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Political notes from Free Press staff writers Terri Hallenbeck, Sam Hemingway and Nancy Remsen


12.02.2008

 

Obama to Douglas: You must be quite a politician

Gov. Jim Douglas and his fellow governors met today with President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden.

Obama insisted on greeting each governor personally before getting down to business, Douglas said. His comment to Douglas:

"He said, 'You must be quite a politician to get elected repeatedly in Vermont' or something like that," Douglas said. "I said, 'Sir, I just grabbed onto your coattails."

The group met with Obama and Biden for an hour and a half, sharing the pain of the economy and the governors asking for Medicaid and highway help. No promises from the incoming leaders, but it sounds like the states have a seat at the table.

- Terri Hallenbeck

Comments:
Douglas's Secret Service code name was "token".
 
I thought that it was "flatlander".
 
Obama's coattail helped Douglas ?
And Dubie too ?
Some strange and twisted logic,which may defy explanation.
No odder perhaps than Gov.Douglas suddenly going to Washington with his hand out and claiming he isn't there for a handout.
 
Congrads JIM. Mick!
 
Governor Douglas won.
You lost.
Get over it!
 
Obama then asked King James: "How is it you are America's 10th highest paid governor and you come from America's 49th largest state?"
 
...because the Democratic-controlled Legislature voted to increase the Governor's salary.

But then again, facts aren't as important as sound bites.
 
Maybe Jimbo will offer to forfeit his salary for a year, like some of his colleagues have done? Hell, some don't even take a salary.
 
Douglas should have vetoed his salary increase.
 
You won
We lost
I'll hug my elephant
You can kiss your a--
 
What did you win?

The White House? No.
The House of Reps? No.
The Senate? No.
The Vermont House? No.
The Vermont Senate? No.

The GOP is in sad, sad shape.
 
Sadder than....Symington, Clavelle.....Scudder?..Spaulding?
 
Yes much sadder than those. The GOP is in trouble. Come 2010...the Dems will have their veto proof majority. Florida's Senator Martinez, will not be seeking reelection. And Kansas' Senator Brownback wants to make run for Governor and Sebelius wants his seat in Senate. The GOP is falling apart. People have become smart. They do not want to believe in a party that is so anti everything except what comes out of their interpretation of the Bible
 
"Hell, some don't even take a salary."

You mean, because they're filthy, stinkin' rich, going back generations, like Speaker Symington?
 
or George W. Bush?
 
Right, except that this discussion was about Vermont. Thanks for the thought, though. Now please explain why Douglas should give up his salary when filthy stinkin' rich Symington didn't.
 
He shouldn't and she shouldn't have.

What's your point?

Douglas is a crappy governor who has not filled a single campaign promise, but he's got the job and he should be paid.

He's also filthy rich. His family has gobs of money ... but so what?
 
I was merely responding to the poster who said that Douglas should not take his salary.

And, no, Douglas is not from a rich family.
 
Douglas comes from money. But who cares?

It could be Symington, Bush or Douglas ... but why attack them because their parents had money?
 
Do you think Douglas would say to all the employees that he will give them $50 for food every day? Start there maybe
 
Yea, the $50 per day in food is really stupid.

Douglas should just donate that to the foodbank for a Vermonter who really needs it.
 
Douglas would rather keep it for himself.
 
He gets $50 a day for food plus a salary? How did this happen? Do all state workers get a meal allowance every day?
 
Nope. Just Douglas and the legislators.

But the legislators don't get paid a six figure salary, as Douglas does.
 
Maybe the employees can get that deal in their contract?
 
Or perhaps the Governor can start paying for his own damned lunch like the rest of us.

I'll bet when he starts paying for his own lunches, they won't cost $50 per day!
 
In 2001, the governor of the state of Vermont made $96,678.

In 2008, the governor will make$150,051. (More than any other New England Governor.)

That's a 55% jump in only 7 years.

I don't know any Vermonters whose salary jumped that much in such a small period of time.

