It may be hard to remember, but nine years ago Jennifer Horn was the Tea Party candidate for Congress. But much the same way the government warped the once upon a time hero John McCain, Horn abandoned those ideas and the people to serve the promises of political power.
She is a caricature of the Republican left. New Hampshire’s Morning Joe. A Democrat talking point registered as a Republican using whatever soapbox the media provides to push Overton’s window to the left.
This week’s soapbox comes courtesy of the Union Leader, another once-conservative hero whose current face might make William and Nackey Loeb cringe. Horn’s message? New Hampshire Attorney General Gordon MacDonald would make a swell Chief Justice of the New Hampshire State Supreme Court.
Volinsky’s Rules for Radicals
I’ll say this. Jen Horn is right about Executive Councilor Andru Volinsky. Comrade Volinsky is a Constitutional ambulance chaser imagining injustices that advance his parties desire to give the government more power.
But that’s not justification for promoting MacDonald if he has similar tendencies, if not on the same vector or to the same degree. Both appear willing to see things in the State Constitution that are not there (or agree to see them when they are not).
Ed Mosca has been peeling back that curtain, and we expect more. Including some resistance to these reports from the center and right (and obviously the Republican left).
Because on June 16th Ed warned,
Governor Sununu has nominated his Attorney General, Gordon MacDonald, to replace retiring Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Lynn. Lynn was the closest thing to a judicial conservative on the Supreme Court. There are unmistakable signs that MacDonald is not.
A week later Mr. Mosca noted that,
“…what (Jay) Surdukowski is saying to the Democrats on the Executive Council is this: don’t worry about Roe being overturned or circumscribed by the United States Supreme Court, Gordon is one of us and will go along with “finding” a “right to an abortion” in the New Hampshire Constitution.
Follow the links for more but to sum up, the problem is one of judicial activism. Seeing things in constitutions that are not there. Volinsky does it to expand State power. If MacDonald is” qualified” to do that, Conservatives don’t want him leading the court, or even on it.
If Comrade Volinsky’s objections (and he has them because Gordo is a Sununu nominee) somehow lead to preventing his elevation is that a good thing?
What are the odds we’d ever get anyone better past this Democrat majority executive Council and why do we even have to play that game? Because Republicans didn’t turn out in 2016 to keep the left from taking over the government.
Of course, given a Republican majority on the Council odds are good MacDonald would breeze through his confirmation process. EC denizens with rare exception tend to be more like Jennifer Horn than Bill O’Brien.
And that ladies and gentleman is why conservatism and elections (and GraniteGrok) matter.
By the way. Don’t be surprised if Volinsky is just doing a bit of (pre-run-for-governor) grandstanding and the Democrats on the EC arrange a 3-2 vote to confirm him. They know as well as we do that they may not get anyone “better.”
Image: NHPR
