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New Hampshire

How About Some Irony?

The Bedford school board has announced staff and program cuts to address problems with the next school budget. They are looking to trim $750,000.00 off the bottom line, $200,000.00 of which–it has been proposed–will come from eliminating full time teaching positions.

Did Maggie Hassan…Just Take A Step To The Right?

which%20way.jpgNow that she has so much free time on her hands, former State Senator Maggie Hassan is proudly advocating for her newest hobby, the group No Labels.  This means that Maggie ‘The Red’ Hassan is advocating for moderate debate that is open to all sides with a goal of non-partisan compromise.  I also hear that Michael Vick would like to buy a dog?

I’d sooner trust Vick with the dog.

This is a woman who tried to socialize medicine in-state, legislate away free speech she objects to, advocates for abortion from conception to delivery, and is committed to advance the size, scope, control, and cost of the government.  If she has a middle ground, it is not just left of center, it is far left.  So Hassan advocating No Labels is like Kathy Griffin, or Janeane Garofalo advocating tolerance.

It’s only funny because it is so absurd.

But could Hassan have had an epiphany?  Has her unexpected defeat resulted in a cathartic de-gentrification of her traditional ruling class elitism?   Is it possible that a woman steeped in the progressive super culture could abandon her pro-government/liberal materialism to spend forty days in the desert on a moderate vision quest? Or is this, more likely, just a flanking maneuver.

Maggie ‘The Red’ Hassan is advocating No Labels because she wants to be governor Hassan; think of it as an undocumented progressives worker program or Fascists anonymous–only it’s not about recovery or remission, it is about hiding who you really are from the voters until after you get elected.

But it can only happen if we allow it to. So let us agree not to allow it.

And for those who caught the Rocky Horror Picture Show reference, take a jump of your own and get your reward.

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Revisiting Censorship In the Wake Of “Nickel And Dimed..”

The dust up in Bedford over the Book ‘Nickel and Dimed’ continues to linger in the local news–which reminded me that back in 2009 we had a similar situation in the sleepy town of Litchfield where  comments by locals and students emerged in defense of the material on the grounds that its exclusion would constitute book banning and or violate protected free speech rights.

This was (and is), of course, total rubbish.

So I wrote at least two articles on the subject back in 2009, this one–from June 20, 2009 on the bankrupt educational-industrial culture that leads to this kind of moronic nonsense, and then a followup on censorship in general after a local ACLU lawyer felt the need to add her two cents.

What follows on the jump is my response, the article from July 5th, 2009–originally posted at NH Insider.  I believe it (and my comments in the previously mentioned post here) are equally relevant to what has transpired in Bedford over the past few weeks, and demonstrates a lack of understanding by the public (and progressives) of the differences between first amendment speech and censorship.  That this keeps coming up in the context of the public school curriculum is nothing short of ironic.

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GrokTALK! – 9am -11am, Saturday December 18th, 2010

Holy GrokTALK! Batman it’s GrokTALK!  120 minutes of Live Streaming local and National News with political insight you could ONLY get from GraniteGrok.com   On this week’s Program…  Jeannie Forrester  will call in to talk to us about her new gig in the State Senate NH House Rep David Bates gives us his opinion on … Read more

Government As God

For as long as I can recall the New Hampshire Democrat Party has been using the “Press Release” to make up crap about people, misrepresent the words they use, change the meaning of their words, or in some cases creating out of whole cloth whatever perception they think will advance their clawing obsession with accumulating political power by damaging anyone or anything that stands between them and their Pinky and The Brain like nightly quest (minus the Brain) to take over the world.

What Ancient Form Of Torture…

While following up on a story about the ridiculously stupid group No Labels,  which I nailed weeks before anyone else, (big pat on back) I discovered one of those polls you often find lingering near a Google ad, or between widgets in the right column.  You’ve seen them.  Do you support Health Care reform; Palin or Obama; What ancient form of execution would you least prefer?

Well isn’t that an interesting question.  What ancient form of execution would I least prefer?  It was actually harder than you think. (I found it here, right column about halfway down; and read the article while you are there, it’s worth your time.)  I assume it was created by the site (they are using pollhost.com) so kudos to them for such an original idea.

The choices are Buried alive, Crucifixion, Flayed alive, Scourged to death (I had to look that one up, it is a multi-thonged whip), Stung/bitten to death by insects, Slow disembowelment, Roasted on a grill (pass the BBQ sauce), Dragged from a Chariot, Torn apart by wild beasts, Rolled downhill inside a spiked barrel, or death by a thousand cuts.  No, listening to an I-pod full of Obama speeches was not a choice.  While torture, it is not ancient enough.

So what’s not to love. 

Remember, it’s the torture you prefer least so take another look at the buffet and ask yourself if passing on the mysterious "looks like some kind of macaroni and cheese like substance" was really all that hard now that you have to think about this one?

My initial choice was torn about by wild beasts, but after a moments consideration that might end quickly depending on the beasts and what they tear off first.  Flayed, Scourged and bitten, all look like they might take long enough to be bad, as might the barrel, the chariot, and the thousand cuts, but in the end, if I had to pick a least favorite from this list, I’d go with Roasted on a grill.

But that’s just me.  And it turns out 17% of the respondents so far agree making that choice the third least popular–which is to say most popular ‘least popular.’

So what were one and two (so far)?  The table is on the jump.  Then go vote yourself if you think you can decide what is worst, then let us know what you picked an why. 

 

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Carol-Shea….What The?

Disgraced left wing rube and soon-to-be former Pelosi-Party Representative to New Hampshire Carol SEIU-Porter hit the pages of this mornings Union Leader like fingernails on a chalkboard.  But it is a familiar sound.  In fact I believe she has just plagiarized her own 2006 campaign web site.  We’ve got irresponsible spending, two wars we could not afford, I’m just itching to play the song ‘Reminiscing’ by the Little River Band while I read it.

