Thursday, August 12, 2010

New Hampshire Democrats Apologize, Quit After Sarah Palin Death Wish Posted on Facebook

Ah....the joys of anti-social networking.

One Granite State Democrat is in trouble after posting on a state representative's Facebook page that they were sorry former Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her former son-in-law Levi Johnson weren't on board the plane that crashed and killed former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens and four others on Monday.

In a posting on New Hampshire state Representative DJ Bettencourt's (R-Salem) Facebook page, NH State House of Representatives candidate Keith Halloran said of the fatal crash "Just wish Sarah and Levi were on board". Ironically, Bettencourt's post seemed to be lamenting the tendency for people to dogpile on a public figure and their legacy after their death.

State representative Tim Horrigan (D-Durham) weighed in on the crash by wishing Palin good health for his own less-than-altruistic reasons:
Just for the record, I don't wish Sarah Palin dead... but not merely for compassionate reasons. I also want her to live because a living Sarah Palin is less dangerous than a dead one. Her rise to the status of Head Tea Partier had nothing to do with anything she ever said, did or accomplished--- but as long as she lives she might be able to say or do things which could serve as a moderating influence. And she also might commit a gaffe bad enough to shock her followers, though that is unlikely. Unless of course she endorses Obama for President in 2012.
A staffer for Democrat Congressman Paul Hodes (NH-2) weighed in and tweeted "I wonder if & when Sarah Palin will learn the meaning of our state motto 'Live Free or Die'".

After initially dismissing his comments as a 'tempest in a teacup' Halloran announced Thursday that he was pulling out of the state House race and issued the following written statement:
After consulting with the secretary of state's office, I am withdrawing as an active candidate for the New Hampshire House. I urge registered voters to consider supporting and voting for the truly progressive candidates on the ballot on Sept. 14 and Nov. 2
That's a crying shame, because from what little I know about Halloran, he seems like the picture-perfect little progressive. Soothing and pretty words about justice, equality and helping the middle class while masking an angry, petulant, condescending, whiny, duplicitous individual who gleefully wishes for others to die for the high crime of not agreeing with their worldview. Or maybe he didn't put enough effort into his boilerplate progressive 'I'm for the little guy' speak hence the mask slipping and him not caring- at least in that moment- what other people thought about what he had to say.

Horrigan also announced his resignation and the suspension of his re-election campaign on Thursday. Representative Horrigan sent a formal letter to House speaker Terrie Norelli and later made an apology to Palin via Facebook.

Full disclosure- anybody paying attention knows that my politics lean to the right of center. And as much as I agree with her on a number of issues, there's still the fact that Palin quit halfway through her first term as governor. Quitters tend to be unappealing. With that said, I find the amount of obsessive hatred and vitriol directed at what is now a private citizen and her family by this country's institutional left bordering on the comical. Of course, she does make a nice big juicy distraction from the current administration pile-driving this nation into the ground.

As for the whinging about Horrigan and Halloran's freedom of speech, I actually wish they would stick around some more. I'm trying to see where, in all the criticism of their comments, somebody said that they DID NOT have the right to say it.....granted it's early, but so far- nothin'. It's classless and vindictive, but I have yet to hear somebody say they don't have the right to say it. These two were gotten rid of because they would be a distraction and liability to other Democrat candidates in New Hampshire. To even imply that the two are now some sort of martyrs for free speech would a transparent ruse that would insult the intelligence God gave a kumquat.

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