Tag Archives: Jim Douglas

Look at Vermont

Look at Alaska. Senator Lisa Murkowski conceded the Republican primary Tuesday to tea party/Palin candidate Joe Miller. In conceding, Ms. Murkowski criticized what she called distorted and personal attacks against her by Mr. Miller in the campaign. For his part, Mr. Miller accused Mr. Murkowski’s campaign staff of illegally interfering with the recount. Look at […]

Homer Simpson Wasn’t Available

In the deep winter of New England, the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant is leaking radioactive tritium into the groundwater. This is bad timing for Yankee’s owner, Entergy of Louisiana, because the Vermont legislature is currently considering Entergy’s request to extend the 38-year-old plant’s license to operate for another 20 years. (Vermont is the only […]

Four and Counting

Tuesday, Vermont became the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriage and the first to do so via legislative, rather than judicial, action. Big deal? Big deal. Civil unions, the not-quite legal equivalent of same-sex marriage, have been legal in Vermont since 2000. Since that happened, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa (just this week!) legalized same-sex marriage. […]

Law and Order

Another too-warm Vermont winter sputters to an end. My backyard, bereft of snow, is a mottled greenish-brown. Over in Montpelier, America’s smallest state capital, legislators – about to return after town meeting recess – are bogged down (as are their counterparts across the nation) trying to cut spending quickly enough to keep pace with the […]

Stupid Political Games

Some people don’t like politics because it often seems so stupid and immature. Strike that – people don’t like politics because it often is stupid and immature. In the month since Barack Obama’s inauguration, we’ve been (mis)treated to some of the worst displays of puerile politics in recent memory, which might be amusing, if the […]

It’s the Only Thing

Illegal drugs are big news here in Vermont. In Windsor county, Robert Sand the state’s attorney (the equivalent of a district attorney) has long been an advocate of reforming marijuana laws. He says prosecuting cases and sending people to jail for small amounts of marijuana is a waste of taxpayer money and diverts resources from […]

Stuck in Neutral

This is why we’re doomed when it comes to global warming. The science in clear and abundant, sensible options for reducing emissions of carbon dioxide are many and available – although each will require some inconvenience and cost. Our leaders, however, who can see no interest beyond their own terms of office, will only commit […]