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For the third time since William O'Brien became Speaker of the NH House, another member of his caucus is making national news for an outrageous and downright hate-filled statement. In fact, two of the House members highlighted below are part of his leadership team!
This mainstreaming of hate began earlier when now former Rep. Martin Harty (R-Barrington) said
"funding for the mentally ill should be cut because he doesn't support state funding for "the crazy people" who should be sent to 'Siberia.'"
Even worse than what Rep. Harty said was Speaker O'Brien's response to the situation,
"I would certainly hope that in the future Rep. Harty will choose his comments more carefully, and I will talk with him about how he represents the House. While at age 92 and with the amount of time and effort he has given us all, he has earned the right to say what he thinks, he needs to appreciate that, as a representative, he will be held to a higher standard."
So, because he is 92 Speaker O'Brien believed that it was OK for the Rep. Harty to say what he wanted - even if it was discriminatory and hateful.
The quarterly Intelligence Report by theSouthern Poverty Law Center put this whole issue into perspective. This is the organization that took down the Ku Klux Klan by getting financial judgments against them.
Next, Majority Leader DJ Bettencourt (R-Salem) (but maybe Pembroke) was frustrated that over 5,000 NH citizens gathered on the State House lawn in protest to the NH House budget - he took his anger out on the Catholic Bishop of New Hampshire and called him a "Pedophile Pimp."
Once again, Speaker O'Brien was lax, evasive, and avoided what was at the heart of the issue when he stated,
"Well, I think Rep. Bettencourt's choice of words were unfortunate. I think a lot of us share the concern he has with the historical role of the bishop, but none of us can take a look at those words and say these were words that should've been chosen."
In May Rep. Lynne Blankenbeker (R-Concord), who as part of Speaker O'Brien's leadership team, serves a Vice Chair of the State, Federal Relations, and Veterans Affair Committee nationally embarrassed NH. She gained notoriety when she stated, that it was a "possibility" that Osama Bin Laden was dead. Speaker O'Brien never even chimed in on Rep. Blankenbeker's misguided and inappropriate comments.
Yesterday, Thursday July 21, in an email to all of NH State Representatives Rep. Blankenbeker stated,
"Today I got to be the gunner which was fun. The .50 cal is quite a gun! I was never ascared of the unions but they better not F#%k with me again!!! Just saying."
Once again, NH is getting national attention for inappropriate and crude comments.
Guess what? Speaker O'Brien has once again said nothing.
As Americans, the First Amendment of the Constitution guarantees us the Freedom of Speech, but elected officials should be more mindful of the words they choose because they are leaders in their communities and of our state. Speaker O'Brien's failure to denounce any of these instances, points to his acceptance of this kind of behavior, which has enabled the mainstreaming of hate to continue within the political discourse coming out of Concord. NH can do better.
"I shall assume that your silence gives consent." Plato
