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Co-founder of GraniteGrok, my concern is around Individual Liberty and Freedom and how the Government is taking that away. As an evangelical Christian and Conservative with small "L" libertarian leanings, my fight is with Progressives forcing a collectivized, secular humanistic future upon us. As a TEA Party activist, citizen journalist, and pundit!, my goal is to use the New Media to advance the radical notions of America's Founders back into our culture.

GrokTV Special Interview – PickupPatriots (but too ashamed to be known as one?)

I didn’t spend ALL my time inside – I did go out a couple of times.  This time, I was recognized by someone "Hey, you’re Skip Murphy!" (ah yes, infamous me!  Or, in that crowd, nefarious me!). Immediately "camera up" and started to ask what I thought were softball questions – have a name?  Purpose for being there?

Well, just like the "I’m a Healthcare Voter" campaign, the "I can’t talk to someone with a camera", you saw that she took off (if you recognize her, let us know).  My thought was ‘well, in the arena of ideas, she retreated real quick!" (must have been coached by Zandra).  And then I looked at the flyer she was handing out:

Well, isn’t this a nice, civil message being put out by the PickupPatriots – once again, we see the old tired, shop worn message that Republicans hate everyone except themselves.  Those stingy people, those EXTREMIST legislators!  They have only one thing at the heart of everything they do; they want everyone else to

DIE!!!!

Doesn’t matter that there’s no money in the till, that their bought and paid for political lackies spent it all the last few years (25% boost in spending the last few years – certainly, they are not "are you serious?" folks.  People are tired of seeing the unions getting the Dems elected and then see the Dems pass laws and regulations that benefit their voting benefactors (for what ELSE can you call the Evergreen Law?).

These self-loving fools think that only they hold the moral…

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So, union members are all “light and sweetness”? Hardly – it seems that their inner Teamsters showed up and went for easy pickings: an older Lady.

I know this lady – a class act all the way around.  Minds her manners, is polite, but firm in her beliefs and puts her beliefs into actions.  Her problem on Thursday while trying to support those legislators trying to "live within our means" and giving the taxpayers a break was her gender and her age. 

They say that they are for the common folks.  Some way to treat a Lady – you make your words a mockery of themselves – you three union thugs physically picked on a Lady who could not defend herself.  Big men, guys, big men….

Emphasis mine:

My experience in Concord today, March 31, 2011

Today I ventured into the area in front of the State Capitol in Concord, surrounded by all the union workers there to protest the deliberations in the State House over the budget!  They were intimidating and threatening to the few of us who were there expressing our differing opinions.  A couple were willing to have an intelligent discourse, but most were hateful, yelling, ugly, and confrontational.

I have never seen so many disabled and mentally-challenged people in one setting before, each with his/her "minder" in tow.  There were more wheelchairs than at a nursing home!   The entire "program" was one "sob story" after another.  For instance, a 10-year-old telling the story of how her two autistic brothers would be denied service if this new budget was passed.  And so forth . . .  This went on for an hour.  It was pathetic.

The leaders of this rally were very organized, with buses for transport and signs for everyone — including the poor mentally deficient kids who had NO idea why they were holding the signs.  One poor soul kept telling me, "Goodbye."  I wondered if he knew something I didn’t.  

When I first arrived, alone, I mingled with the crowd and held up my sign # 1 which read, "Private sector workers have rights too."  This got a "thumbs up" from the SEIU guys — so I realized they didn’t get it.  So then I held up the sign that read, "Union workers are a "privileged" class."  This, too, got a thumbs up.  They were very excited about that one.  Duh!

I realized I had been TOO subtle.  Then I held up "Power Grab + $ Grab = Extremist."  Again, they liked it.  I was really feeling quite inadequate in my sign-making.

My final shot was "Cut the Budget — Stop Spending."  THAT they got!  And I was instantly surrounded by 3 huge firefighters holding their BIG signs in a way that obliterated my sign.  

(So much for my theory that they would not attack an old lady.)

