Forsythe Resigns, Hinch Sings New Tune

Robert Forsythe in 2014


It was only yesterday that the story of NH State Rep. Robert Forsythe broke. He's been charged with felony domestic abuse for choking a pregnant partner. The whole sordid story of his arrest was reported by the Concord Monitor

This was the NH House Minority Leader's reaction to the arrest yesterday:

House Republican Leader Dick Hinch condemned the alleged behavior, saying “domestic violence and assault are unacceptable and wrong and have no place in our society,” but he stopped short of calling on Forsythe to resign.

“Rep. Forsythe is the only person who can put pen to paper, and sign a resignation letter,” Hinch said. “The people of Boscawen have the right to ask him to resign if they believe he can no longer represent them. They also have the ability to vote for alternative candidates, including write-ins, if they believe they no longer want Rep. Forsythe to represent them in Concord.”

I noted the difference in Hinch's reaction to the arrest of a fellow Republican and the arrest of a Democrat on domestic violence charges in a blog post yesterday.

Poor Hinch. After all that waffling, Governor Sununu came right out and called for Forsythe's resignation. 

Today, the Monitor reports that Forsythe has resigned:

In a phone call Wednesday, Forsythe, 38, said he had chosen to step down after consulting with fellow representatives and Rep. Dick Hinch, the House Republican Leader...

Hinch confirmed the resignation in his own statement Wednesday afternoon.

“I spoke with Rep. Forsythe this morning and encouraged him to resign from the House, which he has now done,” Hinch stated. “He faces very serious charges that he will need to answer to in a court of law. Domestic violence and assault are unacceptable and wrong and have no place in our society.”

What a difference a day makes, eh Hinchy?

Forsythe was running unopposed in his district. He told the Monitor that the charges against him won't hold up in court.  This isn't his first run-in with the law,  in 2019 he was charged with violating a protective order. Forsythe sponsored a bill this year which seems intended to weaken protective orders and protect abusers. It would excuse a defendant for violating an order if it could be proven that the plaintiff requested the contact. The bill was  killed by the House. It doesn't take Dick Tracy to see what that was all about. 

We know he has engaged in violence against women and he loves guns.  This is the kind of profile that should be taken with the utmost seriousness. It's the same profile of nearly every domestic terrorist/mass shooter. 

House Minority Leader Dick Hinch's first reaction was to protect him. Just as he attempted to protect Robert "Red Pill" Fisher. Hinch wasn't shy about demanding that State Rep. Sherry Frost should resign because she used the word "fuck" on her personal Facebook page. The difference? Frost is a Democrat. 

The NH GOP has a man problem. When training on domestic violence and harassment was mandated by leadership (the kind of training any professional has to go through in the workplace) a number of the Republican men (and one of the women) refused to go through the training. GOP legislators Kyle Tasker, Eric Schleien, and James Spillane have all been arrested on charges related to illegal conduct with women. Tasker is in prison, Schleien moved out of state, but Spillane, who was once arrested for trying to strangle his wife, is still a representative. 

Forsythe is gone. Dick Hinch should be ousted as well. His idea of leadership is covering for people who aren't fit to hold elected office. Protecting abusers should not be tolerated. It sure is hard to make a strong case for that though, given who is at the very top of the GOP ticket. 

Dick Hinch, NH House Minority Weasel

NH House Minority Leader Dick Hinch


Today we learned that a NH State Representative was arrested 2 months ago for assaulting his pregnant partner. We learned that today, 2 months after the fact. Robert Forsythe is running for re-election. He's been charged with one felony count of second-degree assault and two misdemeanor counts of domestic violence. 

The article in today's Concord Monitor also has photos of Robert Forsythe, campaigning at the dump, while wearing a sidearm. Guns are important to him - but we'll get to that later. 

The Monitor spoke with NH House Minority Leader Dick Hinch about this incident, because Rep. Forsythe is a Republican: 

House Republican Leader Dick Hinch condemned the alleged behavior but stopped short of calling on Forsythe to resign from office.

“Domestic violence and assault are unacceptable and wrong and have no place in our society,” Hinch said. “Rep. Fosythe is the only person who can put pen to paper, and sign a resignation letter. The people of Boscawen have the right to ask him to resign if they believe he can no longer represent them. They also have the ability to vote for alternative candidates, including write-ins, if they believe they no longer want Rep. Forsythe to represent them in Concord. "

Hinch was singing an entirely different song back in 2018, when State Senator Jeff Woodburn was charged with 9 counts of assault against his former partner. WMUR

After WMUR's initial report appeared, New Hampshire House Majority Leader Richard Hinch, R-Merrimack, criticized Shurtleff. His statement said:

“There is no middle ground on accusations of domestic abuse. These are very serious and substantiated charges against Sen. Woodburn. Given the nature of the charges and the legal proceedings requiring his full attention, it’s clear that Sen. Woodburn is not fit for public office. The constituents of his district deserve better.

