Humor is the best and worst of political hay. From Cris Ericson’s sparkling sequined farm dress and Ma Parker’s picnic floppy hat, to Peter Diamondstone’s too patriarchal horn-rimmed glasses, longbeard and grade-school shorts, to Bernard Peter’s pitchfork take-charge Duck Dynasty philosophy, to Emily Peyton’s grinning political dibs through gritted teeth, to Scott Milne’s making each point with a full left head swivel to Governor Shumlin, this lineup is richly deserving of national late-night talk show humor.VTDigger and the Reformer made short work of the “In case you missed it” reportage:
“Vermont’s colorful cast of gubernatorial candidates garnered attention from national media outlets and the late night talk shows this week.
The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart poked fun at Republican Scott Milne, who forgot momentarily that he was not born in Vermont. Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon suggested debate moderator Stewart Ledbetter would make a better governor than the seven people on stage. (Ledbetter’s late father, Stewart Sr., narrowly lost to Sen. Patrick Leahy in 1980).
The clips are all taken from the Oct. 9 Vermont PBS gubernatorial debate. In case you missed it”:
Now, as Jon Stewart says, “Let’s hate-watch it.” Or read some of this great text of humorous reporting as well. It’s good to laugh at ourselves, especially if half the country {media} joins in or starts it.
The Daily Show: Milne’s “Moment of Zen.” http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/cdtllz/moment-of-zen—take-backsies (60 sec.)
Tonight Show: Ledbetter for governor (scroll to 6:07 – 6:55). http://www.businessinsider.com/vermont-gubernatorial-debate-highlights-2014-10
Business Insider: “Very, very special.” http://www.businessinsider.com/vermont-gubernatorial-debate-highlights-2014-10
Washington Post: “Beard-filled gubernatorial debate.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/10/14/the-six-best-sentences-written-about-vermonts-beard-filled-gubernatorial-debate/
Time Magazine: “America needs more crazy debates.” http://time.com/3507936/vermont-governor-debate/#3520341/obama-ebola-fear/
Buzzfeed: “Head’s up, Peter. http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/x-reasons-the-vermont-governors-debate-was-th#2t55h4l
MSNBC: Chris Hayes gawks. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2014/10/15/chris_hayes_gawks_at_third_party_candidates_for_vermont_governor.html
Almost as humorous was...
FANGATE…
Jon Stewart and friends skewer Gov. Scott, lampoon Crist over ‘Fangate’ – YouTube
And you should add this one to your Vermont gubernatorial debate watch list –
Aging Debutante for Vermont Governor 2014 | The Soup – YouTube
I still wear my hat
Great Joe! The fangate vid was precious too.
Governor Shumlin is the only one in this lineup who wasn’t lampooned, for good reason; he is unquestionably one of VTs politicos with the experience, standing and bearing to be what the others aspire to.
Dan Feliciano seemed to fare better than the rest although he is as exciting as wet paint.
Milne, to his credit, gave the Republicans a decent candidate, something Peyton could not give them. But the poor sod is lackluster. Maybe the Republican’s throwing all that money into (R) candidates might help. You think?
Emily Peyton, in as much came out and said this is her “last run.” That can only mean her three campaign contact lists have ‘paid off’ and she is primed to somewhat opportunistically move into the more lucrative profit-making sector, and to be somebody.
Cris Erison, while not really material for a public office, has the quality of flamboyancy that is charming in its own right.
Peter Diamondstone and Bernard Peters speak for themselves not unlike cartoon characters do.
Would I have done better if I were to campaign for an office? I still wear my hat. But if I did throw it into the ring, I’d like to think that I can take it as good as I can dish it out.
It’s all good fun in an otherwise too serious venture.
What a disgusting and undeserved slam
Quote: “Emily Peyton, in as much came out and said this is her “last run.” That can only mean her three campaign contact lists have ‘paid off’ and she is primed to somewhat opportunistically move into the more lucrative profit-making sector, and to be somebody.”
It’s obvious you never ever listened to a word she ever said. She’s a smart woman with a lot of good ideas (State Banking being the best of them).
The problem is that our corrupt (Nationwide) political system only wants to pay attention to those chosen in advance by our financial and political elites.
Wrong...again
In 2010 around the time you were Emily’s ‘campaign’ manager or shortly after I enthusiastically supported her state bank initiative, even though it didn’t originate with her. I advised her that it was a strong single issue that she could build on. At that time, when asked if she would use her video talents to help Marijuana Resolve she replied that she wanted nothing to do with marijuana and had not yet an interest in hemp.
After MR succeeded in getting the community active in our meetings she showed up uninvited wanting to speak of her newly found interest in marijuana and hemp. That is only a small part of my opportunistic experience with Emily. I should write a book. It’d be an interesting case study.
