Tag Archives: Phil Scott

The Soft Megalomania of Phil Scott

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It’s been quite a while since I forced myself to endure one of Gov. Phil Scott’s weekly press conferences. I know, it ought to be appointment viewing for Your Political Observer, but I’m my own boss here and I feel free to follow my muse and limit the self-sacrifices. Every gubernatorial presser takes a couple nibbles out of my soul.

But after his angry, neo-Trumpian press release about this week’s Vermont Labor Relations Board decision, I felt like I had to see how he’d follow up in his weekly presser.

And boy, did he ever. It was a festival of self-pity and blamecasting. Nothing is his fault; every problem we face is because of the incompetent spendthrifts in the Democratic Legislature.

(After seeing this performance, I’ve upped the odds on whether he will seek another term; if the chances of him running were 95%, they’re now at 99. And it’s gonna be a nasty campaign, although swaddled in his famously avuncular style. He’s got such a collection of receipts to cash in, he’s gonna need at least one more election cycle to clear his cache. Hell, he might stick around out of sheer spite until we’re asked to re-elect Phil Scott’s Head in a Jar in the year 2050.)

It’s the governor as innocent bystander. Which is a real stretch, considering that he is by far the most powerful person in state government. He is the chief of an executive branch with thousands of employees. His appointees run every department and agency. The Legislature, by contrast, consists of everyday people who get paid a pittance and have little to no staff support.

Let’s count ’em, shall we? The leaders of the House and Senate have one full-time staffer apiece. Each chamber has a small central staff to handle operations and paperwork. Each committee has a single staffer. The entire Legislature has two small support operations: the Joint Fiscal Office and the Legislative Counsel. Compare that to the small army of administrators, bureaucrats and line workers at Scott’s beck and call.

He runs the joint. If he can’t find ways to work across the aisle, that’s on him. I realize it’s no fun to face Democratic majorities for nearly a decade. But it’s his job to find common ground with opposition lawmakers who, after all, have as much of a mandate as he does. He has failed to do so, and that’s why so many of our problems have gotten worse during his tenure.

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Tightrope’s Gettin’ Mighty Slick There, Governor

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I haven’t written about last week’s appalling, wasteful, inhumane, dangerous, and just plain stoooooooooooooooooopid ICE action on Dorset Street in South Burlington. You know, the one that endangered countless area residents and students and staff at SoBu High, caused the closure of one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares for hours on end, needlessly endangered children and anti-ICE protesters, and ended up with the detention of people ICE wasn’t looking for in the first place. (Oh, and according to Seven Days, ICE agents showed up at the suspect house WITHOUT A WARRANT, which caused hours of delay while the situation grew tenser and tenser.)

Because, you know, they needed some trophies.

I haven’t written because our news media actually rose to the occasion, offering consistent, detailed coverage of the raid and its aftermath. First prize goes to Seven Days for sticking to the story and providing meaty follow-ups, but multiple outlets put their shoulders to the wheel and kept on pushing in a way we rarely see in our age of diminished newsrooms. But there is one aspect of this sorry misadventure that falls squarely in the purview of this Vermont Political Observer.

Which is, Gov. Phil Scott’s ongoing efforts to walk a tightrope between humanity and the Republican administration in Washington. His contributions are unsatisfying, unedifying, and unlikely to work if the goal is to keep Vermont out of Trump’s crosshairs.

They sure aren’t doing anything to help Vermont’s immigrant communities. Worse, outside of the occasional carefully-worded condemnation, Scott’s government is actively complicit with Trump’s racist, authoritarian crackdown. The stain on our collective conscience is still growing, and Scott bears his share of responsibility for that.

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Where No Democratic Officeholder Has Gone Before

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Meet Amanda Janoo, the first person to declare a Democratic candidacy for governor in 2026. She follows in the lineage of past challengers to Gov. Phil Scott in one very important — and unusual, if not unprecedented — way: No one who has been the Democratic gubernatorial nominee since Peter Shumlin’s last run in 2014, meaning no Phil Scott opponent ever, entered the race while holding elective office as a pure-D Democrat.

And that’s a massive, damning indictment of the Democratic establishment.

Let’s do the rundown.

  • 2016: Sue Minter, former state representative and member of Shumlin’s cabinet, the only Scott challenger who had ever held any elective office as a pure-D Democrat. She’d served three terms as a state representative from Waterbury, ending in 2011.
  • 2018: Christine Hallquist, CEO of the Vermont Electric Cooperative.
  • 2020: Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, who served as a Progressive/Democrat and got little to no support from the Democratic Party or its donor base.
  • 2022; Brenda Siegel, nonprofit executive and advocate on housing and homelessness policy.
  • 2024: Esther Charlestin, co-chair of the Vermont Commission on Women. (She had served on the nonpartisan Middlebury select board.)

