Mr. Cronin,
Jim Berlo and Jim Johnson, in response to the highly critical story you published for the Seacoast News on December 5, 2022, “Brentwood Newsletter under fire again after publishing Inflammatory’ opinion”, are submitting the following Letter below for a reference point to the content of our missive compared with commentary intent of your December 5, 2022, “Brentwood Newsletter under fire again after publishing Inflammatory’ opinion”:
Had Enough?
The September 13th, 2022, New Hampshire primary sent a powerful message to D.C. elitists McConnell and McCarthy! Their last-minute infusion of millions of dollars to defeat General Don Bolduc and Karoline Leavitt was a monumental failure. New Hampshire’s choice of candidates prevailed.
Brentwood currently has two excellent State Representatives: Melissa Litchfield and Josh Yokela. Their stewardship has been exemplary in moral and fiscal common-sense principles.
In contrast, the democratic State Rep challenger supports teachers educating grades K-3 in the fine art of radical “sexual orientation and gender identity”. This is sick! The grooming of 4–10-year-old children on “sexual orientation and gender identity” is supported by the current federal AND state Democratic Parties. The https://www.citizenscount.org/ website has a plethora of information.
We want to thank Jim Johnson, Jim Berlo for this Op-Ed. If you have an Op-Ed or LTE
you would like us to consider, please submit it to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.
Under this Democrat dreamland, inflation is out of control. The economy is being destroyed from within. Our retirements are sinking faster than an Oldsmobile Delmont. The country is under siege with crime, drugs, and constant government program expansion is the answer? Energy independence has been obliterated and is about to explode.
The challenges we face are self-inflicted, and we must not continually repeat the same mistakes. The election November 8th, 2022, is crucial to the future of Brentwood, the State of New Hampshire, America, and most importantly the future of our children and grandchildren for decades to come. Get out and vote!
Please vote LITCHFIELD and YOKELA for state Representatives. LEAVITT for CONGRESS, and DON BOLDUC for SENATE.
Jim Berlo and Jim Johnson
Now we continue:
Selectman Russ Kelly opines on behalf of the Selectmen, “This is inflammatory language. It doesn’t matter that it’s someone’s opinion…” “It’s an attack on educators and it’s an attack on LGBTQ people,” he said, referring to the recent shooting at the gay Club Q in Colorado Springs that killed five and injured 17 others…”.
Russ Kelly’s attack on us is far more insidious, dangerous, and divisive than anything we have written. The suggestion that our words contributed to the killing of five and injured 17 others…” is intended to trigger animosity towards us, with deliberate misrepresentation of a false narrative they created that never existed.
Patrick further writes:
“It was written by Jim Berlo and Jim Johnson in support of Brentwood’s two Republican state Reps. Melissa Litchfield and Josh Yokela and against a Democratic challenger in which they write “supports teachers in educating grades K-3 in the fine art of radical ‘sexual orientation and gender identity.'” They go on to write, “This is sick.”
The words we use in our sentences are deliberate and concise which leaves us wondering if you even read our letter? We were simply comparing the exemplary stewardship of the incumbents in moral and fiscal common-sense principles, compared to the challenger’s support of salacious coaching on sexuality in K-3.
Please refer to our letter above to view what was written. Truth matters.
Here is the Citizen’s Count question and Eric [Turer]’s response:
“Should New Hampshire ban discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity in grades K-3? *** NO – I trust our educators to balance the needs of young students in addressing as they always have in instances when any questions of sexuality arise from children trying to understand the often complex world of adults around them. Bans like this serve no purpose other than to leave these children with no resources and likely greater fears and questions as they sense the inability of trusted adults to engage with them. ***
Eric Turer uses psychobabble to qualify his lack of trust in parents to care for their own children. He is dismissing the parent(s) in favor of school employees introducing sexuality to elementary school children. For the record we do not support the normalization of “sexual orientation” or , “gender identity” in any public educational curriculum K-12.”
The Selectmen have anointed themselves sole arbiters of free speech in Brentwood!
“This is inflammatory language. It doesn’t matter that it’s someone’s opinion.” Russ Kelly 12/05/2022.
Russ and his Selectmen cohorts could not be more wrong. Opinions do matter. Questions and answers posted on a reputable website like Citizens Count is an affirmation of one’s views, in this case Eric Turer’s. He trusts teachers over parents. Facts Matter!
