Remember George W. Bush’s arrested landing?

This Sunday May 1st it will be eight years since then President George W. Bush made what is called an arrested landing ( aircraft caught,stopped by tailhook and cable ) on the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln. Several hours later the huge carrier was maneuvered into the setting sun for perfect camera lighting so he could be filmed making his speech. Standing below a banner declaring Mission Accomplished Bush declared major combat operations in the Iraqi war were over.
He and his team had started a war and now he declared it was over.
The Nation’s Greg Mitchell has some of the gushing quotes heaped on the boy king by the fawning media. Here’s two that capture the insanity well

Maureen Dowd in her column declared: "Out bounded the cocky, rule-breaking, daredevil flyboy, a man navigating the Highway to the Danger Zone, out along the edges where he was born to be, the further on the edge, the hotter the intensity.

Chris Matthews on MSNBC called Bush a "hero" and boomed, "He won the war. He was an effective commander. Everybody recognizes that, I believe, except a few critics." He added: "Women like a guy who's president. Check it out. The women like this war. I think we like having a hero as our president. It's simple."

Mitchell also writes When Bush's jet landed on the aircraft carrier, American casualties stood at 139 killed and 542 wounded. That was over 4000 U.S. fatalities ago, and hundreds of thousands Iraqis.

Governor Shumlin’s famous high mileage maple syrup and vinegar

In the face of an impending pay-wall I clicked on the last of my twenty free articles in the New York Times to read

Vermont Exercising Option to Balance the Budget

It is hardly more than a quick peak at what is familiar to Vermonters

Technically, Vermont could play fast and loose in this season of fevered budget-chopping: it happens to be the only state with no budget-balancing requirement.
But Vermont, it turns out, is a fiscal goody two-shoes.

A fiscal goody two shoes (fewgadsake ‘take two Norman Rockwells out of petty cash for that reporter’ But can’t the New York Times do better than that if they want people to pay?) However it all burnishes Shumlin’s maple syrup versus vinegar credentials established at his testimony to the Congressional Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The Times references the Public Assets Institute support for a Snelling style solution of temporarily raising income and sales taxes and notes the 50 wealthy Vermonter’s begging to pay higher taxes. Quoting Progressive State Rep.Paul Poirier (where was Anthony Pollina ?).

“In the last three years, our little state of Vermont has cut over $300 million in direct services to people,” Mr. Poirier said. “Why not ask people who have done well during this recession to step up and pay a little more?”

I don’t agree with it but it’s understandable that the last thing in the world Peter Shumlin wants in the current political environment is to go into his reelection having raised taxes. He is smart and can turn on a dime when the need arises but right now, no way will he hand the Republicans and issue to bang him over head with. Got to admit to liking Shumlin and being very pleased he’s governor, but it rankles and he may just as well run his fingernails over a chalk board as say stuff like this

“But we’re already asking a lot of our wealthy residents.”

Former Vermont governor Jim Douglas coughed up this stuff everyday for eight years, too bad we are still hearing it from a Democrat.

Nuclear plant hit by US twisters

Ah, The Sun UK has a way with headlines .This got very little attention in the US amidst last weekend’s tornado tragedies and mayhem. It’s a tender time in the nuclear industry for any headline about two nuclear plant units getting knocked out by a storm and relying on back-up diesel generators for six hours. Nothing approaching The Sun’s grabber appeared here in the US and for that matter it was mostly below radar except for local outlets .

Coincidentally in early April the NRC held a public meeting to address local safety concerns about the Surry and nearby North Anna plants .The Virginia Pilot reported that in the post Fukashima environment 42 people showed up at the yearly meeting that normally draws two or three. “The good news is that neither North Anna nor Surry are likely to experience either an earthquake or a tsunami”. said Gerald McCoy of the NRC
Tornadoes weren’t mentioned so maybe they just dodged a bullet.

Two unit’s of Virginia Dominion Power’s 39 year old Surry nuclear power station(the plant recently had its license extended through 2012.) were knocked out of service this past Saturday by tornado storm fronts that caused considerable damage to the switchyard and a low level radioactive material release . This was reportedly below federally approved limits and posed no threat to station workers or the public according to the NRC.

