are many problems that transcend national solutions. A global governance regime to handle this would be very big, but the real issues are access and accountability. Donald Trump is currently trying to establish an alliance of rogue states. He’s also continuing a long-term centralization of power, even though it’s based on ad-hoc relationships among power groups.</div>
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“Some of Trump’s paranoia about China is sincere. There are problems posed by China’s rise, but the models that dominated in the past have been threatened by corporate globalization. This scares many people. There was a challenge about 15-years ago to all of this (beginning with the Seattle WTO protests). It reached a high water mark before 9/11. Since then there has been a populist upheaval in response to the forces that control our lives and this in turn has led to a resurgence in authoritarianism. It often seems like the United Nations is irrelevant in all of this. But there is a chance for a democratic globalist solution if we reform those institutions. The authoritarian model is destined to fail.”</div>
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Guma feels President Donald Trump’s nationalist-populist style of politics and the left leaning crowd behind Senator Bernie Sanders are both reacting against the type of globalism that only benefits corporate America. However, Guma also thinks Trump’s administration is accelerating this trend.</div>
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“Trump’s regime is radical,” Guma said. “He’s letting many positions go unfilled and putting people in charge of agencies who want to destroy them. There has been an increase in smaller wars in the past 30 years. This helps companies associated with the defense industry and defense contractors. Going forward, I think we’ll see more small wars, environmental refugees and competition for resources. We know we need to establish bonds in our communities and build a different future, but right now we are stuck psychologically.”</div>
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<i>Question: I’ll bet you feel the military-industrial complex is very much a part of the trends you are talking about in “Uneasy Empire: Repression, Globalization and What We Can Do?”</i></div>
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“The U.S. as a declining hegemon,” Guma said, “and will become more of a mercenary state. We have matured as a global power. We once used soft power solutions like the Marshall Plan, aide and trade, but now we’re moving more and more toward military solutions. The US was considered a good partner in the past and there was more mutual respect. But Trump is accelerating a trend that would have happened anyway: He’s making us untrustworthy.</div>
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“Nation building is not something we do anymore. The American empire advanced through diplomacy and trade. Now we have a small arms race going on. We see the transfer of weapons to other countries and more arms proliferation. When you deconstruct a regime and you don’t have anything to put in its place you create a lot of chaos. This is a phenomena of growth and decay. We’re seeing it now in the decay of the corporate global system. Something will need to be built in its wake.”</div>
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<i>Question: Now that we’ve heard the bad part, what do you recommend to combat the trends you’ve dissected?</i></div>
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“It’s going to happen at the local level,” he said. “It’s good to have an eye on the big picture, but where we should spend our effort is where we live and where we can see change occur. This was a lesson I lived in Burlington, Vermont. In doing the peace work we did, we thought we would improve our lives. We were able to change the local culture and also have a ripple effect that changed the state.”</div>
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Since the late 1960s, Vermont citizens have created an economy with a strong local flavor. There are a number of consumer cooperatives, community based agriculture projects, local businesses, alternative media outlets and social action oriented non-profits in the state. People worked on the local level for a new type of economy and Guma feels it created something better.</div>
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“We had an influx of new people in the 60’s and 70’s,” said Guma. “Then you see this proliferation of activity around the environmental movement and the peace movement. We pushed agendas at town meetings. Vermont has a strong tradition when it comes to Town Meeting, and we used it to put peace proposals onto the ballot. This gave people a model to look at and led to a more tolerant, open culture. You can create something local that will spread.”</div>
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<i>Question: I’ve heard people talk about thinking globally and acting locally. Can this work for those trying to create a more peaceful world?</i></div>
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“We did it here in Vermont,” Guma said. “What we did was to use local initiatives to create something like our own foreign policy. We brought forward a series of initiatives to define what we wanted in a foreign policy. Local governments can have a big impact. We look stances on many issues. For example, we took an anti-interventionist stance on Latin America, opposed apartheid, and formed groups to educate citizens on these issues. We also had Sister City programs to promote tolerance and understanding. If you do this over a period of years it starts to change consciousness.”</div>
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In addition to working in journalism, Guma also owned a bookstore that was often used as a hub of social activism and spearheaded the establishment of a peace and justice center in Burlington. He later worked as a coordinator of that center. Guma remembers the effectiveness of the 80’s nuclear freeze movement. City councils in Vermont, and later around the country, passed resolutions promoting a freeze in the number of nuclear weapons in the United States’ nuclear arsenal. Guma said a similar effort would be effective in the movement to ban nuclear weapons.</div>
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“The circumstances are totally different now due to the freeze movement of the 80’s,” he said. “People’s ideas on nuclear arms changed. Even Ronald Reagan changed his mind. This was a real victory for the peace movement.”</div>
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Greg Gumahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08780542632200130391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125358792133089637.post-74339502537025629732018-01-02T15:22:00.000-05:002018-01-02T15:26:07.217-05:00The Birth of Burlington’s Assemblies<div style="color: #454545; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>Burlington’s Neighborhood Planning Assemblies are back in the local spotlight, and likely to be a contentious issue in the 2018 race for mayor of Vermont’s largest city, culminating on March 6.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Last Fall, an “assembly of the Assemblies” demanded a formal role in deciding the future of Memorial Auditorium, a major local venue for 90 years. Since then,</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Infinite Culcleasure, one of two Independents challenging Mayor Miro Weinberger, has announced that “m</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">ore public investment should be made to strengthen existing neighborhood assemblies.”</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> And Progressive-backed Independent Carina Driscoll says, “We need to empower our Neighborhood Planning Assemblies so that they may again be actively involved with public engagement, city planning and prioritizing city resources.”</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">NPAs, as they have become known over the years, officially became part of Burlington city government in the summer of 1983. The idea had been percolating for a while and didn't become reality without some struggle, then and afterward. But during an "assembly of the Assemblies" at City Hall in late June that year, about 100 people successfully discussed and largely agreed on basics like how often to meet, the rules for making decisions, and whether NPAs should operate exclusively on a ward level.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">These volunteer founders had gathered, in ward groups, then as a committee of the whole, to hammer out long-delayed bylaws. It was a rare moment. People from competing political factions were sitting face-to-face, conversing civilly with neighbors. Surprisingly, there were few serious disputes, and more areas of agreement than expected.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Pressure to create neighborhood assemblies had been building for years. In 1976, while I was the city's Youth Coordinator, they were proposed as a way to coordinate social services. In 1981, neighborhood power was part of the Citizens Party platform and became an issue in the elections that gave Bernie Sanders his first victory. The top issue in my own City Council campaign was neighborhood participation in city planning, specifically "formal review of grants and the municipal development plan by neighborhood groups."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Shortly after Bernie's election as mayor, a conference of independent local groups proposed that neighborhood assemblies be formally established within local government.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Bylaws were supposed to be drafted during planning sessions that began in early 1982. But debates over priorities for community development funds, not to mention political infighting and campaign fever, pushed the process back. Lack of coordinators or established procedures also didn't help, making it difficult for neighborhoods to call their own meetings. Meanwhile, both the Planning Commission and Mayor's Office convened selected NPAs to act as sounding boards for issues on their agendas.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Haggling between the Old Guard-dominated Planning Commission and newly created Community and Economic Development Office (CEDO) further complicated the process. In Spring 1983 the Planning Commission, still dominated by allies of the previous administration, put forward a structure proposal that would restrict NPAs to quarterly meetings and keep them under firm control. But CEDO, initially developed as a means to divert funds and power from the Commission, also succeeded in assuming responsibility for coordination of NPA activities. By then several had already begun to set their own agendas, pass motions, and provide advice on city projects. Now they would have $15,000 each to use or invest in neighborhood improvement projects.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Just two years earlier, Vermont's largest city basically had a one-party political system controlled by a Democratic clan with a small group of developers and merchants. Now it was in the midst of a social and political realignment. An independent socialist mayor was in his second term and the City Council operated with a fragile three-party balance of power. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The new political environment had sparked a renaissance in public participation, which in turn was producing programs for youth, women and the elderly. About 50 percent more people had voted in the recent local elections than had turned out just two years earlier, and Mayor Sanders received 52 percent in a three-way race. Meanwhile, dozens of Town Meetings across Vermont adopted resolutions to freeze nuclear weapons, legislate peace conversion, cut off aid to El Savador, and regulate nuclear waste shipments. To date, 184 of the state's 245 towns had gone on record to freeze nuclear proliferation. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In Burlington, independent neighborhood groups that focused on issues from road-building to crime and housing conditions had already changed the relationship between local citizens and their representatives. Now the question was whether these self-organized vehicles of popular power would or should become a formal part of the city planning process.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Some who attended the founding congress were suspicious about an apparent lack of publicity prior to the event. But two pro-Assembly City Councilors in the room -- Maurice Mahoney, a Ward 1 Democrat, and Terry Bouricius, a Ward 2 Sanders ally and Citizens Party member of the City Council -- offered assurances that the Council was eager to see these "mainly advisory" bodies operate "efficiently." Anarchist thinker Murray Bookchin also attended. He was skeptical, but wrote a draft preamble for the bylaws that was adopted with few changes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Working in Ward subgroups, participants in the assembly congress made preliminary decisions that day about who could participate (any voter registered in the ward), how often they would meet, and what constituted a quorum. Agreement also emerged that NPAs should set their own agendas, but remain responsive to mayoral or council requests, and that their purview could stretch from down-to-earth projects like tree planting to review of Master Plan revisions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Many things remained undefined and unclear at this point. But the experience of working together for a day, determining how they would function, tended to convince most people who attended that NPAs would at least not be easy for any one faction to manipulate. In fact, when newly elected Assembly coordinators sat around the Council's horseshoe table to deliver status reports at the end of the evening, some in the audience publicly speculated , hoped or feared that it might evolve into a second City Council.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The list of coordinators read like a roster of upcoming local leaders. Judy Stephany had been the Democrat's candidate for mayor the previous March. Two other coordinators were recent City Council candidates. And Tim McKenzie, who had run for the state legislature, currently headed Sanders' Progressive Coalition.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The plan was to have these coordinators meet to follow up on their wards' proposals, then convene the assemblies again to ratify the final document. Once that was done, NPAs would operate with relative independence, guiding community developments and responding to official requests. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Despite the cooperative atmosphere in which NPAs were born, there were obvious lingering questions and reasonable concerns. In the long term, for instance, would they be representative, or become tools for outside interests to engineer consent? What would happen to attendance as time passed? And if they proved effective, would their powers expand? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Mayor Sanders certainly had doubts. Specifically, he was hesitant to empower groups that might not have a progressive character or could be overtaken by opponents. Others on the left, notably Bookchin, wondered instead whether they would evolve as proactive, popular organs or become institutionalized and reactive. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Sanders administration ultimately decided to embrace the NPAs, offering money and a limited decision-making role. Basically, it gave them some room to grow. But their status, advisory bodies operating under the auspices of a city office, meant that much of their time and energy would be spent evaluating proposals from the administration and large local institutions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This essay appeared in the December 2017 issue of 05401 PLUS, a Lake Champlain region magazine. Greg Guma participated in the development of NPAs and attended the founding congress. He is a long-term Burlington resident and author of Dons of Time, Spirits of Desire, Uneasy Empire, and The People's Republic: Vermont and the Sanders Revolution. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Graphic: March 1981 Campaign flyer</span></span></div>
Greg Gumahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08780542632200130391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125358792133089637.post-77457151989236175912017-09-28T11:46:00.000-04:002017-09-30T09:38:58.129-04:00The Age of Burke<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Burlington's First Progressive Era</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Introduction</b></span><br />
<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> </b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">W</span></b><span style="font-size: large;">hen Theodore Roosevelt visited
Burlington in September 1902 he brought some kind words for Vermonters. He
had been to the Queen City a year earlier, on the very day he found out that President
McKinley had been shot by what the papers were calling a “crazed anarchist.”
But now the “wild man,” the “damned cowboy” hated by Wall Street, Vice
President under McKinley for less than a year, had returned as President.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Burlington Mayor Donley C. Hawley
stood with Roosevelt at the train barn near the waterfront, surrounded by flags
and bunting. “You have always kept true to
the old America ideals," the President told the Vermonters, "the ideals of individual initiative, of self-help, of
rugged independence, of the desire to work and willingness, if need, to fight.”
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Still, Republicans like Hawley were
suspicious. Roosevelt’s rhetoric about a “square deal” for working people and
control of big business sounded radical. But Democrats like James E. Burke were unabashed
admirers. Burke was already the leading spokesman for the city’s growing
Democratic Party. He was also promoting a fusion movement with dissident
Republicans. Like Roosevelt, he projected himself as a pragmatic reformer,
thriving on idealism, moral outrage and an ability to inspire the masses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Born in Williston on May 4, 1849, from a family that admired the British populist Edmund Burke, he had emerged as
the leader of a new Irish, Democratic opposition in the city. Son of Irish
Catholic immigrants from Canada, he‘d begun his political career at almost 50
years old, identifying himself as a champion of the poor, labor, and ethnic
newcomers. He was also known and well-liked as a blacksmith.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> To many local Yankee “puritans” James Burke was something else entirely: a dangerous “papist,” implying that his main
allegiance was to the Catholic Church. But he found more than enough support at
the foot of University Hill – in low-income neighborhoods, tenements near the
railroad tracks and along the waterfront. These were the city’s ethnic
neighborhoods at the time, populated not only by the Irish but also Germans,
Italians, Jews, and French Canadians. In 18 citywide races between 1903 and
1937, Burke lost only twice in these “immigrant” wards. They were also the base
for his five-year foray into “third party” politics during the 1930s Depression
– the Citizens Party. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Burke’s first victory came in
1893, when he was elected to the Board of Aldermen from Ward 4, then the city’s
waterfront area. Two years later he was appointed to the Board of Police
Examiners. But he couldn’t recapture his aldermanic seat in 1899, and his first
two runs for mayor, in 1900 and 1902, were unsuccessful.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Power Struggles</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">On March 3, 1903, the hotly
contested mayoral race between Burke and incumbent Republican Donley Hawley
drew an overflow crowd to the city clerk’s office. The men – only males could
vote – perched on windowsills and stood on the rail that surrounded the
aldermanic table. As the results for each ward were announced the winning side cheered.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Hawley, a surgeon, came out of
top in affluent areas, but Burke’s persistence was finally paying off in the
immigrant wards. Plus, he had two compelling issues this time around: a
proposed city-owned light plant and local licensing of saloons.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> When the final votes were
tallied, Hawley had a three-vote margin. But the reason was that City Clerk
Charles Allen refused to count ballots that had been marked twice. Burke was
livid. “Those who laugh last laugh best,” he proclaimed. “There are many men who
voted today for me and whose ballots were thrown out. We propose to have them
counted.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Good to his word, Burke took the
matter to the Vermont Supreme Court and won, gaining certification of an
11-vote victory by early summer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> It took more time, but he also
got the light plant. Two years later, during his third term, Burke’s daughter
Loretta pressed a button at the bandstand in City Hall Park energizing two
circuits of streetlights with power from the newly built plant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Municipal power had enormous
appeal. In December 1902 the Vermont legislature had authorized the city to
furnish electricity, purchase needed land – by eminent domain if necessary, and
issue bonds for the work. However, it also approved the incorporation of a
privately-owned company, Burlington Light and Power, which would subsequently
compete with – and sue – the city over the management of energy distribution.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Burlington Light and Power was
founded by B.B. Smalley and Urban Woodbury. In 1892, Smalley, a wealthy
Democrat, had run for governor. But his main focus was business, as a corporate
lawyer, banker, and president of the Burlington Gas Light Company. Woodbury was
his closest business associate, president of the Consolidated Electric Company,
a founding board member of Smalley’s Burlington Gas Light, and a war hero who
had been mayor and lieutenant governor. In fact, two years after Smalley ran
for governor in 1892 and lost Woodbury ran as a Republican and won.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Only a week after Burke was
declared Mayor by the state Supreme Court he asked the alderman to approve
bonds for a light plant. Two days later, on June 11, he staged a special
city-wide meeting to vote on a proposed $150,000 investment. Woodbury spoke
against the plan, along with Elias Lyman, owner of the area’s big coal company
and Burlington Traction Company, the local mass transit monopoly. Both men were
hissed by members of the audience as they spoke.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Local voters clearly favored
public power, and within ten years the city was generating over one million
kilowatt hours with a turbine generator. Despite widespread support, however,
the owners of the competing private power company did not cave in. Instead,
when the city was on the verge of expanding its department in 1910, Burlington
Light and Power made a competing bid to supply energy for street lights, public
buildings and parks. When it was turned down the private utility company filed
an injunction to prevent the city from issuing new bonds. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The lawsuit was dropped after two
years, since it wasn’t possible to prove that commercial lighting supplied by
the city would increase public debt. But Burlington Light and Power did
eventually win a battle in court, using a 1904 agreement with the city as the
basis for its argument. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> To avoid duplication as demand
for electricity increased, the city had made a deal to share utility pole space
with the company. Since the city used Light and Power poles, it was supposed to
pay a 20 cent per year fee for each wire attached. But the city stopped paying
in 1909, claiming that it had a right to use the tops of all poles without
charge. Light and Power cried foul, especially since the city was their chief
competitor. The Court agreed. No matter what the City Charter said, the light
department had to pay up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> That defeat didn’t change the
direction in which the city was moving, however. When Green Mountain Power
offered $1 million to lease the department for 20 years the city declined.
