Free Staters Not Welcome in New Hampshire

[Keith and stuff]

Free Keene covered this again and again.

Will “Free Staters” be Banned from the House Gallery?
January 9, 2013 by Darryl W. Perry
http://freekeene.com/2013/01/09/will-free-staters-be-banned-from-the-house-gallery/

Cynthia Chase Refuses to Talk to WMUR, Fears for Family’s Safety
January 8, 2013 by Ian
http://freekeene.com/2013/01/08/cynthia-chase-refuses-to-talk-to-wmur-fears-for-familys-safety/

GraniteGrok covered this again.
“What we can do is to make the environment here so unwelcoming…”
by Steve MacDonald
http://granitegrok.com/blog/2013/01/what-we-can-do-is-to-make-the-environment-here-so-unwelcoming

NHInsider covered this again. Blue Hampshire covered this again and so on.

More interestingly, the main TV station in NH covered this with a very biased story (see the comment section). There is a video and similar written story on the website.

Comments on radio contest spark controversy
Talk show host says he's surprised by rhetoric
Published 5:56 PM EST Jan 08, 2013
http://www.wmur.com/news/nh-news/Co...7858/18057058/-/item/1/-/xdhikiz/-/index.html

Here is 1 line from the story.

When reached by phone, Chase declined comment, saying she fears for the safety of her family.

So Ms. Chase says she wants to eliminate the rights of all of the people of New Hampshire just to discriminate against people that she disagrees with politically. Naturally, millions of people around the country are outraged that she is planning on doing something only dictators have historically been able to do. Then, she votes to disarm herself, her friends, her family, other state reps, workers and the audience at Representative Hall and in the House gallery. Then she claims she fears for the safety of her family.

I fear for her safety also, as she used government force to make sure that she is unsafe. More importantly, if she executes her plan to remove all rights in NH, I fear for the safety of all of America. I beleive Ms. Chase logic is the biggest thread to New Hampshire.

 

[Keith and stuff]

Another New Hampshire newspaper covered this today. BTW, Ms. Chase was supposed to show up for work at the NH State House today. However, she missed a morning assignment. I'm not sure if she played hooky all day or not.

Blog post takes aim at Free State effort
Posted: Wednesday, January 9, 2013 12:15 pm | Updated: 11:14 am, Wed Jan 9, 2013.
By Jacqueline Palochko Sentinel Staff
http://www.sentinelsource.com/news/...cle_d296dac8-37c9-5b4a-87b2-45ba1c86a354.html

I'll just quote the quotes. Click on the link for the other info and to see the comments.

“Live Free or Die”

Since making her remarks, Chase said she has received threats and fears for the safety of her family, which is why she has not spoken about her posting. She declined further comment, but said she may be able to talk more in the future.

Spokesman Varrin Swearingen, a Keene resident, said he found Chase’s comments offensive. “Representative Chase is threatening to destroy freedom for everyone in New Hampshire in order to make our state so unwelcoming I might want to leave,” said Swearingen, who lives in Chase’s House district.

Carla Gericke, president of the Free State Project, she said was also “shocked” by Chase’s statements, and she hopes Chase doesn’t introduce legislation that will discriminate against Free Staters. Gericke also said interest in the Free State Project has increased since Chase’s comments, and the group is considering giving her the “Golden Porcupine,” awarded to those who recruit Free Staters to the Granite State.

 

[Keith and stuff]

More Free Keene coverage.

Flowers Sent to Cyntha Chase, Thanking Her for Boosting FSP Recruiting
January 9, 2013 by Ian
http://freekeene.com/2013/01/09/flo...ase-thanking-her-for-boosting-fsp-recruiting/

Cynthia Chase recently created a firestorm of controversy and publicity with her anti-Free-Stater comments. Today, to thank her for all the free media coverage, which naturally resulted in more new people signing up for the Free State Project, a small group of FSP participants put together a nice “thank you” card and flower bouquet that was delivered to her committee meeting in Concord today.

Unfortunately she was not in attendance, perhaps because she’s allegedly scared for her family’s safety for some reason. The flowers were left for her with the chairperson.

Meanwhile, the publicity keeps rolling in. The Keene Sentinel ran a story today as did Blue Hampshire.