Nuclear regulators said the plant's diesel generators and safety systems operated as required. Plant operators partially restored off-site power to both reactors within six hours of the storm, the Dominion spokesman said

Units 1 and 2 were operating at 100 and 98 percent power
respectively by early Friday, according to the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission.
Unit 2's refueling work has begun and is expected to last
about a month, according to Reuters data.
It last shut for refueling from about Nov. 1 to Dec. 1,
2009, and is on an 18-month cycle.

The Surry Unit #2 holds a sad place in commercial nuclear history - On December 9, 1986, a steam explosion in the non-nuclear part of Unit 2 killed 4 workers. This was the worst accident in terms of human cost of any in the US commercial nuclear industry.

Running under Shumlin’s nose?

Vermonter’s probably wouldn’t fault a politician for keeping the next campaign never far from his or her mind. And certainly not many would fault an office holder for wanting to keep their face in the spotlight and their ear to the ground about the public mood.
Therefore I am left wondering if Vermont Lieutenant Governor Phil Scott hasn’t started a highly visible yet stealthy campaign for higher office right under Governor Shumlin’s nose.

It’s hard to miss the genius of what Republican Lt. Governor Phil Scott with a passing resemblance to the Discovery Channels’ “Dirty jobs” host Mike Rowe hit upon with his “Vermont Everyday Jobs” Initiative. It is as if the last gubernatorial election’s contrived and awkward listening tours by former Lt.Gov.Brian Dubie had evolved legs or even wings to emerge as a higher campaign life form from the primordial ooze of earlier elections.

Scott may have crafted the perfect permanent campaign, Vermont style right under the governor’s nose. “Vermont Everyday Jobs” with a heavy emphasis on listening to business needs is designed to:

promote Vermont businesses and highlight the hard work that Vermonters do every day in all areas of our economy. By finding out firsthand, and in a hands-on manner, what it takes to make Vermont businesses work, the Lt. Governor will gain a better understanding of what state government can do to help those businesses work better. The tour will also help to facilitate relationships and ongoing dialogue between Vermont business leaders and their representatives in state government.

I would like to think Scott cooked it up while driving around and around in his stock car at Thunder Road International race track. Around and around he goes on the campaign trail.
Phil Scott has so far spent his days being an emergency department worker at a hospital, on an electric utility power line crew, changed oil at fast lube franchise, assembled items at a solar panel maker and taught spelling at a K-2 school.
He’s got six everyday business friendly jobs under his belt and more to follow. A steady series of press releases and mostly content free news stories about these “jobs” have appeared at almost regular intervals and Scott has avoided falling from the spotlight as can happen to less creative lieutenant governors.

With no liberal after-taste.

Well that's a surprize.

After all the hand wringing,the resignations and agony over NPR’s government funding turns out Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University and evangelical school get more money from Federal programs than NPR.

Located in Lynchburg, Virginia, Liberty’s motto is “Training champions for Christ.”

Last year, Liberty students received approximately $445 million in federal financial aid. NPR’s parent, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, got $420 million.

House Republicans have sworn to cut NPR out of the federal budget altogether, arguing that taxpayers shouldn’t be financing a news outlet with slanted coverage.

52,000 of the university’s 64,000 students are enrolled in online courses at Liberty University whose motto is “Training champions for Christ.”

The jump in attendance caused the school’s financial aid allotment to leap from $284 million in 2008-2009 to $445 million in 2009-2010.

Boehner cries,Spring Crazy bus sighted

It is a little early and there is still plenty of snow on the ground but time to roll out the Sneigwh Crazy Bus for the first time this spring.
Two Boehner related items of interest here as we charge into what may be a government shutdown. Has it really been over ten years since then Speaker Newt Gingrich shut down the government? Newt never cried though.

Boehner sheds tears

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) thanked House Republicans for standing by him and supporting him through tense negotiations with the White House. The Republican conference responded with a standing ovation which prompted Boehner to cry.

"Yes. He cried, but only briefly”

And this,which if the government is shutdown could determine who wins.
Whatever winning may mean.

Boehner falling out of favor

It hasn't taken John Boehner long to fall out of favor with the American public. His national approval rating has dropped a net 18 points already since the beginning of January. At the outset of the year 35% of voters approved of the job he was doing to 28% who disapproved and 37% who were reserving judgment. Now his approval has declined 10 points to 25% and his disapproval has risen 8 points to 36%.

[…]What might be most remarkable about Boehner's numbers is that Nancy Pelosi now has a higher approval rating than him- 30% to his 25%.

April 1st.Vermont Tigger makes it's debut

Vermont Tigger will give you pause for thought