During those years public power brought Burlington more than $2 million in
profit. In 1953, the department became a city monopoly when it bought Green
Mountain Power’s franchise.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b> CHAPTERS</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-age-of-burke.html">Intro and Power Struggles</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2014/03/attempted-fusion-age-of-burke-2.html">Attempted Fusion</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2011/08/progressive-censors-red-emma.html">Censoring Red Emma</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2011/10/burlington-public-power-story.html">The Public Power Story</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2014/03/on-waterfront-age-of-burke-3.html">On the Waterfront</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2014/03/comeback-trials-age-of-burke-4.html">Comeback Trials</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2014/03/times-of-cleavage-age-of-burke-5.html">Times of Cleavage </a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">: Attempted Fusion – The
Burke-Clement Alliance</span></span><br />
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Greg Gumahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08780542632200130391noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125358792133089637.post-55972979702099011162017-04-10T21:15:00.000-04:002019-08-19T13:07:45.484-04:00Cleaning Up the World: Memories of Vermont's First Earth Day<div style="color: #454545; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">While reporting for the Bennington Banner, I had the opportunity to cover Vermont's first Earth Day in April 1970. Locally, the environmental faithful gathered that morning in Barn 1 on the Bennington College campus to help kick off the day's events with a frank discussion on the future of the planet.</span><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"> Three keynote speakers meant three different viewpoints. Harvey Carter, then a young Republican lawmaker from Pownal, called for community action to influence legislation and elect candidates concerned with the emerging crisis. Local business leader Joseph E. Joseph urged better education and more constructive use of technology. And conservationist John Bischof said the key was each individual's commitment to change society, "even if we have to choose voluntary poverty."</span><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"> When Bischof explained that he was an organic farmer, the response was a round of applause. "The individual can change society," he said. For me, that related to a "visual pollution" project I had covered for the newspaper. David Wasco, a student at the high school who would later become a production designer for major Hollywood films, was collecting photos for a display of Bennington's visual deficiencies, things like poorly designed buildings, bad locations, inadequate maintenance, and trash piles. It was original, individual, the kind of thing that often can make a difference. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcEUUPyxs_Ti7nf-hZxa3eRPslg99UA3m8DGJZxLaVUBQaS5guBFVOIb7vEmcbJe3OUXeDdckcYnnHdY5QXPA2CbyzguLjLXQmcafkIXFh3Q8hMD4NOmt9W9GWxxWRGuKI93x0pupMhww/s1600/IMG_3245.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcEUUPyxs_Ti7nf-hZxa3eRPslg99UA3m8DGJZxLaVUBQaS5guBFVOIb7vEmcbJe3OUXeDdckcYnnHdY5QXPA2CbyzguLjLXQmcafkIXFh3Q8hMD4NOmt9W9GWxxWRGuKI93x0pupMhww/s320/IMG_3245.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Bennington Stream / Greg Guma Photo</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"> Several Vermont communities participated in what had been billed as a national "day of concern." At Middlebury College, Governor Dean Davis, Lt. Governor Tom Hayes and Attorney General Jim Jeffords -- Republicans all -- led a discussion of environmental problems with students and teachers. In Montpelier, Vermont College hosted a two-day observance that began with a speech by the governor on "The Aspects of Pollution." The second day featured classes, films, and more speakers, culminating in a talk by Reinhold Thieme, the former Vermont Commissioner of Water Resources who recently had been appointed a deputy assistant in the Interior Department.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"> Taking the lead from Green Up Day, a campaign to clear roads of litter, Vermont College students demonstrated the scale of the problem by piling all the garbage normally collected at the school in one week inside a wire mesh enclosure.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"> Carter was skeptical about Green Up, claiming it had been "cooked up" by the governor's assistant Al Moulton, and even questioned the effectiveness of pending legislation. Mentioning the Pure Water Act, which gave the Water Resources Board authority to set standards, he noted that it also gave the Board the ability to set low standards and permit temporary, or even permanent, pollution of streams. "I had to have the law amended to protect water near Readsboro," he explained. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">Vermont had recently adopted what was lauded as the most effective package of environmental controls in the country, a model for other states. It was becoming fashionable to be an "environmentalist," especially after mercury was discovered in most of Vermont's waterways. Developers were meanwhile exploiting quick money by developing leisure home tracts, while the attorney general hinted at an organized crime connection.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"> Politicians, many of whom hadn't heard of ecology a year before, now lined up to pass laws that they claimed would save the state from pollution and threats to the land. The heart of the package was the creation of nine district environmental commissions that would watchdog pollution and control development. Echoing Richard Nixon, Governor Davis called it a chance to "apply our creative localism theory." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"> Some lawmakers said the new laws weren't strict enough. As David Scribner wrote at the time, "They pointed to certain loopholes, argued that they were drafted without consultation with environmental experts, did not adequately coordinate various state agencies, and particularly, that they excluded a determination of what environmental damage was incurred by government projects."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"> To many people, the state land use map proposed by the governor looked more like a blueprint for development than a means to define an environmentally sound approach to growth. Beneath the veneer of environmental concern lurked attitudes and assumptions that could open the way toward an ecological crisis down the line. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"> "The thinking is that we can manage the environment, create problems, and then use technology to solve them," Carter charged. "That is sheer nuttiness." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"> The Earth Day discussion with Carter, Joseph and Bischof was followed by workshops, with both civil disagreements about whose approach was safest and practical ideas for developing a more self-sufficient community. Despite the prevailing optimism, one participant did predict, "A catastrophe is going to occur." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"> BE, a new environmental group also based in Bennington, was already working on an ecological survey, with longer-term plans to act as an information center for residents with questions and concerns. Students were meanwhile preparing a personal ecology handbook.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"> Dartmouth College took the opportunity that day to announce a new Environmental Studies Program that would bring students "to grips with the problems of controlling and reversing the damaging encroachments of modern man and technology upon the Earth's ecology." To be co-directed by geology professor Charles Drake and public affairs professor Frank Smallwood, the program was expected to involve significant research and interdisciplinary undergraduate courses as a supplement in traditional major fields.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"> During his talk, Carter called Earth Day "a safety value," and hoped to see more "in terms of political action," specifically support for candidates "concerned with the environment." Joseph, president of the Bennington Brush Co, was more skeptical, calling Earth Day "an intellectual approach to the problem. While the community may know what it means, that's as far as it goes."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"> A campaign to "clean up the world" requires consistent leadership, the businessman argued. "Children in school must be taught not to pollute. All you have to do is drive around the community to see how people live and will continue to live, unless a catastrophe occurs." It was a surprisingly grim outlook.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"> About a month after covering Earth Day, I left the Banner and went to work for Bennington College as Publications Director. It was the end of a semester marked by environmental engagement and escalating political action. You couldn't visit the school without hearing phrases like resist the draft, zero population growth, and "man is an endangered species." Best of all, I arrived in time to meet Kurt Vonnegut -- and hear him issue this sharp, funny observation in his commencement address: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"> "The majority of people who rule us, who have our money and power, are lawyers and military men. The lawyers want to talk our problems out of existence. The military men want us to find the bad guys and put bullets through their brains. These are not always the best solutions -- particularly in the fields of sewage disposal and birth control."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"> It does capture the mood. But so does another slogan seen around campus that year. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"> "The rich and powerful are killing all the butterflies.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"> "If your children are to see butterflies you must be a revolutionary and yourself take control of your life and its surroundings." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"> Forty-seven years later, both outlooks still sound relevant. And Earth Day is still being celebrated. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"><i>Here's the original Bennington Banner story... </i></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZswJGlMBY-Bo8EkZnVvySGH9r_oOKEo6FpvtJNOMxvgxiXnwkP-fVpwCrD7Msv58Doku0F7zVnumsdcOSjZ63s1YcG8YSdZSaTAB8MpAnvQYayBWrzoYyVF1r8LUtEEnrRzefIYrcyBQ/s1600/13542A12-521C-498E-8571-E830F47F14AF.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1333" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZswJGlMBY-Bo8EkZnVvySGH9r_oOKEo6FpvtJNOMxvgxiXnwkP-fVpwCrD7Msv58Doku0F7zVnumsdcOSjZ63s1YcG8YSdZSaTAB8MpAnvQYayBWrzoYyVF1r8LUtEEnrRzefIYrcyBQ/s400/13542A12-521C-498E-8571-E830F47F14AF.jpeg" width="332" /></a></div>
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Greg Gumahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08780542632200130391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125358792133089637.post-42130418448716915352017-04-06T12:50:00.000-04:002017-04-06T12:50:26.982-04:00Boom and Bust in the Quarry Towns<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #b6d7a8; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">October 18, 1935: In the depth of the Great Depression workers call a strike against Vermont Marble.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaGKMV4YzJHMqt8JUe24KzzKFu9phD8RXJBe01Q_PLGL2tjMDoIHfUbjgWskGdHAxu7Vpy12ljNd3bE8M9rRCe36KwhfyhRYRi6_E-IeYXQ-jts3cVRjPgYX1cxMfGAU9MvLJPDvSrQbc/s1600/Tough+Times.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: #b6d7a8; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaGKMV4YzJHMqt8JUe24KzzKFu9phD8RXJBe01Q_PLGL2tjMDoIHfUbjgWskGdHAxu7Vpy12ljNd3bE8M9rRCe36KwhfyhRYRi6_E-IeYXQ-jts3cVRjPgYX1cxMfGAU9MvLJPDvSrQbc/s400/Tough+Times.jpg" width="340" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: black; font-size: large;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #b6d7a8; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black;"> As agriculture entered a long, slow decline in the late nineteenth<sup> </sup></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">century, many Vermonters turned to mining and manufacturing. Vermont's first marble quarries had been cut in Dorset in 1792 using gunpowder, saws, wagons and sleds. But the industry faltered through various business cycles until 1857, when major business interests raised it from a decade-long standstill.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Then, in 1880, the Sutherland Falls Marble Company merged with the Rutland Marble Company, owned by New York banks and families, to form the Vermont Marble Company, which grew and took over smaller firms under Redfield Proctor. Within a few years it was the state’s largest corporation.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">By 1900 Vermont was producing half the country’s marble output.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: black;"> </span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The benevolent ruler of both</span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">V</span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ermont Marble and the company town named after him, Proctor provided workers with access to accident insurance, a company-owned bank and store, and a town library. As “friend and benefactor,” he also used his economic power to launch a political career, becoming a state legislator, governor, US Secretary of War and US Senator from 1891 to 1908.</span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNUBw_j7WQIkMYa5bzMPdjFrj5WS-mcGqtwEwJKP6lJ2ySi5kPiEmvO6JmpEWOCYjC9jIfb0flZ2mYFzKufBCzlmi5DtMmpQm0oG-A2xnuVl0YqrkSdg0iO_i1HAZcHSFUBX8rTFgnCJs/s1600/Redfield+Proctor+1904.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: #b6d7a8; clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNUBw_j7WQIkMYa5bzMPdjFrj5WS-mcGqtwEwJKP6lJ2ySi5kPiEmvO6JmpEWOCYjC9jIfb0flZ2mYFzKufBCzlmi5DtMmpQm0oG-A2xnuVl0YqrkSdg0iO_i1HAZcHSFUBX8rTFgnCJs/s200/Redfield+Proctor+1904.jpg" width="171" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8;"><span style="font-size: large;">Redfield Proctor, 1904</span></span></td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #b6d7a8; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> In the Senate Proctor fanned the flames for the Spanish-American War and guided invasions of Chile and Peru. He also chaired the committee that awarded contracts for federal buildings, making certain that their exteriors were built with Vermont marble. The first was Indiana’s State Capitol, followed by the US Supreme Court Building and Jefferson Memorial.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Following in his father’s footsteps, Fletcher Proctor acquired businesses for Vermont Marble in Swanton, Roxbury, Danbury, Brandon, Pittsford and Fletcher. “The ownership of one marble quarry is very precarious,” he explained. “The ownership of many marble quarries of diverse kinds and differently located may be fairly stable.” Also like his father, Fletcher used business as a springboard to the governor’s office.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In 1882, the Proctors invited the first Italian immigrants to Vermont, five sculptors from Carrara. A flow of Italian marble workers and railroad builders into the state was soon underway. But accidents and dust in the quarries claimed lives. And before coming to the US some of the newcomers had been members of Italian “mutual aid societies.” Many were prepared to defend their rights with radical tactics and ideas.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: black; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By the early twentieth</span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">century over half of Barre’s residents were Italian and 90 percent were unionized. There were 15 separate locals, including laundry workers, musicians and bartenders. A Central Labor Union coordinated the groups, and socialist mayors were elected in 1916 and 1929.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">When the Great Depression began, many Vermonters were still working in small industries. Employment was divided fairly evenly between mining, quarrying, forestry and machinery production, with somewhat fewer workers in textile mills. New Deal programs tried to prime the pump with public investments, but buying power continued to lag, businesses closed, and unsold goods collected dust.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Some owners used Depression conditions as a rationale for layoffs and pay cuts. When this was attempted in Barre, granite workers launched a bitter two-month strike. Local residents backed the union, local tradesmen and farmers distributed free food, and a federal arbitration board looked for a compromise. On April 29, 1933 the Quarry Workers union rejected extension of the old contract for a second time. But the Granite Cutters accepted binding arbitration and the strike was practically settled by May 5.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Two days later the National Guard arrived, creating easier access for strikebreakers. Soon most quarries were back to business as usual. The workers had been demanding union recognition in the open shop quarries. But the presence of the Guard, combined with compromise by the Granite Cutters union, left many people high and dry. The strike was basically broken during arbitration.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">At Vermont Marble the hard times, combined with increased costs, led to reduced services. Management dropped its free medical care and visiting nurses programs. By the mid-1930s the “company town” era was over in Proctor.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: black;"> </span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Vermont Marble also claimed to be operating at a loss and therefore couldn’t consider any wage increases. The quarrymen didn’t believe it, and on</span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">October 18, 1935</span></b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">, more than a hundred of them decided to strike as a protest of management’s decision to stagger their hours, which meant work only three weeks out of every four. The workers wanted a 40-hour week, an hourly wage of 50 cents — up from 37, and recognition of their union for collective bargaining.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Within a few days hundreds of other quarry workers were backing their action and demands. But management refused to negotiate. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix_j6XRPsaPBR-EvgYmmP5yKJ9UqO3YvfdoAd9fECaxO1hBu4Vboa_567NeOmZqIy36Xqf8bwLaJ96Gpo1mSuJx6445v95hmwL6g-eUIMjALrDTgd-zCs8u5iO7Kp8sx3A-vRbN0CPV50/s1600/Vermont+Marble+Quarry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: #b6d7a8; clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix_j6XRPsaPBR-EvgYmmP5yKJ9UqO3YvfdoAd9fECaxO1hBu4Vboa_567NeOmZqIy36Xqf8bwLaJ96Gpo1mSuJx6445v95hmwL6g-eUIMjALrDTgd-zCs8u5iO7Kp8sx3A-vRbN0CPV50/s200/Vermont+Marble+Quarry.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8;"><span style="font-size: large;">Vermont Marble Quarry</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #b6d7a8; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> That Thanksgiving at least a thousand striking workers and their families marched through Proctor in the rain to draw attention to their cause. This was followed in early December by a clash with the authorities and hired “security” resulting in serious injuries. The strike continued right through the winter.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: black; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But after four months on the picket line about half of the employees returned to work. In the end they got a two and a half cent raise and inspired</span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Vermont Rebels Again</span></i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">, a play about the campaign that opened in New York.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">By then, however, the Vermont legislature was ready to take a side, opting to help businesses troubled or threatened by worker militancy. A bill outlawing sit-down strikes was passed on April 7, 1937, making Vermont the first state to declare it illegal for employees to stop working but remain in their plant until a settlement was reached. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #b6d7a8; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> It was signed by Governor George Aiken, who had just been elected on an anti-New Deal platform. But Aiken wasn’t happy with the law and subsequently tried to mend fences with organized labor. He backed the creation of a state Department of Labor and, in 1938, helped to settle another granite workers strike.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #b6d7a8;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #b6d7a8; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>This is the seventh</i> <i>in a series adapted from </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Vermont Way</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, a study by Greg Guma released beginning in 2012</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">. </span></i></span></div>
Greg Gumahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08780542632200130391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125358792133089637.post-15713314675859773732017-03-03T09:23:00.000-05:002017-03-03T09:25:48.622-05:00On the Waterfront: The Age of Burke 3<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZPx6SnnUvNQBv6NPiap_lQOVSAc2xjDPfBYIgXGqIsj4wQpe4yGvxr4mPd6SQ4oRG41wM27T82-ajLfIw4iQGtQCvkah8-QzYfhAu29hO7PRji81BuLBP7ObiX4A9409R6A61FdUC1ww/s1600/Burke+Quote.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZPx6SnnUvNQBv6NPiap_lQOVSAc2xjDPfBYIgXGqIsj4wQpe4yGvxr4mPd6SQ4oRG41wM27T82-ajLfIw4iQGtQCvkah8-QzYfhAu29hO7PRji81BuLBP7ObiX4A9409R6A61FdUC1ww/s400/Burke+Quote.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>J</b></span>ames Burke’s allies considered
him honest and fearless, driven by civic pride and a sense of duty. His
political enemies questioned his motives and called him a demagogue. He
sometimes called them “corporate interests” or “foreign capitalists.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> He was no friend of Elias Lyman’s
coal company, for example, or of the Masons and the railroads. In his 1904 race
for mayor, he publicly forced the Republican candidate, Rufus Brown, to deny that
his campaign was financed by Burlington Gas Light.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> One of the most difficult
crusades of Burlington’s first progressive era put him at odds with both the
Central Vermont and Rutland Railroads over public ownership of waterfront land.
The railroads had owned and controlled the water’s edge since Burlington
emerged as a commercial center, and weren’t willing to let the city take any
part of the land for a “public wharf.” That was precisely what Burke proposed
to do.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Robert Roberts, a Republican
mayor before Burke, later claimed that the idea was really his own. This does
make some sense, since he was on the executive committee of the Lake Champlain
Yacht Club. That and the local trolley company were run by Lyman, who also
headed the Board of Trade. But aside from having the idea Mayor Roberts did
little about it during his time in office.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> The first breakthrough came in
1902. In December, only days after the city won a legislative go-ahead for a light plant, it also received approval to operate a “public wharf…for the
landing, loading and unloading of boats and vessels.”</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Greg/Documents/Vermont/The%20Age%20of%20Burke.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" title=""><span style="line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> In addition, the
city would be permitted to take land by eminent domain. The idea was popular
and embraced by candidates of both political parties. By 1905 Burke was confident
that Burlington would have a wharf within months. But months ended up
stretching into years.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Since the railroads were refusing
to sell the city any land, Burke hunted down some frontage at the foot of Maple
Street that had, as he put it, “escaped the eyes of corporate greed.”</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Greg/Documents/Vermont/The%20Age%20of%20Burke.docx#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" title=""><span style="line-height: 115%;">[2]</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
Most land in that area was owned by the Rutland line. In June 1905, as the city
sought construction bids, the railroad won a court order to block construction.
Filling in the slip would destroy its “property right,” the company claimed.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> The court battle dragged on into
the next mayoral election. <i>The Burlington Free Press</i>, whose staff member Walter
Bigelow frequently ran against Burke, urged the city to negotiate with the
other railroad, Central Vermont, for a lease while simultaneously accusing the
mayor of trying to “make political capital” out of the issue.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Greg/Documents/Vermont/The%20Age%20of%20Burke.docx#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" title="">[3]</a></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Burke won anyway, by 140 votes,
mainly based on his popularity in waterfront neighborhoods. In his fourth
annual message, he charged that, “The citizens of Burlington are getting
impatient over this question (the wharf)…An outraged people will hold us
responsible if we show any inclination of shirk our duty in this great battle
now going on with corporate interests which are ever vigilant and successful in
watching after their own interests.”</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Greg/Documents/Vermont/The%20Age%20of%20Burke.docx#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" title="">[4]</a></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Despite public opinion or
impassioned speeches, Central Vermont aggressively opposed the city’s public
wharf plans for three more years. In a variety of legal actions, including a
1909 Supreme Court case, the railroad put its objection this way: First of all,
the city had no legal right to be a “wharfinger” – slang for running a wharf,
and the land was already being used for a public purpose – that is, whatever
the railroad chose.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Second, they claimed federal
approval was required by law – in this case by the Secretary of War, who had not
spoken. In any case, the state law authorizing the city to seize land was
unconstitutional as it denied the railroad due process. And finally, even if
taking land on College Street was legal, it wasn’t necessary since the city
already claimed to own another wharf site at the foot on Maple Street, not
coincidentally land also claimed by Percival Clement’s Rutland Railroad.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Like the private utilities, the
railroads wanted to establish that Burlington had no legal right to run a
public business that would “enter into competition with the world at large.”
