The Post-Truth Era

Author and teacher Ralph Keyes published a book in 2004 called, “The Post-Truth Era: Dishonesty and Deception in Contemporary Life.” The “post-truth era” sounds so much better than the liar-liar-pants-on-fire era – but any way you look at it, that’s where we now reside. We don’t expect honesty in any situation anymore, and we’ve cultivated a variety of euphemisms to soften the blow of that reality. We use the term “spin” instead of deceit. We say, “ethically challenged” instead of thief or charlatan. We’ve become so compromised that we can’t even use the word liar.

There is little we can trust in our public lives. In the post truth era, we can pick our own media. We can choose the media sources that give us information that confirm our beliefs or biases. Saint Ronnie told us that gummint is the problem, so we don’t expect anything good or honest to come from our elected officials. We watched as Reagan’s history was rewritten to make him a saint. Everything is fair game these days – even history can be sanitized for our protection. Our presidential primary has become a reality show where big, bold lies are TRUMPeted with no fear of reprisal. The sad truth is this -there are no consequences for lying.

The NH House of Representatives has an internal “all reps” email listserv that is supposed to be used by House members to communicate with one another (and constituents) as they work on The People’s business. Instead, it is frequently used as a means of sending out ideological mendacity. In 2013, State Representative Peter Hansen of Amherst achieved global renown when he sent out an all reps email where he referenced, “children and vagina’s” instead of saying women and children. In 2013 State Rep. Romeo Danais sent out a “joke” over the internal mail system that compared people getting food stamps to wild animals. Danais found it so amusing that he sent it to all of his colleagues twice. In 2013, State Representatives Gary Hopper and Jordan Ulery found it necessary to send out an all reps email with a scantily clad photo of a young woman. The subject matter of the email was the “Democrat’s plan for a 100% gun ban.” In other words, it was fabrication combined with soft-core porn.

 In the weeks since the terrorist attacks in Paris, we’ve seen a near constant barrage of prevarication on just about every level of public discourse. From presidential candidates to NH state legislators, folks are working overtime to spread fables in order to gin up fear.

On November 13, State Representative Dick Marple of Hooksett sent out a real beaut to the all reps listserv:

Coming to a State near you!

“Oh” “Yes” it is coming here too! 1200 to 2,000 a day are coming here. Obama asked for to have 10,000 then it expanded to 100,000 the with in a week it went to 180,000. That is a lot of Diaper heads.

The thing is, these that Obama is bringing in does not have a wife or family with them! This a invasion! Wake up people we are being taken under with out a shot fired! Obama’s pen does the same thing! If this pisses you off! GOOD!

The spelling, sentence structure, and grammar are all Marple’s. The email heading read: “Four wives? Yup n Miochighan.”

Xenophobic? Check. Offensive? Check. Incoherent? Check.
Marple sent this out to all of his colleagues on the official House internal email system. He referred to Syrian refugees – people fleeing for their lives during wartime - as “diaper heads.” These are the words of an adult man, speaking about some of his fellow humans. That’s awful enough, but this is, by the way, a listserv paid for and maintained by our tax dollars. Our tax dollars are subsidizing the spread of lies, fear, and hate. Marple is serving his fourth term, so one assumes that the good people of Hooksett support his incoherence, duplicity, and his xenophobia.

Back in June of 2012, then Speaker Bill O’Brien sent out an email to all reps advising them of a new policy regarding speech on the all reps listserv:

"Electronic media cannot be used for knowingly transmitting, retrieving, or storing any communication that is: 1. Discriminatory or harassing; 2. Derogatory to any individual or group; 3. Obscene, sexually explicit or pornographic; 4. Defamatory or threatening.  In addition, also prohibited are jokes . . . or any other non-legislative work activity that is not allowed on government computers." This new policy was, according to O’Brien, going to be strictly enforced, and violators would lose their email privilege. Clearly it was not strictly enforced, nor has it ever been. Not a single speaker or majority leader (including O’Brien himself) has ever attempted to enforce this rule, no matter how much offensive stuff is sent out on the official House internal email system.

One would think that these guys would be smart enough to send stuff like this out over their own personal email, rather than risk having someone like me make their bigotry, calumny, and bad spelling a matter of public record, but one would be wrong. There are no consequences for lying.

State Representative Max Abramson, Republican, Free Stater and convicted felon, from Seabrook sent out his refugee falsehoods on Twitter. He tweeted, “Shaheen and Obama are still trying to bring 10,000 Syrian refugees to New Hampshire to help the Democrats win a close race in 2016.”

This is complete fabrication. The total of all Syrian refugees approved to come to the United States is 10,000. That is for the entire country, not the state of NH. If Representative Abramson had done even a modicum of research, he would have learned that a refugee coming to the US is not eligible to apply for citizenship for five years after they arrive. They have to be citizens to vote. Abramson didn’t bestir himself to find facts. His intent was to gin up fear and xenophobia for his political party, before an election, so he deliberately sent out misinformation. 

No one has paid any attention to his lies, or those of his colleague Dick Marple. We should want better from our elected officials, but this kind of behavior is exactly what we have become conditioned to expect. There are no consequences for liars in the post-truth era.

