This week, we discuss the extremely low infection rate in NH (under 0.002%), the difference between absentee ballots (request yours today) and mail-in balloting, the upcoming elections, and more!
If you’re looking for the same-old, same-old, please, continue to vote for the 11-term, 82 year-old Establishment dude, a man who is rated an actual “Constitutional Threat,” a man who has now spent several d-e-c-a-d-e-s in the Senate reducing your freedoms, raising your taxes, writing legislation to control your personal choices, lock you down, and destroy your livelihoods. Lou D’Allesandro voted for SB1 this year, the bill that would introduce a statewide income tax! BOO!
If, however, YOU are looking for someone who is an independent thinker and can represent YOUR interests to keep government limited and in-check, someone who can restore balance to the Senate, then I’m your gal…
If you are looking for someone who is FRESH, HONEST, and has ‘TEGRIDY, who believes the content of your character matters, then I’m your gal.
If you are looking for someone to stand up to a sales or income tax, then I’m your gal.
If you are looking for someone who has 25+ years of mad, mad skills as an author, attorney, and activist, then I’m your gal.
If you are looking for someone who has been a lawyer on two continents (South Africa when I am originally from and California where I worked in-house for Apple and Logitech focusing on business deals and intellectual property), then I’m your gal.
If you are looking for someone who, as a diplomat’s daughter and trained mediator, works exceptionally well with diverse groups of people who don’t necessarily get along, then I’m your gal.
If you are looking for someone who enjoys life to the fullest, including the arts, and who, in addition to her law degree, has a Master in Fine Arts and has written a book, The Ecstatic Pessimist: Stories of Hope (Mostly), now available on Amazon or buy it directly from me, then I’m your gal.
If you are looking for someone who has dedicated a good chunk of her life to fighting for the underdog, from her days as an anti-apartheid activist in South Africa, to fighting against government overreach as a liberty activist in New Hampshire, then I’m your gal.
If you are looking for someone who strives for optimal balance in life and has done the work (including losing 65 lbs, quitting alcohol, and practicing mindfulness) to improve her own health so she can best inspire you, then I’m your gal.
If you are looking for someone who understands the future socio-economic problems that are going to emerge as a result of what 2020 has thrown our way, then I’m your gal.
If you are looking for someone who has been married to the same brilliant and loving man since 1994, and whose own parents just celebrated their 51st wedding anniversary, I’m your gal.
If you are looking for someone who will support open, accessible, transparent, and responsive government at every turn, then I’m your gal.
If you are looking for someone who understands criminal justice reform is critical, someone who has worked on police accountability issues for years, and someone who thinks cannabis should be legal for adult recreational use, including home grown, then I’m your gal.
If you are looking for someone who supports the Second Amendment because she understands exactly how important the right to defend yourself from government tyranny is (e.g. her great-grandmother was put in a British concentration camp during the Anglo-Boer War where 25% of all Afrikaaner women and children perished), then I’m your gal.
If you are looking for someone who is personally pro-life and does not support taxpayer funding of abortions, but also understands that this is a difficult personal decision that should not be fully outlawed, then I’m your gal.
If you are looking for a Senator who will record her votes, who is willing to wear a Go-Pro camera at the state house to show you exactly how the sausage is made, and who will continue to report local political shenanigans, then I’m your gal.
If you are looking for someone who will make New Hampshire politics as exciting as it is going to get, delivered with the widest, brightest smile you will find at the State House, then I’m your gal.
If, despite your party affiliation, or because you are “undeclared,” you want someone who loves New Hampshire so much, she chose NH as her forever home above all other places in the whole wide world, someone who will always put New Hampshire, the NH Advantage and Granite Staters first, who is dedicating her life to the notion that together we can “Live Free and Thrive!”, then I am your gal.
Change is possible! But it is up to YOU! Choose me, CARLA GERICKE for State Senate, in Goffstown and Manchester (Wards 3, 4, 10 and 11). I prevailed in my Primary in September, and now I ask for your vote on November 3rd… Pick me, Carla Gericke, because I’m your gal! 🙂
Request your Absentee Ballot to vote-by-mail.
Contribute to my LIVE FREE AND THRIVE! campaign today.
Show your support, request a yard sign and we’ll deliver it asap!
THIS VIDEO IS 7 YEARS OLD AND STILL RINGS TRUE TODAY, MAYBE EVEN MORE SO… Watch to the end!
