Recently in the Concord Monitor, an opinion piece described fellow citizens as “invasive” weeds — but who better fits the bill?
Picture a veteran who moved to New Hampshire for the “Live Free or Die” spirit. He embraces the 1776 ideals that once animated America and still drive the Granite State. Known as a good neighbor, his community has elected him multiple times to the legislature to protect their freedoms, their paychecks and the New Hampshire Advantage.
This describes many legislators, but I am thinking of Rep. Tom Mannion (R-Pelham). After serving honorably in the U.S. Marine Corps, Tom left Massachusetts, where the New England spirit of 1776 has been smothered by a one-party nanny state. Figures like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, sneering schoolmarms of the modern era, treat constituents like dependent children, not free adults. Tom came to New Hampshire, where that revolutionary spirit still thrives.
Now consider Jean Lewandowski. Her columns generally push leftist causes — from gun control to Russiagate — but in her latest piece, she branded good people, like Rep. Mannion, “invasive” weeds to be “rooted out.” Whatever you think of her dehumanizing language against “Free Staters,” Lewandowski’s hypocrisy is glaring when you learn she was born in California, worked in Minnesota, and has only lived in New Hampshire for a decade.
Let’s clarify: A Free Stater is anyone — native or newcomer — who believes in a free New Hampshire where the maximum proper role of government is protecting life, liberty and property. We reject welfare statism, nanny statism and corporate cronyism.
Many arrived here, fleeing leftist tyrannies in neighboring states, because New Hampshire honors its revolutionary history, rejects income taxes and protects our freedom to be left alone (even from mandatory seat belts). Progressives gawk and ask why. New Hampshire replies: “We are a free state — not a nanny state.”
Beyond general name-calling, Lewandowski makes other claims in her column worth refuting. First, she calls everything she opposes “anti-democratic” — a buzzword worn thin by hypocrisy. She and her allies cheered lawfare, spy agency abuses and COVID-era dictatorships in the name of “democracy.” What this word means to her is anyone’s guess.
Second, she claims economic freedom only enriches the rich. She is wrong. Free market competition empowers the little guy. Big business thrives on political privileges. The bigger the government, the more privileges they can buy from state officials — picking winners and losers through bailouts and regulatory capture. Her scorn for cryptocurrency further defends an inflationary fiat money system that loots middle-class savings. Contrast this with Argentina’s Javier Milei, whose free-market reforms show what’s possible, and Rep. Keith Ammon (R-New Boston), another “invasive” Free Stater, who is easing access to sound money and empowering local families to save.
Third (and most humorously), she is alarmed that Free Staters are “good neighbors.” How dare Tom Mannion and Keith Ammon integrate so well that voters elect them in droves? Apparently, they should be snitching on neighbors for selling pickles without permits and pushing for income taxes to “Mass up” New Hampshire.
Fourth, she calls universal Education Freedom Accounts (EFAs) illegitimate due to vocal opposition at the public hearing. She forgets the 2024 election, where Republicans ran on expanding EFAs and Democrats opposed them. Voters handed Republicans historic majorities, giving a clear mandate for school choice.
Fifth, she claims “we’re denied any say about curricula, standards, practices and outcomes.” I am curious if she had much to say when officials invoked the Patriot Act against conservative parents for speaking up at school board meetings against progressive curricula and policies. Either way, if she feels unheard, she can join the school-choice marketplace by starting a charter school or homeschool co-op (and even accept EFA funds from willing families).
Sixth, she hysterically insists our goal is “seceding from the Union and forming an independent nation-state powered by unregulated nuclear energy under a crypto-currency economy.” No matter how cool she makes it sound, as a leader in the Free State Project — while I do support nuclear energy, cryptocurrency, and a robust defense of the 10th Amendment — I do not support secession. Lewandowski is mashing up different ideas from different people and painting them as a unified agenda.
Finally, she urges checking the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance’s “liberty ratings” on state legislators. At least we can agree on this. We should all know who is voting to protect our freedom and paychecks, and who wants to transform the Granite State into a progressive nanny state
Through her exasperation, one wonders how many more electoral losses Lewandowski will accept before she returns to California or Minnesota. If she wants to stay in the region (without being too “invasive” with her ideology), she may also consider any other New England state. Here in the Granite State, however, we intend to keep New Hampshire free.
Eric Brakey is the Executive Director of the Free State Project. A retired three-term Maine Senator, he currently resides in Dover, New Hampshire.