“Casual duplicity picks at the thread of our social fabric.” Ralph Keyes

published as an oped in the November 27 edition of the Conway Daily Sun newspaper

Frank Guinta Still Under Investigation by the FEC

Remember this attack ad from October 2014? Frank Guinta claims Carol Shea Porter is LYING about him. He claims he's been cleared by the House Ethics Committee.

Here's the thing - Guinta was never under investigation by the House Ethics Committee. His transgression (the $355,000 magic bank account that funded his first run for Congress) occurred before he was elected. The investigation Frank is trying to deny is being conducted by the Federal Election Commission. (FEC). 

Here he is again, bleating about being a victim, claiming he was exonerated, during a televised debate on WMUR. He accuses Carol of lying. 




Guinta claimed that money was in a bank account he "forgot" about. Hell, who among us hasn't forgotten about over a quarter of a million dollars?

He's refused to explain where the money came from. One would think that he'd be able to produce a bank statement to clear it all up. One would think he'd want to clear this up. One would be wrong.

Guinta's first campaign featured a lot of wailing about alleged abuses by Congresswoman Shea-Porter of the House franking system. Guinta went on to become the largest abuser of that same franking system:  "Also among individual House members, Rep. Frank C. Guinta, R-N.H., spent the most on franked mail in 2011: $164,650."

Frank Guinta seems to believe that the rules don't apply to him. He  may be right - he's certainly not being held accountable. 

He repeatedly stated during his 2014 campaign that he was no longer under investigation. 

As Dean Barker has thoroughly researched, that just isn't true.  The FEC investigation into Franks Funny Money is still pending. It's been pending since 2010.. Surely Guinta could have produced a bank statement by now. 

Frank Guinta repeatedly stated during his 2014 campaign that he was no longer under investigation. 

At a town hall meeting this past week in Dover, he was confronted by constituent Bob Perry. From Fosters:

One testy exchange occurred toward the beginning of the forum when Bob Perry of Strafford asked Guinta about the Federal Elections Commission investigation into his past campaign spending practices. 

Guinta confirmed the investigation is ongoing but dismissed the initial complaint, brought by state Democrats, as political in nature. 

It wasn't Carol Shea-Porter who was lying. Frank Guinta owes Congresswoman Shea-Porter and all the voters of his district a big, big apology. 



Frank Guinta repeatedly stated during his 2014 that he was no longer under investigation. 

Let's Be Frank About Frank's Franking

Last Minute Attacks by Shady Non-Profit Affiliated with Americans for Prosperity

This is one of the mailers that has just gone out attacking NH State Representative Robert (Renny) Cushing. Note the stereotyping, the use of FEAR language (WELFARE CARDS!) and of course the incredibly sexist stereotype of a conservative view of what a low income woman looks like. 

There's also something else noteworthy about this mailer. It references HB 1213, a bill that was held over by the legislature for interim study. The House voted in March to send it to interim study. The roll call vote was 175 to 105. (Some fairly reactionary Republicans voted to send it to interim study.)

There have been a number of subcommittee work sessions on the bill, and it's slated to be brought back to the House floor.  This is a craven scare attack on a legislator that is considered a threat. 

That brings us to Part 2. This mailer was paid for by the New Hampshire Advantage Coalition. Who is the NHAC? It is a group originally formed in 1998, aimed at protecting the so-called NH advantage. The founders:

George Lovejoy - Barrington
Roy Stewart - Bedford
Thomas Colburn - Pembroke
Judith Thayer - Manchester
Siobhan Tautkus - Manchester
Bryan Gould - Concord
Diane Gilbert - Epping
Jim Root - Bristol
Ovide Lamontagne - Manchester


They filed only one annual report with the Secretary of State, and that was in 2000. It listed Lovejoy as the president. The non-profit was dissolved/suspended in 2006, and formally dissolved with the IRS in 2011. It was brought back to life later that year by these folks:

Corey Lewandowski - Salem
Ed Sibeleski - Salem
Diane Wolfgang - Windham
Richard Morin - Salem
Matthew Worthen - Hampstead

Corey Lewandowski is employed by Americans for Prosperity - the Koch funded group that is allied with the far right, the John Birch Society, and the Free State Project in NH.

The NH Advantage Coalition has never filed an annual report with the Secretary of State. NH Secretary of State Corporate Search.

In 2012 NHAC received money from AFP.  Americans for Prosperity dutifully reported the $20,000, as you can see by scrolling down to page 24. Note there is no tax ID number  for the NHAC listed on the paperwork.

NHAC also got money from Grover Norquist's group, Americans for Tax Reform in 2012. NHAC was given $15,000 to fight for "right to work" legislation. The group used the tax ID number from the defunct original corporation that was dissolved with the IRS.

It sure does look as if on top of never filing annual reports with the Sec. of State, the New Hampshire Advantage Coalition is accepting money with an invalid tax ID number. 

This group is obviously scared witless by a decent and principled legislator - so much that they'll lie and commit tax fraud to try to take him down. 

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!