Hattip to Matt Archbold at Creative Minority Report. The Reverend Audette Fulbright, newly appointed Unitarian-Universalist ministress in Cheyenne Wyoming decided to write a letter to Hans Hunt, State Representative:
Dear Representative,
I hope you are taking care of yourself during this busy session. I know it is a challenging, compressed time.
I am writing to express my grave concern about House Bill 105. Ample evidence has shown that schools and guns do not mix, and in particular, guns in the hands of amateurs/non-professionals is extremely dangerous, especially in any highly-charged situation. to expose our children to greater risk in their schools by encouraging more guns on campuses is something that we cannot allow.
My husband and I moved to Wyoming not too long ago. We believed it was a good place to raise children. With the recent and reactive expansion of gun laws and the profoundly serious dangers of fracking, we find we are seriously reconsidering our decision, which is wrenching to all of us. However, the safety of our family must come first. We are waiting to see what the legislature does this session. I know of other new-to-Wyoming families in similar contemplation. Your choices matter. It would be sad to see an exodus of educated, childrearing age adults from Wyoming as a result of poor lawmaking.
sincerely,
Rev. Audette Fulbright
Hunt’s response minced no words:
Rev. Fulbright,
I’ll be blunt. If you don’t like the political atmosphere of Wyoming, then by all means, leave. We, who have been here a very long time (I am proudly 4th generation) are quite proud of our independent heritage. I don’t expect a “mass exodus” from our state just because we’re standing up for our rights. As to your comments on fracking, I would point out that you’re basing your statement on “dangers” that have not been scientifically founded or proved as of yet.
It offends me to no end when liberal out-of-staters such as yourself move into Wyoming, trying to get away from where they came from, and then pompously demand that Wyoming conform to their way of thinking. We are, and will continue to be, a state which stands a head above the rest in terms of economic security. Our ability to do that is, in large part, to our “live and let live” mentality when it comes to allowing economic development, and limiting government oversight. So, to conclude, if you’re so worried about what our legislature is working on, then go back home.
Sincerely,
Hans Hunt
Representative Hans Hunt
House District 02
Hans Hunt is all of 24. Keep your eye on this gentleman, I think we will be hearing more from him.
That’s gonna leave a mark.
I think this fellow could benefit from an editor.
I think he could benefit from a megaphone Art.
Oh my gosh. That totally made my morning. Wow. He responded exactly with what I was thinking as I was reading her childish comments. Good grief. Not only the arrogance but what is she, stupid? Did she and her husband not look into the “political atmosphere” of the great state of Wyoming before they decided to move there? Laughable. Go home! Bravo, Mr. Hunt.
Redactions in brackets. Replacements not in bold.
Rev. Fulbright,
[I’ll be blunt. If you don’t like the political atmosphere of Wyoming, then by all means, leave]. We, [sic.] who have been here a very long time (I am [proudly] 4th generation) are quite proud of our independent heritage. I don’t expect a “mass exodus” from our state just because we’re standing up for our [rights] right to bear arms. As to your comments on fracking, I would [point out that you’re basing your statement on “dangers” that have not been scientifically founded or proved as of yet.] suggest that we base policy on what we know keeping in mind that of which we are ignorant, not base it on transient or fashionable anxieties.
[It offends me to no end when liberal out-of-staters such as yourself move into Wyoming, trying to get away from where they came from, and then pompously demand that Wyoming conform to their way of thinking]. You did move her voluntarily and I see you do notice that Wyoming has its distinct character. We are, and will continue to be, a state which stands a head above the rest in terms of economic security. Our ability to do that is, in large part, to our “live and let live” mentality when it comes to allowing economic development, and limiting government oversight. If our ways are not to your liking, there are other places in this world. For us, there is no place we would rather be.
I prefer the original Art. It reflects the white heat in which it was obviously composed. One of the besetting sins of our day is mealy mouthed noises from our legislators. It is refreshing to find one who obviously said what was precisely on his mind.
I like the original much better too. It says it all.
“Tell Us What You Really Think Hans” made my day, he does, he does, Donald McClarey.
“It offends me to no end when liberal out-of-staters such as yourself move into Wyoming, trying to get away from where they came from, and then pompously demand that Wyoming conform to their way of thinking.” Hans Hunt reminded Rev. Audette Fulbright that she is “trying to get away from where they came from” and defeated her cultural bullying. Hans Hunt’s tie is red and white and his shirt is blue, flag blue. The last time I saw such fire in a person’s eyes, was in a young Christopher Henry Smith, (R, NJ).