“Now, we have the leader of the Democratic caucus saying that somehow that we should all give him a free pass until after the election. I’m shocked that Rep. Shurtleff and other Democrat leaders are standing with and enabling an accused abuser and not with the victim in this situation. This is not the time to straddle the fence and shows poor leadership by the minority leader.”

The Minority Leader would appear to have become one of those "fence straddlers with poor judgement" he once denounced. 

This isn't Robert Forsythe's first rodeo. In April 2019 he was arrested for violating a protective order. Tony Schinella for Patch.

It's not his second rodeo, either. In 2014 he was arrested on gun charges. Concord Monitor

Colorado Corky - NH's Latest Carpetbagger

Carpetbaggers are a familiar phenomenon in NH. This year's GOP model is Bryant "Corky" Messner. 

Corky lived/lives in Colorado, but decided his summer place in Wolfeboro was home last year when he decided (or was recruited) to run against NH Senator Jeanne Shaheen. 

Corky is a businessman and a veteran. He founded a big law firm in Denver, where his firm defended Chipotle in some sexual harassment and discrimination cases. More on that in Salon
He's also in some legal hot water over a foundation he started that doesn't seem to be doing exactly what it's supposed to do. Washington Post

Corky has been endorsed by Trump, and by former speaker of the NH House, Bill O'Brien. 

It's hard to say how Corky will fare in the primary, but I'm not optimistic about his chances. Also, I can't help but wonder why a man his age uses his kindergarten nickname. 

Edited to add that Corky was accused of domestic violence in 2006, by his now ex-wife. Patch

Step into the wayback machine to remember a few other carpetbaggers: 

Walt Havenstein was imported to run for governor in 2014. He was living in Maryland, even got a homesteader tax break, because it was his principle residence. He had a vacation home in Alton, which he suddenly decided was where he really lived when he chose to run for governor. Valley News

Maryland decided to come after him for tax evasion. WMUR

Two years later, Havenstein announced he wasn't going to run for governor again, and that he was selling his house and planned to "relocate." WMUR

Scott Brown moved from Massachusetts to NH in 2013, to run for the US Senate in 2014. In one of my favorite stories from that campaign, a UK reporter tried to ask him a question in a restaurant in N. Conway. Brown refused to answer, and hid in the bathroom until reporter Paul Lewis of The Guardian left the building. No amount of duct tape applied to the bumper of his pickup  could erase the stain of his cowardice.

The NH GOP clown car is always full, even if they have to import the passengers. 

Shibonunu

                 

 


NH Governor Chris Sununu held one of his bi-weekly COVID-19 press conferences on Monday, August 18. You can watch the entire video here, or just look at the highlights I'll be referencing. 

From about 13:33 - 17:07, the governor answers questions from reporters about voting. He's asked if he'll be voting absentee or going to the polls. At about 14:10, you'll hear him tell voters they can take their absentee ballots and "walk them over to a safe drop box." Sununu has just told folks to break the law. Absentee ballots can't be left in drop off boxes, and they're not likely to be counted if they are. David Brooks at the Concord Monitor gives the straight dope on drop off boxes. 

Sununu is also asked if he thinks the issues with USPS will affect absentee voting, at about14:25.  He tells reporters that he's not worried, that he has spoken to Regina Bugbee , the District Manager of USPS Northern New England District. For some reason, he refers to Ms. Bugbee as, "a lovely woman." Patronizing? Patriarchal? You decide. He did not, however, make any references to lovely men at any point during the press conference. 

After the post office, he was asked about issuing a mandate that masks should be worn at the polls. He isn't going to. He is asked about towns mandating masks, and says that's fine, "it's on them." 

At 28:48, the topic of nursing home outbreaks is brought up, and the governor deferred to DHHS Commissioner Lori Shibonette. The Commissioner was very unhappy with an NHPR story by Casey McDermott on a long term outbreak at a nursing home that is still not under control. NHPR Josh Rogers was at the press conference, and was the target of Shibinette's wrath. She accused them of leaving out information because of a pre-determined narrative. The commissioner tried to make the case that even though the Greenbriar nursing home in Nashua has been cited numerous times for deficiencies over the years, that had nothing to do with the Covid outbreak, because many other nursing homes had outbreaks. Some were facilities that had no reports of deficiencies. That is true. 

