A National Rassmussen poll published a few days ago has Trump at 51, Haley at 13, DeSantis at 9, Christie at 9, Ramaswamy at 1,  and Hutchinson with no support. But if you listen to the establishment tools in the media, Haley is closing “the gap.”

What gap and on whom? The inference is Trump, but she’s at least 30 points behind him in New Hampshire, and the last poll out of Iowa had DeSantis in second. You can find pop-up polling or internet polling that suggests things are not as dire for her campaign as they appear, and that’s the point. There is an element of smoke and mirrors, and we get that this works (sometimes), but as Ed Mosca noted here, the most recent New Hampshire Republican primary poll includes registered Democrats, 62% of whom preferred Haley over Trump.

When I saw the poll a few days before Ed’s piece, I thought,

 

Isn’t the story that 62% of Democrats in the NH Republican primary poll picked Nikki Haley? Not sure that’s a positive. https://t.co/YcLXlIf1Ua

— Steve Mac Donald (@TheRealNHSteve) December 20, 2023

 

Some would say look, Haley is so bipartisan. My thought is quite the opposite. If she appeals that much to Democrats, why is she running as a Republican? My other more important thought (subjective as that may be) – since St Anselm’s included Democrats in a poll for a Republican primary in which they cannot vote, did the Dems not en-mass pick Trump? According to the sort of people funding Haley and DeSantis, he is the only candidate who can’t beat Biden. Trump is the guy who will inspire Dems to vote in record numbers and wipe out everyone else on the ticket.

I think the At. Anselm’s poll contradicts that notion.

It has been the practice of Democrats to change their party affiliation in New Hampshire to muddle the GOP Primary. They vote for the candidate they feel can’t beat their own. Get that one nominated, and it improves their odds. We just discussed a recent example here (in another form).

So why didn’t 62% of Democrats choose Donald Trump?

And why does the UMass poll (no Democrats) show Trump with a 30-point lead in New Hampshire while every other survey (including the pop-ups) has Haley closing that pesky gap?

 

Within an hour or so, ARG (American Research Group) released bare bones results showing Haley within 3 points of Trump. Folks, the coordination of messaging with the release of that poll right after the Trump +30 UMass Lowell Poll was released, is very suspect.

UMass Lowell put out crosstabs, a detailed methodology and met basic AAPOR standards of disclosure. The other did not and was pushed by Sununu-friendly media locally and anti-Trump media nationally, to include Mediate and FOX News, outlets which are ignoring the UMass Lowell Poll. …

This is very clearly intended to benefit Nikki Haley. …

 

Fraud and deception are the stock and trade of politics, so we should expect more of this in the weeks before Iowa and New Hampshire. And, perhaps, some of the same from the other sides. DeSantis has much to lose if Haley’s suspect polling goes unanswered, and he invested heavily in Iowa, where he’d held second place for the duration of the contest. I think he still does. But he’s struggling in the Granite State and needs to do well here to move on with any confidence.

Trump? He might want to toss a few rhetorical grenades into the relevant TV markets. Not everyone who will vote for him goes to Trump rallies or reads the glossy mailers. Haley has improved her place in the standings, and the party establishment money is lining up to give her momentum, real or imagined, and it hardly matters because if left unquestioned, one becomes the other.

 

The post NH Dems Didn’t Vote the Way the Establishment Tells Us They Should appeared first on Granite Grok.

It was supposed to be an easy play by the Democrat Machine in Augusta. Pulling Former President Donald Trump from the Maine Primary Ballot would be quick and under the radar.

They held an eight-hour public session where they allowed lawyers and citizens from both sides of the issue to get their arguments on the table, but it was an eight-hour sham session. It was a public show to appear like the politicians cared about the wants of Mainers. Like the gross Abortion bill passed last summer against the will of 80% of voters, the decision on the Trump Ballot question was predetermined.