Ah yes, memberberry when I warned you the state was getting out of control and wasn’t really there to serve YOU but rather themselves?!?
Now, seven years later, they call themselves “essential” and YOU, “nonessential.” They take all the protective gear for themselves first, and lock you down. They tell you all of these unConstitutional precautions for “your own good,” but deep down inside, you no longer believe them because it is clear this is NOT true, that nothing that is happening right now is benefitting you or your business, all it is doing is spreading fear, paranoia, and distrust between friends and neighbors, almost like they want to divide us into two classes–you know, two classes like “essentials” and “nonessentials.”
Perhaps you are starting to wonder why the state is forcing you to do things to your own body against your own will, why they are forcing you to do their bidding when it is clear they are overreacting and the science does not support the destruction to the economy they are creating IN RESPONSE to the virus (it’s NOT the virus itself, it is the government’s response!). Perhaps you are starting to wonder why they are making you, the “nonessentials” enforce their regulations on their behalf, turning YOU into an agent of the state by threatening to take away your livelihood if you don’t comply. Perhaps you are starting to wonder why you should comply with these absurd and slavish rules that violate the trust and relationships you have developed with your customers, friends, and neighbors.
Here’s the reason why: Because they will harm you if you don’t. They will take your business license (permission slip) away. They will fine you. They will lock you down, and, eventually, they will lock you up.
Does this sound like a healthy relationship to you? Or does it sound like, perhaps, you are in an abusive relationship with a bully, and that you need space, and possibly a divorce?
At a minimum, I hope you will vote for me so that YOU can have a voice in the Senate, because if there is one thing that is truly, undoubtably essential, it is… liberty.
As I always say, Freedom is the answer, what’s the question?
You can find the text of this speech, together with 12 other essays about my liberty activism in my first book, The Ecstatic Pessimist, now available on Amazon. BUY YOURS TODAY.
Delighted to announce I have been endorsed by ReOpen NH, a PAC made up of concerned individuals devoted to getting New Hampshire back to work through a restoration of balance and reason, a petition drive at ReOpenNH.com, and coordinated demonstrations against arbitrary government.
See the press release here.
See the full list of endorsed candidates here.
Read my opinion piece at NH Journal, titled We Are All Essential: Time to ReOpen NH.
My goal in life is to seek contentment in everything I do, and I am delighted to share highlights of this journey with you at my lifestyle blog: The Art of Independence. I am an activist, author of The Ecstatic Pessimist, and I am currently running for New Hampshire state Senate in Goffstown and Manchester (Wards 3, 4, 10, 11) against an 11-term establishment elite. I ran against “Uncle Lou” D’Allensandro in 2016 (when I got 40%) and in 2018 (going up by two points to 42% despite a massive 12-15% “blue wave” swing). I bring a fresh, independent voice beholden only to YOU, the taxpayer. I have the integrity, character, and 25+ years of experience as a Fortune 500 in-house counsel and successful nonprofit executive needed to lead in the Senate. Just like I practice yoga and shooting, I understand what it will take to restore balance in Concord, and I’d be honored to represent YOU.
You can learn more about Carla Gericke HERE.
You can donate to Carla Gericke’s “Live Free and Thrive” campaign for senate HERE.
I’m pleased to announce that I have been endorsed by the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance, the state’s premiere organization dedicated to preserving economic and individual liberties for all Granite Staters. Says their endorsement letter:
There is no greater time than the present to stand up to the increasing encroachment by the state and federal governments into our personal and economic choices. It is important that we have voices in Concord who can articulate and advocate the values of individual liberty.
Support my race today. Donate up to $2,000 to Live Free and Thrive! Every little bit helps!
Live free and thrive! <—please, donate today! Check out this short video asking for YOUR support during the NH Primary. <— won that, now on to the general! If you’d rather vote from the comfort of your home, click HERE to request your absentee ballot. I ask for YOUR vote on Nov. 3rd so that together, we can “Live Free and Thrive!”
Thrilled the copies are finally in. Not in New Hampshire? Buy your copy online today!
This article from the Caledonian Record captures much of the spirit of the 17th Annual Porcupine Freedom Festival. Some excellent quotes by yours truly, too!
“I think Libertarians are the people in the middle,” said Carla Gericke, president emeritus of the Free State Project, created to recruit 20,000 libertarians to move to New Hampshire. “We’re the ones who actually do believe in ‘live and let live, don’t hurt other people, and don’t tell me what to do’.”
