In the New Hampshire legislature today, Republican State Representative Steve Vaillancourt was tossed from the chamber for shouting "Sieg Heil" and waving -- or not waving -- his hand in a Nazi salute. Vaillancourt was objecting to limitations on debate over a voter ID bill.
The chamber then formed an apology committee to help him regret his mistake. From the local Concord Patch:
"As I was saying before, I cannot apologize for anything I did not do," Vaillancourt said. "But I do apologize for using two German words, which I understand has negative ramifications when three Latin words would have been better. I will never use a German word again."
As Vaillancourt received a smattering of applause and returned to his seat, the committee huddled with O'Brien and determined that the apology wasn't acceptable.
Vaillancourt did eventually offer up an apology that worked. It mentioned "inflammatory German words which can have offensive connotation," according to a report tweeted by Republican State Representative Jon Richardson.
In other New Hampshire news, House Republicans brought back legislation for a 24-hour waiting period for women seeking an abortion. Today, the chamber also revived a measure that would allow religious institutions not to offer insurance coverage for contraception. You can find that one here, attached to a bill about delegates for a constitutional convention -- search for "2012-2215h."
(Image: The apology committee meets with Representative Vaillancourt, in white shirt. Pic tweeted by Representative Richardson.)
UPDATE: James Carter did the good deed of going through tape of the proceedings and culling it down. The "Sieg Heil" part happens around minute four.
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Really, these people are over-grown bullies that turn into cry-babies when they believe their feeling are hurt. And we vote these people into office, really?! So what does that really say about the people in this country? That we are so dumbed down, incivil, and barbarous that any ol' troglodyte will do, obviously......Time to pack the bags.....
I agree completely, which is why I'm packing my bags, literally. Moving to another country, we're done here. I can't believe what has happened to this country, serious decline of rights for the average person. If you're rich or a corporation this is your place, the rest of us can just go get screwed and there are so many idiotic people out there who applaud this, because they're just so stupid they can't see what's happening. Just, as far as their concern, woman keep having babies and gays don't have right. it's sickening.
me too. I'm outta here next month. I have no intention of ever living in the US of A again.
Can't wait to be an expat. I would say " good luck with your peasant state" if my young adult children weren't going to be here. I'll pave a way for them to follow me into leaving too, if they so desire.
The country as truly gone to @!$%# because of the extreme Right. Done.
Curious to know the political paradise where each of you are moving. I lived abroad for a large chunk of my life, and have never found another country more democratic than our own. Each one has their issues. Switzerland: where part of your taxes goes to the chuch of your choice (but only Christian churches, and you can't say "none", or maybe England where they still have an official religion. Maybe Germany, where there are still dozens of laws on the books giving preference to German-heritage citizens (but not Turks, Africans, Asians, Italians, etc). Maybe Australia, where their political discord is even more vociferous, and they still consider themselves rules by the British monarchy. Canada, too, hails the queen. Again, just curious where you can find a more democratic place than the good ol' US or A. I'm no jingoist, but as I'm sure you'll find, the grass isn't any greener.
You've got a good half decade before Canada catches down to the US. And our "hailing the Queen" is absolutely meaningless.
Canada Australia and even England's "hail to the queen" is ceremonial and perfunctory. And all three enjoy not only a better standard of living (including guaranteed health care with an option for private insurance to supplement) but have actual separation between corporate power and government. And oh yeah none of them are passing ever more restrictive laws governing the bodies of over half their citizens.
I'm an American living in England - partially because, as a high school English teacher, I can teach texts that would get me fired by the right wing school boards in the US. I like the Queen because she makes no laws but 'represents' Britishness so no Prime Minister can wrap himself in the flag and say if you don't support my policy you're unpatriotic - as Americans can and do. I have free health care. Is it perfect - of course not, but the more I see of the right wing in the US the more I know I can't go back - except to visit.
as a resident of neighboring vermont, we are all highly amused at the antics of the new hampshire legislature this year. they seem to be taking the worst ideas from all across the country and combining them into "inspiring legislation". best entertainment we've had in years! fortunately, vermont is as progressive as new hampshire has been regressive.
What the hell?? For real.
Well here's a Ninzarific word which I hope will offend that NH Rep: "watadik"!
Rep. Steve Vaillancourt is openly gay. He supports the right to choose, supports gay marriage equality and supports the legalization of marijuana.
