The phrase “labored mightily and brought forth a mouse,” which I thought was Shakespeare but turns out to be from Aesop’s Fables, crossed my mind while reading the latest cover story in Seven Days. It chronicles the experiences of two rookie lawmakers in their first session in office, not a bad idea in itself. But the longer I went on reading (it’s long), the more I realized that this story was a mile wide and an inch deep. It traded in the obvious, provided little context, indulged the outsized expectations of the two lawmakers, and did little to justify its length or the sheer quantity of reporting that went into it.

And reporting time, in these days of diminished media outlets, is an extremely precious resource.

The story is the latest installment in “Ways and Means,” billed as “a deeper read on the Vermont Legislature.” It’s been heavily promoted by Seven Days, which secured special funding from “Vermont philanthropists”(see below) to hire reporter Hannah Bassett to explore the Legislature’s competence, efficiency, or lack thereof. It’s been an underwhelming effort so far; Bassett’s been on the case for six months and produced a mere five stories, most of which trafficked in the obvious (Lobbyists have influence! Legislative disclosure rules are weak! The Legislature’s lawyers work really hard!). Still waiting for an in-depth look at The Marble Palace.

A lot of Bassett’s time was invested in this latest effort. She followed the two lawmakers throughout the session, from early January to adjournment in mid-June. The story is rich with detail about their hopes, dreams, and blow-by-blow experiences. But that’s what it is: a compendium of details, a prime example of what editors disdainfully call a “notebook dump.” There was no effort to provide perspective or other points of view. Everything is seen through the eyes of the two principals.

Well, that blew up in Senate leadership’s face, thoroughly and decisively.

As reported by Vermont Public’s Lola Duffort, the senior chamber’s version of H.454, the education reform bill, has been indefinitely sidelined due to an embarrassing lack of support. Specifically, support among the Democratic majority. President Pro Term (With Egg On Face) Phil Baruth:

“I made a promise to people in the caucus that I wouldn’t bring a bill that had a little bit of Democratic support and a lot of Republican support, and currently that’s the only way that H.454 would make it through the process.” 

Pardon me if I fail to completely suppress a gleeful chuckle. Baruth and his colleagues put together a Senate Education Committee with three Democrats and three Republicans, including a Democratic chair with deep ties to the state’s approved independent schools, and they barfed out a bill that — surprise, surprise! — was too conservative to pass muster with the majority.

I’ve never led a legislative caucus, majority or otherwise, but this strikes me as a pretty clear case of leadership malpractice: Failing to keep tabs on one’s own caucus regarding the biggest issue of the year, leading to an embarrassing last-minute retreat. And Baruth seems to have no firm backup plan. He talked of possibly proceeding with the more public school-friendly House version of H.454 with maybe some amendments. But he also suggested that the Legislature could just go ahead and adjourn, as if to put him out of his misery.

Which maybe it will. But there’s Gov. Phil Scott threatening to call the Legislature right back into session until they manage to produce an education reform plan. Which he would probably then veto; he isn’t all that hot on the Senate version, and would certainly dislike a House-Senate compromise bill even more.

The way this whole thing has been mismanaged sets up a dynamic that sees the Democrats doing what they all too often do: Giving away some of their bargaining power for no good reason.

Today I stopped by a “honk and wave” event in downtown Barre, held by fans of Donald Trump to mark the 100th day of his second term. And there, pictured above, is the “crowd.” About a dozen people at most.

Pretty sad, right?

They didn’t exactly get the response they were hoping for. There was plenty of rush-hour traffic at Barre’s busiest intersection, but the vast majority of drivers ignored the gathering; Once in a while, someone honked their horn in a show of support.

This was one of 11 Vermont events organized, if that’s the right word for it, by Gregory Thayer, failed Republican candidate, critical race theory scold, and sponsor of the CovidCruiser bus trip to the January 6 insurrection. Perhaps he attracted more sign-wavers at other events around the state, but the Barre event was a bust.

One more thing, which ought to embarrass any American who loves their country.