Dangerous toys, strange bedfellows.

• Author: Harris, Martin S., Jr.
• Position: Letters - Letter to the editor

Katherine Mangu-Ward's delightful "Dangerous Toys, Strange Bedfellows" (June) should have been tided "Hoist by Their Own Petards" If there is such a thing as cosmic justice, this is surely an example. The very folks who so skillfully use (and tweak, and write) laws to their own advantage suddenly find themselves getting boomeranged.

It's appropriate that Mangu-Ward used an example from Vermont. You can argue about the causes of Vermont's shift away from frugal, laconic Yankee dairy farmers to tie-dyed activists. But there's no debate about the fact that folks like the toy artisans in the article have shifted Vermont from deep red to equally deep blue and have taken over governance at every level from local school boards to the Golden Dome in Montpelier. Result: Vermont now has the highest taxes, the most restrictive building permit process, and the least attractive-to-business image in the nation.

Martin S. Harris Jr.

Brandon, VT

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