Wednesday, April 13, 2016

NH House Republicans Show Their Reverence for Life



Photo from nh1

This is GOP State Rep. Ernie Bridge. Ernie, at the age of 80, is a freshman legislator from Unity, NH. He represents the towns of Newport and Unity. Bridge serves on the House Environment and Agriculture Committee. 

Representative Bridge was diagnosed with a lung problem in January. He is required to use an oxygen concentrator 24 hours a day. NHPR story.  He's been told by the House Sergeant-at-Arms that he can't bring the concentrator to his assigned seat, because it would block the emergency routes for other legislators. 

Bridge hasn't exactly been a forceful self-advocate. He's responded to this by staying home. 

From the Valley News:
This fairly common device has been deemed a safety hazard by House Speaker Shawn Jasper, because, according to spokesman Jim Rivers, the equipment could block the route of House members to the exits in the event of an emergency — such as, we suppose, an exchange of gunfire among members, who are, after all, allowed by House rules to carry concealed firearms while they go about their legislative business. 

Yes, that's right. NH legislators can have guns on the House floor - but this guy can't have an oxygen concentrator. It speaks volumes about the priorities of the NH Republican Party. 

What about a seat on the aisle? No dice. Those are reserved for committee chairs and other legislative heavyweights, rather than first-termers like Bridge, even though it appears from a seating chart that Representatives Hall has about 90 of them. In any case, Rivers decreed that Bridge’s equipment also would unduly obstruct the aisle. 


This, too, speaks volumes about the House Republicans. Not a one of his Republican brethren will give up their "entitled" seats to an elderly man with a health condition. 

3 comments:

al hospers said...

these people, the GOP, have no respect for life... not even the life of one of their own. it's all about power! I can only hope that karma will come around for them!

Artemisia said...

How STUPID can one party be? Move his seat, mental giants. Just move it. It's not rocket science. What's next? No more wheel chairs on buses? Just leave your service dog outside? The gene pool of today's GOP is a science experiment.

Junior Mints said...

the right to carry a gun trumps the right of another to breathe. Freedum! Murika! Create special rights to so called Christians by passing discriminatory laws that restrict the freedom of movement for LBTGQ, cuz Jebus, and cakes! Throw in more impossible hurdles in the form of poll tax redux to restrict those bla....'s from voting cuz Freedum!*

*Freedom and Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness only applies to CIS White Males. All others need not apply.

BTW: Commander of Freedum Fighters Ian Bernard talked on his Tuesday radio show with his side kick ( the nut that killed someone down in Florida?) that voting rights should be restricted, preferably limited to land owners. ah yes the smell of freedom for all in Keene NH. Then they carried on bitching about the Democracy Spring protesters in DC. Doing Koch's good work right there.

BTW2: I wonder if all this drama with FK, FSP, the lunatics (who were/still? paid employees of Koch's right wing think tanks) of CopBlock are really just great actors to appear so radical and freedom-y to attract the useful idiots up there in NH. Take off those masks and they are down-to-business right wing big special corporate interest agents. Academy Award Winning performance of propaganda spewing.

(I tend to go off topic while making horrible grammatical errors on this tiny mobile devices- Sorry!)