The Concord Monitor is reporting that NH Democrat Maureen Mann staffer Carl Robert Gibson’s lawyer is trying to get the election tampering charges against him dropped based on the premise that Gibson’s hoax email is protected by the first amendment.

Gibson’s attorney, Michael Iacopino, filed a motion Jan. 22 to dismiss the charges. He wrote that Gibson’s right to free speech was being violated because the press release can be “construed as protected speech and a commentary on the young age of a candidate as well as a comment on distractions such as being a college student that would detract from a candidate’s ability to do a good job as a public official.”

Here’s a question. Isn’t it a bit unusual for a professional left-wing activist, obsessed with being seen as such, to so deliberately hide the source of his commentary?

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We’ve said it ourselves. Private businesses are free to suppress political speech in their own spaces. But what do you do when or if private business works with government to suppress political speech?

John Hayward – Breitbart

When free-speech champions criticize Twitter (or the even more draconian speech controls practiced by platforms like Facebook, in open coordination with government officials), they are often told the First Amendment doesn’t apply to such situations, because private companies can restrict the services they offer however they please.  

But,

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I’ll just say it loud: some people just don’t deserve free stuff.  After all, it’s worth every penny they paid for it seems to be their outlook.  How many of us know people that once having received something free, trash it?  Not everyone and some people are REALLY appreciative of what they have been given.  Those aren’t the people I’m talking about.

I watched a ton of kids in college just waste everything that was given to them for “free” – their parents paid and paid and they simply partied and partied and partied.  They left school haven blown 10s of thousands with nothing to show for it – betcha not even any memories given how wasted they were.  I know – I was the one that picked them up (or dragged – some of the guys were really big guoff the dorm floor and got them back into their rooms.

Free stuff given out by politicians is a seriously bad idea – no skin

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Silly Season Phase One is now over. Just a few things off the top of my head from last night’s S. Carolina Republican primary and Nevada’s Democrat one:

• South Carolina: Dead Men Walking – Jeb Bush knew it and was both bright enough and Old School enough to know when the game is over.  John Kasich and Ben Carson are just Vanity Candidates now.  Politicians love the limelight and will do anything do stay in it – even if they know they are going to be made sport of.  Look, they can keep on going, even get media time but they aren’t going anywhere.  People to continue to donate to them might as well put the bills on the grill, shut the cover, and light it.

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From Stop Common Core New Hampshire

WARNING!!!
Obama’s Outcome Based Education and Outcome Based Assessments may become LAW

This needs to be STOPPED IMMEDIATELY

TWO Bills passed the NH HOUSE are on their way to the NH Senate that need your urgent attention. IT is important that you testify or write the Senate Education Committee this weekend to SUPPORT HB301, and OPPOSE HB 1604 and HB471

SEND AN E-MAIL TO:

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Or is it the ANGRY people?  Like the people knocking on Grokster Mike’s door one night and and my picture fell out of a folder and threatened to arrest James O’Keefe if they could get their sticky fingers on them?  Yeah, these people:

(Click to embiggen)  The question is WHY and WHOM might they be investigating?  Remember, those of us on the Right, when we saw the videos last Primary Day and then this Primary Day was “how easy it is for drive by voting by the Dems – and how election officials were condoning / enabling it”.  It’s like the latter folks almost already had blinkers on.

But these folks, the NH Attorney General Elections folks, weren’t concerned with the enablers that are supposed to uphold the law – they went after James O’Keefe.  They said for Voter Fraud – we believe it was because “the Establishment” got embarrassed by some upstart now PIA.  So they decided a course of action: payback.

Guess who got the last laugh?  

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“Tipping Point“

And the incessant “asks” for money (with little to show for it in terms of the Conservative agenda being being implemented) have become tiresome and irritating.  A ‘Grok reader responds to yet another “ask” with a promise (emphasis mine):

Earlier today I received an email from Lauren Lofstrom, national finance director for Ted Cruz. My response to her is below. If you want to post it in Granite Grok, you have my permission to do so.

Lauren,

Unlike yourself, I am very sure of what else to say.

Since January 1st of this year I have received over 48 emails or physical letters from individuals such as yourself, or organizations such as the NRSC, RNC, Republican Liberty Caucus and others asking me to donate money. Seven of these just from the NRSC.

All saying that if I don’t help out with a sizeable donation, the wicked witch will end up in the White House, and our hope for tax cuts, balanced budgets and controlled immigration will vanish like snow in the spring thaw.

This is my tipping point.

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Guess  what product spawned this legal warning:

“WARNING: Cycling can be dangerous. Bicycle products should be installed and serviced by a professional mechanic. Never modify your bicycle or accessories. Read and follow all product instructions and warnings including information on the manufacturer’s website. Inspect your bicycle before every ride. Always wear a helmet and use lights at night. Failure to heed any of these warnings may result in serious injury or death.”

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JEB BUSH HAS SUSPENDED HIS PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN

85% of the Nevada Caucuses reporting: Hillary – 52%, Bernie – 48%

Fox predicting Donald Trump will win South Carolina.  Close race between Cruz / Rubio for second, following by Bush/Kasich/Carson in the bottom tier far behind top 3 (see after the jump, frequent updates) 

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The USDA’s 2015 report on honey producing hives places the number at 2.74 Million, up from around 2.4 million in 2006 and the highest it has been in the past 20 years.

In a WashPo article, reacting to an earlier report in 2015 declared, “Call off the Bee-pocalypse…”

“…the number of honeybee colonies has actually risen since 2006, from 2.4 million to 2.7 million in 2014, according to data tracked by the USDA. The 2014 numbers, which came out earlier this year, show that the number of managed colonies — that is, commercial honey-producing bee colonies managed by human beekeepers — is now the highest it’s been in 20 years.”

How did the bees survive cataclysmic anthropocentric number fudging warming? The Free Market did it…without the government.

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In its entirety, without comment. (I will comment tomorrow on GrokTALK!)

Justice Antonin Scalia was a staunch defender of our Constitution and a brilliant jurist. Through the force of his intellect, he made contributions to our nation that will impact our lives for generations to come, and all Americans join his family in mourning his death.

Justice Scalia’s unexpected passing creates a vacancy on the Supreme Court, which is now ideologically evenly split – four to four – by justices nominated by Democratic and Republican presidents. Supreme Court justices have significant power in our constitutional system of government as they are the final arbiter on the meaning of our Constitution and laws. Empowered with a lifetime appointment, the next nominee is likely to have a significant impact on the court and the people of our country for decades to come.

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