Leahy's Vote Sparks Protests in Burlington

Vermont residents protest outside of Senator Patrick Leahy's Burlington office

BURLINGTON: On the heels of Senator Patrick Leahy's vote in support of the National Defense Authorization Act residents of Burlington as well as Ferrisburg, Bristol, and other surrounding towns arrived outside Leahy's Main St. office building to protest his vote that supported, among other things, the codifying into law, the indefinite detention, without charge or trial, of American citizens.

Feeding off the national debate that the NDAA has stirred up, Vermonters demanded a meeting with Leahy's staff in order to air their grievances. Meeting yesterday at 4pm with Leahy's Chief of Staff John Tracey, the Vermonters expressed grave disappointment with their Senator. "Apparently the tradeoff of getting National Guard Representation on the Joint Chiefs of Staff was worth it to nullify our Constitution. Even with the signing statement, who's to say what interpretation the next President will have when they come into office?" said Jonathan Leavitt, a Burlington resident who attended the meeting.

John Tracy, Sen. Leahy's Chief of Staff speaks with Burlington residents in his Main St. office on Tuesday afternoon

"Senator Patrick Leahy has a long history of defending the Constitution and will continue to do so in the future" said Tracy who repeatedly, if somewhat robotically, articulated his admiration and dedication to Leahy despite the recent vote for NDAA which was subsequently signed into law by President Obama.

Meanwhile, the protest continued down on Main St. as various members of the press arrived to conduct interviews and photograph various protesters, some of whom concealed their faces, citing distortion of their words by the local corporate media in the past.

A Burlington protestor speaks anonymously with a journalist not far from Leahy's office

For more photographs by Dylan Kelley please visit his photo-blog here.

Occupy Movement Confronts "Public Debate" of GOP Primary Pt. 2

BURLINGTON: Picking up from my post from yesterday, following a group of Occupiers from Burlington as they confront the GOP candidates and highlight the inequality of the corporate funded election system in America. The intrepid crew of Vermonters began the day by waking up at 5am and traveling to Concord to begin planning for the morning's GOP debate in that city. After scouting several buildings surrounding the debate hall, the Vermonters assisted in unfurling an Occupy banner proclaiming "THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN" that immediately captured the attention of the national press corps.

Throughout the morning, Occupiers were stationed at a variety of locations outside the debate hall and armed themselves with songs and chants such as "Solidarity Forever", "Get up, get down, Concord is a Union town!" (which was subsequently echoed by a crowd of union workers across the street), as well as "Banks got bailed out, we got sold out!", as well as many thunderous repetitions of "WE ARE THE 99 PERCENT!"

At approximately 9:15, a group of Occupiers from various parts of the country attempted to gain access into what was billed as public debate. Their stated reasons for wishing to attend the debate were that the if the candidates were holding a public forum on public property then they should therefore be open to any questions put to them by those who could potentially by their constituents by this time next year. Unsurprisingly, both the political security forces for each candidate as well as the Concord municipal police department refused to grant entry into the supposedly public forum and debate.

Approximately 15 minutes after the initial attempt to gain entry into the public forum and debate, an Occupier who insisted on speaking to the candidates re-attempted to gain access to the public forum and was subsequently restrained, thrown to the ground, and arrested.

Following this event and the conclusion of the debate, Occupiers (including those from Vermont) gathered at the various exits of the building and protested several positions stated by the respective candidates as they exited the building. Among the positions protested against were Newt Gingrich's proposition to overturn child labor laws as well as his characterization of African-American men, Rick Santorum's statement that equated homosexual relationships with bestiality, and Ron Paul's opposition to a woman's right to choose.

For more photographs by Dylan Kelley please visit his photography blog here.

Occupy Movement Confronts "Public Debate" of GOP Primary Pt. 1

An Occupier from New Hampshire is identified and stared down by Rick Santorum's security force

BURLINGTON: This weekend a group of Vermonters and others from around the country journeyed to the series camps and locations that make up Occupy the Primary in an effort to both confront the GOP candidates about their positions, as well as highlight the tragic farse that the corporate funded election system has created and continues to perpetrate upon the American people.

The first action of the weekend for Vermonters was to "bird-dog" (the asking of probing and pointed questions about candidates posititions) the former Senator Rick Santorum as he spoke to supporters in the town of Hollis, NH. Despite being out of the legislature for some time Santorum still managed to provide the Occupiers (who had discreetly sprinkled themselves throughout the crowd) with all the necessary evidence of his inadequacy for any public office.

