Tuesday, November 13, 2012

The Free State Project Loses One of Their Own

Remember Frank Szabo? He was a candidate for sheriff in Hillsborough County, who gained global attention for announcing that he would use deadly force to prevent doctors from performing abortions.
TPM :


In an interview on Wednesday with local television station WMUR, Szabo said he believed sheriffs were granted special powers under the Constitution. That means, he said, he would be empowered to arrest or even use deadly force against doctors for providing legal abortions for women.
“I would hope that it wouldn’t come to that, as with any situation where someone was in danger,” Szabo said. “But again, specifically talking about elective abortions and late term abortions, that is an act that needs to be stopped.”

He refused to drop out of the race, even after he was criticized by folks like Speaker O'Brien. Even the strange simmering stew that comprises today's NH GOP wasn't nutty enough to own up to supporting Szabo. At least not in public. He was trounced in the primary.

Poor Frank. Some guys just slither off into the shadows when they lose an election. And some take their ball and go home. From the Concord Monitor:

On Sunday night, Szabo announced on Facebook that he had left the United States. He didn’t name his destination, though other recent posts indicate he’s in the South American nation of Chile.

He didn't stay long:

Szabo, an aspiring organic farmer who moved to Goffstown from Pennsylvania in 2011 as part of the Free State Project, ran as a Republican for county sheriff, losing in the Sept. 11 primary to incumbent Sheriff Jim Hardy.


Apparently not being able to shoot doctors was a sign that Frank was never going to see "liberty in his lifetime" and he decided to leave the country. I think he made a brilliant decision, and hope that more of his Free State brethren choose to follow his example.

Bye Frank!!

5 comments:

Julia Riber Pitt said...

That's something to be weary of: free staters who tamper with NH politics and then leave, deliberately handing the mess over to those who stayed.

susanthe said...

At least he left!

Anonymous said...

I expect he will have to ask for permanent resident status wherever he lands, which they may not be willing to grant considering his history. It's not all that easy to just move to a foreign country - especially if you don't like dealing with bureaucracy like mounds of paperwork needed and you usually need to be employed as well. Guess he'll see the other side of an immigration issue.

Anonymous said...

This is great. Did the "nothing upstairs and all the hamsters dead in their wheels" really move to to the country of Chile - and then return quickly? Was it because he found that not everyone likes right wing damn Yankees who don't speak their language which isn't English? I suggest he try North Korea where their "values" are very similar to the right wing here.

Timothy Horrigan said...

Given his obsession with counties and sherriffs, Szabo may be disappointed to fon that there are no counties and no sherriffs in Chile. There are, however, 345 municipalities which have some of the powers of an American county--- but the only elected officials are a mayor and a council.