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows was scheduled to make a decision last Friday but delayed the announcement after a Colorado Court gave her an apparent gift. The Colorado Supreme Court decided by a partisan vote to remove Trump from its primary ballot. When the Colorado ruling came down, Maine thought it had the cover to erase Trump’s name from its ballots, too. Maine would follow the same logic as a State Supreme Court, so they had the precedent they needed. Governor Mills was warming up her pen and looking for the line to sign her name. Not so fast. Michigan is throwing Maine a knuckleball.

Michigan is about as Blue a state as Gretchen Whitmer can make it. She did her best to destroy it and the will of its people with as many restrictions as anyone could impose on its people during the Pandemic. People have terribly short memories, and Whitmer’s name comes up as a possible Presidential candidate should Biden withdraw. When the question of Trump’s name on the Michigan ballot arose, it seemed like a foregone conclusion, but Michigan surprised the country and did not follow suit with Colorado. Maine now has a dilemma.

This is a very dynamic situation as the states face deadlines with primaries quickly approaching. As I was writing this article on Thursday night, Maine announced their decision, and as anticipated, it was disappointing. Maine has removed Donald Trump from the state’s primary ballot.

I should not say Maine, but rather, the Democrat Party has made a decision on behalf of Mainers, and I guarantee many of those Mainers are very upset this morning and feeling totally disenfranchised. A group of Liberal politicians elected by the WOKE populations of Maine’s big cities is dictating policy for the rest of the state. The Mainers living outside the few metropolitan areas are traditionally conservative and very patriotic. They still believe in the Constitution and the pillars this country was built on. Election interference by elected officials is not why we elect leaders, and putting their finger on the scale is what Secretary of State Shenna Bellows did, and she will feel the wrath of rural Maine.

The decision will be immediately challenged, and like Colorado, the Supreme Court will probably force Trump’s name back onto the ballot. The Democrats are going to have to find a way to beat Trump at the polls and their current policies and tactics are not going to get it done.

The post Bear Pond Conservative Chronicles: Michigan Stalled Maine’s Plan To Take Trump Off Ballot appeared first on Granite Grok.

Candidate Paula Johnson had her day in court (Paula Johnson vs. City of Nashua). Paula sued the City for procedure and process violations over the handling of a school board election recount.

Thanks to Julie Smith of Nashua, you can get an overview of that day in court here as a primer.

 

All four complaints in Paula’s petition were ultimately acknowledged, some in greater detail than others: procedure not followed, chain of custody for ballot storage breached, equal protection clause violated, and incorrect handling/processing of absentee ballots.

It was a lot worse than that. One source at the recount told me, “I just watched them steal an election before my eyes.”

Paula did not sue on the grounds the recount produced the wrong result; she went after the City for violating procedure (which, if my source is correct, sounds like it might be an excellent way to steal an election). The judge has seen evidence and heard testimony. While we wait for whatever comes next, another issue is the availability of the written results of the recount. They were sealed with the ballots (another procedural issue), and much like the effort to ensure no one in the City can be held responsible for anything, the answer to the question of how those are retrieved was handed off faster than a plane full of illegals landing on Martha’s Vineyard.

 

 

If you ply the actors in this absurd play, they will tell you that City elections are different. Nashua City School board elections are different again. Another round-robin case of ‘not it’ until Julie eventually got an answer from Secretary of State Scanlan, who responded that the manner of extraction for said results from sealed boxes of ballots falls under RSA 669:95 and 659:75, included here.

 

 

    669:25 Conduct. – In towns which have adopted an official ballot system, the town election shall be conducted in the same manner as a state general election as provided in RSA 658 and 659, except that RSA 659:77, III-V and 659:78 shall not apply, and except that all duties required to be performed by the secretary of state under those chapters shall be performed by the town clerk, and except that no copy of marked or unmarked checklists need be forwarded to the state archives or federal district court as provided in RSA 659:102. Polling hours for a town meeting or election shall be set by the selectmen or by a vote of the town.

 

659:75 Forwarding; Retaining Copies of Return. –
One copy of the election return shall be forwarded by the town or ward clerk to the secretary of state in both paper and electronic form no later than 8:00 a.m. on the day following a state election unless the secretary of state orders them sooner. The other shall be kept by the town or city clerk in accordance with RSA 33-A:3-a and shall be open to public inspection at reasonable times. If an official state election return is sealed along with the ballots, the clerk having custody of the sealed ballots shall, at the request of the secretary of state, and in the presence of a state election official, unseal the ballots and retrieve the election return. The ballots shall be immediately resealed and the election return shall be delivered to the secretary of state by the election official.

