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Hypocrisy wrapped in a contradiction

By Sen. Cindy Rosenwald - Nashua | Jul 31, 2021

Last November, the New Hampshire state house was handed over to the Republican party. With majorities in the House, Senate, and the continued hold on the corner office, one would be led to believe that a unified political ideology would carry the year with little room for debate. Instead, after a year of infighting, grandstanding, and efforts to understand the free state project’s hold over once-principled GOP leaders, one can’t help but ask, what do Republicans actually believe in?

Supposedly, Republicans believe in individual choice. For example, the debate to send public dollars to private and religious schools through a voucher program was marked by the Republican argument that parents know what educational setting is best for their child and that a “one size fits all” system doesn’t work for all children. And yet, Republicans passed multiple bills that demand students pass outdated tests in order to graduate from high school with no provisions for special needs students; thus, in fact, they were demanding a “one size fits all” system. This double talk about individual choice wasn’t only demonstrated by the Republican majority in education policy either. In terms of health care, they opposed a parent’s ability to make the choices that are best for them and their family when it came to medical decisions.

We heard Republicans talk about the chilling effect of encouraging people to get the COVID-19 vaccine after we lost nearly 1,400 friends and neighbors during the recent global pandemic. One senator stated while discussing HB 220, relative to medical freedom in immunizations, “Our health is in the balance, and we should have the right to choose, it would seem to me.” Yet that same Republican, alongside every one of his colleagues, even those previously claiming to support a woman’s right to choose, supported the first abortion ban in New Hampshire’s history.

To use my colleague’s statement: “we should have the right to choose, it would seem to me,” I guess it’s only when Republicans like the choice an individual makes.

Republicans argued fervently against legislation which would have provided de-escalation training for our Departments of Natural and Cultural Resources and Fish and Game in order to help ensure that public spaces are protected from racist threats and vandalism following several incidents of white supremacist propaganda appearing in our parks.

In reference to the legislation (SB 114, also known as The Inclusive Outdoors Act), one Republican senator bemoaned the fact that free speech, even “unpleasant speech” is going to be threatened. Unfortunately, their tolerance for “unpleasant speech” as protected by the first amendment seems to extend only so far. Ask them to address the uncomfortable, or to use their word, ‘unpleasant’ conversation that our nation is working through on the issues of racism, antisemitism, or sexism, and suddenly they think it’s an attack on blameless people.

Following record turnout in November’s elections, Republicans refused to allow voters to continue to have the flexibility to decide for themselves if they want to vote in person or by absentee ballot.

There is even a return to the requirement that some voters wishing to vote by absentee ballot will have to claim they are disabled. This is very disrespectful to individuals who do experience a disability.

Within a sea of hypocritical double speak, it can become nearly impossible to determine what exactly the Republican utopia looks like. However, based on their actions this session it seems fair to assume the following ideals would apply:

• Bodily autonomy and choice unless you are a woman.

• Freedom of speech unless it challenges the people in power.

• Freedom for all eligible voters to cast their ballot without undue burden unless that voter requires an absentee ballot.

So what can we expect heading into 2022? The continued celebration of contradictions and most likely, the continued disintegration of constitutional rights for Granite Staters. Rational thinking would lead one to understand that freedom sometimes means that individuals will make choices Republican leadership doesn’t agree with. Sadly for rational thought, and sadly for the people of New Hampshire, that freedom is, was, and will continue to be, on the chopping block.

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