The state’s top judges disagreed. Vermont government could, they ruled, “build
or aid others in building, wharves for public use and in aid of trade and
commerce; and it is equally clear that whatever the state can do in this
behalf, it can delegate to a municipality to do.”</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Greg/Documents/Vermont/The%20Age%20of%20Burke.docx#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" title=""><span style="line-height: 115%;">[5]</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The project didn’t have to be
within the narrow purpose of local government, said Vermont’s High Court. It
could be almost anything of special local benefit, anything considered “proper
means for promoting the prosperity of its people.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> The decision was handed down on
January 16, 1909, less than two months before Burke returned to City Hall after
defeats in 1907 and 1908. Even journalists such as James Tracy, who thought
Burke tactless and possibly a dangerous demagogue, had to concede in a <i>Vermonter
Magazine</i> profile that his persistence and success on the wharf issue had netted
him “prestige among the common people who look upon him as a safe leader and
wise counselor.”</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Greg/Documents/Vermont/The%20Age%20of%20Burke.docx#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" title=""><span style="line-height: 115%;">[6]</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Nevertheless, the negotiations
continued to drag on. Optimism that Central Vermont might let go of its College
Street property faded when the railroad, after agreeing to sell for $27,500,
demanded to retain the right to run tracks across the property. The land was
condemned and the corporation went back to court.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Having lost at the ballot box,
the economic establishment hoped to win by wearing down the opposition and
exploiting technicalities. By 1910 Burlington was under legal attack by the
railroads, Burlington Light and Power, and the Masons. Before all the disputes
could be resolved, Burke, the politician at the center of them, was out of
office again. His old rival Robert Roberts had returned to electoral politics
after a ten-year absence to defeat the mayor in five of the city’s six
recently-redrawn wards.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> But comebacks were Burke’s forte.
In 1913 he made yet another one, and immediately after winning another term as
mayor picked up his discussions with the railroads. Now he linked the purchase
of wharf property with plans for a Union Passenger Station nearby.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Greg/Documents/Vermont/The%20Age%20of%20Burke.docx#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" title=""><span style="line-height: 115%;">[7]</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
The Public Service Commission was invited into the debate, and the Supreme
Court ironed out the details. Both Central Vermont and the Rutland Railroad
eventually accepted the city’s proposal. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> In 1915 the city purchased 160
feet of lakefront property near College Street for $8,000. A decade-long battle
with corporate power had been won.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Greg/Documents/Vermont/The%20Age%20of%20Burke.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Vermont General Assembly,
December 11, 1902.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Greg/Documents/Vermont/The%20Age%20of%20Burke.docx#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Mayor’s Message to the Board of
Aldermen, April 3, 1905.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Greg/Documents/Vermont/The%20Age%20of%20Burke.docx#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Burlington Free Press and
Times, June 7, 1905</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Greg/Documents/Vermont/The%20Age%20of%20Burke.docx#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Mayor’s Message to the Board of
Aldermen, 1906.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Greg/Documents/Vermont/The%20Age%20of%20Burke.docx#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Vermont Supreme Court opinion, <i>Burlington v. Central Vermont Railway, Co</i>.,
January 16, 1909.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Greg/Documents/Vermont/The%20Age%20of%20Burke.docx#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
<span style="line-height: 115%;">James E. Tracy, <i>The Mayor of Burlington</i>, Vermonter Magazine,
March, 1909.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Greg/Documents/Vermont/The%20Age%20of%20Burke.docx#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[7]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Mayor’s Message to the Board of
Aldermen, 1913.</span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Greg Gumahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08780542632200130391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125358792133089637.post-7439417224829083472017-01-27T08:01:00.001-05:002017-01-28T09:41:55.072-05:00Dark Shadows in Vermont's Past<span style="font-size: large;">By Greg Guma</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Given the contemporary image of the Green Mountain State as a refuge and laboratory for independent and progressive thinkers it can be jarring to look at a not-so-distant past when Vermont was an isolationist bastion in which Native Americans had to call themselves gypsies to avoid sterilization.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Cynthia D. Bittinger’s book, <i>Vermont Women, Native Americans and African Americans: Out of the Shadows of History</i>, doesn't over-stress this dark chapter in state history. But the impact of Vermont’s eugenics movement does suggest the need to revisit and update the state's traditional narrative. In the 1930s and later, both immigrants to Vermont and any other “non-Yankees” were widely considered outsiders, at best. Since about half of all residents today are “transplants,” there is good reason to reconsider just who was and is a Vermonter, native, "real" or otherwise, and what has been previously omitted or downplayed in telling the state’s story.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> To start, even Calvin Coolidge, one of two Vermonters to become president, had Indian blood in his background. It was not so uncommon. Unlike many Abenakis, however, Coolidge did not feel the need to hide his ancestry. In fact, Vermont was viewed as the “last great white hope” of New England in the 1920s. But immigrants, “nomadic tribes” and others did not fit in with this squeaky clean image and a related “domestic hygiene” movement. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> The state’s shameless plunge into control of “human breeding” was apparently driven by a mixture of xenophobia and a confused desire to weed out so-called defects. Harry Perkins, the University of Vermont professor who led the state’s Commission on Country Life, publicly justified eugenics as a way to build a healthier society, eliminate poverty and prevent genetic diseases. But he focused specifically on the “hereditary degeneracy” of many Native Americans and French-Canadians. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> “Perkins was judging who was unfit to reproduce,” Bittinger writes. “So he drafted a sterilization law that would provide prevention of propagation by consent.” Passed in 1931, it promised that the procedure would be "voluntary." In reality, it largely wasn't. The total number sterilized is unknown, but the impact on Abenakis was reportedly dramatic. It took almost half a century for the state to publicly acknowledge this disturbing human rights crime. Vermont’s sterilization law remained in place until 1981.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Bittinger also lends support to the idea that the winners get to write history with the case of the Abenakis, who lost their chance in large part by siding with the French before the American Revolution. However, what distinguishes her book is not so much the revisiting of well-known moments as the intriguing biographical sketches.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> In a section on settlers who were captured by Native Americans, she recounts the journey of Susanna Johnson. In a memoir Johnson described life at an Abenaki village north of Lake Memphremagog in 1754: people living “in perfect harmony, holding most of their property in common.” The Abenaki were kinder and gentler, Johnson concluded, than the French jailers she met later on.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> She also grapples with the significant, often underrated impact of African Americans on Vermont’s reputation for innovation and independent thinking. Among the leaders were Lucy Terry Prince, a former slave who resettled in Guilford and became the first African American poet in the United States; Lemuel Haynes, a minister in Rutland and first African American ordained by a U.S. religious denomination; and Alexander Twilight, the first to serve in any state legislature.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Twilight was a teacher, but also designed Athenian Hall, a school and dormitory that is the home of the Orleans Historical Society. In 1836, a crucial transition period in Vermont, he fought to reform education funding in the Legislature.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Vermont’s record in the struggle to end slavery is certainly laudable, and features a broad range of leaders and strategies. Still, when William John Anderson Jr. became the second black elected to the state legislature in 1945 – more than a century after Twilight's time – he could not enter the Montpelier Tavern and Pavilion Hotel.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> In the 1920s the Ku Klux Klan actually saw a brief revival. There were cross burnings and rallies, but also acts of courageous resistance. In order to go after the KKK’s secrecy, Burlington passed an ordinance against wearing masks. Rutland residents responded by staging a boycott of any business owner who dared admit to Klan membership. Frequent condemnation by local newspapers also made a difference.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> On the other hand, Kake Walk, a minstrel show performed in blackface, continued at UVM fraternities until 1969. When confronted, UVM President Lyman Rowell defiantly refused to “remake the university” for the benefit of blacks. The student senate eventually ended the tradition. Bittinger concludes that the persistence of Kake Walk “revealed a state university with a real paradox on race issues.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> The book’s third section, a refresher on women’s history, is subtitled “the other half of the story.” It begins by describing the lives of Native American women. They had a “large degree of authority,” she writes, and older native women were respected as authorities on herbal medicine, sacred matters and tribal history.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> In contrast, early female settlers from Europe “were dominated legally by patriarchy and religious beliefs.” These women could not own property, sign a contract or keep any wages they earned. Even though Vermont’s constitution promised education for all, most women obtained little before becoming parents.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> “A woman was only remembered through her connection to her husband,” Bittinger says. In fact, the word “relict,” meaning a widow but also an inferior person, was carved on tombstones rather than the maiden name of the deceased, a practice demonstrating that women were deprived of identity even in death.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Bittinger’s portraits point to some overlooked cultural cross-currents. For example, Mother Ann Lee was a British “shaking Quaker” who resettled near Albany and attracted hundreds of Vermonters during the Second Great Awakening of the early 19th century. Among her disciples was Jane Blancard, who left patriarchy and farm life behind in Norwich after seeing visions and joined the movement.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> There was also Emma Hart Willard, who first opened a school for women in her Middlebury home in 1814. Willard may be the first woman to teach other women science and math. However, she decided that Vermont was not the ideal place to pursue her vision of higher education for women.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Clarina Nichols made a similar decision more than 30 years later after fighting for suffrage and other legal reforms. “She wanted to tackle a new state and set up new laws. Vermont was just too conservative, with patriarchy too entrenched.” The 19th century migration trend “often took the best and the brightest” out of Vermont. Even before the Civil War, almost 150,000 women left. It took a century until the emergence of women politicians like Consuelo Northrup Bailey and Madeleine Kunin.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> So, why did Vermont lag behind on women’s rights when it was ahead in other areas? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> In June 1870, for example, a year after it was founded, the Vermont Suffrage Association brought its signature issue to a Council of Censors’ Convention. It was defeated 233 to one. The only yes vote was Harvey Howes of Fair Haven. Women had mounted an active lobbying campaign, but it somehow ended up alienating the press and clergy, which made the defeat more overwhelming than it might have been. Afterward, Howes found it impossible to obtain a publisher for a written defense of his position.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> For that matter, why did Vermont’s leaders resist giving women the vote until the bitter end? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> When a suffrage bill finally passed in the state legislature in 1919, Governor Percival Clement – at one time the leader of a progressive fusion movement – called it unconstitutional and refused to sign. A year later, when the state was pressured to ratify the 19th amendment, he refused to call a special legislative session. What was he thinking?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Years earlier, Clarina Nichols’ first appearance at the Statehouse – the first ever by a woman – had outraged many in the audience. Why? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Here’s a clue: fashion. The editor of the <i>Rutland Herald</i> literally threatened to come to the capital with a man’s suit -- and dress her in it. Furthermore, the year Nichols left the state, when feminist leader Lucy Stone told people in Randolph that they should withhold their taxes until women had the right to vote, what did the papers say? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> They wondered why attractive young women in the audience were parading around in “unfeminine” bloomers.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> So, it looks like Vermont, along with its many achievements, has also practiced the provincial politics of exclusion, delay, and judging books by their covers.</span><br />
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<i>Adapted from a review by Greg Guma first published September 9, 2012 on VTDigger. </i>Vermont Women, Native Americans & African Americans: Out of the Shadows of History<i>, by Cynthia D. Bittinger, was published by The History Press.</i>Greg Gumahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08780542632200130391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125358792133089637.post-38657567203360202782016-12-30T13:59:00.000-05:002017-01-07T10:35:25.988-05:00Class Struggle in Vermont: From Socialism to the American Plan<span style="font-size: large;">THE GRANAI CLAN was like many Italian immigrant families settling in Barre at the end of the 19th century. By 1912 Cornelius, one of 18 children, was working as a stone cutter for the Jones Brother Company. His parents were ex-followers of Guiseppe Garibaldi, peasant leader and soldier in the wars of Italian unification. </span><br />
Decades later, in an interview with a friend, oral historian Roby Colodny, for <i>Vermont's Untold History</i>, Granai recalled hearing stories about more than a dozen members of one Garibaldi expeditionary force that settled in Barre. Other immigrants called themselves Republicani, followers of Mazzini, elder statesman of the Italian Republic. Whatever their previous affiliations, most considered themselves socialists. And many joined the two main unions for those who cut stone, the Quarry Workers and the Granite Cutters International Association.<br />
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Eugene Debs, three-time Socialist candidate for president, visited Barre, as did his successor Norman Thomas in the early 1930s. Fred Suitor, secretary-treasurer of the local Quarry Workers from 1911 to 1930, ran for governor as the Socialist Party candidate in 1912, and was later elected mayor of Barre on the Citizens ticket. According to Granai, everyone knew he was a Socialist.<br />
So much has changed. Barre was Vermont’s third largest city by 1900, right behind Burlington and Rutland. Although a single industry had fueled its growth, no one family or company dominated the local economy or culture. And its population represented a diverse ethnic mix, from French Canadians to immigrants from Italy, Spain and Scotland.<br />
During the historic 1912 strike of textile workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts, organized by the Industrial Workers of the World, at least 200 children of the strikers were sent to the central Vermont city. On February 17, musical bands from Barre, Bethel and Waterbury greeted the kids as they arrived at the train station. They were “divied out” at a crowded Socialist Hall on Granite Street as people sang “son qui” (here I am), the famous duet from Tosca, Puccini’s opera about Italy’s struggle for independence.<br />
Even Yankee farmers from the countryside took children in.<br />
In the 1920s the case of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti captured broad local sympathy, especially in the immigrant neighborhoods. The two self-professed anarchists had been convicted of murder and armed robbery after a controversial trial in which the judge consistently denied defense motions. As new evidence emerged, more people decided that it was a frame-up, part of the red scare that began during the war. Sacco and Vanzetti became a cause célèbre, and attracted worldwide attention and support.<br />
“Barre was never so stirred up,” Granai recalled. “They were seen as victims of their beliefs…victimized by circumstances.” When a play about the two immigrant martyrs was performed at the old Barre Opera House, a thousand tickets were sold for 300 seats. But unlike the Lawrence Strike a decade earlier, there was no victory this time. Sacco and Vanzetti were electrocuted shortly after midnight on August 23, 1927.<br />
The ideas and sympathies of the newcomers sounded “radical” to many of their Yankee neighbors. But their agenda was a campaign for bread and butter, a decent home and education for their children. Like many urban areas in the U.S., Barre witnessed frequent agitation for shorter hours, higher wages and improved working conditions, from “squat sheds” and provocations to lockouts and strikes. Silicosis-producing dust sent many granite workers to the sanitarium on Blakely Hill. Accidents due to drilling and dynamite blasting were common.<br />
A 40-hour workweek, with Saturday afternoon off, was instituted in 1914. Two years later Robert Gordon became Barre’s first Socialist Mayor, winning by 100 votes over the editor of the Barre Daily Times. But the political dynamics were fragile. After war was declared against Germany in 1917 it quickly became a battle against militant labor as well, especially the IWW. Most of its top leadership was rounded up and put on trial. As the Red Scare and deportation of suspected foreign radicals began the city’s socialist movement faded.<br />
A teenager during the war years, John Lawson attended local socialist meetings with his dad. He and his family had reached Barre from Scotland in 1911, and Lawson took it upon himself to revive the Party after the war. It was a lonely task. Most IWW members – called Wobblies – were either in jail or struggling to hold onto union support. Many businesses were tired of dealing with labor demands.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Based on Diego Rivera mural, Rockefeller Center, 1936 </td></tr>
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By the early 1920s, although the unions were still strong, the socialist movement was in decline and a new slogan was creeping into use – The American Plan. Cloaked in patriotism, the Plan was a business strategy designed to deny recognition, even to well-established unions, and tar almost any demand for better wages or working conditions as “bolshevism.”<br />
“The owners were represented by the Quarry Owners Association and the Barre Granite Association,” Lawson recalled. “Both were backed up by a common Board of Control which sat in Boston.” Through the intransigence of its President James Boutwell, the Board strove to preserve a “united front,” especially during a lockout that ran for months in 1922 and 1923. The Quarry Workers and Granite Cutters held out and some of the smaller companies eventually signed union contracts.<br />
But the “united front” strategy was a partial success. Four months after the strike began scabs were brought in from sheds and quarries in Canada and Massachusetts. Some companies even promised them higher wages than the union was demanding. Once they arrived, however, the wages dropped.<br />
By the time the strike ended, open shop working conditions had taken hold. The Rock of Ages Company was launched soon afterward, a rebranding of the older Boutwell, Milne and Varnum Granite Company, and actively promoted the American Plan. By purchasing other smaller companies – a strategy known as growth-by-acquisition – it became the best-known name in the granite industry. Rock of Ages wasn’t unionized until 1941.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Organizing in Hard Times</span></b><br />
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IN THE YEARS after World War I, migration to larger Vermont communities accelerated, prompting a building boom in regional centers like Burlington. Milk production was on the rise, although the number of farms was dropping rapidly. Fruit production was also high, at least for a few years, but less butter, hay and other grains were being produced. Both manufacturing and agricultural diversity declined as tourism took a firmer hold on the economy.<br />
At its peak, a trolley system carried over 16 million passengers around Southern Vermont – until the flood of November 1927. But that historic disaster, which hurt rail travel and reduced trolley passengers to less than 2 million, ended up helping the summer home and winter sports sectors of the recreation industry by spurring highway spending and the building of airports. In the early 1930s half of the state’s $12 million annual budget was devoted annually to highway construction. During the same period only $1 million was spent yearly on education and health.<br />
Increased specialization of labor, along with the growth of services industries and transportation systems, drew Vermont more deeply into the national money and credit network. In 1929 that structure collapsed. Unemployment skyrocketed as the standard of living dropped.<br />
In Barre, a two-month strike by granite workers became a “straight out union fight for survival,” recalled Lawson. The strike officially began on April 1, 1933, shutting down six major companies within a week. The only exception was E. L. Smith, which paid above union scale and used workers from Canada. Lawson was president of the Graniteville local, while Granai consulted closely with the strike committee as a lawyer.<br />
The union asked the sheriff and his deputies to let the strikers police themselves. “A police force was established by the wearing of white arm bands,” according to Granai. But at that point agent provocateurs rode in and workers fought back. In some cases the latter brandished shotguns for self-defense. Some strikers were jailed by anti-union judges. The protest was losing ground.<br />
Shortly after the strike began, the sheriff had assisted in the use of 150 strikebreakers. But local residents backed the union, tradesmen and farmers distributed free food, and a federal arbitration board sought a compromise. On April 29, the Quarry Workers union rejected extension of the old contract for a second time. But the Granite Cutters accepted binding arbitration and the strike was almost settled by May 5.<br />
Interpretations of why the National Guard was called in vary. As Granai remembered it, Governor Stanley C. Wilson didn’t issue the order. Rather, people connected with the Granite Cutters made the request “to get rid of agent provocateurs.” Lawson and others recall the situation differently. “Protests against the Guard were lodged by farmers, churchmen, the ACLU, the Vermont federation of labor, and a committee of Barre businessmen,” he insisted.<br />
