This IS Vermont. Let’s Stop Pretending Otherwise.

“The heart of justice is truth telling, seeing ourselves and the world the way it is rather than the way we want it to be.” — bell hooks

My dear friend, Ferene, joined the chat of a recent post on my social media in which I offered a reaction to the recent disclosure that Vermont’s Republican State Senator, Sam Douglass, had been contributing to a series of chats with various members of the Young Republicans across the country. Contributions to those chats by Senator Douglass and his wife contain vile and inexcusably racist and anti-semitic comments. Ferene reminds me of how bell hooks urges us, as we seek to build communities of justice and inclusion, to be honest about where we begin. In the spirit of that urging, I want to restate the specifics of what we’re overlooking when we remain cautious in our condemnation.

By now, you’ve already likely heard or read a number of Vermont politicians denouncing the recent leaked chats that included those statements made by Republican Senator Douglass. You’re going to continue to hear a lot of public condemnation in the coming days.

And you should.

The racist, and antisemitic messages that have now been leaked and exposed, are disgusting. And many across the political spectrum will rightfully continue to denounce them, especially as they seek to distance themselves from their own affiliation with their party to welcome and usher Senator Douglass into a seat with the Vermont Legislature.

But I’m asking you to listen carefully when those statements claim that “This is not Vermont.” 

Because they’re wrong. This is Vermont. And it’s the Vermont that Governor Phil Scott helped build. Those statements claiming otherwise are attempting to speak to the Vermont we wish to see, not the Vermont we have.

Samuel Douglass didn’t just show up. He didn’t just land in his seat by accident. He was hand-selected, supported, financed, and promoted by the Governor and his team as part of a strategic effort to fill legislative seats at any cost with candidates who would toe the MAGA-adjacent line. Additionally, he was welcomed into the party at the behest of our Governor and placed onto committees and panels of significant influence, including the Senate Sexual Harassment Prevention Panel. The rhetoric of hate so easily dispensed across the national political landscape has most certainly begun to blossom and fester in Vermont.

At the very least we are getting a clear view of exactly how inept the Governor and his team are at vetting his hand selected candidates for office. And that level of ineptness, frankly, should alarm us all.

And Sam Douglass wasn’t the only one, specifically selected and supported by the Governor, who brings this concerning rhetoric to the legislature.

Let’s name the cost.

Katherine Sims was a brilliant, committed public servant from Orleans County who served in the Vermont House for two terms. She was replaced by Sam Douglass as she sought to move to the Senate.

Bobby Farlice Rubio from Barnet (I really miss him) brought care, competence, integrity, and clarity to the State House. He too was replaced by a candidate hand selected by the Governor.

Julia Andrews of Westford – gone. Heather Chase of Chester – gone. Josie Leavitt of Grand Isle – gone. Diane Lanpher of Vergennes, and more that I won’t name for the sake of brevity. All outstanding, compassionate, and gifted legislators that have been replaced by Governor Scott’s chosen successors.

Just because Sam got caught doesn’t mean he was the exception. Trust me; he is the tip of the iceberg. Beneath the surface is a coordinated effort to strip our legislature of its secularism, its integrity, and its compassion.

While many have long been lulled by the Governor’s public image as a “moderate Republican,” he has quietly and consistently cleared the way for Christian nationalism, white grievance politics, and anti-democratic rot to seep into Vermont’s political landscape and to fill seats in the legislature at any cost. We’re learning of that cost with these leaked chats. 

The leaked chats are a symptom. The disease is deeper and is becoming well established. And this disease is most certainly already present in the seats of the Vermont legislature. Additional evidence abounds: open prayer circles in the hallways of the state house, blatant proselytizing to captive audiences within the House chamber, and regular denouncement of policies that seek to broaden our state’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion have become commonplace and regularly delivered by members of the General Assembly that were ushered in by the Governor himself.

This IS Vermont. And unless we name that truth, we can’t fix it.

Unless we acknowledge that, right now, today, this IS Vermont, we will never begin the work of reclaiming it. And we must certainly strive to reclaim it.