Live Free Or Die

Ever wonder what our elective representatives are thinking? 
I know I do.
It's not that easy to actually know, even in the internet age.
It's not like Jon Stewart is on every night with a selection of choice remarks from the New Hampshire legislature.

I do not have Mr. Stewart's staff, but I did make an effort to sift through some remarks from Concord, just to illuminate.  Not sure exactly where to find a record of the thoughts or our legislators--a sort of Congressional Record--but I'm sure my readers will enlighten me. 
Some things are clear, however, whoever they are, New Hampshire lawmakers  like guns. The House passed a law to allow concealed weapons in its chambers. 

I can understand why the representatives would feel safer if they were allowed to carry guns in the State House: As Fred Rice has explained, "We're asking for the right to do what we do in our daily lives," which is to say, I am guessing, carrying a concealed weapon to the dinner table, the swimming pool, the bar and your child's christening.  I'm not sure if it was Fred, but some representative explained there are some pretty crazy representatives elected to the House and the best defense against one of them going ballistic is to arm the other representatives. 

The New Hampshire state house has no metal detectors. Too expensive, I am guessing. Might have to raise taxes. 

What I don't get is why these guns have to be concealed. Doesn't that spoil the effect of carrying a gun in the first place? I mean, what is a gun, if not a statement of potency, masculinity and power?  

But, wait. If the guns were not concealed, when the crazy Representative starts shooting wildly, he would know immediately who to shoot--he would take out the guys with visible guns. Concealing the guns keeps the shooters guessing. He might have to shoot a dozen unarmed Representatives before he got to one who actually might take him out, giving the secretly armed Reps time to get him first.

There is cunning among these legislators. 

As Bob Clegg (R-Hudson) explained, "Just because I held a girl's hand in high school and kissed, and she is now a criminal and breaks into my house, I don't want to lose my guns if I punch her."
Wow, there's a lot going on in that sentence. 

Here's one which is a little easier to deconstruct: "To protect children...get rid of those 'Gun Free Zones' with armed, willing and trained teachers. I really believe that they set up these 'Gun Free Zones' for one reason:To have these killings and to make stiffer gun laws." 
That's Rep. John Burt (R-Goffstown)  explaining that armed teachers (and perhaps armed children) will shoot down the shooters quickly, protecting the school children, but anti gun advocates want to leave children exposed to the shooters, creating more deaths among schoolchildren and a reaction to legislate gun control. That's pretty straightforward. Makes a lot of sense, to Mr. Burt.

Guns may be the first concern in the legislature, but there are more sweeping dangers out there worrying our Representatives. Just listen to Rep. Bob Elliott (R-Salem):  "Obama has opened Pandora's Box, and it will be the end of a free enterprise, Capitalistic, Christian/Jewish Society, with a strong work ethic country, will change into a country where the majority of people will speak Spanish and be Islamic within the next 20 years...The experts say the Caucasian Race will be a minority in 15 years or less."
Wow. Now there's something to chew over. All those Hispanic Muslims. And here I always thought Hispanics were apt to be Catholic. Shows what I know. This is a man who is pretty open minded, though. Notice he includes a Christian/Jewish mix in there as the traditional American profile. I bet he objected to all those Nativity displays on government property during the Christmas holidays as an affront to the Judeo-Christian tradition, a tradition with hard working Jews and Christians, not those lazy, shiftless Hispanic Islamic types who just want to move here to be on welfare. 

But you have to sort of read between the lines with Mr. Elliott. I like mine straight, where you don't have to guess what the guy really means. Take Josh Yousseff's remarks: "Islam is a Satan-inspired and FALSE religion. That is my 2 cents. 'Tolerance' is what got America into this most precarious situation. It's time for a little bit of intolerance, and a whole lot of political incorrectness."
And all this from a man named "Yousseff." Remarkable, really.

The discerning reader may note I have quoted only Republican Representatives. I will be happy to cite remarks from Democrats, but I just could not find any which rose to the level of clarity, intensity and forthrightness of these guys.