And I don't see any reason for us to be paying for his lunches.

Sources:

http://www.stateline.org/live/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=136&languageId=1&contentId=14239

http://miva.burlingtonfreepress.com/miva/cgi-bin/miva?SOVWagesort.mv
 
Doogie's only thrifty with his own money. He's got no qualms about fleecing the taxpayer, blaming others for his incompetence or taking credit for stuff he had absolutely nothing to do with or actively opposed.

The Obama coattail crap comment illustrates the depths or his delusional duplicity perfectly.
 
And this will fix the $30 million shortfall? And what do Markowitz, Sorrell, Salmon, and Spaulding get? (We know about Dubie, thanks to Matt Dunne.)
 
J-Dub, give one example of Douglas's incompetence. Not some general philosophical thing. Some specific incompetent action taken by Jim Douglas.
 
Anonymous....

"And what do Markowitz, Sorrell, Salmon, and Spaulding get?"

Less.
 
The Bennington Office Building debacle is a glaring example of Douglas's incompetence.
 
How much less? What do they get for a food allowance?
 
They should all forfeit this silly food allowance. Learn to cope like the rest of the human race.
 
Yeah, that's a good example of doogie debacle incompetence.

Then there's puttin' boy blunderville at AOT to do as little as possible while Vermont's roads and bridges went completely to hell.

And as long as we're in the neighborhood, there's puttin' that incompetent helluvajob hofie hack
at Corrections.

Ask Brooke Bennett or the Rutland Correctional Center what a bang up job he did.

Then, of course, there's the fact that after six years of him at the helm, Vermont's in much worse shape than the one he inherited from Howard Dean six years ago.

Of course, a lot of Vermont's problems can be laid at the incompetent-trash feet of shrub and his brain-dead bushleague policies, but doogie supports shrub and continues to endorse those brain-dead bushleague policies, so there goes that excuse.

Ya got any more psychotic-slop questions, little nameless-nitwit fella, or have ya gotten it all outta your system for the time bein'?

Make an effort, mutt.

Always a pleasure.
 
"The Bennington Office Building debacle is a glaring example of Douglas's incompetence."

What would you have done differently?

Clinton was rarely ever called incompetent, but the Waco debacle was much worse.
 
They make less because they do less. No one works harder than Gov. Douglas - that's the reason why he was reelected with 55% of the vote. It's not rocket science.
 
Douglas hasn't done anything that he said he'd do.

There is no justification for raising his pay by 55% -- not at a time when my taxes are going up and Vermonters are losing jobs!

All Douglas knows how to do is SPEND, SPEND, SPEND ... and he likes to take a big piece of the pie for himself!

It's not rocket science!
 
So out of hundreds of appointments that any governor makes, you didn't like Lunderville and the corrections guy had some problems. Now name a governor whose appointments all worked out. Incompetence isn't about political philosophy or where we are in the business cycle. It's about Keystone Cops-type blunders. Like Waco. Only you'd need a series of them to make a blanket incompetence statement. Just because you can use a word in a sentence doesn't mean you can use correctly.
 
"All Douglas knows how to do is SPEND, SPEND, SPEND ... and he likes to take a big piece of the pie for himself! It's not rocket science!"

So send Douglas home. Along with all of the legislators who voted for his stipend. And all of his spending, spending, spending. They're all morons!
 
Coop. Just how would one ask a deceased murder victim? You're worse than that friggin' misspeller, for crying out loud.
 
Dorothy Douglas thinks she's died and gone to heaven because her Jimmikins is able to take her out to dinner five nights a week and she never notices their bank balance going down because of it.
Little does Dot know it's on Vermont tax paying people.
 
Coop.

"Just how would one ask a deceased murder victim? You're worse than that friggin' misspeller, for crying out loud."

In other words, you're dumb, you're scum and ya got bupkis.

Gee, thanks for clearin' that up, little fella.