Carol, of course had nothing to do with any of that.  Since 2006 when democrats took over the budget writing arm of government the wars ended, the deficit went away, and the middle class has prospered like never before in human history.  We are less divided, more united, more respected internationally, revered for our diplomatic acumen, and commitment as a leader in business…

…Wait a minute.  That’s not what happened.

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Separation From Power

Kathy Sullivan used her scheduled rant in the Union leader this week to warn us about the Republican controlled NH House and its anticipated legislative agenda.  The serpentine theme manufactured to tie her fear-mongering together is a sudden (and I’ll admit unexpected) adoration for the concept of "Separation of Powers."   This is the idea that by dividing authority the vessels of power would jealously guard each of their own and in the process prevent the others from advancing tyranny.

So I guess the Union Leader does publish left wing fantasy fiction in the opinion section.  It’s almost like a riddle.  "If an avid pro government socialist democrat pretends to be concerned with the abuse of government power what does it mean?" 

"It means they are not the ones in power."

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Judd Gregg Has 13 Earmarks; Shaheen…32

Following on the heels of Tim’s post about the tone deafness of the Senate (just scroll down) and the massive trillion dollar (that’s $1,000,000,000,000.00) case of bi-partisan domestic spending abuse known as the Omnibus, I thought you might like to see the list of Senators who are still abusing the "privilege" of adding earmarks even though the populace has made it clear we no longer want legislators doing that.

Tone deaf Shaheen has 32, and soon to be former (and apparently not soon enough) Senator Judd Gregg has 13.  I don’t have the specific allocations, just name, party and number of requests and there is no shortage of abuse from either party.  (H/T to Jamie Dupree and ajc)

(On the jump)

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From The Harvard School Of Bud Light (Weare Campus)

The ongoing saga of Jon and Theonia Boyd seems to be coming to an end. The Boyd’s, both professors at Harvard, and residents of Massachusetts, were charged with facilitating an underage drinking party a a friends House in Weare when police arrived to discover the smartest people in the room had no idea there were 70 drunk minors celebrating the Bacchanalia under their slightly up turned noses.

The Illusion Of Zero Drop Outs

credit: ramblingrector.me

Governor Lynch is all about his success at reducing Drop Out rates in New Hampshire. That’s the number of high school age kids who leave school without graduation or achieving a recognized equivalent. He even has a goal. New Hampshire will have a zero percent drop out rate by 2012. And based on the available data, I think he will succeed, but not in reducing actual “drop outs” to zero.

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The Invertebrate Jeanne Shaheen?

So did Jeanne Shaheen vote for cloture on the Reid’s Frankenstein tax compromise and will she vote to pass it? I ask because it includes Billions for a one year extension of ethanol subsidies that Senator Shaheen just insisted we could not afford.

There Are No “Rules” For Radicals

The democrat leadership loves to project their feelings and intentions on others.  By their calculus, if it is happening inside their obsessed little minds everyone has to feel that way.  It is why they can’t help claiming that anything anyone does or says in opposition to them or their agenda does so from a position of fear or hate.  That is how they think and feel.  It is what drives them.  It must also drive you. 

They then filter that misconception into populist rants demanding that everyone within a 100 mile ideological radius of some perceived slight denounce whomever or whatever they have painted as ill will. 

 This is classic Alinsky with a twist.  Rules for Radicals demands that you hold your opponents to their own moral standards, make them follow their own rules, and pummel them (and anyone near them) relentlessly at every opportunity.  They do this knowing humans are flawed and incapable of perfection on their own which is amusing because in their preferred secular state there is only one source of power to guide us and it is them and the same rules do not apply to democrats.

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The No Labels Lie Starts Today

The New Hampshire Sleeper Cell of No Labels woke up and puts it’s cloven hooves on the ground today, as did all the other franchises nationwide. The group, founded by a trio of democrat national political consultants, has had plenty of ink at GraniteGrok already (11/17/10 and 12/1/10) because it is imperative that we understand who they are and why they should be avoided.

Where Is That Elusive Middle Ground?

Grassroots is at the root of all politics in New Hampshire these days (most days really) and in response to that the Sunday News has taken notice, publishing an article this morning by Shawne K. Whikham which highlights a handful of groups from around the state.

If There’s Grass On The Field Play Ball

We could call most Democrats a contradiction wrapped in an enigma but to be honest there is nothing enigmatic about them. They are just a contradiction. And while we could give them some small credit for not always understanding their own contradictions, acting as they often do solely on feelings and impulse, when they have their own newspaper and use it to propagandize the subscriber-ship with bovine bloviations, we can offer only pity.

Inside Baseball

Does anyone know the process for congressional chairmanships? Erik has indicated above that the House GOP needs to ratify leadership’s decisions but I was not aware of that condition. It was my understanding that anyone who is not on the steering committee did not get a voice on chairmanships and appointments but maybe that’s wrong.

Sununu’s Successor “Chosen?”

James Pindell is reporting that Governor Sununu plans to endorse Cheshire County Republican Chair Juliana Bergeron as his replacement in what seems to be a power sharing deal that allows Governor Sununu to exercise the “You better choose the right person” clause from his formal letter to the party. (Which Skip went over here)

Good Cop – Bad Cop

iStock Photo ImageEveryone knows Good Cop, Bad Cop. 

You have gruff and uncompromising on one side, and then someone else shows up sweet as pie.  The goal is to get something you want that they do not want to give up. 

So is Mr. Obama’s compromise on stopping a tax increase part of the good cop bad-cop formula?

 

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