As Goes Vermont, So Goes the Nation?

Vermonters air their frustration with the U.S. quagmire in Iraq.

Ellen Goodman
King Features Syndicate
AlterNet
March 6, 2008

While the Iraq war is off the front pages, and Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama embark on what may well be a scorched-earth primary battle against each other, let's keep our eye on where the real scorched earth lies: who profits and who dies.

Clinton proclaimed in her victory speech in Ohio on March 4, after winning three of the four primary contests that day, "as goes Ohio, so goes the nation." She should take note, however, of how goes Vermont. That state might be a better bellwether, especially concerning the U.S. quagmire in Iraq.

While no one was surprised that Obama beat Clinton in the Vermont primary by a landslide, several details of the Vermont vote bear mention. Vermont's electoral system is based on the town meeting, a storied exercise in direct democracy. In the Vermont town meeting, local issues and ordinances are hashed out in an open forum, with all townspeople who want to speak given time. This is arguably the closest we come in the United States to real democracy. Part of why this is possible is the rural nature of Vermont, which Vermonters prize and protect.

In Brattleboro, the townspeople decided to arrest President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, should they visit. (This may be a moot point, as Vermont is the one state out of 50 that George W. Bush has not visited while president.) The question before the people of Brattleboro read: "Shall the Selectboard instruct the Town Attorney to draft indictments against President Bush and Vice President Cheney for crimes against our Constitution, and publish said indictments for consideration by other authorities, and shall it be the law of the town of Brattleboro that the Brattleboro Police, pursuant to the above-mentioned indictments, arrest and detain George Bush and Richard Cheney in Brattleboro if they are not duly impeached, and prosecute or extradite them to other authorities that may reasonably contend to prosecute them?" ... ( more )

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