Emily is not only intelligent but she has a good eye for causes (not of her own) to tap into for political fodder. On a real level she had in my view very good promise, even after you stop being in her campaign. (I was disappointed when you left because I thought you were the kind of influence and guidance she needed.
This notion of making money from hemp was told to me by Emily. She did learn a lot and hoping will apply it for the ‘good’ she claims to want.
This is just the tip of the iceberg of what I know about her. I’ve listened to, communicate with and read Emily more than any other candidate over these years. I damn well know what I’m talking.
If my Gmail archive with her could talk…
Like you I know all too well about USA political corruption and I am no newcomer or stranger to the topic. I fully supported Emily’s and Cris Erison’s inclusion in the debates and equal media. I don’t need you to tell me what my intentions or reasons are.
Rude and undeserved.
It was still a rude and undeserved remark.
Rebuffalo
I do not see you as the arbiter or final measure of what is rude, and you are wrong about ‘undeserved.’
I try to never say (write) anything unless I have a good sense I know what I’m talking about and within some bounds of acceptable protocol. I am also lucky that I do not perceive the world through a predominant emotional lens.
I have certainly heard and read many things from you that set you apart from the commonplace. Some of things you write are staggering as they zero in on what needs to be said. If I am critical of you, I would like to think it is not without good cause. Not sure that’s always in your rebuffs at me, though.
Marijuana / Lake Champlain / F-35 strike fighter jets
If you listen to the debates, you’ll see that I am speaking up for statewide – federal issues of importance to Vermonters.
(1) Make marijuana legal and tax it.
(2) Out-law motorboats on Lake Champlain because they drip drops of oil and gas which contain lead, while simultaneously one-third of Vermonters draw their drinking water from Lake Champlain.
(3) Out-law dumping Monsanto chemicals in Lake Champlain to “treat” (kill)
invasive aquatic species because these chemicals are harmful to people and one-third of Vermont residents draw their drinking water from Lake Champlain. Monsanto has taken legal action against Vermont for the GMO labelling law, but we’re paying Monsanto’s legal fees by buying their poisonous chemicals to “treat” invasive species.
(4) Stop the stupid idea of running a natural gas pipeline underneath Lake Champlain because there is no way to build it without stirring up the water and making a muddy mess, and denying 1/3 of the people who live in the State of Vermont clean drinking water. Furthermore, natural gas pipelines are in the news nationwide, year after year, for pipe leaks, pipe bursts and pipe explosions, and children swimming in Lake Champlain could get killed.
(5) Stop dumping treated sewage into Lake Champlain because one-third of the people who live in Vermont draw their drinking water from Lake Champlain and Lake Champlain is grandfathered in as drinking water – people have always drawn their drinking water from Lake Champlain.
Furthermore, with the Ebola crisis in the news, if a person comes to the Burlington International Airport from Africa and it takes 3 weeks for Ebola symptoms to emerge, they could be using toilets which flush out to the sewage treatment plants which dump treated sewage into Lake Champlain and there is no guarantee that their bodily fluids will be “treated” enough to stop one-third of the population of Vermont from getting exposed to Ebola or a mutation of Ebola.
(6) Stop the F-35 strike fighter jets from being based adjacent to the Burlington International Airport in Chittenden County because they are designed to be dual capable to carry nuclear bombs, and they are not safe to base in the largest population area of Vermont.
Next, in some of the debates (I’m on the ballot for Governor and for U.S. Representative to Congress) some candidates say they will “meet in the middle of the isle” to get things accomplished. But, then they each back into the corner on the subject of abortion. I am the only candidate who actually goes to the middle of the isle on abortion. In one debate on CCTV I clearly stated that I would write a Bill to demand equal funding for adoption, and I want the abortion clinics and the adoption clinics in the same building with the same waiting room so people have greater access to choice, and for every federal dollar given to pay for abortions, they same amount must go to pay for adoptions. If abortions are free for some women, why isn’t it free to adopt a baby?
Please note that on MSNBC they heavily edited me, so parts of sentences are taken out of context, and at least one word was edited in the middle, instead of “interstate” it sounded like “in”. MSNBC is disreputable for editing me and not warning and informing the television audience that they entirely edited me. They took CCTV debate footage and took a hatchet to it.
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/56251335/ns/msnbc-all_in_with_chris_hayes/
MSNBC edited Cris Ericson’s statements!
Watch the Oct. 16, 2014
Vermont gubernatorial debate
on CCTV.
http://www.cctv.org/watch-tv/programs/candidates-vermont-governor
Description:
Incumbent Peter Shumlin (D)
faces Peter Diamondstone (LU),
Cris Ericson (I), Dan Feliciano (LU),
Scott Milne (R), Bernard Peters (I),
and Emily Peyton (I) for the
2 year Vermont Governor seat.