Whatever the reason, the Guard’s arrival created easier access for strikebreakers. Soon most quarries were back to business as usual. The workers had been demanding union recognition in the open shop quarries, but the presence of the Guard, combined with the action of the Granite Cutters union, left many people high and dry.<br />
Members of both unions returned to work on June 1 and agreed to 1932 wages. But the hearings dragged on until August and many lost their jobs. Two of the three quarries now had open shops. One of the only compensations was that the federal government began to clean up the sheds. Suction machines designed to remove silica dust were in use before the end of the decade.<br />
French Canadian workers played a role in this and other strikes, often as scab labor. They had been coming to the state for mill jobs since the Canadian rebellion of 1837, when reformers rejected the political repression of Britain’s parliament. Vermont also provided better farming prospects, and a chance to work in lumbering or on railroad crews. Often called the “Chinese of the Eastern States,” these immigrants worked cheap and asked few questions. But their exploitation as strikebreakers hurt their relations with the Irish.<br />
When mills began to close in the 1930s, many Canadians turned to farming in Franklin, Orleans and Essex Counties at the state’s northern end. Others stayed in the Burlington area but avoided union work. By then the church in Quebec had declared unions atheistic.<br />
History's long march rarely moves in a straight line.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Epilog: My Socialist Family Ties </span></b></div>
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THE ROMANS MAY have been the first rulers to exploit southern Italy, their behavior so brutal that it eventually sparked the revolt of Spartacus. But some believe the darkest period may be the 200-year rule of the Spanish dynasty, which subjected the Mezzogiorno to a long series of predatory feudal barons and viceroys. Officially, feudalism ended in 1806, but its passing also meant that peasants could no longer turn to a wealthy overlord for aid. They were on their own.</div>
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Over the next decades, absentee landlords gained in influence, allowing gross inequities and draconian contracts that exploited most peasants. Some became outlaws and thieves. As a result, when southerners resisted landlord abuse or complained to the government, they were called barbarians and savages. But artisans and storekeepers were often respected across class lines. Each trade had its own mastri and apprentices. They were more likely to take advantage of educational opportunities, and also among the earliest to join the exodus to America.</div>
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Born on April 17, 1891 in the small Calabrian mountain town of Parenti, Bruno Lupia was the oldest of three brothers and, in 1902, the first of my family to emigrate to the United States. His parents, Michelina Cardamone and Joseph Lupia, had three other children: Lorenzo, Luciano, and Rosa. Lorenzo came to the US a decade later as a teenager, possibly to apprentice with his brother. Luciano followed in 1921. Both of them returned to Italy, however. According to my mother, the former “got into trouble” for his politics and the latter failed in a restaurant business. </div>
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There was obviously much more to this story. After all, grandpa Bruno became a clothing manufacturer and philanthropist, influential enough to merit an audience with President Truman. And Lorenzo ultimately became mayor of his hometown. Not bad for a troublemaker. <br />
Whatever the reasons, evidence suggests that my great uncle Lorenzo had returned to Calabria by 1919, early enough to fight for Italy in World War I. After the war, he became (or remained) a hard-line Socialist, a “maximalist” who wanted a full-throated social revolution. By 1923, he was criticizing political faddism and the rise of fascism.<br />
“People wake up anarchist in the morning, have a stroll, and become socialist,” he wrote in an article, “at noon comes De Cardona (a political priest), and we all are Popular; in the afternoon, after some drinks, from populist to ’Democratic-Liberal,’ then’fighters’; at night we all dress in black shirts and we are fascist. Without ceremonies!”<br />
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Three years later, after a summary trial in November 1926, Lorenzo was “confined” to internal exile. His crime: As secretary of a “dissolved” section of the Socialist Party, he had conducted “active propaganda” throughout the district of Rogliano, defending peasants and challenging fascists. In other words, he was an organizer. But he was also part of the early anti-fascist resistance, and a new decree on public safety, following several attempts to assassinate Mussolini, had increased surveillance, clamped down on dissent, and established a system of “forced residence” (confino).</div>
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Once his appeal was dismissed, Lorenzo was sent to Lipari, an island where pigs still cleaned up rubbish in the streets and locals viewed the political prisoners sent there as a pampered “species of nabob.” On the other hand, he also met Carlo Rosselli and Emilio Lussu, democratic organizers and returned soldiers, and Francesco Fausto Nitti, nephew of the deposed prime minister. </div>
When he returned from exile, rather than being intimidated by the time he had spent in prison, Lorenzo continued the struggle for social justice and freedom that characterized his life. As head of the local peasants and laborers organization, he helped to liberate land from the remmaining baronies and fought "agrarian reform" that was being used against peasants and in favor of landowners. He "actively fought fascism with all his might and with the means at his disposal," one local history noted.<br />
In the first free elections after the fall of the fascist regime, uncle Lorenzo was elected Mayor in 1945, a position he held for the next thirty years, supervising community affairs with rigor, prudence and democratic principles. Unfortunately, due to a political split in the family, we never had the opportunity to meet. Greg Gumahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08780542632200130391noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125358792133089637.post-7620539960340252592016-06-02T15:58:00.001-04:002016-06-18T09:07:31.779-04:00The Trouble with Sprawl<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
In 1969, Vermont took a vanguard role in the emerging environmental
movement. The law known as Act 250 was a landmark attempt to preserve the state’s
most valuable asset – its extraordinary physical environment – while also promoting
“orderly growth and development.” But its limitations were obvious within a
decade, when a plan surfaced to build a large shopping mall in then-rural Williston.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Plan BTV: The new waterfront vision</span></td></tr>
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Bustling South Burlington, which had led the suburban wave, as well as
tranquil Richmond, which remained a pastoral oasis at that point, anticipated major traffic problems. Winooski was worried about the potential impacts on water quality,
transportation, and its own urban renewal dreams.<br />
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Despite plans for a downtown marketplace
district, Burlington warned that the project could “devastate” its business
sector and other big plans for "redevelopment." And a grassroots coalition called Citizens for Responsible Growth
argued that the project – then known as Pyramid Mall – would not just affect
soil, air, and water quality, but would also be energy inefficient and
aesthetically unpalatable. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Threatening such a wide range of potential impacts, the mall plan
helped crystallize debate over large-scale development, and whether the region’s
fragile rural character could be preserved in the long run.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The problem was identified in a 1968 report by the Vermont Planning
Council, chaired by Governor Phil Hoff. “The traditional rural scene in
Vermont, characterized by concentrated settlement in villages and open
countryside dotted with farms, is disappearing,” concluded <i>Vision and Choice:
Vermont’s Future</i>. “The sharp distinction between village and countryside is
blurring throughout the state. Highways between towns are becoming ribbons of
residential and commercial development. Where strip development has become
intense, particularly on the outskirts of the larger towns and in the most
popular ski and recreation areas, the effects have been highly detrimental.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Thirty years later, the land-use permit for a 550,000-square-foot shopping
center near Taft Corners in Williston was approved. Combined with WalMart, Home
Depot, Circuit City, PetSmart, Toys R Us, and a Hannaford Superstore already
there, the proposal for Maple Tree Place sealed Chittenden County’s suburban
fate. It had been a cumulative phenomenon, beginning at the edge of traditional
centers, then moving out into previous rural areas.<br />
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Sprawl was land-consuming,
auto dependent, and energy and resource intensive.<o:p></o:p></div>
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By the 1960s, Burlington was so concerned about fringe commercial
development that it decided to “revitalize its city center” by clearing 27
acres of land at the heart of the city. An ethnic neighborhood with more than
100 buildings, once home base for progressive Democratic Mayor James Burke, was
torn down to make way for urban renewal. </div>
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Commercial development meanwhile
continued to spread along Routes 2 and 7; residential development filled in
nearby, along with strip commercial centers, auto dealers, discount stores and
banks. From there growth spread to Williston, Jericho, Shelburne and Milton.
Industrial parks also made their appearance.</div>
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But peripheral development began to threaten Burlington’s position as
the region’s commercial center. In response, more than $96 million in public
funds was spent between 1972 and 1982 to develop the Church Street Marketplace,
renovate historic buildings and rehabilitate others, continue urban renewal and
improve the transit system. But sprawl also expanded through large lot
residential subdivisions, “big box” retail stores, and office parks. Land use
controls failed to redirect the pattern of development. <o:p></o:p></div>
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By 1997 there were three major retail centers in Chittenden County,
plus significant smaller ones. But Burlington lost over 237,000 square feet of
department store space, as employment in general merchandising dropped steeply.
It had happened despite the investment of almost $100 million more in public
and private investment. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The region was no longer primarily agricultural. By 1992 Chittenden County
had lost 70 percent of its farms, much of its prime farm land, and related wetlands.
The trends were positive news for national retailers, property owners who
planned to sell, lenders who financed development, communities that saw
property tax revenues, and families who wanted a home in the new suburbs. But
owners of retail businesses in older shopping centers lost sales, some towns
lost part of their tax base, water quality dropped due to runoff, air pollution
increased from auto use, and traffic congestion intensified for almost
everyone. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As sprawl critic James Howard Kunstler explained, having failed to
acknowledge the difference between city and country, nature and culture,
scenery and civic life, Chittenden County seemed almost resigned to a “cartoon”
future in which it looked a lot like Los Angeles. “Sometimes I think that the
mentality in Vermont is that a good traditional Vermont town is a strip mall
with a candle shop in it,” he joked.<br />
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It was harsh, yet the thrust of
development did suggest a lack of vision, as well as a flaw in the plan to avoid
becoming Anywhere, U.S.A. <o:p></o:p><br />
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In truth, Williston was slated for suburbanization long before a major
mall appeared on the horizon. In the same year that Act 250 became law, a
report on public investment designated Taft Corners as a prime commercial site
due to interstate highway access. The only thing lacking, said the experts, was
adequate sewage, a problem that could be solved by public funding. The only
surprise was that it took so long.</div>
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Throughout the struggle, Act 250 was a cumbersome and expensive tool.
Lacking a consensus, the environmental review process merely delayed the
outcome until the opposition ran out of steam. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The effects of Williston’s commercial expansion spun out for miles
beyond the town lines. While no one community felt the entire brunt, many were
impacted. Trying to use the state’s land-use law as a regulatory mechanism
proved to be inadequate, especially since crucial public investments had
promoted precisely such an outcome. In short, Act 250 just wasn’t designed to
deal with the problems that Williston’s commercial expansion posed. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Conflicting interests and the unclear authority lines that characterized
what passed for regional planning made the problems worse. Communities were
suspicious of each other’s special agendas, and Regional Planning Commissions
at best played a mediating role. Over time some of their functions were shifted
to a more state-dependent Metropolitan Planning Organization, which focused
narrowly on transportation. But even with more clout and a broader mission,
regional planning had a key weakness – lack of public accountability. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
A report commissioned by Burlington while Progressive Peter Clavelle was mayor, <i>Creating a Sustainable City</i>, made a case against suburbanization. Beyond environmental impacts, it argued,
places like Taft Corners tended to “homogenize the market experience, erasing
local customs, traditions, and products.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
And yet, even in Burlington, sprawl continued to be defined primarily as a
threat to downtown retail sales, and prompted increased pressure to "keep up." Thus,
the response to Maple Tree Place and big box stores was to “save” downtown
by adding more parking, chain stores and public attractions of its own.<br />
<br />
Discount shops, hardware stores,
and supermarkets were not part of the equation.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<i>This is an excerpt from <b>Green Mountain Politics: Restless Spirits, Popular
Movements</b></i><br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
Greg Gumahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08780542632200130391noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125358792133089637.post-54924413064435871422015-08-22T08:48:00.000-04:002017-01-20T09:09:33.440-05:00Memorable Moments from the Past<div align="center">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>Colonial Period</strong> </span><br />
<br />
<div align="left">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">March 13, 1775: Sheriff’s Deputies seize a courthouse, beginning what becomes known as the <strong>Westminster Massacre</strong>, an early step toward independence.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">July 24, 1776: Vermont colonists gather for the Dorset Convention and declare Vermont an <strong>Independent Republic</strong>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">June 4, 1777: At the suggestion of Dr. Thomas Young, a friend of Ethan Allen’s from Pennsylvania, the <strong>state’s name</strong> is changed to Vermont.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">March 4, 1791: <a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2012/03/road-from-republic-to-state.html">The Republic of Vermont becomes the <strong>14th US state</strong> and officially enters the Union. </a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>19th Century</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">September 11, 1814: US vessels meet a superior British force for the <strong>Battle of Plattsburgh</strong> on Lake Champlain. After two hours of fighting the British fleet surrenders.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">March 21, 1843: Followers of religious leader <strong>William Miller</strong> give away their worldly goods to prepare for Christ’s return.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">June 27, 1844: Vermonter </span><a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2011/06/mormons-and-presidency.html"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>Joseph Smith</strong>, Mormon prophet, is killed in Illino</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">is when a mob surrounds the jail where he is being held.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">July 4, 1846: The state militia helps management put down <strong>Irish workers</strong> striking for back pay.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">July 13, 1854: <a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-vermont-went-republican.html">The second state <strong>Republican Party</strong></a> in the nation is formed at the statehouse in Montpelier.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">September 20, 1881: The day after James Garfield dies of a bullet wound <a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2011/09/vermonters-go-to-white-house.html"><strong>Chester Arthur</strong> becomes the first US President from Vermont. </a></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>Progressive Era</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">March 3, 1903: <a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-age-of-burke.html">Democrat <strong>James Burke</strong> defeats a Republican incumbent and becomes Burlington mayor.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">June 28, 1906: The Independent and Democratic Parties create a statewide <strong>Fusion</strong> ticket to challenge the Republicans.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">January 16: 1909: The Vermont Supreme Court rules that Burlington can develop a <strong>public wharf</strong> on its waterfront in <em>Burlington v. Central Vermont Railway, Co</em>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">September 3, 1909: <a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2011/08/progressive-censors-red-emma.html">Mayor James Burke prevents anarchist <strong>Emma Goldman</strong> from speaking in Burlington.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">February 17, 1912: Residents of Barre, Bethel and Waterbury express solidarity with a <strong>strike in Lowell,</strong> Massachusetts by <a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2016/12/class-struggle-in-vermont-from.html">taking 200 of their children into their homes.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">August 2, 1923: <a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2011/09/vermonters-go-to-white-house.html">Warren Harding dies suddenly in San Francisco, making <strong>Calvin Coolidge</strong> President.</a></span></div>
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<div align="center">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>Depression Era</strong></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">April 1, 1933: <a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2011/10/boom-and-bust-in-quarry-towns.html">Barre <strong>granite workers</strong> begin a two-month strike</a> that shuts down six major companies.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">October 18, 1935: <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_287218238">A strike begins against </a><strong><a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2011/10/boom-and-bust-in-quarry-towns.html">Vermont Marble</a>.</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">March 3, 1936: <a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2011/12/parkway-that-never-was.html"><strong>The Green Mountain Parkway</strong> is defeated</a> in a statewide referendum.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">April 7, 1937: Vermont becomes the first state to declare the <strong>sit-down strike</strong> illegal. </span></div>
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<div align="center">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>Post-War Period</strong> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">March 9, 1954: US Senator <strong><a href="http://gregguma.blogspot.com/2016/03/progressive-republicans-when-that-was.html">Ralph Flanders challenges</a> Joseph McCarthy</strong> for spreading confusion and sowing division.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">May 14, 1965: <strong>House of Representatives</strong> votes to reduce its size from 245 to 150 seats and </span><a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2011/05/voting-equality-and-hoff-effect.html"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">elect each member based on population</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> ("one man, one vote") rather than geography.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">May 1 1966: United Stone and Allied Products Workers union members vote to <strong>strike at Vermont Marble</strong>, demanding a union shop and a 15-cent an hour pay increase.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">April 23, 1971: <strong>The Bilderberg Group</strong> meets in Woodstock for what they call “an international peace conference.”</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">July 7, 1972: Local 522 begins a <strong>strike against Pizzagalli</strong> Construction and nine other companies. </span></div>
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>Modern Progressive Era</strong> </span></div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">March 3, 1981: <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/bernie-sanders-i-think-id-make-a-good-candidate/5453217">Independent socialist <strong>Bernie Sanders</strong> defeats Democratic incumbent Gordon Paquette</a> to become Burlington mayor, launching a new progressive movement.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">August 13, 1991: <strong>Richard Snelling</strong> dies unexpectedly, making <strong>Howard Dean</strong> governor.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">December 10, 1999: State Supreme Court rules in <em>Baker v. Vermont</em> that <strong>gay couples</strong> have a right to the same benefits provided to straight couples. </span></div>
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<div align="center">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>21st Century</strong> </span></div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">June 23, 2003: <strong>Howard Dean</strong> launches his presidential campaign at a mass rally on Church Street in Burlington.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">January 19, 2004: Howard Dean loses the Iowa Caucuses.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">May 3, 2006: Governor Jim Douglas recognizes the historical <strong>Abenaki</strong> for the contributions they made to the state.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">March 4, 2008: Voters in Brattleboro and Marlboro pass a symbolic resolution that instructs local police to arrest <strong>George Bush and Dick Cheney</strong> for "crimes against our Constitution" if they ever step foot in either town.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">April 7, 2009: Over a veto from Governor Jim Douglas, Vermont becomes the first in the country to allow </span><a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2011/04/path-to-marriage-equality.html"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>marriage for same-sex couples</strong>.</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">December 10, 2010: <strong>Bernie Sanders</strong> stages a mini-filibuster to protest a tax cut for the wealthy.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">December 20, 2010: Mayor Kiss announces a “letter of cooperation” with <strong>Lockheed Martin.</strong></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">February 9, 2011. Citizens crowd City Hall Auditorium to challenge Mayor Kiss’s development deal with Lockheed Martin. October 19, 2011: Republican mayoral candidate Kurt Wright proposes the sale of the <b>Burlington Electric Department</b> to reduce the city's debt.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">^^</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">March 6, 2012: Almost 60 Vermont communities vote for a US </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Constitutional Amendment</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> to overturn the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision; Burlington voters elect the first Democratic mayor in 31 years.</span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br />
