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Thursday, August 30, 2007

A Shopper's Paradise

Yours truly was the only press to show up this morning at Shaw’s on Shelburne Road in South Burlap to catch Congressman Peter Welch in action. Welchie and aide Jon Copans manned the folding table at the supermarket’s front door from 10-to-noon.

Welchfreed Even former Republican House Speaker Walt Freed [right] showed up! Freed of Dorset was docked down at Shelburne Yacht Club and picking up cold medicine for his lovely wife. We had a great chat. Honest. He's been reading the blog.

Not too busy for Welchie, but I’d say Vermont’s congressman got an earful from about 30 "shoppers" - one a familiar face from a past life of mine as a Leunig’s bartender in the early 1980s - Nancy Gerwig.

Nancy waitressed there for her four years at UVM [1982-86] while picking up a political science degree. Now a wife and mother of four living in Shelburne, she came to the supermarket with her youngest - four-year-old Greta to grocery shop and to ask her congressman a few questions.

Welchnancy “I thought the answers were not really what I wanted to hear,” she told me afterwards pushing her cart to her car. “I really feel that the Democrats are afraid to stand up and stop all the stretch of power that Bush has done.”

After living through the sanctimonious impeachment of Bill Clinton by the GOP majority, Nancy, like many Americans, has had a hard time understanding the Democrats’ argument against impeaching our disgraceful Liar-in-Chief - that it would detract from their other Democrat investigations and give the Republicans an issue to rally around.

Yes, indeed, it's a strange, strange world.

Peter_welchshaws James Mullowney, a facilities manager at Vermont Gas Systems biked over to have a personal one-on-one with his congressman. Abortion, he told us afterward, is his #1 issue. He opposes it. What he expressed to Welch, however, was his objection to all the political partisanship and bickering. He said a bumper-sticker he’d seen "calling President Bush a terrorist” was way over the line.

“I appreciate that I made a point," he told Freyne Land. "I may not always agree with him, but I do appreciate him being out here and talking to people and listening to them.”

Said Welchie when it was over:

People are really engaged. I heard from everybody from people who are for impeachment to against impeachment. Folks who want us to do more on the environment. People who want us to focus on problems and not what they call partisan bickering. People are watching pretty closely.

What’s the top issue?

A lot of concern about the war, I think. A lot of concern about Congress trying to do something on health care. You really hear the most heart-wrenching stories about health care....More and more people who have been working hard can’t afford health care. They get it that our system isn’t working.

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Comments

Peter Joes

top issues - -

we hear about a lot of "top issues" these days - - Iraq - - global warming - - terrorism - - economy - -

But on top of all these issues is one that no one is talking about. Unless we come up with a way to resolve disputes without wars the future of humans on this planet is in serious doubt.

With the explosive growth of technology it is getting increasingly easy for an aggrieved party to do major damage. This trend is likely to continue and grow ever faster.

Unless we realize that we are all in this together and need to create a system of international governance that works we are doomed.

I have no illusions about how difficult it will be to create a workable system of international governance but I do know that we need to start the dialog.

A Vermont Center for International Governance could be created to get this going.

PJ

Billy Jack

"A Vermont Center for International Governance could be created to get this going."

Yeah, mebbe it could be as efficient as the UN.

Shut the fuck up about creating *yet another* bureaucracy that will do nothing but oppress.

jpc

"that it would detract from their other Democrat investigations and give the Republicans an issue to rally around."

The Dems don't have time to conduct an impeachment investigation, it's Leahy's committee that would conduct the investigation and they already have instigated over 400 since the Dems took control. They have too many going as it is, new laws that could accomplish something are getting done, and the Congressional approval rating is sinking like a rock. At 18%, if they started impeachment hearings only to stop half way when Bush left office, they would be seen as even more of do nothing Congress and that approval rating would sink into the single digits. But hey, it likely will anyway. Impeachment is the best thing they can do if they want to ensure a republican controlled Congress and administration in 09.