Art Deco: As a state representative, Hans Hunt must, really must, use the plural pronoun “WE”, as in “We, the people”. Representative Hans Hunt includes himself in the pride “of our independent heritage”, not in the pride of my being 4th generation. (I am [proudly] 4th generation) are quite proud of our independent heritage. Give the man his due Art Deco and be glad.
These blue-state exiles (yes, Virginia will be blue by 2024) really miss the point, don’t they? They move from a place that doesn’t work, and still insist on replicating the conditions they fled.
The upside of nobody moving to Michigan is that we’ve been spared that phenomenon.
1. I am pleased he said precisely what was on his mind.
2. He can say precisely what is on his mind about the public issues in question without any reference to her (other than she brought them up).
3. There was a measure of effrontery incorporated into the woman’s missive. The effrontery need not be addressed in a crudely explicit manner, but rather delineated as follows: a. we like it here, b. you came here of your own volition, c. there are other places in this world that will not chafe you in the way about which you complain. “By all means, Leave” is inelegant.
4. It is contextually redundant for him to say “I’ll be blunt”, insufficiently precise to say “rights” (the dame was making a complaint on two issues), and undignified to say “It offends me”. Also, the 2d person (“you”) should be used sparingly. Own your own views and dole out your aggression in small doses.
“2. He can say precisely what is on his mind about the public issues in question without any reference to her (other than she brought them up). ”
Why? She is not some disembodied ghost bringing up random political positions but a newcomer to his state with an obvious blue state ax to grind. This is a big issue for the mountain West and I think it constitutes the most interesting part of both letters.
3. ““By all means, Leave” is inelegant.”
Agreed, one of the reasons that I like it. “Scram back to whatever Blue State hell hole spawned you.” would have been taking things too far.
(Actually she is a mixed up Southerner, and a living parody:
http://revaudettefulbright.com/audette-danielle-fulbright-fulson-autobiographical-essay/)
Art Deco: You may be an editor, I am not, but I do know that when an issue is open to the court it becomes public domain and fair game. “(other than she brought them up)”. No, precisely because she brought them up and in precisely in the same manner, the issue may be addressed. Audette Fulbright, (I do not call her Rev., because she is far from that title.) Addressed the state’s representative as though he were a lackey, a water boy to do her bidding, without respect…because she is a Rev., an office Audette Fulbright obviously entered for the power to push agendas on people, to push people around. What Hans Hunt threw at Fulbright was the ammunition the woman threw at him in like manner. Was she respectful, courteous, elegant? Do not be suckered in by sweet talk, Art Deco, the woman would eat your civil rights up like a cannibal eating another human being. Hans Hunt called her “pompous” and I agree.
“Own your own views and dole out your aggression in small doses.” Me thinks, Art Deco, that Ms. Fulbright does not own her own views. Ms. Fulbright’s views are the indoctrination of…place your name for enslavement here. The aggression being doled out to Ms. Fulbright was of her own making and probably the only language Ms. Fulbright understands.
“By all means, Leave” is inelegant.” What Hans Hunt actually said was: “If you don’t like the political atmosphere of Wyoming, then by all means, leave.”
Make no mistake, Art Deco, this is about FREEDOM.
That settles it.
I will emigrate to Wyoming.
Mr. Hunt’s version would’ve been my first draft, the one I wrote when I was still seething. Then, after some reflection, I would’ve written a more elegant version of the response, politely dripping with sarcasm and thinly-veiled contempt for my correspondent, exposing her as egotistical, shallow, and naive for moving to a new place with a political and cultural orientation so vastly incongruent to her own and expecting it to suddenly conform to her worldview. Which would’ve stung her all the worse for having been less a sledgehammer and more of a scalpel that cut her where she’s most vulnerable – her sense of pride and superiority.
As it is, her pride and sense of superiority remain intact, as Mr. Hunt’s letter no doubt merely exposes him as a provincial yokel in the mind of “Reverend” Fulbright.
“As it is, her pride and sense of superiority remain intact,”
I think that would have been the case Jay no matter what was written. Some ignorance truly is invincible and judging from her scribblings on he website, I’d say the good Rev’s cluelessness is definitely in that category.
I mean, this letter would’ve been MUCH more fun to read – at least for me – if it was more Mark Steyn and less Mark Levin.
Apparently she e-mailed this to all the members of the Wyoming legislature. She should appreciate that she got a personal response to this type of spam.
Remember: only the police can be trusted with guns.
LAPD renegades sold guns to anybody. Then, they threatened the person that exposed the plot. Reported at Instapundit.
