A Vermont Commons Blogger Blogs From The Hip

I've been trying to make sense of the most recent blog post by Peter Garritano "Injust" Rewards. Garritano was handpicked by Thomas Naylor, baas of the Second Vermont Republic, as his candidate for Lt. Governor, the office for which he too failed to get any traction among Vermont voters (he calls not getting 96% of the vote "coming in third").

Garritano wrote:

VERMONT UNCENSORED: "Injust" Rewards by Peter Garritano on Wed, 02/02/2011 - 12:18pm.
"Why is Michael Dubie getting an honorary degree? Does UVM really need to help the 200 billion dollar a year propaganda machine of the Pentagon by giving General Dubie a degree? It’s bad enough that every minute of every day the public is forced fed, support the troops, they are doing a great job protecting our country and keeping us safe. Really?"

"... All the better for war profiteers like Sandia and Lockheed Martin."

"One thing for sure is that Dubie is a good soldier, because good soldiers don’t ask questions, they obey orders. He’s supported thirty years of illegal invasions by the U.S. including Iraq, and Afghanistan to name a few. Does the pending Lockheed Martin deal being brokered by President Fogel and Bernie Sanders and supported by Dubie somehow have a role in this fake degree?"

"During the 60’s counterculture movement General Dubie would have been refered to as a fascist pig. His degree would have been met with loud massive protest. Hopefully the situation in Egypt will empower people in the U.S. It’s time for the citizens of the world to stand up for each other and promote peace by calling out institutions like UVM who reward bad behavior with honorariums and business contracts."

VTCommons publisher Rob Williams commented:
"Thanks for raising such important questions here, Pete...I am discouraged by a number of recent developments tying the Vermont economy more closely than ever to the US of Empire's military-industrial complex. I appreciate your candor here."
Submitted by Rob Williams on Fri, 02/04/2011 - 4:52pm.

Then it came to me that he's merely playing Renfield to the baas' most recent meme/tirade that can be read here. The tirade sought to twist the responsibilities of the Vermont Adjutant General's Office, an elected position conferred by the Vermont General Assembly, into nothing more than he's guy who locally operates the military sausage grinder for the Pentagon.

Both Garritano and "Poppa" Naylor question why UVM should give
an honorary degree to Dubie and seek to turn the entire matter into another of their conflated conspiracy theories. To their way of thinking, such as it is, there can only be diabolical intent on the part of:

• VT Sen. Bernie Sanders


• UVM Pres. Dan Fogel


• UVM Board of Trustees


• Maj. Gen. Michael Dubie


• Burlington VT Mayor Bob Kiss


• Sandia National Laboratories


• Lockheed Martin


• The Pentagon


• Goldfinger


• The Tooth Fairy?

Okay, maybe not the last two; that'd just be crazy.

"Poppa" Naylor went so far as blatantly misquote a piece from the Burlington Free Press:

BFP: "at a public forum last month (April), Air Guard Maj. Gen. Michael Dubie said the economic impact of a possible loss of a fighter wing at the South Burlington base was not clear cut: The more advanced F-35’s presence at the base actually might shrink the current payroll — but it almost certainly would shrink further if the Guard’s mission morphed exclusively into maintenance, or became a center for unmanned aircraft."

Naylor: "Last April General Dubie expressed the hope that the Vermont National Guard might be morphed into a center for unmanned aircraft, otherwise known as drones."

That's just a flat out lie. Seriously, who's ever heard of any branch of the military expressing hope for a smaller mission and budget - ever?

Fact is both Garritano and "Poppa" Naylor rely on dishonest arguments, such as:

• Questioning the motives of their perceived opponents


• Hearsay


• Citing irrelevant facts or logic


• Playing on widely held fantasies & scapegoating


• False premise


• Straw man


• Innuendo


• Insinuation


• Mopery


• The Tooth Fairy?

The last is also likely true since their argument is so transparently reliant on fooling their reader that they might as well trust their reputations on another fiction.

If either Garritano or "Poppa" Naylor had been honest with their readers, they'd have mentioned that:

• Dubie is a UVM alumnus


• UVM has established honorary degree criteria


• Garritano and "Poppa" Naylor really had no evidence, merely their tinfoil hat speculations


• The Tooth Fairy told them so?

Their assembly of mischaracterizations and falsifications could most certainly be used against them. How about this: one of them has a family member at UVM who has received more than a million dollars in grants from the same government agency that has provided millions to Sandia (True). The other one sells used cars (Also true). Now insert a logical fallacy or loaded question and you'd be suited to be a VTCommons blogger or an internet blowhard emeritus.

Extra credit questions for Rob Williams: in addition to factually identifying "recent developments tying the Vermont economy more closely than ever to the US of Empire's military-industrial complex," WTF is "Injust"? I know I'm having difficult time understanding how Garritano can reconcile
what's happening in Egypt with his statement, "It’s time for the citizens of the world to stand up for each other and promote peace by calling out institutions like UVM who reward bad behavior with honorariums and business contracts." What's presently occurring in Egypt is hardly the Vermont way of "calling out institutions," but I'm sure you can spin the narrative so that'll make sense to the "small" Vermont secesher community, no?

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