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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.

Email doodlings – a brief definition of a RINO

In an email thread I’m on, I was asked (since I missed it the first time):

So, I will ask again, What is a true conservative?  What is a RINO?

Here was my brief answer – in two parts:

Here in NH, a RINO is someone that votes contrary to the principles of the NH GOP Platform 70% of the time.  Votes that violate the major precepts of nominal GOP stances (less taxes, less government, more freedom, adherence to the Constitution) on multiple occasions warrants that title as well.

I am willing, at times, to give passes to our representatives on bills that have "traps" in them set by the opposition, whereby a vote that is seemingly cast against the platform was done to keep a worse evil from happening.

A conservative hews to traditional political values known as Constitutional.  Further, traditional cultural values are in the forefront of a conservative’s actions and mindset – which also includes those values stemming from our traditional Judeo-Christian national heritage.

There is the political – AND, in this time of a concentration on fiscal policy and laws made contrary to the Constitution, there is the social.

Go ahead, explain how being a fiscal conservative also allows for such an expansive liberal mantra as our burgeoning welfare / entitlement State? I posit…

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An Open Letter to the TEA Party, Libertarians and 912 Patriots

Guest post by Derek "Mac" Kittredge, Rochester Republican City Committee

The TEA parties grew out of the accurately perceived observation that our nation was under attack from the very agency created to protect it from enemies, foreign and domestic ~ our own government! And many state and municipal governments were going rogue as well. Political auto-immune disease, if you will, with gangrene and Stage 4 bureaucracy.
     
The Marxists couldn’t win elections on their own merits, so they did the next best thing, they took over the Democrat Party. By 1944, Norman Thomas, a former Socialist candidate for President announced that it was no longer necessary for him to run since the Democrats had adopted his platform. Actually, the Democrats were already primed for this as they had been the party of class oriented slave owners and the Ku Klux Klan (Sen. Bob Byrd, WV(D) was the Grande Kleagle of the Klan he organized). Whereas the Republicans were the Abolitionist wing of the Whigs (1853), supporters of Universal Suffrage and abolishers of Jim Crow. We are the Constitution and Liberty party. Today, the Democrat party is totally Marxist on its way to Stalinist fielding Manchurian candidates and those useful idiots posing first as liberals then progressives. Commissars follow Tzars all too soon.
     
The Republican Party’s biggest problem is that the MSM, Hollywood, TV and our public education system have re-written the GOP story and hidden its mission statement by the inspired use of clever propaganda. The result is, that many Republicans become disaffected, discouraged and stay home. And lose elections. Sure we’ve had our share of opportunists and fools, but remember where the revelations of our collective faults come from. The MSM lies, slants and cherry-picks the stories. Now they are doing this to the TEA party. And America! Think what 90 years of Koolaid has done to the Republican brand. The answer isn’t purges, it’s education! And action.
     
Realizing this, I joined the Rochester 912 group and told them several things:

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“Standing for those that have stood for us”

23 years of standing vigil for those who can not speak! Join us August 19, 2010Hesky Park ~ Meredith, NH7:00pm Thursday 19 August, 2010 marks the 23rd anniversary of the Prisoners of War/Missing in Action (POW/MIA) Vigil held at Hesky Park in Meredith.  23 years ago, 3 citizens recognized the need to heighten awareness to … Read more

“Gov. Lynch To Business Community: NH To Reward Employee Theft”

Guest post by Andy Sanborn – small business owner and candidate for NH Senate, District 7, and has been endorsed by GraniteGrok because of stances such as this:

Governor Lynch says stealing is OK, just don’t take a lot, but if you do steal and get caught, don’t worry, the State will take care of you…  As a business owner, employer and someone who believes we should maintain a rational moral code, I can’t wrap my arms around this latest law enacted by our Governor and the legislature in Concord.  For anyone who wonders if our current crop of leaders in Concord is out of touch, maybe this is the hand in the cookie jar, so to speak.

This is just another perfect example of how twisted the perception of right and wrong is in Concord, and why so many of us want to see a change in this disappointing leadership.

Last week, the Governor signed Bill HB1168 into law, effective September 6, which will force business owners to reward employees caught stealing.  The law, filed under RSA 282-A: 35 states that an employee only commits “Gross Misconduct” if they steal more than $500 from their employer.  So, under this new law, if an employer fires an employee for stealing, the State will allow that employee to collect unemployment checks, of which that money comes from a tax assessment of all business owners in the State.

And, it’s not just if an employee steals from the boss, same thing if an employee is caught stealing from a customer, another employee or the cancer donation jar on the counter.

Until now…

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Questions….so many Questions….

Once again, it seems like the Grass Roots (vs the monied set) is having questions about the dude that enters the race with a cloud of TEA Party controversy, ticks off said organizers, hijacks their event for subsequent political ads, hiring high powered (and priced) Internet operatives, and touts his TEA Party cred (cred to … Read more

Friday Humor – my, how times have changed…

Over five thousand years ago, Moses said to the children of Israel, "Pick up your shovels, mount your asses and camels, and I will lead you to the Promised Land." Nearly 75 years ago, (when Welfare was introduced) Roosevelt said, "Lay down your shovels, sit on your asses, and light up a Camel, this is … Read more

Kathy “Lawsuit” Sullivan – Little kids defense?