 

[Keith and stuff]

More interestingly, the main TV station in NH covered this with a very biased story (see the comment section). There is a video and similar written story on the website.

Comments on radio contest spark controversy
Talk show host says he's surprised by rhetoric
Published 5:56 PM EST Jan 08, 2013
http://www.wmur.com/news/nh-news/Co...7858/18057058/-/item/1/-/xdhikiz/-/index.html

Here is 1 line from the story.

So Ms. Chase says she wants to eliminate the rights of all of the people of New Hampshire just to discriminate against people that she disagrees with politically. Naturally, millions of people around the country are outraged that she is planning on doing something only dictators have historically been able to do. Then, she votes to disarm herself, her friends, her family, other state reps, workers and the audience at Representative Hall and in the House gallery. Then she claims she fears for the safety of her family.

I fear for her safety also, as she used government force to make sure that she is unsafe. More importantly, if she executes her plan to remove all rights in NH, I fear for the safety of all of America. I beleive Ms. Chase logic is the biggest thread to New Hampshire.

I just noticed this but this was on the WMUR website before (though not on TV).

James is the most well known Democrat in media in NH.

Political Standing for Jan. 4, 2013
Published 6:28 PM EST Jan 04, 2013
By James Pindell, WMUR.com Political Director
http://www.wmur.com/political-scoop...013/-/16254890/18017762/-/dx59vf/-/index.html

State Rep. Cynthia Chase: Her comments about Free Staters got national attention this week. In theory, it’s a pretty good thing to say, as long as you are Keene Democrat who knows how to leverage the attention. But she probably won’t play it they way she could so the other side will get more out of it.

 

[Keith and stuff]

The Union Leader covered this again. The coverage, unlike the WMUR coverage, was actually fair. In fact, it showed the #2 NH Democratic Party spokesman in negative light.

January 10. 2013 12:22AM
John DiStaso's Granite Status: 'Person of the Year' poll spurs vitriol from self-described Free Staters
By JOHN DiSTASO
Senior Political Reporter
http://www.unionleader.com/article/20130110/NEWS0602/130119943

A Facebook page supporting Bouldin was taken down Tuesday, after generating a host of off-the-chart personal comments from individuals and groups identifying as Free Staters.

When the police community got wind of the Free Staters pushing Bouldin, they responded.

A forum appeared on MassCops.com, entitled, "Shot NH Officer in need of help to defeat Free Staters."

Manchester Police Sgt. Ken Chamberlain, sergeant-at-arms of the New Hampshire Police Association, wrote, "We cannot allow a Free Stater to win this against a police officer who was SHOT in the line of duty and was almost killed. I am asking IMPLORING all of you if you have not voted to PLEASE vote, and if you have voted, you can vote again. You can vote as many times as you want."

On the site's forum, one unnamed writer referred to Free Staters in unprintable language referring to reproductive body parts. Others called one Free Stater a "mental midget."

Democrats reacted to Free-Staters' posts with outrage.

"The lack of civility and willingness to besmirch someone who nearly gave his life for our community, and his fellow/sister police officers, is pathetic," posted state Democratic Chairman Raymond Buckley. "Also, sadly, I didn't see anyone on the vote for Bouldin Facebook page denouncing these comments."

RISING EMOTIONS? The flap indicates rising emotions as Free Staters continue to relocate to the state.

Democratic National Committeewoman Kathy Sullivan said their comments were more disturbing than lawmaker Chase's recent well-publicized post that "Free Staters are the single biggest threat the state is facing" and her call to make "the environment here so unwelcoming that some will choose not to come, and some may actually leave."

Sullivan said, "When you see things like this, are you able to find common ground with people who move to the state and make these vile comments about officers who risked or gave their lives for our safety and security? I don't know if you can."

OUTLIERS? State Rep. Mark Warden, R-Manchester, a Free State leader and real estate agent who is helping others move to the state, said he was aware of the controversy but had not seen the offensive comments.

"Anybody could call themselves a Free Stater but anyone could be a troll trying to give the movement a bad name," he said.

"The Free State Project is just interested in getting liberty-loving people to move to the state.

"The movement is very peaceful," he said. "The Free State Project believes that people who are violent or intolerant are not welcome. Free Staters simply want to live free from government coercion and want to have lower taxes and less regulation for everybody."

