Author Archives: John S. Walters

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About John S. Walters

Writer, editor, sometime radio personality, author of "Roads Less Traveled: Visionary New England Lives."

News You Should View (Or Listen To)

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The title of this weekly feature is never entirely accurate, since I often include audio content that you really can’t “view.”. But I’m amending the title this week because we have a really great audio piece in the leadoff spot. And, for those monitoring their Trump-related consumption, you’ll find a relatively moderate number of stories about That Manbaby in the White House.

A day in the life. From Vermont Public, a tremendous 20-minute audio documentary about a rare animal in modern times: the do-it-all rural primary care doctor. Producer Anna Van Dine’s voice only appears at the beginning and the end. In between, your narrator is the documentary’s subject: Dr. Bob Primeau, the only primary care doc in the Northeast Kingdom town of Island Pond. This must have taken a ton of time and effort, but it gives you a real sense of what it’s like to be a doctor, and a patient, in rural Vermont.

Also what it’s like to be a cog in a machine. “These days, it feels like the health care system has begun to disregard the most essential part of what it means to be a doctor,” Primeau says, citing ever-more-stringent demands for data entry that takes time away from stuff like talking to your patients. I spent many years working in public radio (never in Vermont), and the opportunity to produce this kind of content is what made the job so challenging and so rewarding.

Vermont’s health care system, teetering on the brink. VTDigger and Seven Days each delivered vital stories about financial troubles in our health care system. They spotlight different aspects of an issue, which is the kind of coverage we’ve largely lost in our teeny-tiny media ecosystem. We used to get a lot more of this when there were several strong outlets competing with each other, and we rarely get it anymore. Digger’s Peter D’Auria focused on Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont, which (a) insures roughly one-third of all Vermonters, (b) is the only in-state health insurer, and (c) has spent most of its financial reserves to cover a surge in claims.

Seven Days’ Colin Flanders, meanwhile, took a broader but equally sobering view of our health care landscape.

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Doing Something.

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Today we renewed our subscription to Consumer Reports, which had lapsed a few months ago. Considering that Trump is trying to drag us back to the days before the federal government even tried to regulate the safety and reliability of consumer products and services, CR may soon become as vital a watchdog as it was back in its early days.

Doing Something.

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A small thing today. We raided our pantry and set out a bag of nonperishable food items next to our mailbox for the National Association of Letter Carriers’ annual “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive. With our food banks facing high demand plus the effect of federal cuts to food assistance programs, it seemed like a good, if small, thing to do.

Doing Something, Vermont Mainstream Edition

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Pretty obvious move today. We made a donation to the brand-new Vermont Immigration Legal Defense Fund, launched on Thursday by a group of prominent political figures. Mostly Democrats, but Thom Lauzon, the mayor of Barre and longtime Friend of Phil, is on the “Team,” as is former Republican lawmaker turned lobbyist Patti Komline.

Oh, heck, here’s the whole list, in the order they appear on the VILDF website.

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Doing Something, Support Our Vets Edition

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Road trip! Today I attended an afternoon rally outside the Veterans Administration Medical Center in White River Junction. About 100 people gathered outside the gates; you’re seeing about two-thirds of ’em in this picture. Some were across the road from the entrance, including me.

The planned decimation of the VA system is one of the more shameful acts of Cadet Bone Spurs, and that’s saying quite a lot. He may fetishize the military, he may propose a massive increase in Defense Department spending, but he wants to slash health care for our veterans? And he’s installed a former Congressman as head of the VA who can’t seem to talk his way out of a paper bag when it comes to defending the cuts. The primary purpose of today’s rally was to show support for VAMC workers, who are facing about a 20% chance of losing their jobs. And those still employed will be forced to work that much harder to try to make up for the staff cutbacks.

The VA system is a promise we make to those who put their lives on the line in our defense. Whether the conflicts they served in were principled or predatory, we should not fail to do whatever is necessary to care for the well-being of our veterans.

Time for the AG to Take Center Stage

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Charity Clark is in a unique position. At a time when our democracy and our system of government are under threat from The World’s Biggest Golf Cheat, she is Vermont’s chief legal advocate. More so than, say, our other Democratic statewides, she has the authority to take action. And the responsibility.

