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.

Telegraph condemns ‘cockamamie’ redress petition

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:

[T]here is room for a legitimate policy debate on the critical issue of self-defense without resorting to cockamamie calls for the removal or prosecution of those who disagree with us.

New Telegraph owner astroturfs right-wing editorials

The new owner of the Nashua Telegraph is upfront about plans to cut the newspaper’s staff — but that’s not the most ominous aspect of the ownership change.

Yesterday the publisher of the Telegraph announced the newspaper has been purchased by Ogden Newspapers, a family-owned business with 40 newspapers in 12 states.

Telegraph reporter David Brooks said the Telegraph’s new owners told employees of plans to reduce staff at the newspaper. “They were very straight-forward,” he told NHPR’s Ryan Lessard. “They said it’s very likely that the newsroom will be smaller.”

G. Ogden Nutting, the patriarch of the family that owns Ogden Newspapers, has contributed over $100,000 to Republican candidates — including a $2,300 donation to Sen. John E. Sununu in 2008.

Muriel Kane reports the newspaper chain has a history of running identical unsigned editorials in its papers around the country:

When you read an editorial in your local newspaper, your natural assumption is that it expresses the views of that paper’s staff and reflects local concerns. This, however, does not appear to be the case with the many small-town papers owned by Ogden Newspapers, Inc.

On March 31, an editorial headed “ACORN can’t distract public from the truth” appeared in the Fairmont Sentinel, published in Fairmont, MN. It was bylined by Gary Andersen and Lee Smith, the paper’s publisher and editor, and it slammed ACORN as a “front for liberal politicians” that has been involved in “illegal actions.”

Over the next few days, the identical editorial started popping up elsewhere, with no byline and under a variety of headings. On April 3, it appeared in the Minot Daily News of Minot, ND under the heading, “Good riddance to ACORN.” On April 5, it was in the Williamsport Sun-Gazette of Williamsport, PA, headed “ACORN victim of its own transgressions.”

h/t: Dean Barker

Telegraph: Stench of this twisted logic is nauseating

There’s no question where the editors of the Nashua Telegraph stand on the House proposal to let New Hampshire schools arm teachers:

The pure stench of this twisted logic is nauseating. Think about it: A maniac armed to the teeth with a military-style assault weapon or two and oversized bullet clips is going to be deterred by the possibility that a first-grade teacher or maybe an assistant principal might be packing a little heat? Get real.

No wonder state educators are lined up between time and Timbuktu to oppose this useless effort to codify mythology. They understand that an all-out gun battle waged between teachers and suicidal assailants on school grounds has as good a chance of increasing the body count as it does reducing it.

(As a non-germane aside, Between Time and Timbuktu is a 1972 film based on several Kurt Vonnegut stories. The title of the film refers to the fact that there is no word in the dictionary between the words “time” and “Timbuktu.” The editor, then, appears to be implying that educators are lined up in a vacuum — or perhaps he really meant to say they are lined up “from here to Timbuktu.”)

Lawmakers close the book on O’Brien era

The legislature’s Organization Day was devoted to chanting the “mantra of bipartisan cooperation,” notes an editorial in the Nashua Telegraph, but the real story was about closing the book on the O’Brien era.

No wonder fallen former House Speaker William O’Brien exited Representatives Hall from his back-row seat as soon as his successor, Democrat Terie Norelli, officially replaced him. All of Wednesday’s goodwill must have made him nauseous.

During his turbulent two years as speaker, O’Brien had a petulant penchant for offending legislators who didn’t agree with him, whether they were Democrats or fellow Republicans. That was his twisted notion of bipartisanship.

And that’s why much of the day’s double-edge rhetoric was as much about denouncing the past as framing the future.

Telegraph: We can be thankful O’Brien won’t be back

You can add the editors at the Nashua Telegraph to the list of observers and pundits blaming state House Speaker Bill O’Brien for the Republicans’ sweeping election night losses.

“A reasonable case can be made,” they wrote, “that O’Brien’s heavy-handed and secretive style of leadership … not only determined the fate of the House elections, but influenced races higher up the ballot, too:”

For many independents in the state — and perhaps even some Republicans — we suspect the image of a Gov. Ovide Lamontagne  working shoulder-to-shoulder with a Speaker O’Brien was just too much to bear.

To be fair, O’Brien isn’t to blame for everything that befell the Republican Party last Tuesday night. Certainly, there were other factors that contributed to the shifting of power from Republican to Democrat rule for the next two years.

But actions have consequences — and the embattled speaker’s actions made him the poster boy for everything that was wrong with state government today.

