From Libertarianism to Authoritarianism - Free Staters in the NH House

Remember this meme? Back in the olden days, when the Free State Project first started colonizing NH, they used to tell us this all the time. They don't bother any more. It wasn't true then, and it sure as hell isn't true now. They claim to be opposed to authoritarianism, but that's only because they want to BE  the authoritarians. 

Over the years the Free Staters  have become increasingly allied with the NH Republican Party. Over the last 4 years, they were happy to join the Trump wing of the NH GOP. There's little difference between the alleged libertarians and the Trumpers at this point, and nowhere has that been more apparent than with this bill, HB 544. It's titled: An Act Relative to the Propagation of Divisive Concepts. 

The sponsors are Representatives Keith Ammon, of New Boston, Glenn Cordelli of Tuftonboro, and Jason Osborne, of Auburn.

What are these divisive concepts that these men are so worried about? It seems these three fellows are offended by any talk of oppression on the base of race, ethnicity, or gender. There is no more racism, no bias, no more sexism in the workplace - or anywhere else, because we've fixed all that!  It's time to move on.  They want to make sure that these topics won't be brought up in NH schools, state agencies, or any aspect of government in the state, including cities and towns,  and labor unions. Any diversity training would have to be pre-approved by the Department of Administrative Services. No contractors could be used by schools or state agencies that did not agree to these terms. 

They are especially concerned about being held accountable for actions committed in the past. The Three Wise White Men don't want to be tied to the past. We've fixed all that now. There is no more slavery. Heck, we gave you girls the vote - stop yer whining!  We are all equal now. Who would know that better than three white guys living in NH? 

It's amusing to see this band of libertarians not only cracking down on free speech, but dictating to every aspect of government in our state what is permissible and what is not. 

The bill had a hearing last week that had to be recessed because of time constraints. I've watched the video, and Rep. Ammon claims he filed the bill at the urging of an unnamed NH college professor, who is afraid of a backlash if he were to be identified. I think Ammon created a fictional character to distract us from the fact that HB 544 is cribbed, nearly word for word from former president Trump's Executive Order 13950 which was issued in September 2020. President Biden revoked the order on his first day in office. 

Last week's hearing was on Thursday, February 11, in the NH House Executive Departments and Administration Committee. They take up HB 544 at about an hour and 31 minutes in.

The hearing will begin again on Thursday, the 18th, at 1:30 PM. 

Free State Project mover and Representative Jason Osborne, who wants to dictate speech in government, is the House Majority Leader. His Twitter account is locked. So much for freedom. Keith Ammon has me blocked, because my free speech annoys him. One could almost get to thinking that these doughty fighters for freedom are really very tender blossoms. 

THIS is what authoritarianism looks like. 

*Be sure to read the bill and compare it to Trump's Executive Order

Disappointing Girls

We start disappointing girls before they are born. The baby shower filled with little pink items is where it all begins. The pink faucet continues to flow after the girl child is born. It’s challenging to buy baby clothes or little girl clothes that aren’t pink, don’t mention princesses, and don’t sport any glitter. Also: boys AND girls wear blue. Boys do not wear pink.

Girls get girl toys. They get dolls. They get kitchens. They get all things Disney princess. They get pink bicycles. They may be referred to as “Daddy’s little princess.” Their brother will be called, “the little man.” The focus is always on appearance. Boys are Big or Strong. Girls are Petite, Cute, and Beautiful. They learn to be sweet. They learn to sit down and act like a little lady. Pink is the color of lowered expectations.

The way to judge the importance of a thing is by who engages in it. Girls and women do not play football, though women’s tax dollars go toward building huge arenas that persons of their gender will never be allowed to use.  Women are not allowed to participate in military combat. Boys and men do not participate in beauty contests.

Girls are judged, harshly, on their looks for their whole lives. As women, they will be told by strangers to smile. When men are not smiling, it’s obviously because they are thinking important thoughts. When women are not smiling, it’s because they are bitches.

Our little pinkettes go forward into a world where women are not equal. All of the major religions teach that women are lesser beings. Ole Adam laid the blame on Eve the moment he had the opportunity. These teachings have had a definite trickle down effect. As a result, women are still oppressed in most countries in the world. In some countries crude surgeries are done on women’s genitals. In others, men determine the rights of women, including their right to bodily autonomy.

We may bemoan the dearth of women in the fields of science and math, but in a world where boys are Smart and girls are Pretty it’s really no surprise that girls are pushed toward traditional girl/woman fields. Women who enter fields that have been dominated by men do not get a warm welcome. If they are lucky, they are bullied and demeaned. If they are not, they are beaten, raped, and sometimes murdered, as we see in the US military.

