Jim Foley Archives - Granite Grok

Well, NH Constitution Article 10 does provide for a Revolution, doesn’t it? Was HB617 the flashpoint? Part 1

September 26, 2018March 11, 2013 Skip

[Art.] 10. [Right of Revolution.] Government being instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security, of the whole community, and not for the private interest or emolument of any one man, family, or class of men; therefore, whenever the ends of government are perverted, and public liberty manifestly endangered, and all other means of redress are ineffectual, the people may, and of right ought to reform the old, or establish a new government. The doctrine of nonresistance against arbitrary power, and oppression, is absurd, slavish, and destructive of the good and happiness of mankind.

June 2, 1784

Well, Article 10 is meant to be used by the Citizens when Government is judged to be oppresive and tyrannical – but it seems like it is fitting what is going on in the NH House. We’ve written extensively about HB617 which will raise the gas tax on NH Citizens big time. Our beef is not that Democrats initiated this but that Republicans, from the Party of Low Taxes / Limited Government, voted to support Higher Taxes that will support Bigger Government. And TWO of the Republican Leadership team in the NH House voted for it: David Hess and Shawn Jasper.

Rightfully so, both have been taking heat – especially Shawn Jasper. The grassroots House members are LIVID – and Jasper just keeps pouring gas on himself in fanning the flames. How do I know? Man, have I gotten emails. Let’s review a few of them, shall we (warning – this may get longish):

A Bump On The Road To Unity – some riffs off Steve

September 26, 2018January 31, 2013 Skip

Steve’s post brings up a bunch of issues that are well worth your time to read – and as you can tell by the title here, this is a takeoff on it. He brings up (along with some of my thoughts):

Bloggers like us aren’t the problem that former NH GOP Chair Wayne MacDonald believes us to be…

Most political operatives, campaign managers, politicians and El Jefes of the GOP still have little to no clue how to view bloggers even after a decade since the first bloggers started. Ditto for cooperating with us. These folks get frustrated, because they quickly find out that not only can they not “use” bloggers, bloggers get extremely annoyed when a dumb attempt is made to actually do so (and make that abundantly clear, which then makes us “the enemy” in their minds because we won’t “go along”). We may support your issues, and sometimes, we may even be in lockstep in areas, issues, or people important to you , but realize that it is because those things are important to us – not you. We do a lot of things but mainly we blog and we do a lot of it. Personally, don’t ask me to do a lot of other things that you think we should be doing; ask how I might be able to help THIS way – not your way or to plug your “need holes”. We may like you as a politician but don’t view us as part of your campaign staff (even if we “make nice” on you often) that you can then believe co-opting might possible.

Jon Henke a few years ago told me what he tells politico type…

“Secrecy in the name of unity” – Yet, I thought the NH GOP was about “Openness & Transparency”?

September 26, 2018January 29, 2013 Skip

From the NH GOP Platform:

II. TAXES AND SPENDING

Government Structure:

Expand openness and transparency to employment, expenditures and all recipients of taxpayers’ funds

“Secrecy in the name of unity” – what a phrase; anyone else see the uber-contradiction between what the NH GOP demands of its Government and what governance it is willing to hold itself to? What a phrase from the person who held highest office in the State Party, now former NH GOP Chair Wayne MacDonald to utter. Once again, the disconnect of “Fine for thee but not for me” rears its ugly head. No, Wayne MacDonald and James “Jim” Foley, as we here at the ‘Grok have been pointing out for YEARS now, bloggers are not the problem. We only hold the flashlights and flip the ON switch to ON. What they shine on is strictly a manifestation of the internal works that folks like you have created. Or do you not like that message either? Good governance, either in Government or any other organization, yields trust – and that demands openness and transparency. However, both of these “gentlemen” believes otherwise – that secrecy is the stuff of good governing, I guess. We can only trust ourselves – the elected to ~~rule~~ govern.

Consistency – oh true, there are times we may continue the early practice of the blogosphere being the Wild Wild West (which does upset some of the delicates out there, or those that believe they are the be all and end all, and above criticism) but in almost everything we say or believe in here at the ‘Grok, we are consistent. Sure, like most folks, we do slip up now and then (heck, with almost 13,500 posts, we’ve said a whole lot a whole lot of times) – but they are the exception rather than the norm. You read us, you know us. Government, and the NH GOP, should be internally consistent. They are not.

This was the most egregious fact that was brought out by Steve’s post (“Wayne Mac Donald ..”People who blog are those who are “ruining” the party”“) linked to a piece by political newcomer Kathy Benuck about her experience at the NH GOP Annual Meeting. Seen through her eyes, from a fresh unvarnished perspective should be viewed by those now in charge of the NH GOP. My takeaways of her “cause for concern” items:

Did Saturday’s boos send a response to Jim Foley’s claim?

September 26, 2018January 29, 2013 Skip

Well, when the call for a second for Jim Foley’s Finance report, all that was heard were “BOOS”. Umm, no second was heard. The call for a second was issued a second time for Jim Foley’s Finance report, all that was heard were “BOOS”. Umm, no second was heard – a second time.

