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Again, what happened to Giffords (shot in the head by a mentally ill person) was awful, but it seems that her husband, Mark Kelly, is intent on waging a 1 man jihad on all gun owners; from an email I received, he took quite the credit of the actions (so little they were) of their anti-gun / citizen disarmament group, the so-called “Americans for Responsible Solutions” after their “national tours” (here and here; Steve reminds us that Granite State Progress supports them).  Well, they are trying to put a happy face on the awful results of spending millions on gun control:

Sometimes it can be difficult to identify a signal through all the noise in the hours after a big election. There were a lot of races called last night, each one with unique factors, local and national, influencing the final outcome.  We felt it important to check in with you — today — on the progress of our shared work as an organization committed to keeping our communities safer from gun violence.

Rest of the email contents after the jump.  Yeah 13 races – and their record was not good overall.  Especially when you compare with the results that the 5 million members of the NRA (and yes, I renewed my membership before the election after an absence for a number of years) had.  Big Government has a long list of the NRA backed folks that won their races (reformatted):

Gubernatorial level:

• Arizona – Doug Ducey (R) beat gun control candidate Fred DuVaul (D) [Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly endorsed DuVal]
• Florida – Rick Scott (R) beat gun control candidate Charlie Crist(D). [ Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly’ PAC gave $100,000 to Crist]
• Texas – Greg Abbott (R) won.
• Maryland – Larry Hogan (R) won. In
• Alabama – Governor Robert J. Bentley (R) won.

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Yes, that old California rock ode to surfing – for it is clear the voters had had enough of the contentious bickering they brought to the Belknap County Delegation as they sat and bickered, sniped, kvetched, and yelled.  Sullen to yelling to waging lawfare against Jane Cormier and Collete Worseman when they couldn’t get their way.  Being in the minority, they proved that the Democrats are not just the Party for Government, they proved they were the Party OF and IN Government.  At all times, unlike the Republicans who saw overextending costs and a disregard for the taxpayers, they showed that in every case, their primary outlook was to never let Government be diminished and that employees are merely the victims of Government (got that straight?  Fer real, folks).  And sided with the 2 Republican and 1 Democrat County Commissioner (note: pretty much, in this fight over power, the 2 Republicans acted little different than the Democrats when I went to a few of the budget meetings).

They waged their fights in all venues possible including in the local media.  They were full of hubris as they figured that with all of this hooting and hollering, they had convinced themselves that the local voters would CERTAINLY reward them at the polls – after all, aren’t they the CHAMPIONS of the Aggrieved and Victimhooders??  The Social Justice Warriors!

Actual results?  Well, two of the three battling Commissioners either retired or was ousted – replaced by REAL commonsensical conservative Republicans Dave DeVoy and former NH Rep Dick Burchell (yay!).  And for the actual members of the Delegation:

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Finally got my first call from the NH GOP GOTV (Get Out The Vote) process two nites ago.  I could tell it wasn’t done from the State Committee Member list – on that, I am “Skip”.  No, it was using my formal given name – so I knew instantly it was from the RNC official list.  I also knew that the guy at the other end of the line had access to where I lived, what I do, what my interests are, and most importantly – how often I vote (just about every election except when an emergency biz trip doesn’t allow time for an absentee ballot) and all the like.  So, I was expecting The Question:

“Can we count on your vote for the Republican races on Tuesday”?

My instant reply:

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Earlier today, a lady called:

“Can I count on your vote for the Scott Brown on Tuesday”?

My instant reply was a bit more emphatic than here:

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We’ve given out no ‘Grok Endorsement for the General Election this year.  In fact, the subject didn’t even come up between the primary and now.  But that doesn’t mean that each individual Grokster can’t make their own personal endorsements (and if they have the time….hint, hint) here on the front page – I’d be interested in seeing them where they can intersect with mine nearer to the top of the ticket.

But this year, this cycle, the bottom of the ticket is MUCH more important than ever before.  As Grokster Susan is wont to say (heck most of us are): screw DC, save NH.  And those that we can hold more accountable (after all, this IS New Hampshire – we can walk down the street and yell at them if we so desire (heh!)) are at the bottom of the ticket – THESE are the folks that I believe can help us save NH more than those at the top.  Why?

As we saw this session, those higher in the pyramid have more resources that allows them to ignore us.  How responsive, for instance, were the NH State Senate Rogue Republicans?  As we saw in the Primary, they had enough $$$$ to wave the back of their collective hands at the grassroots (remember, GRINDING an ax is also SHARPENING an ax).  The close the candidate / politician is to you, the more you can have of their ear.  They also know that you are more able to bring about corrective action if they stray.  But I digress.

So in order of importance (that is to say, from the Bottom up) here is how I am planning on voting tomorrow:

For NH House:

Glen Aldrich, Russ Dumais, George Hurt, Herb Vadney (Belknap County District 2)

Belknap County Commissioner District 1:

Dave DeVoy

NH State Senate District 7:

Kathy Lauer-Rago

NH Executive Council:

Joe Kenney

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TOP 10 REASONS TO VOTE DEMOCRAT (not!)

#10. I vote Democrat because I love the fact that I can now marry whatever I want. I’ve decided to marry my German Shepherd.