So far, she has followed the Bill Sorrell playbook: Signing on to 13 lawsuits against the Trump administration filed by coalitions of Democratic attorneys general. She also gave a nice speech at Saturday’s lawyers’ rally in Burlington. (In which she oddly referred to the rule of law and the separation of powers as “kind of one of our major brands” as if the Constitution is a consumer product.) That’s all fine, but it’s kind of the least she could do.

Stepping forward on her own would take some courage, but would also be the smartest political move she could make. Setting aside right and wrong for just a moment and focusing on the politics, which is after all the remit of this popstand, Clark is one of a number of top-tier Democrats presumed to be angling for higher office. But she appears to lag behind Treasurer Mike Pieciak (but then, don’t we all?) in terms of profile, connections, and fundraising prowess. If she wants to run for governor or the next Congressional opening, she’ll need to raise her public profile and differentiate herself from a potential swarm of primary candidates.

The best way for her to do that — and also, ahem, do the right thing — is to find ways to lead the fight against Trump. Even purely symbolic moves would help.

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Doing Something.

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Today I wrote an email to U.S. Rep. Becca Balint thanking her for introducing a bill to protect the health care rights of transgender people. She introduced the Transgender Health Care Access Act a while ago and it’s not going to get anywhere in a Republican Congress, but her public advocacy is important — and encouraging — when trans folk are under attack from their own damn government. And it’s important to let our elected representatives know when they’re fighting the good fight.

“Rhetoric” vs. Reality

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Gov. Phil Scott continues to urge Vermonters to take a chill pill and ignore the bull rampaging through the china shop. He tells us to stop focusing on “the rhetoric in D.C.” — without identifying the source of the rhetoric. He did so once again last week in an interview with Vermont Public’s Michaela Lefrak which was faithfully, painfully, completely transcribed on VP’s website. Feast your eyes on this cornucopia of good talkin’.

Well, what— again, we have to wait for whatever the action is he takes against us here in the state, and react to that. And I, I think we have been doing that, but, but for all of us to fall into that trap, I think, is, would be unfortunate and it takes away from all the problems that exist here in Vermont today, that we’re not doing because we’re focusing on the rhetoric that he, he wants to stir up, and I don’t believe we can live in chaos for the next three and a half years. They just have too much to do, too much to accomplish right here in Vermont.

Winston Churchill would be proud.

Anyway, the governor couldn’t be wronger about this. First of all, we’re going to be living “in chaos for the next three and a half years” no matter what. Donald Trump is going to keep waving all the red flags and eroding our democracy and our federal government even if we take Scott’s advice and whistle resolutely past the graveyard.

Trump is a bully. He backtracks when confronted, and then seeks the soft spots in our defenses. It’s exhausting and yes, it takes a lot of time, but we don’t have the luxury of sitting back and waiting for rhetoric to turn into reality. Just ask immigrants, refugees, and transgender folk if they’re feeling secure these days.

Even when it’s nothing more than “rhetoric,” it creates tremendous uncertainty across the board. As Public Service Commissioner Kerrick Johnson told a legislative committee in February, “It changes daily in terms of the program. It changes daily in terms of the program and the people we’re required to work with. It changes daily in terms of the interpretation of the language and what’s being sent.” How the hell can the state do its job in that environment?

But c’mon, it’s gone far beyond mere rhetoric in more ways than I can count. Still, I’ll give it a try. What follows is a list of specific actions taken by the Trump administration that have already had a measurable impact on Vermont and Vermonters. I dare the governor look over this list and gabble placidly about “rhetoric.”

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Doing Something.

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Today I signed up (via LeanLeft Vermont) to write postcards to voters in Virginia, which will have state elections this fall. This involved buying postcards, since they want a unified look to the campaign. They cost about 55 cents apiece and look like this:

LeanLeft Vermont is promoting actions in states holding elections this year, including Virginia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. The most productive way to convince Republicans to back off is beating them at the polls, and the sooner the better.