 

659:75 suggests that Secretary of State Scanlan can ask for them unless, per 669:95, “duties required to be performed by the secretary of state under those chapters shall be performed by the town clerk.” In that case, the Nashua City Clerk can do it and should. Someone should. Immediately. After all – if there’s nothing there, then the people have a right to see that at any reasonable time.

I’m sure Nashua’s brightest legal minds, having dedicated most of their energy toward the obstruction of public documents, will find cause to prevent this despite the law and the precise language. It’s as if that was their default process. Obstruct. Obscure. Defer. Deny. It is a public document. There is a legal remedy to retrieve it. But it’s easier to make them sue you because they might not be able to afford it, and then you don’t have to do anything.

If I recall correctly, a judge has already told Nashua that it must provide remedial Right to Know training for City employees (although I might have them confused with Londonderry). If true, perhaps someone needs to file a 91A request for then that’s scheduled to occur. If not, and the City continues to drag its feet and the Sec. of State can’t engage them on this, the City must be waiting for someone to sue them again.

One more note. Perhaps RSA 91a needs another section to address serial abusers like the City of Nashua. The current remedy reads like this.

 

IV. If the court finds that an officer, employee, or other official of a public body or public agency has violated any provision of this chapter in bad faith, the court shall impose against such person a civil penalty of not less than $250 and not more than $2,000. Upon such finding, such person or persons may also be required to reimburse the public body or public agency for any attorney’s fees or costs it paid pursuant to paragraph I. If the person is an officer, employee, or official of the state or of an agency or body of the state, the penalty shall be deposited in the general fund. If the person is an officer, employee, or official of a political subdivision of the state or of an agency or body of a political subdivision of the state, the penalty shall be payable to the political subdivision.

 

It is either not working or the courts are not using it.

 

The post Is Nashua Waiting for Someone to File Another Election Lawsuit? appeared first on Granite Grok.

As promised on Wednesday, I have an overflow.

Let the mayhem, mockery, and ridicule for the week wrap up:

 

*** Warning, a few possibly off-color ones, in case tender eyes are about ***

 

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

 

 

 

Transgender Is A Stalking Horse For The Normalization Of Pedophilia – small dead animals

Gays and transgenders know full well that kids don’t have the mental barriers or strength to say NO.  They don’t reproduce; they recruit.

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t forget all the weapons bought by the Park Service and Department of Agriculture, amongst others.  And millions of rounds of ammunition.  To be handed out to all these fighting-age men soon?

 

 

 

 

Watch: Powerful New Film, ‘Art Club’, Reveals Nightmare Threat of ‘Transgender Social Contagion’ at School | The Gateway Pundit | by Michael Schwarz, The Western Journal

 

 

 

For most of my life I’ve dismissed the “War on White People” as a myth, but things like this… in my mind, it’s no longer a myth.

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

 

In every group there are good people and bad.  Incidentally, at least in the Jewish circles in which I run with voluntary association (not my Synagogue, but people as individuals), nobody is for mass migration, everyone is for gun ownership, and nobody is for Communism or any flavor of it.

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some people are just broken.

 

 

 

I agree, but also disagree.

I hated Obama with a passion; I think he was a calamity.  But I didn’t actively call for his ouster or anything.  That the Left cannot – CANNOT – abide Trump or his supporters (among whom I count myself) but rather call for his endless persecution as well as his followers – shows that their aim is to destroy us.

Just like in Israel vis a vis Hamas, you cannot coexist with someone whose stated goal is your slavery… or worse.

 

 

 

Not advocating violence, but I must opine that the idea does hold a certain appeal…

 

 

To forcibly co-opt the output of another person’s labor for your benefit has another name: slavery.

