Vermont May Eliminate Entry Fees at State Parks

Vermont. New Hampshire. So close and yet so very far.... 

Last year, NH wanted to make senior citizens pay $20 for a season's pass to our state parks. 

This year Vermont is having an entirely different conversation:

Free state parks? Some Vermont House lawmakers think it's a good idea.

A proposal in the House calls for dropping the day use entry fee for everyone. Visitors over 14 years old currently pay a $3 entry fee or $80 for a season pass

Next weekend it's Vermont Days when residents can visit state parks, historical sites, and the Vermont History Museum absolutely free of charge. And everyone (resident or not) can fish on the 14th without a license. 

Meanwhile in NH - we've got some liquor stores on the highway! Just don't use the bathrooms.

Would Walt Disney Approve of the Robin Hoodlums?

The Robin Hoodlums of Free Keene (aka the Free State Project) are some unemployed youth who prance around all day putting money in parking meters, and harassing the city's parking enforcement employees. 

Free Keene Robin Hood

They find themselves heroic  for making the lives of working people unbearable. Given that they aren't working people (no one knows who is subsidizing the hoodlums, or buying their expensive video equipment) this is especially offensive.  

A recent NY Times story didn't cast them in a flattering light. 

This is their logo:  

If that looks familiar - it is:

I'm a little surprised that the usually protective and litigious Disney doesn't object to their image being used in this way, by this group. 

I'm even more surprised that they don't object to this use of their movie - because if there's one thing I'm certain of, it's that the Robin Hoodlums didn't ask for permission. (In the real world, we call that THEFT) 

AFP-FSP Twins Separated at Birth

This is Greg Moore, from the NH branch of Americans For Prosperity. AFP is a far, far right political advocacy group, funded by the Koch brothers. Here we see him urging members of the Free State Project (armed libertarians moving to NH to take over and dismantle our state government, then threaten secession - also funded by the Koch brothers) to run for office. 

Carla Gericke is the President of the FSP. 
Mark Warden is a soon-to-be former State Representative, pondering a run against State Senator Lou D'Alessandro. 
Dan and Carol McGuire are Free Staters and state reps, living in Epsom. 

This is from the Free State Project website:

We are not a political action organization. We are not tied to any political party or organization; we do not run candidates for election; we do not financially support or endorse candidates; and we do not oppose or endorse legislation. 

Hmmm. One of these things is not like the other. They aren't a political action organization - they just want to act politically. This doe-eyed disingenuous routine is getting old. 

Note: It's true that they aren't tied to any political party. They mostly run as Republicans, but they encourage people to run as a member of whatever party is most likely to get them elected.


h/t to anonymous tipster
h/t to Tuck at miscellany blue.

Carroll County Commissioners Want to Oust Asha Kenney

The woman in pink, at the far right (!) is Asha Kenney. Mrs. Kenney is a Carroll County Commissioner, this is a CCC meeting, and she is sitting in her customary surly pose. Mrs. Kenney has been very unhappy with everything during her tenure on the Carroll County Commission. 

Her unhappiness has reached a new level. The Conway Daily Sun reported today that Mrs. Kenney's fellow commissioners have pledged to remove her from office. Now, Asha Kenney has done a lot of obnoxious things since she's been in office. She was accused of  illegally taping meetings. (She was elected secretary but couldn't seem to take notes.) A few weeks ago she demanded 2,000 county employees W-2 forms. A former county employee filed a grievance against Commissioner Kenney, which includes mentions of all kinds of bizarre behavior on the part of Mrs. Kenney. 

But it all pales in comparison to this:

An alleged verbal attack on a county employee by Carroll County Commissioner Asha Kenney which included the accusation the employee's daughter is a prostitute has prompted the other two commissioners to try to remove Kenney from office.

The two commissioners, chairman David Sorensen and David Babson Wednesday also voted to censure her. 

Holy schnitzel! She accused a county employee's daughter of being a prostitute? 