Carla Gericke
“I think there are a lot of angry people,” said Gericke about today’s political climate, noting that Libertarians “are people who have already channeled that anger, we’ve sort of processed it already, and we know what the problems are. So we get together at PorcFest to talk about the solutions.” Gericke, who is running against 11-term incumbent Lou D’Allesandro (D-Manchester) for the District 20 State Senate seat, said she hoped public dissatisfaction with the Democratic and Republican parties would lead to stronger support for third party candidates. “I hope it is our moment.”
Carla Gericke
“I mean, this is one of the biggest political events in the North Country. Earlier today there was a talk about school choice. And there’s people that come up from think tanks in Washington, D.C., they’ve had articles published in the New York Times and they’re talking about these policy issues at a high-end level, and it’s right in my own backyard,” said Beaulier. “So it’s really interesting seeing some of the people and personalities that come out. Some of them I agree with, and some of them are like totally nuts, but you get a really interesting mix of people.”
Calvin Beaulier
The amazing Jeffrey Tucker gave an incredible talk and wrote this excellent piece about PorcFest XVII for AIER, Broadway Closed But PorcFest Stayed Open. Some choice quotes below.
I’m sure that the organizers faced some pressure to call it off, but Carla Gericke looked past the propaganda and went ahead anyway. This year too was a bit different from usual, lacking some of the glitz and organizational formalism of the past. But we were no worse for it. There were talks on every aspect of health, economics, history, philosophy, commerce, crypto, firearms, COVID, and you name it. The main pavilion had something go on day and night, and there were mini gatherings all over the campground.
Jeffrey Tucker
All that aside, we used to speak of this country as the land of the free and home of the brave. Our response to this virus has sacrificed freedom based on fear. Rather than focusing on the actual problem — vulnerable people in nursing homes, many of which were actually forced to take in COVID-19 patients — we shut down nearly the whole country for absolutely no reason.
Jeffrey Tucker
Never forget that the message of liberty is spreading! I received the following mail from someone who attended my PorcFest talk about police accountability:
The dais you were on at PorcFest about the good, the bad & the ugly moved me. I am a former 18 year Texas Police Officer. I currently live in Massachusetts and moving to New Hampshire soon. I would love to collaborate with you on establishing accountability between law enforcement and the public. This is near and dear to my heart. I hope we can work together on this.
Jay
From the start of this lockup, I’ve been meaning to write a weekly column titled “Notes from Six Feet Away,” and, for years, I have wanted to do a weekly round up of my activism, and thoughts on the news and my related social media posts, so here we are. This column will become the Friday feature on The Art of Independence.
Police Brutality and Open Government
Back in 2014, I settled my wiretapping lawsuit against the Town of Weare, having prevailed in the First Circuit Court of Appeals (the one right under the Supreme Court). This landmark First Amendment case, Gericke vs. Begin et al, protects YOUR right to record every police encounter you see. And you should. Every damn time! Especially since I learned last week that even though police departments across NH are now spending tens of thousands of dollars buying body cams, these recordings are NOT generally subject to public disclosure under our Right to Know NH laws. Shocking! And as YOUR Senator, I will work ?% to increase government transparency and accountability for YOU.
Hell, if y’all want, I’ll wear a Go Pro to the Senate daily, and live-stream “How the Sausage is Made”! Love this idea? Donate to my District 20 Senate race today!
Right-to-Know Victories: Fenniman Overturned
The NH Supreme Court decided three vital Right-to-Know cases this week, and overturned Fenniman, a huge victory for open government proponents. Fenniman was a terrible case that shielded “internal personnel practices” from scrutiny and was much abused by the authorities to hide malfeasance and deflect from oversight or reform.
From Right-to-Know NH: “The NH Supreme Court issued 2 rulings today in the other 2 cases tried the same day as the Salcetti v. Keene case. In those rulings, they overturned the earlier Fenniman ruling, interpreting “internal personnel practices” more narrowly and eliminating the categorical denial of public access to records subject to the “internal personnel practices” exemption. Here are links to the rulings:
- 2019-0135, Seacoast Newspapers, Inc. v. City of Portsmouth
- 2019-0206, Union Leader Corporation & a. v. Town of Salem
This is a big step forward for RTK in NH. In particular, it means that personnel investigations are no longer categorically exempt from public disclosure and instead a balancing of the public interest with the privacy interests of the parties will be done by the courts.”