#9. I vote Democrat because I believe oil companies’ profits of 4% on a gallon of gas are obscene, but the government taxing the same gallon at 15% isn’t.

#8. I vote Democrat because I believe the government will do a better job of spending the money I earn than I would.

#7. I vote Democrat because Freedom of Speech is fine as long as nobody is offended by it.

#6. I vote Democrat because I’m way too irresponsible to own a gun, and I know that my local police are all I need to protect me from murderers and thieves. I am also thankful that we have a 911 service that gets police to your home in order to identify your body after a home invasion.

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“…but blankets them with so much regulation that they are no longer really independent operators..”

I’ve been saying this for a while: Dodd-Frank is the financial service industry version of Obamacare.  Well before  Scott Brown made a big deal about his vote against Obamacare (a good thing) in starting his run for US Senate from here in NH  but has tried to poo-poo his vote for Dodd-Frank. Certainly an unexplainable vote for him (“our system was in meltdown” said in a half-hearted way to me is NO explanation at all).  In effect, Dodd-Frank will as severely handcuff and nationalize control of our financial system by political hacks just like those same hacks have done to our healthcare system.  Thus, when I read this, my reaction was “well, boys, welcome to Club Obvious, late as you are” (reformatted, emphasis mine):

How ‘Dodd-Frank’ is becoming the new ‘Obamacare’

<snip>

If you don’t know what the Dodd-Frank Act is, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.)told an audience last weekend, “it’s Obamacare for banks.” Ryan, outgoing chairman of the House Budget Committee, was echoing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who’s been using that expression since at least April (and he used it again Wednesday night). Expect to hear the expression more, particularly once a new, probably-Republican-led Senate takes over on Capitol Hill in January.

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I thought that only stuff was called “pollution” is that made by Humankind, as the Enviros keep castigating us for “despoiling Nature”.  So who are they gonna legislate against when it is Nature “polluting” Nature?  Kindofa head scratching moment here – how are they gonna force a volcano to install a sulfer scrubber on itself?? Reformatted, emphasis mine:

Gas-Spewing Icelandic Volcano Stuns Scientists
The sulfur-rich eruption defied preparations for an ashy blast

Icelandic sunrises and sunsets have been tinged blood red, of late. Above the maritime bustle of Reykjavik’s harbour and the city’s towering concrete Hallgrímskirkja church, volcanic pollution gives the skies an eerie glow.  For eight weeks, lava has been spurting out of a fissure in the ground radiating from the Bárðarbunga volcano, about 250 kilometers from Reykjavik. Sulphur dioxide has been spurting too — 35,000 tons of it a day, more than twice the amount spewing from all of Europe’s smokestacks. The gas has spread across the Icelandic countryside, causing people to wheeze and trapping some indoors.

Isn’t this just Nature being, you know, Nature?  And if Nature is doing it, shouldn’t it be a good thing?   But I dryly take note of that bit that Nature is swamping the efforts of the developed world spending BILLIONS of bucks to get rid of their pollution in the EU while this volcano is “guilty” of this heinous crime against Nature.  Doesn’t it just about shines a flashlight, to a degree, on Man’s hubris that we can control climate affecting pollution just on our say-so.

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Tuesday is coming and there will be NO way that the NH GOP can blame the TEA Party for these actions – or their results.

From State House Dome, I’ve taken and bulletized how the NH GOP decided to assist their candidates for their NH State Senate seats – reformatted and emphasis mine:

If you want to know what the hot state Senate races are, all you have to do is follow the money the state GOP is dumping into mail, radio and digital ads in the last week.

• Andy Sanborn – incumbent: $37,000 (“including $15,000 for radio ads, $17,000 for mailers and more than $3,000 on digital ads”)
• Kathy Rago – newcomer: $34,000 (“$16,000 on radio ads, and the rest of mailers” ($18K) )
• Sam Cataldo – incumbent: $30,000 (“$15,000 in radio ads and $3,000 in digital ads in”)
• David “”I’m too drunk” Boutin – incumbent: $30,000
• Nancy Stiles – incumbent: $26,000
• Jerry Little – newcomer: $24,000

In his write up, I read this next bit and thought – big bucks must be here!

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That’s what I thought when I saw the below post title at Big Government (reformatted, emphasis mine):

KANSAS PRO-LIFE VOTING BLOC COULD WIN RACE FOR PAT ROBERTS

The pro-life vote in Kansas is shaping up to be a bloc that could win the race for U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts (R) on Tuesday. As The Hill reports, Roberts, who is in a virtual tie with independent candidate Greg Orman, launched a radio ad (below) this week charging that Orman “would give President Obama another pro-abortion vote in the Senate.” Roberts also noted that Orman recommended during their debate that America should move on from the abortion issue.

Roberts, who holds a 100% pro-life voting record with National Right to Life, has been helped by national pro-life organization Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) which has operated an effective ground game in four key swing states, including Kansas.  “The abortion issue, especially if you’re pro-life, it’s a motivating issue,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA List. “It means you try to reorganize your day on Election Day because it means that something like life and death is at stake.”

Life and Death.  To a lot of politicos, it’s just yet another issue. To a lot of Republicans, it is an issue to run away from (“eew, a SOCIAL issue”) but to folks like me, it is a TOP

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