Togetherness? Kumbaya moment? Not so much, I guess. But he did promise just that, once upon a time:

Hillary: “What Difference Does It Make??” Former NH GOP Chair Wayne MacDonald: “What difference does it make?”

September 26, 2018January 28, 2013 Skip

Actually, in both cases, the answer to both cases is “It DOES make a difference – a tremendous one, in fact.” And both are in the same area: trust. Or in fact, creating more a lack of trust than what already exists. Both questions from the top figures in the organization show a lack of concern of the perception of impropriety at best or a callous lack of concern (at all) at worst.

As Grokster Scott points out here, the question from Hillary was an avoidance of responsibility on her part. She may, indeed, have future political plans and does not want a political albatross hung around her neck. It was also, secondarily, a defense of Obama and of Obama’s claim that He has single handedly decimated Al Queda and made the word safe for Socialism (after all, an Obamessiah has to be blameless in order to mold us to be able to enter into his Heaven on earth). After all, if that policy PR is shown to be false (and I believe that it has), the inference can be “where else is Obama’s foreign policies failing?” or other policies as well.

But it matters even more – Government should be open and transparent. It does matter, in that it is not YOUR Government, it is ours, the Citizens. This is not YOUR nation, it is ours, the Citizens. The reasoning of those we have elected to govern (not rule) as well as how that reasoning turns into action (and then how that action is carried out) should be able to be followed by the ordinary citizen. When that open and transparency is violated, the lack of trust by the ordinary system rises. Pulling down the shade by dint of her question only creates dark corners in Government in which bad things seem to sprout and create rot.

Oh, back to Wayne MacDonald, now the former NH GOP Chair…on the NH GOP Area 5 Vice-Chair race

Like father, like son? Like Jim Foley, like Bruce Perlo?

September 26, 2018January 19, 2013 Skip

NH GOP Chair race. Heating up. Exposing a longstanding flaw in an Establishment mindset. A Big one -> “Activists out side the Party are worthless”. Remember what Finance Chair and Derry Chair said:

In addition- we have a meeting of activists every month- it is know as the Executive Board

with the implication of “we are the activists that count”. Well, that was pretty inclusive right there, eh? In 2006 & 2008, you had the Party activists – period. And in a lot of cases here in NH, given the “down the nose” treatment by “Party Activists” and Mucky-Mucks like Foley, a lot of the volunteer outside the Party folks either sat on their hands (and wallets) or moved a whole lot slower if they helped at all (trust me, I heard the stories). Top-down, command-and-control; 2012 had results more similar to 2008 and 2006 than 2010. Sure, there were other factors in play here this cycle (muchly due to the Obama Big Data for which the Establishment Republicans (and the money they represent) had no answer, but a good deal of the “down enthusiasm” of the grass roots had to do with the way they were treated – and with the way that Bill O’Brien was treated). When hard work was put in on Constitutional and Party Platform issues and bills, only to see it defeated by “less grassroots oriented” / Establishment Republicans, why support the Party? So instead of getting a heartfelt “thank you for your work in the election” (e.g., TEA Party / 9-12ers/ RLCNH / Constitutionalists / Libertarians, Papa Smurf (aka, the Gnome of the North) took much of the credit for the election results. No matter. But when the kicks were laid in afterwards during the legislative Sessions, well, one could say that the NH GOP did it to themselves.

And no one has EVAH laid out how much better of a NH GOP Chair MacDonald turned out to be than Jack Kimball (and I can throw in Fergus “The Fringe” Cullen into that mix with MacDonald as well) when actual results are compared.

And now, former Grafton County Chair Bruce Perlow is doing it again. Nice:

Very good Right side political advice from two great bloggers

September 26, 2018January 8, 2013 Skip

Any time that an Establishment rumpswab starts in on you about TEA Party candidates, remember the words of Prof. Jacobson:

If we had followed the establishment advice, we would not have Ted Cruz in office

Ted Cruz was the insurgent Tea Party – supported candidate running against the more establishment David Dewhurst.

If we followed the establishment advice to keep the seat safe, we would not have this rising star in office. The same is true for Marco Rubio and other next-generation Republican leaders.

While there were other races where it didn’t turn out as hoped, Ted Cruz demonstrates the importance of primaries

And remember, there were a number of Establishment Senate candidates that got whupped as well (example: WI’s Tommy Thompson – a “shoo-in” they said!). Go to the link as it has a video of Ted Cruz talking about “Opportunity Conservatisim”.

And then this from Glen Reynolds, the blogfadda!

My advice to Tea Partiers: Take over your state GOP.

Talking? Shouldn’t you ask your Boss about “talking” to people first?

September 26, 2018December 12, 2012 Skip

It seemed semi-coincidental that after I put up the posts on the NH GOP E-Board angst (I and II, with a side dish here) that I had a tweet sent my way by Kerry Marsh:

My take is that both Jim Foley and Steve Duprey DID their talking (in either a series of emails to a few, and then to more than a few) as well as talking to all of us via John DiStaso.

