Guest post by Jeff Chidester - "Sorry, but no apology required for Fuller Clark" - Granite Grok

Guest post by Jeff Chidester – “Sorry, but no apology required for Fuller Clark”

Voter Fraud and its coddling here in NH – even as the NH State Attorney General’s office has issued an exoneration of NH State Senator Martha Fuller Clark (e.g., Martha’s Motel), more outlets outside of the MSM are starting to talk about it more and more.  A guest submission by Jeff Chidester which also appeared at SeacoastOnline.

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Some would like the rest of the world to believe N.H. state Sen. Martha Fuller Clark is owed an apology from the NHGOP. Not only is that not going to happen, it is not warranted.

I will not address the issues of voter fraud, voter suppression, or the recent N.H. attorney general’s report regarding the concerns about Sen. Fuller Clark and New Hampshire domicile laws. These concerns deserve a rational, common-sense analysis, which require a public conversation and not a back-and-forth on the opinion page of this newspaper.

Jennifer Horn, NHGOP chairperson, does not owe Fuller Clark an apology, and any suggestion to the contrary is naïve at best and delusional at worst. The calls for an apology only add to the kabuki theater we call party politics. Horn made a point of disagreement, one in which I have no doubt she truly believes. When Ray Buckley and the N.H. Democrat Party chose to post a picture of Sen. Jeb Bradley in a clown outfit on their Web page, should we realistically expect decorum on the part of Buckley, and insist he cease with the juvenile antics? No, because it is political kabuki theater.

Most of us expect committed political partisans to show faux righteous indignation for something that is nothing more than political posturing, but when some in the media jump in the middle of a dog fight between political rivals, it only adds to the absurdity.

Horn, like her counterpart Buckley, basically has three key responsibilities: Raise money, recruit candidates and attack the opposition.

Although Buckley and Horn, as well as other past chairpersons, would love to disagree with me and paint their positions as noble endeavors, both are nothing more than party administrators tasked solely with those three responsibilities. For all the artificial prestige that many attach to the position, Horn and Buckley are nothing more than glorified political apparatchiks.

Regarding the issue with Sen. Fuller Clark and the housing of political operatives, the senator is by all accounts a wonderful person. She has publicly committed her time and money to issues she believes in, sometimes to the benefit of the entire community, but also in support of her political beliefs. But so has Horn. Horn has been recognized for her commitment to the well-being of our troops and their families, as well as work with the Chernobyl Children Project. For better or worse, both Horn and Fuller Clark are also seasoned, partisan politicians. There is nothing wrong with that, but it is what it is. Fuller Clark and Horn freely entered into the arena of a blood sport.

But some of the over-the-top praise the past few days has been nothing more than continued political theater. Before we nominate Fuller Clark for sainthood, let’s be clear as to what many people are defending. Fuller Clark did not house starving orphans or the homeless in need of shelter. She did not convert her home into a hospice for those suffering with terminal illness, or provide a place to stay for legal refugees escaping political and religious persecution. She may support these endeavors, but that sadly that is not what we are talking about.

Fuller Clark allowed out-of-state Democratic political operatives to stay at her home, by most public accounts without either being financially reimbursed for that service or listing it as a political contribution on any tax form. There is nothing illegal about this, and it is well within the relaxed confines of political ethics. Nor is there anything selfless about this. The ends justified the means, which was the election of Democrats. Apparently, it was just one big happy progressive sleepover, nothing more.

Additionally, at least three of these vagabond political servants failed to do one or more of the following: obtain a New Hampshire driver’s license, register any car in the state, or independently establish a solitary domicile. However, some believe this may be legal and in adherence to the loose interpretations of New Hampshire’s domicile law. One of these political operatives may have even cast a New Hampshire absentee ballot, listing the Fuller Clark residence as an address, while maintaining a declared domicile in his home state of Arkansas. Whether that is legal once again is open to a loose interpretation of the law, but it is unclear if the laws of Arkansas have been violated.

Some may find these factors concerning or insignificant. I suspect most will choose to look upon these factors through the prism of their political ideology, which will solve nothing. However, the actions of Fuller Clark clearly diminished the integrity of the domicile law and its true purpose, and her actions have exposed not only a gross misunderstanding of the domicile provision, but the potential illegal application.

The criticism and concern regarding all of these aspects is fair game. Fuller Clark is a participant in this game. Any demand for an apology regarding these matters is unnecessary.

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Jeff Chidester was raised in New Hampshire and has lived and worked in the Far East and Europe for extended periods. He is the host of New Hampshire Perspective, heard each Sunday at noon on 96.7 The Wave and WGIR AM 610.

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