Warden said some Free Staters "like the police, but some may feel the police are misdirected in their arrest of people for non-violent crimes, such as marijuana users. We believe the government is there to protect the people's rights.

"In any sort of group you have these outliers who like to make statements and they don't represent the group at large," he said.

 

[Keith and stuff]

A liberal FSPer has gotten involved in the mix. He called at some Blue Hampshire folks for their hypocrisy.

Thursday, January 10, 2013
Blue Hampshire: Liberals Behaving Badly
http://nhecon.blogspot.com/2013/01/blue-hampshire-liberals-behaving-badly.html

Here is part of his blog post without the correct formatting. Click the link for the rest.

I don't agree with those comments, but... that's it? A few tasteless comments from some non-prominent, rank and file Free Staters? (And one of them isn't even a Free Stater!)

For comparison, let's read a comment from Blue Hampshire:

The state 2012 election is set to be a referendum on the extreme, hate-filled right-wing agenda of Bill O’Brien and his henchmen, including the Free State carpetbaggers.


Just a little hypocritical, right?

Actually, I lied. That wasn't a comment. It was a blog post. And not just any post— a post from one of the editors of the website. Naturally, it was promoted to the front page. (In the website layout of the time, posts started their life in a sidebar on the page, and only those posts deemed truly meritorious by the site editors were moved to the center of the page.)

And it doesn't end there, either. I actually pointed out that these statements were inappropriate and unprofessional. (Me! The neanderthal Free Stater!) The response was, predictably, more of the same:

[text lost due to website bug] to take over political institutions ALWAYS resent being called carpetbaggers. The Free State Movement is the purest example of such unprincipled self-promotion since the Civil War.

Calling you out on that is not a matter of hate.


Apparently, in enlightened liberal circles, "carpetbagger" is a purely descriptive term. As Steve Vaillancourt would say, "You just can't make this stuff up!"

On Blue Hampshire, these kinds of tasteless slurs occur constantly. They're the norm, not the exception. And they are posted by the most active and prominent members of the community. (Another Blue Hampshire editor, susanthe, is about twice as bad as Elwood above.) I can count the number of times a liberal poster has objected to them on two fingers. Neither of the two were Kathy Sullivan.

So when I read this recent post from Kathy Sullivan, and comprehend the level of hypocrisy involved, it is sincerely shocking to me. It's disgraceful, and it makes me ashamed to be a Democrat.

But that's par for the course at Blue Hampshire.

 

[Keith and stuff]

NH Rep Steve Vaillancourt just did a blog about this. He is both 1 of the better known bloggers to the political class in NH and is 1 of the better known elected libertarians in NH. He is on his 9th term in the NH House. He endorsed Ron Paul both in 2008 and 2012. He also played different Ron Paul ads on his TV show for months last year.

Since he doesn't mind his comments being distributed, I'll post them in full below.

We Disagree; But Cynthia Chase Remains A True Friend
Thursday, January 10, 2013 at 04:36PM
http://www.nhinsider.com/rep-steve-...-but-cynthia-chase-remains-a-true-friend.html

People we deal with in politics on a regular basis fall into four categories.

The best of all, of course, are those whom we personally like and usually agree with on the issues of the day. For me, former Canterbury Representative Seth Cohn best epitomizes this grade A category, but it’s not likely that we’ll like and agree with most people we come into contact with.

On the other end of the spectrum are those whom we virtually never agree with and also personally tend to dislike (loathe might be too strong a term, but I would accept its usage).

I can think of one person in particular, but my New Years resolutions prevent me from naming a name (he’s the lone Democrat on my list of people who will never be mentioned this year).

Much more common are those in the two other groups. It’s remarkable how many people I often agree with and still do not like (again resolutions prevent me from naming names).

Then, at least for me, is the category of people whom I seldom agree with (or at least with who I often disagree), but people whom I still like and admire a great deal. (If quantification of the numbers is necessary, HRA or [New Hampshire] Liberty Alliance scores could always be used; they are based on so many votes that they serve as a good proxy of those with whom we tend to agree_.

Cynthia Chase, the Keene Democrat who has been in the headlines, both here and nationally this past week, is a classic example of that fourth type of person.