After articulating his preposterously boot-strapping position that all that is required of Americans to avoid the affects of hard times is to graduate high school and have a traditional hetero-sexual marriage. This act of "boot-strapping" (that of perpetuating the myth that anybody can pull themselves up by their boot-straps, therefore, if you're poor it's your own fault) was not lost on the Occupiers who asked about his stripping away of social support programs, the NDAA, and his position on going to war with Iran. In response, Santorum fumbled and shuffled through his various platitudes with so little skill that after making what sounded (to him) like a strong point he had to ask the audience to clap for him.

Shortly after his remarks he was interrupted by the echoes of "MIC CHECK!-MIC CHECK!" that has become one of the hallmarks of the Occupy movement. They were summarily escorted off the premises by police and security personnel and threatened with arrest.

A Burlington Occupier Mic-Checks former Senator Rick Santorum while being conronted by his personal security force

Another member of Occupy Burlington addresses the national media about getting money out of politics

With Santorum throughly informed of Occupy's presence, the Vermonters moved on to the St. Anselm College campus to rally and hold a mock funeral for the "Death of the American Dream" outside the candidates' debate hall.

Occupiers light candles and hold vigil for the Death of the American Dream outside S. Anselm's College

An Occupier from Providence, Rhode Island captures the scene via smartphone

Occupiers prepare to move up the road toward the designated "free speech zone" as defined by the Police

Occupiers sing and chant by candle-light as they are confronted by GOP supporters

Occupiers kneel at a draped casked as they mourn for the American Dream

For more photographs by Dylan Kelley visit his photogaphy blog here.

Day 1 of Legislative Session, Beyond the Chamber

Vermonters gather at the State Capitol to remind their legislature of it's duties to work the well-being and Human Rights of all Vermonters

MONTPELIER- Yesterday marked the beginning of Vermont's 2012 Legislative Session. In addition the usual and expected activities going on in the chambers the State Reprentatives and Senate, this year's opening day witnessed a remarkable number of consituents as they journeyed through single digit temperatures to make their voice heard in the Capitol.

Coming from northern; central; and southern Vermont, the constituents came to personally lobby their elected officials to remember the fundemental needs of Vermonters. In addition to the omni-present red "PUT PEOPLE FIRST" t-shirts of the Vermont Workers' Center, there were also members of the Vermont Federation of Nurses and Professionals, Migrant Justice (formerly the Vermont Migrant Farmworkers Solidarity Project), as well as Mobile Home Park Residents for Equality and Fairness and AFT United Professionals of Vermont standing in solidarity with Early Childhood Educators. The Cedar Creek room based rally ended in an emphatic chant of "PUT PEOPLE FIRST! PUT PEOPLE FIRST!" that echoed through the halls of the Capitol.

Danilo Lopez of Migrant Justice speaks out for the migrant workers living in Vermont

Also on hand for day 1 of the Legislature was Staci Pomeroy of The DEC River Management Program to demonstate a River Process Simulator to lawmakers. Since Tropical Storm Irene devasted communities in Vermont last year, Pomeroy has been educating road crews and municipalties about proper river management and the dangers of being inadequately prepared for Irene-like events.

Staci Pomeroy of the DEC River Management Program explains flood events and erosion to a lawmaker in Montpelier before the official start of the session

STATE CONDUCTS LISTENING SESSION AS VERMONT WORKERS’ CENTER HITS ITS STRIDE

In a crowded hall of the Rutland Free Library, a mass of people are huddled together. They are speaking excitedly and directly on this cold Tuesday night in December. This is the health care Listening Session put on by the State to help determine how to finance the upcoming Green Mountain health care program following Governor Shumlin’s signing of the bill into law earlier this year.

Photo by Dylan Kelley

In its journey towards universally affordable health care the state is conducting these listening sessions (part educational slideshow, part discussion) in an awkward but important attempt to gauge how and from where to fund the landmark bill. “This is not the time to re-hash old arguments about the bill’s passage” said Michael Costa, Special Council for the Vermont Department of Taxes as he addressed the murmuring crowd in front of him. “This is the time to discuss how we’re planning to put all this together in time for 2013.”

