Constituent responds to Rep. Tasker: ‘I am ashamed to have you representing the people of this town’

Yesterday, we reported on a Facebook comment from state House Rep. Kyle Tasker (R-Nottingham) directed at gun safety proponents: ”Just the thought of guns makes them piss themselves unless its arming the police to further crush their spirit,” he wrote.

After reading Tasker’s remarks, Nottingham’s Karen Davidson fired off an email to her representative:

Dear Representative Tasker:

I live in Nottingham, and I am ashamed to have you representing the people of this town and myself.

I don’t piss myself when I think of guns. But I do shake my head in wondering how someone like you got elected, and then makes statements like this. You have insulted the same people that probably voted for you. Gun owners and non gun owners think about gun safety. Gun safety laws do not take away guns from people who already have guns, but it stops those from obtaining them, to be used against our police officers or innocent people.

If you were aware of gun safety, your gun would not have fallen out of your holster, if you actually had one, in the state house. The members of the house were lucky that the gun didn’t go out and hurt or kill those in attendance or yourself.

It also doesn’t crush my spirit when arming the police. I want them armed to go up against those with automatic weapons or worse.

You are disrespectful of those people living in Nottingham, and you certainly have proved to me, that you need to learn more about those who you represent. Maybe there is a majority here in town that want Gun Safety laws, and you are not fulfilling what your constituents want, ie Senator Kelly Ayotte. Learn to be a little more respectful of all of the people you represent.

Davidson received a curt response from Tasker, who called her message “narcissistic:”

If you don’t like what I comment on someone’s picture they post on my private non political Facebook page, I think the logical first step would be to stay off of it. I’ve never seen your Facebook page, I plan to keep it that way. I find it odd you jump to the conclusion that when I say “they” that translates to Kareb [sic] Davidson of [address redacted]. This is narcissistic.

After a couple of follow-up messages, Davidson ended the thread, saying she was frustrated by “another NH Representative who doesn’t care what he says and doesn’t mind insulting others, including people in his district, that have different views.”

“I expect my representatives to be professional, expect to take criticism from those with opposite views, and use some common sense in responding,” she said.

More constitutional illiteracy from Rep. John Hikel

Last month, state House Rep. John Hikel (R-Goffstown) filed a House petition and criminal complaint to have 189 fellow lawmakers removed from office and prosecuted for voting to repeal the state’s “stand your ground” law.

Former state Supreme Court Justice Chuck Douglas condemned the action. “Pulling bits and pieces out of the constitution to create criminal charges reflects gross constitutional illiteracy,” he wrote, “not an attempt at good government.”

In a Facebook comment, Hikel argues the actions are indeed lawful — despite language in the New Hampshire Constitution that states, “The freedom of deliberation, speech, and debate in either House of the Legislature, is so essential to the rights of the people, that it cannot be the foundation of any action, complaint, or prosecution in any Court or place whatsoever.”

“IT DIDN’T SAY VOTE,” he writes. “If the framers wanted it to, it would have been included.”

Quote of the day: The thought of guns

Just the thought of guns makes them piss themselves unless its arming the police to further crush their spirit.

— State House Rep. Kyle Tasker (R-Nottingham) on proponents of gun safety legislation

‘It is relatively common for [lawmakers] to drop guns’

The family of a Vermont man who was killed when a gun he accidentally dropped fired is suing gun manufacturers. In an interview with the Valley News, the family’s attorney pointed to the example of New Hampshire state House Rep. Kyle Tasker (and others) as an example of how common it is for people to drop guns:

In an interview, Ed Van Dorn, the Davis family’s attorney, said that Davis is not to blame for the incident. Van Dorn said it is relatively common for people to drop guns — he cited a New Hampshire lawmaker who dropped his concealed firearm during a legislative hearing in 2012 — without having them fire.

“This happens — people drop guns,” Van Dorn said. “It’s a known risk that people drop guns, and it’s an easy risk to protect against with an operating safety mechanism. Even though he dropped the gun … we believe the standards of manufacturing require them to accommodate that risk .”

House passes family planning bill despite GOP opposition to condoning ‘irresponsible behavior’

The New Hampshire House today passed Senate Bill 194, which expands Medicaid eligibility for family planning services.

After sailing through the Senate in a voice vote, the bill was approved by the House with a 212-120 margin. Democrats voted in favor 184-2, with Free Stater Reps. Michael Garcia (D-Nashua) and Joel Winters (D-Manchester) being the only nay votes. 28 Republicans crossed the aisle to support the measure.

The legislation now goes to Gov. Hassan for her signature and an additional 10,000 Granite Staters will have affordable access to family planning. NARAL estimates the act will save the state $4.5 million each year and will reduce unintended pregnancies.

Some Republican lawmakers, however, had their own reasons for opposing the increased access to family planning services:

#NH Rep. Jeannine Notter speaks against #SB194 and making family planning services affordable. “Abstinence is always free”. #nhpolitics

— NARAL Pro-Choice NH (@NARALNH)

May 8, 2013

#NH Rep Notter - no need for family planning care. Says she’s used natural methods for 22 years and only had 1 “surprise”. #nhpolitics

— NARAL Pro-Choice NH (@NARALNH)

May 8, 2013

#NH Rep. Groen calls sex “irresponsible behavior” and doesn’t think there should be tools to avoid consequences. #SB194 #nhpolitics

— NARAL Pro-Choice NH (@NARALNH)

May 8, 2013

Rep. Al Baldasaro: House gun ban ‘never stoped me’

In an interview with Derry Republican state Reps. Jim Webb and Brian Chirichiello, Rep. Al Baldasaro (R-Londonderry) admits House rules prohibiting firearms never stopped him from carrying guns on the House floor:

[25:20] The Democrats took power for the first time in the House and the Senate, and they felt, well, we’re going to go back to being a nanny state. So they put in these rules that said no guns in the state house at all. That riled up the many gun groups here. OK? Of course, that never stopped me. I still, uh, maintained it to protect myself.

