NH Republican Boss Calls Marriage Equality "Garbage"

here's a newsflash (4.00 / 2)

For all of the closeted NH Republicans - this is what your leader thinks of you. As far as he is concerned, you are garbage.

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by: susanthe @ Wed Apr 22, 2009 at 01:19:11 AM UTC

Personally Offensive (4.00 / 3)

I've "personally" known John Dad Sununu, and John Son Sununu.  I take his reference to me and others like me as "garbage" as personally offensive.  

That he wants his son to have rights that he would not give to me shows that he has put his head in the trash can.  And to call equality for us "garbage" is quite disgusting.

That point is view does not dignify a former Governor.  What a sad example of a man he is.  At the least, he should apologize to the tens of thousands of gay and lesbian New Hampshire citizens.  

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by: Rep. Jim Splaine @ Wed Apr 22, 2009 at 01:23:17 AM UTC

The mask slipped (4.00 / 1)

Not that it was much of a mask, with his sneering "San Francisco agenda" rants. But he showed tonight that he is hateful and offensive.

He won't apologize, Jim, he believes this crap. He would ruin our state by taking us back to the days when discrimination on the basis of preference was just ducky, and I bet if he told the truth he would say that civil unions are bad, too.

We have got to stop Sununu and his ilk from ruining our state.  



"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    

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by: Kathy Sullivan 2 @ Wed Apr 22, 2009 at 01:45:11 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

If he dared (4.00 / 1)

he'd say it was a mistake to give women the vote.

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by: susanthe @ Wed Apr 22, 2009 at 01:51:57 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Exactly (4.00 / 1)

We have got to stop this guy from destroying our state.  



"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    

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by: Kathy Sullivan 2 @ Wed Apr 22, 2009 at 01:57:35 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Funny (4.00 / 3)

I think lobbying for governments that abuse human rights is garbage, too.  But that's how John H. Sununu has been making money for the past dozen years.

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by: Dartmouth Dem @ Wed Apr 22, 2009 at 01:39:11 AM UTC

I share your sentiments but must point out (0.00 / 0)

that Rep. Tom Buco (D) was quoted in our local paper as having called the marriage equality bill "garbage."

I don't want to give Sununu a pass - but do we have one standard when  Republican says it and another when the person is a Democrat?

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by: beverlywoods @ Wed Apr 22, 2009 at 02:05:28 AM UTC

or maybe it was the nondiscrimination bill (4.00 / 1)

Buco called "garbage," but in any case - the targets are the same.

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by: beverlywoods @ Wed Apr 22, 2009 at 02:06:39 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

it was all of the issues (0.00 / 0)

relating to civil rights and justice.

 

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by: susanthe @ Wed Apr 22, 2009 at 02:16:41 AM UTC

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No (0.00 / 0)

On the other hand, I don't think Tom Buco wants to destroy our state. Sununu does.  



"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    

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by: Kathy Sullivan 2 @ Wed Apr 22, 2009 at 02:07:41 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

We have some work to do on both sides of the aisle (0.00 / 0)

but of course Sununu takes all sorts of cake. I loved when he offered NH as a nuclear dumping ground.

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by: beverlywoods @ Wed Apr 22, 2009 at 02:09:44 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Papa should discuss this with Steve Schmidt and Meghan McCain (0.00 / 0)

He doesn't realize that the future is against him

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by: Putney Swope @ Wed Apr 22, 2009 at 02:09:03 AM UTC

The future (0.00 / 0)

is here and now:

But her sister's committment to a partner is "garbage" I guess.

birch paper; on Twitter @deanbarker

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by: Dean Barker @ Wed Apr 22, 2009 at 02:12:55 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

sorry to say I don't think his sort cares about the future (4.00 / 1)

When I was part of a delegation that met with then-Senator Joe Kenney seeking his support for equal marriage rights, he said to us: Oh, you'll have your way in 20 or 30 years; the polls show that younger people don't care if same sex couples get married.

