Faux Conservatism Archives

Opportunism Knocks

September 26, 2018April 29, 2012 Rick Olson

“Criminals obey “gun control” laws in the same manner politicians follow their oaths of office.” – Anonymous

As we ramp up for the onset of the Political season, there are no shortage of the endless examples of those seeking public office working feverishly to define themselves to curry votes with core constituencies. This aspect is never more stark than with gun groups, a favorite target of Republicans and conservatives.

As I roll through my Facebook account, politicians trolling for favor are never more obvious anywhere than to Gun people. Those of us in the Second Amendment Advocacy column truly appreciate the positions taken. We can remain confident that those running for office are on our side. And we do appreciate it.

RINO OF THE WEEK REPORT

June 9, 2018January 10, 2012 Rick Olson

“Remember that a government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take away everything you have.” —Barry Goldwater

The 2012 Legislative Session brings new opportunities for analysis of the Granite State Legislature. The RINO Report began in July of 2010 and featured those Republicans who were “clear cut” Republicans in Name Only. For them the label aptly fit the first slew of Choices were found to vote with the Republican Agenda only 30-45% of the time. As we moved up the list, the choices became less clearer, however we often turned to the New Hampshire House Republican Alliance Scorecards and looked at the vote content carefully. Albeit, some who probably made the list could have made it after some who were originally featured. There were some who did not make the RINO Report that really should have. I will promise to make it up to them.

TAKE A QUICK SURVEY FOR N.H. HOUSE RINO OF THE YEAR

September 26, 2018December 31, 2011 Rick Olson

New Hampshire Wire Tap Laws and the Wheedling Legislature

September 26, 2018December 30, 2011 Rick Olson

“All men profess honesty as long as they can. To believe all men honest would be folly. To believe none so is something worse.” —John Quincy Adams

Yesterday, a Union Leader Editorial featured commentary about the flaws of New Hampshire’s Wire Tapping and Eavesdropping laws currently in place. The commentary came on the heels of the Supreme Court upholding the Conviction of the now-deceased and infamous Kristin (McDonald) Ruggiero, an evil shrew who sought to use the courts as a cudgel and see her ex-husband locked away, ruined and broken.

The nexus of Kristin’s appeal asserted that the lower court incorrectly admitted photographic evidence of her committing her crime. The problem for Kristin was evidence established she placed the calls from California to South Carolina, jurisdictions that lack the criminally enabling restrictions codified in New Hampshire statutes. Summarily, she lost her appeal. Following notification by her lawyer, Mark Sisti, the grim reaper came for a visit shortly thereafter.

WHO IS THE “RINO” OF THE YEAR FOR 2011?

September 26, 2018December 30, 2011 Rick Olson

With 2011 drawing to a close We here at GraniteGROK have made some attempt to detail who we think are the Republicans in Name Only. Some choices were a literal “no-brainer” while other choices were not so clear cut and dry. Perhaps we got it right, while other times we got it wrong. Only history and voting records can judge.

RINO OF THE WEEK REPORT

June 9, 2018October 18, 2011 Rick Olson

“Remember that a government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take away everything you have.” ~Barry Goldwater This weeks RINO OF THE WEEK is 15-term Representative Phyllis M. Katsakiores, Rockingham District 5, Derry. I had to carefully mull over the choices because over the past months the blog … Read more

RINO OF THE WEEK REPORT

June 9, 2018October 9, 2011 Rick Olson

&nbsp &nbsp “Remember that a government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take away everything you have.” ~Barry Goldwater The RINO of the week is House Representative Richard B. Drisko, Hillsborough District 5. Rep. Drisko’s voting record contains a few of the typical rank and file RINO votes such as … Read more

RHINO’S VERSUS “RINO’S”

September 26, 2018October 6, 2011 Rick Olson

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“A hypocrite is the kind of politician who would cut down a redwood tree, then mount the stump and make a speech for conservation.” —Adlai E. Stevenson

Following my recent RINO OF THE WEEK report, an amused reader and friend inquired, “Isn’t the RINO one of the world’s deadliest animals? Or is that the hippo…”

Pondering this for a minute, I juxtaposed the question concerning the herbivorious, odd-toed ungulate native to Africa and parts of Asia: The “Rhinoceros”. versus Political RINO’s….an acronym for, “Republican In Name Only,”.

While “Rhinos” are related to the horse, zebra, and tapir; are known for their bad eyesight, good hearing, and mud-rolling. RINO’s, on the other hand are ambiguous about who they are related to…some show a Republican-leaning while others a full out leftist Democrat leaning. RINO-eyesight is through rose-colored glasses and instead of rolling in the mud, they sling mud. That sums it up for me, Nevertheless my response was as follows:

RINO OF THE WEEK REPORT

June 9, 2018October 2, 2011 Rick Olson

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“Remember that a government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take away everything you have.” ~Barry Goldwater

This week’s Rino of the Week Report is two days overdue. We have now moved into that area of RINO-dom where we are now looking at “RINO-esque” house votes versus overall house vote performance. Prior RINO-of-the Week selections were pretty clear. Republicans adhering to the part platform were very easy to distinguish from those who ran as Republicans, yet vote consistently with liberals. Now we are in that area where the constituents must decide if the Rep voted “RINO? of if the Rep is a RINO overall. At any rate, ROTW will continue to decide who the RINO is for the present week and the constituents can decide the rest.

In this next shade of the RINO Report, we now examine some house members whose records may show adherence to the party platform, but go off the reservation on key social and fiscal issues like the budget, parental notification or important gun and self-defense bills. Those Republicans we will now focus on.

RINO OF THE WEEK REPORT

June 9, 2018September 23, 2011 Rick Olson

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“Remember that a government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take away everything you have.” ~Barry Goldwater

THE RINO OF THE WEEK is two-term House Representative Timothy D. Copeland. Representative Copeland not only has a RINO voting record, but openly embodies pro-Union positions. Copeland not only voted against right to work, But resigned his House whip position when the speaker reshuffled the leadership based on RINOism. Representative Copeland has voted consistently against two core liberty issues: Legislation pertaining to self-defense and firearms and voted against the passage of HB 474, commonly known as the “Right-to-Work Bill. Like that of his RINO Counterparts, Representative Copeland is also an enthusiastic advocate of police-statism is ranked by the New Hampshire House Republican Alliance with a score of 67%.

Voted against HB 125 a law that would support the right of the Granite State to regulate firearms within its sovereign borders as a state;

“REPUBLICANS” WHO OPPOSE RIGHT TO WORK THINK ONLY OF THEMSELVES AND THEIR PALS

September 26, 2018September 23, 2011 Rick Olson

“A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes”—Mark Twain

Reading Steve MacDonald’s entry, “You Can’t Be A Republican And Vote Against Right To Work“…caused me to once again step back and reevaluate the public debate about Right-to-Work. I opened House Bill 474 and carefully read it again…and again…I could find no provision within the Legislation that abolished Unions. I read it yet again…. I could find no provision within the Bill that restricted, outlawed or otherwise “busted” Unions. Not one.

Several reasons brought me to revisit this. First, there seem to be many Republicans who fancy themselves “liberty-minded conservatives yet they support statutory Union oppression; Second, The strident opposition, bad behavior, swearing and threatening by Police and Fire over this bill has created a loss of confidence and apprehension within the communities they serve. Finally, What Unions say about this bill is absolute nonsense and nothing more than bold-faced lies.