Free Republic

BURLINGTON - It began with an inaccurate local television news report, with the errors repeated by Vermont print and broadcast media. The story was quickly picked up by Internet bloggers and right-wing talk radio and soon reached at least three sensationalist national cable shows. Within a week, bloggers were posting ever more extreme comments, calling for vigilante action against a longtime Vermont judge and posting his home address and phone online. State politicians jumped at the chance to be on national television, repeating the errors and adding to them. Nationwide, there were calls for boycotts of Vermont if the judge...

Judge Edward Cashman Vermont's governor says more than 20,000 e-mails, phone calls and letters have poured into his office in response to a state judge's 60-day sentence for a child rapist who admitted abusing a young girl over a period of four years. The "overwhelming majority" condemn District Court Judge Edward Cashman's light sentence for 34-year-old Mark Hulett, said Jason Gibbs, spokesman for Gov. Jim Douglas, in an interview with WorldNetDaily. "The outrage that the vast majority of Vermonters have here is shared by fellow countrymen," said Gibbs, noting the many protests coming from across the nation. The spokesman...