Republican legislators outside Whittemore Hall on Veto Day. Masks are required on campus.
The Republicans of the NH state legislature have provided us with a lot of embarrassing behavior in recent weeks.
Late in August, Representative Robert Forsythe of Boscowen was arrested for assaulting a pregnant woman. The first instinct of House leadership? No - it was not to ask him to resign. It was to cover for him and protect him.
The governor wasn't interested in protecting Forsythe, and called for his resignation.
A week later, another Republican state rep posted on social media that seeing a Black Lives Matter sign on a lawn was permission to burn and loot the house.
What happened this time? Nothing. The story was an international embarrassment, but he was not asked to resign. House Minority Leader Dick Hinch protected Spillane. The governor protected Spillane. This man who has a history of offensive and criminal behavior was apparently deemed worthy of the protection of his party.
This week, the House and Senate were both in session on September 16. Known as Veto Day, it was a chance for both bodies to overturn Governor Sununu's vetoes on 22 bills. Last year he vetoed 57 bills. This isn't governing. This is Sununu attempting to create a partisan wave that he can surf to DC on.
Veto Day was held at the UNH Whittemore Center's hockey arena, a space sufficiently large enough for the 400 member House to meet while also physically distancing. As you can see in the photo above, a coterie of Republican legislators stands outside the Whittemore Center, not wearing masks.
The House Republicans were rambunctious. They had their marching orders - vote to sustain every veto. And if any of them were potentially swayed by the arguments in favor of humane legislation, GOP floor captain Al Baldasaro was madly waving his red hankie. (The House electronic voting system has 2 buttons, green for yea and red for nay.) Elderly frat boy Rep. Chris True dyed his hair red for the occasion.
I took this screenshot while watching the session online.
There was cheering, jeering, and booing. The freedumb section, where the Republicans who refuse to wear masks sit was well populated. One media outlet was brave enough to name (though they have no shame) them. The list of all 47 is at InDepthNH
Apparently it was also beer guzzlin' party time for the freedumb lovers. UNH security found a bunch of empties in the trash can near the libertea lads and lasses. Speaker Shurtleff was furious when he announced it near the end of the day.
Ethan DeWitt of the Concord Monitor has a report on the events of the day, including the big old temper tantrum that Rep. Al Baldasaro had before storming out of the stadium.
The sad truth? Republicans don't care. They know that they aren't going to be held accountable by anyone. They know the media will gloss over it. They know Hinch will cover for them. They know the state party won't say boo about it. They also know that our Trump loving governor won't do a damn thing - after all, they just voted in lockstep to sustain his vetoes. This kind of behavior doesn't just trickle down from the top (Trump) it's a veritable tsunami of repellent, undignified actions - with no fear of the consequences.
Regular readers are weary of hearing me say that the default setting for ALL NH media is GOP.
What does this look like?
WMUR:
New Hampshire's House speaker has apologized to University of New Hampshire leadership for the behavior of some legislators after this week's session.
SOME legislators? We have the list. We know they were REPUBLICAN legislators. WMUR (aka WGOP) would never point that out.
During Wednesday’s legislative session at the University of New Hampshire's Whittemore Center, a handful of state representatives drank beer and did not wear masks outside of the center, despite the town of Durham’s mask mandate.
Again - we know who they are. But their political affiliation and their names are left out of the story.
If those had been Democrats, their names and photos would be up on WMUR, who would also have sound trucks parked in front of each of their houses. If those had been Democrats, NHPR would say so.
And of course the Union Leader - the NH GOP daily broadsheet also avoided naming names or mentioning party affiliation.
NH Republicans are enabled by the media, by House leadership, by NH GOP leadership, and by Trump lovin' Governor Sununu. Don't expect any fallout from any of this. Expect more of the same, in an endless cycle.
From the General Court Handbook:
In the absence of ethics rules and enforcement mechanisms, this is meaningless. The honor system has been thoroughly corrupted by the dishonorable.
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