I disagree with Rep. Chase’s comment on Free State types being a threat to our state. In fact, I used to begin my old TV show by calling myself “a free stater before there was a Free State movement; more Jeffersonian than Jefferson”. In other words, I arrived in New Hampshire (at Plymouth State College in 1969) long before the free state movement kicked in, but I have always considered myself wedded to a libertarian philosophy, my position on guns in the State House notwithstanding. Also, unlike Jefferson, I actually believe in what Jefferson wrote (what a hypocrite the great man was).

Be that as it may, I considered Rep. Chase a friend when we met two years ago; and I consider her just as much a friend today despite her comments.

A tendency to demonize those with whom we disagree is hardly productive. Let’s call it the Rush Limbaugh syndrome. Just like Limbaugh made Sandra Fluke a heroine to the left by disparagingly her, he somehow feels it’s okay refer to Rep. Chase as looking like a Teamster (whatever that's supposed to mean, I don't know; it's too strange an insult for me to grasp).

I treasure our liberties; I believe free staters may be our salvation rather than our downfall, but Cynthia Chase remains a friend of mine.

I’d rather reason with her than demonize her.

For example, I pointed out to her that of the Republicans who voted NOT to repeal gay marriage, many albeit not all of them were libertarians and/or free staters. The 2010-elected Manchester Ward 2 State Rep trio of Win Hutchinson, Mike Ball, and Cameron DeJong (buttressed by Tammy Simmons from Ward 10) certainly falls into that category, libertarians all if not out and out free staters.

The problem with Rep. Chase's comment, I fear, is that she mixes up the goals of free staters and Libertarians with the works of former Speaker Bill O’Brien who sadly co-opted and corrupted the movement. Free staters deserve to be condemned for not standing up more forcefully to O’Brien’s fascist tendencies (only a few of us did and look at the heat we took). I know, I know; some might accuse me of demonizing Billy The Bully, but as always, I operate under a three strikes before you're out principle, and Billy The Bully Without a Pulpit had a series of three strikes before I considered him a threat to our freedoms and our way of life. He bastardized the free state movement, forever to its detriment, sad to say.

However, I would prefer to reason with Rep. Chase and point out how she might well agree with free staters on any number of issues (including medical marijuana and beyond that total decriminalization of marijuana, I dare say).

Of course, she and I (and other free staters) will always disagree on the amount of government spending and taxation. I worship at the altar of individual freedom AND responsibility, and I fear she worships at the altar of cradle to grave government socialistic control of our lives (although I'm sure she would not want to be so characterized).

That doesn’t mean we can’t be friends; and it certainly doesn’t mean she looks like a Teamster (Rush really ought to be ashamed of himself; those kind of comments are what created a Republican minority in so many places in our republic).

 

[specsaregood]

The problem with Rep. Chase's comment, I fear, is that she mixes up the goals of free staters and Libertarians with the works of former Speaker Bill O’Brien who sadly co-opted and corrupted the movement. Free staters deserve to be condemned for not standing up more forcefully to O’Brien’s fascist tendencies (only a few of us did and look at the heat we took). I know, I know; some might accuse me of demonizing Billy The Bully, but as always, I operate under a three strikes before you're out principle, and Billy The Bully Without a Pulpit had a series of three strikes before I considered him a threat to our freedoms and our way of life. He bastardized the free state movement, forever to its detriment, sad to say

I assume there is more background info about that. Got a link or details? Just wonderin what he is talking about.

 

[Keith and stuff]

I assume there is more background info about that. Got a link or details? Just wonderin what he is talking about.

Former NH House Speaker O'Brien is pro-liberty but also a bully. If people didn't vote pro-liberty enough, he took away their chairmanships or removed them from committees. He may have broken the NH House rules more than once. He may have instructed a NH House staff to attend meetings with Republicans around the state for the purpose of recruiting them to run for office. After the Concord Monitor published a cartoon calling him Hitler, he barred Concord Monitor reporters from attending his press releases. He attached amendments to bills that were unrelated to the subjects of the bills, a big no-no in NH. He cut money by getting rid of the cell phones for key NH House leadership positions. To save money, he refused to reimburse state reps for some of the driving they did. There might be a few things I'm missing.