Fireman, that's a good thing. But what about this voter ID issue and the 24 hour abortion delay issue? Sadly, this article didn't mention much about his opinion on this. I am guessing that he objects to something about the voter ID bill, but there's insufficient information... And sadly, going all Nazi might not have been the way to win people to his side.
That has nothing to do with the fact that he used an inflammatory statement and gesture on the floor of the legislature that was compounded by a piss-poor fake apology.
Rep. Vaillancourt is a Republican. If he is, indeed, openly gay, supports the right to choose, supports marriage equality and supports the legalization of marijuana, I imagine he's the ONLY Republican in the nation who does. Whatever his party or his policy positions, he did a truly stupid thing.
Going Nazi during the subject of "show me your papers" (in my best german accent) just dosen't go over well.
If he is, indeed, openly gay, supports the right to choose, supports marriage equality and supports the legalization of marijuana he won't be around for another term because some tea-bagger will challenge his a$$ and he will go bye-bye.
Vaillincourt is a sick joke. I have 2 words for him but I still have a little class so will allow others to imagine what I mean.
Whatever happened to Live Free or Die? Why are they even considering these bills? What's wrong with them???
Really, they are all bills to create jobs masquerading as anti-women bills. These folks all swore on a T-bag back when they were running, that jobs was their first priority. And we all know that if that's what they said then, that must be what they're doing now.
Okay, I'm slightly confused.....what would be Nazi like about OPPOSING these radical anti women bills? I just don't even understand why he would that....unless he opposes his own parties bill? Seriously, this makes NO sense. Was he for or against the bill? That would help me understand this better.
Agreed, insufficient information in this article...just enough inflammatory info to get us talking about it.
I am only hoping that he is AGAINST the voter ID bill and used the German language as a sign of Nazi-ism. Indicating that he is against requiring to show a photo ID to vote. That is my best guess.
My takeaway is that he opposed the limiting of debate on the bill. Unclear from the coverage where he stand on the bill itself. The process was f@#$ed up.
He does vote against his party sometimes. We actually have a fair amount of them here. Not enough to override the new Republicans on their own, but enough to override them when they side with the Democrats (such as when they voted down the law repealing marriage equality here).
Rep. Vaillancourt actually lived in Berlin, Germany for a time, by the way, and what he was protesting was O'Brien's all-too-frequent move of not allowing a debate before voting. Rep. Vaillancourt thought that this bill was too important not to debate, so he spoke up. O'Brien, true to form, told him to sit down and basically shut up. That's what prompted Vaillancourt to say what he did. honestly, it reminded me of what Jon Huntsman said about the Republican party - that the way they run themselves reminds him of communist China.
In addition to stopping legislators from speaking if they disagree with him, O'Brien has also held middle of the night votes so that many of those who would vote against him wouldn't be there, waiting for enough of those who would vote against him to be on vacation or otherwise away before calling for a vote, repeatedly disregarding the NH Constitution, barring citizens from the Capitol, etc. The Concord Monitor even called O'Brien "a self-drawn caricature of vindictiveness and power run amuck" who "has been accused of loudly berating lawmakers who disagree with him and stripping those who offend him of committee assignments and leadership positions."
I'm not a big Vaillaincourt supporter and I didn't vote for him, but he has a hell of a lot more integrity than O'Brien, the shame of NH.
I am DEEPLY ashamed of my legislature, and November can't come soon enough.
Sherry what's his stand on these bills? (I'm from MA, don't know the specifics.)
He didn't get to vote. http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/house/members/membervotingrecord.aspx?member=376171
Here's a link to an article that explains more about what happened: http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/329812/house-rebellion-of-one
machts nichts...
I am from MA. originally. What does "Sieg Heil" have to do with Vaillancourt and being gay or his political ideas. Sieg Heil has one connotation for the survivors and relatives of those 11 million souls murdered by the Sieg Heilers who ruled Germany in the late 30's and 40's. Mr. Vaillancourt - a GOP, Gay rep with a right to choose agenda sounds very weird to me and his use of Sieg Heil - I am not sure the Gay and the Pro-Choice folks really need this sort of rep. NH was always a kind of tacky joke in my home state. But cigarettes are still cheaper there.
And Chloe, don't forget the NH state liquor stores...
Chloe, if you knew anything about NH politics lately and O'Brien's actions in particular, you'd understand why that comment makes sense. But I promise you that no one else in NH thought "I can't believe that gay guy said that" or "I can't believe that pro-choicer said that." Rather, seeing him as a human being, we thought "I can't believe he said that!"