If that's the way things are going, I said, why not join with us now and support this, if it's the wave of the future anyway?

He didn't really have an answer for that, but he was plainly very comfortable with the power he had in the moment, which was of course at least temporarily increased by aligning with bigotry.

Same with Sununu. And I am not forgetting that Bradley's vote totals were partially brought to us by illegal, hate-mongering robocalling from Cornerstone.

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by: beverlywoods @ Wed Apr 22, 2009 at 02:16:02 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Sigh. (4.00 / 3)

Sununu was the governor when I was a little kid, so I figured he was someone to be looked up to in my naïve apolitical little-kid way, because he was the Governor.  Why, that's practically being like George Washington or Abraham Lincoln, except he's the President of New Hampshire.  Teachers told me about his son going into politics and I would ask if Jr. would become the governor too, imagining it like a royal succession or something.  And I was proud to find out Sr. had become more of a national figure later on when I saw him on TV in the White House and on Crossfire.

But once I was no longer a man-cub it was like, "My angel in the centerfold!"  Or, more accurately I suppose, like the object of your puppy idolatry unzips and peels their skin off and a hideous gibbering slimy space-monster emerges that's part of an invasion to take over the world and purge everything human.

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by: Vis Unita Fortior @ Wed Apr 22, 2009 at 02:16:50 AM UTC

Puzzling (0.00 / 0)

The offensiveness of the comment aside, why is he specifically pushing the governor?

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by: JimC @ Wed Apr 22, 2009 at 02:57:17 AM UTC

Longtime GOP strategy (0.00 / 0)

Attack and distort your enemy's strengths, and turn them into weaknesses, and then your constant whispering campaign against their weaknesses can really take its toll, as they'll have no strengths left in the public eye to fall back on.

John Kerry volunteered for, fought in and was repeatedly wounded in the war that your chickenshit chickenhawk and his scowling coward sidekick skulked and weaseled out of?  Mock his injuries with Band-aids, question his Silver Star, drag out liars to say his wartime service was a disgrace and a fraud.  Then when people hear that he's aloof and vain and elitist, they can no longer say, "Yeah, maybe kinda, but the guy's still solid.  He's a war hero, after all."

So he calls Lynch weak, because he is afraid of Lynch's strength.  In the bizarro world of Sununu-spin, apparently, a really strong governor would take state police helicopters to stamp-collecting conventions, and be hated by everyone who worked under him.

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by: Tim C. @ Wed Apr 22, 2009 at 03:54:01 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

NHGOP Chair Sununu, can I have a word? (4.00 / 1)

As someone who fancies himself reasonable and fair-minded, I feel like I should make sure someone in your position knows this.

Polling shows New Hampshire has a higher percentage of openly gay people than does any other state.  And even if you don't let them marry, they can vote.

You knew that, right?

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by: This Was The Moment @ Wed Apr 22, 2009 at 03:17:04 AM UTC

because he knows (4.00 / 1)

that Lynch is against marriage equality. He also knows that Lynch avoids controversy wherever possible. He thinks Lynch is weak.  

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by: susanthe @ Wed Apr 22, 2009 at 03:18:41 AM UTC

Governor Lynch, may I have a word? (4.00 / 1)

Going along with what Sununu is pressuring you to do would not be "strength."

Standing up with the many brave folks who are supporting equality: that would be strength.

You knew that, right?

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by: beverlywoods @ Wed Apr 22, 2009 at 11:17:38 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

well one good thing is... (4.00 / 1)

Jeb Bradley may be uninspiring and he may repeat his talking points too much and he says some stupefyingly dumb things... and I hate how a man who dodged the draft and has done nothing for our fighting men and women feels compelled to natter on about The Veterans all the time.  BUT he is sane and he is thoughtful at times and he does have some intelligence... and he is stepping into a huge leadership vacuum.  He may actually be a force for... well, not Good... but maybe a force for non-Evil.  He does at least increase the ranks of reality-based Republicans by 1.