It seems that Asha Kenney (wife of One Executive Councilor Joe Kenney - am I a jerk for bringing that up in a story about her? You bet I am.) has been harassing Deb Newlin for some time. More from the Conway Sun story:

Newlin alleged Kenney's "hostility" towards her began in 2012 after Newlin denied Kenney access to personnel files that were not available for "random viewing."
In one instance, Kenney emailed incoming HR director Wynette DeGroot, even before DeGroot started working, to tell DeGroot about how Newlin should be fired.
The most recent incident against Newlin occurred on May 28. Newlin had just come back to work after taking medical leave.
According to Newlin, Kenney was "so disturbed" by Newlin's return that she launched into a "45 minute tirade" at the business office. Newlin did not hear the tirade herself but learned of it from others.

"In the course of this tirade, Mrs. Kenney stated that I have a twin sister who is in prison for life on death row for murdering her mother-in-law by stabbing her in the neck," said Newlin. "Mrs. Kenney went so far as to show staff members a picture she had on her cell phone, which she claimed is a picture of my twin, and asked 'see, doesn't it look just like her?' Mrs. Kenney then told staff that she is afraid to have me upstairs and afraid of what I might do. She further claimed that my husband got me pregnant at the same time his ex-wife was pregnant. She stated that I also have a brother who is no good. She then stated that I have a daughter working as a prostitute in California."

This takes bizarre to a whole new level. 

Video of the meeting:

The discussion about removing Asha Kenney from office begins early in the video. This video was recorded on June 4, 2014. 

Mrs. Kenney has had problems with anger and impulse control since the beginning of her term. 

Note how sweet she is to everyone. 

There are no procedures for removing most elected officials from office in NH. Asha Kenney should, of course, resign at once. Is she smart enough to do that? I don't think so. She is deeply invested in her own victimhood.

Will her husband, Joe Kenney, who will be running for re-election in November decide he needs to shut down this shitshow, before he gets some on him?

Stay tuned.  

h/t to Dave Babson and David Sorenson for doing their best to protect county employees from this abusive woman.

Vermont Tries Marketing Campaign to Recruit New Residents.

Great Jobs in Vermont:

Gov. Peter Shumlin says a new "Great Jobs in Vermont" campaign will help put job seekers in touch with job openings in businesses. Our message is a simple one," Shumlin explained Wednesday. "We have jobs and we want you.

NH tries the Free State Project:

They draw on sidewalks with chalk and deface the Civil War monument in Keene. 

Vermont is trying to attract all kinds of professionals. NH appears to be trying to attract vandals. 

It seems likely that (once again) Vermont has a better plan. 

Tourists Treated Like #2 in NH

This is the Sanbornton rest area, heading south on I-93. Note the rust around the bottom of the door, the mold growing on the outside of the rather shabby building. The rest area is only open from 8 am to 8 pm, to accomodate your peeing needs:

Classy!

Scenes from the ladies room

At least the ventilation system is working. 

Tourism - NH's second largest industry. The parking lot at this rest stop was filled with out of state cars, who will take this memory home with them to cherish.  

Tourism is our #2 business - and apparently treating our tourists like #2 is the way we roll. 

NH Progressive Summit

The 2014 Progressive Summit is taking place on June 7, at New England College in Henniker: 

Last year’s NH Progressive Summit theme was “Restoring Balance and Common Sense.” This year, the theme is “Building the Progressive Movement.” Whether it’s advancing pro-active legislation at the state and federal level that represents our key progressive values, guarding against conservative rhetoric, or challenging corporate political corruption of our legislative and electoral process – we need to continue to build the progressive movement in our state and country.

This is important work - see you there. 

To Register

More Information

Live Free But Don't Stop to Pee

                                 Inside the West Gardiner, ME rest area on the Maine Turnpike.

Circumstances beyond my control led to a trip north on the Maine turnpike. It had been years since I’d even been on it. Every Maine pilgrimage I’ve undertaken in the last decade was accomplished without the aid of the interstate.