What Vaillancourt said was inflammatory and thoughtless, but the spirit of it politically (the way they ran the government, not their crimes against humanity) is still true when applied to O'Brien's tactics and philosophies.
However, instead of stopping to wonder what was going on that might have prompted anyone to have said such a thing, you chose to bring up being gay and being pro-choice, then insulting an entire state and its people. That is tacky.
By the way, O'Brien (the shame of NH) is from your original home state. Luckily I've gone to school and worked in MA for almost 10 years now, so I know that MA is also full of many wonderful, intelligent, open-minded people who appreciate and respect the democratic process.
3 latin words = to Seig heil? Sic Semper Tyrannis.
Since their entire agenda consists of blocking Obama, it must leave a lot of free time so they have to LOOK LIKE they are doing something. That is why they keep resurrecting old annoying issues. How about you pull their paychecks until they start actually working.
Oh heck, and we dwellers of the state south of NH had thought it was becoming more moderate. Apparently not. Oh well, another reason for me to take the Mass Pike and not the 95 when I go to Vermont this summer. Putz.
Scheissekopf!
I know that in times of economic hardship people under stress resort to the lowest levels of civilization. This is just another example of what is happening in our country. From Arizona to North Carolina the far right seems to be pushing harder and harder to limit the rights of everyone they don't agree with. It is sad that someone feels it is necessary to involk a nazi symbol to vent his frustrations but then he is just lowering himself to thier level. The german people forgave the brown shirts for thier bad behavior until it was too late to stop them. Then the world was at war. I hope history doesn't repeat itself again.
Schweinhunds
"... which I understand has negative ramifications..."
Really? If you really understand it there's only one word for you... dummkopf.
The context, "The uproar began when Rep. Steve Vaillancourt was ruled out of order during debate on a Voter ID bill and was told by Speaker Bill O’Brien that it was impermissible to discuss committee deliberations during debate on the House floor. "
My source, http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/05/15/new-hampshire-legislator-apologizes-for-taunting-speaker-with-sieg-heil/
Yup, NH can be embarassing.
Amazing ain't it. The papers please , anti-contraception, book burning , history challenged , anti-gay righties accusing liberals of being socialist and even NAZI like. Yep and those white supremacists and neo-Nazi freaks are proud to be republicans. I bet that sieg heil just came naturally to the poor slob.
From what I can see, Speaker Bill O'Brien is an idiot for forcing an apology. An apology is either from the heart or it's not worth the spit it took to be able to say the words. And forming a committee in order to decide if the apology is worthy of being accepted? Kinda reminds me of parole boards saying the remorse shown by a convict isn't enough. Folks, when are we going to realize that you have to accept what is given or choose NOT to accept it and remain angry? Who decides how much is good enough? Who exactly did Rep. Vaillancourt hurt with his words directly? That is the only person to decide to accept or not accept his apology. What a waste of time, energy, and money.
It's pretty obvious he was comparing the others to national socialists because they would not have a full open proper debate of the issue. I'm guessing he was against voter id by his general choice of words, not sure why he picked the German "hail victory" other than the common association with fascism and tyranny. Why isn't anybody asking what the others did to provoke him into standing up and calling them out, are they automatically right because he is in the minority? Maybe there was some real BS going on and he was the only one man enough to stand up and say enough is enough.
After my unfortunate involvement with the GOP primary conventions this year, I can say with certainty many of the chairmen and leaders out there will attempt all sorts of blatant violations of rules and general railroading of meetings to get their personal goals met. Including physically locking members out of the room during votes. Dems, I've noticed, tend to be more subtle but aren't really any better on the whole.
The craziness just goes on and on. Is there any way to get RID of these republicans? They are driving me crazy.
I know. And I just apologized for calling them wanna-be Hitlers. Maybe I should take back what I said and stick to the "Wanna-Be-Hitler GOP" That's amazing. With a blink of an eye you finally see the light.
...the Chair recognizes Representative Voldemort...
There used to be a concept called "shame" that was employed in this country from time to time. No more, apparently.
Folks. Go find the whole story at Huffington Post. Find out what he was objecting to. It's still not good for what he yelled, but read.....
I think you all are missing the point. What I get is that he is referring to the Nazi Germany-like atmosphere of the legislature and the GOP. He is making the point that his fellow legislators are enforcing Nazi-ish or fascist extremes on the people of his state. Probably not the best way to express it, but you get the idea