Skip

We’ve blogged about the militarization of our nation’s local police forces over the past couple of years where local cops have “weaponed up” with the “free” military goods that the US armed forces have deemed surplus or by using “free” money from the Feds.  Yes, the bad guys have “stuff” that most civilians don’t have and no, stop with the knee-jerk reactions of “What – you want cops killed”?  It just seems, however, that the Powell Doctrine (“Win by applying overwhelming and more advanced forces against your enemies”) has become the norm rather than for the exceptional cases in which it may well be needed (when even the Socialist leanting magazine “The Economist” says it is a problem, that’s sad).

One doesn’t need an up-armored Bearcat or a REAL military vehicle made for war, MRAPs (that seemingly are being handled out like candy for any LE group that asks) and a squad of LEO that are indistinguishable from my son’s 101st Airborne squad other than the latter was in Multicam uniforms and the LEOs are in all black.  Remember Boston – DHS acted just like [Obama’s] army – have we now legigitimized a national police force that we never should have?

The above observations aside, Instapundit has a snippet that tends to support the latter part of this post’s title than the former (emphasis mine):

Do you drive a car in the greater Los Angeles Metropolitan area? According to the L.A. Police Department and L.A. Sheriff’s Department, your car is part of a vast criminal investigation.

Right – we are all guilty ahead of any proof – or crime.  ALL of us.  Period.

Read more

Permission granted to post (and follows along with the words I just wrote:

Jeanie,

I’ve heard that the NH Senate – and quite a few senators – are thinking of voting in favor of SB 244.

I was wondering if you’ve made up your mind and if you’ve had any discussions with other senators about the 2nd Amendment in the US Constitution.

My guess is that most of the senators made it out of grade school, so they probably can understand this simple sentence:

“A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

You get that don’t you? I’m sure you do.

“ … shall not be infringed” means that no law shall ever be passed that does anything to LIMIT, UNDERMINE or ENCROACH on the right to keep or bear    arms. Period. 

Read more

The discussion was about the US Senate elections coming up later on this year and whether or not control would shift to to the Republicans…

Sidenote: and Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com is now saying that is a 60% chance that will happen; I’m unsure of that percentage but probably good with his assessment that even with the advent of Scott Brown’s entry into the race, the chances of the NH GOP capturing Jeanne Shaheen’s seat is only 25%.  Even if the percentage is higher, there are a lot of Conservatives asking themselves “less of two – again” even as the Establishment seems to be in a pre-tweener swoon over his candidacy.

…but there was one exchange that really sat wrong where the phrase “Democrats with bylines” really reared its media-bias head: 

Read more

However strange it may be, I am on Steve Vaillancourt’s email list.  Like any distro list, a lot go unread, some get glanced at, and a few are interesting.  This was both amusing and alarming as he describes the mental state of NH State Speaker of the House Terri Norelli.  The two words above did grab my attention – and Steve’s words from this morning (“liberal ghetto” and “twig snapping”) goes in on this as well – one begins to wonder “nervous breakdown” or “will there be a double down”?  Emphasis mine:

From: Vaillancourt, Steve
Sent: Friday, March 21, 2014 5:18 PM
To: <redacted?
Subject: a livid speaker

Normally I would send what I write to all, but for once I figure, why antazgonize [sic] Democrats any more than necessary, but of course, I realize any one person could pass this along to them.

“Livid” and “berserk” were the words I heard bandied around yesterday from a large number of Democrats to describe Speaker Norelli’s demeanor in front of her caucus Thursday morning.  One person said she had never been so angry.  Another rolled his eyes in shame.  I didn’t even ask for these comments.  In fact, when the first Demcrat began to describe Norelli’s actions in detail to me, I immediately explained to her that by telling me, she could expect me to use it.  She then quieted down; perhaps I shouldn’t have warned her, but I believe in being honest with people.  I also don’t usually name names.  In this case it was a she–hint–no friend of free staters.

