In a scathing Union Leader op-ed, former Republican congressman and state Supreme Court Justice Chuck Douglas says the attempt to have 189 lawmakers removed from office and prosecuted is an embarrassment to his party and to the state.
If the gambit by former state GOP chair Jack Kimball were to succeed, writes Douglas, “every losing vote would result in some kind of a constitutional petition to throw out everyone who voted the other way:”
Our New Hampshire Constitution has served us well for the 200 years before Jack Kimball and the three legislators misread it.
It is a shame that we do not have a GED program for constitutional literacy. Pulling bits and pieces out of the constitution to create criminal charges reflects gross constitutional illiteracy, not an attempt at good government. It is this type of craziness that cost 120 Republican seats in the House last year.
New Hampshire Republicans earned two of the three top spots in The Daily Beast’s This Week in Wingnuts wrap-up:
New Hampshire: ‘Children and Vaginas’ State Republican Representative Peter Hansen got the “shock value” he initially sought with his comments, when he was forced to apologize after calling women “vaginas.” Rep. Hansen, who once restrained an intruder who broke into his own home using a gun, was discussing the idea of retreating in an email when he uttered the phrase that got him in trouble. A day later a number of local groups called on him to apologize and resign but Hansen refused, saying his comments were blown out or proportion. But with pressure continuing to mount from both sides of the isle, a day later Hansen caved for his “blatantly offensive, insensitive, and frankly, stupid language.”
New Hampshire: Coming After You Jack Kimball, the former Chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party-turned leader of the state’s Tea Party, looks to have developed a new way of political fighting: mass impeachment. Kimball filed an “emergency verified complaint” for “breach of oath of office” against all of the 189 house members who voted to repeal New Hampshire’s stand-your-ground law, which passed and isnow duein the Senate. Saying the vote violated fundamental principles of the state’s constitution, the New Hampshire GOP have since distanced themselves from Kimball’s actions, while Democrats have called the act a “shameful embarrassment.”
Both stories first appeared in the state’s progressive blogs. Susan Bruce broke the story of state Rep. Peter Hansen’s “children and vagina’s” email. The attempt to have 189 lawmakers removed from office and prosecuted for voting to repeal the state’s “stand your ground” law was first reported by yours truly.
Today, the editors of the Nashua Telegraph joined the Union Leader in condemning Republican lawmakers and activists who are seeking to have 189 lawmakers removed from office and prosecuted for voting to repeal the state’s “stand your ground” law:
An editorial in today’s Union Leader complains that the leaders of last week’s Honor Your Oath pro-gun rally have embarrassed Granite State Republicans, conservatives and libertarians:
On Saturday, many well-intentioned activists rallied at the State House in Concord to defend 2nd Amendment rights that were not threatened. They were led, as usual, by legislators and activists who spoke with certitude about imagined dangers, as though the demons of their fitful dreams were swooping down on leathery wings, talons shining in the cold light, and snatching away our freedoms before our very eyes,
The usual suspects were there, tilting their lances at the State House. There was Jack Kimball, Tea Party leader turned state Republican Party chairman, turned ousted former Republican Party chairman. There were Reps. Dan Itse and John Hikel, two legislators whose admirable love of liberty is energized with such zeal that they sometimes labor with great difficulty to discern real threats from the benign laws necessary to the functioning of any civil society.
The editorial calls on the right’s “more responsible leaders” to disavow the fear-mongering rhetoric. “The rantings of Hikel, Itse and Kimball should not be taken seriously.”
When former state Republican Party chair Fergus Cullen complained that voters think every member of the GOP is a “nut job,” he was referring to the antics of another former Republican Party chair, Jack Kimball.
Cullen was specifically reacting to a criminal complaint Kimball filed against 189 state House representatives, in which Kimball claimed the lawmakers participated in an illegal conspiracy to deprive him of his constitutional rights by voting to repeal the state’s “stand your ground” law.
Kimball’s speech during the Honor Your Oath gun rally in Concord on Saturday did nothing to counter Cullen’s characterization:
You know, we’re here today because of our oath of office and also of course, supporting our Constitution and taking people to task for violating their oath of office.
But Barack Obama? He has violated his oath of office so many times I can’t count. And he’s doing it right now, campaigning across the country to take away, in fact, not only take away your right to keep and bear arms, he wants to eliminate and gut the Second Amendment.
Why? Because he knows he can’t complete what he set out to do, which is to completely bring this country down, as long as we are armed. And as long as we are armed, by God, we are not going to let that happen. Come and get them!