Maine was green and blooming, Jethro Tull was in the CD player, and hot coffee was my best friend after a short night’s sleep. Coffee drinking result in rest stops. My first turnpike stop was at the Gray Service Plaza. Maine rest areas are very different from those we encounter in New Hampshire. There were gas pumps. There wasn’t a liquor store. The building was fairly new and attractive.  The bathrooms were clean, shiny, and smelled nice! They had free WiFi! It was glorious. In West Gardiner I stopped again, and found another new building with an octagonal roof. Inside was a fabulous exhibit of Maine artists and crafters. There was a Starbucks and a few other fast food vendors, as well as a small convenience store. The bathroom was large, well lit, well ventilated, and smelled clean. These plazas made an unhappy trip far more pleasant.

The Hampton, NH  rest area on I-95. 

A few days later I headed south to visit the family plot in Massachusetts. I stopped at the rest area on I-95 in Hampton. It was Memorial Day, and all the weekend travelers were heading home. The siren song of the giant highway liquor outlet beguiled many a weary holiday traveler with the promise of cheap booze for the trip home. That’s what there is at the Hampton rest area; a giant liquor store and a smaller store selling goods made in NH. Sandwiched in between are some ancient, dank, rest rooms, painted evil shades of tan and yellow, poorly (if at all) ventilated, and reeking of 10,000 years of flatulence. One stall had sodden bathroom tissue on the wet floor that featured a large puddle of liquid right inside the door.

There were no gas pumps. No coffee. No art exhibit. No WiFi. No sparkly clean, well-ventilated, pleasant smelling bathrooms.

                         The Southern Vermont Welcome Center on I-91.

Our neighbors in Vermont also have numerous attractive rest areas on their interstates. They all offer FREE coffee for travelers. All have free WiFi. The rest area in Sharon (north) has a Vietnam War memorial, and a hydroponic botanical garden. The Hartford (south) rest stop features displays of various aspects of VT culture, including agriculture. They want you to love Vermont so much that you’ll come back, maybe even permanently.

                                        The Sharon, VT rest area

The number 2 industry in New Hampshire is tourism. The top half of the state is almost totally reliant on the tourist industry. One would never guess that from our highway rest areas. They do not say, “welcome.” They do not say, “Thank you, and come back again.” Our idea of a cultural display is an alcohol outlet and some stinky bathrooms. Thanks for visiting NH! Do your kids like Jack Daniels? We’ve got fun for the whole family!!

Competition for tourist dollars is fierce in northern New England. Our neighbor states have chosen to make investments that enhance the travel experience of their tourists. Here in NH, we seem to think that folks are dying to come here to experience our failing infrastructure and buy booze. We refuse to invest in our state parks, our roads, our bridges, and our rest areas. We seem to think that some nice mountains, lakes, and rivers combined with minimal upkeep and deferred maintenance in our parks will keep ‘em coming back for more.

That, too, is emblematic of NH culture. Kick the can down the road, and when it lands in a pothole, pay the pound of cure.

The US infrastructure ranks 25^th in the world. In 2002 we were in 5^th place. Switzerland is #1. I’ll spare you the whole list, but it is worth noting that Barbados has a higher ranked infrastructure than the United States. Barbados spends 0.8% of its GDP on the military. The US spends 4.35% of our GDP on offense. This is why we can’t have nice things.

According to Top States for Business, 2013, the #1 state for infrastructure is Texas. NH is in 45^th place. According to that same study, NH ranks 40^th for cost of living, 13^th for business friendliness, and 18^th for the cost of doing business. Since the recession, Texas has invested heavily in infrastructure and education. The states that have made those sorts of investments are recovering jobs faster than the states that did not.

Job growth over the last 12 months has increased by 1.54% in Massachusetts, the fastest growing state economy in New England. Maine isn’t far behind, at 1.35%. Rhode Island comes in at 1.32% (they rank 21^st in the nation in manufacturing), Vermont at 1.29%, NH at 0.83%, and CT at .05%. We’ve always been able to count on being a state that rebounds quickly. The NH economy has always been one of the fastest growing in New England. Those days appear to be over. We’re lagging behind states that we are usually ahead of, like Maine and Vermont.