</i></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>*These events and many more are explored in the book.</i></b></div>
</div>
</div>
Greg Gumahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08780542632200130391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125358792133089637.post-22666793995118611212015-07-10T18:06:00.000-04:002015-08-09T18:11:18.183-04:00Vermonters Go for the White House<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>September 20, 1881: James Garfield's assassination makes Chester Arthur the first US President from Vermont.</b></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>August 2, 1923: Warren Harding dies suddenly, making Calvin Coolidge President.</b></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>________</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Two Vermonters, so far, have become president of the United States – Republicans Chester Arthur and Calvin Coolidge. But others have made the attempt, most recently Howard Dean and now Bernie Sanders. Another Vermont Republican, George Aiken, also considered it seriously in the 1930s -- against FDR! -- and the state's first </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Democratic Governor, Phil Hoff, was briefly a prospect in 1968.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The earliest candidate was the Mormon leader Joseph Smith, one of those restless Vermonters who struck out for the west in revival days. He ran as a champion of homesteading rights. The next was Stephen Douglas, known as the “Little Giant” because of his short stature and huge political skills. Born in Brandon in 1813, he had made his name in Illinois as attorney general, Supreme Court judge and US Congressman.</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdI-G3J3GT0oX5kRQx8bgPa48P0mdbBdLwQ-NmTRffLVnKv6qH4fiK-j94gnv0W7ec58JrDFRIc0JLnELiNak97S3MZ_hziBR_DILL2CoeE6RTeH-GVAGat-hkeLnXRkCCMD4CfINsVcY/s1600/Sen.St.+Douglas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdI-G3J3GT0oX5kRQx8bgPa48P0mdbBdLwQ-NmTRffLVnKv6qH4fiK-j94gnv0W7ec58JrDFRIc0JLnELiNak97S3MZ_hziBR_DILL2CoeE6RTeH-GVAGat-hkeLnXRkCCMD4CfINsVcY/s200/Sen.St.+Douglas.jpg" width="154" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stephen Douglas</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 1852, and again four years later, Douglas unsuccessfully went after the Democratic Party nomination. The path was finally clear in 1860, but by then the Party was hopelessly split. He easily became the Northern Democratic candidate, but the party’s southern, pro-slavery wing didn’t trust his ambiguous position and separately nominated Vice President John C. Breckinridge.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was also a standard bearer for the Constitution Party, which hoped to avoid civil war through regional compromise. But most of all, there was Abraham Lincoln, nominated in Chicago at the Republican Convention. The two men knew each other well, especially from a famous series of debates they had waged when Lincoln challenged Douglas for his US Senate seat two years before.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Douglas finished second in the popular vote for president with 29 percent but carried only Missouri and half of New Jersey’s electors. Breckinridge swept the south but won only 18 percent nationally. Lincoln carried 18 northern states, including Vermont and Illinois, and received 39.8 percent, or 1,865,593 of the 4.6 million votes cast that year.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As soon as Lincoln was elected, southern states began to secede. When war came in April 1861 Douglas urged his followers to support the union. But he died just a few weeks later and his position on slavery has been disputed ever since.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Twenty years after Douglas tried for the White House and failed Chester Arthur succeeded -- without actually running for president himself. Arthur was the son of a Baptist minister who emigrated to North America from Ireland. His official biography says that he was from Fairfield, a town near the Canadian border, born on October 5, 1830. Yet there have been persistent rumors that he was really born in Canada, and that his official birth date may be off by a year.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After college and law school in upstate New York Arthur briefly returned to Vermont in the early 1850s, as principal of an academy in North Pownal, before joining a law firm in New York City. For a while he was a Whig, but joined the Republicans early and was appointed engineer-in- chief by New York’s governor, then acting quartermaster-general for the state during the Civil War. After the war he rose in the Republican hierarchy, becoming collector of the Port of New York in 1871 and chair of the Party’s state committee. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvkaavG_WMtczJHWVnlYgiUFiOs6xBvaK3ugRLz709k_QbHzgnqEzI7x_a31vRHhZf8m7inJGZLtk1b0OTJ-BUC8DbYmmhqW40uMkCCP1ugL_0e42QsYxtZO5w4AYFywi5Qd7N47JXKAU/s1600/Chester+Arthur.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvkaavG_WMtczJHWVnlYgiUFiOs6xBvaK3ugRLz709k_QbHzgnqEzI7x_a31vRHhZf8m7inJGZLtk1b0OTJ-BUC8DbYmmhqW40uMkCCP1ugL_0e42QsYxtZO5w4AYFywi5Qd7N47JXKAU/s200/Chester+Arthur.jpg" width="162" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chester Arthur</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 1880 he backed former President Grant to succeed Rutherford B. Hayes, but the convention delegates went with another general, James Garfield. Arthur’s support for Grant and position in New York politics made him a practical choice to join Garfield on the ticket. The team was elected and Vice President Arthur began to preside over a US Senate so evenly divided that he frequently had to break ties.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On July 2, 1881, only four months into his term, Garfield was shot at a Washington railway station by Charles Guiteau, an unstable officer-seeker. The president lingered for two months but died from an infection on September 19 after doctors contaminated the bullet wound. The next day Arthur became the first President from Vermont.*</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was a relatively prosperous period for the country. President Arthur spent much of his time dealing with domestic issues – building projects, disputes with Native American tribes, cowboy violence in the Arizona territory, and hostility to Chinese immigrants and Mormons.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 1884, when the Republicans met again in Chicago for their nominating convention, Arthur lost to James C. Blaine, a leading Republican moderate who had briefly been his Secretary of State. He died two years later, having served as president for three and half years without winning an election on his own.</span></div>
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</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second Vermonter to lead the country also got the job due to death at the top. But there is no dispute about the birthplace of Calvin Coolidge. He was born in Plymouth Notch on July 4, 1872, the only president whose birthday is Independence Day.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like his predecessors Coolidge left the state to pursue his ambitions. He moved to Massachusetts and became, first a city official, then mayor, state legislator, lieutenant governor and ultimately governor of the state in 1918. It was a steady and conventional political rise, aside from the one decision that brought him to national attention – breaking a police strike in Boston.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When the Republican convention deadlocked in 1920, party bosses gathered in what became known as their “smoke-filled room” and selected a little-known Ohio Senator, Warren G. Harding. To balance the ticket Coolidge was picked for Vice President. Disgusted with Woodrow Wilson at the close of World War I, Democrats joined the unusual Republican base to give Harding the biggest landslide victory in US history – more than 60 percent of the popular vote.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Harding administration became infamous for corruption, but Coolidge managed to stay clean. Disillusionment set in and few expected anything to change until the next election. But on August 2, 1923, in the middle of a goodwill tour, Harding dropped dead suddenly in San Francisco.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Coolidge was a dramatic change of pace, at least in temperament and style. Harding looked and lived like a Matinee idol. “Silent Cal” was an austere and private family man, legendary for his stinginess and allegedly incurious nature. But he and his predecessor did have one thing in common – affection for business.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 1924, he won re-election in a landslide using a slogan that revealed control and awareness of his image, “Keep Cool and Keep Coolidge.” Technically, he could have run again, but declined with what is likely the shortest political exit speech ever made by a president: “I do not choose to run for President in 1928.”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A year later, Herbert Hoover was leading the country, at the brink of the Great Depression.</span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDAAoNY5oDoeLLrrcVfyAoXlTSB2K-xEfffVo-AQBVGjScqYIq3YAZWvvw31tCier0bJpNZsZXiGc3JZ1Ho4pmLkTzNMSnb8pYKxyBHmqNQTb_mMXEtaaRSlueA0Bgh8wQ6-hppSyxJfU/s1600/Coolidge+and+Mother+Jones.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDAAoNY5oDoeLLrrcVfyAoXlTSB2K-xEfffVo-AQBVGjScqYIq3YAZWvvw31tCier0bJpNZsZXiGc3JZ1Ho4pmLkTzNMSnb8pYKxyBHmqNQTb_mMXEtaaRSlueA0Bgh8wQ6-hppSyxJfU/s400/Coolidge+and+Mother+Jones.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Calvin Coolidge and Mother Jones in 1924</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>* Note</b>: It is commonly claimed that Chester Arthur became president immediately after Garfield's death on September 19, 1881. However, Arthur was in New York City at the time and took the oath of office on September 20 at his residence before Judge John R. Brady, a New York Supreme Court Justice. On September 22 the oath was administered again, formally, in the Vice-President's room in the Capitol by Chief Justice Waite.</span>Greg Gumahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08780542632200130391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125358792133089637.post-14390795468007162682015-06-03T08:33:00.000-04:002015-06-03T08:33:50.001-04:00Almost President: The Impossible Dream of Howard Dean <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>R</b></span>unning for president is a body-and-soul-challenging job. Campaigns
begin years before the election, and candidates are caught in an endless race
around the country, repeating the same phrases and self-congratulatory
arguments as they fight to out-fundraise and out-spend one another. It was therefore
no surprise that, on the eve of the Iowa caucuses in January 2004, Howard Dean
looked a bit squeezed out on the campaign trail.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> After more than a decade as Vermont Governor he was running for
president as a feisty outsider, challenging the Bush administration about the
conduct of the Iraq War while riding an Internet-driven wave of anti-incumbent
anger.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> In spite of Vermont’s often prickly relationship with the national
government, other politicians from the Green Mountains had contemplated running
after the unexpected presidential terms of Chester Arthur and Calvin Coolidge.
In 1881 Arthur became president after James Garfield was shot at a Washington
railway station by an unstable officer-seeker. Coolidge served for five years
after Warren Harding dropped dead in San Francisco on August 2, 1923, in the
midst of a goodwill tour.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDDePH43GlMaVoGbjpoLlJKZ5n_1dCPEjWazN_IR8cgKfeK2EJOj83K8xVs3fxbXmk3rXQ_MPoBljIozmrdafFS4jIgAxwq47NkpahqoP0g51MOTHAu8LJiQKeCqQeQ6hRFLJfGLqlcuc/s1600/Phil+Hoff+Victory+1962.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDDePH43GlMaVoGbjpoLlJKZ5n_1dCPEjWazN_IR8cgKfeK2EJOj83K8xVs3fxbXmk3rXQ_MPoBljIozmrdafFS4jIgAxwq47NkpahqoP0g51MOTHAu8LJiQKeCqQeQ6hRFLJfGLqlcuc/s1600/Phil+Hoff+Victory+1962.jpg" width="190" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Phil Hoff broke through 1962.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In the late 1930s Republican George Aiken, a former Vermont governor
and US Senator, toyed with the possibility of challenging Franklin Delano
Roosevelt. Thirty years later Phil Hoff leapt into the national spotlight
briefly as the first Democratic governor to break with President Lyndon Johnson
over the Vietnam War. In summer 1968, Hoff galvanized the party with a moving
speech to the General Assembly eulogizing Robert Kennedy, who had been
assassinated in June. When the Democrats gathered in Chicago, Hoff’s name circulated
as a “protest” candidate for vice president. But he was conflicted and worn
down by a decade of political struggles and did not pursue it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Howard Dean had fewer internal conflicts. The son of a Republican Wall
Street executive, he grew up in affluent surroundings, mostly in East Hampton,
and attended an exclusive boarding school. At Yale he opposed the Vietnam War
but wasn’t a protester, then drifted for a while before briefly becoming a
stockbroker. That didn’t satisfy a nagging desire to help people, however, so
he enrolled at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, a school in the Bronx
famous for its community-based approach.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Once he completed med school, the next challenge was finding a place
for his residency. Vermont was not his first choice, but its size offered a way
to combine practicing medicine with political engagement. His first significant
move was to help launch the Citizens’ Waterfront Group, which fought for a bike
path along the shore on Lake Champlain and locked horns with the administration
of Bernie Sanders, an Independent who had unseated a Democratic mayor.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The bike path campaign took years but ultimately succeeded beyond his dreams. In the meantime, Dean
learned the ropes from established Vermont politicians. “They shaped me into a
pragmatic Democrat,” he wrote in a political autobiography. “I was friendly
with the younger, more liberal Democrats because they were my age, but I didn’t
vote with them. I didn’t relate to their political sensibilities.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> By 1982 he was chairing the Chittenden County Democratic Committee and
running for the state House of Representatives. “The District was in
Burlington, and it was the most liberal, working-class district in the state,”
he wrote. “There was a very strong Progressive Party in the ward and no
Republican Party whatsoever. So, interestingly, I ended up running against a
candidate to my left in my first election.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> In the legislature Dean joined a group of young, moderate Democrats and
Republicans known as the “blue shirts,” focused on education issues, and became
minority leader in only two years. By 1986 he was ready to run statewide.
Looking at the available options – lieutenant governor or a race for Congress
against moderate Republican Jim Jeffords – he chose the easier path. Fortunately for
Dean, the current lieutenant governor, Peter Smith, wanted to run for
governor.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> In 1990, Dean passed on the opportunity to run for governor himself, but
ended up in office anyway due to the sudden death of Richard Snelling. Reviewing his
accomplishments over the next decade, Dean has stressed balancing the budget,
building a surplus, land conservation, health care for most children
under 18, and an early intervention program that reduced childhood abuse. On some
issues he resisted demands from the left, however, and was generally known as a
centrist.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> His response to calls for same-sex marriage was indicative. On December
10, 1999 the State Supreme Court ruled in <i>Baker v. Vermont</i>, that gay couples
had a right to the same benefits provided to straight couples and told the
legislature to deal with appropriate implementation. Sensing political peril,
Dean initially expressed some discomfort with the idea of gay marriage. But the
legislature moved forward and made Vermont the first state to legalize civil
unions. Dean signed the bill, but without a public ceremony, apparently in the
hope of cooling down the atmosphere. It didn’t happen. Gay rights activists
felt cheated, and an anti-gay backlash almost cost him re-election in 2000.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> In retrospect, Dean asserts that he was committed to marriage equality
for all. “That’s why I knew I had to work for civil unions,” he wrote in 2003,
in the midst of his presidential race. “I never viewed the bill as a gay rights
issue. I signed it out of a commitment to human rights, and because every
single American has the same right to equality and justice under the law that I
have.” Whatever the reasons, he benefited in the long run. Wealthy gay
supporters, especially in the Fire Island beach community, were early and
generous contributors to his campaign.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> By the time civil unions became Vermont law in 2000, Dean was already
considering a presidential race. But he passed on it that year, and waited
until the end of his last term as governor two year later to begin building an
organization. He also made sure Al Gore wasn’t running again.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Early on, Dean tapped into an Internet-based strategy, meetups, and
used the concept to organize supporters across the country. “We were seeing a
phenomenon where the effort was owned and directed by the people who supported
it,” he explained. He was also discovering a new way to raise money. By June
30, 2003, he had raised almost $8 million, beating his rivals and advancing to
the top candidate tier. A week before that, he officially announced in front of
a standing room only crowd on Church Street.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> “On that stunning early summer day,” he recalled, “I stood in front of
more than thirty thousand Americans who had gathered in Burlington and, via the
Internet, across the country…In many ways, that speech on June 23 was the
culmination of what I had learned in a year of listening to the American
people.”</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnt-L3reSx28JCwpIoc548oNVOBG7JCMBl_VgxMUp-CuP3K0lOXrfRwrNLihqfX0rRa2vKvNKFyONUGkAQz3J_q7covk5CXrGJK8OdYmWRK_zhMTM0KwlMcHStCmyJdGybxwg2cCXi5zg/s1600/Bold+Moves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnt-L3reSx28JCwpIoc548oNVOBG7JCMBl_VgxMUp-CuP3K0lOXrfRwrNLihqfX0rRa2vKvNKFyONUGkAQz3J_q7covk5CXrGJK8OdYmWRK_zhMTM0KwlMcHStCmyJdGybxwg2cCXi5zg/s1600/Bold+Moves.jpg" width="141" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Dean campaign lit, 2004</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> By August Dean was the hottest political story in the country, the wild
card of the upcoming presidential race. In cover features published simultaneously
on August 11, both <i>Time</i> and <i>Newsweek</i> declared him the candidate to watch. <i>Time</i>
was circumspect, titling its cover “The Dean Factor” and inside headlining his
“cool passion” as an “unlikely spokesman for the anti-Bush left.” <i>Newsweek</i> was
more provocative. Dean pointed angrily at an unseen audience as the cover headline
asked, “Howard Dean: Destiny or Disaster?” Inside, Jonathan Alter’s coverage
telegraphed the fear among establishment Democrats that “if Dean does win the
nomination, his liberal supporters will put their Birkenstocks on the gas pedal
and drive the party right over the cliff, a la George McGovern in 1972.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Back in Vermont, many residents were perplexed. This was a new Howard
Dean, no longer the moderate who often frustrated progressives. Now he was, as
Alter described him, “the fire-breathing neopopulist” calling on liberals to
“Take your country back.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> In Dean’s book, released a few months later, he chided fellow Democrats
for “actually empowering the radical right” by being afraid to “stand up to the
Republicans and their radical agenda.” He defined his cause as “the Great
American Restoration – the restoration of our ideals, of our communities, and
of our nation’s traditional role as a beacon of hope in the world.” Dean had
become governor by accident, but was running for president with gusto and
purpose.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Six months later, on the weekend before the Iowa caucuses, he was still
pushing as hard, and pulling out the stops by spending Sunday morning with
President Carter in Georgia. Then he flew back to caucus-land for a rare
appearance with his wife. He had focused on Iowa early, risking $300,000 to air
the first TV ads. Everything looked set for an early victory.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> But groups like the Club for Growth had something else in mind. In
early 2004, the Club came up with a strategy designed to turn what was starting
to look like a Frank Capra movie, <i>Dr. Dean Goes to Washington</i>, into a
horror-fantasy. In an ad released by the conservative anti-tax group shortly
before the crucial caucuses, two actors, playing an elderly couple, were asked
to describe the threat looming over the country.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Responding directly to the camera, the “husband” said, “Howard Dean
should take his tax-hiking, government-expanding, latte-drinking, sushi-eating,
Volvo-driving, New York Times reading…” Then the “wife” jumped in with,
“body-piercing, Hollywood-loving, left-wing freak show back to Vermont where it
belongs.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> It was strong stuff, a perverse yet brilliant blend of dark comedy and
cultural hate speech, so effective that the Club didn’t have to pay much for airtime.
The news networks were more than willing to provide free play. As CNN’s Judy
Woodruff explained on January 9, “This is so catchy, we love to run it over and
over again.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Club for Growth President Steve Moore readily admitted that the goal
was to re-brand Dean as a tax-hiking elitist. The theme would have been
developed more if he had become the nominee, and was cleverly recycled in 2008
to fit Obama. Columnist Austin Bay outlined the script in a mid-January 2004
essay, arguing that Dean was the candidate of “that cadre of angry American
leftists struggling with a nasty case of '60s nostalgia and their failed
elitist ideology.” In this version of the race, narcissist baby boom radicals
were using “pop socialism” to extend “government coercion.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> “These ‘progressives’ wish America were France,” Bay wrote. “Whether
tenured in the Ivies, ensconced in editorial positions or pulling in trial
lawyer and Hollywood bucks, these late middle-age Volvo drivers long for L'Age
D'Or, when smoking dope and calling US soldiers babykillers made you
‘hip’." Calling the idea that the US war on Iraq might have been a mistake
another sign of “tie-dyed dogma,” he concluded that the Dean campaign was
dangerous “brain-zapped foolishness.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Dean endured similar assaults throughout his campaign, and not just
from other candidates and isolated columnists. In addition to a barrage of
negative campaign ads directed against the frontrunner, a majority of nightly
network newscast evaluations of Dean were negative, while three-quarters of the
coverage given to the other candidates was favorable, according to research
conducted by the Center for Media and Public Affairs. In 2003, only 49 percent
of all on-air evaluations of Dean were positive, while the rest of the
democratic field collectively received 78 percent favorable.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> By January 19, 2004, most of the candidates were ready to say and do
anything to survive. A few hours before the caucuses, John Kerry wondered aloud
whether John Edwards was “out of diapers” when he (Kerry) came back from
Vietnam. He had to apologize, since Edwards was 16 at the time. In frigid
weather, steelworkers were showing painted chests for Dick Gephardt. Wesley
Clark, not in the caucus but gaining ground nationally at the time, was hugging
George McGovern in New Hampshire. Edwards and Dennis Kucinich meanwhile struck
a deal to pool delegates. Treating caucus-goers like tradable commodity, they
agreed that the candidate with the best early showing in a caucus would get the
other’s support to meet the 15 percent viability threshold for actual delegates.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> In a weird counterpoint, the Bush administration was pushing for
caucuses in Iraq. As the US tried to get the UN back into the process of
reconstructing the devastated country, thousands of angry Shiites were taking
to the streets. Their demand was free elections, but their leaders admitted
that the goal was an Islamic state. The fear was that a public vote, being
demanded by the Shiite majority, would lead to a less-than-friendly government.
