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"That's right I said it and I meant it."

by: Dean Barker

Sat Nov 14, 2009 at 14:30:30 PM EST


(NB: I changed the title b/c that word was bothering me, even in the context of reporting the event.)

As a friend who relayed this sorry news to me said: "Bigotry's poor sense of timing."

This is what NHDP Chair Ray Buckley got for a birthday present today, on the same day Paul Hodes will be accepting a marriage equality award from HRC on his behalf:

After his radio show "Meet the New Press" ended today, GraniteGrok.com co-founder Doug Lambert looked into a live web-streaming camera, mockingly wished state Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley a Happy Birthday and then called Buckley a "faggot" before basically wishing him dead.

...After co-host Skip Murphy said that he should probably shut off the feed, Lambert looked into the camera and said, "Speaking of gays, Happy Birthday Ray Buckley. Are you going to Holland or taking another trip with your buddies?"

He then dances in a way meant to mock a gay male and says:"Yeah you Faggot. [Pause.] That's right I said it and I meant it. You are reprobate. How the people, the Democrats, I think of some of the gray haired ladies and older people from the old party would stand behind you is beyond me. You are a disgrace to yourself to humanity to mankind and to your party.

"Other than that Happy Birthday Ray and many more -- not," Lambert continued before the feed was quickly shut off.

In a way I prefer this development - at least it's more honest.

Rep. Jim Splaine's condemmnation of this is here.

I think the comment thread here would be a good way to express your support for Ray and his successful efforts to lead the Democratic party in this state.

Dean Barker :: "That's right I said it and I meant it."
Tags: (All Tags)
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Happy Birthday (4.00 / 10)
Mr. Buckley, happy birthday from a conservative whose head is not up their ass. While I disagree with you most of the time, your accomplishments as a political activists and Chair of the Democratic Party in this state are fantastic. God bless you.  

Thank you for that. n/t (4.00 / 1)
I would hope the guests of the show, Ovide Lamontagne and Jeb Bradley, do as you do.

[ Parent ]
And they have. (0.00 / 0)
And Guinta has dropped him too.

All on Pindell's site.


[ Parent ]
Guinta (4.00 / 2)
Guinta may have dropped Lambert, but he did not drop his co-host, who remains a county co-captain, despite the fact that this guy was laughing and did not utter one word of criticism.

And look at this part of Lamontagne's statement:

Mr. Lambert quickly offered a public apology for his words and actions, and naturally, over the course of a long campaign, there will be at times passionate discussion and disagreement about important issues.

Passionate discussion?  Baloney. Passion or the heat of the campaign don't suddenly turn you into an intolerant bigot. It isn't like there is an alien creature that takes over your brain when you get agitated and causes you to spew hate speech. Even if that was an excuse - and it isn't - this wasn't some passionate debate; this was Lambert going off to attack Raymond on his birthday.    

I stand by what I said before: he should be taken off the show, and all these Republicans should pledge to stay of the show until he is taken off.  

Oh, and where is John Sununu? He has been on this show, he seems awfully quiet.
 

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


[ Parent ]
Given the reference to "buddies" and travel overseas and then (0.00 / 0)
the mention of "ladies," the speaker, methinks, is green with envy.  But, he probably can't help it.  Instinct-driven people tend to exhibit what we used to call the seven deadly sins.

wrath
greed
gluttony
envy
lust
sloth
pride

On the other hand, while the speaker's words were destined to be lost in the ether, whoever wrote them down to be passed around did a nasty.


Wow (4.00 / 1)
All I wanted to do was wish my friend and former colleague a happy birthday. Sorry to see that my original thread had to turn into what it did. Sorry for the trouble Ray. I still hope you have a great day! Cait and I still care about you regardless of what a close minded bigot says!

Mike it wasn't your fault, Pindell posted it on his website yesterday (4.00 / 2)
"24 hour warning: prepare for Ray Buckley's birthday on Saturday"

[ Parent ]
This is so beyond (4.00 / 9)
the pale, I don't know how to respond. Except to let people know how low the supposed "conservative" movement has fallen.

Craven hatred and prejudice are obviously acceptable in some circles. The thing is to let the wider public know who's spouting this stuff and who their political allies and backers are. And who they back. Then people can make informed decisions come election time. And the majority will choose positive over negative, They will not choose hate.

Sunlight is always the best disinfectant.


This is just plain old bigotry (4.00 / 3)
This type of homophobic hate speech does not square with New Hamsphire's "Live Free or Die" motto.

[ Parent ]
This made my brain explode (4.00 / 2)
I was so mad I forgot my password and to BH and had to make a new account haha.

Disgusting, ugly hate speech (4.00 / 10)
So, this person at granite grok apparently has issued a half hearted apology, saying he let his passion get the better of him. No, that wasn't passion, that was disgusting, ugly hate speech.

But what do we expect? John Sununu has been walking up to this line for months, with his talk of a "San Francisco agenda" and attacks on marriage equality as a radical agenda "ruining" New Hampshire.  

In any event, sometimes an apology isn't enough. The radio station that runs this show should at the very least suspend the show, if not cancel it, and if it doesn't, any advertisers should be contacted and asked to pull their financial support of the station. And all those Republicans who have been on his show should announce that they are not going on any more.  Actions should have consequences, and an apology blaming his hate speech on "passion" doesn't cut it.      

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


Oh, I forgot! (4.00 / 7)
Happy birthday, Raymond, and thank you for everything you do!

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

[ Parent ]
"Passion" doesn't come in paragraphs. (4.00 / 2)
There's no ambiguity in which to take refuge.

[ Parent ]
No room here (0.00 / 0)
for further clarification:

Yeah you Faggot. [Pause.] That's right I said it and I meant it. You are reprobate.

