Reality bites

Ken Weyler, that wild and crazy GOPer and chair of the Joint Fiscal Committee – which really could use someone at the helm who has a firmer grip on reality – managed to somehow stick his foot deeper down his throat following his very public display of, shall we say, his inability to separate fact from fiction. At least when it comes to Covid.

The latest came when he was contacted for some follow-up by Josh Rogers of NHPR following KW’s attempt to have us believe that well over 90% of the patients hospitals for Covid were vaccinated. Yes, vaccinated.

Which is what they call elimination from a bull.

Asked for proof to back up his claim, KW said at first that he got the information from “people I’m hearing from that are working in emergency rooms.” Although later he “refined” his answer by saying he got those “facts” by listening to the radio Among those “facts” are that microscopic, octopus-like creatures are living in the Covid vax, that vaxxed parents are having babies with “pitch black” eyes and the aforementioned vaxxed-patients-overwhelming-hospitals delusion.

Either way, what he said he heard and what he claimed aren’t true.

Still, he’s insisting his version is the real deal.

So in talking to NHPR, KW insisted that you can’t trust the facts that sensible, rational people are accepting because they come from federal (and state) officials: “There is no steady hand on the tiller. There is nobody in government you can trust,” he said.

It’s certainly not fair to paint with a broad brush on that belief. But suffice to say there is at least person in state government who shouldn’t be trusted with the tiller in his hand, and it’s the guy sitting in Division 3, Seat 7.

Who’s the boss?

There’s something happening here. What it is, for better or worse, is exactly clear. The NHGOP – or at least the legislative version – has been running around like a chicken with its head cut off has now officially lost its head. And even a slight grasp of common sense.

It may have taken a few days, but following the fallout from l’affaire Ken Weyler, the guv opined that KW, chair of the all-powerful Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee, get his butt kicked off the job.

The interesting thing is when he made his public statement, the guv implied that he had already made his request “repeatedly” to Speaker Sherm Packard, citing KW’s “ detachment from reality and lack of judgment.” But no dice.

That’s because the speaker – who has either been cowed by the anti-vaxxer contingent so prevalent in his caucus or actually is a full-bore member of the contingent – stood by KW.

“It is not uncommon, whether one agrees or disagrees with the content, for a committee chair to share constituent information with committee members.” (That, statement, BTW, is, on the face of it, a fantasy wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a very scary view of what the legislative process is all about.)

The upshot of all this is that the guy who’s supposed to be the top dog of the NHGOP – yes, the guv himself – is finding out that life is lonely at the top. Especially when the tail is wagging the dog.

You be the judge

Deerfield’s favorite son, GOP rep Jim “Squirrel Killer” Spillane has finally apologized for “sharing” a particularly vicious and offensive anti-Jewish cartoon on social media.

Of course, since the best apologies are heartfelt and are spoken by a person who can actually be believed, let’s reserve judgement on the quality of the apology for the moment.

For context, earlier this year JS was caught in Jan. after posting the cartoon on Parler depicting exaggerated anti-Semitic portrayals of men playing a board game on top of a “table” of unclothed servants. The caption read: “If we all stand up, their little game is over.”

JS added his own comment: “Agree.

Truth.” He later claimed he wasn’t aware of the carton’s anti-Semitic context.

Fast-forward to Sept., when the Legislative Ethics Committee issued a “formal admonishment” against JS for sharing the toon. And, as part of the committee’s settlement of the complaint, State JS apparently had to apologize in writing.

Writing that he held Jewish people in the “highest regard,” JS added, “I am embarrassed that my failure to ascertain the hateful source of that image that resulted in offending and hurting so many others, especially those of the Jewish Faith.”

Sounds like he means it. Contrite actually. But when you realize he didn’t write it until it was needed to settle the complaint, and it came months after the incident occurred, it makes you kinda wonder …

MAKING THE ROUNDS

To set the record straight: On 9/29, when the Exec Council meeting was shut down before it even started by angry anti-vaxxers, no arrests were made even though there was a sizable state police presence. On 10/3, 18 protester – described as “peaceful” – were arrested by state cops in body armor and helmets as they demonstrated against the coal-burning power plant in Bow. There were 42 cops, more than the total number of demonstrators.

Here’s an interesting under-reported fact from ICE365, an “i-gaming website: “Sports betting revenue in New Hampshire fell for the third consecutive month in August, while player spend slipped to its lowest sum since August 2020. Gross gaming revenue for the month amounted to $1.6m, up 14.3% from $1.4m in the same month last year, but 48.4% lower than $3.1m in July this year. This represented the lowest monthly revenue figure since $1.8m was posted for February this year.” The Brady-Pats game couldn’t have come at a better time.

The polls are starting to show it and there’s a feeling in the air that the guv just might not be quite so invincible in 2022, no matter what office – if any – he runs for.

Remember when Corey Lewandowski was at the top of the world? Until he wasn’t. Ouch!