BUT, what no one mentioned is that those nursing homes with no deficiencies cleared up their outbreaks quickly. The Covid outbreak at Greenbriar has been raging since May. More than 150 staff and residents have been infected, and 28 residents died. 

Shibinette was defensive. She was also strangely blasé about deficient nursing homes. One might expect the Commissioner of DHHS to voice concern over the long term history of deficiencies in those homes, and reassure us that the state was going to turn this situation around. She didn't do that. 

 There were questions about the lack of a mask mandate at large events, like Bike Week. The governor is sure that people will be responsible. He spoke of how much better New Hampshire's unemployment numbers than those of Massachusetts. NH has a population of 1.3 million and MA has a population of 7 million. (One of these things is not like the other.)

The last question  came at 47:30. The media personality is Michael Graham, from Massachusetts, who writes commentary for the Boston Herald. Graham is also the voice of an online publication called NH Journal. In a state where right wingers regularly make disparaging comments about people from MA and urge anyone they disagree with to "move back to Massachusetts," the irony of the media personality from Massachusetts writing the NH Journal is worth mentioning. 

Graham tries to spin the issue of USPS mailboxes disappearing and sorting machines being shut down (and even sold off) as a conspiracy theory by the Democrats. Governor Sununu refused to take the well-timed, baited, softball, and so was able to end the press conference on an upbeat note. 

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Sununu has benefitted from flattering, even fawning media coverage. Six months later, hard questions are being asked, and he and his minions don't like this very much. The next press conference is Friday, August 21, at 3 PM. If you vote, you should watch these! 


* Be sure to read Casey McDermott's story about 
nursing homes.  This is good reporting. 

Governor Affable's Braggadocio

NH Governor Chris Sununu is back on the campaign trail. How do we know? The braggadocio machine is turned on, and cranked up to high volume. 

In a newly published interview with CNBC we see a familiar theme:
“We’re booming,” New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu told CNBC.

New Hampshire’s real estate is selling quickly, Sununu said, adding that he’s getting frequent calls from companies looking to relocate to the “Live Free or Die” state.

Where have we heard this before?

NHPR April 2017:

Governor Chris Sununu says he’s more than made good on a key campaign promise: That he’d personally meet with 100 out-of-state businesses in 100 days.

Sununu says his outreach is symbolic of his administration’s commitment to economic development, but the Governor couldn’t say any companies would relocate here, and wouldn’t share the names of any companies he met with.

NHPR 2018 in an interview asked about businesses moving to NH:

"Yeah, we've seen businesses come in. I sat with a woman from a small company in Arizona. I sat with a gentleman with a small company just outside of Montreal. He's in Berlin now, she's over in Portsmouth. We have had large companies come in. We talked to businesses in Massachusetts all the time that are trying to, again, create more opportunity and flexibility for themselves and their workers. They're coming up here. We have had businesses that were thinking one time of leaving, expanding elsewhere, like Hitchiner or BAE. They're now here and they're investing millions of dollars right here in New Hampshire. Lonza is a great example of an international company that decided, with the Trump tax cuts, they were going to make a very large investment in one of their facilities around the world. They chose Portsmouth."

A closer look at that heaping helping of word salad reveals that he can name ONE company that moved to NH, and vaguely allude to two others. 

NHPR 2019

Gov. Chris Sununu paid a whirlwind visit to New York City this week. 

There were interviews on CNBC’s Squawk Box, a sit-down on David Webb's SIRUS XM show, and multiple Fox News appearances.

Sununu's remarks were a blend of braggadocio ("I could fix Connecticut in about 20 minutes") and policy talk ("I don't have a sales tax, I don't have an income tax"), laced with a steady supply of #603pride. 

"The businesses coming out of New York and Connecticut and up to New Hampshire, it’s phenomenal," he said on Squawk Box. “So, yeah, I come and poach businesses all the time.”

Confirming those boasts, however, is difficult.

Citing confidentiality, Sununu's office declined to identify a single business he had "poached" from New York or Connecticut, or any other state."

Confidentiality is code for "it's never happened." 

Getting back to CNBC

"The Republican governor said New York, Massachusetts and other high-tax states are “pickpocketing” New Hampshire residents by taxing out-of-state employees who are no longer commuting into their states to work."

If NH is "booming" and all these companies are moving to the state, why are so many NH residents commuting to other states to work? Why don't reporters ever ask him that question?