Would that have been NH State Rep

Read more

Neil Cavuto is not everyone’s cup of tea (I like him, TMEW does not); even though he is known as a biz reporter, he has to be up on the politics as Government has put itself into all aspects of pretty much all businesses (after all, we individuals can’t deal with companies on our own – we’re too stoopid or someton).  Given the background noise of a Republican wave that’s starting to crest, he’s got observations that should give some pause to the “Obamacare is gonna take us to the Promised Land” (again) exuberance here’s some of his observations that should give some some pause (emphasis mine, reformatted):

I’m not saying ObamaCare won’t be and shouldn’t be an issue.  But stopping action on any other issue in the meantime looks pretty stupid.  Look, I was the first to say this Affordable Care Act wasn’t affordable and the promises behind it were just an act.  But this Republican act of sitting on the ball and running out the clock, hoping it paves the way to an easy win in November?  Stupid. Beyond stupid.  Leaving aside Republicans have consistently grabbed defeat from the jaws of victory.  What makes them think this is a winning strategy? Seizing on 53 percent not liking a law, and then laying down the law for party members.  It’s healthcare. Only healthcare.

• Who told them abandoning their principles was key to winning back control?
• Who told the Tea Partiers to shut up simply because they wanted to keep forcing spending down?
• Who told the conservatives who were passionate about controlling benefits that it wasn’t to the party’s benefit to try?
• Who told the Grand Old Party to give up its grand old soul?
• Who told them to let the spending go?

Read more

First this: the Democrats in the House are all about protecting dogs (emphasis mine, reformatted):

The New Hampshire House passed a bill to include household pets in orders protecting victims of domestic violence.  The bill expands the orders to include pets in cases involving stalking and domestic violence. The bill would allow judges to grant custody of any domestic pets or farm animals to the victim and issue an order barring the abuser from harming or disposing of the animal.  The bill passed on a voice vote without debate. It now goes to the Senate.  Supporters argue abusers sometimes take their anger out on a pet or attempt to intimidate victims by targeting a pet.

Opponents argue the bill isn’t needed because cruelty to animals already is a crime.  Victim advocates say victims often stay in an abusive relationship out of concern for their animals.

Who is against protecting pets?  Nobody that I know of wants to do wrong by Fluffy and Fido (and Ralph, the fish) – and one of the purposes of a limited government IS to protect one’s property (yes, I own my dogs and not merely a steward or temporary keeper of them, but boy, do they get spoiled!) from others.  So I am mostly good with this with one important caveat: once again, we see (even with “good intentions”) the Leviathan pushing yet another tendril of itself just that much more into our private lives.  But yet, where are we as Society when Progressive Democrats decide that mere animals (I love my dogs, but they are just that) are due more protection than a growing baby simply because it is still in the womb?

CONCORD, N.H. —The New Hampshire House amended a controversial bill Thursday turning what would have been a fetal homicide law 

Read more

• NH State Rep Leigh Webb (D): “The role of government is to legislate behavior“
• NH State Rep Laura Pantelakos (D): “I don’t care about protecting peoples’ Liberty“

Yet another Government mandate in search of a problem.  Democrat Progressives just can’t STAND the idea that they aren’t smarter than everyone else and have to pass legislation to prove it (er, that they aren’t).  Here we go again, kiddies – yes, that’s you, Reader, because unless you all line up like back in kindergarten, well, who KNOWS what you’re liable to do with all that Freedom.

Oh, I’m sure that they will come up with plenty more examples that will show us how much more stupid we, the general public, are than them, but for now, look at the disrespect they show to us all – that regular law abiding folks can’t get rid of a can of old paint.

Sidenote: Shhh, I hate to give props to organizations with whom I’m not enamored with, but don’t the Regional Planning Commission already do this  for old?  And more?  Why else would they hold “Hazardous Waste Day” collections in one’s local towns?

 So, like Steve, I’ve gone through the bill as well ( and we both wrote about it here, here and here) and decided to pass on a few thoughts:

Read more

She’s at it again – wanting to disarm the American public.  This time, she shows that she’s no stalwart of the constitutional process if it means she can use other means to get to her end point.  Thus, with Obama promising to go around Congress, she’s all in for handing the Senate and House’s Constitutional responsibilities over to the Executive Branch.  So, we wonder why we are in such deep sneakers as a country with such feckless leaders?  Here is her letter to The Won:

The President
The White House
Washington, DC  20500

Dear Mr. President:

During your State of the Union address, you stated that you want to make 2014 a “year of action.”  We write to urge you to take immediate action to address the significant number of assault weapons that are being imported into the United States in contravention of federal law.  We respectfully request that you take steps to ensure that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) fully enforces the ban on the importation of these military-style firearms.

