Cry Me a River

In a recent Union Leader opinion piece, former NH GOP Chair Fergus Cullen bemoaned the takeover of his party by  “Tea Partiers, Ron Paul apostles, and fringe figures.” These are the same people that won in 2010, victories Cullen cheered about. The NH GOP threw open the doors to the Tea Partiers, Ron Paul apostles, Free Staters, John Birchers, and wearers of tinfoil berets. They boasted about their great electoral accomplishment. They elected Jack Kimball, a bombastic, bellicose tea tyrant, to be their state party chair.

And soon it all fell apart. That great GOP majority proved to be comprised of inept bumblers and outright lunatics. There was the guy who had to resign for saying that people with disabilities should be sent to Siberia to freeze to death. There were the guys who wrote the bill to include relevant quotes from the Magna Carta in each new piece of NH legislation. There was the Free Stater who wanted to put warning signs up at the NH border. Let us not forget Speaker O’Brien. The list of his follies is long, and includes closing the House gallery to members of the public, and refusing to allow a reporter from a newspaper that had been critical of him into a press conference. This is but a thumbnail sketch of the results of that great majority that the NH GOP crowed about. When Fergus cries his bitter tears about how his party has been taken over by the lunatic fringe, he’d better cry me an entire river. The NH GOP not only allowed this to happen, they welcomed these people. Only now, when they have no chance of winning much of anything in the next election does Fergus get out the crying towel.

The old guard NHGOP must have been absolutely petrified when O’Brien announced he was considering a run against Ann Kuster in the second Congressional District. Poor Obie was not able to raise much money, possibly because he has all of the charm and charisma of a garden slug. He decided (or the party higher ups did) that he’d better drop out. This week, former State Senator Gary Lambert announced he’d be running for that seat. Lambert doesn’t have much name recognition outside of the Nashua area, and his brand of conservatism isn’t likely to be popular in the more liberal of NH’s congressional districts. He’s opposed to marriage equality and does not believe that women are autonomous, equal human beings. At his campaign launch, he said, “Republican ideas work. We’ve proven how they work in New Hampshire.” We have indeed seen how those Republican ideas work in NH. Every day we see our crumbling infrastructure, the death of our manufacturing base, and our high, high property taxes.

In the first Congressional District, Frank Guinta is making noises about a rematch against Carol Shea-Porter. Frank, a Tea Partier who rode the red wave in 2010 would be facing the same questions and ridicule he was ignoring when he was voted out in 2012. He ran on a huff of indignation over Shea-Porters alleged overuse of the House franking system. Frank was outraged about franking! He practically accused Shea-Porter of electioneering. Then, once in office, he became the number one Congressional abuser of the franking privilege, spending double what Shea-Porter had spent during her term.

Then there’s the matter of Frank’s magic bank account. He loaned his first campaign $355,000 that he didn’t have, according to his original financial disclosure forms. He later amended the forms, saying he forgot about a bank account with $250,000 in it. Well, of course he did. Who among us hasn’t forgotten about a quarter of a million dollars? Why it could happen to anyone.  

The Committee for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington (CREW) put Guinta on their 2011 “most corrupt members of Congress” list, which is something of an accomplishment for a freshman legislator. Frank doesn’t just have baggage - he has shipping containers. This time he’ll not only be running against Carol, he’ll be running against himself.

If Guinta doesn’t run, State Representative Pamela Tucker is considering running for that Congressional seat. Tucker was former Speaker O’Brien’s deputy Speaker, and one of his trusted lieutenants. That would be her biggest claim to fame in a district where she has no name recognition.

Rep. George Lambert, a NH native allied with the Free State Project, is exploring a run for governor. He’s definitely part of the “Ron Paul apostle, fringe figure” types that Fergus Cullen is now bemoaning. So far, he’s the only one. He’s another “candidate” with zero name recognition. Where are the candidates with even an iota of gravitas or name recognition? I saw a discussion online among Republicans where Craig Benson’s name was being bandied about as a potential gubernatorial candidate. That’s a subterranean level of desperation right there.

