Two weeks later and Rep. Peter Schmidt (D-Strafford 4) still has to park in the No Parking Zone when other spaces are available. Yes, this is a follow up to my earlier post–Peter " No Parking" Schmidt. Apparently Peter is a real stand up guy. Veteran. Works hard. Always shows up in Concord. I appreciate that.
Jim Splaine came to what I can only describe as his defense by telling me what he knew about the man and he did a good job. I responded as follows.
Thanks for making time to share it. And tell Peter I really do appreciate his military service. And I respect his commitment to attendance–even in the face of adverse circumstances—despite my objection to how he votes.
I really mean this. Military service to the nation should have nothing to do with the fun and games we call politics. In exchange for this new knowledge I made some additional suggestions about the problem and how, instead of just saying it should be ok–which it’s not–we have some fun and find a way to fix it.
But if he’s such a great guy why don’t you give him your space? How about Poznanski or Hodges? Why can’t any of your young upstanding progressive legislators (make sure) this guy gets a space? Why not just name a space after him, and ask everyone to leave it open for him? Maybe name him employee of the month every month so he can park legally near the stairs. Or how about you make a leadership decision, get the city of Concord on board, and figure out why you have "no parking" designations where access is good and safety is not in fact an issue?
And why am I told that there are plenty of empty spaces yet he still parks here? If he has a condition or a need can we get Peter a handicapped plate–if he really needs it–and secure him a space closer to the State House? If this is a genuine problem why has it gone so long unattended? And I’m not trying to be a jerk, I am very open to extenuating circumstances, as long as they apply equally to everyone.
You see the problem here Jim? I don’t think they apply to everyone equally. You can make any number of excuses for exceptions you like, as long as there is a happy little story to go along with it. But then you set yourself up for a problem later when the same rules no longer need apply to someone you don’t think as highly of in similar circumstances. Or as they apply to someone who is not a legislator, or not a vet, or who had knee surgery and not a heart attack, or who is late for a very important meeting that is not as important as someone else’s, or who is a political opponent in a close race…. That’s why we have rule of law in a constitutional republic and not rule of–"this is how I feel about it today."
I think these are all good ideas. I mean really. If democrats can come up with a plan to tax the crap out of every LLC in the state, to steal 110 million dollars from a fund, and apply a rooms and meals tax to someone who rents a space where they bring their own room and their own meals, in just a few hours, how hard can this be?
And why did we have to wait for me to bring the parking thing up to fix it? (Or not.) I thought these liberals were compassionate and attentive?
After all that, I get this from Mr. Splaine, and this time he’s got back up.
The only problem I see is that you’re trying to make a political issue out of a non-issue. You’re trying, unsuccessfully so, to embarrass a good person by using your blogging abilities, and then you try, again unsuccessfully, to infer "liberal" criticism at him, and someone who comes to his defense — but I can take it, so your aim is misdirected again. Kind of shameful, really. What has politics become?
It’s a political blog. What can I say. Of course Mr. Splaine has nothing to say about my show of respect, or my numerous suggestions and considerations to remedy the parking issue. That would mess up the point he needs to make so he feels better. You see I can’t be shameful if he acknowledges my show of appreciation or respect for the person of Peter Schmidt independent of the actual issue. (This would cause liberal separationanxiety) He’s busy being concerend about feelings, and possibly about my blogging toward the dark side, if it helps him make his point. I can forgive Jim because I know he only saw the parts he wanted too–that’s something liberals do as a breed. It allows them to sell a 3000 page bill as a streamlining and cost cutting measure. Well, it was written on the cover sheet in crayon, I swear.
And, I’m glad you can take it Jim, that’s the rumor I heard.
That brings us to Rep Tim "Secret Squirrel" Horrigan.
The "college professor" you are sneering at so relentlessly, Steve, might actually be David Waters, who is a history professor at UNH. I understand the confusion, we liberals are hard to tell apart.
I find it a little creepy that people are going around photographing cars at a private parking garage– or even a public one.
"Sneering at so relentlessly." I love that. It’s got motion, sound, it’s sinister, I can actually feel the brimstone under my feet. And you can almost taste it. Maybe some spittle actually flew off my keyboard and landed on the image of his face while I typed. "Racist!"
Well, I wasn’t sneering at David Waters, relentlessly or otherwise. Nor was I sneering at Peter Schmidt. I have to say I think the appreciation and respect thing I wrote before you commented throws a monkey wrench into the sneering remark but we can probably toss Tim the "you didn’t bother to read that part either" bone. He’s a liberal too. They all look alike.
Actually liberals do not all look the same but they all seem to think my money is the property of the government first and that I only get keep whatever they have not managed to spend. To be honest, that’s kind of creepy. You also, apparently, don’t like to hold each other responsible for anything from Reps drinking underage in front of other minors, to racial and sexual slurs, to possible internal corruption, and hey–dealing with parking problems.
That brings us back to Mr. Schmidt and the no parking zone. He still seems to think he needs to park there. If it’s safe, why is it designated as no parking? If it’s not safe, why is he still parking there? The rules apply to everyone equally or they are not rules at all. You like to brag about liberals changing things when they don’t make sense, well here you go. This does not make sense. And if Peter really needs a closer space whip out some of that legendary liberal compassion and get him one. Based on what you’ve said, I think he deserves it.
Cross Posted at NH Insider