This man does not let a good crisis go to waste, does he? He’s using children as props. He’s using the parents of the dead children from Sandy Hook as props. What a disgrace.
Note: Video and audio are out of sync due to technical issues. Kimball’s full speech is available from GraniteGrok.
The HONOR YOUR OATH RALLY is taking place on Saturday the 13th. This rally is the inspiration of Jack Kimball, who is desperate to regain credibility and power. Oh, the wailing and gnashing of teeth! A bill was passed by the House that would return NH’s gun law to where it was when it was signed into law in 1972 by well known liberal Meldrim Thomson! Oh, the injustice of it all!
— Susan Bruce, on the pro-gun rally organized by former New Hampshire GOP chair Jack Kimball to protest the House vote repealing “stand your ground”
State House Rep. John Hikel (R-Goffstown) has filed a criminal complaint against House Majority Leader Stephen Shurtleff (D-Penacook), 12 members of the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee and 189 members of the House.
The complaint, filed today with Hillsborough County Sheriff James Hardy, alleges the 189 House members violated their oaths of office and conspired to deprive Hikel of his constitutional rights by voting in favor of House Bill 135. The proposed legislation, which passed in the House by a 189-184 vote, would repeal the state’s “stand your ground” law.
Identical complaints have reportedly been filed by other state lawmakers and Republican activists. Plans are underway to also file the complaint with the U.S. Marshals Service.
During Saturday’s pro-gun “Honor Your Oath” rally in Concord, organizer Jack Kimball will solicit attendees to file additional copies of the complaint with their local county sheriffs.
Kimball, the former chair of the New Hampshire Republican Party, will also spearhead an effort to have those attending the rally sign the Emergency Petition for Redress that was filed with the House clerk earlier this week. That petition seeks to have the 189 House lawmakers removed from office.
Update (4/12/2013): Writing on Facebook, Kimball confirmed that he has filed the criminal complaint with the Strafford County sheriff and activist Ghislain “Gus” Breton filed it with the Hillsborough County sheriff. Kimball, Hikel, Breton and state Rep. JR Hoell plan to file the same complaint with the U.S. Marshals Service later today.
My personal opinion on the Colorado issue is that the Sheriff’s need to arrest the Governor. Their Governor is actually giving up his State Sovereignty to the Feds. He is also putting the lives of his Country Sheriff’s in jeapordy. If the Sheriff’s don’t nip this in the bud, there is sure to be a very bad outcome. This may sound extreme but it is time to take extreme measures.
Just got some very disturbing news. It is critical that you read the info I have provided. It appears that the next shoe regarding gun control has just dropped. President Obama is determined to confiscate our weapons. Make no mistake about it. Kindly spread the word.
— Jack Kimball, former New Hampshire Republican Party chair, on a proposed United Nations treaty to regulate the $70 billion global arms trade. Supporters have requested a vote by the General Assembly after Iran, Syria and North Korea blocked adoption by consensus.
Well, CBS News has confirmed that Barak Obama’s birth certificate is, in fact, a fraud. Listen for yourself and come to your own concusion. As for me, you know where I stand on this issue. Impeach him NOW!
— Jack Kimball, former New Hampshire Republican Party chair, reacting to YouTube video of 2012 Arizona news coverage of sheriff Joe Arpaio’s birther investigation
Yesterday, I highlighted a statement by former Republican Party Chair Jack Kimball in which he threatened lawmakers who support gun safety legislation. If you don’t resign voluntarily, he warned, you will “be forcibly removed from office:”
It is time for all liberty-loving Americans to realize that our Republic is in great jeopardy. The recent attacks on our 2nd Amendment will eventually turn into gun confiscation if we don’t make a stand. …It is up to “We the People” to make it clear to those who would violate their oath that we want them to step down or to be forcibly removed from office.
Former Democratic Party chair Kathy Sullivan suggested on Twitter that Kimball’s bluster rose to the level of a criminal threat:
“It’s a crime in NH 2 threaten electeds 4 purpose of influencing vote; does threat of “forced removal” over gun votes qualify?”
Today, in an interview with Patch’s Dan Tuohy, Kimball folded like a cheap suit:
Reach by phone Wednesday, and asked about the choice of his wording (…”be forcibly removed from office…”), Kimball said it is meant to be a broad statement. “We’re talking about impeachment,” he said. “It’s really about integrity in the process.”
Of his strong language–that is, if some deem it strong language–Kimball is as much a straight-shooter as always. “I’m not a politically correct guy,” he says, “I think you know that.”
Projected Democratic seats: 190