I’m not suggesting that Vermont’s economic growth is a result of having attractive highway rest areas – but they are an indicator of what VT is doing that NH is not. Vermont is investing in both its people (education, health care, increased minimum wage) and its infrastructure (roads, bridges, telecommunications). States that are investing are thriving. NH is doing the opposite.

We all know that New Hampshire is a pretty great place to be, but that isn’t the message we’re broadcasting to the visitors who come to our state. This is something we can control. “Live Free But Don’t Stop to Pee” should not be a contender for our new state motto.

© sbruce 2014
Published in the May 30 edition of the Conway Daily Sun newspaper. 

Welcome, Bienvenue, Wilkommen!

I went to visit my father's grave yesterday in Massachusetts. On the way, I stopped (as a middle aged female coffee drinker is wont to do) at the I-95 rest area in Hampton.

The parking lot was packed. Tourists returning from a holiday weekend in NH were taking the opportunity to stock up with cheap booze on the way home.

Tourism is NH's second largest industry. The top half of the state relies heavily on tourist dollars. Our idea of catering to tourists seems to consist of providing alcohol factory outlet shopping along the highway. 

Let's hope the tourists don't remember us for the bathroom at this rest stop. A narrow, unventilated space, painted dreadful colors, and reeking of the farts of the last 10,000 years. 

Thanks for visiting NH! Ya'll come back now, y'hear?? 

http://susanthebruce.blogspot.com/2012/04/live-free-and-porta-potty.html

Free Keeners Deface War Memorial

This is the Civil War Monument found in Keene NH's Central Square. It's an infantryman, cast in bronze, honoring the men of Keene who fought in the Civil War. More on the history of the monument can be found here.

No matter how one feels about war, this is a memorial to the dead. It is a work of art. And it is in a public park. 

That's why it is distressing to see this:

The Free Keeners have defaced the  monument, and not for the first time. If you look behind the current graffiti, you can see a faint peace sign underneath that won't wash off. Just before Memorial Day, too. 

In 2009, Ian "Freeload" Bernard proudly boasted on the FK website that "heroic activists" had defaced the statue. 

Some heroes. Right up there with Rosa Parks. 

These heroic activists are not employed. They do not pay taxes. Taxpayers pay for the upkeep of the pubic parks that these heroes vandalize on a regular basis. 

The self-proclaimed heroic activists seem to be under the impression that sidewalk chalking is a daring form of civil disobedience, as opposed to a nuisance and an eyesore. Chalk easily washes off sidewalks. 

Vandalizing a memorial is something else entirely. 

Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James Chaney were heroic activists. 

The FKers are stuck in perpetual delayed adolescence, spending their days engaging in bullying meter readers and defacing public property. 

Heroes?  Not so you'd notice. 

Ablow Steps in it Again

From Media Matters:



 Serial Sexist Dr. Keith Ablow at Fox strikes again!  In a recent discussion (where one of the female talking heads struggled to pronounce the word decorum) on an Illinois middle school having a battle about the wearing of leggings by female students, Ablow gifted us with his view:

ABLOW: You cannot come in with leggings. Because my son wants to learn and the truth is it is distracting. And it is kind of inappropriate because when did we decide as a culture that tights would become an overgarment instead of an undergarment. The reason we're doing that is because girls are in a panic to be more and more sexual because we've taken all the restraint away from femininity. We've made girls into boys.


The obvious question: Why isn't this kid being home schooled? If Mrs. Ablow isn't up to the task, surely Fox pays Ablow enough to send the little nipper to a private boy's school, where he (probably) wouldn't struggle so with the attire of his classmates. 

Also, could someone please point out to Ablow (such an apt name) that this is exactly the kind of thinking used to justify the wearing of burkas? This is the same old "the woman, she tempted me" bullshit that we've been hearing since Jesus wrote the Bible. 

Rand Paul is Not an Economist

In fact, he's barely a human being. 




Poverty level wages are "tough love" that we have to accept to get us out of the recession. 

How Now Brown Cash Cow

The 2014 legislative session is coming to an end. The House passed a lot of bills that met obstruction in the Senate. A number of NH Senators have announced that they won’t be running for reelection. With luck, a few more will reach that same decision.