Yes he was pro-liberty. Yes he did bad things. No, he isn't a FSPer. The FSP wasn't directly connected to him at all, as it doesn't do politics. Though, perhaps all of the fspers that were state reps from 2011-2012 voted for him to be the NH Speaker of the House over the other candidate, a moderate Republican. Without those votes, he wouldn't have won the election for Speaker. Because of that, the left wing media has spent countless hours trying to tie him to the FSP. I beleive someone in the media even went so far as to call him a FSPer.

It isn't really a big deal anymore. He isn't in power. The current NH House Speaker is a statist Democrat. She breaks the rules from time to time but overall, tends to follow the rules a little more than O'Brien did.

 

[Keith and stuff]

Th unfriendly folks at New Hampshire Blues did another blog post. It's about the editorial against the FSP by the neocons at Fosters. Fosters isn't the 2nd most conservative newspaper in NH like Mr. Tucker claims. It is the most neocon paper, though. The reason I'm posting this is not because of the blog post. It's because of the insane rantings in some of the comments. Are some of those people evil? Do they enjoy lying? Are they ignorant? I'm not sure but I broke the link because the comments are so annoying, they might make you mad. I recommend reading them just before a workout at the gym. You may get pumped.

Free Staters seek to take over our way of life
By William Tucker on January 8, 2013
httx://bluehampshire.com/2013/01/08/fosters-free-staters-seek-to-take-over-our-way-of-life

When state House Rep. Cynthia Chase called the Free State Project “the single biggest threat the state is facing today,” the right-wing media machine geared up to attack. But something got lost in translation.

“A New Hampshire legislator wants her constituents to know that she feels conservatives are the ‘single biggest threat’ her state faces today,” wrote Breitbart’s Warner Todd Huston. “Cynthia Chase wants conservatives to leave New Hampshire,” explained Rush Limbaugh.

Foster’s, the state’s most conservative newspaper this side of the Union Leader, knows better. In today’s editorial, the editors educate their conservative brethren. Chase’s comments “aptly reflect what many Granite Staters have been quietly saying for more than a decade,” they write:

 

[helmuth_hubener]

Former NH House Speaker O'Brien is pro-liberty but also a bully. If people didn't vote pro-liberty enough, he took away their chairmanships or removed them from committees. He may have broken the NH House rules more than once. He may have instructed a NH House staff to attend meetings with Republicans around the state for the purpose of recruiting them to run for office. After the Concord Monitor published a cartoon calling him Hitler, he barred Concord Monitor reporters from attending his press releases. He attached amendments to bills that were unrelated to the subjects of the bills, a big no-no in NH. He cut money by getting rid of the cell phones for key NH House leadership positions. To save money, he refused to reimburse state reps for some of the driving they did. There might be a few things I'm missing.

Yes he was pro-liberty. Yes he did bad things.

None of those sound like bad things to me. There's nothing sacred about the House rules. Break them all you want for all I care. Saving money is good. Let the pols pay for their own gas and cell phones. Good for him.

 

[cheapseats]

...The FSP wasn't directly connected to him at all, as it doesn't do politics...

S'cuse me?

I agree in not using any of those words but take it further in not wanting to do that. We learned that lesson before Ron Paul ran for the GOP nomination in 2008 and I keep sharing it with people. We will never be a majority or even large minority in any county and there is no need to be. We have already proven that a tiny minority can help increase freedom. Anyway, counties in New England have very little power compared to counties in the West and South. VT partly privatized sheriffs. MA got rid of several counties. Some Republicans are looking into ending counties in NH to save money. Counties are a drain on freedom (with their rules and taxes).

Towns are where it is at. Towns don't have a mayor or leader. The people of the town vote on the budget line by line. However, depending on the town, the people usually vote the way the volunteer selectmen or budget committee members suggest. Or you could just pass a town spending cap and a town tax cap. The key is to get liberty people to run for state rep., selectmen and budget committee. State reps. vote on the of county budget by themselves. For example, in 2 of the 3 largest counties last year, state reps voted to not increase spending, and free staters only made up less than 10% of the reps in those counties.

With 20,000 activist and a few years, NH could be twice as free as any other state.

