Steve Mac Donald Archives - Page 2 of 16

Whatsa matta John DiStaso, don’t like the ‘Grok much?

September 26, 2018January 6, 2013 Skip

“As New Hampshirite Steve MacDonald notes, “this sounds like tyranny.”

Given that Rush Limbaugh brought up NH Democrat House Rep Cynthia Chase’s name (AND STEVE MAC DONALDS!!) this past Friday, it was expected that the local NH media would be FORCED to also give a few column inches as well. And DiStaso of the UL does so (reformatted and emphasis mine) – reluctantly. But guess who he left out?

FRIDAY, JAN. 4: GOING VIRAL. A Democratic state lawmaker’s recent web post critical of the libertarian-leaning Free State Project has gone virtually viral in the past few days and, as one might expect, has drawn criticism. Reacting to reports that the Free State Project is aggressively trying to bring 20,000 supporters to live in the state over the next two years, Rep. Cynthia Chase, D-Keene, wrote on BlueHampshire.com: “In the opinion of this Democrat, Free Staters are the single biggest threat the state is facing today.”

She went on to write that while there is “legally, nothing we can do to prevent them from moving here to take over the state, which is their openly stated goal,” she proposed making “the environment here so unwelcoming that some will choose not to come, and some may actually leave.”

Chase continued, “One way is to pass measures that will restrict the ‘freedoms’ that they think they will find here. Another is to shine the bright light of publicity on who they are and why they are coming.”

…The post this week was picked up by the Breitbart.com website, the creation of the late conservative commentator Andrew Breitbart, with columnist Warner Todd Huston opining:

Warner – a long time Samsphere blogger buddy of mine – got the story from GraniteGrok which he reads often as we are the leading Conservative / Libertarian leaning blogsite in NH. He and I think a lot of like, and he likes what we do, commenting on local politics. Anyway, see these next lines from DiStaso’s post quoting Warner’s?

Rush Limbaugh Mentions Me On The Air.

September 26, 2018January 4, 2013 Steve MacDonald

This goes into the “Wow that’s kind of cool category.” Today Rush Limbaugh mentioned me by name. I didn’t hear it but Skip called me from the road, and he was pretty darn excited for me.

Rush was reporting on the Breitbart post that Warner Todd Huston put up linking to my GraniteGrok post about Democrat Cynthia Chase. So I give all the credit for Warner. Thanks for sharing. I got a serious kick out of being mentioned on the most listened to radio show in America.

But I have to wonder, as people give me digital high-fives and attaboys, just how much street-cred does this give to Ms. Chase? My earnest hope is that the weight of her remarks humbles her into reevaluating her worldview, but seeing as she is a New Hampshire Democrat the NHDP will probably give her an award and throw her a party for having Limbaugh call her out.

Such is the nature of the divide. Accused of Legislative Tyranny –Way to go Progressive Girlfriend!

Meanwhile, it is only January 4th. I’ve been linked to on Breitbart and Rush Limbaugh has quoted me on the air. Not a bad start to 2013. (And I was just awarded AFP’s blogger of the month for December 2012). I can’t say I expect the rest of the year to be more interesting but I’ll keep writing and sharing as I always do and whatever happens, happens.

(Transcript on the jump -MP3 available later today.)

Granite Grok’s Top Twenty Posts For 2012

September 26, 2018December 31, 2012 Steve MacDonald

Hot Air does this every year, so I figured I’d give it a shot. It is a compilation of the posts that got the most comments in 2012. That’s right, this is comment based.

And I can tell you, since I have a few posts on this list, that how well you write, or how clever you are, is not nearly as important as hitting the right note at just the right time. That or some much more interesting tangents pop up in comments and then take on a life of their own.

However they got there, here are the twenty most commented on Grok posts of 2012 whether the comments are related to the post or not!

20.) So, gay activists, where do you think this will end up? We’ve all asked the question…if two men getting married is a right, why not three? Skip provides a cartoon and some comments, and attracts all the right kind of attention for his effort.

19.) Oh, so THAT’s what they look like! Susan Olsen shares with us the ‘Journalists Guide to Firearms identification. Proof that a picture is worth a thousand words, or at least a bunch of comments.

18.) Meet Another State Employee Wasting Taxpayer Time Online Dick de Seve wasn’t the only state employee with way too much free time on their hands, and open access to the Internet. In this post we meet Gaia, who made deSeve look like an armature.

Americans for Prosperity Blogger of the Month – Steve Mac Donald!