S-A-R-C-A-S-M, schmuck. Look it up. Learn something.

Always a pleasure.
 
Anonymous said...

"So out of hundreds of appointments that any governor makes, you didn't like Lunderville and the corrections guy had some problems."

He "had some problems", eh? Well, the fact that he had more "problems" than experience in corrections when doogie appointed him and he still appointed him anyway just may have had some bearing on those "problems", putz.

Ya gonna tell me that doogie didn't say that this was the worst economic situation he'd seen since the early '80s now too, little fella?

Nice try. No sale.

"Now name a governor whose appointments all worked out."

He didn't name these nitwits the under assistant west coast promo man, shmendrik.

Like his boy, shrub, he named them to key posts, despite the fact that they were incompetent hacks because he's and incompetent hack and because they were loyal doogies.

"Incompetence isn't about political philosophy or where we are in the business cycle. It's about Keystone Cops-type blunders. Like Waco."

Or like 9/11, Afghanistan, Iraq, Abu Ghraib, Gitmo, Katrina, Valerie Plame, Scooter, Cheney, Rove, the Banking Crises, The Housing Crises, The Economic Meltdown, etc, etc, etc.

You really gotta stop leadin' with your chin and make an effort, little fella.

"Only you'd need a series of them to make a blanket incompetence statement."

etc, etc, etc.

"Just because you can use a word in a sentence doesn't mean you can use correctly."

Clearly, your ignorant anonymous ass can't even clear that hurdle, little fella.

C'mon. Make an effort, for Christ sake.

Always a pleasure.
 
Anonymous said...

""The Bennington Office Building debacle is a glaring example of Douglas's incompetence.""

"What would you have done differently?"

Nice try.

He's not Governor, nitwit. Just because the electrician doesn't know how to do brain surgery doesn't get the brain surgeon off the hook for botchin' the operation and killin' the electrician's kid, clueless.

"Clinton was rarely ever called incompetent, but the Waco debacle was much worse."

Well, as long as we're talking about things that have no relevance to the topic at hand or weren't conducted in their capacity as governors, little fella, worse than 9/11? Afghanistan? Iraq?

You really gotta seek professional help about these suicidal tendencies of yours, little fella.

Always a pleasure.
 
That Bennington thing is the tip of the iceberg. This guy wants to put these bad buildings under the rug.
 
"Or like 9/11, Afghanistan, Iraq, Abu Ghraib, Gitmo, Katrina, Valerie Plame, Scooter, Cheney, Rove, the Banking Crises, The Housing Crises, The Economic Meltdown, etc, etc, etc."

Which one of those was a Douglas call? You said Douglas was incompetent. That "his boy" stuff is wearing thin. 54 percent of Vermonters didn't buy your crap for a moment.

Douglas had a couple people who didn't have much direct experience with their particular agencies/departments, even though they had plenty of administrative experience, plenty of smarts, and some (Gasp!) loyalty to the governor. Wooooooooooooooooooh! Scary stuff! Every, I mean every, governor and every president has a certain number of kitchen cabinet type appointments. Big freakin' deal.

"He's not Governor, nitwit. Just because the electrician doesn't know how to do brain surgery doesn't get the brain surgeon off the hook for botchin' the operation and killin' the electrician's kid, clueless."

In tort law, something like history and economics that you know nothing about, there is a concept called the reasonable person standard. If a reasonable person in that position would have handled it the same, there's no liability. To litigate successfully, one would have to demonstrate what one would do differently. You, sport, are attempting to try Douglas in the court of public opinion on a charge of incompetency. You lost on Nov. 4. You've lost here. You've got bupkis. And you bore me.
Over and out, chief.
 
Douglas won - the other two didn't even come close - get OVER it.
 
Anonymous....

""Or like 9/11, Afghanistan, Iraq, Abu Ghraib, Gitmo, Katrina, Valerie Plame, Scooter, Cheney, Rove, the Banking Crises, The Housing Crises, The Economic Meltdown, etc, etc, etc.""