farjas

I find it confusing that the historically low approval ratings numbers that Congress has are being attributed soley to the Democrats. While the Dem's are in the majority, there are a lot of do-nothing minority Republicans that are at least fractionally responsible for those ratings as well. I would argue that the low approval ratings are not a reflection of American's dissatisfaction with any particular party, rather it's a statement of malcontent with the state of politics in general. Most "normal" people don't care about politics as much as readers of political blogs such as this one. It's easy to get into the trap of red/blue, dem/repub, us/them when you read politically focused blogs or watch politically driven television programming. Check the newspaper circulation rates and Nielsen ratings numbers out. Most Americans are not as concerned about politics. In fact, most Americans despise politics and politicians. Is it a wonder that when asked how they feel about a group of politician (Congress) they respond negatively?

Peter Joes

Thank you so much "Billy Jack" for so cleverly illustrating the problem.

The point would be to create something that actually works. Not a simple task. However the need being as great as it is, we ignore this necessity at our own peril.

Always interesting that when people can't argue with logic they prefer to do it with profanity.

PJ

Pixxy

You are very spiteful, Mr. Freyne. You should work on that, maybe then people won't think of you as they do now.

I hope you're enjoying the weekend. The weather is beautiful.

jpc

Farjas the low ratings are attributed to the dems because they are in control, they set the agenda, and they decide what gets debated, what gets done. It is very much like the Repubs getting all the credit for passing every spending bill Bush proposed when they were in charge, of course some dems voted for them as well, but since the majority can and do control things they get the credit and for the most part rightly so. The low approval rating is very much do to the promises made about impeachment, the war in Iraq, etc that were made along the campaign trail that haven't come to fruitition. The voters ousted the republican majority for these reasons, and the dems they elected were supposed to fix these problems, yet they continue to authorize money for Bush, they extend his allegedly illegal wiretapping powers, and they continue to ignore the call for impeachment. They in a way are behaving like the republicans voted out, only are accomplishing less. That is why their approval rating is so low. They will find themselves in the minority again very soon. Look at our own reps. Welch beat Rainville solely on their stances to the war, and yet he has not done what his constituents want, initiate a call for impeachment.

"Always interesting that when people can't argue with logic they prefer to do it with profanity."

PJ I agree that namecalling and profanity is getting tiresome on these blogs, but I would hardly call world peace a logical idea, and creating another blue ribbon commission to study it is even more illogical. You might as well be creating a commission to determine the whereabouts of the lost city of Atlantis. International Governance is a utopian pipe dream. It sure would be nice, but there are too many countries that wouldn't even consider it, and setting up a Vermont Commission to reach out to Korea and try to persuade them to join up is illogical. Sorry, but it is far better to prepare for reality then to spend all your time fantasizing about what might be, only IF:

farjas

I disagree with your assertion that the democrats were ushered into the majority as a result of the electorate's dissatisfaction with the war and desire to impeach the president. That may explain what happened here in Vermont, but what about Connecticut and the war supporting congressional democrats from the midwest. Peter Welch was not voted in to soley impeach the prez or stop the war. You may be unhappy with his performance to this point but would a republican majority and Congressman Martha Rainville listen to your calls for impeachment and withdrawl more intently? Finally, I think it's irresponsible to measure the accomplishments of a congress or any legislative body against ones personal ideological agenda especially since that congressional session is not yet halfway through. Relax. Don't do it. When you want to go to it.

Brattlerouser

> After living through the sanctimonious impeachment of Bill Clinton by the GOP majority, Nancy, like many Americans, has had a hard time understanding the Democrats’ argument against impeaching our disgraceful Liar-in-Chief - that it would detract from their other Democrat investigations and give the Republicans an issue to rally around.

Standing up for themselves will hurt their chances in the '08 elections? Who cares what the GOP says, fight for yourselves will ya? God, this is so frustrating!

JayV

I certainly agree with you Brattleouser. I'm sick of those lame excuses, and Welch and his cronies know what they are: l.a.m.e.

Where is their moral compass? GWTW?

ncm

Enough of this impeachment talk. don't people realise if you impeach Bush you get Cheney as president.

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