State Rep. Mike Fisher, D-Lincoln, has been serving his Addison House district for six years now, long enough to know how things work in Montpelier. On Monday, he got to see how the other half lives the next rung up on the ladder -- in Washington D.C.
Fisher spent Tuesday inside the beltway speaking at a news conference, stopping by (and getting snubbed by) the White House, visiting with members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and hanging out with ex-fellow Montpeculiarite Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., and staffers for Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.
The occasion for Fisher's D.C appearance was to represent Cities for Peace, a collection of elected folks from cities, towns and (in Vermont's case) state legislatures that have passed resolutions against the war. Fisher said by phone that 300 different political entities of passed such resolutions, representing some 150 million voters "That's half the country," Fisher exclaimed.
Fisher said his group marched to the White House and even alerted the folks at 1600 Pennsylvania of their pending visit. But when his group tried to deliver copies of the resolutions to the White House, they were turned away by a guard.
Seems the envelope represented a security risk, the guard told them.
"The group was frustrated by that, but I don't think we were surprised," Fisher said.
Also making the trip to Washington was South Burlington lawyer and activist Jim Leas.
-- Sam Hemingway
