A Vermont Secessionist Seeks a Position As a Director at the City Market / Onion River Co-op in Burlington

Matthew Cropp's electoral ambitions (read: power needs) continue. He's now offering his vast experience in pretty much nothing useful to the Board of Directors of the Burlington City Market / Onion River Co-op, to serve in one of three available positions on the Board as a new director.

I've read his candidate statement here and was surprised that he hadn't fleshed it out a bit more with some of his more recent endeavors, one being his stint as campaign manager for the 2010 Vermont secessionist gubernatorial candidate, Dennis Steele. Perhaps that was because the Steele campaign serves as an example of the most inept, most incompetent and most incoherent campaign in recent memory. While Cropp can't be held entirely responsible for Steele's erratic behavior, he must have had something to say about the images attached to that campaign. One particularly disturbing image was of the self-professed murderer, Che Guevara, superimposed on the Vermont National Guard battle flag that was used on the campaign website and campaign literature. Under Cropp's "stewardship" the campaign was able to "function" so "efficiently and rationally" that Steele eventually garnered barely three quarters of one percent of Vermont's 2010 gubernatorial vote, something that I'm sure that Cropp would rather re-frame as third place.

Cropp's commitment to a "trans-ideological" Vermont independence (read: secessionist) movement has included deep participation in what was called the "Free Vermont Framework listserv", which was set up, in part, as a way to avoid interference from "the pigs." (See "Free Vermont Framework listserv" archive at the bottom of the post and then search Feb. 2010 archive page 192) That commitment to "trans-ideological" involvement included remaining silent when one listserv member made repeated hateful statements directed at race-mixing and lesbians. Eventually, Cropp's Steele campaign accepted its largest out-of-state campaign contribution from this hateful individual, and when the matter was exposed on this blog the campaign chose to keep the bigot's money.

Cropp also said in his City Market / Onion River Co-op campaign statement,

"...I've had previous experiences ...including having served ...on the editorial board of several publications"

I don't know why he wasn't more forthcoming about who those editorial boards were that benefited from his expertise but I suspect that the one that I do know about, "Vermont Commons", and its reputation for harboring the written work of white supremacists, neo-Confederates and anti-Semites in its pages is something that Cropp would have difficulty explaining. Maybe it's just that "trans-ideological" thing at work again.

In addition to his work organizing the campaign of the handpicked gubernatorial candidate of the the Dixie singin' Thomas Naylor's Second Vermont Republic, Cropp interests now include central participation with the #OccupyVermont movement.

One certainly has to wonder how Cropp's unrevealed and varied interests and "perspective," as well as his experience in "cultivating working relationships" with some of society's more odious and hateful elements, will serve the Co-op, not to mention his own personal "aspirations."

As a measure of Cropp's dedication to his undisclosed ideals and the degree to which he's advanced his personal goals, one need look no farther than his creation of the Vermont Independence Alliance ten months ago and his statement of purpose,

"We are therefore dedicated to supporting service projects which strengthen our communities and strive to meet local needs with local resources."

"...In order to advance these shared principles, VIA chapters will first be organized in each of our state's counties. These groups will serve as local hubs of both political activism and community service, forming the movement's sturdy, grass-roots foundation. Once a sufficient number of counties are organized, a convention will be held to constitute a state-wide organization. While most resources and responsibilities will remain at the county level, the state organization will take the lead in coordinating large events and supporting state-wide candidates for public office."

...as well as Cropp's lengthy announcement at the Vermont secesher homebase website, Second Vermont Republic, here. The question then would be, "How's that going for ya, Matt?"



* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

For the archive of the Free Vermont Framework listserv, click here.