Last week’s Senate vote on the creation of and increase to the state minimum wage is an example of why the Senate needs the application of a big broom. During the O’Brien years, the state minimum wage was struck down, leaving NH to march in lockstep with the federal minimum wage. Even the ability to set our own minimum was too frighteningly permissive for the O’Brien crowd. (Ironic when one considers that the gummint haters turned over the NH option to the federal gummint.) The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. If a minimum wage worker worked 40 hours a week, they’d earn $290 before taxes. The cheapest apartment advertised in the local classifieds was $600 a month, without utilities. Even if they could pay the rent, they’d be unable to afford utilities, food, transportation, clothing, and health care.

Most employers that pay minimum wage don’t offer full time jobs, because then they’d have to offer benefits. These same companies (big box stores in particular) also provide fluctuating hours, so a worker never has a regular schedule they can count on. That makes juggling other jobs difficult at best. When companies don’t pay workers enough to live on, the rest of us help subsidize their company profits, by picking up the tab for public assistance programs.

Legislators and business owners love to pretend that the minimum wage is a sort of training wage for teenagers entering the job market. In NH, 72% of minimum wage workers are over the age of 20. They’re breadwinners. In our brave new economy, where we manufacture nothing, the bulk of the jobs being created are low wage service jobs. Adults with families to support are competing with teens for low wage jobs.

The NH Senate voted to kill the establishment of a state minimum wage, and a two-step increase that would result in a state min. wage of $9 an hour by 2016. Senator John Reagan was quoted in the Laconia Citizen as saying he “thinks it’s silly to say someone couldn’t be supported on minimum wage, as they can take on multiple jobs.” Our local Senator, multimillionaire Jeb Bradley said that raising the minimum wage would harm teenagers and entry-level workers. It sure would suck for entry level workers to be able to afford food and shelter. Senator Andy Sanborn, who owns a bar/restaurant, drove up in his Mercedes to claim that an increase in minimum wage would hurt restaurants. Sanborn should have declared conflict of interest and abstained from voting. He pays some of his employees minimum wage. Former Senate President Peter Bragdon (who just signed a contract for a job paying $185,000 a year) called the bill “feel good” legislation. He’s right. It would feel good for workers to be slightly more able to feed their children and put a roof over their heads.

A couple of Senators took the minimum wage challenge, where they lived for a week on the minimum wage. Senator David Watters said that it quickly became clear that on that wage he wouldn’t be able to continue to live in Dover without food and housing assistance. Senator David Pierce said that the challenge produced such anxiety for him that he was shaken by the experience.

The cost of higher education has skyrocketed. The kinds of jobs being created offer low wages and no possibility of advancement. The creation and perpetuation of a permanent, poor underclass in our country will have dire consequences.

In other news, Scott Brown was in North Conway last week. Many of our local politicians were on hand to meet, greet, endorse, and toady up to the recent émigré who wants to be NH’s next US Senator. From Lloyd Jones’ excellent news story, we learned that even though Scott Brown moved to NH in February some of our local state representatives and wannabes think Scott’s the guy who represents NH values.

Let us be clear about what kind of value our GOP friends see in Scott Brown. It’s green and has a funny pyramid on it. This senate election is reportedly going to be one of the most expensive in our nation’s history. Thanks to the Citizens United and McCutcheon decisions by the Supreme Court, the amount of money shoveled into our state will be breathtaking. Our local solons understand that of all the candidates running against Senator Shaheen, the one who is going to have the big bucks behind him is Brown. Politicians are pragmatic folk, and they’re going to get behind the money candidate, and wait for the trickle down effect. The state GOP is desperate for cash. Mr. Brown is the cow they’re pinning their hopes on.

The Supreme Court has ruled yet again that money is speech. No longer do we have “free” speech, thanks to SCOTUS the kind of speech we have is very expensive. Those who give the most get the loudest speech. With no limits and no accountability. It’s called dark money, because there is no transparency. We the voters won’t know where all this money to manipulate us comes from. The only one who will know is the candidate. Big money comes with marching orders. We are about to be bombarded with negative ads, the likes of which we’ve never seen before.