 

[cheapseats]

I agree in not using any of those words but take it further in not wanting to do that. We learned that lesson before Ron Paul ran for the GOP nomination in 2008 and I keep sharing it with people. We will never be a majority or even large minority in any county and there is no need to be. We have already proven that a tiny minority can help increase freedom. Anyway, counties in New England have very little power compared to counties in the West and South. VT partly privatized sheriffs. MA got rid of several counties. Some Republicans are looking into ending counties in NH to save money. Counties are a drain on freedom (with their rules and taxes).

Towns are where it is at. Towns don't have a mayor or leader. The people of the town vote on the budget line by line. However, depending on the town, the people usually vote the way the volunteer selectmen or budget committee members suggest. Or you could just pass a town spending cap and a town tax cap. The key is to get liberty people to run for state rep., selectmen and budget committee. State reps. vote on the of county budget by themselves. For example, in 2 of the 3 largest counties last year, state reps voted to not increase spending, and free staters only made up less than 10% of the reps in those counties.

With 20,000 activist and a few years, NH could be twice as free as any other state.

Soooo, a certain amount or type of IMPRESSIONABILITY slash DEFERENCE IN DECISION-MAKING slash GROUP THINK is good, or not?

 

[cheapseats]

She moved here from RI and broke an election law to help her get elected. She was in something like an 8 way primary for 7 spots. She handed out flyers at the polling location which didn't mention who paid for them. Half way through the day, a liberty candidate found out and called the state government. She was forced to stop breaking the law but never got in trouble.

I have read HUNDREDS of posts on this Board, so many of you have read THOUSANDS of posts on this Board, that chronicle Dirty Tricks committed with impunity.

WHY people play dirty is evident. HOW do they get away with it? I mean, OF COURSE "The Process" is alternately goofy and corrupt, but all Office Seekers and their posses are working WITHIN the Process/Game. So how are SOME people (smart fierce Liberty folk, at that) repeatedly, one might say systematically, bushwhacked?

I agree in not using any of those words but take it further in not wanting to do that. We learned that lesson before Ron Paul ran for the GOP nomination in 2008 and I keep sharing it with people. We will never be a majority or even large minority in any county and there is no need to be. We have already proven that a tiny minority can help increase freedom. Anyway, counties in New England have very little power compared to counties in the West and South. VT partly privatized sheriffs. MA got rid of several counties. Some Republicans are looking into ending counties in NH to save money. Counties are a drain on freedom (with their rules and taxes).

Towns are where it is at. Towns don't have a mayor or leader. The people of the town vote on the budget line by line. However, depending on the town, the people usually vote the way the volunteer selectmen or budget committee members suggest. Or you could just pass a town spending cap and a town tax cap. The key is to get liberty people to run for state rep., selectmen and budget committee. State reps. vote on the of county budget by themselves. For example, in 2 of the 3 largest counties last year, state reps voted to not increase spending, and free staters only made up less than 10% of the reps in those counties.

With 20,000 activist and a few years, NH could be twice as free as any other state.

Think back to the GOP Convention. How many of you railed that people should CARE about how the mighty RNC was swashbuckling? Even if they aren't Republican, even if they aren't political, they should care ON PRINCIPLE!

Because the numbers of the Liberty Moovement are small, and because an even SMALLER number seem creepily determined to RULE WITHOUT POPULAR SUPPORT, lots of people who should give a shit about shit, on principle, DON'T.

Moreover, because a DIFFERENT Elite machinating to "take over" by parliamentary procedure absent popular support IS so creepy, many people not only don't CARE when y'all get bushwhacked, they're kinda okay with it.

Same goes with Free State Project, it seems.

 

[Keith and stuff]

S'cuse me?

The FSP is designed to get 20,000 people to sign the FSP statement of intent and then follow it out by moving to NH and doing what they want, as long as the people doing the stuff think it is inline with the statement of intent. Here is the statement of intent. It is in no way a political document. While many FSPers get involved in politics by running, volunteering, voting and so on, it isn't required. The meaning of "fullest practical effort toward the creation of a society in which the maximum role of civil government is the protection of life, liberty, and property" is open to personal interpretation. For example, the founder of Cop Block lives in NH. He does a lot of good. However, I don't think he votes. Of course, Cop Block is 1 of the top pro-freedom websites in the world. It has chapters all over the country. He constantly encourages people to move to NH and works towards increased liberty in NH, but it is outside of the political system. Nothing about the statement of intent is inherently political. The FSP is in no way a political organization. It takes no stands on any political issues or races. FSPers move to NH and get elected as GOP, Democrats, independents and with the LP.