After Costa’s presentation to those assembled at the library, the crowd divided into small discussion groups to talk about where from and how GMHC should be funded. While most participants eagerly (and even emphatically) engaged in constructive debate, some of those present were bitterly opposed to GMHC at the time of its passage and clearly expressed their continuing malcontent by ripping up the provided discussion materials and refusing to shake hands with other participants at the conclusion of the evening.

While billed as a “listening session” by its organizers, this evening, and others like it, are in actuality much more of a poll of those in attendance about where “the money” should come from to pay for Vermont’s bold plan to ensure affordable access to health care for all. Indeed, several legislators were seen drifting about from one group to the next, but the crux of the night was the distribution of tiny photo-copied dollar bills into various boxes labeled “Property Tax”, “Businesses”, “[Federal] Government” “State” and “Other”. Participants were asked to distribute each of their ten dollar bills into whichever box they felt most appropriate in order to pay for GMHC.

Remarkably, the big winner for the night was the box marked “other”, in which a brief description of the participants’ ideas were written on the reverse side of the bills. Disregarding the tattered pieces of paper that the previously mentioned attendee stuffed into their envelop, the most vocal participants of the night were supporters of the Vermont Workers’ Center whose familiar, and seemingly omnipresent, red “Rosie the Riveter/PUT PEOPLE FIRST” t-shirts were impossible to miss.

With the launch of the “Put People First” campaign, the VWC is championing the goal of the passage of a “People’s Budget” in Montpelier. This goal of part budget, part human rights initiative is designed to place the fulfillment of human and civil rights at the top of Montpelier’s priorities, thereby ensuring that the rest of the state’s business is arrayed to either uphold these rights or prevent their violation. A lofty goal to be sure, but one that is not so improbable as it may have seemed not so long ago.

Photo by Dylan Kelley

The global arrival of the Occupy movement, as well as its significant presence in Vermont has shone a new and powerful spotlight upon inequities and the substantial lost opportunities in the lives of working and middle class Vermonters. In addition to standing in solidarity with Occupy Burlington as well as Occupy encampments around the world, they’re also examining the dangerous situation of Vermont Yankee (a case likely to end up before the Supreme Court) as well as backing Sen. Bernie Sanders’ introduction of a Constitutional Amendment to eliminate corporate personhood in America.

How likely are these? Bernie’s bill will almost certainly fail in an increasingly corrupt Washington, but its worth noting that at their annual conference on December 10th, the VWC, in conjunction with UVM’s stellar Students Stand Up group drew as many as 500 people from across the country. The last time the VWC gather that many of its closest friends it managed to achieve the passage of a bill of Universal health care for all Vermonters at a time when the rest of the nation was mired in Washington brinkmanship and mudslinging.

If these stories from recent memory are anything to go by, and with more and more residents rising with the occasion that is piled so high with difficulty, the Vermont Workers’ Center is not only poised to become a game-changer in the name of Human Rights, not just for tiny Vermont, but for an entire nation.

Bottom of the Barrel

Occupy Burlington members march on Main Street

The Occupation is being smeared.

From it's beginning just a few months ago; to the tragic suicide in Burlington's City Hall Park; to the tearing down and destruction of the community of Liberty Plaza; there have been continual and coordinated efforts on the part of the powers that be to smear the occupiers as everything from dirty hippies, to criminals, and (now that NDAA is safely through the Senate) as would-be terrorists. The powers that be are both relentless in their struggle to defeat the Occupy Movement, and infinite in the depths of moral deficiency to which they're willing to slither.

It was no surprise a few months ago, when all of this started, that Occupiers were hearing shouts of "get a job", "take a shower", and the wide variety of other smelly slurs that have been repeatedly slung their way in numerous attempts to de-legitimize and undermine the ever-increasing population that proudly refer to themselves as "The 99 Percent". We were, after all, living outside in tents. Neither the occupiers, the slur-hurlers, nor the passive public were impressed or caught unawares at the mass media equivalent of one 3rd grader point at another and shouting "Oh yeah? Well you smell funny!"

It was no surprise when the mass media; the pundits; and the talking heads immediately pointed to the Occupy movement's lack of demands. Admit it, we all thought (and many of you out there continue to think) that the movement was a tad bit rudderless. But time and some careful research has shown that a lack of hyper-specific demands is actually effective. General demands can't be co-opted, watered down, or made to dance on the puppet string for the pretty politicians as they stoop over the macabre stage of national burlesque that they've always longed to dominate. General demands like "END CORPORATE GREED" are the contemporary descendants of "I AM MAN" that were seen across the country as civil rights protesters and activists struggled for equality and dignity. "END CORPORATE GREED", like all of the other demands that have surfaced and subsequently been criticized for being to vague and unrealistic is monumental in it's demand as well as it's force. One can't partially end corporate greed. To quote Robin Williams, this is like partially circumcising somebody. You either go all the way or you forget it.

