PICTURE IT

Hampton Union 01-25-08

By Ron Dupuis

Picture it. The year is 1966. A young battle tested (yet still boyishly good looking) recently discharged Marine is attempting to adjust to civilian life by matriculating college. The change is difficult. There are fraternities to pledge, social events to attend, and a whole array of organizations to join. The SBBS or “Students for Better Beer Society” is one that shows a lot of promise. To keep it all in perspective there are also courses to register for and classes to attend.
Every story needs a love interest. For this one it’s a California beauty named Sandy Nardella. Blonde, blue eyed, thin, and so tall her perfectly shaped leg’s seemed to go on forever. If not the inspiration of the Beach Boys 1965 hit song California Girls, she certainly could have been.
One day the California beauty invites a Political Science class to help out at a local campaign office. The young (yet boyishly good looking), still adjusting student jumps at the opportunity without even asking who the candidate was or what the issues were. At the time he would have turned Democrat in order to impress the California beauty.

Stuffing envelopes for a gubernatorial candidate is a somewhat menial task. Especially for our young friend who had but a minimal interest in politics. If, however, accomplishing such a boring task would lead to a closer relationship with classmate “California girl”, the attitude was “so be it.”
It is amazing how quickly things can change. Suddenly the door opened and the candidate himself entered the room. He was a tall man in his mid fifties, wearing a dark business type suit buttoned in the middle. His shirt was white and crisply starched, and his stripped tie was in a Windsor knot. His rugged face was well tanned. Not the type of tan you see around Orange County, but instead the kind someone receives from spending a great amount of time outdoors. He moved about the room with not only an air of confidence, but also a touch of humility. He offered praise, but more importantly was not afraid to asked the lowest of minions what they thought of the literature they were working on and the campaign in general. He was sincerely interested.

Our young student friend did not get to speak to the candidate, or even shake his hand. He was introduced from across the room as “Sandy’s friend over there stuffing envelopes” and did receive a high wave, accompanied by a nod of the head that could only mean “thank you”. That was enough. This is not to say that our young friend experienced and epiphany that day. Dating Miss California long legs was still important. Enjoying collage life and all the social amenities that went along with it was still important. He did however realize for that one brief moment in time he was not only in the presence of greatness, but also received a sincere signal of approval from a man who was likely go on to do great things for not only the State of California, but also our country and the entire world. End of story.

I’m sure running for President of the United States is a tremendous strain on most of the candidates. In order to capture the prize you have to do and say things, in public, that you would rather not do even in the most privet of moments. Shameless pandering is the name of the game. Last week Barack Obama received refute for invoking the name of President Ronald Reagan. As well he should. Reagan was a staunch conservative in every sense of the word who felt that negotiating with our enemies should be done from a position of strength. Obama is exactly the opposite.
Mr. Obama, I’ve followed Ronald Wilson Reagan’s career, from his election as Governor in the sixties until his death in 2004, and I can truly say “Sir, you’re no Ronald Reagan”.

