Well, it certainly was bound to happen. As the ‘Grok started to respond to the news over at Now!Hampshire here, the "other" side of the blogosphere over at BlueHampshire started to rouse itself from its somnambulance with a call for Letters (after the jump). So, I get to write another Letter which was printed two days later in the Citizen:
Editor, The Citizen:
Here are the "Progressive" Democrat rules of political engagement: oh, sorry, there are none! In reading the Letters from Kate Miller, Gilbert Perham, and Sally Watson in decrying the actions of a "blogger" (yet seemingly answering the call for Letters by the Liberal blogsite BlueHampshire a couple of days ago), I noticed one thing — all used obfuscation to "muddy the water" — think in terms of "covering up or papering over". It was easy to notice, as Sherlock Holmes said, "the dog was not barking".
None of them tried or could refute the plain truth that Now!Hampshire posted – Bud Martin let a convicted sex offender out on personal recognizance after attacking a woman in a women’s bathroom (er, I’m waiting for the "violence against women" advocates to weigh in here) and dismissed the charges against a man who put cameras in a campground bathroom (where’s the privacy police advocates?). None dared mentioned that Bud Martin could have chosen to keep society safer by keeping that recidivist convicted sex offender in jail with high bail but chose not to. None dared to assail the seriousness of the charges against the camera guy (Heh! "seriousness of the charges": a favorite of Dems until applied to one of their own). None could dismiss the anger or hurt of the actual crime victims; indeed, none of them addressed the emotional harm of those that were actually wronged. And that in itself, is wrong.
No, their faux outrage fell as flat as a late season skier doing a nose plant in the last snow pile. What was not addressed was the simple truth of the Now!Hampshire story which is that even Judges are not above accountability; decisions have ramifications and consequences. Politicians of all stripes have to run on their records, actions, and words. Judges can also be judged themselves by their decisions and actions on the bench.
Dirty tricks to bring forward past decisions? Bud Martin’s record is public, the bail and sentencing data is public – and that is mudslinging … how? Mon Dieu! Coming from the Party of well known political "attack dogs" named Kathy Sullivan and Ray Buckley, it is easy to observe that this trio has much to learn what REAL dirty tricks are. And that other blogsite, BlueHampshire? If you go there, you’ll understand the phrase "Welcome to politics, cyberstyle".
Skip
The Citizen published these Letters attacking
Enough is enough
Editor, The Citizen:
Here we go again, more mudslinging. I was hoping that we were all tired of it including the politicians.
I am specifically referring to information that I recently read on the "NowHampshire" web site entitled "Victim: Martin Showed ‘Total Lack of Concern’ about Sexual Predator". It seems to refer to his past decisions as a judge.
Why can’t the politicians learn to campaign with some honesty and integrity and fair play. I am not suggesting that there aren’t some politicians that do an outstanding job, because there are a lot of them. Are some politicians afraid we aren’t smart enough to make an informed decision? Well I can tell you that I am, and I have a feeling that most voters who go to the polls to vote can not only make informed voting decisions but we can see through the dirty politics and vote for who we think will do the better job. Sometimes we make mistakes but they are our mistakes. I know that we have made them in the past and we sure as hell have corrected them at the next election. Many NH politicians have seen that fury over the past few years.
I am tired of going through another campaign only to get there and can’t figure out where some of the politicians stand on any of the issues. I am, at this time, supporting Bud Martin as I feel he will represent me as a citizen of this great State.
What I also would like to see is Jeb Bradley and other candidates take a stand and denounce dirty political games and let’s get back to the way it used to be … a good clean fight and put HONESTY and INTEGRATY back into NH politicking.
Gilbert Perham
Wolfeboro
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Vote for Bud Martin
Editor, The Citizen:
Bud Martin has been working for the people of NH all his adult life. He has crusaded for children and families in his law practice and as a judge while upholding the law and its judicious application. He is well schooled in our tax code and understands the fiscal crisis our state and country face. He uses his creativity and energy to find workable solutions to the problems that face our communities and citizens.
Now is the time to give Bud Martin the opportunity to put his enthusiasm, ideas and talents to work in our State Senate as it crafts legislative solutions to the fiscal and policy crises that face our state. Please vote for Bud Martin for State Senate on April 21st!
Kate Miller
Meredith
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Lost credibility
Editor, The Citizen:
I am very disturbed to learn that Republicans are deploying a blogger who was involved in the Kerry "swift-boating" and is a long time associate of the man convicted of the 2002 Republican phone jamming scandal to help elect Jeb Bradley to the state senate.
I was an inadvertent victim of the phone jamming, and I am not even involved in politics. At the time I was a software trainer trying to demonstrate how well our internet tools worked to my colleagues. As I would dial into the website, the modem kept getting a busy signal. The end result was that the employees doubted the effectiveness of the tools, and I was never able to gain back the credibility I lost with the staff.
We need more politicians that focus on the issues and not on character assassination of their opponent; it’s not as if there is nothing going on in the world.
I hope that Jeb Bradley denounces the use of these shady characters to help him get elected; otherwise it will be his credibility that will be lost.
Sally Watson
Nashua
