Letters to the Editor (11/30/16) 

Bernie's Next Book

[Re "Manual for a Movement?" November 23]: Now that Sen. Bernie Sanders has written a political treatise, Our Revolution, he is ready to author a work of pure fiction. His novel will be called His Revolution, about a crass real estate tycoon from Manhattan who does what liberals have been unsuccessfully trying to do for decades: capture the hearts and minds of the working class. How does the billionaire, who lives in a gilded tower on Fifth Avenue and who never wears camo or even jeans, connect with blue-collar America? Well, you just have to read Bernie's book, which you will find in the fantasy section of your local bookstore. 

Doug Kallen

Jericho

Side of Bechdel

Thanks for last week's "Dykes to Watch Out For" cover! Really needed that.

Nat Michael

Underhill

Thankful for 'Dykes'

This is very likely one of many of letters and emails you're receiving from longtime fans of Alison Bechdel's "Dykes to Watch Out For" comic strip after seeing her beloved characters grace the cover of the November 23 issue of Seven Days.

After reading the inside story of Bechdel's decision to express her feelings about Donald Trump's election by drawing a brand-new "DTWOF" strip for the Thanksgiving issue, the obvious question that's popping up in my mind (and doubtless many other "Dykes" fans) is whether this is a one-time thing or the beginning of a full-scale revival of the strip. 

Hard to believe that it's been eight years since Bechdel halted "DTWOF" to concentrate on writing her graphic novels. Fun Home went on to become a hugely successful, Tony Award-winning Broadway musical. 

So, Ms. Bechdel, if you're reading this, please don't keep fans of your beloved "Dykes" hanging in suspense. I, for one, would love to see a full-on comeback of the strip. 

To say that "DTWOF" has been sorely missed would be an understatement. 

Skeeter Sanders

Shelburne

Mosher's Wrong About NEK

Leave it to Howard Frank Mosher, the Northeast Kingdom's biggest story thief, a "novelist" and "foremost chronicler," to proclaim the whole area racist by citing one comment heard here at a "dance" ["Why Many Northeast Kingdom Voters Chose Trump," November 16]. This "author" has made a pretty penny gleaning other people's family lore, jumbling a few names and dates, and then penning them as his own with no credits to the folks he stole them from, the "independent-minded ... almost to the point of self-delusion" locals. The story thief then states, with no facts to back it up, that "there's a lot of latent racism, and it's a half-step away from being a really dangerous and active racism." 

From what I've heard up here, the major topic was gun control "for our own good" so that all guns handed down, given, traded, swapped and sold would now require "background checks" brokered through a Federal Firearms License holder.

I'm a native New Englander who grew up watching Revolutionary War reenactments, and we all know instinctively that now, like on April 19, 1775, when the "authorities" come looking for the muskets, powder, flints and shot "for our own good," all they'll get is a fight — then at Lexington Green/Old North Bridge, and now at the ballot box.

Steve Merrill

North Troy

Progs Aren't the Story

Ted Wimpey, city council President Jane Knodell and former Burlington mayor Peter Clavelle in unison doth protest too much ["Growing Pains: Burlington Progressives Clash Over Development," November 16].

It is their support for a project that is simply overblown for Burlington that is "knee-jerk." It is the trumped-up charges of campaign finance law violations and "well-funded ... distortions and misinformation" that are ground zero for testiness, and also for post-truth politics.

The good folks who jumped on the Don Sinex project bandwagon are the same folks who spent $30,000 or more on the votes to make our mall great. This pro-Sinex blitz was the real campaign of distortion and misinformation.

If the Sinex project simply respected long-established rules to guide development, it would deserve community support. But the Sinex organization required major alterations in Burlington zoning law so that the zoning would allow such a project. It was inconvenient for the developer to design a project that advanced the community values articulated in our zoning.

Burlington's leaders went astray when they promised to eliminate the rules on height limits and height bonuses that the developer objected to. This sent the Sinex project off the rails in terms of design, scale, democracy and legitimacy. This is why the Progressive Party stood firmly against this specific project.

If developers write their own rules, then there are no rules the community can count on. This is the backstory that should be front and center.

To present the fissure in Progressive ranks as a pro- versus anti-development difference is altogether misleading and inaccurate.

Michael Long

Burlington