"Which one of those was a Douglas call? You said Douglas was incompetent. That "his boy" stuff is wearing thin. 54 percent of Vermonters didn't buy your crap for a moment."

Nice try, nitwit. Your ignorant anonymous ass pulled that door open with the wacko Waco remark and your teeth. Both of 'em.

I merely closed it with my foot.

Bummer. You're down to one. You're just gonna have to loop it around the sole survivor and tug now, nitwit.

Gee, that's a shame.

Douglas had a couple people who didn't have much direct experience with their particular agencies/departments, even though they had plenty of administrative experience, plenty of smarts, and some (Gasp!) loyalty to the governor. Wooooooooooooooooooh! Scary stuff!"

It is if they don't know what the hell they're doin' and they pull a shrub and put a helluvajob hofie in a position he's got no business bein' in and people suffer and die needlessly because of it, little clueless-cretin fella.

"Every, I mean every, governor and every president has a certain number of kitchen cabinet type appointments. Big freakin' deal."

It was to Brooke Bennett and her family and friends, little fella.

Ask them how they feel about your sorry butt playin' the "everybody does it card", clueless.

"He's not Governor, nitwit. Just because the electrician doesn't know how to do brain surgery doesn't get the brain surgeon off the hook for botchin' the operation and killin' the electrician's kid, clueless."

Nice try, little factose-intolerant fella.

Clearly, there's nothing under the sun of which you know absolutely nothing about.

The folks back home in know nothing nation - the next generation must be so proud.

"In tort law, something like history and economics that you know nothing about, there is a concept called the reasonable person standard. If a reasonable person in that position would have handled it the same, there's no liability."

In other words, he's toast.

A veritable charred pop-tort

Nice try, little factose-intolerant fella.

Apart from the fact that he's not being tried in a Court of Competent Jurisdiction, little factose-intolerant fella, unlike your ignorant anonymous ass, unfortunately, he's not just another nameless nitwit on the street.

He's the Governor of the State of Vermont. He's supposed to know what the hell he's doing and so are the incompetent hacks he puts in positions of importance where their incompetence not only costs Vermont a lot of money, it can cost innocent people their lives and liberty.

A reasonable person in that position would not appoint an incompetent hack to a position they had no qualifications for or business being in.

That constitutes reckless disregard and contributory negligence.

It's gonna take a bit more than the "I didn't mean it, Mommy!" defense to get him off the hook.

That doesn't work for my six year-old nephew. He's supposed to know better. So is the Governor of Vermont, schmuck.

Bush and the gop-slime brigade were and will continue to be held accountable for the incompetent trash that was helluva job brownie and scooter the slimeball.

He may well pardon them on his way out the door since he's decided to phone in the last six months of his Presidency to trash the environment and polish the turd that is his legacy at taxpayer expense while the World looks to Obama to save them from this nightmare even though he can't do legally do anything until the scum has been evicted, the joint has been fumigated and January 20th, 2009 rolls around.

This is doogie's watch. He's responsible for what happens and the scum he deputizes. If they screw up, it's on the putz in the pavilion.

Ask Brooke Bennett. Ask the next husband of the next soccer mom with a mini-van full of kids on their way home from the game who lands in the river because the forking' bridge collapsed because doogie couldn't be bothered to appoint someone who knew their ass from their elbow.

Unfortunately, unlike doctors who botch operations or repeatedly amputate or operate the leg marked "N" instead of the one marked "Y" - see if ya can crack the code, little clueless-cretin fella - it's extremely difficult, bordering on impossible, to try public officials for their misconduct, malpractice and incompetence while in office. That, however, doesn't make them any less incompetent and clueless. It just shields their beach house from judgement.

If doogie and his boy, shrub, could be legally held accountable for their incompetence and gross negligence, OJ would get his Heisman and his Hertz Commercials back before those gop-slime swine saw the light of day.