Negative ads work in two ways and both are intentional. They discourage people from voting and they plant lies that become truths. When Scott Brown was here last week, he repeated one of them. The Koch funded group Americans for Prosperity NH has been pushing a particular message for months: “Jeanne Shaheen Cast the Deciding Vote for Obamacare.” Scott Brown repeated that, and embellished it, by saying he was there and he saw her do it.

In Louisiana, Americans for Prosperity’s ads inform voters “Mary Landrieu Cast the Deciding Vote for Obamacare.” In Florida, Bill Nelson cast that vote. In Arkansas it was Mark Pryor. In Ohio, “Sherrod Brown Cast the Deciding Vote for Obamacare.” In Minnesota it was Al Franken. And in Virginia, Mark Warner “Cast the Tie-Breaking Vote for Obamacare.”

So, when Scott Brown says he was there and he saw her do it, he’s counting on the fact that a lie repeated often enough becomes the truth. It’s both craven and cynical - and that’s what life is going to look like in NH from now till November.

© sbruce 2014 

Published in the May 16, 2014 edition of the Conway Daily Sun newspaper. 

Free Stater Cantwell: Sad, Mad, Victim

It seems my blog piece on the sickening views expressed by Free Stater Chris Cantwell caused him to get the sadz and the madz. How dare anyone criticize him for blaming a police officer for being killed in the line of duty and cheering about it? 

Free Staters are as constant as the sun and the moon in one respect: if you criticize them, they whine. It's always someone else's fault, and they are always the victims. 

In Cantwell's case, he had a big old hissy fit for himself. (NSFW)




The thing about putting your opinions out there in public is - you get held accountable for them. That's the joy and the sorrow of the First Amendment.  Cantwell's rant is the violent, heavily armed, adult version of a two year old tantrum in the supermarket. 

This is what the Free State Project has brought to our state. A big, angry, unstable, armed baby. 

Free Stater Blames Brentwood Cop for his own Death

Brentwood Police Officer Steve Arkell who was killed in the line of duty.

Free Stater Chris Cantwell blames Officer Arkell for his own death:

"I don’t know the Nolan family, but according to neighbors, they weren’t dangerous people. Susan Hughes told the Union Leader that Michael Nolan “never really talked to anybody; he stays upstairs with his TV on.” James Culbertson, 73, said the elder Nolan “seemed like a nice guy.” The Union Leader reported that Walter Nolan’s wife died two years ago, and Michael Nolan’s died of cancer in 2008.

So how do these seemingly normal people find themselves in a gun fight and exploding home? Obviously, it’s because the great escalators showed up. Some busybody neighbor hears an “argument” and thinks this is a really great reason to dial 911, knowing that the most violent people around (the police) are going to show up. Said violent people show up, enter the house with a gun, without permission, and surprisingly enough, these folks who didn’t ask for help, aren’t so happy about this.

For whatever reason, maybe he’s irrational because he’s in a heated argument, maybe he genuinely doesn’t know it’s a cop, maybe he’s rightfully fed up with police breaking into homes, the guy in the house opens fire on the cop, killing him. Once this happens, he knows his life is pretty much over. He knows that more police are going to come, and if he’s lucky enough to survive the ride to the jail, he’ll probably never leave. Faced with this horrific scenario, setting his home ablaze and taking his own life starts seeming like a reasonable alternative."

Cantwell is working those "maybes" mighty hard. He has no idea what happened. In his twisted mind, it may be "obvious" that the shooting and explosion were because the police showed up. There's no room in his philosophy for the possibility of senility, mental illness, or alcoholism combined with weapons and explosives and the potential results.  He's a  virulent and potentially violent cop hater who was publicly kicked out of the Free State Project for advocating "violence against government agents." As Cantwell makes clear in his own blog, that BIG PUBLIC STAND on the part of the FSP, was just that. It was a show:

I’m not ostracized by every member of the Free State Project, in fact I’m still facebook friends with the president thereof, this is a PR stunt to avoid unwanted attention. New Hampshire is a great place to live, and the FSP board is only 5 people.

