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A couple of points / thoughts from Thursday’s Donald Trump event now that I have seen him in person – the attitude of the crowd  and the mainstream Republican Class in a stream of conscienceness (re: not necessarily well organized):

• I had heard most of his talking points before – TV, YouTube.  Nothing really new so a bit disappointing.  To me, being a political and news junkie, it was a bit “surface levelly” – nothing deep, no fine details.  Nor could I, if really pressed, attach deep philosophical foundations to his speech / talking points.  Thus, to me, it left a lacking and I think this is why a lot of folks who look at this “sport” like me, especially with Establishment GOP pundits, are disdainful of The Donald.
• This is extremely wrong headed and they totally miss the most important part of what is going on here and in my estimation, The Donald is actually the lesser part of that whole.
• Even being that lesser part, he has picked up on what the Republican base is aching for – and has found pretty much lacking in most of the field.  Ted Cruz gets it from a Constitutional standpoint, Carly Fiorina gets it from a results standpoint, and I think Bobby Jindal gets it from the Liberty standpoint (re: Religious Liberty, he is standing tall where Mike Pence dropped like a wet cheap suit).
• Aching – what unites Trump’s base is an unabashed pride in America and that it IS the best Country ever in history.  They realize that it has flaws and it will continue to have them but that it has been and can be a moral good for the world.

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I am no fan of John McCain.  Yes, GraniteGrok “fought” for him back in 2008 but it was more against Obama (who we knew back then that he’d eventually start acting like he has the last few years – his Communist / Muslim background demanded it just as much as a leopard cannot change its spots). He has, however, supported policies that are definitively not conservative but he has tried to play one in his Senatorial campaigns – just long enough to be elected.  Too many times, “Maverick” has double crossed Party principles in his “crossing the aisle”.  That said, one has to give him his due for his service during Viet Nam and his incarceration as a P.O.W. when his jet was shot down.

I’ve done a fair amount of writing about Trump lately (the last and longest one here).  No, not that he is my guy but to try to show that the people who have been flocking to his rallies have had their internal mindsets and political worldview (i.e., the general Republican candidates, officials, and elected office holders have failed them in failing to live up to their promises with looked for actions).  That said, and their angst that strong, the attack on McCain will have the effect, even if McCain blew the first spitball by calling out Trump for “activating the ‘crazies'”.

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On life:

Next, remember that life is not easy for any of us. It will probably not be fair, and it certainly is not all about you. The gray hair and wrinkles you see on older people have been earned the hard way, by living and dealing with the challenges of life. When I was a young adult and labored under the delusion of my own omniscience, I thought I knew more than I actually did. That is a function of youth.

With the wisdom that only comes with the passage of years, the older folks warned me presciently and ominously, “Son, you just live long enough and you’ll see.” They were right; oh, so right. Life is humbling and can be hard, very hard. It is a series of decisions, some harder than others, some good and, unfortunately, too many of them bad. It will be up to each of you to make as many good decisions as possible and to limit the bad ones, then to learn from all of them. But I will urge you to resist when those around you insist on making the bad decisions. Being accepted or popular with those doing wrong is an awful Faustian bargain and, as with all Faustian bargains, not worth it. It is never wrong to do the right thing. It may be hard, but never wrong. . . .

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I am behind on processing video so today, with the threat of scattered thundershowers (one just past and looks like another one soon), I’m trying to get caught up with that work needed to put the videos from the Coalition of NH Taxpayers (CNHT) annual picnic last week (otherwise known as Old Home Day for NH Conservatives).  We did have some problems – streaming (and its recording) was spotty with cell phone saturation from all the folks in the area, our recording camera’s AC brick died, and my ancient FlipCam is feeling its age too,  so not everyone that spoke will show up later (and apologies for that.

First up is former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore (or as TMEW said “Who?”):

And he did sat down for an interview with us – as you will hear, he really didn’t want to answer our question of “what balance” between Religious Liberty as enshrined in the Constitution and lesser laws / regulations / ordinances dealing with gay marriage discrimination:

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From our ABOUT page:  “Anything that amuses us is game!”.  Yes, I can get amused.

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Steve had a post up back last week: Is Belknap County GOP Chair Alan Glassman Out of Line? It concerned a “meet and greet” that had been set up for NJ Gov. Chris Christie.  I thought it innocuous when I first glanced at it (hey, only a question was asked) but seeing that I was outbound, I didn’t study it.  However, someone decided it was a big deal and that GraniteGrok was SO WRONG in putting up such a post.  So as to open the door to The Streisand Effect Room, let me quote the part that got me an email version of an earful:

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Lots of video to put up today – not just the show (below) but our recording of Donald Trump’s rally at the Weirs in Laconia, NH this past Thursday AND as much of the video from last Saturday’s CNHT Picnic (or as we call it, Old Home Day for NH Conservatives).