"just wish sarah and levy were on board," Gee Kathy, we’re REALLY happy that we’re in your thoughts and that you could think of us so quickly.  As a lawyer, with the sheer brainpower that allowed you very quickly write all of MaggieSpeech (which could have shut us down in the realm of politics), it … Read more

We made another campaign mailer! Sweet!

And we are proud to support Jeanie (and her wonderful cocker spaniels – I’ll tell you, MY two dogs were absolutely befuddled after TMEW and I met up with them – who ARE these other dogs we smell???).  I guess Jeanie was kinda happy with the ‘Grok as well!

Jeanie Forrester mailer

Sure, I spotted our endorsement of Jeanie (kinda hard not too, that’s me in the hat) – as well as the others – and then it struck me:

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Lest you think that Got Hate! Lefties are only in NH…

Hatred abounds on the Left?  It seems that the Got Hate! crowd goes right to the heart of Progressivism – right to the Big Dollar Dogs: So one of the people who helped build the Center for American Progress, creator of Think Progress, has created a new movement, hitting upon a slogan which really expresses … Read more

Political blogging – Frank Guinta event at the Taylor Community

Well, as I put it here:

Well, this may or may not be too successful a live stream – very weak WiFi signal here and have already been dropped 4 times.  BUT! we’ll keep trying – am recording on a back up camera for later on.

Well, I think the signal dropped about 15, 16 times and we had two cameras running – the reliable (but time limited) Flip cam and we’re still learning the newest Sony (gotta figure out how to better record in dim light with the latter).

The former is here:

The latter after the jump:

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Political blogging – Frank Guinta event at the Taylor Community – front and back

Still have more from Tuesday:  the intro (front) and the Micro-Interview (back)

Front: I’ve known Tony Giunta, former mayor of Franklin, NH for a number of years now – his upbeat mannerism in the clip below is no put on – while he does have a serious side, what you see here is typical:

Back: after the jump. 

Note: Still uploading the Q & A.  It is standard political fare that our "seasoned citizens" are also the best voters in the country – they also had a lot of questions – a total of over an hour!  Ya think they’ve got an interest in the outcome of the election and want to make sure they pull the lever for the right candidate!

(and yes, they are cousins)

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Micro-Interview: Jim Forsythe (NH Senate District 4)

While at the Frank Guinta event, I also saw the Republican candidates for NH Senate District 4 – George Hurt and Jim Forsythe.  Well, after the event was over, only Jim had stayed to the end – so he knew what to expect and I did not disappoint – camera held in front of face … Read more

It has been 9 months….

…but is the ‘Grok getting ready to Talk once again?  Well, here’s a couple of the goodies now heading towards central New Hampsha!  Something to talk into and to listen with:          And a whole bunch of slots for a bunch of yakkers:   Hmmm…it’s not like this isn’t a talk target … Read more

Tenth Amedment

The Jack Kimball for Gov event that the ‘Grok attended (me, Tom, Steve (miss ya, Tim!) last night was all about the 10th Amendment with Michael Boldin of the Tenth Amendment Center speaking speaking via a live stream setup; we’re working on the videos right now – had me remember this long article by Andy McCarthy over at The Corner (emphasis mine):

Perhaps because I see the Arizona situation more as a political one than a legal one, I come at it from a different angle. The nation is built on a political power-sharing arrangement in which the states maintained their sovereignty while surrendering certain powers to the national government. Two important things flow from this.

First, the states are sovereign. That is not just a slogan, it is a concept that has real meaning. Inherent in sovereignty is the natural right of self-defense. If states are no longer at liberty to protect their territories and defend their citizens, they are no longer sovereign, and the social compact on which the nation is based is broken.

Second, the presumption in our system is against the forfeiture of rights and powers. The Constitution expressly provides that unless a power has been delegated to the federal government, it is retained by the states. Our law holds that individuals are not deemed to forfeit their fundamental rights unless there has been a waiver that is clear, knowing, and voluntary. I don’t see why sovereign states would rate any less deference. This is critical because (a) the Constitution does not delegate the power of immigration enforcement to the national government (the power to set terms for naturalization, which is federal, is not a power over immigration enforcement), (b) the power to regulate immigration was understood to be retained by the states, as a core part of their police power, for the first century-plus of our nation’s history, and (c) the states have continued to exercise this power and have never forfeited it. In point of fact, until the turn of the 19th century, the pertinent question was whether the national government  had any power over immigration enforcement (Jefferson, for example, was quite certain it did not). It was federal power that was dubious; state power was unquestioned. See, e.g., Joseph Baldacchino, “Regulation of Immigration Historically a State Function” (National Humanities Institute, July 19, 2010).

To me, this is the necessary context for any consideration of a federal attempt to prohibit the exercise of state police power within a state’s sovereign territory….

Once again, RTWT…and he knows this subject cold.  Frankly, the fact that this topic, states’ rights, is even getting the attention it is right now is…

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