Opinion

I was greatly criticized by friends of Jane Sanders for commenting on Facebook that she should improve her wardrobe and leave the “hippy” dresses behind here in Vermont. What incentive would help her to decide to make her wardrobe more upscale? After all, she is the wife of a U.S. Senator; but does her appearance look like a “First Lady”?

What Does Jane “Win” If Her Husband, Bernie Sanders, Wins The Election For President?

For starters, Jane “wins” the First Lady’s Office in the White House!

Curly Haugland, a Republican National Committee member, says the nomination process is pretty straightforward: The party, not the voters, chooses the nominee.In an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday morning, Haugland, a North Dakotan and current member of the RNC’s Rules Committee, said that any assumption otherwise is misguided.

“That’s the problem: The media has created the perception that the voters will decide the nomination,” he said. He went on: “Political parties choose their nominee, not the general public, contrary to popular belief.”

Technically, this is true. The nomination is decided by delegates to this summer’s convention, not directly by voters. But it’s probably not a terribly helpful argument to make at a time when Republican establishment types are openly talking about wresting the GOP nomination from Donald Trump at the convention. Trump has said doing so could lead to “riots.”

In order to comply with the Open Meeting Law, this warning is being submitted in anticipation of the BCA’s decision today to proceed with a recount of the March 1 vote. If the recount request is denied or another date and time is chosen, this meeting will be cancelled and another scheduled.

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BRATTLEBORO BOARD OF CIVIL AUTHORITY
Selectboard Meeting Room
Thursday, March 17, 2016
10:30 AM

Very early in his campaign, around the time he declared it back in mid-May, I wrote to Bernie and said “Avalanches don’t only start with a thunderclap or a gunshot … sometimes they start with a little tiny snowball that starts to form at the very top of the mountain.”The Bernie Sanders avalanche is about halfway down the mountain now, and the few little snowballs, which became many, are just starting to morph into a tremendous cascade.

The post-March-15 primary season will see the American people either part of this avalanche, or else they will see it coming. It will sweep up all in its path. Bernie Sanders and his supporters are a force of nature, and nothing will deny us or defeat us!

The Brattleboro Board of Civil Authority will meet on Wednesday, March 16 at 2:00 p.m. in the Selectboard Meeting Room for the purpose of conducting a hearing and accepting testimony relating to the conduct of the March 10 recount for select board race. If the board determines that any violations of the recount procedures occurred and that they may have affected the outcome of the recount, a new recount shall be ordered.

Bratteboro’s Town Meeting Representatives are having a special meeting today to discuss and vote on the possible move of a police station to the north end of town. Just over 100 representatives are there, and voting begins at 10 am. Results later today.

Sanders can’t win in the south! Clinton can’t win in the north! Cruz is considered a sane alternative to Trump! Kasich just needs Ohio! Rubio will win if he comes in 5th better next time! They’re all nuts!

Our strange election year continues, with polls being terribly inaccurate at times, traditional efforts to stop opponents backfiring, and major media following rather shaping results.

Up is the new down. And quite a few states have yet to weigh in.

A new thread to talk politics through the next big round of primaries.

Brattleboro Town Selectboard will hold a pre-town meeting information forum on Wednesday, March 9 at Academy School beginning at 7:00 PM. At 6:30 p.m., town meeting members of each district will be available to meet with constituents to offer residents an opportunity to share their views and discuss articles to be voted on at the annual meeting.

Also, at that time, district 2 will be accepting nominations to fill a town meeting member vacancy for 1 year. Any District 2 resident interested in being considered for this position should be present at Wednesday’s 6:30PM caucus. Classroom locations at Academy School for each caucus will be posted in the school lobby that evening. The public is invited to attend their district’s caucus and stay for the information meeting.

As the primary process rolls on, the media has tended to focus on the simplest form of result, declaring winners and losers in the tightest of races. But there is more to the aggregate numbers than simple winners and losers, state by state. A closer look at who voted for whom and where reveals some interesting things about both parties, not least of which is the power of the combined anti-Trump, about which more later.

First, the Democrats. Hillary Clinton has won a fair number of states so far, but not all of them were landslides. For instance, she “won” Massachusetts by a mere 1.4%, not exactly a mandate-making majority. She won Iowa by an even tinier margin of 4 votes, which translates to less than a third of one percent. Even in Nevada, her margin of victory was only 5%. These states are outside the deep south.

All write-ins have been counted. There were no write-ins for Selectboard 1 year. The final results are the same as the unofficial results. All results in this email are the final, official except a few write-ins for presidential primary that we have not yet recorded.

Voter turnout

Total registered voters 7979

Total local ballots 3467, 43%

My name is Cassandra Holloway and I am running as a write-in  to be a town rep for District 3. Please consider voting for me (March 1st in the Municipal  Building 7A-7P). There is a list outside of the voting area with all the information about who is from each district including write-ins (my name will be there). It was suggested that a phone photo be taken of the list so to have the info needed when voting. 

Every voter should read this  

 The Clintons and Wall Street: By
/ February 26, 2016

The banks have earned hundreds of billions of dollars in practices that were once prohibited—until the Clinton
Administration legalized them. For twenty four years the Clintons have orchestrated a conjugal relationship with Wall Street, to the immense financial benefit of both parties.

Trump and Clinton have won decisive victories in conservative South Carolina. It’s all over! And both sides are making the wrong decision!

Or maybe it is not over. Most of the country hasn’t weighed in yet.

Some, like Vermont, will get their say on Tuesday. Others will be told on Wednesday that again, it’s all over! And everyone’s making a mistake!

S.241 Vermont marijuana Bill does NOT make marijuana legal like alcoholic beverages: (1) because you can brew your own alcoholic beverage at home in Vermont, and this bill does NOT allow you to plant a seed in the ground and grow your own marijuana at home; (2) because the state government does not raid your home and count your cans of beer, but in the new Bill, S. 241, the state will raid your home and count every single seed you have, or have planted, and send you to prison if you are not one of the chosen few to pay a high price for and receive a license to commercially grow and sell marijuana.

S.241 was written for the express purpose of making the rich even richer, and sending the poor to prison for the benefit of the private-for-profit prison industry.

BURLINGTON, Vt., Feb. 25 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) made the following statement after the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation determined several residential and commercial wells in North Bennington contained elevated levels of the chemical, Perfluorooctanoic (PFOA), a possible carcinogen.

“I am very concerned that Vermont environmental officials have found high levels of a possible carcinogen in several North Bennington wells. The state must continue to aggressively investigate the well water situation in North Bennington, keep families informed, and ensure Vermonters have access to clean and safe water. Moreover, the state must hold the polluters responsible for their actions.”

Contact: Dan McLean: (802) 862-0697