The subtext was that caucuses made it easier to manipulate the outcome.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> CNN analysts issued a forecast for Iowa hours before anyone voted. On <i>Crossfire</i>,
Democratic insiders Paul Begala and James Carville, as well as conservative
Robert Novak, predicted that Kerry’s late surge would overwhelm Dean. Edwards
was given third place and Gephardt was consigned to oblivion. Dean sounded
over-confident, but there was uncertainty among his active supporters,
nicknamed the Deaniacs. Volunteers in at least three cities were handing out
flyers that charged Kerry wasn’t electable, his wife was too rich, and Ralph
Nader wouldn’t step aside if he was the nominee. It came across as desperate.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Days earlier, Dean Campaign Director Joe Trippi had claimed to have
40,000 definite supporters lined up to attend the caucuses, virtually
guaranteeing first place. (He was off by half.) Over the weekend, volunteers
flooded the state, buzzing around in orange hats. It would be a test of whether
“Generation Dean” was for real. For the candidate, it was a reality check on a
dream that dated back years.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Waiting for the numbers, Tom Brokaw noted that politics today is about
cultural values, and that Dean’s message had become confused – he was an “outsider”
with more key endorsements than anyone else, an angry guy whose wife didn’t
want much to do with his campaign. In short, an uncertain image had undermined
his message and, more important, his perceived electability. According to a
focus group led by Frank Luntz, Dean’s support had tanked, largely because
people found him testy, even mean – partially based on a last minute shouting
match with a critic that made Iowa TV news.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Kerry and Edwards were staging an upset. But Dean had also squandered
his lead, and too many questions were being raised about his electability, key
factors apparently favoring Kerry and Edwards. Early opposition to the Iraq war
didn’t turn out to be a strong enough argument; both anti-war and young Iowans
found Kerry as attractive as the former Vermont governor.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Nevertheless, becoming the frontrunner had already allowed Dean to
launch and fund a national campaign. Thus, losing in Iowa didn’t necessarily have
to spell doom. But it did allow the media to question his claims to be leading
a broad-based movement, and set the stage for Kerry to beat him in New
Hampshire. Even spending millions more on TV ads wouldn’t be enough to overcome
another month like the last.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> And then, when he could have been hopeful but humble, Howard Dean went
on national TV to thank his supporters and unexpectedly turned into a cartoon
character, a snarling Hulk who rasped out a fierce determination to beat any rivals,
shouting out their home states with a frightening sneer. Columnist Howard
Fineman was generous when he called it “a little nutty.” CNN’s senior analyst
Bill Schneider concluded that “people looked at Howard Dean, and they didn’t
see a President.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Boston’s Mike Barnacle was blunt: “That guy’s not going to the White
House.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a1oRGAgDv_w/UuJjlQgci5I/AAAAAAAACcw/HdIBdwP-lwY/s1600/14+-+1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a1oRGAgDv_w/UuJjlQgci5I/AAAAAAAACcw/HdIBdwP-lwY/s1600/14+-+1" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Can a Vermonter make it? Bernie Sanders may try next.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>B</b></span>ush strategist Karl Rove and the religious Right wanted the 2004 presidential
race to be about values – things like patriotism, optimism and heterosexual
marriage. Actually, they hoped to convince enough people to swallow the
administration line, ignore uncomfortable facts, and embrace an
evangelically-infused 1950s vision of the country. But the election ended up
being about much more, including security, deception, gay marriage, decency,
and the all-important presidential variable known as “likeability.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Howard Dean’s incandescent sprint became a warning: Be prepared for the
unexpected. By winning the so-called “invisible primary” – the fundraising and
organization-building race that happens before any votes are cast – he looked
like a “frontrunner” quite early, probably too soon. In the end his support
turned out to be demographically thin and easy to undermine. In early 2004 he
went from “hot” to “not” in less than a month.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Like the outbursts of Barack Obama’s former minister Jeremiah Wright in
2008, Dean’s so-called “rant” after the Iowa caucuses – instantly infamous as
the “I have a scream” speech – was the hot clip on TV and the Internet for
weeks, the focus of endless late night jokes. Within five days, the “scream
heard round the world” was played almost 700 times on US television networks.
As Dean’s poll numbers tanked, critics concluded that he simply didn’t have the
“temperament” to be president. The emphasis shifted from which candidate had
the most compelling message to which would be more “electable.” Dean was being
winnowed out.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Struggling to turn disaster into opportunity, the embattled candidate
spent the next days blanketing the networks with interviews, appearing with his
wife, joking about his performance on late night TV, even distributing video
tapes of a warm and fuzzy interview with Diane Sawyer to more than 100,000 New
Hampshire residents.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It began to work.
Some people realized that the criticisms of Dean were exaggerated.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> But Kerry seized the moment to step above the fray, stressing his
“gravitas” and showcasing manly skills by playing Hockey and piloting a
helicopter. Like a contender on the reality show Survivor, he was showcasing
his value to the tribe. The following Tuesday, when New Hampshire primary votes
were tallied, the strategy paid off. Kerry repeated his Iowa performance,
pulling in 39 percent. Dean made a partial comeback with a convincing second
place finish. His speech that night was more sedate, yet still defiant.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The immediate casualties were Wesley Clark, who skipped Iowa to spend
weeks alone in New Hampshire – only to come in a weak third, and Joe Lieberman,
stuck in fifth with less than 10 percent after virtually living in the state for
a month and bragging about “Joe-mentum.” Neither immediately gave up but both
were on the critical list.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> On February 18, after coming in third in Wisconsin, Dean finally acknowledged
that his campaign had "come to an end." Yet he urged people to
continue voting for him. The idea was that Dean delegates could still influence
the party platform. On March 2 he won the Vermont primary, but it was over.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> After the 2004 election Dean became chairman of the Democratic National
Committee, creating a “50 State Strategy” designed to make Democrat
congressional candidates competitive in normally conservative states.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The approach bore fruit in the 2006 midterms;
Democrats took back the House and picked up seats in the Senate from normally
Republican states. In 2008 Barack Obama made Dean’s strategy the backbone of
his campaign.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> On April 7, 2009, over a veto from Dean’s gubernatorial successor Jim
Douglas, the Vermont legislature became the first in the country to allow
marriage for same-sex couples.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An UCLU
study concluded that the decision would boost the state’s economy by more than
$30 million over three years, and that, in turn, would generate $3.3 million
more in fees and sales taxes and create 700 new jobs.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> After Dean dropped out of the presidential race, some analysts said he
had been assassinated by a hostile media. It was partly true. But they couldn’t
have done it if Dean hadn’t supplied some bullets. Throughout the campaign he
insisted on shooting from the hip and often fell into gaffes. Another notion,
that his campaign had fundamentally changed the Democratic Party, took much for
granted. It was about as convincing as the assumption that Ralph Nader’s
presence in the race would broaden public discourse. Nader was refused entry into
major debates, rarely appeared on television, and didn’t make it onto the
ballot in many states.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> After 9/111, many people argued that “everything” had changed. Not so. Some things continued as usual, including not-so-subtle manipulation
of public opinion and the primary election process.</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
Greg Gumahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08780542632200130391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125358792133089637.post-1599223108074637312014-06-03T09:37:00.000-04:002014-06-03T09:37:28.451-04:00The First Third Party<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><em>How the Anti-Masons Challenged
Secrecy and Elites</em></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In
1826 William Morgan, a 52-year-old Freemason and printer from Batavia, New York,
became dissatisfied with his local lodge and announced his intention to publish
the details of Masonic rituals. When his plan became known, however, Morgan was
seriously harassed. That September he was seized by unknown parties, taken to
Fort Niagara, and never seen again. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Although
Morgan’s fate is unknown, it was widely believed at the time that he had been
kidnapped and killed by fellow Masons, a suspicion that only increased the existing
hostility toward the order and led to the formation of the first national third
party in the United States. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Spreading
rapidly from upstate New York across New England and west, the Anti-Mason
movement introduced innovations like nominating conventions and the adoption of
party platforms. By 1831 the new political party was so popular that Vermont
elected an Anti-Mason governor, demonstrating both the depth of public opposition
to elite power and how far a single-issue movement can go.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Morgan’s
disappearance led more people to conclude that Freemasons were not loyal citizens.
Since most Masons were judges, businessmen, bankers and politicians, ordinary
folks began to view the group as a powerful, anti-democratic secret society.
Others suspected links to the occult and ceremonial magic.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">One persuasive
argument was that the secret oaths administered by lodges could bind members to
favor each other over “outsiders.” When the trial of the alleged Morgan
conspirators was mishandled and Masons successfully blocked further inquiries,
even more concluded that they controlled key public offices, abused their power
to promote the interests of the fraternity, and were violating basic democratic
principles.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Popular
outrage spread as people decided to challenge what they now considered a conspiracy.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In western New
York, citizens attending mass meetings in 1827 resolved not to support any
Mason for public office. The National Republicans, heirs of the Jeffersonian
faction, were weak in New York at the time, and shrewd political leaders used
anti-Mason feelings to create a new party to oppose the rising “Jacksonian
Democracy,” which favored a more powerful president, expansion of the right to
vote, a patronage system, and geographical expansion. The fact that Andrew
Jackson was a high-ranking Mason and frequently praised the Order further fueled
suspicion. One of the most prominent Anti-Masons was former President John
Quincy Adams, who wrote a series of stern letters condemning the institution
after Morgan’s disappearance.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Numerous
Anti-Masonic papers were published, school readers and almanacs were
distributed, and Anti-Mason book stores and taverns opened. In some churches it
became a religious crusade.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
excitement soon extended as far west as Northeastern Ohio. In some parts of
that state, lodge halls were destroyed by mobs; property and records were
carried away, Masons were ostracized and their businesses closed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">A
national anti-mason organization was planned as early as 1827, when New York
leaders attempted, unsuccessfully, to persuade Henry Clay, a former Mason, to
renounce the Order and head the movement. His slippery reply to an inquiry
about his opinion of the group was that he had become a Freemason as a young
man, but hadn’t given the order any attention for a long time. In fact, Clay
was a former Grand Master but the growth of an opposition movement had led him
to practically disown it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In
the 1828 elections the new party proved unexpectedly strong, eclipsing the
National Republicans in New York State. Within a year it had broadened its
base, becoming a champion of internal improvements and protective tariffs. In
August 1829 Anti-Mason delegates met in Montpelier for what became Vermont’s
first political convention.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">When
an Anti-Mason convention met in Philadelphia in September 1830 it adopted the
following platform:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">“The
object of Anti-Masonry, in nominating and electing candidates for the
Presidency and Vice Presidency, is to deprive Masonry of the support which it
derives from the power and patronage of the executive branch of the United
States Government. To effect this object, will require that candidates besides
possessing the talents and virtues requisite for such exalted stations, be
known as men decidedly opposed to secret societies.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">One
of the leading Anti-Masons was Thaddeus Stevens, a Vermont native of Danville
who made his name in Pennsylvania and later emerged as a leading abolitionist, founder
of the Republican Party, and post-Civil War activist for civil rights and stiff
retribution against the south. Attending the Anti-Mason Party’s first national
convention, he attracted notice with his strong speeches and oratorical style.
In one of them, “On The Masonic Influence Upon The Press,” he deplored the lack
of publicity given to the convention and attributed that as well to Masonic
influence.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">“Look
around,” Stevens proclaimed. “Though but one hundred thousand of the people of
the United States are Free Masons, yet almost all the offices of high profit
and honor are filled with gentlemen of that institution. Out of the number of judges
in the State of Pennsylvania, eighteen-twentieths are Masons; and twenty-two
out of twenty-four states of the Union are now governed by Masonic chief
magistrates. Although not a twentieth part of the voters of this commonwealth,
and of the United States are Masons, yet they have contrived, by concert, to
put themselves into eighteen out of twenty of the offices of profit and power.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In 1833 Stevens was elected to the Pennsylvania legislature on the Anti-Masonic
ticket, where his legislative talents quickly showed themselves. An excellent
debater with a devastating wit that cut his opposition to shreds, he knew how
to maneuver behind the scenes – and bide his time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Vermont’s Anti-Mason Moment</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">William
A. Palmer was no newcomer to politics. He was a popular Jeffersonian Democrat and
former judge who had already represented Vermont in the US Senate by the time
he ran for governor on the Anti-Mason ticket in 1831. Vermonters had elected another
Anti-Mason to Congress and chosen more than 30 members of the movement to represent
them in the General Assembly. Still, it was a shock to the establishment when
Palmer led in the popular vote. It took nine ballots in the state legislature
before he won.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
next year in Baltimore the national party conducted the first presidential
nominating convention in US history. Anti-Masonic candidate William Wirt, a
former Mason, subsequently won 7.78 percent of the popular vote – and Vermont’s
seven electoral votes. William Slade, who would later become Vermont governor
as a Whig, was sent to Congress as an opponent of Masonry and slavery.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Since
the state still had one-year terms of office, Palmer ran and won again, but
still could not attract a majority of the vote. This time it took 43 legislative
ballots before he was re-elected. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In
1834, he won on the first ballot, but only because the other political parties,
anticipating the collapse of the Anti-Masons, were competing to win over its
constituents. Palmer also led in the 1835 vote. But this time he couldn’t
convince the legislature. After weeks of wrangling and 63 ballots the lawmakers
declared themselves deadlocked and turned to Silas Jenison, a former Anti-Mason
official and winner of the Lieutenant-Governor’s race. The rest of the
Anti-Mason ticket was endorsed by the Whigs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
opposition to Palmer was due primarily to his Democratic leanings and a belief
that he intended to support Democrat Martin Van Buren for president the next
year.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Gridlock in Vermont’s
General Assembly over Palmer’s elections became so disruptive that it led to a
Constitutional Convention and the amendment that created the State Senate.
Criticism of the unicameral legislature wasn’t new and proposals for a second
chamber dated back to 1793. But in 1836 the idea of reducing the power of the
House finally achieved critical mass. The Convention stripped it of “supreme
legislative power.”</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Crucially, bankers
backed the change, mainly with the expectation that two chambers would be
easier to handle, circumstantial evidence that in opposing the Masons the
movement was also confronting the banks. The general public mainly thought the
House had become too arrogant, intransigent and uncooperative.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Governor
Palmer believed that secret societies were “evil.” But he didn’t take radical
stands in his public speeches. In his first inaugural address, he declared the
intention to appoint only men who were “unshackled by any earthly allegiance
except to the constitution and laws,” and suggested legislation to prohibit the
administration of oaths except “when necessary to secure the faithful discharge
of public trusts and to elicit truth in the administration of justice.” He
wanted to “diminish the frequency” of oaths because of the “influence which
they exercise over the human mind.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">For
Vermont Anti-Masons, the use of secret oaths represented an invasion of the
“civil power of a sovereign state” and a violation of liberty. In June 1833, at
the height of movement, the Anti-Mason State Convention passed a dozen
resolutions defining its position. The first of these, underlining a core
commitment to accountability, said “that an institution which veils itself in
secrecy and shrinks from the light of truth and public scrutiny – which imposes
in its midnight recesses, partial monopolizing, immoral and illegal oaths,
backed by the penalty of death upon its votaries – which confers upon its
members aristocratic and kingly titles, directly in the face of the
constitution – and which aims in its organization, its obligations, and its
whole spirit, at the erection of a privileged order in the land, at the expense
of the equal rights of the rest of the community, is anti-republican in all its
features and deserving the execration of every friend of his country.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/editor/static_files/blank_quirks.html#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Meanwhile
in Pennsylvania, the high point of Thaddeus Stevens’ Anti-Mason period came on
January 18, 1836. Prominent Masons who had previously refused to appear before
his committee in the Pennsylvania legislature were being compelled to testify.
Among them were ex-Governor George Wolf; George M. Dallas, who was Masonic
Grand Master of Pennsylvania at the time and ten years later became Vice President
under James Polk; and Joseph R. Chandler, editor of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">United States Gazette</i>, published in Philadelphia. When ordered to
answer questions the three powerful men refused.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In
response they and 23 other witnesses were placed in the custody of the House
Sergeant-at-Arms. After several days, when some of the Whigs broke with the
Anti-Masons, the prisoners were released and Stevens’ campaign ended.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In
1835, when the State Anti-Masonic Convention endorsed William Henry Harrison
for President, Stevens initially refused to accept it because Harrison wouldn’t
pledge to use the government to go after the Masons. By then he stood almost
alone in trying to press the Anti-Masonic agenda on a national basis. Due to
his dogged efforts to keep the party alive, he could not secure enough support
to be elected to Congress until 1848.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Vermont’s
Anti-Masons ultimately succeeded in forcing the lodges to close – at least for
a while. But that left the state party with less reason to exist, In 1836
Vermont’s Anti-Mason leaders, including future governor Slade, joined the new,
anti-Jacksonian Whig Party.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In Pennsylvania, following the election
of an Anti-Mason governor a state convention was held in Harrisburg to choose
Presidential Electors for the 1836 election. The Pennsylvanians picked Harrison
for President. Vermont’s convention followed suit. But when national
Anti-Masonic leaders couldn’t even get Harrison to say that he definitely was
not a Mason, they called a separate convention. Held in Philadelphia in May 1836,
it was a divisive gathering. A majority of the delegates agreed that the
purpose of the party remained anti-masonry but opted not to back a national
ticket.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Anti-Mason Joseph Ritner was governor of
Pennsylvania from 1835 to 1838. By the end of his time in office the organization
was in seriously decline, its members gradually uniting with the Whigs and
later the Republicans. The party’s third and final National convention was held
in Philadelphia’s Temperance Hall in November, 1838. Almost entirely engulfed
by the Whigs, the gathering unanimously supported Harrison for President and
Daniel Webster for Vice President. When the Whig National Convention chose
Harrison and John Tyler, the Anti-Masons did nothing and soon vanished.</span><br clear="all" />
</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Proceedings of the Anti-Masonic
State Convention, Montpelier, June 26-27, 1833, Knapp & Jewett Printers.</span></span></div>
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Greg Gumahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08780542632200130391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125358792133089637.post-77085182393849778002014-03-07T07:37:00.000-05:002017-09-28T11:20:56.655-04:00Times of Cleavage: The Age of Burke 5<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>A</b></span>mong his many loyal supporters James
Burke was known as honest, fearless and filled with high ideals. His enemies
meanwhile questioned his motives and considered him dangerous. Describing his
speaking style, a writer for <i>Vermonter Magazine</i> once remarked, “The ideas were
expressed with the intensity of conviction that struck a popular chord in the
hearts of the proletariat among whom his strength has been greatest.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Speaking for himself, Burke
proclaimed, “I believe in a progressive spirit, no going backward.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Upon his death in 1943 the <i>Burlington
Free Press</i>, a frequent critic of Burke, called him “the grand old man of
Vermont Democrats," a tireless fighter “stirring the smoldering embers of
democracy when they seemed to be dying out.”</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Greg/Documents/Vermont/The%20Age%20of%20Burke.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" title="">[1]</a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Still, nothing lasts forever, and
the Queen City had already drifted back toward conservatism by the 1930s. The
Irish led a growing opposition, but Old Americans – “Yankees” with civic and financial
power who still clung to their sense of Anglo-Saxon superiority – continued to
dominate local culture. Upper class residents, many of whom literally lived up
“on the hill,” fought against unions and the minimum wage, and offered little
charitable assistance through their churches. People should “help themselves,”
they advised. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> And they weren’t beyond covering
up their own faults. After a housing survey was completed in the 30s it was
quickly buried. Some of Burlington’s leading citizens, it turned out, owned
several of the shabbiest tenements.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Sociologist Elin Anderson
provided the most vivid portrait of the Queen City during the Depression years
in her award-winning study, <i>We Americans</i>, published by Harvard Press in 1937.