I couldn’t move, and they wouldn’t move off.  So,…

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GrokTV Event – NH State Representative Al Baldasaro

God love him – former Marine, transmission only operates in one direction (forward) and always in motion.  A "prior Marine", he’s still operating as if he never left the Corp or his oath.  I don’t know Al well, other than I know who he is (and I think he may know who I am – … Read more

GrokTV Special Interview – exclusive with NH House Speaker Bill O’Brien and Chief of Staff Bob Meade

Bumped, as this is a great elucidation of what is happening in the NH House – Taking that shop worn Liberal phrase, Power to the People, and actually sending, you know, Power back to the People – and not to Government ———————————————————————- GraniteGrok was granted an exclusive interview with NH House Speaker Bill O’Brien and … Read more

Friday Humor – Jigsaw puzzle…maybe not…

A little silver-haired lady calls her neighbor and says, "Please come over here and help me. I have a killer jigsaw puzzle, and I can’t figure out how to get started."

Her neighbor asks, "What is it supposed to be when it’s finished?"

The little silver haired lady says, "According to the picture on the box, it’s a rooster."

Her neighbor decides to go over and help with the puzzle.

She lets him in and shows him where she has the puzzle spread all over the table.

He studies the pieces for a moment, then looks at the box, then turns to her and says,

"First of all, no matter what we do, we’re not going to be able to assemble these pieces into anything resembling a rooster."

He takes her hand and says, "Secondly, I want you to relax. Let’s have a nice cup of tea, and then," he said with a deep sigh ………….

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GrokTV Event: “Press Avail”

After most political events, there is an item called "The Presser" or "The Press Avail"; shorthands for Press Availability.  This is where the press (print, TV, radio, and now, New Media) gets to surround the Important People from the event (planned or unplanned folks) and ask questions, hoping beyond hope to get THE different question.  … Read more

Rally ‘Round the Reps!

Well, it seems that the Unions, and associated Union Thugs (like those from the SEIU, our lovely State public workers collective that ventured onto Lynne Blankenbeker’s home property, bringing new joy to the union movement in that oh so intimdating fashion (er, wrong person to tick off, ladies and gents, if that those terms can … Read more

GrokTV Event: Rick Santorum at the Grafton County Republican Dinner

Monday night, the ‘Grok was able to cover the Grafton Republican Committee dinner up in Lincoln (and yes, it was snowing lightly) where Rick Santorum spoke at length about the current state of affairs of the country and his political outlook.

Thanks to Bruce Perlo and Jerry Thibodeau for allow us access.

Note: although the former Senator from PA was holding a mic, the PA system was pretty much a bust – apologies if the audio is not quite crisp enough.

Q & A (including the first question from part time Grokster, Don Ewing) is after the jump

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GrokTV Event: Grafton County Republican Dinner – other speakers

Not only did Rick Santorum address the packed room, a number of known NH Republicans were there as well – here are some of them (the event was MC’d by GCRC Chair, Bruce Perlo):

 

Ovide Lamontagne                       Jack Kimball

Founder, Granite Oath PAC                                NH GOP Chair


 

Omer Ahern               Phyllis Woods

Grafton County Commissioner                          NH RNC National Committeewoman

Other speakers after the jump

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GrokTV Event: Grafton County Republican Dinner – other items

Monday night, the ‘Grok was able to cover the Grafton Republican Committee dinner up in Lincoln (and yes, it was snowing lightly) where Rick Santorum spoke at length about the current state of affairs of the country and his political outlook.

This clip is of the Intro Ceremonies:

Other clips after the jump, including the auction of "The Tie".

Yes, the ‘Grok does the stuff that the regular MSM won’t cover – because it IS important to the folks that both participate in these events and others that can’t just be there.

Want to help us cover more?  Click on the DONATE button, top left – that allows us to get the equipment needed to do these kinds of events.  Or, more of them. 

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A Lie – the ice cream is free

While the emphasis where is is from is about the TEA Party perHAPS! cooling off.

