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Statism

The First Circuit Videotape Opinion and House BIll 145

“In the Halls of Justice the only justice is in the halls.” ~Lenny Bruce 

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On one October 2007 evening, Boston attorney Simon Glik, was walking past Boston Common where Boston police officers John Cunniffe, Peter Savalis and Jerome Brewster were effecting an arrest. Hearing a nearby person state, “Stop! You’re hurting him!” Glik began video recording the incident from approximately ten feet away, using his cell phone. Shortly thereafter, Glik was arrested and his cell phone confiscated.

Charged with violation of the Massachusetts wiretap statute(Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 272, § 99(C)(1)), In February, 2008, the Boston Municipal Court summarily disposed of the wiretap charge, noting,  “the fact that the officers were unhappy they were being recorded during an arrest . . . does not make a lawful exercise of a First Amendment right a crime.” 

Glik filed a civil rights action against the officers and the City of Boston in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts when his internal affairs complaints were ignored. Summarily, The People’s Republik moved to dismiss Glik’s complaint asserting that his allegations failed to adequately support his claims and that officers were entitled to qualified immunity “because it is not well-settled that he had a constitutional right to record the officers.” The court denied the motion and the commonwealth’s interlocutory appeal followed in which they did not prevail.

In its opinion, the court stated, “Gathering information about government officials in a form that can readily be disseminated to others serves a cardinal First Amendment interest in protecting and promoting ‘the free discussion of governmental affairs.’” And the court ruled “a citizen’s right to film government officials, including law enforcement officers, in the discharge of their duties in a public place is a basic, vital, and well-established liberty safeguarded by the First Amendment…”

In the wake of this opinion are the countless arrests in the Granite State for the very same activities, as detailed numerous times in the New Hampshire Union Leader.  The one incident that comes to mind is a Sheriff’s Deputy attempting to thwart Representative Gary Hopper from video-recording in the Legislative Office building back in 2010.  Finally, House Bill 145 , presently languishes in the Senate and has met with a great deal of resistance from Law Enforcement.  

Police are concerned that the bill fails to protect both their privacy and that of the public they serve. Privacy? What privacy? they are Public servants subject to the accountability to that same public they serve!

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Would You Suck Twice as Hard for Half as Much?

I appreciate it when democrats give you the rope with which to hang their half baked ideas.  Take Mark Fernald for example.  Mr. Fernald is a sometime New Hampshire Democrat candidate for this or that, and prominent member of the left wing Granite State Fair Tax Coalition (GSFTC).  He recently (sorry, frequently) forwards  partisan, left wing economic spin, to justify his pet obsession with rising taxes and class warfare. 

This most recent email to the arm chair central planners in his fan base is just another in a string of left wing editorials that attempts to contrast democrat spending against that of our previous president. It is typical Fernald; an oranges to rotten apples comparison that uses incomplete data, wild assumptions (about Obama’s future affect in every case), misleading graphs, cherry picked data, and resulting percentages that stretch the fabric of reality so thin that you could easily pass into the alternate dimension in which Democrats and faeries dance widderershins around the deficit mound, as money appears out of nowhere to pay for whatever theirr tiny, narrow, Marxist minds can imagine.

donkey with hed up assThis particualr faerie story centers around three graphs from the Government Printing Office (GPO).  Not the fed, the treasury, or even some fruit-loop left wing think tank, but the GPO.  The GPO prints stuff, and answers to the Executive branch.  So right out of the toy-box we have to question these partisan stills, presented as they are in a partisan manner, bearing guestimated facts and assumptions, with no basis in reality any greater than anything that has ever escaped Mr. Obama’s teleprompter; you do recall all the Obama the non-partisan, deficit cutting, cost reducing, globe saving, health care giving, unifying, auto company saving, mortgage rescuing, goodness?  How about the transparent lobbyist-less,  open to ideas, new tone, we need to work together Obama?  No?  You probably remember the we won, closed door, partisan, hate those bankers, Tea Partiers are terrorists,  intimidation tactics, don’t interrupt my vacation, Arrest Ron Paul supporters, dozens of lobbyists, shadow cabinet, Attack Arizona, hunt down my enemies, anti-free speech, black panthers can scare away voters, give guns to Mexican drug lords, nohting is my fault Obama with the double action golf-club grip?  Well his printing office is the source.  Are we surprised it tries to make him look good?