GrokTALK! today:

• Segment 1: Micro-WTF of the Day and Max Abramson talking about some of NH’s silliest laws
• Segment 2:  Dan Hynes comes on to talk about pushing back on Government trying to say that a church is not a church (and therefore, no property tax abatement will be given).
• Segment 3: Mike Farris comes on to talk more about Religious Freedom and, again, how Government is not obeying that limiting governance philosophy known as the Constitution.
• Segment 4: Lawrence McQuillan comes on to talk about the financial time bomb that has started to explode at the municipal and state levels; NH is in the same deep sneakers on this and our Smartest Elected People can’t make the hard decisions to make it right (always kicking it down the road)

Segment 1                                                    Segment 2

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• The number of concealed handgun permits is increasing at an ever-increasing rate. Over the past year, 1.7 million additional new permits have been issued – a 15.4% increase in just one single year. This is the largest ever single-year increase in the number of concealed handgun permits.
• 5.2% of the total adult population has a permit.
• Five states now have more than 10% of their adult population with concealed handgun permits.
• In ten states, a permit is no longer required to carry in all or virtually all of the state. This is a major reason why legal carrying handguns is growing so much faster than the number of permits.
• Since 2007, permits for women has increased by 270% and for men by 156%.

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The Feds will pick up the tab (at least in the beginning)!  It will be cheaper if we implement this Progressive (aka Obamacare) program!  Yeah, when the Feds stop paying their bill (aka, just like with their special Ed failed promises), this is what we get to look forward to as NH Taxpayers – from the Feds themselves:

In 2014, the average benefit costs of newly eligible adult enrollees are expected to have been substantially greater than those for non-newly eligible adult enrollees in the program. Newly eligible adults are estimated to have had average benefit costs of $5,517 in 2014, 19 percent greater than non-newly eligible adults’ average benefit costs of $4,650. These estimates are significantly different from those in previous reports, in which average benefit costs for newly eligible adults in 2014 were estimated to be 1 percent lower than those of non-newly eligible adults.

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Certainly the latest undercover video where Planned Parenthoods’ Deborah Nucatola () spilled the beans over lunch about Planned Parenthood’s profiting over harvesting body parts / organs from aborted babies has made a huge impact in the blogosphere where the Right is properly outraged and the Left is “meh!”.  The former because we see each unborn as a human being with a life just important as #BlackLivesMatter while the Left is reduced to dehumanizing babies to be mere clumps of cells.  We’ve been writing up a storm about this (here, here, here, here, and here).

Well, Doug Scamman, social issues DO matter and Republicans seeking office best be mindful that your stance of “drop the social issues, focus on the fiscal issues” is wrong because

• Social issues ALL have fiscal costs
• Dems run on social issues hard and ALWAYS put Republicans on the defensive (not a good place to be in a political race)
• Conservatives are tired of Republican Establishment elites abandoning them and their issues.

So, to that point, I received an email from Chris Sununu, who is rumored of thinking about the NH Gov office. Yes, social issues have fiscal costs:

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It is incumbent on every American who wants to see our country exist past this most recent socialist president, his friends in our court system, and other progressives that control academia and our government schools to do some small part saving it. I have a guy in mind who has done more than his share exposing how dangerous and blood thirsty the left is when it has access to money and power. His name is David Daleiden. He is associated with the Center for Medical Progress, the organization that captured Planned Parenthood offering aborted babies parts for sale – over a nice fresh salad.

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Shot:

Scott Brown, trying to run for US Senator, tried to out-abortion incumbent uber-abortion funder, US Senator Jeanne Shaheen.  In direct opposition to what the base desired.  He paid a dear price for throwing that base under the bus in an attempt to “get a new base”.

Chaser?

We know how two of the Republican NH Executive Councilors will vote on the July 22 decision time on funding contracts for Planned Parenthood.  The two are the kind of politicians I like – I do NOT have to worry about their votes because Principle guides their votes and not the politics of the matter, of the day, or the whining of the Democrats and their sycophants in the media.  Trust.

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A long time friend of mine from the Midwest emailed me (emphasis mine):

Skip – I was at church council last night.  We have discussions underway to consider not doing weddings at all.  We will focus on the Gospel, sacrament (baptism & communion), liturgy, and outreach (community dinners, food pantry, and clothing for the homeless).

That’s sad, really sad.  I am really sorry.  Reason, sir?

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Churches, affiliated organizations?  It seems that Government has framed it such that pastors, priests, rabbis and their houses of worship seem to be allowed their freedom.  For the time being.  As told here, is that end time coming?

However, spiritually, the REAL church is the individuals within each organization, that are the people of faith.  A church, a mosque, a synagogue is simply a building – and that is why they are being granted the freedom as Obama is wont to say “freedom to worship in your house of worship.  Not in the public square.  Which is where we, the individuals, actually live.  It is we who are being denied our religious freedom, bit by bit, to actually fulfill what is enumerated in the Bill of Rights – the freedom of expression.

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