September 26, 2018December 14, 2012 Skip

Yesterday, Steve let us know that AFP had selected him as their Blogger of the Month – my immediate response was:

YAAAAAAAYYYY!!!!!!!! Way to go Steve!

Absolutely tickled pink! In my estimation, well deserved. Just about every day, Steve has made sure to let us know what his opinion is on a whole range of topics from those here in NH to national ones. In all cases, he writes from a Conservative / Libertarian viewpoint and always trying to show how these pertain to the enhancement of personal Liberty and Freedom (or not) and free markets. He has always amazed me with how he brings in different issues to his main point – and he wields his keyboard as a virtual stiletto in skewering the object of his disdain. In each of his posts, there is almost always a “line to remember”.

Notable Quotes: On Current NH-GOP Leadership

September 26, 2018December 13, 2012 Steve MacDonald

In my honest opinion the amalgam of Establishment Republican Leadership in New Hampshire, which includes the shadow party “leadership” that makes the phone calls behind the scenes, decides whose turn it is, puts pressure on people to do their bidding or get out, and claims to control the money, are about as effective politically as … Read more

Wither Thee A Thermostat – One Example of How Government Can Ruin Your Life

September 26, 2018December 7, 2012 Steve MacDonald

Here is a very good example of why the Government sucks, and why the very nature of the state as a reliever of ills is actually destructive to that very end..

Throughout the entire winter, every winter lately, the temperature in my house is around 63-65 degrees. At night, and when we are out, it is a good bit colder. This is not exactly the most comfortable environment but I have no choice. I cannot afford to keep it warmer so we grab extra sweatshirts and blankets and suck it up.

Now some folks will ask, why can’t you afford it and if not would you be eligible for something like heating aid?

I probably am eligible, but it is the governments own fault that I would even need to be eligible in the first place so that is not the kind of aid I want or need.

Day(s)- O -Rest & A Local Idea You Can Share

September 26, 2018October 21, 2012 Steve MacDonald

I was offline all day yesterday. I will be conspicuously absent most of today as well. Various family related activities. My laptop is in withdrawal. My email must be backlogged into the hundreds by now. My apologies if I miss yours when I finally get back to them sometime tonight. One thing that did … Read more

It’s alive….ALIVE! (Sort of)

September 26, 2018October 12, 2012 Steve MacDonald

My conspicuous absence has been noted. I felt lousy yesterday. That evolved into a full blow ‘bed-ridden’ 16-hour marathon nap. I’m not done feeling lousy so I won’t be blogging much until I feel better–or at least a little better. I just wanted my liberal “friends” to know so they wouldn’t worry about me. They … Read more

Ask A New Hampshire Democrat: About The Hostage Situation

September 26, 2018October 3, 2012 Steve MacDonald

There are those among us who are concerned that New Hampshire sends more federal tax dollars out of the state than it gets back. The same people, typically Democrats and Moderate Republicans, argue for more Federal meddling in state affairs. The same people who also complain about “out of state influence” in local elections.

If you send more money to DC so you can then act the hero when we get it back, complete with strings attached, other sources of out of state money will find those people and try to keep them in office so that central planners can milk all 50 teats for as much as possible and then sit in on the “hostage negotiations” when you want or need some of it back.

But wouldn’t this make more sense?

Reality Check: NH Democrat’s Nancy Pelosi Values are not New Hampshire Values

September 26, 2018October 2, 2012 Steve MacDonald

nancy pelosi scary — NH Democrats have Nancy Pelosi Values - and they used to be proud of that.

Democrats have tried to lay claim to New Hampshire values but that’s not going to happen. New Hampshire is about liberty, Live free or Die, local control, small government, and no broad based taxes, just like the TEA party. Tea Party values are about defending the Constitution and rule of law, small and accountable government, low taxes and free markets. NH Democrats are keen on painting a different picture, not just because they can’t run on their own records but because the root for their values is too freighting for them to acknowledge…

They have Nancy Pelosi Values.

New Hampshire Democrat values are Nancy Pelosi values, extreme left social and economic values that just two years ago they were actually proud of. Values that are nothing like New Hampshire values…so what has changed in the past two years? Nothing. But they will do or say anything to get back into power.

Equality of Outcome is Irreconcilable with the Human Condition.

September 26, 2018September 27, 2012 Steve MacDonald

What Democrats suggest they want is not possible. Equality of outcome is irreconcilable with the human condition. As long as there is private property someone will always have something more or something better than someone else. People are and always will be and come from different circumstances, they will think and behave differently. And all the things that make them who they are define the nature in which they will approach labor. And there can be no equality of labor.

