Winooski votes to urge state to halt F-35 training flights in densely populated areas
Town meeting vote was more than 2 to 1 in favor
Ballot question 6: “Shall the City of Winooski urge the State to halt F-35 training flights in a densely populated area, such as Winooski?”
Yes - 723 (67.1%)
No - 354 (32.9%)
The more than 2 to 1 vote in favor shows that the largely working class and minority Vermonters living in Winooski do not want the privacy and sanctity of their homes, yards, and schools invaded by the ear and brain damaging noise of F-35 training flights in a densely populated city. They want their children to be able to walk or play safely and freely outdoors. They do not want to be seized indoors with windows closed. They want their families to enjoy peace and quiet. They do not want their property devalued. They want to be safe from wanton assaults on their hearing or their children’s hearing and learning hundreds of times a month.
The vote in Winooski further shows that state-sponsored violence against civilians, whether committed by a racist cop or a wing commander, is not just illegal, immoral, and unjust. It is also deeply unpopular.
The 2018 town meeting vote in Burlington to "request the cancellation of the planned basing of the F-35 at Burlington International Airport” won with 55%. And now the significantly higher vote in Winooski to "urge the State to halt the F-35 training flights in a densely populated area, such as Winooski." Those votes show (a) a public increasingly aware that the state has authority over state national guard training, and (b) a public increasingly and overwhelmingly wanting the state to use that authority to halt F-35 training flights in a densely populated area.
As support for democracy has been deeply embedded in the hearts of Vermonters since pre-revolutionary times, state and local politicians increasingly delegitimize themselves as they continue to foist F-35 training flights against the will of the voters.
The increasing votes in Burlington and Winooski to abolish the F-35 training flights in a city mean that such pro-war and pro-military-industrial-complex politicians can be clearly identified and swept out if their electoral opponents intelligently raise the F-35 issue and speak persuasively for the demand raised by the people of Winooski in the 2021 town meeting vote.
The US military says that it fights to defend democracy. Well, members of the Vermont National Guard are invited to take the lead in the fight to respect the will of the voters right here in Vermont!
For right now, let's all use Front Porch Forum and social media to highlight, congratulate, and celebrate the vote in Winooski and counter main stream news media reports that belittle, disparage, or downplay this vote.
With such overwhelming public support as was shown by the town meeting votes in Winooski and Burlington, CancelF35.substack.com redoubles its commitment to defend public health and safety–and democracy itself–against the brutal treatment of civilians and the increasing tyranny brought on by the governor, the mayor, the congressional delegation, legislative leaders, and the rest of the pro-war and pro-military-industrial complex Vermont establishment.
Thank you Winooski. We have only just begun to fight!