That's crystal clear.


[ Parent ]
Normally, I think the political media is way too sensitive to sound bites. (0.00 / 0)
But this wasn't a joke, blurted by accident and quickly regretted.  He said it, he meant it, and he said he meant it.  And he kept going with it.

[ Parent ]
Doug Lambert appears each Saturday morning on (4.00 / 3)
WEMJ located in Gilford.  The program director's name is Pat Kelly and his email address is pkelly@nassaubroadcasting.com for anyone interested in writing to express disgust.

Lambert also has a weekly column in the Laconia Daily Sun. The publisher's name is Ed Engler and his email address is ed@laconiadailysun.com

I encourage everyone to write to both of these individuals and express extreme displeasure that Lambert is being given a platform from which to spew his bigotry and intolerance.

Also, Happy Birthday Ray!


[ Parent ]
New Hampshire's very own Addison Graves Wilson, aka "Joe," (0.00 / 0)
another one of those people lacking in self-control.  If it's not their passions, it's the object of their venom that makes them do what they do.
Btw, doubtless their own kind don't need to be reminded about name-calling.  It's how the hierarchy is maintained.  Calling attention to a person's unique attributes is intended to intimidate.  It's why Bush Two invented "nicknames" for reporters--let them know who's got naming rights.  And, as we know from their reporting, it worked.

For what it's worth, I've long felt that particular word ought to be reclaimed for its rightful use--to refer to a bundle of sticks--ever since I sat in a courtroom where a juvenile was being tried and in danger of being sent to reform school for having written that word on the black-board. If we really value free speech, we ought not to make too much fuss over words.  


[ Parent ]
Holy crap.... (4.00 / 3)
The only thing that keeps incidents like these from being overwhelmingly depressing in an oh-my-gawd-how-can-people-suck-that-much kind of way is hearing the passionate responses denouncing such ignorant bigotry.

Raymond,

Besides being such a cool person, you an excellent leader and strategist. The NH Democratic Party, in fact the entire Party, is very lucky to have you.

I know you are too smart to listen to such morons but I beseech you to ignore this disgusting BS anyways. It will only serve to highlight your accomplishments and the other side's hateful, backwards spite in the end.

Happy, Happy Birthday Mr. Chairman. You deserve only the best.

Bresler for Emperor


I call on Republicans to follow their consciences (4.00 / 4)
If you are comfortable supporting the GraniteGrok media, go right ahead. If you believe this sort of "political discourse" should end, stay away.

Your choice.

And Happy Birthday, Ray!


Happy Birthday! (4.00 / 2)
Ray, first off - happy birthday.  Your hard work for Democrats across the state is most appreciated - keep up the great work!

Second - I read the so-called "apology" and this part of it struck me:

Being human, and an honest person that is used to freely speaking my mind...

So pretty much what you're saying is that your disgusting hate speech is really how you "honestly" feel, but you're just upset that other people heard it and are talking about it.  By all means, continue to freely and honestly speak your mind - it'll just help the Democrats win even more elections in NH and across the country.  


The anti-marriage people claim they are not bigots (4.00 / 6)
Doug Lambert's taped comments suggest otherwise.

[ Parent ]
Here is a link (4.00 / 1)
to the radio station that airs their show.

Bigotry and violence (4.00 / 5)
Jim

As a NH ISIDER writer you know that I've written quite a bit over there about the upsurge of bigotry in NH and on the conservative blogosphere here.

I've also warned that this trend fans the flames and sooner or later we will see some violence.

Usually all this is "coded" so I guess we can thank Doug for taking the ambiguity out of it.



Passion vs Bigotry (4.00 / 2)
Passion is a strong positive emotion. Bigotry like Lambert's is a negative evil sickness. Unfortunately, it must be contagious; so many Republicans suffer from it.  

The Silence is Deafening (4.00 / 2)
NH GOP and conservative leaders have spoken out against Mr. Lambert's hate speech.  They have explained that, while they dislike Ray's policies, all public figures should be bound to standards of basic human civility.

(Oh, wait a second.  They HAVEN'T said that.  In fact, to the best of my knowledge, not a single NH GOP or conservative leader has condemned Mr. Lambert's outrageous slurs.)

Seems like some of those folks could learn a lot from eyore33, who advocates conservative views with intelligence and dignity.


Some fallout: (4.00 / 1)
Bradley, Lamontagne, and Kevin Smith have all spoken out against it.

And Guinta's dropped him from the campaign.


[ Parent ]
Mean people suck (0.00 / 0)
Many happy returns, Mr. Buckley.  

Happy Birthday Raymond! (0.00 / 0)


"I said it and I meant it" (4.00 / 3)
That sort of proud declaration is understandable when it follows "You're a stupid jerk." The speaker has made his judgment and stands by it despite any denials!

But here its role is different. Chairman Buckley is openly gay - there is no denial expected on that. So the prideful Mr. Lambert is only bragging about his courage in using a slur.

It is exactly like saying "I said [n*gger | wop | polack] and I meant it!" There was never any question that the person attacked was black or Italian or Polish.

Mr Lambert is a pitiable, broken specimen of humanity.

I said it and I meant it.


Happy Birthday, Ray - now the good part ... (0.00 / 0)
Be true and constant.  Hate has no voice here.
Remind President Obama and President Clinton.
Both of them have left extra work for the rest of us to clean up.  
Respond with a clear, positive voice:  
Hate has no place in America, and Gay people deserve Equal Rights.  
Aim higher - and really earn your prize.  
This is your birthday challenge - seize it, and win it.  
Up to you, Ray ...

I am at a loss for words (4.00 / 6)
in the face of such craven behavior.

I wish you the very best of birthdays, Ray. The best revenge is your continued success.


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