Remember when Brentwood Selectman Jon Morgan‘s rush to blame the Atlanta shooting on Trump supporters bombed? We have seen the hysteria and smear tactics against the Brentwood Newsletter in the past. “Racism from a white man’s perspective” was written by a Vietnam Veteran and was impeccably researched and well written, yet it was declared racist by the bigoted left. Eric and Liz McConnell’s panic over Liz’s voting record printed in the Brentwood Newsletter in 2019.
Sidenote: her voting record was first published by GraniteGrok and the Brentwood Newsletter had my permission to re-post it. -Skip
It was a record she could not defend. Brentwood Citizens saw through that. Now our Selectman have another orchestrated assault on the Brentwood Newsletter.
If our use of satire offends, “…the fine art of radical sexual orientation and gender identity”, get over it. And yes, “This is sick!”. There is nothing virtuous in the sexual exploitation of children, or just as important as the perverted attempts to eliminate parental authority over our children in the public school system, and the Brentwood Selectmen reinforce this mindset!
This should be of paramount concern to every resident in Brentwood! The persecution of Brentwood Newsletter (BNL) volunteers over the past couple years has been relentless. Yet, they have remarkably continued to provide a top-quality product on behalf of the citizens of Brentwood and despite affirmation for continued funding of the BNL at Town meeting, the board of Selectmen have pulled funding from the Newsletter. Citizens can rectify this injustice at the March 2023.
The PARENTS of children in K-3 rights are under assault. Ending Freedom of Speech is the true target of the Selectmen and always has been since 2019:
“it doesn’t matter that it’s someone’s opinion…”.
The Brentwood Newsletter has been around for 47 years, snuffed out by the Marxist/Socialist Brentwood Selectmen on 12/2022. What a legacy!
Jim Berlo & Jim Johnson
Patrick Cronin
Brentwood Newsletter under fire again after publishing ‘inflammatory’ opinion
Patrick Cronin
Portsmouth Herald
Published 5:07 a.m. ET Dec. 5, 2022BRENTWOOD — The town-funded Brentwood Newsletter is again sparking outrage for its opinion content after a letter in the latest edition claimed the state Democratic Party supports “the grooming of 4- to 10-year-old children on sexual orientation and gender identity.”
The letter titled “Had enough?” appeared in the November issue of the volunteer-run newsletter ahead of the Nov. 8 election.
It was written by Jim Berlo and Jim Johnson in support of Brentwood’s two Republican state Reps. Melissa Litchfield and Josh Yokela and against a Democratic challenger in which they write “supports teachers educating grades K-3 in the fine art of radical ‘sexual orientation and gender identity.'” They go on to write, “This is sick.”
The free monthly town newsletter is under fire by community members again for a recent letter on the opinion page. Courtesy
Several members of the Brentwood Selectboard expressed concern with the content of the letter during a Nov. 29 discussion with the Brentwood Newsletter staff regarding the publication’s proposed budget for the next year. The board talked about pulling the $17,574 the town provides to the nonprofit organization unless there is a signed memorandum of understanding between the town and the Newsletter that stipulates what kind of content is included in the newsletter.
“This is not freedom of speech…,” said Selectboard member Russ Kelly, who would like to see the opinion section removed from the Newsletter. “This is inflammatory language. It doesn’t matter that it’s someone’s opinion. They can express that opinion anywhere. They can stand up here (at the meeting) and do all they want without town money assisting them in getting that opinion out. That’s what we are talking about.”
Kelly said the letter was a “double attack.”
“It’s an attack on educators and it’s an attack on LGBTQ people,” he said, referring to the recent shooting at the gay Club Q in Colorado Springs that killed five and injured 17 others. “And it’s unacceptable in a product that is supported with dollars from the town.”
The conversation resurrects a prior town debate on freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and whether it applies to an independent publication where funding is provided by the town. The funding strictly goes to the printing, postage, and distribution of the Newsletter to Brentwood residents. The publication has operated separately from the town by non-paid volunteers since it was created in 1977 by Linda Rousseau.
This isn’t the first time the Brentwood Newsletter has come under fire
Last year, several residents blasted the publication for publishing an editorial by Richard Gagnon titled “Racism: From a White Man’s Perspective.” The article criticized Black Lives Matter and questioned whether systemic racism exists. The opinion piece was called racist by some community members.
The opinion piece also brought up prior concerns with the Newsletter.