The 99 Percent is unlikely to forget. Understanding this, the mass media, in a genuine reflection of those that write their checks and pay for their suits, continue to ham-handedly beat away on the dead horse of granite... desperately hoping, to no avail, the damn thing moves at least a little.

The Occupy movement has not been surprised by these things that have transpired. They even expected, and mischievously welcomed a few of them. There are some things however that have been a bit of a surprise. Not in recent memory have we seen the vast machine of corporate journalism so lowly conduct their business. Not in recent memory have we seen so a blatant dereliction of duty on the part of those whose very job description is to inform us about what is happening in the world around us. Not in recent memory have we seen such a flagrant disregard, amongst professionals, of the facts they were once dedicated to reporting.

In Burlington, several media outlets reported that Joshua Pfenning committed suicide after heavy alcohol consumption. This is an error. According to both eyewitness accounts as well as toxicology reports, which the well meaning journalists took it upon themselves to comment on before the tests were even run, Pfenning was NOT under the influence of alcohol at the time of his suicide.

A occupier at the vigil for Joshua Pfenning

In another story of journalistic "fairness", one media outlet reported on the "tremendous waste" of tax payer dollars that the Occupation of City Hall Park has inflicted upon the city of Burlington. During the story which aired only this week, the reported approached people on the streets of Burlington and asked "How do you feel about the outrageous waste of $9,000 that the City spent on cleaning up after the Occupiers?"

Oh, well now... so much for context. Records show that the majority of this was spent in police overtime. Police, fellow members of the 99 Percent, should never have overtime after all, that would be too expensive.

This story is looking at the tiniest possible piece of the great systemic pie. If the corporate news outlets would like to talk about tax payer waste maybe they should start talking, at long last, about the $14.5 million that mayoral candidate Miro Weinberger, loyal democrat, spent without any plans of repayment on the BTV parking garage. But hold on, that's just one candidate who made a bad decision... there's always that other guy right? Not really.

Tim Ashe, also hoping to be Burlington's next top dog, served on Burlington's Board of Finance just a few years back, during the period when that body approved of the $17 million loan to Burlington Telecom. And, as we all know, that totally worked out (FBI investigations aside). That's over $31 million wasted by just two guys who've now positioned themselves to charge headlong into the mayor's office. Go team.

A homeless protester makes an appearance at the Burlington Democratic Caucus

At the national level, Occupy Boston has been accused by the Boston Police Department of "significantly increasing drug traffic in the downtown area". Their evidence to back this up? A single arrest report in which one individual was arrested for selling medication for high blood pressure. There does appear to be some blood flow problems... but it seems to me like the BPD could use that medication more than those pesky tent-monsters.

All this goes well beyond the pot calling the kettle black. All this is frantic digging on the part of the corporate media to smear, undermine, and de-legitimize a movement that is beginning to genuinely threaten the status quo. To the 1 Percent'ers: if you continue to scrape the bottom of the barrel so vigorously you're going to get splinters under your fingernails.

Occupy Burlington Reels as Discussion on Demands and Democracy Continues in Public Consciousness

Photo: Dylan Kelley

"The landscape has changed significantly" said Burlington Chief of Police Mike Schirling, addressing a group of damp and emotionally exhausted participants of the Occupy Burlington movement. A few seconds later, an occupier burst into the room and announced that police outside were taking down tents and sealing off the entirety of Occupied City Hall Park in downtown Burlington. In seconds, much of the crowd rushed outside to the chants of "WHO'S PARK?-OUR PARK!-WHO'S CITY?-OUR CITY!"

Chief Schirling held his head in his hands. Clearly the conversation was, for the moment, over.

With the announcement by police, this weekend, that any tenting, sleeping, or camping activities City Hall Park is officially prohibited (and that such prohibitions will be strictly enforced), some occupiers and occupation supporters are expressing concern for their movement following the tragic death of Joshua Pfenning, a 35-year-old army veteran and park occupier who took his own life on Thursday afternoon.