You're dumb, you're scum, ya got bupkis and I'm gonna miss smackin' your ignorant anonymous ass from pillar to post on a regular basis, little fella, but I'll get over it.

Another nameless nitwit will fall off the schmuck truck and take your place in a heartbeat. Here's one now.

You're already gone. I had a blast.

Dismissed.
 
You had a blast using the dead girl for your jollies, J-Dubber?
 
The way I see it, J.W., you've gotten your ass smoked on several occasions by a number of different posters. Not sure, and yes the anonymous posts can be confusing, but I'd say there are at least four people on this site pretty regularly whose IQs tower over J.W.s. Loved the Middlebury guy and the spelling thing. That was funny. It reminded me of Doc in "Tombstone." The frustrated poker player gets pissed, so Doc says, "I know. Let's have a spelling contest."
 
We all know Bush is incompetent. Clear pattern there. Old news. New guy coming in. But the Waco thing the guy brought up is interesting. One incident. But it dwarfs a single parole officer forgetting to tell a judge something about a conviction in NH. And the massive blunder, which leads to dozens of deaths, was made way closer to the top. But even the GOPsters didn't call Clinton incompetent. Because it was not a pattern. They called him sleaze bag. Perjurer. But not incompetent.
 
Sue Clinton! Take away his beach house!
 
Jim Douglas has a place on the Vineyard.
 
Anonymous said...

"You had a blast using the dead girl for your jollies, J-Dubber?"

Nice try, little clueless-cretin cadet. I'm not doogie. I didn't appoint the incompetent-trash who let Jacques out.

Helluvajob hofie was doogie's idea. He's his responsibility.

However, if you "think" you can tie me to her death or establish malpractice or contributory negligence on my part for doogie appointin' the schmuck, knock yourself out, little fella.

You've got the name, address and number, nitwit. Call a cop.

If they get lost along the way, you can provide 'em with google map directions to the place.

Knock yourself out, nitwit. Save me the trouble.

Always a pleasure.
 
Anonymous...

"The way I see it, J.W., you've gotten your ass smoked on several occasions by a number of different posters."

So, what you're sayin' is that we can add legally blind and diminished capacity to your ever-expanding list of maladies, little factose-intolerant fella.

Gee, thanks for clearin' that up.

"Not sure,.."

You're not kiddin', clueless.

Always a pleasure.
 
Anonymous said...

"We all know Bush is incompetent. Clear pattern there. Old news."

No, unfortunately, it still falls under the category of current events, little factually-challenged fella.

"New guy coming in."

New Congress and Legislature, too. And not a moment too soon.

"But the Waco thing the guy brought up is interesting. One incident. But it dwarfs a single parole officer forgetting to tell a judge something about a conviction in NH."

"And the massive blunder, which leads to dozens of deaths, was made way closer to the top. But even the GOPsters didn't call Clinton incompetent. Because it was not a pattern."

And during which of Clinton's terms as Governor of Arkansas did Waco happen again, wacko?

Gee, thanks for clearin' that up, little fella.

Iraq. The current economic meltdown. Next.

Of course, in addition to Waco, the gop-slime brigadiers tried to blame him for Ruby Ridge despite the fact it happened when Bush was in office, but you gop-slime brigadiers have never been ones to let the facts stand in your way.

No, it wasn't a pattern, putz, but the gop-slime brigade have never been ones to let the facts stand in your way.

"They called him sleaze bag. Perjurer. But not incompetent."

No, but they tried. Unfortunately for them, peace and prosperity are not elements of malpractice or gross negligence.

And when was he found guilty of perjury, little factually-challenged fella?

Even with ken starr's 70 million dollar fishing expedition, they laughed that wastewater/paula jones fishing story outta Court.

Feel free to check. Look it up. Learn something. Something real.

Always a pleasure.
 
Anonymous

Sue Clinton! Take away his beach house!

Good luck. Godspeed, little nameless-nitwit fella. Godspeed.

Always a pleasure.
 