The comment box here does not have a space for photo uploads.
I have created four original hats so far, and worn one to each
appearance, and I am working on the 5th hat today for the
U.S. Representatives to Congress debate on Vermont PBS on Oct. 23, 2014.
Cris on the otherhand...
Cris Erison is actually better versed and conversant with marijuana and the other topics she speaks of and is likely as or more intelligent than Emily. Cris is a genuine article and her motivation is long term and real. I think the humor we see in her public persona is not wholly bad.
But as a communicator and writer she does have a bit to be desired. I wish that marijuana had a spokesperson, though, who didn’t seem fringe (Again, I don’t mean that as a slam) but the truth is Marijuan Resolve was in a real struggle to help remove marijuana consumers out of harm’s way through our efforts to decriminalize marijuana.
Peter Shumlin to his credit responded to my request to speak at Marijuana Resolve’s UVM community program for decriminalization in his first Guber campaign in 2010. Somehow we helped to get Decrim done and many marijuana consumers can breathe a little better.
The next step is obvious and our strongest proponents are Senator Zuckerman and Senator White in the 2015 assembly.
I may poke fun at Cris but as I said, I’m charmed by her.
You can't write this stuff...
“…some candidates say they will “meet in the middle of the isle” to get things accomplished. But, then they each back into the corner on the subject of abortion. I am the only candidate who actually goes to the middle of the isle on abortion.”
Either this is a stunningly poignant barb about how isolated politicians actually are…or a somewhat worrisome malaprop from one who aspires to political leadership.
Since we’re riffing…Another variant (and appropriate) version from the comedy writer’s room might have been, “meet me in the middle of the I’ll.”
Dan Feliciano
A good second to Governor Shumlin on the dais is Dan. He made a good presentable showing reaching for this high office. He may be a little dry but he clearly is quite bright and in command of many issues and is young enough to pursue his political aspirations further.
All the candidates have good points of platforming. All of them. That doesn’t mean at this late stage that you, me, or the media can’t have some fun. Can’t we laugh at ourselves?
SNL
I thought I was watching a skit from SNL. No surprise if a write-in becomes the first in the nation to demand a recount!
Democracy is
“the worst form of government, except for all others.” So goes the paraphrase of Winston Churchill. Yes, there is a characterish quality to our gubernatorial candidates this year (though I am not sure exactly where Shumlin and Milne would fall in a list of most comical… or concerning…)
I wanted to laugh at the fun being poked at us here in Vermont. I really did. But darn it, those same comedians — and even news anchors — who were poking fun are the first to mock and chastise us citizens for not participating and trying to make a difference. If they are going to treat us as they have with this debate, it is little wonder more of us don’t step forward. Being hung out to dry on major media is not exactly the way to encourage us.
I wish the multitude of candidates we have would find additional ways to participate and get people genuinely and effectively involved in solving problems. If you listen carefully, you will find, as has been pointed out above, that there is some serious substantive thought (“borrowed” or otherwise) in what all are saying.
Still wanting to laugh, but democracy, despite all its imperfections, is too important to me, and I long ago came to accept the quirkiness of it in its service to everyday people.
Let’s bring real democracy to the rest of the states!! Let’s get everyone speaking up and solving problems.
ok yes, but...
It always sounds good in theory, this idea of inclusion. But there’s a point where all you have is babel. There have been so many examples in our politics where lack of statesmanship is a given, and any sense of intellectual honesty is so far removed as to be something not even understood. Sure, it’s nice to have so many points of view, but having 10 points of view, with what usually ends up involving endless debate doesn’t solve problems as much as create them, if only through meaningless confusion or near ideological clinching of relatively minor points. Maybe it’s my age, 61, but I have heard Peter Diamondstone sing the same tune for decades now (although this Zionist thing is new to me). Creating visions is not the same as solving problems.
This isn’t to suggest that someone who appears statesmanlike, such as Mr. Shumlin expertly does, has all the answers. But it is to suggest that statesmanship includes open-mindedness towards good ideas, and I fail to understand how a room full of buffoons come up with anything you can call a solution. In my opinion, what I’ve seen of this debate deserves the jabs and satire that it got.
I too appreciate Churchill’s quote and it is worth citing. But there’s little doubt in my mind that a person like Churchill, of intellectual stature and (can I even say this?) with a sense of history, were at the Vermont debate, I’m sure they would have skewered most of the participants quite easily and quickly.
Quite so...
…in many respects. Winny is also famous for saying, “You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing, after they’ve tried everything else.”
Spot on Mr. C.
Winny?
Cmon. A little respect!
lol !
I like Winny as a term of affection…
An inclusive debate
I was glad that there was finally a debate which included all the candidates who are on the ballot. Regardless of how I might feel about any particular individual or whether I agree with their ideas, it was refreshing to see and hear each of them. There is a history of good ideas, such as social security, first being presented by “fringe” candidates.
