Congratulations to not only the Democrats and independents that almost completely swept Addison County in the recent election, and increased their majorities in the Vermont legislature, but to all the folks that came out to vote for the best candidates to take our state forward in addressing some of the critical issues facing us in the coming two years and beyond. Now that the mostly isolated governor shouldn’t be an impediment, the legislature should finally pass a Paid Family Leave Bill, Toxic Chemical Reform, and a strong Lake and Waterways cleanup bill, hopefully with Scott’s cooperation this time, so that they won’t need to override his obstructionist vetoes.
As for why two of our county’s Republicans that lost their house seats, it’s pretty obvious. First, they either voted against the three state-related issues aforementioned plus others outright, or failed to override the governor’s vetoes. Second, practically no Republican including these have spoken out about how the current president and his party has been ruining our country and demeaning our values.
In Max Boot’s 2018 book “The Corrosion of Conservatism” and quoted from a recent New Yorker piece: “’Upon closer examination, it’s obvious that the whole history of modern conservatism is permeated with racism, extremism, conspiracy mongering, ignorance, isolationism, and know-nothingism. Even those who were not guilty of these sins too often ignored them in the name of unity on the right.’ Trump is the movement’s darkest realization, not it’s betrayal.” So, I guess it’s the Trumpublican Party now.
We need to keep up the pressure against the petty, fascist, wannabe dictator Trump and his crime family, and to call out the constant stream of lies and hate spewing out from Fox “News,” the GOP propaganda network. So really looking forward to the coming year when the U.S. House will start its investigations.
Bruce Acciavatti
Middlebury