That much is true. Cantwell regularly posts on Free Stater blogs and forums. Many members of the FSP are listed as his FaceBook friends, including Free State Project President Carla Gericke and Free Keene cult leader Ian Freeload, whose views on the age of consent for sex between adults and children recently came to light. 

I've lived in NH for 30 years, and I've never had to get fed up with police breaking into my home. Why? It's never happened.

Cantwell goes on to put the frosting on his hate cake:

"As a New Hampshire resident, I couldn’t disagree more. I mourn the loss of Michael Nolan. I mourn the injuries of his father. I’m upset about the property damage. Not the loss of Officer Arkell’s life."

Cantwell's armchair suppositions are repellent. Blaming Officer Arkell for his own death is beyond the pale. 

The armed miscreants of the Free State Project who are in the process of colonizing our state love to tell us how peaceful they are. 

Bullshit. 

Free Stater Ian Bernard Opposes ANY Age of Consent

Ian "Freeload" Bernard of the Free Keene sideshow of the Free State Project, speaking on air - on his radio call in show, expounds on his view that children are able to decide for themselves when to be sexually active. Apparently children can't be exploited - they're perfectly capable of deciding for themselves. He doesn't believe in any age of consent. He doesn't give a cut off age, either. Would an infant be capable of consent in the twisted view of Ian Bernard?  

This is libertarianism taken to the extreme edge of the extreme. 

Notice how pissy he gets with the caller - and how uncomfortable his cohost becomes. (Note: his cohost is a convicted murderer.)  It seems "Pastor" Freeload thinks that if adults want to schtup children, it's nobody's business. 




Thanks Free State Project - you've really brought the cream of the crop to NH.  


h/t to SFK    This is a clip from the January 7, 2010 Free Talk Live show.

Karen Testerman Hosts a 'Welcome Home Gun Totin' Cretins' Party

US Senate candidate Karen Testerman is hosting a welcome home bash for the gun totin' cretins who went out to defend welfare rancher Cliven Bundy's right to graze his cattle on public land and not pay the bill. 

Republican New Hampshire Senate candidate Karen Testerman says she will host an event Monday night to welcome home "fellow NH Patriots" who went to Nevada to support controversial cattle rancher Cliven Bundy.

The event is slated for 6:30 p.m. at the Salmon Falls Church of Christ in Rochester. Testerman is one of four Republican candidates for U.S. Senate in New Hampshire, along with Scott Brown, Jim Rubens and Bob Smith.

"These men and women did not use violence, broke no laws, caused no damage to property, spoke no insults or vulgarity to any local state or federal authorities, yet they have been branded as 'DOMESTIC TERRORISTS,' by the U.S. Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid," Testerman said in a statement. "This is unacceptable. I call upon our sitting Senators to publicly denounce Harry Reid, call on him to apologize and extend a welcome to our fellow Granite Staters."

Yeah, they were regular Boy Scouts. Well, except for the pointing guns at people and planning to use women & children as human shields.

FBI questioning law enforcement about Bundy Militia

Those supporters of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy who may have pointed weapons at law enforcement during a showdown at Bundy's ranch last month could soon face consequences.

Las Vegas TV station KLAS reported Thursday that the FBI has begun interviewing Clark County sheriff's officials in what the news station describes as a "formal investigation into alleged death threats, intimidation and possible weapons violations" on the part of the Bundy militia.

Pointed weapons at law enforcement? Oh, say it ain't so. 

These are the same yobbos who were going to use women and children as human shields.

It boggles the mind that  Karen Testerman (who has made a career out of advocating that women serve as involuntary incubators) would be cheering on a bunch of Brave Sir Robins who were ready to have their women and children shot to protect themselves. 

Then there's the dishonest narrative behind the story. Cliven Bundy is a deadbeat and a moocher.

As for his claim that his family has been grazin' cattle there for 130 years?

Clark County property records show Bundy’s parents bought the 160-acre ranch where he still lives in 1948, two years after he was born in Bundyville, Ariz. — the same year the Bureau of Land Management was created through executive order by President Harry Truman.