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by: TimothyHorrigan @ Wed Apr 22, 2009 at 04:20:49 AM UTC

Sorry to disagree (4.00 / 2)

If Bradley is "sane" and "thoughtful" he has not brought those qualities to bear when he was representing our district in Washington. He consistently votes with corporate interests at terrible expense to the small businesses of NH. Also any time I've been to a meeting with him he can't give a straight answer to a question to save his life. And he campaigned against equality. If that's "leadership" let me off the train.

The only ray of sunshine is that Bradley was SO bad that after a while of watching him pull his stunts the voters chose Carol Shea-Porter instead.

We can hope that having the "new" Bradley back representing our district will remind District 3 voters why Bradley is bad news. After a little of that, maybe we can have some sanity and elect a sane, thoughtful Democrat.

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by: beverlywoods @ Wed Apr 22, 2009 at 11:15:34 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

He is worse (4.00 / 4)

Bradley is a force for only one thing: Jeb Bradley. When he came back from his days as a long haired street magician in Amsterdam and opened up his "natural food store", he became a Demcorat. He became a Republican about a year before he ran for state rep from heavily Republican Wolfeboro. He then was a so-called moderate through his primary race for congress, then turned into a right wing rubber stamp for George W. Bush. Whatever suits Jeb's personal political interests are the suits he wears.

Sorry, but reading your post reminds me of the way Democrats used to think in this state.  



"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    

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by: Kathy Sullivan 2 @ Wed Apr 22, 2009 at 11:50:48 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Jeb wouldn't know reality (4.00 / 3)

if he stepped in it.

I followed the guy around for 2 years, went to nearly all of his town hall meetings. I saw precious little sign of sanity or thoughtfulness. He wasn't thoughtful talking to small businesses, which he clearly did NOT understand, despite his claims to be one of them. He wasn't thoughtful when he waffled and lied to constituents about his stance on privatizing Social Security. Imagine if he and his neocon buddies had gotten their way about that?

He wasn't sane when he told Ed Butler over and over that marriage is between a man and a woman, even though he couldn't explain why - he just repeated the statement over and over, because in his lizard brain, he knows Republicans are supposed to say that.

Voting for Real ID showed no evidence of thoughtfulness. Neither did voting for Medicare Part D, which has been a terrible burden for both taxpayers and the elderly. Ever stand in line at the pharmacy behind someone who is hitting the donut hole at that very moment, and they're being presented with a bill for $1500? That ain't sane, in my opinion. (Oh, and by the way, Jeb has at least a million dollars worth of stock in pharmaceutical companies. Medicare Part D was a winner for him.)

Jeb Bradley is a force for whatever his master at the time tells him to be for. He's a phony, with no real beliefs about anything, just a lust for power and financial greed.

We need to remind Jeb and the GOP at every opportunity that he's been downsized to a $100 a year job. We need to remind him that his own party didn't support him in the primary, that even the UL liked John Stephen better than they liked him. Instead of getting kicked upstairs, he's slowly being kicked downstairs.  

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by: susanthe @ Wed Apr 22, 2009 at 12:40:10 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

You are entirely correct. (4.00 / 1)

Unfortunately, so are all those who replied to you.

He is a fairly intelligent person with rational and moderate political beliefs.

And he long, long ago flung those beliefs into the way back of the closet when something more important came up -- namely, the opportunity to ingratiate himself with those who held power over his comfort and position.  Because his only true core belief is, as Kathy says, the personal political interests of one Jeb Bradley.

Will he find a spine, stand up for sanity and decency, decide that superior wealth does not merit superior privilege, denounce and reject Sununu Sr.'s vicious politics of division and hate, and work long and hard to make the NH GOP more enlightened and tolerant?

History strongly suggests not.

If he does, though, it'd be change we could believe in.  And he'd be the man he's long pretended to be.

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by: Tim C. @ Wed Apr 22, 2009 at 16:12:14 PM UTC

[ Parent ]