In 2019, the town’s Democratic Committee accused the publication of political bias after it printed voting records with slanted descriptions of the bills that were lifted from GraniteGrok, a right-wing conservative website.In response to the criticism, the Selectboard decided to pull the publication’s funding and go to Town Meeting voters to see whether they wanted to continue supporting it.
The majority of voters (105-61) voted in March to fund the Newsletter for the remainder of the year without a signed memorandum of understanding with the town, which the Selectboard had hoped to have in place. They also supported a second warrant article to have the funding put back in the budget next year. That article, however, was advisory and doesn’t bind the board.
‘Divisive, damning, problematic’ opinions should not be in a town newsletter
Kelly said while he voted to support funding then, he told the board he can’t do it now.
“I am firm in my belief there should be no opinion section in the Newsletter,” he said at the meeting, calling what he read “divisive, damning, problematic.”
“I understand the Newsletter doesn’t want the town to tell it how to operate,” he said. “We got the message clear last time … But I cannot be a yes vote going forward unless something changes fundamentally with the Newsletter.”
Selectboard Chair Andrew Artimovich told his fellow board members the Brentwood Newsletter gives him nightmares.
“The town is so divided about the Newsletter. Half the people want it the way it is, and half the people want a different version. It’s divided, just like the elections in November,” he said alluding to the split between Democrats and Republicans in town.
Brentwood, once a Republican stronghold, has become more purple in recent years. Republican incumbent Melissa Litchfield was defeated by Democrat Eric Turer by a vote of 1,231 to 1,208 after a recount of the Nov. 8 election.
“My personal opinion is the Newsletter is a newsletter,” Artimovich said. “It gives news about the town … What’s the Fire Department doing? What’s the Police Department doing? What’s the Boy Scouts doing?
Jim Hajjar, representing the Brentwood Newsletter, however, said even that information could also be considered “opinion.”
“We have (contributions) from the Selectboard in which some cases what is written up is an opinion,” Hajjar said. “Where do you draw the line?”
Another view: Diverse opinions further democracy
Hajjar told the Selectboard he believes criticism regarding the Newsletter comes from people “who don’t like seeing alternative opinions.” With or without the Newsletter, he said there will still be a division in the town.
“There is division, yes, but the only way we are going to solve this is by communicating and talking,” he said. “And I think if people are allowed to share their views, that’s how we are going to get together and work through some of these difficult problems.”
Hajjar told the Selectboard that everyone is welcome in town to submit a letter. All submissions appear on a page marked opinion which states, “that the views shared in this publication should not be construed to be the official opinion of the BNL, nor reflect the official policy or position of the Town of Brentwood.” It goes on to state, “unless otherwise noted, the words you read are solely the opinions of the writer(s) and are not intended to malign anyone or anything.”
“If someone says you’re not fact-checking or that’s not true or this and that, I think of a quote from Obi-Wan Kenobi because as a Jedi, he’s the best,” Hajjar said. “He told ‘Luke, you’re going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view. The truth is often what we make of it; you heard what you wanted to hear, believed what you wanted to believe.’”
He said if people disagree with a letter, they can respond by writing one of their own.
“Opinion vs. fact is a complicated thing,” he said. “We don’t have a Harry Potter ministry of truth that is going to go with a wand and say, ‘That’s true. That’s false.’ It doesn’t exist.”
He said the “wrong approach” would be to eliminate opinions altogether. Without opinions, he said, the Newsletter loses a lot of its power.
“We as a group are working hard,” Hajjar said. “We want to become more (about) bringing people together and not separating people off where they are just talking amongst themselves and sharing the same thoughts.”
What happens next?
The Selectboard voted unanimously to put the money for a newsletter in the town budget, but it doesn’t necessarily have to go to the Brentwood Newsletter.
Selectboard member Jennifer Jones’ motion stated if an agreement cannot be reached with the Brentwood Newsletter then the funding can be redirected to another vendor to provide a town newsletter.
Selectboard member Robert Mantegari was the sole member to speak in support of keeping the opinion section in the Brentwood Newsletter. “Having opinion pieces, whether it’s in the Exeter News-Letter, Portsmouth Herald or the Brentwood Newsletter, I think is important (for people) to get their voice out and express their own thought process and ideas,” he said at the meeting.
The board is scheduled to meet with the Newsletter staff Tuesday in nonpublic to come to terms with a memorandum of understanding.