Statement of Intent
I hereby state my solemn intent to move to the state of New Hampshire. Once there, I will exert the fullest practical effort toward the creation of a society in which the maximum role of civil government is the protection of life, liberty, and property.

 

[Keith and stuff]

Another section of Examiner covered this story. There are a lot of links and the formatting is interesting. I recommend clicking on the link. However, you may also scroll down for the full article.

Garry Reed, Libertarian News Examiner
New Hampshire becomes New Hateshire
Hate speech
January 10, 2013
http://www.examiner.com/article/new-hampshire-becomes-new-hateshire

Yesterday members of the Free State Project sent New Hampshire State Rep. Cynthia Chase a "thank you" card and flowers for the free media coverage generated by her anti-freedom comments because they expect it will boost their recruiting efforts.

America's mainstream media outside of the Live Free or Die State has largely ignored Chase's late December comments that would have instantly been labeled "hate speech" by Political Correctness Liberals had anyone other than a Democrat said it.

Writing in the "progressive" BlueHampshire.com in opposition to Free State members moving to New Hampshire, Chase said:

"What we can do is to make the environment here so unwelcoming that some will choose not to come, and some may actually leave. One way is to pass measures that will restrict the 'freedoms' that they think they will find here."

Rep. Cynthia Chase is appalled that nonviolent people are moving to her state.
Libertarians Not Welcome Here, Says NH State Rep

She wrote this after stating "There is, legally, nothing we can do to prevent them from moving here."

She doesn't explain how she can be "passing measures" while simultaneously admitting that there is "legally nothing we can do.".

As most libertarians know, the Free State Project was created to "recruit 20,000 liberty-loving people to move to New Hampshire" where their numbers could influence local politics and transform its society into something as close as possible to a free, voluntary, libertarian society.

Chase began her commentary with "In the opinion of this Democrat, Free Staters are the single biggest threat the state is facing today."

Some may interpret this to mean that Chase is saying that people who believe in the non-aggression principle, individual freedom and responsibility, and mutual voluntary interactions amongst peaceful people are a bigger threat to New Hampshire than murderers, rapists, child molesters and psychopathic mass shooters.

Thus, her idea of good governance would seem to be "restrict the freedoms of those I don't like."

Chase further wants to "shine the bright light of publicity on who they are and why they are coming."

But while her idea of a "bright light of publicity" consists of calling freedom "extremism" Free Staters call it "free publicity."

In a final irony Chase refused to talk to WMUR TV 9 yesterday about her comments because "she fears for the safety of her family."

Welcome to "New Hateshire."

(NOTE: While Chase's original comment is difficult to find on Blue Hampshire (it's buried here: cyndychaseDecember 21, 2012 you can always find it on Loose Cannon Libertarian.)

 

[Keith and stuff]

Ugh!

Fosters, the NH neocon paper, did a 2nd editorial on this story. I'm starting to get really annoyed with Fosters so I'm breaking the link. Nevertheless, since free staters are such powerful players in NH, I feel it is good to at least read what the neocons are saying about us. Liberty folks in other states might want to listen to the neocons, also. 1 thing the neocons are missing is that giving flowers was a decision made by 1 individual. The 1 person paid for the flowers. It didn't come from the FSP's treasurer. Individuals make choices. Personally, I don't think it was that a big deal and it did generate media coverage outside of NH. Generally, the FSP likes media coverage from outside of NH. After all, the FSP is trying to recruit 20,000 people to move to NH. If people don't hear about the FSP, they cannot join.

1 final point. It really annoys me that the neocon editorial board at Fosters has no idea why the GOP lost some of it's power in NH in 2012. Certainly, it had nothing to do with the FSP. Without certain FSPers support, less Republicans would have been elected. Some neocons are so clueless!

Free State Project has some growing up to do
Saturday, January 12, 2013
hxx p://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20130112%2FGJOPINION_01%2F130119686%2F-1%2FFOSOPINION

We would expect more political savvy from an eight year old.