In the 1970’s, feminists began to push back against the traditional attitudes about the crime of rape. They began the first rape crisis centers. They pushed back against the routine legal and societal blaming of women for their own rapes. Things got a little better. Like everything else, that improvement is starting to recede. Constant vigilance is the price of any gains made by women. 

Historically, women have been regarded as chattel or as plunder. This really hasn’t changed, as we saw in the recent trial of a young man accused of rape at St. Paul’s School in Concord. This elite private school has a tradition known as the “Senior Salute” where boys compete to “score” with as many girls as they can before graduation. Tradition is defined as an established pattern of behavior, a social custom, or cultural continuity. When the administrators at St. Paul’s tell us that they knew nothing of this, they are almost certainly lying through their expensively maintained teeth. The boys kept lists, shared them, and named names. It was all about keeping score.

The young man was accused and the girl was put on trial. The jury found that she didn’t resist enough. Even though 4 of his friends testified against him, even though there was physical evidence, she was found questionable because she didn’t march immediately to the police station to demand justice. Like many rape victims, she was confused and emotional after being raped by someone she knew. The media coverage of the case was abhorrent – particularly the live tweeting by reporters from inside the courtroom. I seldom praise the Union Leader newspaper, but they refused to publish the victim’s name. Other publications were not so principled. The behavior of the media is something that should concern us locally, given that Nate Kibby goes on trial early next year

There’s a lot of lip service about how seriously we take the crime of rape. The fact that there are thousands of rape kits languishing untested in police stations around the country gives lie to any pretense of seriousness. The libertea crowd tells us that women need to carry guns to protect themselves. They are using women to justify their desire to eliminate all restrictions on gun ownership. In NH the libertea legislators routinely vote against domestic violence bills, because a domestic violence conviction means that a guy would lose his guns. If women started shooting men on a regular basis, they’d change their tune about female gun ownership in a big hurry.

We aren’t interested in teaching boys and men not to rape. Rape is part and parcel of male privilege in our society. It’s up to girls and women not to be provocatively dressed, not to be in any situation that might be construed as “asking for it,” and above all, in the event of a rape to behave in a textbook manner. 

Saint Paul’s School turned a blind eye to the rape culture on their campus. As a result, the future captains of industry have learned that girls/women are disposable plunder. The girls of St. Paul’s have learned that they are - at best - a fungible commodity. The rest of us have learned, once again, why girls and women do not report their rapes. We start disappointing girls before they are born.

This was published as an op-ed in the 9-4-2015 edition of the Conway Daily Sun newspaper 

Free Staters and that Pesky First Amendment

My friend Tuck over at Miscellany Blue started up a real snitstorm a couple of weeks ago when he posted 2 letters published in NH newspapers that were in response to the Free Stater's Outraged Victimhood over being named as potential domestic terrorists. 

There were 308 responses, most of them from angry Free Staters. They don't take criticism well. In fact, unless one writes about them in the most positive and glowing of terms, their thin skins puncture, and outraged blood begins to flow. It's pretty simple, New Hampshire: a group of armed colonizers is going to try to take over our state - but unless we agree with their simplistic randian fantasies, we're supposed to just shut up. 

This was admirably illustrated by Free Stater Seth Cohn: 

Seth and victoriap are discussing a booklet written by some folks attempting to warn others in their community about the Free State Project. 

As you can read, not only is Seth irate about the booklet, he's also miffed that it was printed anonymously. So much so that he attempts to compare an anonymous pamphlet about the Free State Project with actual racism. 

The Free Staters are not an oppressed group. No one has ever forced them into slavery because they were Free Staters. No one has ever denied them employment or housing because they were Free Staters. They have not been rounded up and sent to a concentration camp. They are not forbidden to come to our state.  They do not experience segregation. They are not routinely assaulted or killed for being Free Staters.

The Free Staters are mostly white men - not exactly at the top of the list of groups who have experienced oppression. Once again Free Staters show how incapable of any sort of self reflection about themselves or their project they really are. 

Seth goes on to bleat that he isn't going to tolerate anonymous attacks on "me or others." He goes on to say: "if you hide yourself to attack FSPers, you are no better than a racist by any other name, and I will call you that." 

Irony overload. 

The folks who want to bring you freedumb and libertea aren't going to tolerate you using that pesky first amendment! As a dunce told me at the gun melee in June, the second amendment is the most important one. (He was stumped when I asked him why, if that were the case, the first one came...you know..like.....FIRST?) 

Yup, if you make an anonymous criticism of a Free Stater, you're a racist! Seth Cohn says so! 

On the other hand, if you make an anonymous criticism of me on my blog, you're usually a Free Stater.  IOKIYAFS