The Cabinet: Rep. Hansen’s apology not accepted

Have two New Hampshire newspapers ever called for separate House lawmakers to resign on the same day?

Today, an editorial in The Cabinet calls on state House Rep. Peter Hansen to resign. Hansen, you may remember, is the Amherst Republican whose “well-founded communication strategy” included referring to women as “vaginas” (or “vagina’s,” to be precise).

Hansen eventually apologized. To which the editors of The Cabinet replied, “Apology not accepted:” 

The use of the word vagina in this context is, to us, an indication of a belief that referring to women derogatorily is generally fine. It’s not.

Nor is Hansen’s apology. We doubt it was heartfelt, given his initial defense of what he said, and came about, we believe, because he was pressured either by constituents – many of whom are women, by the way, something he seems to have forgotten – or from party leaders.

It might be best if he just resigned.

Also today, The Telegraph called on House Rep. Stella Tremblay to resign over her declaration that the U.S. government was responsible for the Boston Marathon bombing.

The Telegraph and The Cabinet are both now owned by Ogden Newspapers, which has a history of running identical right-wing editorials in its papers.

Nashua Telegraph: Rep. Tremblay must resign

The editors of the Nashua Telegraph have called on Rep. Stella Tremblay (R-Auburn) to resign from the New Hampshire House over her accusation, first reported on Miscellany Blue, that the U.S. government was responsible for the Boston Marathon bombing: 

Conspiracy theories often abound following tragedies like last week’s Boston Marathon bombing. But, we don’t usually expect them from our elected representatives and certainly not before the victims are buried. …

Certainly, as Tremblay has noted, she has the Constitutional right to speak her mind, But, her comments are baseless, dangerous and unbecoming of a public figure.

To use [House Republican Leader Gene Chandler’s] words, there is no room for such “offensive, egregious and irrational” comments in the halls of the Statehouse or anywhere else for that mater.

Dean Barker: Reloadable mortars & the Boston bombers

In February, Tamerlan Tsarnev purchased fireworks in Seabrook, New Hampshire that may have been used in the Boston Marathon bombs.

The reloadable mortar kits he bought cannot be legally sold in Massachusetts. They could not be legally sold in New Hampshire until June, 2011. That’s when a bill lifting the restriction became law. Elections have consequences.

A short excerpt from Dean Barker’s look at the law and the consequences:

The bill to make reloadable mortars legal in New Hampshire was born from the 2011-2012 Republican supermajority legislature.  It became law without the signature of the Governor. The sponsors were Reps. Christiansen, Coffey, and Hopper.

Rep. Christiansen gained notoriety last biennium for wanting to use the legislature to assist a convicted child rapist.

Rep. Coffey, a Free Stater, led efforts on a bill to put warning signs between the New Hampshire-Massachusetts border.

Tremblay defiant: ‘If you think I am delusional to ask these questions, so be it’

Last night, a defiant state House Rep. Stella Tremblay responded to the furor that erupted over her Facebook message blaming the U.S. Government for the Boston Marathon bombing:

Holy COW!!! Because someone asks questions one is viciously attacked? What happened to discussion? Truly was it told: They hear with their ears, but are deaf, and they see with their eyes but they are blind.

How can it be “delusional” for asking questions? There WERE military with black back packs on the last mile of the marathon. Some had detonators…is it not coincidental that they were stating there was a “drill” and not to be alarmed? Why are they seen quickly moving away from the area of the bomb just a minute before it went off?

Why did Reporter King (a seasoned reporter with credible sources) announce that there was a “suspect in custody” and then hours later had to rescind the statement. Talk about credibility being shot! 

Why is it wrong to ask questions and demand answers? Our friends, neighbours, brothers and sisters were maimed and killed by terrorists carrying out “jihad”. They were innocent victims going about doing their daily routines.

This is NOT right! We need to face facts and get answers. If you think I am delusional to ask these questions, so be it. If honest answers were given…I will be satisfied. Bengazi still has not had an investigation. When do we get answers to those questions?

The Young Turks: Vagina Monologue [VIDEO]

Cenk Uygur and Gina Grad of The Young Turks break down the “well-founded communication strategy” enunciated by state House Rep. Peter Hansen. “Well, played, sir. Well played.”

Rep. Stella Tremblay: Boston Marathon bombing a ‘terrorist’ attack by U.S. government

State House Rep. Stella Tremblay believes the Boston Marathon bombing was masterminded by the U.S. government. Friday morning, before the second suspect was apprehended, Tremblay posted a message on Glenn Beck’s Facebook page calling the bombing a “Black Ops ‘terrorist’ attack” (along with a link to an Alex Jones video): 

Just as you said would happen. Top Down, Bottom UP. The Boston Marathon was a Black Ops “terrorist” attack. One suspect killed, the other one will be too before they even have a chance to speak. Drones and now “terrorist” attacks by our own Government. Sad day, but a “wake up” to all of us. First there was a “suspect” then there wasnt. Infowars broke the story and they knew they had been “found out”.

The Auburn Republican recently made national headlines when she sponsored legislation embracing the theory that the “original” 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution has been swept under the rug in a massive governmental conspiracy,