MEETING A CANDIDATE

By Dave Buhlman
I had the honor of meeting Republican presidential candidate, Albert Howard, last week. Mr. Howard only got a small number of votes in the New Hampshire primary, but he did have standing, as a candidate, to request a recount of votes in the New Hampshire Republican primary. Congressman Dennis K. had already gotten the Democrat recount started.
Mr. Howard had given the Secretary of State's office a check for $2,000., and filled out the forms to start the recount process. But the remaining cost of the recount was $55,600 which this small campaign did not have. But money for the recount came in from a fine fellow in Massachusetts who will be reimbursed by a collection being made by the Granny Warriors from all over the country. I accompanied Mr. Howard to deliver the check to the Secretary of State's office and the Secretary of State was good enough to accept the check even after the deadline he set had passed. This was clearly the right thing to do.
Those of us in New Hampshire know that Secretary of State Bill Gardner is a man of the highest integrity who would never allow anything untoward to transpire in our primaries. It was noticed that there were several anomalies between voting patterns in municipalities that had all hand counts with no machines, and those that used machines and this was part of the reason for the recount. Further, there has been suspicion for years among many in the country that some election results have been flat out rigged using various computer software to, say, shift votes from one candidate to another. Just paranoids on parade? Remember "Remember the Maine" and the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. That is, things are sometimes not as they appear, and government actually does engage in some manipulative behavior to get what they and their handlers want.
As an aside, the handlers and several of their pantry men in government will be in Davos, Switzerland soon for the annual meeting where these higher-level beings discuss the fate they have planned for the rest of the world. On the other hand, Bono has been invited, so how serious can it be? If it were Congressman Sonny Bono, who was a true conservative who asked some impertinent questions about how things really work in the world system, that would be interesting. However, those who ask impertinent questions are not invited; only true believers allowed. Congressman Bono, an expert skier, was killed in a ski accident a few years ago, but, hey, accidents happen.
In New Hampshire, we have paper ballots so these are now being counted and compared with the results produced by the machines, so there is some accountability in the process. This is better than South Carolina ,where bubbas galore lined up for their Republican primary this past Saturday. They have only touch screen computers with no paper trail whatsoever. So a programmer or hacker could change these election results with ease. These same touch screens were outlawed in California, so imagine how bad they must be if even the nuttiest state in the union (with all due apologies to Massachusetts) got rid of them.
It will be very interesting to see the results of the recounts, and may they happen with all due deliberate speed.
In Nevada, Congressman Ron Paul came in second in the caucuses on Saturday. If you watched Fox (Faux) News, you might have missed this because, although they had the Congressman's picture and number of votes right below winner Mitt's, they managed to never mention Ron Paul's name and the fact that he finished second, ahead of McCain and the other candidates Faux talking heads have been ordered by their bosses to love so.

Elsewhere, in the Sunshine State, whose primary is January 29, they are hiring helpers to assist all voters in the voting process.

Dave Buhlman is a former New Hampshire State Representative and published author.

Meet Peter Borough - Hampton Union 01-18-08

By Ron Dupuis

January 18, 2008 6:00 AM

This column is dedicated to Crawford Notch and his friend Gary, whose literary excellence I've long admired and hope to achieve someday ...; Ron Dupuis

Everyone knows someone like Peter Borough. His age is mid 50s or early 60s. His beard is one that seems like he is trying to grow it in to its full potential, or instead, one that appears to be the result of just not shaving for the last few days. It's difficult to tell. Peter Borough (he likes being addressed by his full name) almost always wears tweed.

In the summer, the tweed jacket is accompanied by docker trousers with all the extra side pockets, in winter, corduroys. When the occasion calls for it, Peter Borough will accompany his ensemble with a striped bow tie and a checkered shirt. At any given point in time there are three places Peter Borough will be found. One of the area's high-end coffee shops drinking a latté and discussing evils of the Bush policies, or lack thereof, concerning global warming, one of the many salt marshes that dot the Seacoast, observing the migrating habits of the three-legged marsh sloth, or finally, near some body of water contemplating the end of life as we know it in 10 years as predicted by Al Gore.

On this particular occasion I found him sitting on a sea wall in a somewhat loose "Lotus" position with his head bowed so low his chin was touching his chest. "Peter Borough, how are you today" I shouted from a distance so as not to startle him?

"Oh, OK I guess," "a little depressed, but I'll get past it" he responded weakly.

"What the heck do you have to be depressed about" I asked?

"Well" Peter started, "my hero, former President Al Gore is receiving a lot of flack for being named the Nobel Peace Prize winner."

"Hang on there a minute, Peter" I said. "Al Gore is not the former president; he's the former vice president. And he received the "Peace" prize for a "theory" concerning climate change. A theory," I stressed. "Nothing more than that."

