MYRIAD MATTERS

By Ron Dupuis

This week I’m offering a potpourri of “humble opinions” and questions on matters that have been in the news lately.
The New Hampshire Primary- If you feel all the controversy is about New Hampshire not having a better representative cross section of the American public you would be wrong. Take a look at the campaign donations raised by candidates of both parties. The tab is well over one hundred million dollars. Most of which is spent in the early primary states like New Hampshire, Iowa, and South Carolina. It’s no surprise to anyone that a financially depressed state such as Michigan is seeking a bigger slice of the pie. Bill Gardner, hang in there.

Phony Soldier Issue-Recently talk show host Rush Limbaugh (genuflect please) made a comment to a caller who was discussing both military and non-military people that claim to have fought battles both in Iraq and elsewhere Evidently an anti-war group of veterans was using a young man by the name of Jessie MacBeth as their public poster boy. MacBeth not only claimed to be a once wounded Iraqi war veteran, he also purported to have killed, under orders from his superiors, over two hundred innocent women and children. The veterans group was about to send this young man on a nation wide tour with legitimate veterans who were opposed to the war in Iraq when the truth was revealed. It was during this discussion of this incident that Rush (genuflect please) used the term “phony soldiers”, clearly referring to MacBeth. As someone who has listen to Limbaugh for nearly twenty years I can truly say that I have never heard one word of malignment toward our military. If fact just the opposite is true. Rush (genuflect please) has not only visited with the troops in places like Afghanistan, he has always offered nothing less than total support for their effort.
Rush Limbaugh (genuflect please), hang in there.

Birth control for 6th graders-While many New Hampshire Representatives consider the re-introduction of the Parental Notification Law, our country cousins in the progressive state of Maine are weighing the practice of issuing birth control prescriptions to middle school students without any parental knowledge. Apparently the city of Portland operates seven Health Centers in its public schools in an effort to provide access to health care for its students. Students who have permission to be treated at these clinics are already allowed to receive condoms at all of the facilities. Now the Portland School Committee is considering the practice of issuing birth control prescriptions to middle school children, as young as 11 year old, again, without parental notification.
New Hampshire Representatives, hang in there.

Sandy the Burglar- Lets pretend you are the Human Resource officer for a large corporation responsible for the well being of millions of people all over the world. Your assignment is to find someone to serve on the Board of Directors. The result of your effort is the hiring of a disbarred lawyer, and convicted felon who was convicted of stealing and destroying documents of his former employer.
Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign announced the hiring of former National Security Adviser Sandy Burger as a unpaid adviser to the campaign. Berger was convicted of stealing classified documents from the National Archives by hiding them in his socks and down his pants. He was also convicted of destroying some of those documents. Many politicians, both Democrats and Republicans questioned Senator Clinton’s actions. Sen John Cornyn of Texas was quoted as saying “I think anyone who would surround themselves with advisors like that is demonstrating bad judgment.” Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan said that the Clinton campaign should “ clearly distance themselves from Sandy Berger. This person should not be a key adviser to any of the leading candidates.”
Senator Cornyn of Texas and Representative Hoekstra of Michigan, hang in there.

Ron Dupuis is a long time New Hampshire resident, a former State Representative, and a freelance writer. His e-mail is drcdupuis@comcast.net. His web site may be viewed at www.imho-nh.blogspot.com