The NH GOP is in disarray, and they have no one but themselves to blame. They not only invited these folks to join them, they allowed them to take over.  To paraphrase the old maxim: “If you lie down with clowns, you will rise with rubber noses.”


© sbruce 2013  
published as a bi-weekly column in the Conway Daily Sun newspaper

Carla Gericke Must Resign At Once!

The Free Stater front group No More Bearcats had a press conference yesterday. About 6 people were there.  Here's a video of the speakers, including Pamela Ean, who says she's a former police officer. State Senator Andy Sanborn, who very patronizingly said, "Our boys and girls in blue do a great job." Boys and girls? They aren't five year olds. Why the need for the diminutive terms here, Andy? And the BearCat is not an armed military weapon. There are no weapons on the inside or the outside. It is ARMORED, not ARMED. 

Next up was Brian Blackden, who claims he, too,  was a police officer. There seems to be some question as to whether that's true. One thing is true, Blackden has been arrested on a number of occasions for impersonating  EMTs or law enforcement. The last speaker was State Rep. George Lambert, who wants to put the goober in goobernatorial. He isn't from Concord, but he wants to get his face in front of any camera that is attached to freedumb and libertea. He's a real gifted speaker. He actually went to actual police training about actually tasing people. Ooh, George Lambert, IS COMING FOR THAT TANK. I'm sure that the folks of Concord appreciate his interference in their local control. 

 Carla Gericke, President of the Free State Project spoke the longest. One might think that after the reviews of Carla's last speaking engagement (at the Concord City Council) that she'd try to tone it down. One would be wrong. Once she got warmed up, Carla reached her usual operatic vocal heights.  At one point, only dogs could hear her. Some of my favorite moments from her speech:

"We chose to come here!" Clearly, the FSP was doing NH a big favor by choosing NH as the state that the FSP  wanted to invade, colonize, dismantle the state government of, and then enable it to secede from the union. "We chose to come here to this peaceful wonderful place!" A wonderful place that you want to turn into some neofeudal Randian paradise. Don't do us any favors, okay? Feel free to make the choice to leave. 

"You cannot say to us just because we have ideas that are slightly different to yours that we are domestic terrorists." That's true. But, you have proven to be a group that has no respect for the laws, courts, law enforcement, or educational systems in our state. You are all armed, and claim to adhere to a nonaggression policy, yet every time you open your mouth, Carla, what comes out is aggression. And the same is true for many others in your cult. If you want to be thought of as peaceful and non-threatening, lay down your arms. 

As I've said before, Free Staters don't ever do anything for anyone outside of the FSP unless there's a camera rolling. Carla felt compelled to point out TWICE that she volunteers at the Concord Library in a child reading program. She gave the usual rant about THEY LIED ABOUT US in their FRAUDULENT LYING DOCUMENT and THEY SHOULD ALL RESIGN AND FALL OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH!!! PERJURY! 

Then she looked out at the group of 6 and said, "We have a lot of reporters here." 

That was a lie, Carla. There were not a lot of reporters there. You talk about accountability and responsibility and demand that others resign for telling lies, so - if we hold you to your own standards, than you, too should be held accountable. 
  I DEMAND YOUR RESIGNATION AT ONCE! 

Who Needs Local Control?

Remember local control? We NH folk used to be in favor of it. A couple of excitable state representatives NOT from Concord decided that local control was for ....NOT them the other night at a Concord City Hall meeting.  This picture shows Rep. George Lambert (short guy in far right (!) corner with red tie) and next to him, Rep. JR Hoell, the taller one with the blue blazer, peering over the shoulders of the Concord City Councilors. 

Lambert is from Litchfield. Hoell is from Dunbarton. Neither of them represent the City of Concord. 

This was an open meeting, and the Council was gracious enough to hear a great deal of testimony from people who aren't from Concord. Other state reps said their piece and went back to their seats. Not these two. They hovered, desperate to hijack the hearing. 

Hoell was updating his Facebook page while hovering. An excerpt:

Local control be damned, Concord! State Rep. JR Hoell (from Dunbarton) thinks you have issues, and you need to replace your City Council! Who needs local control when you've got  Hoell?  