 

 

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

PSA – PSA – PSA – PSA – PSA

 

 

 

This needs to be vetted, but… assuming it’s true, and I’d believe it, yet another outsourcing of government desires to censor to private industry.  And so the noose on the free flow of information tightens.  Some more detail – apparently not down to the individual.  Yet.  I have no doubt that’s coming.

New A2P, non-consumer non-compliance fees beginning January 1 – Bandwidth Support Center

Private execution of government mandates.  There’s a word for that, I think…

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

 

 

 

Here We Go Again: Scientists Propose Radical ‘Sunshade’ Plan to Fight ‘Climate Change’ | The Gateway Pundit | by Andrew Jose, The Western Journal

Remember – they want to drive all humanity to be completely dependent on solar, and wind which derives from solar energy.  And then block off solar energy.

 

 

 

If the Islamists do take the world, I’ll be dead by then.  But there will be some Schadenfreude in seeing all the “useful idiot” libtards held down and beheaded even as they bleat “But we advocated for you and took your side”!  (Assuming I go upstairs, I wonder if that’s permitted.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An oldie but goodie on that:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

Pick of the Post:

 

 

All because, to my understanding, because we decoupled from gold as the base for the monetary supply.  And then the central bank – i.e., The Fed – started running the presses to fuel a debt-based government.

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

Palate cleansers:

 

—

—

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

And don’t forget… come back Monday for another edition.  Same Meme Time.  Same Meme channel.

Please do consider buying me a coffee.

Buy Me a Coffee

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

 

 

The post Friday Meme Overflow appeared first on Granite Grok.

Last week, a video clip of Francis Fukuyama went viral. In the clip, the political scientist called freedom of speech and a marketplace of ideas “18th-century notions that really have been belied (or shown to be false) by a lot of what’s happened in recent decades.”

Fukuyama then reflects on how a censorship regime could be enacted in the United States.

But the question then becomes, how do you actually regulate content that you think is noxious, harmful, and the like—and do it in a way that’s consistent with the First Amendment? Now, I think you can push the boundaries a bit because the First Amendment does not allow you to say anything you want. But among liberal democracies, our First Amendment law is among the most expansive of any developed democracy.

And you could imagine a future world in which we kind of pull that back and we say no, we’re going to have a law closer to that of Germany where we can designate—the government can designate something as hate speech and then prevent the dissemination of that. But the question then is, politically, how are you going to get there?

Putting aside the fact that the censorship regime Fukuyama is talking about is already here, it’s important to consider the admission behind his words.

Francis Fukuyama is often associated with the neoconservative movement. And that’s for good reason. He was active in the neoconservative Project for a New American Century and helped lead the push for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. But he later turned against the war and renounced neoconservatism, so he can perhaps better be understood as an intellectual proxy for the Washington establishment.

Fukuyama is best known for his 1992 book The End of History and the Last Man. The book argues that liberal democracy represents the endpoint of humanity’s ideological evolution and the final form of government because of its defeat of fascism and socialism and its supposed lack of inner contradictions.

If there was ever a time when this idea would resonate, it was 1992. The Soviet Union was gone, and the US government, fresh off its sound defeat of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, was the most powerful single entity in history.

But at the same time, an entirely new medium for information was quickly emerging. In 1996, a software engineer named Dave Winer decided to host his newsletter on the World Wide Web. The result was the first web log, or blog. He called it DaveNet. As blogs began to catch on, writers could reach their readers directly without filters, editors, or space constraints.

It is hard to understate the effect of this development. But it’s best explained by Martin Gurri in his 2014 book The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium. Gurri posits that throughout human history “information has not grown incrementally… but has expanded in great pulses or waves which sweep over the human landscape and leave little untouched.”

According to Gurri, the first information wave came with the invention of writing. The second was set off by the development of alphabets. These waves gave rise to governments and societies led by literate bureaucratic and priestly castes. The third wave came with the invention of the printing press. Suddenly, the ancien régime’s monopoly on information was shattered. The result was sweeping political change—most notably the Protestant Reformation and the American and French Revolutions.

