Dear Sirs,
It has been brought to my attention that your organization recently published a study finding that 875 state legislators representing all 50 states are members of far-right groups on Facebook. This is shocking. Really, truly, shocking. I applaud your efforts to expose these kinds of harmful opinions, and I strongly encourage you to continue with this extremely important work.
My home state of New Hampshire apparently holds the top spot in your survey, with 62 legislators making it onto the naughty list. We actually have the single largest state legislature in the country, at nearly three times the national average. That presumably gives New Hampshire a bit of mathematical advantage in this contest.
In the interest of fairness, I did a quick back-of-the-napkin analysis (recycled, of course!) and found that among the states on your short list, New Hampshire actually rates pretty close to the bottom, percentage-wise. Arkansas takes the top slot, with over 25% of legislators being members of far-right groups!!! Gadzooks! (But then again, it’s Arkansas, right??? You know what I mean.) Montana is next at 22%, followed by Washington, Minnesota, Missouri, Maine, Pennsylvania, and then New Hampshire.
If I got my math right, New Hampshire is in eighth place!!! Eighth!!!! Egads, that’s just awful. We really don’t take kindly to being ranked eighth in anything. As you probably know, New Hampshire is the home of the “first in the nation primary”. The Cato Institute (a filthy far-right group itself, of course) recently ranked us first in economic freedom, and US News & World Report (probably a far-right group as well) rates us as the fourth best state in the country. (They are wrong about that. Obviously. We are so better than that. Also first. Of course.)
We need to do better, though, and you have my word as a proud Granite State activist , we will fight the good fight. By my calculations, if we can add another 42 right-wing extremist loons to our roster, we should be able to lock up a tie with Arkansas (assuming they hold steady, of course). With 43 wins, New Hampshire could potentially even take the top slot both in percentages and raw numbers. We could be the king of the gun-toting, anti-science, hate-mongering, anti-abortion, covid-denying, voter suppressing mountain.
Onward, brave soldiers! I’m getting chills just thinking about it.
On a related, note, I should thank you for including me personally in your list of right-wing crazies. (I’m one of the 62 NH legislators in your report.) When I first scanned that list, I panicked… For a brief, terrifying moment I actually thought that I hadn’t made the cut. Truth be told, I nearly spilled my organic fair-trade coffee all over my gluten-free avocado toast. What a sigh of relief when I finally found my name! I’ll be running for office again this fall, so hopefully I can be part of that legislative class that cements New Hampshire’s top position in the IREHR rankings.
I would, however, like to voice one itty-bitty little complaint (if I may be so bold). My organization (“the 603 Alliance”) apparently isn’t sufficiently right-wing to have qualified for your list. That’s disappointing. Really disappointing. Like, slap-in-the-face disappointing. Think about the way you feel when someone says something really offensive like “you’re so articulate”, or when you see a person wearing a culturally appropriated Halloween costume. Yes, that disappointing.
The 603 Alliance deserves to be on your list of far-right groups. We believe in limited government, low taxes, and personal freedoms. That should be all the 411 you need on 603, but just in case you’re not convinced yet, there’s more: We believe that people should be allowed to own guns. And carry them. And even shoot them on occasion. We’re in favor of school choice. Just last week, we voiced our support for a bill asserting that parents have the right to raise their own children! Just let that sink in. Wow. Dude. Wow. We have hosted events featuring some real nut-job speakers like Mike Lindell, James O’Keefe, and Steve Bannon. Dude!!!!!!! Steve Freakin’ Bannon. How in God’s name does that not qualify us as a far-right extremist group???
As if that weren’t enough, I even began this letter with a gendered greeting. Gendered!!!! And a bit further down, I referenced the “king” of the mountain. Hashtag #toxicmasculinity. Seriously.
I humbly and respectfully request that IREHR reconsider the omission of the 603 Alliance from your far-right extremist report. Like, really really really hoping this was just an oversight on your part. Hashtag #JusticeFor603. Peace out.
Respectfully yours,
Jim Kofalt