The city was conservative, rural and individualist, she concluded, a far cry
from the liberal, urban and socially-engaged place it would become a half
century later. In the 1930s it had lost personal neighborliness without gaining
impersonal mobility.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Greg/Documents/Vermont/The%20Age%20of%20Burke.docx#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" title=""><span style="line-height: 115%;">[2]</span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The dominant social group was
still the Old Americans. Leading the opposition were the Irish, who cast their
lot with the “have nots.” Their Democratic leanings and Catholic faith sent up
red flags among the Yankees, and even some French Canadians viewed their
leadership as “officious and irksome.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Anderson studied these three
groups, along with smaller Jewish, German and Italian communities, for three
years. The WPA paid the salaries of six local women who conducted hundreds of
in-depth interviews. One odd finding she noted was that the community believed
women, more than men, “preserved prejudicial attitudes.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQR8Gd5-uR9fBPiI8J_6OfHJ7FEutOXzmTgTVHwH0BzjFqYlViGGOEvnDvwaoGHtUcnMmaz59LZJM6oOnfET9IsBwCOdhMSMTj1Mfi_l4gKQY8ApgLrZQtr87DT9rrDwnQeThc1fcgD0U/s1600/Eugenics+Graphic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQR8Gd5-uR9fBPiI8J_6OfHJ7FEutOXzmTgTVHwH0BzjFqYlViGGOEvnDvwaoGHtUcnMmaz59LZJM6oOnfET9IsBwCOdhMSMTj1Mfi_l4gKQY8ApgLrZQtr87DT9rrDwnQeThc1fcgD0U/s1600/Eugenics+Graphic.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> A</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">n unusual aspect of the study
was the auspices under which it was conducted: the Vermont Eugenics Survey. The
eugenicist, explained Anderson, is interested in “ethnic
adjustment” through “biological blending – intermarriage – of the most
desirable qualities of people.”</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> In general, eugenics focused on
discouraging propagation by the so-called unfit, reflected in laws allowing
sterilization of “mental defectives.” At its worst, it gave support to the
concept of cultivating a “superior” breed or race, an idea linked to the rising
Nazi movement in Germany at the time. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Anderson made no such connections; in
fact, she scoffed at the notion of a “pure” American and denounced both Hitler
and Burlington’s anti-Semitic Silver Shirts. She also condemned a local nursery
school policy that allowed rejection of a child “solely because she is Jewish.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Affiliated with UVM’s zoology
department, the Eugenics Survey began in 1925 with a three-year genealogical
study of 62 families with “outstanding defects, deficiencies and other bad
traits.” Included in this group were hundreds of paupers, illegitimate
children, and even some blind and paralyzed people. A few years before Anderson
arrived in Burlington, the Survey had lobbied the legislature to allow for
sterilization of the “feeble-minded.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> More constructively, Anderson’s
study delineated the prevailing social and ethnic “cleavages” and unmasked the
community’s WASPs, “stripping away some of the pretense by which the people on
top rationalize their position,” according UVM Sociology professor Jim Loewen.
“She emphasizes that the Old Americans set the status hierarchy and that what
they value sets the community values. That’s pretty hard-hitting. It’s saying
the Old Americans are racist, ethnicist, and classist, and get away with it
because the lower groups have false consciousness.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The impact of “cleavage” between
the Irish and French Canadians was revealed in the response to one of
Anderson’s questions. Should one vote for the person “who is a member of one’s
own nationality” when deciding between two qualified candidate? The findings
said that French Canadians tended to vote Republican – with Yankees and, most
notably, against Irish Democrats.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The city remained divided along
Yankee-foreigner, Protestant-Catholic lines until the late 1950s. Political
gerrymandering helped maintain Yankee dominance. But by the late 1950s, a
political alliance was forged between moderate Republicans and conservative
Democrats to control city appointments and services. This open conspiracy,
known as the Republicrats, ran the City of Burlington for the next two decades,
right until the election of another progressive mayor named Bernie Sanders.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>PREVIOUS CHAPTERS</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-age-of-burke.html">Intro and Power Struggles</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2014/03/attempted-fusion-age-of-burke-2.html">Attempted Fusion</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2011/08/progressive-censors-red-emma.html">Censoring Red Emma</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2011/10/burlington-public-power-story.html">The Public Power Story</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2014/03/on-waterfront-age-of-burke-3.html">On the Waterfront</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2014/03/comeback-trials-age-of-burke-4.html">Comeback Trials</a></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Greg/Documents/Vermont/The%20Age%20of%20Burke.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="font-size: small;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Burlington Free Press, April
27, 1943.</span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Greg/Documents/Vermont/The%20Age%20of%20Burke.docx#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Material for this section was
originally presented in <i>The Way We Were</i>,
a cover story written with Sue Burton that appeared in the September 24, 1987
issue of The Vermont Vanguard Press</span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;">.</span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl-AHReSLBmoFaKz5Z8YyPRMGZa6NidX6PC0LD9eY9Rd2lCBz2_vFUb2PTfaPlAM57qGnNrzta5U0VfsdeVByE4FpB7-e0kgYX_JawgGY70nmwq3vGrLjFviZYe4UsLzc7iVkYjLn2PaE/s1600/Burke+Quote.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl-AHReSLBmoFaKz5Z8YyPRMGZa6NidX6PC0LD9eY9Rd2lCBz2_vFUb2PTfaPlAM57qGnNrzta5U0VfsdeVByE4FpB7-e0kgYX_JawgGY70nmwq3vGrLjFviZYe4UsLzc7iVkYjLn2PaE/s1600/Burke+Quote.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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Greg Gumahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08780542632200130391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125358792133089637.post-63957206291128396492014-03-05T15:11:00.000-05:002017-09-28T11:17:31.174-04:00Comeback Trials: The Age of Burke 4<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>F</b></span>or most people 60 was a
reasonable age to slow down. But James Burke was just getting started in 1908
and made a quixotic gubernatorial run against Newport timber man George Prouty.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Only 50 people attended his
opening campaign speech, delivered during an August electrical storm. In that
campaign he called for revision of the tax system, a license law on liquor, new
highways throughout the state and an eight-hour day for workers. The
Republicans ignored him and Prouty suggested that so few differences existed
between the two parties that “there is danger of more apathy than should be in
a presidential year.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> But Burke’s real problem was that
Vermont Democrats had turned away from their party’s nominee for president,
William Jennings Bryan<a href="file:///C:/Users/Greg/Documents/Vermont/The%20Age%20of%20Burke.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="line-height: 115%;">[1]</span><!--[endif]--></a>
and William Howard Taft, Roosevelt’s chosen successor, breezed into office. So did Prouty, who moved up after a term as
lieutenant governor under Fletcher Proctor. Nevertheless, just a few months
later Burke was major again, defeating Walter Bigelow by 18 votes. It was his
first two-year term after the city’s charter was amended.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtJZpoWyyJuqbgcEEPmHnFrULTjTxA2a2QX9_Dx-5Wfrh1vSzDAh4SK_a8cD-mKpEmZpa1RnRyXfbo6bz-OC9979Rds3Y_rY4xJvlFTHzjKLuLxUIMeveiVKtW-n6i9aXZphy7lBMmQf4/s1600/James+Burke+001.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="135" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">James Burke</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> In spite of his populist
activism, Burke’s support waned again and he was defeated in 1911. Two years
later he was back in power, defeating A.S. Drew and calling for a major
revision of the city charter. Now he wanted a “commission system” that would
place management under the control of a small number of elected administrators.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Greg/Documents/Vermont/The%20Age%20of%20Burke.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span style="line-height: 115%;">[2]</span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> When Burke became Burlington postmaster
in 1915, rather than enter another mayoral race, it seemed a safe bet that his
political career had finally ended. During the next years he lobbied for
women’s suffrage and promoted war bonds, but local politics proceeded without
him. Leadership of the Democratic Party passed to J. Holmes Jackson, a dentist who
served four terms as mayor and ran for governor in 1924.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> But Burke’s retirement turned out
to be temporary. When he was elected Burlington’s sole representative to the
state legislature – the same year Jackson ran for governor – Burke began
pushing for state approval of a city retirement fund and a building department.
Within a few months he was also running for mayor again – for the 11th time.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Burke’s political career still
had another 10 years to run. But this phase was, in many ways, the most painful.
At first his own party didn’t support him, persuading him to run as a Citizens
party candidate. He attributed the rejection to the presence of Republicans at
Democratic caucuses.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> When Jackson defeated Burke in
the Democratic caucus of 1929, the Irish elder protested after the vote. “I
have played the game square,” he said. “I came here tonight resolved to abide
by the action of the caucus but when I see the place packed with Republicans, I
refuse to accept the decision.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> That year he ran unsuccessfully as
an independent; Jackson had both the Democratic and Republican lines. Burke
argued in vain that the city was overburdened with loans, overdrafts and
excessive bonding, and warned about the consequences of the city’s growing
debt.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> By the end of the year the stock
market crashed and the Depression was on the horizon.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Burke was back in the legislature
in 1930, and returned to the Burlington scene as a Citizens candidate for mayor the
following year. This time, with more than 800 people jamming City Hall for the
Democratic caucus, he came out on top. A week later his Democratic opponent,
Jackson, was nominated as the Republican candidate, and defeated Burke in the
general election.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The partisan power plays were
signs of a deeper, more ideological struggle. Burke and his “working class”
allies were disturbed by the boom-town atmosphere in Burlington, characterized
by slogans such as “bigger, busier, better Burlington.” During the late 1920s
the city had embarked on a building spree in hopes of becoming a convention
center. Burke opposed projects such as Memorial Auditorium on economic grounds,
and in his mayoral bids called for a “rigid economy,” meaning a lean city
budget and a less speculative attitude.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> In 1933 his time came – again.
The Depression had reached its depth, and his nemesis, Jackson, was too ill to
seek another term. About 1,000 people attended both the GOP and Democratic
caucuses. At the latter Burke, by this time 83 years old, handily defeated his
former protégé Hugh Finnegan, who immediately pledged “absolute” support.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> The candidate promised a “sound
economy and honesty.” Victory over the Republican hopeful, William Wilson, came
easily. Handling city affairs in a time of economic crisis, on the other hand,
required hard decisions. Expenditures had to be cut, including municipal
salaries, and local government was forced to accept the sad fact that almost
$100,000 in unpaid taxes was “uncollectible.”</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Greg/Documents/Vermont/The%20Age%20of%20Burke.docx#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" title=""><span style="line-height: 115%;">[3]</span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> If there was any doubt that this
“progressive era” was over, Burke laid it to rest in June 1934 when 500 workers
at the Queen City cotton mill went on strike. Local textile workers were in the
vanguard of a national protest. But Burlington’s mayor, who had enjoyed the
support of the Building Trades Union in his early mayoral campaigns, ordered
the strikers back to work, warning that they would receive no relief from the
city if they refused.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The workers held out until the
fall. But once the strike was over the union was left divided by discrimination
against ex-strikers, disillusionment and ideological battles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Combining conservative and
liberal tendencies, Burke ran a tight local administration while, in his role
as city representative, proposing a cooperative savings and investment plan and
encouragement of para-professionalism. Still, the strains of the time led to
disaffection. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Burke was defeated in his 1935
and 1937 mayoral bids, each time by a larger margin. The latter campaign was
his last.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Next</b>: <i>After Burke - The Politics of Cleavage</i></span></div>
<div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Greg/Documents/Vermont/The%20Age%20of%20Burke.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
It was Bryan’s third run for president and his opponent William Taft was
running on Roosevelt’s record. At a time <span lang="EN">of peace, prosperity and Republican trust-busting Bryan’s agrarian radicalism
had lost some of its appeal. He didn’t carry a single state in the Northeast.
Bryan’s position on evolution was also becoming known. In a 1905 speech, he
said Darwinism represented the “law of hate” and that, if it was true, “we
shall turn backward to the beast.”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Greg/Documents/Vermont/The%20Age%20of%20Burke.docx#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Mayor’s Message to the Board of
Aldermen, 1914.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Greg/Documents/Vermont/The%20Age%20of%20Burke.docx#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Mayor’s Message to the Board of
Alderman, 1933.</span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
</div>
Greg Gumahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08780542632200130391noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125358792133089637.post-89635748344714057912014-03-01T11:41:00.000-05:002017-09-28T11:27:52.495-04:00Attempted Fusion: The Age of Burke 2<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">J</span></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ames Burke’s political vision
stretched beyond the borders of Burlington by 1906. He was deeply embroiled in
an effort to wrest control of the governor’s office from the Republicans. To
attempt this he forged a delicate personal alliance with Percival Clement,
railroad tycoon and owner of the Rutland Herald, who was warring with Proctor
marble interests. A joint ticket emerged with Democrat and Independent
candidates, and Clement at the top.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> That summer, as Burke traveled
the state attacking Republican graft and rule, he continued to call President
Roosevelt “the greatest Republican since Lincoln and the greatest Democrat since
Jefferson.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The Burke-Clement alliance was
largely rooted in political expediency. Both men wanted to be governor and knew
that no Democrat could win statewide. Both had also been mayors, Clement in
Rutland, though his control of the Rutland Railroad didn’t ease negotiations
about the Burlington waterfront, which was owned by Clement’s line and Central
Vermont. But there was also an ideological affinity that bridged the class
barrier between them. Both were ardent supporters of the “local option” to issue
saloon licenses and vocal critics of graft by marble and coal interests
dominating the GOP.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The day Theodore Roosevelt found out he
was going to be president he was riding with Clement on his railroad. The Vice
President had been visiting Vermont Lieutenant Governor Nelson Fisk at Isle
LaMotte when word came through that the President had been shot. By 1906,
Roosevelt was on the attack against the beef, oil and tobacco trusts, while in
Vermont Clement was warring with marble interests, especially Fletcher Proctor,
the Republican candidate for governor.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Burke had won another term as
mayor over Walter Bigelow, the 40-year-old chairman of the state Republican
Party and night editor at the <i>Burlington Free Press</i>.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He saw a “bright and glorious future” for the
city and wanted people to move beyond “a narrow or partisan point of view.” But
the logic of progressive reform impelled him to influence the movement Clement
was building.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> At first it was called the
“Bennington idea,” referring to the town where a petition first circulated for
Clement to lead an independent movement that aimed to “save the state” after 50
years of Republican rule. But Clement’s supporters decided that a fusion with
Democrats was essential, so they tried to induce Burke to join the ticket.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> He wasn’t persuaded. Giving
Clement the Democratic nomination would effectively put him in control of the
party. If a Democrat won the presidency in 1908, Clement would get to hand out
patronage. Thus, Burke remained a potential candidate for governor himself even
after a Barre Democrat agreed to join Clement on a slate.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The Democrats were
still divided on June 28, the day of both the Independent and Democratic state
conventions in Burlington.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> While the Independents convened
in City Hall and the Democrats met at the armory, a joint committee worked out
an agreement to divide the state ticket. The Democrats would field candidates
for one half of the slate, Independents would take the rest. After accepting
the Independent nod Clement walked with Burke to the Strong Theater for a joint
assembly.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Debate on fusion was heated, some people accusing Burke of opposing the
idea because he couldn’t head the ticket. Speaking for himself, Burke reminded
the audience that he had backed fusion under Clement four years earlier. But
the “local option” for alcohol</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Greg/Documents/Vermont/The%20Age%20of%20Burke.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" title=""><span style="line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
was no longer a galvanizing issue and Clement was, after all, still basically a
Republican.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The Democrats rejected Burke’s
advice and approved a joint slate headed by Clement and Democrat C. Herbert
Pape. With more than a thousand people packing the theater, Clement took center
stage, Burke at his side, and launched into a long, fiery attack on the
Republic machine, the marble companies, and the inefficiency and graft that was
robbing the people.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Burke actively backed Clement’s
war on the Proctor Republicans, spending much of his time that summer on the
campaign trail. As usual, his rhetoric was rich with praise of Roosevelt.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> “Reform is in the air,” he shouted from the back of the candidate’s private
train, “and Vermont will share in the benefits that come from the general
revolt being made against ring rule and graft.” He envisioned a popular
coalition of Lincoln Republicans and Jefferson Democrats that would wipe out
party lines. It might even combat corporate lobbying on labor issues like the
nine-hour day and minimum wage.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> But Fusion was defeated by
Republicans united behind Proctor in November. And the following March, Burke
came up short in his first mayoral race in five years – to Walter Bigelow. The
defeat was devastating for political allies who lost their jobs and watched old
opponents return to power.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Clement eventually became governor in 1918 – as a
Republican. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>See also</b>: <a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2011/08/progressive-censors-red-emma.html">Censoring Red Emma</a> and <a href="http://vermontway.blogspot.com/2011/10/burlington-public-power-story.html">The Public Power Story</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Next</b>: On the Waterfront</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="ftn1">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Greg/Documents/Vermont/The%20Age%20of%20Burke.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
<span style="line-height: 115%;">In 1902 a referendum gave towns
the option of granting licenses. Four years later the authority was transferred to
the Secretary of State, and in 1917 to the Commissioner of Taxes. In 1921, the
old liquor laws were repealed and replaced by a system that conformed to the 18<sup>th</sup>
Amendment. When prohibition was repealed in 1933, the state re-assumed the power
to regulate the sale and use of alcohol.</span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
</div>
Greg Gumahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08780542632200130391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125358792133089637.post-79154360034283943472013-10-24T11:04:00.000-04:002014-12-25T11:58:58.895-05:00Opting Out: Sovereignty, Decentralism and the Secessionist Impulse<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By Greg Guma<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Editor’s Note: This essay is adapted from the forthcoming book, “Green Mountain Politics: Restless Spirits, Popular
Movements.” </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The idea of defying the forces of
centralized power and wealth can be seductive, especially if you live in a
small, isolated place with a reputation for being contrary and the sense that
it’s different, even exceptional.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Congress, Vermont’s Bernie Sanders
has reflected this perspective, challenging corporate secrecy and the powers of
international financial institutions by forging alliances that cross
traditional lines. When that strategy was attempted in Vermont during the late
1970s, the two ends of the political spectrum also found common ground, in that
instance by embracing decentralism. Both sides discovered that they agreed on a
preference for small scale energy production to mega-plants, widespread
ownership of land and business, and removal of “government barriers.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Things became complicated,
however, when the discussion shifted to welfare, environmental regulation,
affirmative action, and abortion – none of these easy topics. The difficulty was
that the same arguments for decentralization and sovereignty that sounded
progressive in some cases could be used in support of isolationism, unfettered
capitalism and discrimination.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 2003, as former Vermont
Governor Howard Dean was running for president, former Duke University professor
Thomas Naylor launched a related but more ambitious movement, the Second
Vermont Republic. Its aim was to dissolve the United States and, in particular,
to return Vermont “to its status as an independent republic.” Lincoln had persuaded
the public that secession was unconstitutional and immoral, Naylor argued. “It’s
one of the few things that the left and right agree on. We say it’s
constitutional – and ultimately it is a question of political will: the will of
the people of Vermont versus the will of the government to stop us.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Historian Frank Bryan, whose 1989
book with Republican thinker John McClaughry called for restructuring the
state’s democracy along decentralist lines, has argued that “the cachet of
secession would make the new republic a magnet" and "people would
obviously relish coming to the Republic of Vermont, the Switzerland of North
America.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Naylor said the question wasn’t
“if” but “when.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vermont attorney and historian
Paul Gillies was skeptical, “It doesn’t make economic sense, it doesn’t make
political sense, it doesn’t make historical sense,” he said. “Other than that,
it’s a good idea.” And Vermont archivist Gregory Sanford claimed that some of
the arguments for secession, in Vermont at least, were based on “historical
facts of dubious reputation.” The State Archives often receive requests for
copies of an “escape clause” in the Vermont Constitution, which supposedly
allows Vermont to withdraw from the US.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“The truth, drawn from documents,
is less satisfying; there is no, nor has there ever been, such an escape
clause,” Sanford asserted.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Still, the underlying issue isn’t
whether there is legal authority, but why millions of people across the country
consider secession a reasonable and attractive idea. A 2008 Zogby poll
commissioned by the Middlebury Institute, a think tank studying “separatism,
secession, and self-determination,” indicated that that 20 percent of Americans
thought “any state or region has the right to peaceably secede from the United
States and become an independent republic.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">More than 18 percent told pollsters
that they “would support a secessionist effort in my state.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Leaving the Empire</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Vermont, the argument has been
“that the US has become an empire that is essentially ungovernable – it’s too
big, it’s too corrupt and it no longer serves the needs of its citizens,”
according to Rob Williams, editor of Vermont Commons, a publication that
emerged to cover secession and related issues. “Congress and the executive
branch are being run by the multinationals. We have electoral fraud, rampant
corporate corruption, a culture of militarism and war. If you care about
democracy and self-governance and any kind of representative system,” argue
Williams and Naylor, “the only constitutional way to preserve what’s left of
the Republic is to peaceably take apart the empire.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As its history demonstrates, this
quirky state has been fertile ground for such “outside the box” thinking in the
past. It didn’t immediately join the United States, remaining an independent
state for almost 15 years. It was also the first state to ban slavery.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Explicit constitutional authority
aside, it came close to separating from the new Union before and during the War
of 1812. Between 1809 and 1812, Federalists and other opponents defied national
policies, flirting with secret societies, secession and other forms of dissent.