Many of the concerns that are surfacing are the same as those that were discussed when the tents were first erected on the 28th of October. Among the concerns are the consistent and deliberate lack of specific goals, demands, and messaging on the park of occupations around the country and around the world. Sandy Baird, a professor of history politics, and law at Burlington College believes this not to be a weakness, but actually one of its primary strengths. "This movement does not seem to have specific demands. I think that's good because, in other words, it really can't be co-opted" explained Baird, "If you think of the two main criticisms that the occupiers are raising: one is to end greed. You can't end greed without ending capitalism."

Baird also commented on the particular difficulty of the Occupy movement in the United States, as opposed to the nonviolent revolutions of the Arab Spring, in regards to the absence of a specific figure or person at which to hurl its jest, "Most of the revolutions in other parts of the world have been against, I would say, real dictators. You know, Mubarek and the Arab Spring in particular." Baird further elaborated on the difficulties of the movement in the U.S.

"In this country it's harder to find who that political enemy is. In other countries it's easier because those countries don't pretend to be democracies. So in this country, the criticism I think has been mainly economic. And I think people have not aimed their criticism at also the government of the United States because the government of the United States is essentially a plutocracy. But I don't think people understand that as well about the U.S. as they do about the rest of the world."

In speaking to a variety of other occupiers and occupation supporters, (all of whom are quick to say that they can not and will not speak for the leaderless movement), the average passerby is likely to find a full spectrum of opinions, perspectives, and backgrounds. "I think we're at a stage in the movement when it's important to increase education and consciousness in order to build... big goals are essential to wide appeal. In the future I do believe that specific demands should and will be made as the people power increases" said Puja Gupta, a 28-year-old organizer in training at the Vermont Workers' Center who has supported the Burlington occupation from its earliest days and even braved frigid temperatures to sleep among the cluster of tents. "A variety of tactics are needed both within and outside the system in addition to support by the masses for the system to want to legitimize itself."

In addition supporting more specific goals as a method of increasing wider appeal for the movement, Gupta is also wary of the divisive nature of some of the movements chants, signs, and messaging. "I think thus far the 99% message has been incredibly effective in educating the masses on gross economic inequality. In order for the movement to grow it must recruit and sustain membership." Commenting on the necessity of gathering support from the entire spectrum, Gupta continued, "I believe we need the 99% and the 1% to come together a be 100% committed to systemic changes. People know what's happening and I think that shifting to more inclusive rather than divisive messaging can bring in more people." Smiling broadly, Gupta expressed unbridled enthusiasm as a rising organizer and spoke almost gleefully of the infectious nature of engaging in a rapidly growing movement. "It really is an addictive process, to be involved. Bottom line: action is necessary."

"The movement may be without a coherent message but that is what they're working towards. The slow, fair, and democratic method of generating consensus is obviously conceived in a desire for tangible solutions and a strong, unified message" was the distinctly coherent soundbite crafted by Aron Meinhardt, a 21-year-old student at Burlington College, when asked about his opinions regarding messaging and the demands of the Occupy movement. Meinhardt also noted that solutions for any problem of profound significance are always going to be more difficult to come by. "We can identify all the problems in a simple pamphlet or a sign, but to come up with realistic solutions to all these issues we'd need an entire book. We'd need volumes." Meinhardt also pointed to U.S. tradition and the right of the people to peaceably assemble as being linked to the particular discussion that has been generated by the occupation.

"I think protesting, a petition of the government for a redress of grievances, is as much of a patriotic imperative as anything else in the constitution. The occupation is like a Town Hall. It's a microcosm of democracy. It's a forum. People feel like something is wrong and it needs to be fixed, and it runs deeper than it seems, so we need to talk about it." Slightly echoing Meinhardt, Baird agrees that this move towards a more direct form of democracy and away from representative democracy is one of the critical aspects of the occupy movement. "They have established is a system of direct democracy. So that's their political goal, I think: the establishment of direct democracy. Bypassing representative government and the whole idea of a republic and instituting things like town meetings. If those were implemented we'd have a totally different society."

Though the pursuit of that different society continues in occupations around the world, the general feel about what is happening in Burlington in the wake of Pfenning's suicide remains up for debate. Sitting at the window of Muddy Waters cafe, Gupta considers the next step for Burlington's occupation. "I think what's most important is to keep morale high and to have more people involved. I think that the masses don't understand why there's no specific demands within the movement."