Scenes from the Concord City Council Meeting

This was the crowd in front of City Hall when I arrived at 6:15. All of the fliers and notices I saw about the protest said to be there at 6:00 pm. About a dozen people were milling around in the little park near the City Hall Annex next door:

This is Will Thomas (of NH Veterans For Peace) and his great tee shirt. To Will's front left is a tall man with a blue blazer. That's State Rep. JR Hoell of Dunbarton.  (Dunbarton is not part of Concord)

Finally, at 6:39, a big  procession of Free Staters began coming up the street. They all began to assemble in front of Concord City Hall. (pro tip: if your lit says 6 pm, you should be there at 6 pm)

There was a guy with a bullhorn who sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher. I have no idea what he was saying. Carla Gericke spoke. She did not give any of the other groups represented the opportunity to address the crowd, even though there were Occupiers and people from NH Peace Action. This was all about the Free State Project and their BIG HURT FEELINGS. 

This was supposed to be about the BearCat, military contractors, waste, and the militarization of police. 

The FSP does not play well with others. 

The City Council chambers filled quickly. Some of us were stuck in the hallway for a while, and couldn't really hear what was going on. The Council and the City Manager were very polite and welcoming, and clear that if everyone that wanted to testify did, there would be no decision made that night. 

I've already written about FSP President Carla Gericke's testimony. Other notables included Rep. JR Hoell of Dunbarton, and Rep. George Lambert from Litchfield. As I listened, I couldn't help but wonder what Hoell would think if say...Rick Watrous or Mary Jane Wallner came to tell the Dunbarton Selectmen what to do. Hoell wanted Chief Duval to know that Washington DC was turned around by the police getting involved with the citizens of the community. A less charitable person than myself might have found Hoell's comments patronizing. 

Even better than Hoell was Rep. George Lambert. Lambert wants to be our next governor, so he's seizing every single opportunity to get his face on camera, in a bid to increase his non-existant name recognition.  (note to Lambert: not all publicity is good publicity.) 

Lambert told the Council and the assembled throng that they should watch the video of the man who was tased out in front of the State House in June "for using his right to free speech." Lambert actually wanted to play them the video! The voices in his head told him that if folks saw this video, they'd understand injustice and police brutality! I was at the event in question, and I'm pretty sure that if the Council had seen footage of that near riot, they'd approve that BearCat (and possibly a few more) without further consideration. Apparently verbal harassment, resisting arrest, and grabbing at cops are all part of the famed Non-Aggression Principle that our FSP colonizers are so fond of citing. 
And of course, just like Hoell, one can't help but wonder what Lambert would make of Concord State Reps appearing to tell the good people of Litchfield what they ought to be doing. The exercise of free speech appears to be a one-way street for the Free Staters and their allies. 

A suggestion was made that the grant application be changed to remove the language that was offending people. Somehow that turned into a sidebar in the corner with a City Councilor, Carla Gericke, and desperate attention seekers Lambert, and Hoell. This went on for quite a while until another member of the Council objected strenuously to the sidebar, and the possibility of some sort of secret deal. The sidebar broke up. Lambert and Hoell lacked sufficient shame and grace to walk away. They hovered right there in the corner where the Council sits. 

That's them in the far right (!) 

I left at 10. I'd heard enough, and I was feeling sickened by the whole thing. I'll write more about that later on. 

The Council adjourned without decision, and have since stated that they'll have a special session on this matter in September. 

***

Anyone who wants a refresher on the gun nuts staging a near riot in front of the State House in June will find pictures and video in these links:

Photos from the Gun Melee in June 2013

http://susanthebruce.blogspot.com/2013/06/ayotte-ayotte-ayotte.html

http://susanthebruce.blogspot.com/2013/06/shame-on-you-wmur.html

http://susanthebruce.blogspot.com/2013/06/names-on-list-sociopath-heckling-women.html

NH House Republican Alliance Legislator Ratings

The NH House Republican Alliance just came out with their rankings of state representatives, based on 100 votes. All those roll call votes were essential to this process. This is how they explain the ratings system on their website:

 A grade of 100% indicates that a legislator voted in perfect conformity to the NH State Constitution, traditional Republican values, and the NH State Party Platform.  On the other hand, a grade of 0% indicates that a legislator never voted with the NH State Constitution, traditional Republican values, or the NH State Party Platform.