Central to Gurri’s thesis is the idea that these revolutions did not come about because of a sudden change in the public’s sentiments but because abrupt changes in the information space allowed sentiments that were already there to spread and develop outside of the ruling classes’ control.

The fourth wave came with the adoption of broadcast media—radio and television—during the twentieth century. While this wave was certainly disruptive, the government’s early takeover of the airwaves made it easier for the political class to retain control over the information space.

But the same could not be said of the fifth wave—the digital revolution. Only two years after the launch of DaveNet, another blog, the Drudge Report, would go around the establishment press and break the story that got Bill Clinton impeached.

Ten years later, as yet another financial crisis gripped the country, the internet allowed true grassroots opposition movements to organize and spread—Occupy Wall Street on the left and the Tea Party on the right. It also allowed candidates like Ron Paul to run popular campaigns critical of the Washington establishment.

The internet didn’t just allow people to see and hear dissenting views; it allowed them to see that those views were popular.

And because of that, from the Arab Spring to the passage of Brexit, the weakening of political control over the information space began leading to real change across the world. But in the United States, after Donald Trump won the White House, the political class woke up to what was happening. And they decided to do something about it.

At first it was Russian disinformation, then hateful domestic extremists, and later covid skeptics. The establishment has used whatever boogieman or strawman they thought could scare the public into accepting more political control over the online space. Which brings us back to Fukuyama.

In a sense, he’s right. It was a lot easier for the Washington establishment to act as though they were supportive of freedom of speech and the free exchange of ideas when they controlled the information space. But now that the internet has partially rolled back their control, these ideas have been “belied” in their eyes.

For those like Fukuyama, who want the Washington establishment to keep up its ever-escalating interventionism at home and abroad—funded by unsustainable debt and inflation—the digital revolution is cause for concern. But for those of us who understand that our economic, geopolitical, and cultural issues require radical change, it’s a reason to have hope.

 

Connor O’Keeffe produces media and content at the Mises Institute. He has a master’s in economics and a bachelor’s in geology.

Connor O’Keefe | Mises Wire

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The post A Free and Open Internet Is a Threat to the Establishment appeared first on Granite Grok.

Maine is in the news again after its secretary of state – a Trump-hating-partisan Democrat decided she had the authority to tell the Republican party (a private corporation) who could be on their primary ballot. That was the big news. Shenna Bellows. Trump kicked off Maine Ballot. Or, is he? No, he’s not!

After taking the Cable News Tour yesterday – to justify her decision to drop him (to the applause of the commentariat, ‘She’s so brave!’), Bellows bellowed again, renouncing her own decision. She recanted, retracted, she walked it back. Sehnna will leave Trump on the ballot pending a court review.

 

She immediately suspended her decision.

Meaning Trump stays on the ballot in Maine.

This is just for show. pic.twitter.com/Ac6haE4Kcy

— Midwest Iowa girl (@Maga4Justice) December 29, 2023

 

But will what the courts decide even matter? After getting all excited about the prospect of keeping Trump off an opposing party primary ballot, the Colorado Secretary of State agreed to “keep Trump on the Ballot.” The Colorado Supreme Court decision never technically removed him in a manner not inconsistent with the Maine Secretary of State’s 34 pages of bloviating before not removing Trump. It’s as if the exercise serves some other purpose.

Some liberal-leaning individual or body vents their spleen all over the 14th Amendment only to then say they will wait for someone else to tell them what it means.

The scuttlebutt suggests we’ll see a few more of these-perhaps before the year ends, all delivered to create headlines suggesting Trump’s ineligibility.

At some point, the Supremes down in DC will have a say. A decision likely to lean in Trump’s favor (which the purveyors already know) will then – as VermontGrok contributor Rob Roper notes, “set up a future line of attack to rally Democrat voters against the “conservative” US Supreme Court. After SCOTUS inevitably overrules Colorado, look for the Democrats to let loose a broadside accusing the conservative court – especially Trump’s appointees — of “deciding the election.” AKA – Democracy is under threat!”

