Opinion

For opinion pieces on any topic.

What Would Bernie Sanders, Peter Welch & Becca Balint Do If A Vermont Farm Worker Was Sent To Alligator Alcatraz?

by Cris Ericson | Op/Ed

In this new YouTube video today, July 12, 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFfACyu4BWY
Florida Congress Members visited Alligator Alcatraz and were allowed only partial access, (but denied full entry and full examination of the facility), but did see that 32 men are put in each cage with barely walking space between bunk beds, there are 3 toilets per cage and drinking water comes from the top of the toilet, so that if 3 men are sitting on the toilets then no one else can get a drink of water, 2 out of 3 toilets at any time can be overflowing with feces on the floor, and the temperatures inside are 83 degrees F and higher, and the meals don’t meet nutritional requirements of human beings, etc. One Florida Congressperson said that there was someone screaming that they were a U.S. Citizen.

Update on the “Free Mahmoud Khalil” Story, Vermonters Protested His Arrest in March 2025

by Cris Ericson | Politics

There were a number of stories in Vermont about Vermonters rallying and/or protesting the arrest and detention of Mahmoud Khalil for being a Pro-Palestinian Activist.

Here is an update on the whole entire huge, enormous situation, which has grown and expanded exponentially because President Trump’s Administration will tolerate foreign students only if they keep their mouths shut.

Oligarchy Trumps Independence

by RDavis | Op/Ed

The passage of the 2025 budget marks the transition from democracy to oligarchy. Once the drastic economic and social changes are in place it will be extremely difficult to make meaningful change. In order to restore democracy, if such a move will even be possible, it may require the American people to overtake the current government by force.

Complacency is no longer an option. You may fall into one of three categories. You may be a MAGA maniac and are happy with the turn of events. You may have you head under a rock and have been able to ignore all of the current news or you are in a constant state of anxiety over the direction that American government is taking.

Here’s the definition of oligarchy according to the Merriam Webster dictionary.

Big Beautiful Bill Passed U.S. Congress, Sent to President Trump to Sign, Now What Can Vermont Do?

by Cris Ericson | Op/Ed

There are many news reports to read, but I want you all to start thinking about who could be President in 2028. None of the current Democrats were strong enough to lead both sides of the aisle into defeating this Big Beautiful Bill.

There is no one currently in office who qualifies, because no one currently in an elected office stepped up to the plate to lead a bipartisan group to defeat President Donald Trump’s bill.

U.S. Senate Passed A Different Version of The Big Beautiful Bill So The U.S. House Has To Vote On It Again, If They Agree With It

by Cris Ericson | Opinion

Today, July 1, 2025, the United States Senate voted 50 Yes to 50 No to pass President Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill Act, so Vice President J.D. Vance was required to vote to break the tie, and so the Republicans won.

Now, because the version of the Big Beautiful Bill Act in the United States Senate Passed with Amendments, making it different than the previous Bill the U.S. House in the United States Congress passed, now it has to go back to the Congressmen and Congresswomen in the U.S. House to decide if they agree with the Amendments the U.S. Senate made, or they can re-write the Bill again.

Arguments Against President Trump Playing the Part of Israeli Netanyahu’s Puppet

by Cris Ericson | Op/Ed

(1) Recall to active service.
In the event that President Trump should call a national emergency because Trump helps Israel bomb Iran and Iran decides to try to bomb U.S. Military bases over there somewhere, then people are concerned about retired U.S. Military people being re-called to service. This is what people are talking about, from the grocery delivery guy to the handyman repair guy. Even a lady at the grocery store knows this fear.

Brattleboro Parking System’s Impact On Downtown Business

by cgrotke | Op/Ed

Isaac Evans-Frantz made some good points about the parking system and downtown business at Tuesday’s Selectboard meeting. His points deserve underlining and emphasis because he latched on to some logical flaws of the current parking system, and hinted heavily that it might be really harming downtown business.

…

Isaac began by asking why, if there was a deficit in the parking fund, would the board consider offering any free parking at all during holidays.

More Than 2500 At Brattleboro’s No Kings Day

by cgrotke | Politics
brattleboro no kings day

More than 2500 turned out to protest today in Brattleboro. The number was according to a speaker at the stage at the common, and was probably an undercount, as people were still arriving. Indeed, Brattleboro was filled with people today. Cars filled side streets and church parking lots. Church bells were ringing out. There were people marching, chanting, singing, playing music and holding their signs and flags up as they marched.

Taking a Stand on No Kings Day

by Lise | Op/Ed

As did the authors of the Declaration of Independence, we find ourself in rare times. For the first time in our history, democracy itself is under assault by people bent on its destruction and along with it, the democratic values that guarantee our freedom. On Saturday, June 14, the two sides in the great battle between democracy and fascism face off in the first show of force since the Trump dictatorship began, officially, five months ago.

Apply Insurance Law To ICE & Immigration & Protests & Deportations!

by Cris Ericson | Politics

Date: June 10, 2025 Watching ICE immigration protests on YouTube at https://youtube.com/watch?v=G2mPQ4qShoM hosted by Steve Lookner who may be a regular guy sitting in his garage in Massachusetts and arranging for people he knows to send him “Live” protest footage. There are big protests in Los Angeles, New York City, and maybe Charlotte, North Carolina, etc.

Have You Ever Loved a Doormat Personality?

by PeytonE | Op/Ed

Have you ever noticed when you behave like a doormat, you get treated like one, have you ever had a friend or a family member who acts like a doormat and it makes you livid because you can see the footsteps coming? Walking all over them?

I think I want to reinstate the council of Censors. What is the council of censors, you may well ask? The council on censors is, or was, and will be again, an independent body elected by the people to report back to the people on the laws being passed and entertained in the statehouse. The Council of Censors would alert, and if I can get it going again, will once again alert the people of legislation that trespasses on the Constitutions of the state and the US.

Brattleboro Passed a Budget. We Can Pass a Better One Next Time.

by IsaacEF | Op/Ed

Dear Neighbors,

This week Brattletboro passed a budget for the 12 months starting July 1. You can hear my thoughts (3-minute clip) on the budget here: https://www.youtube.com/live/YduOTj9stGs?feature=shared&t=1119

I supported the budget, and it passed Representative Town Meeting with flying colors (110-4, with about a dozen people abstaining). It represents compromise. We should look to the budgeting process for the following year, and time between now and then, to strengthen our Town’s financial situation, with an eye out for generations to come.

My Conscience is a Thought Crime

by CCM Holland Mills | Op/Ed

This is a reply to The Shalom Alliance’s piece printed two weeks ago in The Commons (https://www.commonsnews.org/issue/814/814000_shalom-alliance) and last week in The Reformer:

The imps infesting the Ministry of Truth giggled with glee as they read The Shalom Alliance’s clarion call for censorship during the barbaric starvation of Arab babies nine months old barely weighing two pounds more.  The laughably obnoxious notion of the ADL as arbiter of speech is despicably anti-American, akin to last week’s House panel on campus antisemitism, McCarthy’s HUAC reincarnate demanding young souls decrying genocide be vilified as the new commies deserving the harshest of penalties personal and professional.