Says David Taylor, one of the lawyers from Right-to-Know NH about the third RTK case heard this week, 2019-0217, Marianne Salcetti & a. v. City of Keene: “This morning the NH Supreme Court released a less formal opinion in the Salcetti v. Keene case. While it is mixed – partly affirmed, partly reversed, partly vacated, partly remanded – there are some good wins in there. Mostly, the students requests were ruled to have been improperly read too narrowly as ‘lists’ when they should have not been. Perhaps the biggest win was a ruling that the $300 charge to access email records was improper and that those records should be free to inspect! The redacted police officers’ names ruling was remanded to the superior court. Lost on the need for a written and signed request formally, but they hinted a more proper case might win in the future. Similarly for the delays. In the end they reprimanded Keene, mostly, for wasting all the time and energy in this case. Overall, I’m happy with the ruling.
Questions for Mayor about Militarized Police Response to Peaceful Protests
Read more here, but these were the main questions that, of course, were flatly ignored by Mayor Joyce Craig, who pretends to care, but is unwilling to exercise the leadership necessary for reform.
1. Will the MPD un-encrypt their police scanners so we can hear what is happening real-time (like it used to be until 2016 when, without any public input, they hid this important citizen’s oversight tool from us)?
2. Will the BEARCAT be brought out?
3. What other agencies, other than MPD, are being used? You mention “federal.” Which ones? Under what authority/law?
4. Will the MPD’s body cameras be switched on? Will this footage be made available to the public upon request, as Chief Capano is on the record saying BWC footage would be?
5. Are any MPD officers working tonight also on the secret Laurie’s List (EES) of bad cops? If so, how many?
6. What use of force has been authorized? E.g. tear gas, rubber bullets, tazers, etc.
7. How much is this costing the taxpayers? Where is it accounted for (line item/budget)?
My point being, we need to end police militarization and policing in secret in order to restore public trust. You can start by answering my questions. I hope everyone is safe tonight. Thank you. #NHPolitics#NoPoliceStateNH
End Qualified Immunity as a Start to Ending Bad Apples Spoiling the Bunch
Want to understand more about solutions to the problems with policing in America? Start with eliminating Qualified Immunity, which is *literally* a “get out of jail free” card for cops. Yes, law enforcement is held to A LOWER STANDARD OF CARE than you or I. I have been advocating for the elimination of qualified immunity for more than a decade, and am very proud of the fact that in my First Amendment civil rights case, the First Circuit Court of Appeals found that police officers have NO QUALIFIED IMMUNITY if they arrest you for filming them or if they take your camera or phone. This means you can sue them in their personal capacity! (You’re welcome! :-))
Police Unions Protect Rotten Cops and This Must End
Here in NH, I have personally seen police union representatives testify against bills designed to help rein in bad cops.
I have even ended up in childish staring contests because they’ve tried to intimidate me when I testify in favor of more open, accessible, accountable and responsive government. One time in the chamber, I had to loudly reprimand a beefy dude looming over me with his arms folded who was trying to stare me down, with a “Really??? Are we doing this now!?!” Another time, I had two of my four car tires spiked with identical nails the same week as I testified. Coinkidink, right???
“This is what police unions do: defend the narrow interests of police at the expense of public safety. They exist to demand that taxpayers pay for dangerous, and even deadly, negligence. And although they are not the only pathology that affects American policing, they are a key internal influence on police culture, a locus of resistance to improvements designed to reduce police violence. To stop bad cops and police abuse, we must tackle police unions.” Read more…
Also, don’t miss this oldie but goodie from Radley Balko about the mentality of killer cops, and how they are trained.
Choose “dangerous” freedom
If you only read one thing today, let it be this brilliant article by John W. Whitehead, This Is Not a Revolution. It’s a Blueprint for Locking Down the Nation.
“Let’s not lose sight of what started all of this in the first place: the U.S. government. More than terrorism, more than domestic extremism, more than gun violence and organized crime, the systemic violence being perpetrated by agents of the government constitutes a greater menace to the life, liberty and property of its citizens than any of the so-called dangers from which the government claims to protect us.”
Nonessential For What Again, Manchester City Hall?
