Perhaps, we have all forgotten the lessons of the past. Our country and our state were founded by people determined to put in place a government of checks and balances, so that we could avoid an autocratic, undemocratic society. At the same time, frightened by the effective anarchy of the Articles of Confederation, they also saw the need for elected, centralized authority, whose powers were divided, to do what was necessary to provide for our “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Essential to achieving those ends is the understanding by our elected officials that, while standing on principal is important, both individually and collectively, we must also be willing to compromise, at least sufficiently to get the people’s work done.

We have in Concord and in Washington too many who feel their job is to “win” or to not act. Because of this, we have a Congress that gets nothing done, and a State Legislature that doesn’t do much better. Under the leadership of people like Donald Trump, Chris Sununu, Andy Sanborn and Laurie Sanborn, we have seen our country and our state go from the “shining light” of the world and the nation, to mockeries of what good government and good governance can be. It is time to send them all back to where they belong – the dustbin of history. This should be the destination we provide for all extremists, of whatever set of beliefs they may have. An inflexible approach to the concerns of us all is not the way to advance our society and our people. It has never been and never will. We are all individuals with our own unique sets of beliefs and needs. Only by compromising for the collective good can we advance as a whole.

And we don’t need out-of-staters and out-of-state money telling us how to think and how to vote. We have shown for over two centuries that are quite capable of exercising our votes independently, as we should.