So what can we glean that goes beyond the objective of showing your Republican friends that they are wrong about Obama?  How about using facts to show that those Republicans are actually right?

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The war against people using cameras continues in New Hampshire….

Law professor Glenn Reynolds has been tracking the government’s "war against photography" for some time now, publicizing incidents of police abuse and wrongdoing, as well as articles that serve to attempt to educate government people, such as HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE. The war continues elsewhere, but it’s notable that in New Hampshire the state House of … Read more

Prof. Hanson again: Small Business is the Atlas of America…and they are shrugging

This from Prof. Victor Davis Hanson in Pajamas Media: "The private sector has now begun collating Obama’s public statements, the political significance of hyper-debt, the force of his new regulations, the constant talk of higher taxes, and the array of strange appointees. "On the one hand, our Atlases are productive, entrepreneurial people who appreciate the … Read more

RINO OF THE WEEK REPORT

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“Remember that a government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take away everything you have.” ~Barry Goldwater

A common theme heard from whiney liberals these days is that conservatives, tea-party patriots and some Republicans take absolute positions on issues and are unwilling to compromise, “for the good of the people.” There are four fundamental flaws in that logic.

First, how liberals define compromise. In final analysis, compromise means abandoning ones principles and going along with liberals, perhaps watering down some measure that renders the original principle sought after inoperable.

Second, the logic implies that the maker of the statement (the liberal) is irrefutably correct. The liberal implies all facts are on his or her side.

Third, liberals just love those who go along because that means the opposition is malleable. The opposition has weak links in their unity and party platform.

Finally, it implies a tacit acknowledgement by the “compromiser” that perhaps the liberal, “is correct” in his or her logic.

There is nothing wrong with spirited and sometimes bitter partisanship. The citizens governed should have clear unambiguous choices. Voting for most Republicans means one favors less government intrusion, reasonable and lower taxes, whereby the majority is not paying for the select few to live off the many. One favors a government that is both responsible socially, and looks to people, not government as a first resort to solve problems.

The RINO REPORT has featured those Republicans in Name Only who have distinguished themselves as the harlots of the left. Those who run on principles claiming to be an, “independent voice” in Concord without ever being held accountable to say, what that really means. Those folks could easily be on a Leftist-progressive ticket and fellow Republicans would never really know the difference, mush less miss them.

As the RINO report moves forward, ROTW now segues into a considerably more ambiguous analysis. For example, This weeks RINO  REPORT took a hard look at Rep. Lawrence B. “KOKO” Perkins, Rockingham 14 to be featured. When one drills down into his voting record, however, it is easy to see that Perkins voted predominantly with Conservatives on Guns, Liberty and Families.  While he took a walk on Right to work and voted for spending measures that favor Unions over regular working class folks, being a firefighter gave us no illusions about what he would or would not support. Morover, he gave the PFFNH cover. Their campaign contributions to Perkins allows Davind Lang and his ilk to say they are, “non-partisan” when in fact, they overwhelmingly support Democrats. And that is… when he showed up. While he might have voted on issues important to me, the fact is he still voted for Unions. Does it make him a RINO? Readers must judge that for themselves.

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RINO OF THE WEEK REPORT

“Remember that a government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take away everything you have.” ~Barry Goldwater The RINO of the week is six-term Hollis House Representative Carolyn M. Gargasz.  This RINO is not quite the rank-and-file RINO that perhaps Ken Gould or David Kidder might be. Representative … Read more

KRISTIN RUGGIERO ATTORNEY ACCUSED OF ALTERING DOCUMENT

“A witch and a bitch always dress up for each other, because otherwise the witch would upstage the bitch, or the bitch would upstage the witch, and the result would be havoc” ~Tennessee Wiliams, American Playwright

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The Union Leader’s James A. Kimble reports this morning that convicted liar Kristin Ruggiero’s divorce attorney, Linda Theroux, is being brought before the State Attorney Discipline Office charging that Theroux changed a military release form violating state ethics rules. Theroux, who represented Kristin Ruggiero in the divorce case, stands accused of misconduct during the course of her representation.