In 1813 Vermont elected a governor who rejected the necessity of war. Martin
Chittenden’s refusal to let the state's troops defend the lake emboldened the
British. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In October 1814, although
Chittenden stopped short of supporting secession, Vermont delegates were among
those who responded to a call by the Massachusetts legislature for a convention
in Hartford to consider more extreme options.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Seventeen years later it was the
first state to elect an Anti-Mason governor during a period when opposition to
elites and secret societies was growing. The Anti-Mason movement lasted only a
decade, and most of its members eventually joined either the short-lived Whig
Party or the more durable Republicans. But along the way it expressed an
emerging anti-monopoly philosophy and, on a practical level, initiated changes
in the way political parties operated.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This wasn’t the only time a
short-lived political movement produced unexpected change in the US. In 1912, the
new Progressive Party, formed by Theodore Roosevelt when he lost the Republican
nomination to William Howard Taft, led to the election of Woodrow Wilson.
Roosevelt soon left his own party, but it continued under the leadership of
Robert La Follette. Although La Follette’s run for president in 1924 netted
only 17 percent of the vote, he won in his home state of Wisconsin, and successful
reforms were implemented there.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Secession advocate Kirkpatrick
Sale has described decentralism as a “third way,” evident in bioregional
movements, cooperative and worker-owned businesses, land trusts, farmers
markets, and a variety of grassroots initiatives. Assessing whether Vermont
could “go it alone,” author Bill McKibben has argued that “functional
independence would be the proper first step, and useful in its own right.” He
also has provided a list of practical projects to help create more food
self-sufficiency, energy independence, and local economic power.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the other hand, the 2008 election
of Barack Obama and the global nature of many pressing problems has also
convinced McKibben that “any political independence movement is going nowhere
now.” Therefore, his advice is modest: to build affection and trust by sharing
information and making small but effective moves in the right direction.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before he died Second Vermont
Republic founder Tom Naylor defined secession – or independence, as some
supporters of the movement prefer – in idealistic terms, as a rebellion against
empire designed to retake control from big institutions and help people care
for themselves and others by “decentralizing, downsizing, localizing,
demilitarizing, simplifying, and humanizing our lives.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In some ways, it’s reminiscent of
the Decentralist League, which ultimately disbanded when its Left wing opted
for electoral politics and its Right signed on for the Reagan “revolution.” In
the meantime, however, it did suggest some of what might unite people who find
the current national and global order unsustainable and dangerous. Taking aim
at centralized power and wealth, it asserted that decentralism is the best way
to preserve diversity, increase self-sufficiency, and satisfy human needs.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Decentralists believe in the
progressive dismantling of bureaucratic structures which stifle creativity and
spontaneity, and of economic and political institutions which diminish individual
and community power,” the League’s Statement of Principles said. The political
platform included support for local citizen alliances; widespread ownership of
industry by employees; a viable and diverse agricultural base; a decent level
of income for all; education that stresses self-reliance, creativity, and a
combination of learning and work; technologies that increase energy
self-sufficiency; and mediation of disputes rather than reliance on regulations
and adversary proceedings.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While promising in theory, its
demise underlined the fragility of such a left-right alliance. Similar
difficulties have faced the Second Vermont Republic. For the more recent
movement the first significant controversy involved an accusation by the
Southern Poverty Law Center that Naylor and other Vermont secessionists were
talking to an allegedly racist group, the League of the South.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Critics pounced, and Seven Days,
the liberal Vermont weekly that was distributing Vermont Commons as an insert,
decided to end the arrangement. Labor groups demanded the removal of offensive
web links, disassociation from certain groups or individuals, and a statement
clearly opposing racism, fascism, bigotry, and discrimination. There was no
evidence that Vermont secessionists actually condoned such things, but they
were being forced to prove it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a 2009 article for Vermont
Commons, educator Ron Miller attempted to define the difference between
progressive and conservative decentralists. Supporters of Vermont secession are
motivated by opposition to war, exploitation, and government violence, he
explained. These “liberal decentralists” support equality, human and civil
rights, nonviolence and multiculturalism. “Conservative decentralists,” in
contrast, are usually free market libertarians who are hostile to cultural
change. The former welcomed some aspects of the Obama presidency, the latter viewed
it as a deadly threat to liberty and identity.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Left-leaning decentralists face a
paradox, Miller argued. Expansion of the federal government had led to social
progress in the past, “but always at the cost of siphoning off local, state and
regional sovereignty.” There is also the risk that bad leaders will do
appalling damage, or that progressive reforms spark such an extreme reaction
that civil dialogue is impossible. The federal government hasn’t resolved most
conflict, he wrote. It has merely papered over deeply held but divergent
values.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The solution he proposed was to
have Vermont, or a confederation of progressive states, break away and “become
a model of enlightened governance.” What about the conservative, “red” state regions?
Since past progressive reforms have failed to transform southern culture or conservative
populists he suggested leaving them to “live by the values they prefer.” But that
sounded a bit like saying it would be acceptable for almost half the US – or
half the world, for that matter – to live under repressive conditions and various forms of
fundamentalism.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Sovereignty and Nullification</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By 2011 secession organizations
were organizing across the United States and a dozen states had active
movements. Even more legislatures were debating laws designed to “nullify”
federal actions in areas from gun control and health care reform to marijuana
possession and overseas troop deployments.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Alaska, even though the State
Supreme Court held in 2006 that secession is illegal, the secessionist
Independence Party has influenced state politics. Former Governor Sarah Palin’s
husband was a member and she publicly endorsed the party while in office.
Hawaii’s sovereignty movement has won small victories, and Georgia’s State
Senate passed a resolution in 2009 endorsing the right of states to nullify
federal laws. If Congress ever dares to restrict gun rights, that resolution
added, the federal government will cease to exist.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In April 2009, Texas Governor
Rick Perry directly threatened secession at a protest of the recently launched
Tea Party movement. Afterward, a Rasmussen poll of Texans found that almost one
third thought the state had the right to secede – although, at that point, only
18 percent actually backed such a move. According to Vermont secession leader
Naylor, “Although thirty or so states now have some form of independence
movement, in most states it’s all talk and no action. Some so-called secession
movements are little more than computer websites.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the time he said that Vermont and Texas
were the most notable exceptions, Naylor acknowledged. By 2013 Tea Party Republicans
in at least seven states were introducing legislation that challenged federal
authority or flirted with secession.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A related, larger and predominantly
conservative movement has pursed nullification. If the federal government fails
to check itself, goes the argument, it’s up to the states to call a halt. This
rebellion rests on the theory that the states created the national government.
Therefore, they have the right to judge the constitutionality of federal laws
and potentially refuse to enforce them. Nullification was used when American
Colonists nullified laws imposed by the British. Since then states have used
nullification to limit federal actions, from the Fugitive Slave Act to
unpopular tariffs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vermont had direct and dramatic
experience with nullification early in its history. In November 1850 the state
legislature approved a so-called Habeas Corpus Law that required officials to
assist slaves who made it to the state. The law rendered the Fugitive Slave Act
effectively unenforceable. It was a clear case of nullification, a highly
controversial concept even then.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Poet John Greenleaf Whittier
suggested such tactics, while Virginia governor John B. Floyd warned that this
form of resistance could push the South toward secession. President Millard
Fillmore threatened to enforce federal law in Vermont through military action
if necessary, but nothing happened.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even earlier, support for
nullification emerged in reaction to the Sedition Act and the jailing of Vermont
Congressman Matthew Lyon. These two events prompted the Kentucky Resolve of
1798, written by Thomas Jefferson, and the almost identical Virginia Resolve
penned by James Madison. In Section One of his version, Jefferson wrote:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Resolved, that the several
States composing the United States of America, are not united on the principles
of unlimited submission to their General Government; but that by compact under
the style and title of a Constitution for the United States and of amendments
thereto, they constituted a General Government for special purposes, delegated
to that Government certain definite powers, reserving each State to itself, the
residuary mass of right to their own self Government; and that whensoever the
General Government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative,
void, and of no force . . . . That the Government created by this compact was
not made the exclusive or final judge of the extent of the powers delegated to
itself; since that would have made its discretion, and not the Constitution,
the measure of its powers; but that as in all other cases of compact among
parties having no common Judge, each party has an equal right to judge for
itself, as well as of infractions as of the mode and measure of redress.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In simple English, this meant
that federal authority wasn’t unlimited, and if it went too far government
actions need not be obeyed. The national government wasn’t the “final judge” of
its own powers, Jefferson suggested, and therefore various states had a right
to decide how to handle federal overreach. Madison’s Virginia version declared
that, in the case of a deliberate and dangerous abuse of power, states not only
had a right to object, they were “duty bound” to stop the “progress of the
evil” and maintain their “authorities, rights and liberties.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ten years later, after Jefferson
enacted a trade embargo as president in response to British maritime theft and
kidnapping of sailors, legislatures nullified the law using his own words and
arguments. On February 5, 1809, the Massachusetts legislature declared that the
embargo was “not legally binding on the citizens of the state” and denounced it
as “unjust, oppressive, and unconstitutional.” Eventually, every New England
state, as well as Delaware, voted to nullify the embargo act.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In August 2010, the Missouri
legislature used similar logic to reject the health care mandate in the
Democrat’s health care reform, followed by a flood of legal challenges from
state officials. In recent years, several states have also either passed or
proposed legislation or constitutional amendments designed to nullify federal
laws in the areas of firearms and medical marijuana. Many who support this
approach cite the Tenth Amendment to the US Constitution: “The powers not
delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the
States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Attempts to discredit nullification
as a tactic by branding its leaders extremists, wingnuts and “tenthers” hasn’t
dissuaded them. On the contrary, several state legislatures have introduced
10th Amendment resolutions that serve “Notice and Demand to the federal
government, as our agent, to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates
that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nullification advocates can point
to some limited successes. After the REAL ID act was signed by President Bush
in 2005, more than two dozen states passed laws or resolutions denouncing it or
refusing to comply. In response, the feds postponed its enactment. In
Wisconsin, groups like the Grandsons of Liberty lobbied lawmakers to nullify
health care reform by amending the constitution so that the state could opt
out. According to the John Birch Society-backed magazine New American,
activists in 28 states were involved in similar campaigns as of 2010.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Concern about guns rights has
also fueled the movement. The Firearms Freedom Act (FFA), which challenges the
federal government’s authority to regulate firearms, passed in Montana and
Tennessee, and has been considered in at least 11 other states. The bill says
that firearms made and retained in-state are beyond the authority of Congress
under its constitutional power to regulate commerce. The federal position is
that such laws are unconstitutional. In response to state campaigns the
Department of Justice filed a brief in federal court against the FFA.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another strategy, especially if
the federal government ever tried to block nullification efforts by threatening
to withhold funds, is a proposed State Sovereignty and Federal Tax Funds Act,
which has been introduced in several states. The objective is to place state governments
between federal tax collectors and individuals. The goal: to stop the flow of
money to the feds before they can use it to intimidate a state. But before
things get that far, nullifiers calculate that the threat of such legislation
could be enough to make the feds back down on any threats to cut off funding.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Bridging the Divide</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Tea Party movement, sparked
in 2009 by widespread disapproval of the federal government’s bailout of
mortgage defaulters, grew into a tidal wave of anti-big-government sentiment
that helped the Republican Party regain control of the US House in 2010.
Supporters said the movement marked a return to core values; critics called it
reactionary and possibly racist. In part funded by wealthy interests who saw it
as a way to advance their own deregulation, limited government agenda, the Tea
Party was a loose association of fiscal conservatives, fundamentalists and
libertarians.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A March 2010 poll estimated 37
percent support for its basic agenda. But that figure has dropped, especially
since the recent Tea Party-fueled government shutdown. In any case, the
movement encompasses contradictory impulses, from libertarian orthodoxy and
neo-isolationism to populist anger directed at elites, deficit spending and any
perceived foreign threat to US interests.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some liberals, leftists and
Democrats have written off the Tea Party’s anti-federal rebellion as a purely
Republican tactic. But there were also liberal nullification campaigns to
decriminalize marijuana and bring National Guard units home from wars overseas.
“Bring the Guard Home” legislation, for example, would require a state’s
Governor, and/or the legislature, to evaluate the legality of orders for National
Guard deployments and give them the chance to allow or deny the deployment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nullification has clearly exerted
influence on federal policies at times. But secession is another matter. Can it
happen? Not according to at least one US Supreme Court Justice, the
conservative Antonin Scalia. In 2006, he responded to a letter from
screenwriter Daniel Turkewitz, who was developing a script about a secessionist
movement in Maine. He wrote to all of the justices but only Scalia replied. And
the message was that a legal showdown in the Supreme Court could never happen.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“If there was any constitutional
issue resolved by the Civil War,” Scalia said, “it is that there is no right to
secede.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even assuming that is true, the
Court’s refusal to revisit the issue is not apt to quell the anger roiling in
many parts of the country, or stop anti-federal, independence, secession, and
nullification movements from attempting to rally people with the hope that they
can prevent an “evil,” or just morally and economically bankrupt, government
from seizing more power. Or even roll it back. Part of what unites these
upsurges is clearly anger; another part is distrust and disbelief. They simply
don’t have faith in most political institutions anymore, especially “big
government.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the other hand, the left and
right have been culturally polarized for generations, disagreeing passionately
(sometimes violently) over moral issues, racism, abortion, immigration, climate
change, and controlling the distribution of wealth as well as power. In fact,
they often perceive very different “realities.” Post-2008 one side decided that
President Obama was a socialist, maybe even a Muslim Manchurian Candidate. The
other said he was at best a political sell out, and in some ways was doubling
down on the mistakes of the previous administration. One side says climate
change is a hoax, or at least exaggerated, and the government should institute
literacy tests for voting. The other sees ecological (or economic) catastrophe
just around the corner, thinks guns should be strictly controlled, and says states
should seize public resources as “trustees” of the commons.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is some common ground
between the two ends of the political spectrum, beginning with the idea that in
the face of oppression (however you define it) withdrawal of consent can make a
difference. The idea is that disengagement, whether gradual or sudden, is
preferable to sticking with the team, staying the course, remaining faithful to
or engaged with a system in which you no longer believe. Even active resistance
is justified if necessary.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Left-wing protestors have often
used civil disobedience tactics and generally embrace the philosophies of
Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Early Vermonters resisted outside control,
government pressure to wage war, and human slavery. Tea Party activists have
taken selected pages from the same play book, but so far appear to question the
value of tolerance and peace.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe these political “outliers,”
a disparate collection of </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">subcultures
and “extreme” or “alternative” movements, will someday seize what the media
like to call the narrative – aka mass perceptions – and join together long enough
to sell the idea that it is time to call an end to the Union. Game over. Bring
down the curtain.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s more complicated, obviously.
But with the United States looking like an empire in decline, militarily
overstretched, crippled by long-term debt and frequently on the brink of a
crisis, maybe it will happen someday. And if any place does take “the road less
traveled,” it may well be Vermont, the “reluctant republic,” fertile ground for
original thinkers, common sense tolerance, and independent idealism, a
cantankerous maverick that wasn’t sure it wanted in from the start. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There’s even a bumper sticker:
Most Likely to Secede.</span></div>
Greg Gumahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08780542632200130391noreply@blogger.com1