Clips which were doctored for comic effect are not really that clever. For anyone who is interested, youtube has the complete debate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyosthpE-mE
Laugh tracking + Social Security not from the fringe
The actual full length debate, as debates usually are, is not really that interesting. It was the making hay with the humorous aspects that really put this VT debate on the map and generated the most interest. The full length debate has already been fairly widely available on the net .
Also, I have found no evidence of the clips being “doctored for comic effect“ as, I would describe them as being “edited” for comic effect, and quite clever and effectively, at that. Semantics? Maybe not.
Social Security was not really presented by “fringe” candidates as you state. Even a cursory search finds that: “This term first came into general use in the United States in 1935, during the Great Depression, when the Social Security Act was passed. It quickly achieved world-wide usage. It was included in the Atlantic Charter, signed by the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Great Britain on August 14, 1941, and later adhered to in the Declaration of Philadelphia by twenty-six Allied governments at the International Labor Conference in 1944. It has been included in the constitution of many of the new nations which came into existence after World War II as a major responsibility and objective.” http://www.ssa.gov/history/aja964.html
FDR Teddy Roosevelt’s nephew, when he was a young politician, was influenced by his uncle’s views on forms of ‘social welfare’ back during the first Roosevelt administration at the turn of the century.
Eugene Debs' Presidential Bid
I doubt that there is much question that the four candidacies of Eugene V. Debs, none of which ever gained more than 6% of the vote, brought forth into the public arena a number of initiatives, which later became New Deal programs.
If a Vermont State Bank ever becomes a reality, we will owe a debt of gratitude to some of these “laughing stocks.”
Debs was anything but a “fringe”
Debs was anything but “fringe,” 6% of the vote notwithstanding.
Debs had 5 Socialists Party candidacies for president and previously was elected to the Indiana State Assembly in the Democratic Party. He was a major union leader as founding member of the Industrial Workers of the World and the American railway Union.
He was a great charismatic speaker, important leftist pamphleteer, pacifist and famous in America as a labor unionist and socialist, anti-corporation and who was outspoken against organized religion.
And to my knowledge he was not involved in any issues with or about State Banks.
This comedic piece might be offensive to you personally Steve, but as I said, “Just give me the facts, ma’am.”
Comedy
I forget who it was who said: “If you fall down the stairs, it’s comedy. Tragedy is if I stub my toe.”
Funny, isn’t it, that a guy who is so thin-skinned about ridicule when he himself is the target, so easily mocks others as laughing stocks.
You’re easy to see through
That’s a good quote to forget. It also sounds a bit contrived by you, not a quote.
You’re easy to see through, aren’t you…
Surely, we must be strangers.
I have no memory or record of being ridiculed on here or reacting to any. And, I often ‘get it’ as good as I give it. I love to laugh, even at myself
This post isn’t about me. It’s about the legitimate political humor that caught the eye of national media. It’s good for laughs, and that’s that.
Don’t you have anything better to do?
Non-partisan presentation of candidates
Many of us have long agreed that all-inclusive debates are important, and have as far back as I can remember. It is an old (ancient) historical gripe, which has also been usually ignored by mainstream media.
The Vermont Secretary of State elections webpage is usually voters best resource for candidate positions:
“This webpage will provide you with a non-partisan presentation of candidates for federal and statewide offices who have submitted information to our office.
All candidate information was prepared and submitted to us by the candidates. To ensure fairness, our office developed specifications for the presentation. Each candidate was invited by a letter to submit a photograph, a logo, a biographical sketch not to exceed 100 words, and position statements on up to five issues of the candidate’s choice not to exceed a total of 550 words. The content has not been edited or changed by our office. However, we have formatted each presentation to provide uniformity of type and page layout.
This webpage will be updated with candidate submissions on a rolling basis as they are received. All candidates for federal and statewide office have been invited to participate. If the link below for a candidate is inactive, they have not made a submission.”
https://www.sec.state.vt.us/elections/candidates/2014-candidate-info-webpage.aspx
social insurance
The term “social security” may have been new in 1935, but the foundations and concepts, not to mention previous programs from which it evolved, go way back. It’s been a long time since I studied this, so am forgetting details, but a simple search on the United States’ own social security website has extensive survey of the evolution. http://www.ssa.gov/history
Not like the others
“One of these things is not like the others…”
I watched the House Rep debate and it struck me how one candidate really stood out as being different from all the others. Most were thoughtful and seemed to be articulate on Vermont issues.
The one that stood out was Welch. He came across as “DC”, not Vermont.
All of the others had interesting things to say at various points in the evening. It would almost make sense to elect the whole slate as a team, as each has areas of expertise and deep knowledge of key issues.