It won’t be the partisan Secs-o-state of their courts who are meddling in the election; it will be SCOTUS—a strange tactic, to be honest. Partisan prosecutors have dragged the Trumpster to Court in an election year in multiple venues, an act that – had Trump done it to Biden or even his son, would have been marketed as election interference. Heck, mentioning Hillary’s illegal server got that treatment.

We shall soon see which way this blows, and the left may be crazy, but they are not stupid. They also have confidence in their ability to control the narrative. Distract us from Biden sh!t storm.

I wonder if they can get Chris Christie back on the Maine Ballot?

 

Update: Major media is still reporting that Trump is off the ballot, so I went to the Maine Sec. of State for clarification. I found it here – at the end of her “decision” claiming Trump was off the ballot.

“Given the compresed timeframe, the novel constitutional questions involved, the importance of this case, and impending ballot preparation deadlines, I will suspend the effect of my decision until the Superior Court rules on any appeal, or the time to appeal…”

 

HT | RedState

The post Trump is Back on the Ballot in Maine – Was Never Really Off it. Not Yet. appeared first on Granite Grok.

The United States, Israel, and other democracies have a huge stake in the success of the Iranian people to rid themselves of Islamic tyranny. This is not just a matter of geopolitical concern but a moral imperative rooted in the principles of democracy, human rights, and global stability. As I have continuously stated, the Mullahs are highly vulnerable.

And it is the Iranian people who continuously find themselves at the forefront of this enduring quest for freedom and justice.

A comprehensive political, moral, and economic measure by the United States and others offers the best chance of ending Mullah’s reign of terror and diffusing the existential threat it poses to the world.

We must fully engage in this great battle of hearts, minds, and ideas. Let us stop talking about unimportant issues and peripheral concerns. Let us concentrate our efforts on bringing down this foreign enemy in Iran, the Islamofascists.

The survival of the Iranian nation and its identity depends upon it. Human beings cannot create an ideal world of peace and tranquility under totalitarian, despotic, and tyrannical regimes, such as the Islamist regime in Iran. Individual freedoms would be brutally repressed. The individual would be at the mercy of the merciless despots. Based upon the general reaction among Iranian opposition groups, it is clear that the time has come to form a new brand of political opposition, a united force whose sole purpose will be a regime change in Iran and establishing the rule of law.

The moral dimension of this endeavor is underscored by the timeless wisdom embedded in the Biblical adage, “From those who are much given, much is demanded.” Perhaps it is for this reason that the people of the United States of America are again called upon to make huge sacrifices to defeat another tyranny. The United States, as a nation endowed with immense power and influence, carries the responsibility to stand against this tyranny and champion the cause of liberty.

This echoes a historical pattern where the United States has, at critical junctures, risen to the occasion to confront oppressive regimes and champion the aspirations of those yearning for freedom. It is important that this great nation stays the course and enlists its power in support of the freedom-loving Iranian people and help them topple these ruling, bloodthirsty Mullahs who are bent on wreaking death and destruction in the world.

As the spotlight shines on the vulnerabilities of the Mullahs, a crucial moment presents itself for the international community, particularly the United States, to undertake comprehensive political, moral, and economic measures. The strategic alliance of democracies, spearheaded by the United States and Israel, can only serve as a beacon of hope for the people of Iran who seek to break free from the chains of oppression.

By doing so, the world can bestow upon the Iranian people the support they need to overcome the oppressive regime and pave the way for a new era of freedom, dignity, and self-determination. Through diplomatic efforts, economic sanctions, and moral solidarity, these nations can create a formidable front against the tyrannical rule of the Mullahs.

Furthermore, empowering the Iranian people to shape their destiny is not just a geopolitical maneuver but an enduring commitment to human rights and the dignity of every individual on this planet.

In conclusion, the challenge posed by the Mullahs in Iran is not just a regional issue; it is a global concern that demands the collective efforts of democracies worldwide. The United States, with its historical commitment to liberty, is once again called upon to lead the charge against tyranny.

By standing firmly with the Iranian people, the world has the potential to witness the triumph of freedom over oppression, signaling a new chapter in the ongoing struggle for justice and human dignity. By offering support to those on the front lines of the struggle for freedom, the international community can reaffirm its dedication to fostering a world where justice, liberty, and democracy prevail.