Theroux allegedly altered a military records release form Jeffrey Ruggiero signed and handed over to her, wrote James Kruse, an attorney for the Attorney Discipline Office.

Attorney James Kruse for the Discipline Office charges that Theroux altered a Military Records release given her by Jeffrey Ruggiero. After receiving the release Theroux’s alteration expanded the scope of inquiry in adding that Ruggiero assented to disclosing his “entire military file” notwithstanding documents classified as ‘Secret’ or ‘Top Secret’ or for National Defense Purposes,” Theroux never subsequently submitted the records release for judicial review by the family court, Kruse’s complaint further charges.

Kristin Ruggiero is a story that won’t go away for a long time to come. It is the quintessential epic saga of  of lying, manipulation, skullduggery…a plot found only on scripts of daytime soaps, but with all the trappings of a Shakespearian tragedy, sans dark humor.

Union Leader’s Kimble reports that, “Jeffrey Ruggiero’s divorce lawyers at the time, Phil DesFossess and Celeste Christo, found out about the altered document when they were contacted by a U.S. Coast Guard commander.”

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RINO OF THE WEEK REPORT

“Remember that a government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take away everything you have.” ~Barry Goldwater This week’s installment of RINO of the week bring us an example of a real Dinosaur. This RINO has been around for way too long, ruining the Republican platform since 1988. … Read more

Just What We Need…Another RINO In The Race

“We also have a program in place for low income people. A family of four making $26,000 a year can receive medical coverage, irrespective of citizenship or what documents.” ~ Former New York Governor George Pataki Former New York Governor George Pataki was on with Jack Heath’s New Hampshire Today Show  107.7 WTPL-FM to talk some … Read more

RINO OF THE WEEK REPORT

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“Remember that a government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take away everything you have.” ~Barry Goldwater

The RINO of the week is three term House Representative David H. Kidder.  Representative Kidder’s voting record reveals a rank statist who consistently supports governmental intrusion into the lives of Granite State citizens. Like The previous RINO’s Alida Millham and Ken Gould,  Representative Kidder is an enthusiatic advocate of nanny-statism. A common theme of these RINOs is the propensity to wage war on the traditional in-tact family unit. Often referred to as “Rockefeller Republicans”,   David Kidder was ranked by the New Hampshire House Republican Alliance with a whopping score of 42%. Clearly, this is a demonstrated fealty to liberal-progressive principles.

  • Voted against HB 125 a law that would support the right of the Granite State to regulate firearms within its sovereign borders as a state;

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  •  Voted against HB210, commonly referred to as, “Stand Your Ground” Which, “allows a person who is in any place where he or she has a right to be or reasonably believed he or she had a right to be to use deadly force to protect oneself.”
  •  Did Not vote on HB474 (2/15/11)Which would end Labor Union’s ability to compel non-union workers from paying agency fees as a condition of employment;
  •  Voted against CACR 9 affirming that parental rights are a natural right; “Provides that parents have the natural right to control the health, education, and welfare of their children.”
  •  Voted against HB519  A bill repealing the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative…a a cap-and-trade system that has raised electricity prices, created a slush fund for the member states, and has no impact on reducing emissions. So Kidder voted for a tax expansion and big government spending.
  •  Voted against HB329 The parental notification bill;
  •  Voted against HB147, the, “Kimberly Cates” Bill which expands the death penalty to murders committed during home invasions and burglaries.
  •  Voted against HB519  A bill repealing the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative…a a cap-and-trade system that has raised electricity prices, created a slush fund for the member states, and has no impact on reducing emissions. So Kidder voted for a tax expansion and big government spending.

