New Hampshire House Democrats reacted to the leaked “segregated schools” chat the way modern politics trains people to react: treat a sloppy phrase as a full confession of racial intent, denounce it as a moral abomination, and then declare the conversation over.
Democratic leader Alexis Simpson called segregation “a living scar,” “built through violence,” and said it has no place in the legislature. (Concord Monitor) Rep. Dave Luneau called the comments “disgusting.” (Concord Monitor)
(more…)America has a charming habit: we rediscover “states’ rights” every time the federal government starts doing something our faction hates. The principle stays in the closet until it matches the outfit.
In 1957, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus staged the classic: state power deployed to frustrate federal authority, wrapped in the language of “public order.” When nine Black students attempted to enter Little Rock Central High School, Faubus mobilized the Arkansas National Guard to block them, claiming he was preventing violence. The federal government responded the way the Constitution says it can: President Eisenhower issued Executive Order 10730, federalized the Arkansas National Guard, and sent federal troops, most famously the 101st Airborne, to enforce the court’s desegregation order.
(more…)There is a particular kind of political jiu-jitsu that shows up every session in Concord: take a word conservatives like, twist it 15 degrees, and use it to do something conservatives should hate.
HB1512 is that move.
The bill would let a town hold a referendum to decide whether families in that town may access Education Freedom Accounts (EFAs). Vote “no,” and even otherwise-eligible families get blocked. Not by their own choices, not by program rules, not by funding caps, but by the local majority.
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