Peter looked a little puzzled. "Let me ask you two questions. Did Gore receive the most votes in the 2000 election and, considering former President Gore's (accenting the word president at this point) climate change doctrine, will this sea wall still be here in 10 years?"

"Yes on both counts" I responded. "The rules and requirements of being elected president were set up by our founding fathers 200 years ago and former Vice (stressing the word vice) President Gore did not meet those requirements."

"As for this sea wall," I continued, "if the town maintains it properly, yes it will still be here in 10 years, despite what you and Al Gore believes. The polar ice cap is naturally re-adjusting, not melting away and most non-political, clearheaded scientists feel the worst-case scenario is a few center meter rise along the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, not the cataclysmic disaster you and your liberal theorist believe."

Peter Borough's jaw dropped. He stared at me in both amazement and hurt. He had the look of a wounded puppy dog in his eyes. Not because I had convinced him of any of my beliefs but instead that I had not accepted his doctrine as truth. In fact, as in the case with most narrowminded liberals, for someone to even have the audacity to question their tenets is tantamount to the most serious of mortal sin and deserving of an eternity in the fires of Hades.

"Come on Peter, it's cold. Let's get a coffee. There's a Dunkin' Donuts around the corner." I could hear Peter gasp for air as we walked away.

BETTER LEFT UNSAID

By Dave Buhlman

Senator John McCain told a group in Michigan that their jobs are gone and, my friends, are not coming back. The optimism of this leader is infectious, but pray you don't catch it.

What McCain and others running on both sides of the ticket, and many others in the establishment might have added, in the interest of some real straight talk, is the following.

"Yes, my friends, your good manufacturing jobs are gone for good. When we passed NAFTA in 1993, signed into law by my good friend, President Bill Clinton, we knew that there would be hell to pay, but that we and our real friends at or near the top of the pecking order, in and out of big corporations, would not be paying it. You would. Remember that funny little billionaire in the 1992 presidential election talking about the "sucking sound" created by jobs being whooshed from America to Mexico if NAFTA passed? That was my good friend, Ross Perot. Eighteen percent of the American people believed the sucking sound truth, which helped put my very good friend, Bill Clinton, in the White House, ousting my very, very good friend, George Bush the Elder. So many Fords and Chevies that were made here are now made in Mexico because of NAFTA. Many of you went on the unemployment line and then got those nice little Walmart vests, while profits soared for the companies who said, Adios America! It was not hasta luego from these titans of industry because they sure did not intend to see any of you later, my friends. So deal with it, while many in Washington deal with fattened political war chests.

"I hope you can handle this straight talk, my friends. Here's a little more. There's a lie being bandied about that there are 12 million illegal aliens in this country. My friends, let's not be pikers about this! The number is in the 20 million range and growing fast. My friends, Senator Ted Kennedy and George Bush the Junior, wanted to join my effort to give all 20 million of these people, who I consider my good friends, amnesty despite the fact that they broke our laws. The corporations who own Congress lock, stock and cloakrooms, with the exception of that little piece owned and operated by Planned Parenthood, wanted these workers in order to increase their profits by paying them less than they pay you, my friends. But, don't worry, we will create jobs for all of you through retraining to become computer programmers instead of the skilled mechanics that you are. Of course, my friends, you can only have those computer jobs that we do not send overseas or give to foreigners who come here through the H-1B visa program, also created by Congress to take more of your jobs away. So hang on to your Walmart vests. Be prepared!

"There is a Republican candidate running for president, my friends, who talks about getting rid of NAFTA, GATT and other laws and treaties that have hurt millions of Americans. Hurt them badly too, if you can stand a little more straight talk. We candidates, and those in the big corporate media, who are all paid enormous bucks, like to make fun of Congressman Ron Paul, and you should join in too. Why would you want someone as president who will disrupt the current system that's treating you so well? No, wait a minute, that talk is a little too straight, my friends."

Dave Buhlman is a former two-term New Hampshire State Representative and published author who aupports efforts to restore the Republic. All rights reserved.