In Vermont, a Town-Meeting revolt over Iraq war

[reprehensor]

In Vermont, a Town-Meeting revolt over Iraq war

HUNTINGTON, VT. – This is a town with no diners, one church, two general stores, and 1,800 people. When the kindergarten teacher's son returned from Iraq after 10 months, the potluck church dinner in his honor was so packed no one had room to sit.

Only a handful of the more than 200,000 men and women who have been deployed to Iraq come from this sleepy whistle-stop. But everyone seems to know someone who has served, even died, there: a friend's husband, a neighbor, the son of the town clerk's best friend.

Here, at the foot of Camel's Hump peak, the war is palpable, not just something piped in over the nightly news. National Guardsmen from 200 of Vermont's 251 towns and cities have been shipped to Iraq, and recent statistics have shown that Vermont active service members have died there at a per capita rate higher than in any other state.

The closeness of the war, coupled with the state's penchant for taking on social causes, helps explain why a group of activists has gotten enough signatures here and in some 50 other Vermont communities to place resolutions about Iraq on the agendas of their Town Meetings, a New England ritual as local as tapped maple trees and as old as the American Revolution.

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[dweller]

1. an idea whose time has come

a little more: "On Tuesday, one-fifth of Vermont towns will consider what role the Vermont National Guard should play in the war, and whether American troops should be withdrawn."

imagine this happening in all communities in all states.

:kick:

dp

[madinmaryland]

2. Is it legal for the states to pull their National Guardsmen

out of the war? Who controls the national guard?

[MojoXN]

3. Yes!!!

GO VERMONT! I always knew that there was a reason that I liked that place, aside from the cheese, and maple syrup. And I had suspected that it was just the Green Mountains, or proximity to Canada. Now I know better. It's because Vermont fuckin' ROCKS. Please, deities, let them secede in, oh, I don't know, say, a year from now. I bet Vermont would be flooded with we progressives from Bushy states, like WV, or God forbid <cough> Texas. I honestly can't figure out how you non-idiot Texans can take it...

MojoXN

[Jade Fox]

4. Ah, yes, the cheese!

Love that Vermont cheddar. I'm hungry this morning. Food is taking
priority over politics.

Welcome to DU. :hi:

[colexmas]

5. Vermont town votes anti-Iraqi motion

I would like offer my condolences to all in Vermont who have lost loved ones in this war. I would also like to express my gratitude to all servicemen and women from Vermont who serve to protect our country. Not everyone will ever agree on a war, but we can all agree that our military service people are owed our gratitude for their sacrifices, despite local disagreements.

[MojoXN]

6. Absolutely!

Someone give colexmas a medal. My sentiments exactly! Always remember DU'ers, the soldiers are getting fucked by Bush more than anyone. May they come home swiftly and safely.

[Eloriel]

7. Nice post

And Welcome to DU