On Wednesday, supporters of the Free State Project reported they had sent flowers to State Rep. Cynthia Chase thanking her “for all the free media coverage, which naturally resulted in more new people signing up for the Free State Project.”

According to an email from FreeKeene.com, “a small group of FSP participants put together a nice ‘thank you’ card and flower bouquet that was delivered to her committee meeting in Concord today (Jan. 9).”

Chase was the subject of controversy for blogging that she wanted to make Free State followers uncomfortable or encourage them to leave New Hampshire: “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,” she wrote, in part, at Bluestate.org.

Earlier, we editorialized on the matter under the heading, “Co-opting our way of life.”

While Chase’s threat to anyone’s freedoms has no place in the conversation, her motivation is shared by many who see the Free State Project as wanting to co-opt the political process under cover of the Republican Party rather than marching behind the libertarian flag which more rightly represents their belief in “leave us all alone” government.

Some in the Free State Project seemed to understand our motivation and our point.

From John Turner on the FSP Facebook page: “I support the FSP but that article [editorial] has a point. I think there is room to improve how FSP gets the message out that the intent is not to “take over” but to specifically make sure that DOESN’T happen like it has elsewhere in the country and in DC.”

From Kevin Freeheart: “In some ways, I agree with this author, actually. Specifically, ‘But we do urge the state Republican Party to take a long, hard look at distinguishing itself and its conservative values from the libertarian ways of the Free Staters even if that leads to a viable third party. At least then we will have a more clear idea of who and what we are voting come Election Day.’ ”

Others continued to deny reality: “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

Anyone who thinks the Free Stater movement was helped by November’s election results is in denial. It was very much the “our way or the highway” attitude supported by too many Free Staters which helped put or keep the N.H. House, the governor’s office and, arguably, our congressional seats in the hands of nanny state government under the Democrats — something we had thought anathema to the FSP.

We understand, that as with any fledgling movement, there needs to be a growing-up process. But childishly delivering flowers to Chase as a thank you would indicate the FSP has a ways to go.

 

[AGRP]

My favorite part was how disgusted she was about how people can freely move from state to state.

 

[Keith and stuff]

My favorite part was how disgusted she was about how people can freely move from state to state.

When she moved here in 2006, after many of the FSPers moved here!

OK, so, I guess the give Cynthia Chase flowers things was done by 2 people. 1 person came up with the idea and paid for the flowers. Another, Ian Freeman, decided to send out a press release about it. Here is Ian's press release.

Rep. Cynthia Chase Sent Flowers by FSP Participants
Free State Project recruiting numbers are up.
"Free Staters" Send Cynthia Chase Flowers
Web visits and signups are up at FreeStateProject.org, thanks to Rep. Chase.
http://us4.campaign-archive2.com/?u=00d4ac261351d14ca5ddf282c&id=2d78c80a82

Cynthia Chase recently created a firestorm of controversy and publicity with her anti-Free-Stater comments. Today, to thank her for all the free media coverage, which naturally resulted in more new people signing up for the Free State Project, a small group of FSP participants put together a nice “thank you” card and flower bouquet that was delivered to her committee meeting in Concord today.

Unfortunately she was not in attendance, perhaps because she’s allegedly scared for her family’s safety for some reason. The flowers were left for her with the chairperson.

Feel free to get in touch with me if you have questions or would like to interview an activist,
Ian Freeman
Blogger, FreeKeene.com
xxx-xxxx [click on the link above if you really want to call Ian]

P.S. You can see the message that was sent with the flowers here.

 

[Keith and stuff]

None of those sound like bad things to me. There's nothing sacred about the House rules. Break them all you want for all I care. Saving money is good. Let the pols pay for their own gas and cell phones. Good for him.

Some people might think it is OK that the former NH House Speaker may have bullied his way to getting people to vote for liberty on certain bills. Some people might feel it is OK that for likely future chair of the NHGOP may have bullied people into supporting liberty positions at the NHGOP state convention. Other Obama and US Speaker of the House may bully their way to reducing freedom in the US. Surely that isn't good. Personally, I'm against bully like behavior whether it's by liberty folks or anti-liberty folks. I see how some people might not be so concerned with it.

Part of the problem is that the MSM tends to lean statist. So if someone using bully like techniques to advance freedom, that makes for bad media coverage. A similar situation happened with Right to Work in MI.