Someone will always be better at the same task than someone else. They might be smarter, faster, stronger, more intellectuality agile, have a better eye, a steadier hand, they may try harder to please, or demonstrate some other acuity that separates them and their performance from others. And because you cannot mandate the outcome of labor, you can never regulate equality, except to limit it by force, to the lowest common denominator, where the best anyone is permitted to be is the weakest link in the chain. It is only in this manner that Government can affect an equality of outcome, by force.

If You Are Paying Attention New Hampshire You Know Exactly What This Means…

September 26, 2018September 25, 2012 Steve MacDonald

Help Support Fisher House

September 26, 2018September 24, 2012 Steve MacDonald

Kelly Kollar (Friend of a Friend) will be running in this Years Marine Corp Marathon on October 28th in Washington DC. She plans to run the 26.2 miles for Fisher House and has set up a fundraising page in support of that effort. This is such a fantastic charity that I wanted to take a … Read more

The Irony Alligator Rises To Bite Liz Warren In Her…um…’Law Practice.’

September 26, 2018September 24, 2012 Steve MacDonald

I’m having an Irony and hypocrisy overload. Where to start? Did you hear the one about Massachusetts Democrat Elizabeth Warren…?

From Legal Insurrection

Warren represented not just Travelers, but numerous other companies starting in the late 1990s working out of and using her Harvard Law School office in Cambridge, which she listed as her office of record on briefs filed with various courts. Warren, however, never has been licensed to practice law in Massachusetts.

Sounds bad and may she burn in that special hell reserved for such scoundrels, but that’s not even where I’m going with this. (See the picture for a hint…)

Ask A New Hampshire Democrat About Taxing The Rich

September 26, 2018September 23, 2012 Steve MacDonald

The distance between left wing rhetoric and reality is wide, particularly on the issue of taxing the rich. This classic bit of class war rhetoric is used to deflect any deeper inspection of the problem, and the flaws in the Democrat’s solution. And the flaws are huge. Immense. Enormous. Disqualifying in fact. So ask a New Hampshire Democrat about taxing the rich.

Remembering Democrat Rule – “Look To The Sky…”

September 26, 2018September 22, 2012 Steve MacDonald

Marjorie Smith NH Democrat — “Look to the sky when estimating revenue – we need the money.”

“Look to the sky when you do revenue estimates because we need the money.”

-Marjorie Smith (D- Durham) Chair House Finance Committee 2007

One month after the supposed start of the ‘Great Recession™’ and just a few months after New Hampshire Democrats historic spending spree, a partisan vote of the General Court’s Joint Facilities Committee increased pay and benefits for 145 members of the legislative staff. The hike added almost a million dollars on the backs of taxpayers at the beginning of an economic downturn. More spending without concern for how we’d pay for it. A trend New Hampshire Democrats would continue into the next session. An attitude Marjorie Smith (D- Durham), the chair of the House finance committee, would frame with the words “Look to they sky when you do revenue because we need the money.”

Hang on a moment while I add a line to my check register that says I made an extra million dollars this year. Oh look, time to go shopping! Shall we proceed?

Palate Cleanser – ‘Lab’ Experiment

September 26, 2018September 22, 2012 Steve MacDonald

My Yellow lab, Chance, likes to help out with the “dishes.’ And what dog doesn’t? Here he is discovering what can only be an inter-dimensional multi-sided grill spatula.

My Guess Was Romney With Around 340 Electoral Votes

September 26, 2018September 22, 2012 Steve MacDonald

Two Professors from the University of Colorado have a model for determining who will win the White House. They’ve been right every year since 1980. In 2012 they predict that Mitt Romney will win 320 Electoral votes to Barack Obama’s 218. Romney, it concluded, will win every state currently considered by pollsters to be a … Read more

What Actual Vote Suppression Looks Like in New Hampshire

September 26, 2018September 21, 2012 Steve MacDonald

Someone working for or for the benefit of the Obama campaign is calling senior citizens in New Hampshire (and elsewhere I suspect) and asking them whom they intend to vote for? (Name Redacted)…. told us that his 82 year-old father received a phone call Wednesday from a caller asking him for whom he was going to vote in … Read more

If Sea Ice Grew and No One Was There to ‘Report’ It, Did It Really Happen?

September 26, 2018September 20, 2012 Steve MacDonald

Forbes has a story about the Antarctic. It’s that other frozen wasteland, the one you never hear much about. You don’t hear anything about it because for the past 33 years the amount of sea-ice in the antarctic has apparently been growing, and as of this week–due to record cold temperatures in the region–has reached its highest reading ever.