Back away from the "cough medicine" Coop!
 
Anonymous...

"Back away from the "cough medicine" Coop!"

Looks like your sorry butt picked the wrong day to quit huffin' paint, little fella.

Always a pleasure.
 
Jeff, You NEED to get help. See a healthcare professional.

Call Washington County Mental Health. Your life can be better than this.

I'm not attacking you. I'm trying to help you. Get help, man.
 
“And during which of Clinton's terms as Governor of Arkansas did Waco happen again, wacko?”

Clinton was President from 01/20/1993 through 01/20/2001.

The Waco incident took place from 02/28/1993 through 04/19/2003

Your boy Bill was at the helm of the United States, not Arkansas.

Just why you bring up the matter of Clinton’s terms a governor is an interesting question. If it is an attempt to claim that somehow the governor of Arkansas had something to do with events in Texas you are exceedingly misinformed.

If it was an attempt at distraction you are exceeding delusional about your abilities in any sort of debating.
 
Anonymous said...

“And during which of Clinton's terms as Governor of Arkansas did Waco happen again, wacko?”

"Clinton was President from 01/20/1993 through 01/20/2001."

Ah, yes, the good old days of peace and prosperity. Good times.

That musta been hell for you loons.

Thanks for clearin' that up, little fella.

"The Waco incident took place from 02/28/1993 through 04/19/2003"

"Your boy Bill was at the helm of the United States, not Arkansas."

Again, your firm grasp of the obvious is breathtaking, tiny dancer.

"Just why you bring up the matter of Clinton’s terms a governor is an interesting question. If it is an attempt to claim that somehow the governor of Arkansas had something to do with events in Texas you are exceedingly misinformed."

Nah, I merely did it to throw it back in the face of - amongst others - the nameless nitwit who may or may not be you responsible for the psychotic slop that follows:

Anonymous said...

"We all know Bush is incompetent. Clear pattern there. Old news. New guy coming in. But the Waco thing the guy brought up is interesting. One incident. But it dwarfs a single parole officer forgetting to tell a judge something about a conviction in NH. And the massive blunder, which leads to dozens of deaths, was made way closer to the top. But even the GOPsters didn't call Clinton incompetent. Because it was not a pattern. They called him sleaze bag. Perjurer. But not incompetent."

As even the dimwitted likes of your sorry butt should know by now, little nameless-nitwit fella, whenever possible, I always like to hang you meshuggah mopes with your own rope.

Why waste money on good rope unnecessarily when there's plenty of leftovers layin' about.

Reuse. Recycle. Just keepin' it green. I know you nameless-nitwits value the environment as much as I do.

Luckily for me, you guys make it possible most every time ya spew your slop, so thanks for makin' my life easy that way.

"If it was an attempt at distraction you are exceeding delusional about your abilities in any sort of debating."

Actually, that would be "you are exceedingly delusional about your abilities in any sort of debate", little fella.

You're welcome, and yes, you are.

I think we've covered that point, putz. If you're the nameless-nitwit in question, you're caseless, clueless and ya got no beef.

If it wasn't you, then what's it to ya?

Again, just when did Clinton allegedly perjure himself, little fella?

Once again, you're caseless, clueless and ya can't even spell what ya can't substantiate.

You couldn't debate a doorknob, knucklehead.

I'd take the knob and the points, fleece you sorry butt and live off the fat of the lunatic-fringe lamb, little fella.

Always a pleasure.
 
Jeff, there are mental health professionals who can help you. Reach out to them. It will be okay.

This isn't an attack. People want to help. You just need to ask.
 
"That's a 55% jump in only 7 years."

Then why did the Democratically-controlled Legislature vote for those increases?

Answer: because they hope to win the Gov's seat back some day and they want that salary when they do.
 
"The Bennington Office Building debacle is a glaring example of Douglas's incompetence."

No, the Bennington Office Building is an example of mass hysteria.

And didn't the complaints about that building start while Dean was still Gov?
 
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