The United States has, in secular and free Iranians, its best friends in the entire world. It is imperative for the U.S. to help these Iranians to dislodge the vicious doomsday Mullahs, not as an act of altruism, but as a prudent measure of enlightened self-interest.

The post America Must Stand With the People of Iran appeared first on Granite Grok.

If the Border Crisis were not so severe and negatively impacting every state in this country, the insane comments by Karine Jeanne-Pierre would be comical. KJP stands before dazed White House correspondents, bats her eyelashes (which is her tell that she is lying), points her finger, and goes into her forceful, condescending tone of authority.

She then proclaims that Joe Biden has done all he can from the White House to create a secure Border that treats all illegal aliens with respect and humanity and retains the safety of every American city. Wow. Where do we begin to refute every false word of her statement?

Let’s stipulate the only fact in her statement and get that out of the way. Joe Biden is President. That’s it. Everything else should be challenged, yet not a single person in the room raised a hand for a follow-up question. This lack of effort is the shame that is our news media. It is because of this deficiency that the Biden Administration is so comfortable lying to the American public.

To the Democrats, these actions are their ace in the hole for 2024. They have to keep up this facade and illusion that Biden, all the way down to Karine Jeanne-Pierre, has been perpetuating. To suddenly acknowledge  the obvious results would be to admit to failure. The Dems have to be complicit in this play or turn the White House and maybe the Senate over the MAGA crowd.

The President never has, nor will, do anything to curb the flow of illegals through our Southern Border and now also through the North. Biden sees it as more humanitarian to subject women and children to the brutality of the Cartel than to close the Border. As far as the safety of American cities, even the Liberal mayors of sanctuary cities like New York are turning on the President. Mayor Adams, who the President has ignored, is using the power of New York’s budget to rile up support. By cutting the budgets of Education and other critical departments to fund the cost of the alien influx, he is getting the attention of New Yorkers and the national media. Even the Mayor of Ultra-Liberal Chicago is sounding the alarm for help from Washington. These Mayors are doing this for their cities but more for self-preservation. They will not go down with him if Biden loses in November.

Secretary of State Blinkin and DHS Secretary Mayorkas went to Mexico this week for a photo-op to show that Biden is working on the Border issue. It is a sham visit. There is nothing Blinkin and Mayorkas can offer Mexico that will overcome the Cartel’s control over the Mexican Government. Biden’s disastrous policies, or lack of such, at the Border, have been a boom for the Cartel, and they have gained significant power over the last three years. We no longer have the bargaining power that Trump had to get cooperation from Mexico. So maybe KJP is right when she says Biden has done all he can. Biden has so damaged the balance of power at the Border, we may never be able to secure it without force.

The post Night Cap: ‘This’ President Has Done More Than Anyone Else … appeared first on Granite Grok.

In my 87 years of life,  one of the most important lessons I learned early, taught to me by my late brother who wasted the tremendous talent God blessed him with: It’s easy to become happy while you’re drinking, but New Year’s Day you wake up with the same problems and a headache.

So, have a blessed New Year, Senator Chandley and Merrimack State Legislators Notter, Boyd, Healey, Mooney, McGough, Thomas, Murphy, and Rung.

This upcoming legislative season may seem a bit like that to you all. Maybe a headache? But I have to keep hammering at you for what I believe to be important to our state and nation today, that will hopefully someday bear the fruit of liberty for posterity tomorrow.

One of the foundational pillars of liberty, given us by Solomon in Proverbs, that I believe is an integral part of the formula for liberty – so needed and so forgotten today is, “Righteousness exalts a nation, and sin is a reproach to any people.” It goes without saying that this includes both constitutes and public servants.

With all that said, I’d like to introduce to you a video on another vital ingredient to ensure liberty. A short video of how the state of New Mexico defied federal abuse of power with state Nullification (Less than ten minutes).