But I was rather bemused at the next notification – a retweet of Kerry Marsh’s tweet:

NH GOP – a riff on the E-board angst reported by DiStaso – Part II

September 26, 2018December 11, 2012 Skip

Same column, but where Jim Foley expressed a hubris, it is easy to hear the frustration of former NH GOP Chair and current RNC Committeeman Steve Duprey. While Foley gets what he deserves, I have a bit more sympathy (yes folks, I did use that word voluntarily) for Duprey (reformatted):

Duprey said that especially after a poor GOP showing on election day, “Anyone who thinks you don’t need adequate resources in what has become a purple state is dreaming.”…He also said the party should have a “job description for the members of the state committee. “When I was chairman,” he said, “we used to have a guide of how many hours we expected of you. You had to help us recruit candidates, you had to train candidates, you had write letters and update our data base. And you must help us fund-raise.”

You know, I think this is a good idea – but it has to be done well ahead of time if it is going to be a formal responsibility. Given the poor results, things do need to change and…

Sidenote: hey, I wonder if what the consensus is on the E-Board really is given Foley’s remark (“Don’t think that the State Party did that badly in this election.“) and Duprey saying” a poor GOP showing”?

…given what the other side did, change in a major way. While what Duprey is preaching can be construed to be major, one thing is sure: you don’t spring it on people just before the picking of Members. and before the State Meeting. I will say, concerning what tasks and expectations may be required (once and future), they have not been communicated downward from the NH GOP well lately. This decree sure was a really bad example of poor thinking, poor planning, poor communication, and poor messaging. And the E-Board is/was surprised at the reaction?

Guess WHAT Shawn Millerick? Establishment R’s DID plan to have a meetup to pick their Chair!

September 26, 2018December 7, 2012 Skip

I am still waiting for NH Journal (as far as I know, still co-owned by political operatives Patrick Hynes of Hynes Communications and Shawn Millerick of Millerick Financial) to post a retraction to their story that a number of grassroot activists met to “choose” someone to run against the Establishment candidate, Jennifer Horn. Every person named in that story has told Millerick that there was no meeting to which they were “not invited.” To date, the only notation that Millerick has put on his post has been verbiage intimating there was a meeting but that the “invitees” were not invited (re: how else would you take his phrasing of “UPDATE: Surprise! Diane Bitter tells NH Journal she was not invited to the meeting.” ?).

Well, the bigger problem for him is that the Establishment was talking about having such a meeting – I was forwarded an email thread speaking to that point. Here are two of them (emphasis mine):

NH GOP: And I thought a “poll tax” was illegal!

September 26, 2018November 30, 2012 Skip

I overlooked this announcement (on which Steve is busy writing a post on as well, I see) when it first came in – someone else emailed in on this and my head whipped around. File this “what were they thinking” OR “the Five Families were planning ahead, eh?“:

Important Notice on the 2013 Annual Meeting

The State Executive Committee has voted unanimously to charge $25 to all State Committee Members to attend the 2013 Annual Meeting (below is brief summary from that discussion)

This can be done before or at the Annual Meeting The 2013 Annual Meeting will be held at Bedford High School on January 26th

Any question please call the State Party at 225-9341 or email info@nhgop.org

Rest of the notice after the jump. Oh, the “Five Families” of the NH GOP. Of course you know that things have gone out of control when the Chair of the NH Democrat Party, Ray Buckley, has a public comment on the brouhaha now coming to a boil over the NH Republican Chair Race. So, context by what Mike wrote last night (emphasis mine):

Only hours earlier, DiStaso reported that several others had considered and then stepped aside, but that Cliff Hurst, who rejuvenated the Manchester GOP, and who guided the success of the blowout NHGOP victory dinner earlier this year, was in the running. Hmmm. What a difference a few hours makes – what could have happened? No need to risk losing an election and having to deal with the messy business of toppling the chairman after the fact, if you can mount a smear and fear campaign in advance, and drive your opponent out of the race ahead of time. You see, Cliff Hurst is no newcomer to politics, is good at fundraising, and is happy to criss-cross the state meeting with town committees – he might just win if not neutralized immediately.

The smears – Cliff Hurst started getting phone calls from friends that the word on the street was that he had become senile. The money drying up – Andy Leach called Cliff from Ayotte’s office to advise that, if Cliff won, there would be no help whatsoever forthcoming from DC, just as had happened to Jack Kimball in 2011.

What The…?

September 26, 2018November 19, 2010 Steve MacDonald

Did anyone happen to notice the names bandied about in this Weeks Granite Status for the job of New Hampshire GOP state chairman? John DiStaso mentions Jim Bender again, who I was told is not as interested as people think (always subject to change depeneding on whom you are speaking to); Jennifer Horn–who is getting nudged by the more conservative/libretarian elements along with Ovide Lamontagne who was an early favorite with the new Republicans; and then there’s Juliana Bergeron and Jim Foley–both of whom are (as far as I can tell) from the Fergus Cullen wing of the party.