Let me translate:  since I can’t get this passed legislatively  with the positive votes of duly elected representatives of the people, I, an Uber-Progressive, wish to

Read more

“the utterance of a theocratic dictator, than of a duly elected civil servant.”

Philippians 4:13.  A very simple verse but one that has very deep meaning for Christians.  It is an acknowledgement that there is Someone bigger than self, a higher power.  It is a telling about that we are not as strong as we might believe but that Faith can transcend even the worst of conditions.  It is also an acknowledgement that of a position of servanthood.  It speaks, not to a given religion or sect, but to a relationship.

http://twitter.com/#!/GovWalker/status/445244966495727616

A profession of faith; used to be common, very common. Not a big deal at all.  No longer.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has multiple bees in their bonnets – they seem to hate anyone who has a religious expression in their body or outlook.  They strut around in a bubble that must not be pierced by any hint of a religious expression; they believe they can demand that everyone else accede to THEIR pseudo-made up right “not to be offended by religious displays in the public square”.  Any and all mentions of God must not only be removed from their sight but be prevented from ever being seen or heard.

They are turning the First Amendment on its head and have no problem in being the Bullies that have no compunction in using the threat of a law suit (e.g., Lawfare) to silence those that hold opposite positions.  Angry people, they are.  Self-important, too.  And now for a simple exercise of his religious faith, they are targeting him.

Read more

Have We Lost All Sanity?

 I’ll bet you didn’t know NH now offers animals/pets rights to protection under domestic violence. Yes, that is right. PETS now have legislated rights under HB1410. Never mind that cruelty to animals is already a crime on the books. Animals now deserve rights analogous to human beings. Now, speed ahead to HB 1503 which sought to offer a remedy to the fact that human babies have no status under NH law.

If you are drunk driving and during a car accident, kill an unborn baby, that baby has NO legal status. The person driving the vehicle CANNOT be charged for the crime of causing the death of that baby. HB 1503 tried to remedy this (just as the NH State Supreme Court has suggested) by offering a Fetal Homicide bill for the sole purpose of defining “fetus” during a criminal act. This bill also defined CLEARLY that women obtaining abortions would NOT be affected in anyway by this Fetal Homicide bill. Abortion rights are already secure rights in the US Constitution.

There are 38 states including California

Read more

First we get the news that Harrell Kirstein, NHDP Ray Buckles chief mouthflack, has moved over from being obnoxious from the NH Democrat Party to being a pin-cushion  for the re-election crew for US Senator Jeanne Shaheen (Progressive – NH) (emphasis mine, reformatted):

Now that New Hampshire appears to have an exciting race for U.S. Senate, the lead spokesperson for the New Hampshire Democratic Party will move to the re-election campaign of U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.   Harrell Kirstein began as Shaheen’s campaign communications director on Tuesday. He is being replaced at the state party by Julie McClain, who was working as a press secretary for a U.S. senator from Hawaii.  Kirstein has worked in New Hampshire since 2010 in positions at the state Democratic Party and with President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign.

“While it has been fantastic working with everyone at the New Hampshire Democratic Party, I am looking forward to an exciting new experience and making sure Senator Shaheen is re-elected to continue her work for the people of New Hampshire,” Kirstein said.

And I couldn’t think of a better soul to be flapping flacking his gums, especially where THE issue of the campaign will be how Shaheen is connected at the ankles, knees, hips, shoulders, and head with President Obama.  After all, when you vote 99% of the time with him, you just might as well BE him, right?  Harrell, even as Obamacare is bringing misery & despair to most of us (except those who are on the good end of Obama’s redistribution efforts), we’gonna have fun with you.  Remember, back in 2009, she made a couple of promises.  Harrell, do you see what that sign says behind her?  Clear as a bell, her promises she made:

She promised us that we could keep our insurance, Harrell (I lost mine).  She promised us increased choice – well, she screwed that up

Read more