And now Amanda Janoo, who’s had a very impressive career completely outside the realm of partisan politics. She has stepped forward at a time when top-tier and second-tier and bottom-of-the-chili-pot Democrats are nowhere to be seen.

Again, a damning indictment of the party and its (cough) leaders.

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Put on Your Hazmat Suits, We’re Paying Another Visit to Planet Hank

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Now we know exactly how sincere Hank Poitras was in his non-apology for his racist, misogynistic online history. Because what you see above is the chair of the Windham County Republican Committee cackling and sniggering his way through an OnlyFans video depicting a sex act, which he gleefully shared on his YouTube channel in an effort to defeat a candidate for school board in Chester.

Shared, need I add, in apparent violation of OnlyFans’ Acceptable Use Policy.

This story was reported by The Chester Telegraph’s Cynthia Prairie, and no one comes out of it looking good. But the main point for my purposes is, should Hank Poitras occupy a position of influence in the Vermont Republican Party? I cannot see how party chair Paul Dame or Gov. Phil Scott can possibly tolerate his presence.

The details, outlined as briefly as possible because of the very high Ick Factor:

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The Elephant in the Room

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Dearie me. I seem to have triggered a bit of a firestorm in Vermont political circles with last week’s piece about Hank Poitras, the foul-mouthed videographer, podcaster, and (shamefully) chair of the Windham County Republican Committee. (I’d referred to him as chair of the Brattleboro party committee, per The Brattleboro Reformer, but apparently he’s a bigger fish than that.) Poitras is pictured here in one of his own videos, thrusting middle fingers skyward and shouting “Fuck all you liberal motherfuckers!” just like a good Phil Scott Republican. (I think that’s how the governor kicks off his weekly press conferences, but I could be mistaken.)

My post, which featured some of Poitras’ more loathsome on-the-record comments, caused consternation in VTGOP circles and prompted Vermont Public’s Peter Hirschfeld and Lola Duffort (wow, team effort) to produce a very good piece about The Artist Who Styles Himself As “Planet Hank.”

Poitras was scheduled to share a stage with VTGOP chair Paul Dame and Barre Republican Rep. Michael Boutin last Friday evening. After media inquiries, Boutin sought to remove Poitras from the program and then withdraw from the event before changing his mind following “prayer and counsel,” according to Boutin’s Facebook page, where you can watch his brief address to the smallish crowd.

It also seems to have scared Dame away from a personal appearance. He begged off at a very late stage, citing “unexpected family obligations,” and sent along a video message instead. Probably had to walk the dog or summat.

I have to tell you, this is one of the proudest moments of my decade-plus as a Vermont Political Observer.

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I Don’t Think Vermont Republicans Really Want to Share a Stage with Planet Hank

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Warning: This post contains quite a lot of bad, offensive language. It all comes from the subject of the post. I feel that it must be presented in unexpurgated form because it illustrates the mindset of the subject. The worst of the language will be in quote boxes and preceded by trigger warnings.

Hey everybody, get a load of Hank Poitras, d/b/a Planet Hank, video artiste and right-wing provocateur who is scheduled to share a platform on Friday with state Rep. Michael Boutin of Barre and Vermont Republican Party chair Paul Dame.

Poitras is also, apparently, chair of the Brattleboro Republican Committee.

And I’m here to tell you that Vermont Republicans would be well advised to sever all ties with Poitras because he is provably a “misogynistic, narcissistic sociopath,” in the words of New Hampshire progressive videographer “Kyle from the Shire.” That characterization is fully warranted, given the flood of online content produced by Poitras himself. It includes plenty of racist, misogynistic, and hateful material, the kind of stuff that makes disgraced former senator Sam Douglass look like Mr. Rogers by comparison.

Oh, and he also has a criminal record from his time living in New Hampshire.

Best strap yourselves in, folks, because this is going to be a bumpy ride. Complete with trigger warnings.

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We Might Look Back on This as the Beginning of the End of Mike Pieciak’s Political Career

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First, a necessary caveat. Treasurer Mike Pieciak remains the betting favorite to become governor whenever Phil Scott decides to ride off into the sunset in his #14 race car. Pieciak is popular and well-connected in Democratic circles and is a proven fundraiser. He’d also be a fine choice, given his financial and managerial expertise; the next governor is going to inherit many challenges from our risk-averse incumbent. It’ll be kind of a “12 labors of Hercules” situation, and Pieciak has the necessary administrative muscle.

But you know, if we find ourselves in the year 2032 and Charity Clark or Molly Gray or Kesha Ram Hinsdale or Tanya Vyhovsky (or, if you prefer, John Rodgers or Scott Beck) is governor and Pieciak is nowhere to be seen, having pulled a TJ Donovan and abandoned politics in favor of a cushy corporate job, you might look back on today — Wednesday, February 11, 2026 — as the first step down that long sad trail.