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I suggest that when you consider issues of federal abuse of power, always remember the states created the federal government. Thank God that our Founders have blessed the states with this power that has become like an endangered species, to limit federal abuse of power in the 2nd paragraph of Article VI of the U.S. Constitution:

“This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, …“

I have underlined your responsibilities as state legislators, bound to this supreme law of the land by oath, that any laws not made in pursuance of the U.S. Constitution are null and void and unconstitutional.

Rather than separation of parties, liberty demands both parties meet on the rock-solid foundation of liberty, within the limits of the Constitution based on Judaeo/Christian ethics  – the foundation of all civilized order.

You have an awesome responsibility to “we, the people” of NH. May God bless you in all your efforts to promote continued prosperity and ordered liberty in our state. 

Sincerely & Respectfully

The post Essentials for Liberty appeared first on Granite Grok.

Nikki Haley is in some hot water because she didn’t say that the cause of the Civil War (or the War of Northern Aggression, as it’s called in some parts of the country) was slavery. Looking to score some points, Joe Biden chimed in on social media, saying ‘It was about slavery.’

But if anyone knew what the Civil War was about, it was Abraham Lincoln, right?  After all, it was his war.

In a letter to Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune, here’s what Lincoln himself said (in 1862) that the war was about:

I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored; the nearer the Union will be “the Union as it was.” If there be those who would not save the Union, unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union.

Lincoln is often held up as an example of clear communication, and I don’t think he has ever said anything more clearly than what he said here:  The Civil War was not about slavery.

If people need to restrict themselves to one-word explanations, the proper one is this:  It was about secession.

 

The post Who Should You Believe? Nikki Haley, Joe Biden, or Abe Lincoln? appeared first on Granite Grok.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez released her Christmas message, and she would have been better served to sit this one out. Cortez always tries to sound intelligent, but once you get past the gesticulations when she is orating on the house floor or dig into the words she has chosen on her online posts, her thinking is inaccurate or more emotional than factual.

Cortez went to X for this year’s message, and it reads:

“In the story of Christmas, Christ was born in modern-day Palestine under the threat of a government engaged in the mass genocide of innocents,” she wrote. “Thousands of years later, right-wing forces are violently occupying Bethlehem as similar stories unfold for today’s Palestinians, so much so that the Christian community in Bethlehem has canceled this year’s Christmas Eve celebrations both out of safety and respect.”

The entire story of Christmas and Christ himself is about standing with the poor and powerless, the marginalized and the maligned, the refugees and the immigrants, the outcast and misunderstood, without exception,” she wrote. “This high Christian holiday is about the precious sanctity of a family that, if the story were to unfold today, would be Jewish Palestinians.”

I cannot condemn Cortez for her lack of knowledge about the birth of Jesus or the difference between a Jewish and Palestinian person because religion was probably not a very common topic for discussion at Boston University or the bars where Cortez worked pouring beers. But as a U.S. Representative, you have an obligation to vet your comments and social media posts for accuracy. Obviously, Cortez has her staff prepare her statements and then applies her talents to reading them. It might help if she understood the words she is reading.

Mike Huckabee, the former Governor of Arkansas and ordained minister, did an excellent job of dissecting Cortez’s comments and exposing the misinformation involved.

• Jesus was a Jew
• The term Palestinian people meant Jewish people until 1962 when Arafat took the term and created a nation.
• She claims Bethlehem is preventing Christians from celebrating Christmas. Still, she fails to recognize that just forty years ago, Bethlehem was 80% Christians, and today, the region has flipped and is 80% Muslim and 20% other religions.

Cortez has shown in her two paragraphs that she lacks an understanding of the history of the Middle East, Jesus, the Jewish people, the State of Israel, or just about anything else that is a part of this story. The problem with that misuse of information is that Miss Cortez has 8.4 Million followers on Instagram, and many are easily influenced and believe everything elected officials say is, by default, the truth. Congresswoman Cortez may represent 170,000 people in New York, but she impacts millions. That influence makes content creators or users of X, Instagram, and TikTok dangerous. People with a significant online social presence are more potent than our politicians, and in the case of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, they are one and the same.

The post The Real Story of Christmas, by Sandy Cortez … appeared first on Granite Grok.