The opposition’s message, every cycle, is essentially, “Vote for us for free ice cream.” The fiscally conservative message is, “there is no more free ice cream, and in fact the ice cream has never been free.” If selling that message were easy, we would never have gotten into this mess.

In effect, this has been the message forEVAH! from those that desire power: what we offer is FREE!  Power is to the Political Class as crack cocaine is to the junkie.  With Democrats / Progressives (that includes some Republicans like Charlie Bass as well!), some power is not ever enough and that craving is more and more and more powerful the more that they wield that Political Power Scepter.  They believe that THEY (and they alone) have the answers that can fix society and that THEY should have the ability and the power to have Government modify YOUR behavior to suit THEIR ideas of how people should live.  And we all know how addictive crack can be – for some, there is a never ending case of going for more.

But there is another form of crack – unlike the Political Class Power-Crack, they peddle another "softer" form of crack to the rest of us – Entitlements. Von Bismark, as he rolled up the German states in the 1800s into a single unified Germany, understood that clearly;…

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FB Doodlings – on the public unions protesting

Observation: …we in the private sector have to work to pay the taxes that allow them the sick days to skip out of work to protest us not wanting them to get more of our money…

Chattel of Parents? Or chattel of the State?

‘Grok friend, NH State Representative George Lambert, started an FB thread based on this wee bit of wisdom (more emphasis on "wee" than on "wisdom") from the Concord Monitor as their editorial discussed their version of the ramifications of the NH House passing two bill:

  • HB 429 – AN ACT permitting a child 16 years of age or older to withdraw from school with parental permission
  • HB 542 – AN ACT prohibiting a school district from requiring that a parent send his or her child to any school or program to which the parent may be conscientiously opposed

So, what was the part of the bill that caught my ire (along with many others)?

Both bills’ prime sponsors apparently have nothing against schooling, since both are engineers. The legislation instead arises from an antiquated notion of children as the chattel of their parents, who are the sole arbiters of what is best for them.

Right – "antiquated notion of children as the chattel of their parents"!  Knowing the definition of "chattel", especially the most negative one, my immediate response was:

"as the chattel of their parents" – as opposed to being the chattel of the State? Certainly, a Progressive thought that has decided that the State knows best.

Indeed, the Concord Monitor DOES have the rep as being left of center, sometimes more left than center; I also believe that if one called them "Progressive", they would not take it as a slur.  But to take the point of "slave" or being mere property with respect to one’s children? Please!

If you don’t know what "chattel" is, here is the Free Dictionary  definition:

  1. Law . a movable article of personal property.
  2. Any article of tangible property other than land, buildings, and other things annexed to land.
  3. A slave.

So, does the Monitor REALLY believe that parents think of their children as…

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A false sense of independence, I would say.

"Picture the elderly person that is in their home, independently living, because that is what is better for them, it gives them the most freedom, and their services do not arrive on time.  It takes the social worker, in the darkest hour of the night to go to that elderly person, make sure that they are cared for.

– Diana Lacey, President State Employees Association (SEIU)

This was said this morning on WMUR’s "Close Up" political show this morning – and if you combine this with that, once again you get that cloying feeling that the State has the preeminence in the "caring dept" – the State worries about our youngsters and cares for them, and worries about our oldsters and cares for them.  After all, the parents treat them like slaves chattel and obviously ignore their parents!

But that’s not the point of the post – what is the point is this question: is it a false sense of "independence" that is being flogged by this union President, Ms. Lacey?

We have seen the abuse and obfuscation of language before in the attempted service of political aims (the latest being President Obama…

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Live Blogging – Conservative Principles Conference: some more pics

YouTube isn’t playing to nice in this overloaded WiFi atmosphere here at the conference (too many people on, insufficient overall bandwith for us) – micro interviews are, umm, having "issues".  Will hopefully resolve them a bit later on tonite. 

In the mean time, here is Lt Gov Kim Reynolds who got a great reception telling the local crowd how she and Gov Branstad had actually governed conservatively, after running on that platform – what a concept!

After the jump a few crowd pics:

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