Mash Notes, Hate Mail & Other Correspondence

God, Guns, & Ginny

Well, of course it was righteous. Bear any burden, pay any price, what you could do for your country. Godless communists, after all. You may have been only seventeen, but you’d seen them already in Hungary, Cuba, Berlin. Something had to be done, and someone would have to do it. There is something about a thatched-roof hut in the middle of rice fields, burning, a mortally wounded woman softly keening, child dead in her arms, that can’t be blamed on Chairman Mao, Castro, Lenin, or Das Kapital. Heavy artillery flattened that home. Ours. Our guns did that. Long before I reached my thirteen months, I …

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It’s Brass Knuckle Time

Hi Editor. Listening this morning to a bit of discussion on whether Trump might be called to testify in the House investigation of 1/6. It was acknowledged as a theoretical possibility, but thought unlikely for two reasons. First, it might set a “dangerous precedent”…where, for instance, a future Republican Congress might haul Joe Biden in to question him about Hunter’s laptop. Personally, I think it would set a good precedent—to be applied whenever a mobster has finished being president. Since the emotional maturity of the Republican party really is at the level of “Oh yeah? We’ll get him back!,” it’s not inconceivable that revenge brings …

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The Two Faces of “Conservatism”

Dear Sir: At the conclusion of the 2021 legislative session, Governor Sununu signed two very controversial and dangerous bills, HB 220, and HB2. The relevant sections of these bills are as follows; HB 220 states, “Every person has the natural, essential, and inherent right to bodily integrity, free from any threat or compulsion by government to accept an immunization. Accordingly, no person may be compelled to receive an immunization for COVID-19 in order to secure, receive, or access any public facility, any public benefit, or any public service from the state of New Hampshire, or any political subdivision thereof, including but not limited to counties, …

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Sununu Signs Memory Hole Into Law

Dear Sir: There has been a great deal of debate and confusion regarding the prohibition of teaching of so-called “divisive concepts” by schools, state agencies and state contractors. The “divisive concepts” teaching prohibition was included in the budget trailer bill (HB 2) signed by Governor Sununu. In an attempt to clarify and provide guidance to educators, state agencies and contractors, Frank Edelblut, Commissioner Department of Education, Ahni Malachi, Executive Director Commission for Human Rights, and John Farnella, Attorney General, recently issued guidance on how to implement this new “Anti-discrimination” law. The guidance explains what schools, public employers and government programs are prohibited from teaching, training …

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Military Justice

To the Editor: In a July 7th report on the PBS Newshour the following statistics for sexual assault in the military were given. “Approximately 20,000 U.S. military members are sexually assaulted annually. But only 7,816 reported those cases, and only in 350 cases were perpetrators charged with a crime.” The report added that 64 percent of those who reported assaults faced retaliation. Clearly, the system is not working when only five percent of those accused of assault face charges and 64 percent of the victims face retaliation. One major problem is the victim has to report the assault to their commanding officer who, in most …

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Governor Sununu’s Budget is Cruel and Dangerous

by Peter Somssich The recent state budget and some individual bills, agreed to by both the N.H. Republican House and Senate and signed by Governor Sununu, but opposed by Democratic Representatives, are cruel and dangerous for the welfare of the residents of New Hampshire. Even if it was not intentional, that is the consequence of these actions. Also, don’t be fooled! Tax cuts at the state level, result in lower revenues for the state to fulfill its obligations, resulting in down-shifting and in higher property taxes at the town level. Because many of the social issue items included in the budget could not have passed …

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