I refer to the new issue of Seven Days, featuring Kevin McCallum’s fine writeup of the Democrats’ failure, so far, to identify even a single candidate for governor. It raises the single biggest question in Democratic politics: “Why isn’t Mike Pieciak running?” and provides some unflattering answers.

In politics, you can go from “The Next Big Thing” to “Who Dat?” in the blink of an eye. And while it’s way too early to be writing political obituaries, you’re starting to see a few brown spots on the Pieciak banana.

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Thankfully, These People Are Nowhere Near the Levers of Power (In Vermont)

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Regular VPO readers are well aware of my feelings about Vermont exceptionalism: Too often, it’s an unmerited sense of self-regard and an unwarranted obstacle to progress.

But there are times when Vermont really is exceptional in a good way. Like Tuesday morning, when a blessedly small cohort of anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers assembled in the Statehouse for “Children’s Health Day,” an event aimed at spurring legislative action to, um, preserve “health care freedom” which means fighting vaccine and mask mandates. Thanks to Trump, people like them are now in charge of America’s public health programs. But in Vermont, they’re a tiny, ineffectual band of whiners.

Pictured above: guest of “honor” Mary Holland, head of Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaxxer organization founded by, you guessed it, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. The local organizers included Amy Hornblas*, notorious anti-masker who is STILL sounding the alarm over mask mandates that expired more than five years ago, and Alison Despathy, purveyor of Anthony Fauci fanfic conspiracy theories.

*Hornblas, a perpetually smiling grandmotherly type, approached me** before the press conference and asked if I’d ever written about her. She introduced herself only as “Amy,” so I didn’t immediately put two and two together. Now I can say, yes indeedy, I have written about her. And I suspect she knew that.

** She was one of three women*** to approach me at the event. One woman offered me a Children’s Health Day sticker. I replied “I’m media, so no.” Then she said “It’s just to show you’re for the children.” Sure.

*** The third poked my elbow during the event and asked who I was writing for. “Myself,” I said.

The fact that I was wearing an N-95 mask and holding a notepad probably didn’t endear me to anyone else in attendance.

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If Phil Scott Gives a Damn About Affordability, His Health Care “Plan” Doesn’t Show It

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Gov. Phil Scott has chosen to address Vermont’s health care affordability crisis in seemingly the only way he knows how: By proposing a modest deregulation of the marketplace.

The situation as we know it: Health insurance costs are skyrocketing and have been for years. Like many other challenges we face, it’s gotten worse during Scott’s time in office. It’s hitting everybody in the pocketbook. It’s driving the increase in property taxes and putting the squeeze on government operations. Our hospital system is close to collapse. Well, except for the University of Vermont Medical Center, which has become the designated whipping boy for rising costs.

And now we’re facing a dramatic rise in uninsured Vermonters thanks to the Republican Congress’ termination of federal subsidies. Per VTDigger’s Olivia Gieger, more than 2,500 Vermonters have already dropped their insurance plans — a decline of nearly eight percent. In the first two weeks of no federal subsidies!

And a Department of Vermont Health Access official has said that even more people will decide to go bareback as they face the harsh reality of through-the-roof premiums.

This is terrible news for our struggling hospitals, which will almost certainly have to absorb higher costs for charity care as uninsured Vermonters avoid seeing the doctor until they resort to the most expensive kind of care there is — emergency room visits.

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It’s an Unfortunate Moment to be Rewarding One of Trump’s Willing Instruments

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The state Senate Judiciary Committee pulled a rather Jesuitical maneuver on Thursday. It voted not to recommend the nomination of Michael Drescher to the Vermont Supreme Court, but not to oppose it either. The committee effectively punted the nomination to the full Senate, which is scheduled to debate the matter on Tuesday, February 3.

We’ll get back to the funny business in a moment. First, the background.

Drescher served as U.S. Attorney for Vermont under Donald Trump. In court he defended the notorious detentions of Rümeysa Öztürk and Mohsen Mahdawi, battles he eventually lost. In testimony before Judiciary, he explained that it was his duty to represent the federal government in such cases and his work didn’t necessarily reflect his own views.

That gets a little too close to Nuremberg territory for me. Just following orders, eh?

Now, it’s not that simple when it comes to officers of the court. Take the state attorney general; the office’s duties include representing the state. Our AGs often find themselves arguing positions they might personally disagree with. U.S. Attorneys are in the same boat.

Still. At a time when protesters are being gunned down on the streets of Minneapolis, it seems strange to be elevating someone who acted officially in support of Trump’s immigration crackdown.

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