In what was often an insanely frustrating (the live feed kept going down) and sometimes amusing election for Speaker of the House on Wednesday, Republican Representative Shawn Jasper was elected as Speaker by a majority of Democrats. The majority in the Republican Caucus voted for O’Brien.

If you recall, the Republican race for Speaker was originally between Bill O’Brien and Gene Chandler. That had its own drama when Senator Kelly Ayotte, John Sununu and some other “Establishment’” types urged Republicans to back Chandler. When Chandler lost his bid and backed O’Brien, most just assumed O’Brien would become the next Speaker of the House.

Flash forward to Tuesday. Rumors swirled around NH politics that Jasper and others were up to no good. It appeared they were working with some to make sure O’Brien didn’t become the speaker. For some reason, the Establishment was afraid that O’Brien wouldn’t be the speaker they needed to gear up for the 2016 races in which Senator Ayotte is running for re-election and of course the Presidential election. Clearly they don’t seem to know much about Jasper’s personality in the House. How did this all come about?

It has been confirmed by multiple sources that Senator Jeanie Forrester was indeed making phone calls to Republican Representatives to support Jasper.

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During a time of increasing public cynicism, recognizing and honoring the treachery of our political leaders has never been more important.

Despite being a Democrat and serving eleven terms as a Republican, Shawn Jasper has repeatedly sold out the Republican Party and earned the distinction of having a prestigious award named in his honor.  The Shawn Jasper Profile in Courage Award has become the New Hampshire’s preeminent award for elected officials and public servants who sell out their supporters and Party.

“For the scientist, the highest honor is the Nobel; for the journalist, the Pulitzer; the actor, the Oscar. For those RINOs in New Hampshire government, it is the Jasper.” – CNHT Chairman Ed Naile

This year’s award goes to a Republican who has weathered all kinds of controversy and trials in his political career and exemplifies the courage we see in politicians in there trying times.

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… and the stakes are huge with a giant upside, as well as castrating downside.

But first, do the establishment Republicans even want to fight amnesty?  The reason I ask if the crash of rinos in DC want amnesty is simple (beyond the cheap labor for cronies motive),  I believe it’s an easy fight to win, if they’re determined to win it.  Yet, they play skittish.

Why is it an easy fight? Because Obungler has one recourse, he has but one emaciated arrow in his desolate quiver: Government shutdown.

That’s it.  That’s his go to move.

Sure he can bloviate his gaseous vapor and give the Gruber-stupid onanistic delight while simultaneously nauseating conservatives to the point they shut him out.  But that’s not doing something.   That’s BS-ing.  That’s empty, meaningless maundering.

He’s incapable of persuading anyone that’s not already in his camp. That much is evidenced by his exhaustive list of Presidential accomplishments which is about as long as Lena Dunham’s potential date list… not long at all.

So, his game?  Shutdown the government, use the sycophantic propagandists at the networks and papers to spread the news that Republicans shutdown the government when the opposite is in fact true, but deemed irrelevant.

And if one listens to the punditocracy and talking heads, that’s a mighty sword.

I disagree.

It’s a PR move, therefore it can be parried by a PR move: a non-stop ad campaign.

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Yawn and yawn again.  As we have intimated before, some of our best (and snarkiest!) conversation are not here on GraniteGrok but in our (closed) email group of Groksters.  Occasionally, some of it comes out – and here is one of them as I pretty much took exception to the message of Steve’s post:  US House Declares Obama Amnesty “Null and Void…”  My take?  All hat, no cattle.  It doesn’t DO anything:

I’m saying that I’m tired of the Kabuki-for-show theater – that which appears to be “doing something” for voters but calculated to ONLY give that appearance while it accomplishes nothing.  Nothing but PR engineering.  I think the 50 gazillion votes to pass bills that repeal Obamacare have already made that clear.  Even *I* caught that message after, oh say, 20th time.

They all campaigned on it….and where do we stand?

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And I blame Chair Jennifer Horn, the EBoard, Papa Smurf, and last century’s Republican leaders for setting the table for this absolute fiasco for happening. You caused a split in the caucus between Chandler and O’Brien and create that country lane that Shawn J(ass)per just sauntered up – with Deputy Dawg Shurtleff on one arm and Ray Buckley on the other (gawd, isn’t that a horrible visualization!). Yo, Jennifer, where is that UNITY you promised when you need it, eh?  You appointed the top slots of the ticket and the base threw them away.  Now, for the lack of UNITY that you promised, you get to oversee the worst split in the Republican caucus in a decade – nice legacy.

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A recent audit of funds dispersed by the Federal government’s  National Science Foundation revealed, wait for it…waste, fraud, and abuse.

The audit, conducted by the National Science Foundation inspector general and the Defense Contract Audit Agency, detailed spending by the Colorado-based National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). The nonprofit, designed to operate a network of ecological observatories across the continent, is solely funded by the National Science Foundation.

They spent $25,000.00 taxpayer dollars for a Christmas party and $11,000.00 for premium coffee services. This is an environmental group entirely funded by taxpayer dollars, and are they.  Their budget in 2007 was $5.6 million.  By 2012 it had risen to 63.7 Million.  (An 11x + increase)

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I’ve been wondering if, where, how, and when to begin pursuing the idea of a ‘Social Media Militia.’  It is a New Media Militia, really.  A “ragged” bunch of conservatives and libertarians, bloggers and videographers, podcasters, grassroots reporters, and activists rallying to confront the tyranny of the day.

Two points.

First, yeah, we’ve already been doing that, right – but have we been doing it right?

Second, given that a recent Republican wave election has effectively been undone by a RINO colluding with the minority Democrats in the NH House, aided and abetted by the never ending capitulation of state and national Republican party leadership to bits and pieces of the progressive agenda, an even more focused and coordinating effort is needed.

Conservatives, Libertarains, and independents – those of you who feel a burning need to rally around the New Hampshire and Federal Constitution, Republicans in the House, and the state party who have gown weary of this game, think of this as a “Paul Revere’s Ride.”  It’s time to muster the militia.

You know how to reach us.

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So it’s not just rich friends of Ray Buckley who find themselves involved in accusations of sexual assault.  This case (case, what case?) went virtually un-reported while Elizabeth Lauten was media-raped for an offhand remark about appropriate apparel on a daughter in chief.

Donny Ray Williams Jr., 37, who served as a staff director for the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee, pleaded guilty to third-degree sexual abuse, two misdemeanor counts of sexual abuse and one count of misdemeanor threats.

As Kemberlee Kaye observes at Legal Insurrection, good thing he didn’t make a rude comment about the President’s kids…

(one of whom (by the way) is about the same age as the boy Obama Donor and DNC Committee member Terry Bean is accused of raping.)

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