Second Vermont Republic Officially Responds... finally

Today, Second Vemont Republic put out an official response to its controversy regarding Neo-Confederates and such on the advisory board. Better late than never, I guess. Nothing really new. They brought up the fact that none of the critics 'bothered' to contact SVR about this - don't forget, the facts of this case are all in plain sight to see. They go on to explain why the certain people in question are on the board, more of the same thing we've heard from individual responders. They even make a comparison of Thomas DiLorenzio and Howard Zinn in regards to Lincoln revisionism (maybe they should have asked Zinn to be on the board and would have avoided much of this mess, eh?). And then they site that holy poll that said that 8% of Vermonters thought secession a favorable idea:

As a think tank and voluntary association, the Second Vermont Republic does not claim to speak for the 38,000 Vermonters – 8% of the population in the Green Mountains – who, based on the UVM Center for Rural Studies’ recent 2006 poll, seem to favor peaceable secession from the United States.

Now, the only reason I bring this up, is that it seems to be a tad misleading. I (as well as a few others) have searched for the exact poll data in regards to this specific poll, and can't seem to find anything. I'm not questioning its existence, but its really heard to tout '38,000' if they only asked 500 people, isn't it? It's pretty safe to say that they didn't poll a huge amount, and SVR's membership, to the best of my knowledge, is a few hundred at best. So just keep that in mind. All through this debate, SVR has conveyed itself with an almost delusional sense of self-importance. Counter that with the majority of the public (and the press) that pretty much view them as a fringe or novelty. It's an awful lot of importance to put on one poll. Let's see if SVR itself has the support of 38,000 Vermonters once this story finally reaches the broader public (if they care at all).

I think the NEFAC statement with the demands was a sore point. They've asked for them in writing from NEFAC. Considering that some of the demands include the dismissal of the advisory board in question, don't hold your breath waiting for this to happen.

So, nothing really new here. There's still a few more shoes about to drop in this story, so it's not done yet. Stay tuned.