I was pissed at having received at parking ticket last Thursday after 6pm on a semi-deserted street in downtown Manchester. As I stated then: “Yes, I broke “the parking rule.” I just assumed they would cut us ‘nonessentials’ some slack while they collected their bonuses and destroyed our livelihoods, but no, they needed to go out and extort $10 from someone trying to support downtown businesses… you know, the ones that DID have to fire and furlough people, unlike the City of Manchester who gave themselves raises and didn’t furlough ONE PERSON, yet also closed the frigging dump for no explicable reason and built a disgusting Hooverville camp that has its own police escort while I had to put out literal fires. But sure, you’re right, my bad.” I appealed the ticket based on the following reasoning:
Explanation of Appeal:
As I was declared “nonessential” by order of His Excellency, the Governor of NH, I, being nonessential, am unable and unwilling to pay this parking ticket.
Thank you for your prompt voiding of this ticket.
Sincerely,
Carla Gericke
NH Governor’s Response Still (Even More So) Wrong
Chris Sununu continues to double, even triple, down on his bad decisions, which I have criticized from the start. Free people move freely, the government does not own you, and no matter what happens, the government is NOT authorized to lockup its citizens and still pretend that we live in a free society. (We don’t.)
This was my response to one of his recent posts, opening with a quote from “His Excellency’s God King Sununu”: “less than 5% of available hospital beds have been occupied by COVID-19 patients”… so there was no real “pandemic” in any sense of the actual definitional meaning of that word, but there is, and will continue to be a “government manufactured economic crisis,” including almost 20% of Granite Staters now being unemployed, a myriad of our businesses that are closing, and more hardship to come, correct?
Crickets on Double Standard Between ReOpen Rallies and Police Brutality Protests
This week, I wrote in to NHPR’s The Exchange (and called in too but alas, the phone just rang and rang, which seems sort of odd for a call-in show, but m’kay) to ask Laura Knoy to explain the difference in the media’s response between people they like (police brutality protestors) and people they don’t like (people concerned about the destruction of our liberties). Since I fall squarely into BOTH camps, I find it fascinating to see how the Karens and snitches and mask shamers and “YOU’RE A MURDERER FOR GOING OUTSIDE, CARLA” people have suddenly faded into oblivion now that it no longer serves their narrative.
Here’s what I said:
“I would like you to address the clear difference in how the media is reporting on concerns about the virus/social distancing and mask wearing depending on whom is doing the protesting… Liberty and police accountability are two of my core issues, so I’m familiar with both sets of protests, and I am shocked at how silent the social distancing- and mask shamers are suddenly, now that they “approve” of the protests… I would also point out that these are the same people, let’s call them “Karen,” who like to call the police on people, and I wonder whether they see the inherent problem with their way of thinking? They want MORE state to “fix” the state, instead of seeing that the state IS the problem… #HypocrisyMuch #NoPoliceStateNH“
And, if you want to be truly astounded, read this article, which cites more than 1,000 “health experts” who are now saying:
“But when it comes to the protests against police brutality, many medical experts think there should be an exemption to the COVID-19 lockdown logic.
More than a thousand public health experts signed an open letter specifically stating that “we do not condemn these gatherings as risky for COVID-19 transmission. We support them as vital to the national public health and to the threatened health specifically of Black people in the United States.”
The letter conceded that mass protests carried the risk of spreading coronavirus, and offered some good—if naive—advice for people who are going out anyway: wear masks, stay home if sick, attempt to maintain six feet of distance from other protesters. Many protesters are wearing masks, but others are not. And while we can blame the police for forcefully corralling people into close quarters, it’s a bit rich for public health experts to endorse protesting under conditions that they know are impossible for protesters to meet.
Indeed, for the purposes of offering health care advice, the only thing that should matter to doctors is whether their harm-reduction recommendations are being followed: how big is the event, is it outdoors, are masks being worn, etc. However, the letter distinguishes police violence protesters from “white protesters resisting stay-home orders,” as if the virus could distinguish between the two types of events. While I am not a doctor, my understanding is that it cannot.”
Freedom is Contagious, Too
And Lastly… LFOD in the “Yankee Hong Kong”
Buy my book, The Ecstatic Pessimist now on Kindle with paperback coming soon. RSVP to my book launch at the illest event of the year (oh yes I did): PorcFest XVII taking place June 22-28, 2020 at Roger’s Campground in the beautiful White Mountains of the Free(ish) State. Learn more about this year’s event here. Buy your tickets or show your support by getting an In Spirit tix even if you can’t make it this year!