Jack McCullough Posts

Candidates of both political parties like to have rock music playing at their rallies for obvious reasons. Rock is the music of millions of Americans, it has energy, it evokes a certain forward-looking vision, it connects with young people, it is culturally inclusive, and it implies that the candidate is not part of the Establishment. In other words, rock is everything that Republicans are not. Still, they keep trying their own version of cultural appropriation by choosing rousing rock anthems to warm up the crowd, and once again, the musician who recorded that rock anthe

The Boy Scouts were given an option – plead their case in front of Montpelier, Vermont's City Council for why they continue their anti-gay stance, or be barred from fundraising during their Independence Day parade. The Scouts decided not to show up at all, forfeiting their concession spot in the process.

In the debate over the use of tasers one of the claims made by taser proponents is that the use of tasers saves police departments money because their people are less likely to be injured, and that as a consequence they save money on their workers' comp premiums. However, a report just completed by the Vermont chapter of the ACLU demonstrates that Vermont's taxpayers are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for the improper police deployment of tasers.

The year is 1990, the case is Employment Division v. Smith, in which two people fired from their jobs with the state of Oregon for using peyote in religious ceremonies appealed their disqualification from unemployment benefits because they were discharged for misconduct. The Supreme Court rejected their claim concluding that religious motivation is not enough to give them a blanket exemption from neutral and generally applicable state laws — and Justice Scalia wrote the court's opinion.

Like many places across the country, there is mismatch between the average rent and a worker's income in the Green Mountain State. You might not be surprised to learn that a recent report demonstrates, once again, that Vermont is one of the hardest places to afford housing. Without rent control in place, some legislators are looking at a minimum wage increase and sick leave guarantees to help balance the equation.

Last week, the Freedom From Religion Foundation won a decision in the United States District Court in Wisconsin in their case that challenged a little-known law established specifically to provide government subsidies to churches. The parsonage exemption was passed at the height of the Red Scare and is estimated to save "ministers of the gospel" billions of dollars in taxes every year.

Here's what we're hearing now from the anti-gun-control civil libertarians: They don't like what CNN host Piers Morgan has been saying, so they want to kick him out of the country.

There hasn't been a lot of press attention to the federal races in Vermont, and with good reason. After all, it is a given that Peter Welch will be reelected to the House of Representatives and Bernie Sanders will be reelected to the Senate. They will probably each get over 60% of the vote.What's happening in the Senate race, though, is worth a brief comment. The Republican candidate is John MacGovern, a former Massachusetts legislator who moved to Vermont ...

In case you haven't noticed, we've spent a lot of time lately talking about the malign influence of superPACs, and especially Vermonters First, the new outlet for all of Lenore Broughton's sofa cushion cash (to the tune of about three quarters of a million dollars so far). In addition to the State Treasurer's office, she's now trying to buy legislative seats all over the state. As it happens, Miss Daisy and her chum Tayt Brooks have decided to try to take down Sarah Buxton, an energetic first-term Democratic Repr...

You've heard this, right? This morning Colin Powell went on television and endorsed President Obama's reelection. Big deal, right? After all, he endorsed him in 2008 so why wouldn't we expect him to endorse him again this year?Here's why it is a big deal.First, we know that if Powell had endorsed Romney in 2012 after endorsing Obama in 2008 it would have been a HUGE deal. He would have been on every talk show and every commercial Romney ran from ...

We know that GMD isn't your whole media diet, but this morning there are some new editorials and columns that merit your attention. First off, this week's Seven Days features a great column by Paul Heintzabout the race for State Treasurer.  We share his pleasure at the fact that Beth Pearce's campaign has gotten into gear, but what is really striking is this: Allow me to be the first reporter i...