Vermont, enough said
I traveled to Maine for the first time in my life this past week. Returning to the Adirondacks on Wednesday, we traversed Vermont. The idea was to take backroads and enjoy the scenic vistas that this progressive state has to offer. The original plan was to take Route 2 and skirt the Green Mountains, but I suggested an alternate route down 100 and across on 125 to drive through the center of the mountains. Route 100 passes down the east side of the Green Mountains. It is a very wooded area with a river that runs along the road for quite a ways. (The picture above is just one of the tudleys you can view along this route.)
So here we are, heading south on Rte 100, when to our left, there abruptly apears a small field filled with little white flags and a sign that reads, “American Military Dead in Iraq, 3538 “.
City Magazine puts the number this week at 3539, I suppose there is a margin of error here.
Truthout says a recent ambush caps the 3 bloodiest months ever:
U.S. casualties have been rising since President Bush ordered nearly 30,000 more troops to Iraq in a major push to pacify Baghdad and surrounding areas. The goal was to curb the violence so Iraq’s Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish leaders can strike agreements to share power in this fractious country.
So, why the surge, Mr. Bush ? Why are we still fighting this unwinnable battle ? Why are we going after hornet’s nests with baseball bats and why do I have to find 3 thousand flags honoring our war dead in a quaint field in Vermont when you won’t allow us to honor them by viewing their flag draped coffins as they are returned to their country which they fought so bravely to protect ? It’s coming up on the Fourth of July, Mr Bush. It’s time to answer these questions. Our founding fathers are rolling over in their graves. Vermont gets it-why don’t you?
(and what does this have to do with Rochester, you might ask ? Well, the next town on Route 100, past the turn off to 125 is Rochester, Vermont, of course ! 
)
Thanks for this. I love when our blog team becomes roving reporters. As I found out in seattle, I can’t just visit a place anymore. My eyes are peeled for interesting progressive stuff.
Yeah - we should double our travel budget!
I suppose it takes time to update the casualties on the signs. The definitive source for me is this site.
http://icasualties.org/oif/
Nice post.
You’re right this war cannot be won, but does anyone even know what a win would be? That’s the problem of going into something quickly, under false pretenses and without any exit strategy.
I thought the invasion of Iraq had two purposes–get rid of Saddam and allow Iraq to have their first democratic election. Both of those things have been done.
So, why are we still there? OIL.
There’s also something really sad about the fact that now more American soldiers have been killed than Americans were killed in the 9/11 attacks.
This says so much about Bush’s war and its planning and goals and how little he truly values American lives. Stay the course=more will die.
The town you passed through with the flag memorial was Warren, VT, just a few miles north of Rochester, VT. Warren is the home of my daughter, son-in-law, and grandson. It is a wonderful, spirited, progressive town. Warren’s Fourth of July parade is famous. It’s message is almost universally progressive and it’s floats are world class (thanks to a coterie of talented architects who populate the community). I tried to put pictures of the 2006 parade up but couldn’t figure out how to do it. The flags you saw planted marched on three floats in the parade before they were put in the ground. The Sugarbush Ski Resort had a float with a big sign on the back saying “Make Snow Not War!”
Oh, thank you so much for this information. I’m glad you saw the post and were able to reply. How lucky your daughter and family are to live there. We stopped at the Hotel on the corner of 100/125 and waited out a downpour while we ate a fabulous, home cooked meal. I look forward to getting back that way and am now encouraging my youngest son to consider Middlebury for his continued education.
There are no Wal-marts in Vermont!!!
Unfortunately, there are a few Walmarts. I knew that Vermont communities had forced Walmart to modify its typical store before letting them in but I guess there is one that is awful and more are threatened. Just looked this up. http://www.vermontwalmartwatch.org/walmart_plan.html Even in Vermont, Walmart crushes through the opposition.
Regardless, Vermont is still one of the best places in the country for progressives to find like minded souls. Many towns, Warren included, passed impeachment resolutions several months ago. Everyone votes at these town meetings and my daughter and son-in-law cast their votes to impeach George.
What about Cheney?
Good question!
Complements of my son in law: The resolution was to impeach both Bush and Cheney. It passed in the Vermont senate but failed in the house. It follows:
Senate Resolution
By Senators White and Shumlin,
S.R. 16. Senate resolution urging Vermont’s Representative in the United
States House of Representatives to introduce, and Vermont’s United States
Senators to support, a resolution requiring the United States House
Judiciary Committee to initiate impeachment proceedings against the
President and the Vice President of the United States.
Whereas, President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney have
exercised the duties of their respective offices with respect to both
domestic and foreign affairs in ways that raise serious questions of
constitutionality, statutory legality, and abuse of the public trust, and
Whereas, the President’s conduct in his role as Commander in Chief in
leading our nation into the military conflict in Iraq, and the Vice
President’s continual advocacy for American troops remaining in Iraq, have
cost the United States much of the good will that was extended to our
country in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the
United States, and
Whereas, the President’s and the Vice President’s domestic leadership on
issues relating to individual privacy and personal liberty under law has
raised constitutional issues of the greatest concern to the nation’s
citizenry, now therefore be it
Resolved by the Senate:
That the Senate of the State of Vermont urges Vermont’s Representative in
the United States House of Representatives to introduce, and Vermont’s
United States Senators to support, a resolution requiring the United States
House Judiciary Committee to initiate impeachment proceedings against the
President and the Vice President of the United States, and be it further
Resolved: That the Secretary of the Senate be directed to send a copy of
this resolution to Unites States Representative Peter Welch, United States
Senator Patrick J. Leahy and United States Senator Bernard San
It is great to see this kind of discussion arising from this local blog. Anybody want to take the ball and run with it ? I know that neither my state senator (Alesi), nor my assembly person (Erigo) would sponsor such a thing. Anybody have a progressively minded NYS legislator who might want to climb on board?
“And if ever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is a right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government…………………..it is a right, it is a duty”
Sadly, I do not believe that any NY State legislator would run with this. Remember, in Vermont the state legislature took it up after resolutions were passed by most of the state’s towns. In the towns, individual citizens voted - true democracy!
[...] roving reporter, reporting in, from North River, New York, in the company of Exile and Stlo7, where, once again a field of flags has taken up residence in an out-of-the-way location to remind those of us who traverse the country, [...]