Bucknam: The emperor has no clothes

By Deborah Bucknam

In the Hans Christian Anderson tale “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” the emperor, and then his courtiers, were fooled by swindlers who claimed they could weave clothes for His Majesty that only “the best people” could see. It was a clear-eyed peasant boy who finally told the truth: The Emperor’s wonderful clothes were a figment of his and his courtiers’ imaginations. 

Michael Bielawski/TNR

St. Johnsbury-based attorney Deborah Bucknam

In recent years, Vermont’s cultured class has been telling a similar folk tale about Vermonters. The elites, terrified of being called bigots themselves, and contemptuous of most Vermonters, claim to see imaginary racism in their fellow citizens. The tale is nothing more than a projection by the upper crust of their own endemic intolerance. It wasn’t Vermont farmers or laborers or other working folks who invented the blackball to keep the riff raff ( read: blacks, females and Jews) out of their exclusive clubs, or who tried to keep a socialist Jew from New York from winning elections. Yet now our betters imagine that regular folks are racist. 

This noxious premise not only soothingly reinforces elites’ view of themselves and their “inferiors,” but it has also become lucrative: spending taxpayers’ money to slander those who are paying the bill. Vermont’s newest expensive employee is the Executive Director of Racial Equity. She will conduct a review of “systemic racism” in Vermont’s state government, which will undoubtedly confirm the pre-ordained conclusion of those who created this position that racist and bigoted Vermonters are everywhere. Of course, very few of us have ever seen any of these scurrilous folk, but if this new executive director fails to find a good enough number who qualify, she will be out of a job. The executive director’s review will also no doubt furnish pre-ordained solutions to this imaginary problem: shaming and re-training — all at taxpayer expense. 

Meanwhile there are real, not imaginary, crises in Vermont, all of which disproportionately hurt poor and minority communities: the catastrophic opioid epidemic that is killing our kids and devastating our families, the depopulation of our state caused by burdensome taxes and oppressive regulations, and Vermont’s lowered bond rating because of our excessive pension liabilities. Tackling these problems will take hard, patient work. Vermont’s elites will have none of it. It is easier for them and less threatening to their positions to tackle imaginary problems like racist Vermonters. 

It is time for Vermonters to stand up and say “enough!” Vermonters need to elect people who will tackle real problems facing our state, and not swindle us into paying for imaginary ones. 

Deborah Bucknam is a St. Johnsbury-based attorney and former Republican candidate for state attorney general.

Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Löwenstein Center and Michael Bielawski/TNR

9 thoughts on “Bucknam: The emperor has no clothes

  1. I don’t see racism in Vermont, what I see is people waking up to the new ” Citizens ”
    with our state.

    So when you see a young man or woman driving around in an eighty thousand dollar
    car tinted windows out of state plates from ” NY, NJ, CT, PA ” stopping on streets, do
    you think they are selling ” Girl Scout ” cookies …….Maybe not !!

    Are they of color, probable 90 % ……..that doesn’t make us racist, it makes us just a
    little wise to there Shenanigans, big cities think we a bunch of hicks.

    Lock them up and throw away the key.

  2. Great multi generational Vermonters leaving our state in droves………the direct response to our socialistic government. Very sad but in the end we will al be moving out as we cannot afford to live or retire here.

  3. Spot on Deb. It’s all gone downhill since Jim Douglas left. After 32 years, I am finally getting out of Dodge as in Vermont. I can’t live with the insanity here anymore.

  4. so I guess what you do is run on down to Home Depot and buy one of those patented “racometers”, set it on “systemic”, calibrate it with your favorite climate model and hope you can register at least a 3.8 or you’ll be stuck with just plain vanilla racism and lose your politically correct job …

    • How about Systematic Stupidity!

      I vote for that one Pete,, just think of the time/money freed up if we weren’t trying to fight mother nature (climatetardism), save the oceans from Asian and African plastic trash by banning ours that don’t end up in the ocean, fighting racism where there isn’t any, teaching kids to be confused gender, and the 100’s of other leftarded schemes to pry all the hard earned money out of OUR pockets.

  5. Deb, as usual, you have distilled this issue to its essence.
    What is disturbing, however, is that, should one tackle explaining cogently the myriad of issues cooked up by Vermont progs, they will complain that is is simply whining, regardless of how well done.
    I am beginning to see their tactic in this. They (the progs, Sandernistas, Socialists, whatever their name) having secured nearly 100% of the ability to pass ANY law regardless of its necessity or efficacy will introduce the most extraordinary program (as this is) just to see if it can stick.
    And, while we complain about it we are distracted from the socialist roll in the gut of the state. They have been doing it for years and succeeding.
    I have thought about this issue for years and just do not seem to be smart enough to propose any solution that would move the majority of Vermonters from their love of Bernie and all things free to a realistic future for the state.
    And while we complain about it we are distracted from their

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