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Socialism: Destroyer of Civilizations. Socialists? There are none….

From historian and classics professor Victor Davis Hanson: The strangest things about the global statist crack-up are socialists’ unhappiness with their socialist utopia, and their subsequent efforts to avoid the consequences of the very redistributive state that they themselves once so gladly crafted….What Stops Socialism? I fear bankruptcy alone. Who are socialists? There are none. … Read more

SB 88 VETO: More Of The Same Lies, Pandering and Demagoguery

“The sure foundations of the state are laid in knowledge, not in ignorance; and every sneer at education, at culture, at book learning, which is the recorded wisdom of the experience of mankind, is the demagogue’s sneer at intelligent liberty, inviting national degeneracy and ruin.”~George William Curtis, Author, Social Reformer (1824-1896)
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Governor John Lynch vetoed Senate Bill 88 yesterday, once again affirming allegiance to yet another unelected, unaccountable constituency: The New Hampshire Police Chiefs Association.  Despite thirty-one states adopting “stand your ground” laws and eliminating such duties to retreat, Lynch takes his counsel from those who think of themselves as smarter, wiser and more intuitive than the very people they were hired to serve.

As I pointed out in earlier blogs, back in 2006, I went on  TV-50 in Derry and debated then N.H. Association of Police Chiefs‘ President, Nathaniel “Chip” Sawyer on this issue. I also pointed out that it wasn’t much of a debate and Chief Sawyer didn’t put up much of a spirited counter-argument because he didn’t have to. He already had Lynch’s fidelity and the veto was already a done deal.

When she was Attorney General, Senator Kelly Ayotte urged Lynch to veto the Castle Doctrine Bill in 2006 (SB318) Yet, when she became a candidate for U.S. Senate, she quickly flip-flopped on the issue.  In 2006, SB 318 passed with arguable bi-partisan support in the house and it was Ayotte and her cronies that decried the bills’ passage with red-herring-esque”, arguments that somehow, “the use of deadly force on street corners, in shopping malls, public parks, and in retail stores. Drug dealers and other felons who brandish weapons will be further emboldened to use their weapons, while prosecution of those criminals will be made more difficult because of this bill’s expansion of the right to use deadly force.” That has not happened in the other thirty-one states who have passed the measure. As I recall, one assistant AG characterized the, “streets running red with blood,” if the bill became law.

Standing ones ground and owing no duty to retreat is not a new doctrine. There is a considerable body of case law addressing this very question. In Beard v. U.S. (1895) that a man who was, “[W]here he had the right to be” when he came under attack and “…did not provoke the assault, and had at the time reasonable grounds to believe, and in good faith believed, that the deceased intended to take his life, or do him great bodily harm…was not obliged to retreat, nor to consider whether he could safely retreat, but was entitled to stand his ground.”

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Dangerous Democrats

Obama and the democrats can let Iran build nukes because it is a no-lose situation for them. Inaction is action. If by chance Iran does not nuke up, they will take credit. If it does, and then kills millions, they will blame George Bush, or obstructionist Republicans.

RINO OF THE WEEK REPORT

“Remember that a government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take away everything you have.” ~Barry Goldwater The RINO of the week is six term House Representative Alida Millham.  This week features a Republican whose voting record shows consistent patronage to social statism, advocacy of nanny-state meddling in … Read more

Bar Stool Economics

Left wing tax policy and the class warfare rhetoric they use to advance it crumbles in the face of even the most simplistic analysis.  Take the left wing war on the wealthy.  They argue that the rich do not pay their fair share even though the rich pay most of the taxes.  Here in New Hampshire the Mark Fernald wing of the democrat party apes this ridiculous technique on the matter of New Hampshire property taxes, a notion upon which the social justice mavens and the Granite State "Fair Tax" Coalition are meant to agitate.  But neither claim holds water and this cross post from CNHT explains why.
 
Bar Stool Economics

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100 and If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that’s what they decided to do.
The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve.

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