That he won’t be back next session as speaker is something for which we can all be thankful.

Nashua Telegraph: Hassan reflects our values

The Nashua Telegraph today endorsed Democrat Maggie Hassan for governor. “The next governor must reflect the social and economic values of most Granite Staters and have a solid record of well-reasoned and bipartisan leadership,” they wrote. “We believe Maggie Hassan best embraces those qualities.”

It should not be lost on voters that it’s likely Republicans will maintain control of the House of Representatives, Senate and Executive Council. Judging by some of the legislative antics we’ve witnessed the past two years, it would be in the best interest of the state to have at least one alternative voice capable of providing some political balance to the discussion.

Lamontagne diligently has discounted the importance of social policy during his campaign. He has said repeatedly that issues like abortion and same-sex marriage are not on his agenda.

But they don’t have to be, if the Legislature is there to take the lead. And a quick look at some of the bills legislators are getting ready to offer next session shows why it’s more important than ever that someone like Hassan is sitting in the corner office to offer some well-reasoned balance.

Krasucki: University funding request is ‘extortion’

In an interview with the Nashua Telegraph editorial board, GOP state Rep. Joe Krasucki referred to efforts by the University System of New Hampshire to restore deep budget cuts as “extortion.”

The Legislature slashed funding for the state’s public universities in the last budget cycle by $50 million, the largest single cut to a public higher education system in the nation’s history, said UNH President Mark Huddleston.

Krasucki, who running for the state Senate, supported the cuts and pledged to oppose their restoration unless the schools eliminate “superfluous” courses and professors.

He said he didn’t support restoring the historically deep higher education cuts from 2010 unless state universities “audit themselves.”

“I am strongly in favor of quality education,” Krasucki said. “Those who are working hard at trying to teach the principles of the subject matter. But there are courses that I think are superfluous in some of the schools.”

And the universities’ willingness to freeze college tuitions is not enough to automatically restore all the funds they lost, he said.

“Where is their effort that says ‘do we really need this type of professor?” Krasucki said, “Is there any effort to do that? Otherwise it’s extortion.”

Krasucki is seeking to replace incumbent state Sen. Gary Lambert in the Democratic-leaning 13th District (PVI: D+5). His Democratic opponent is Bette Lasky, a former selectman, state representative and state senator, who lost the seat in 2010.

O’Brien Derangement Syndrome?

It appears the Nashua Telegraph has replaced the Concord Monitor as Bill O’Brien’s favorite media target.

A recent Telegraph editorial criticized the proposed constitutional amendment that would grant the state legislature final say over court rules and procedures. “CACR 26,” they wrote, “is a bald-faced legislative power grab that supplants a fundamental tenet on which this nation was founded — the separation of governmental powers.”

The thin-skinned House Speaker took it personally and responded with a sarcastic online comment:

Pity the Nashua Telegraph; it has caught a bad case of the ODS [O’Brien Derangement Syndrome]. The question is whether hitting rock bottom with the disease on November 6 when Republicans are re-elected is going to be enough to put it on the path to health.

Quote of the day: Dreams of a liberal utopia

Dreams of a liberal utopia have once again caused the Nashua Telegraph to lose its way, as well as its grip on reality….

— State House Speaker Bill O’Brien, criticizing an article in the Nashua Telegraph on early bill requests filed by House members.

O’Brien whines about “liberals at Nashua Telegraph”

The fact checkers at PolitiFact New Hampshire, a joint venture between the Nashua Telegraph and PolitiFact.com, ruled the claims in a campaign mailer from state House Speaker Bill O’Brien were “half true.”

O’Brien said that when Republicans took over the state Legislature in 2010, the state’s tax rate for employers was last in the nation and unemployment had more than doubled under Democrats.

We find he generalized a 2010 tax study, zeroing in on New Hampshire’s corporate tax rate, when several other factors contribute to the Tax Foundation’s corporate tax index for New Hampshire. And he failed to mention that New Hampshire’s corporate tax rank is in the same ballpark in 2012.

O’Brien used accurate unemployment figures in comparing 2006 to 2010, but the numbers have more to do with the Great Recession than with the people – or the party – running the state.

O’Brien was on target with the rank and rates he cited, but there is context missing and misplaced blame. We rate his claim Half True.

O’Brien was quick to respond in a snarky Facebook post that mischaracterized Politifact’s objections. In O’Brien’s retelling, “context missing and misplaced blame” became ”not the right tone:”

I made the mistake of not having the liberals over at the Nashua Telegraph write the content for one of my campaign mailers. So they have a front page story today claiming the mailer is “half true” because it only has correct facts and not the right tone.