Water rights were also transferred to the ranch itself, but not the federally managed land surrounding it, and court records show the Bundy family began grazing cattle on that land in 1954, when Cliven was 8 years old.

Moocher. This is the guy Karen Testerman is calling a "patriot." 

Let's not even get into the issue of Bundy's brilliant social commentary about "the Negro."

Testerman is welcoming home Jerry DeLemus, the teabagger and 9/12er whose wife, well known birther Sue DeLemus announced that Jerry was comin' home to run Strafford County Sheriff.

Funny how these antigummint guys are always so desperate to suck from the taxpayer teat. 

dads FOR gun violence

How long till some of NH's gun nuts hook up with these guys for a northern chapter?

I'm looking at you Rep. Hoell. 

A Sordid Tale of Capitalism and Hypocrisy

Senator Sanborn speaking to his constituency:

                             

Keene Sentinel

Federal agents, assisted by Keene police, descended on a Main Street store in Keene Wednesday morning, confiscating hundreds of items as part of a national effort to target synthetic drug manufacturers and distributors.

Several agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration entered Phat Stuff at 84 Main St. shortly after 11 a.m. and served employees with a federal search warrant signed by U.S. District Court Judge Steven J. McAuliffe.

The store is owned by Panos Eliopoulos, who leases the space from state Sen. Andy Sanborn, R-Bedford. Neither Eliopoulos nor Sanborn could be reached for comment.

This is the same Senator Sanborn who threatened a constituent in January when he contacted Sanborn about legalizing marijuana. Sanborn later voted against a bill to legalize pot in NH. His convoluted logic on why he made that vote makes for a good read.

Even though Sanborn admits he's used marijuana in the past, he threatened a student, and angered his Free Stater/libertea buddies by voting against legalization. Now we know that even though he's opposed to legalization, he's not opposed to making money off those who partake. 

Update:
Union Leader story never mentions the fact that Andy Sanborn owns the building. NH media never misses an opportunity to protect the GOP.

The DECIDING VOTE on Obamacare

Scott Brown asserts (not very intelligibly) that Senator Shaheen cast the DECIDING VOTE for Obamacare. He says it's true - he was there! This is, of course, the message that his friends the Kochs dba Americans for Prosperity NH are pushing. 

This is the flyer that Americans solely  for the Prosperous are canvassing in Manchester with this weekend:

OMG! It must be true! Scott Brown says he was there! Americans for Prosperity have fliers that say so! After all, Greg Moore wouldn't lie to us...would he? 

Oh dear. It seems that he would. After all, how could Jeanne Shaheen cast the deciding vote if Mary Landrieu did? That's what Americans for Prosperity is saying in Louisiana:




WaPo

Americans for Prosperity needs to get their story straight. 

But wait! If Jeanne Shaheen didn't cast the deciding vote because Mary Landrieu did, how could Bill Nelson have done it? 



American Crossroads is Karl Rove's PAC. Perhaps he and the Kochs need to get their stories straight. 

Uh oh. It was Senator Mark Pryor of Arkansas who cast the deciding vote for Obamacare:




But wait - it was Senator Sherrod Brown from Ohio who cast the deciding vote! 



OH NO! It wasn't Sherrod Brown - it was Al Franken!



Or at least that's what the Tea Party Patriots think. We now have 6 "deciding votes." 

But wait - there's more!  Ken Cuccinelli, the failed goobernatorial candidate from Virginia claims that Senator Mark Warner cast the tie breaking vote.

So, let's summarize. Jeanne Shaheen, Mary Landrieu, Bill Nelson, Mark Pryor, Sherrod Brown, and Al Franken each cast the deciding vote on Obamacare, according to a variety of wingnut funders and PACS. According to Ken Cuccinelli, Mark Warner cast the tie breaking vote. Presumably all those deciders were tied, and required a tie breaker. 

Or not. What's really going on here is that Big Wingnut Money is spending lots of it to convince low information voters from targeted states that their Senator cast the deciding vote. 

Thanks SCOTUS!