Let's just say that Nate Silver isn't going to be calling them for ideas on gathering polling data. The scorecard does have some interesting results. According to the Concord Monitor:

Majority Leader Steve Shurtleff, a Penacook Democrat who participated in all 100 votes, scored 16 percent.

Six Republicans had perfect, 100 percent ratings: Jeanine Notter of Merrimack, Moe Villeneuve of Bedford, Emily Sandblade of Manchester, Joe Duarte of Candia, Daniel Tamburello of Londonderry and Kyle Tasker of Nottingham.

The highest-ranked Democrat was Michael Garcia of Nashua, at 87.5 percent – he frequently sides with the GOP caucus. The lowest-ranked Republican was Carolyn Gargasz of Hollis, at 40.7 percent, followed by David Kidder of New London at 44.7 percent.

What the Monitor doesn't point out is also interesting. Emily Sandblade, one of the perfect 100% rated Republicans is a Free Stater. So is Michael Garcia, the high ranking Democrat. There's a reason he "frequently sides with the GOP caucus." He's not actually a Democrat. He ran as a Democrat so that he could get elected in his district. (He would have come under much more scrutiny as a Republican. The Democratic Party has turned a blind eye to Free State fauxDems.)  Garcia's HRA rating is higher than that of Gene Chandler - the House Minority Leader, and lifetime conservative Republican. 

Free Stater and fauxDem Tim O'Flaherty got a 75.8% rating from the HRA. He voted "right" 69 times out of the 91 votes he cast. Free Stater Democrat Joel Winters voted right 63 times, and scored a 63% from the HRA, on his 100 votes. 

Free State Republican Mark Warden voted right 80 times, and scored a 90.9% from the HRA on 88 votes. Other Free State Republicans: Laura Jones voted right 92 times out of 100, and received a 92% rating from the HRA. Dan McGuire voted right 93 times out of 97 votes and scored a 95.9% rating. Calvin Pratt voted right 84 times out of 85, and got a 98.8% rating. Carol McGuire voted right 99 times out of 100, and got a 99% rating. 

It is interesting to note that Kyle Tasker, who failed to vote for months, even if he was present, scored a perfect NHRA 100%. Tasker voted right 37 times. Of course he only voted 37 times out of 100. Where was young Tasker when he wasn't voting? Practicing his quick draw skills in the hallway perhaps?

Other GOP notables:

JR Hoell voted right 83 times out of 85, and rated a 97.6%. Disgraced former speaker Bill O'Brien (who refused a committee assignment this year) voted right 85 times out of 87, and earned a 97.7% rating. Goobernatorial candidate George Lambert voted right 90 times out of 91, which gave him a 98.9% score. Rep. John Burt voted "right" 99 times out of 100 and got a 99% score. Former State Rep. Stella Tremblay voted right 54 times out of 83, and earned a 91.5% score. 

A legislator in line and marching in lockstep with the Tea Party/John Birch/Free Stater ideology of today's NH GOP is going to have a high score, regardless of party affiliation. 

These are not folks concerned with what is best for the state. They're concerned with adhering to the ideology of the freedumb and libertea crowd. Their agenda seems to consist of GUNS, GUNS, GUNS, regulating ovaries and voters, GUNS, no new or increased revenue sources, GUNS, and did I mention, GUNS?

The scoring system doesn't reward effective legislators. Jeanine Notter sponsored 10 bills this year. Seven were ITL'd (voted inexpedient to legislate) and three were retained in committee. Kyle Tasker, another 100% rated legislator sponsored 7 bills. Of those 7 bills, 2 passed and one was retained. One concerned home wine production, and two concerned marijuana. Again, not an effective legislator, but clearly one who enjoys recreational drugs. Emily Sandblade sponsored 5 bills. Three were ITL'd, one is retained in committee, and one passed.

Apparently as ineffectual (and in Tasker's case, weirdly absent) as they all are, they voted for the freedumb version of the CONSTATOOSHUN and that's all that matters.