Last August, two NYPD professionals wounded nine innocent bystanders outside the Empire State Building.
T. Shaw,
Huh?
Why? She is not some disembodied ghost bringing up random political positions but a newcomer to his state with an obvious blue state ax to grind.
The issue is the issue, whether she raises it or someone else does. As a rule, I would think we would regard attacking the person with some reserve.
Where you address her conduct is in the pushy and obtuse aspect of her complaint.
—
He is fairly discourteous to her and I think he could have been clear and precise while not being insulting; as a public official, it is his obligation. Cops carry billy clubs; they do not use them indiscriminately.
“Cops carry billy clubs; they do not use them indiscriminately.”
I can tell Art that you haven’t been in Chicago lately.
“As a rule, I would think we would regard attacking the person with some reserve.”
He didn’t attack her Art, but rather accurately described her desire to transform Wyoming after having just arrived there.
I agree with Art. And I agree with Donald. AT THE SAME TIME.
And I’ve long considered Wyoming to be a bastion of sanity. Who knows, maybe in 50 years there will be a bunch of Catholics holed up there, trying to withstand the forces of progress and modernity that are pushing in all around us.
“Who knows, maybe in 50 years there will be a bunch of Catholics holed up there, trying to withstand the forces of progress and modernity that are pushing in all around us.”
A good start:
http://www.wyomingcatholiccollege.com/
@Phillip
Love that place. Thaddeus K teaches there too…all the right ingredients for a confessional state…
Someone purporting to be Thaddeus Kozinski occasionally posts the most vitriolic denunciations of Israel in Catholic fora & other places. I have been hoping some rude crank has appropriated his handle. Would not wish on Wyoming Catholic College someone with those sort of issues.
I would say he is the nut Art.
http://distributistreview.com/mag/2012/07/the-tradition-of-nothing-worship-ii/
Donald, not really sure what exactly in that link makes him a “nut.”
I wrote an email to Rep. Hunt, thanking him for speaking truth to pompous
jackassery and wishing him a long and influential career in politics.
May his tribe increase.
I was driving around in Austin, Texas yesterday when I saw a car brimming with various leftist slogans on their bumper, including one that said “Progress: Make Austin Blue.” Considering that this is Austin, it is probably one of the few areas of the state where a native would express such ideas. What struck me, though, is that the only thing that would turn Austin blue is an infusion of Yankees seeking work, escaping increasingly decaying areas of the country.
If you are fleeing one area of the country because another area offers dramatically more opportunities, how obtuse do you have to be to vote for the policies that made you need to leave where you are coming from?
Unitarian Universalists are often very liberal politically. They’ve nothing left to believe in so they adopt a political platform and it’s usaully pretty leftist. They seek change through legislation. They try to eradicate ills through government. I’ve found that to be the agenda of the UCC as well.
Wish I could vote for this guy! We need folks like him in New York.
“From the First Amendment’s “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion” to Ike’s Eisenhower’s “This country and its institutions make no sense unless they’re founded on religion–and I don’t care which one” to George W. Bush’s “The ideal of America is the hope of all mankind. That hope still lights the way. And the light shines in the darkness. And the darkness will not overcome it”—it’s all the same Masonic gospel. G.K. Chesterton was right: “America is a nation with the soul of a church.” And, with its cohort, Zionist Israel, it has established countless mission churches in Europe and throughout the world. It is now attempting to gouge out the eyes of the Muslims in the Middle East, whose collective sight is already quite dim. The “darkness of Islamism,” to use the words of Pius XI, is about to get much darker, and as we attempt to blind our “enemies,” we become all the blinder—the full eclipse of the West looks to be imminent.”
Donald, it’s interesting that Chesterton said that. The literary critic Harold Bloom wrote a book entitled the American Religion which holds that as its thesis, further arguing that it’s gnostic.
I am fairly sure your quotation is the authentic Dr. Kozinski. The others I recall seeing may not have been. I would not call him a nut, just someone lost in intellectual labyrinths of his own construction.
I wish he was in Colorado!! I feel the same about the influx of liberals into Colorado-they have really screwed up my home state.
Are there any examples of conservative migrants turning a formerly “blue” or “purple” state, or region of a state, “red”? One would think that they would be just as likely if not more likely to flee oppressive nanny-state liberalism for a friendlier cultural/political climate. Maybe they will have to move back into the Rust Belt cities and states the middle-class and wealthy liberals left behind?
Actually Elaine that is what happened in the South with the advent of air conditioning. Many Republicans moved down there and helped transform it. We see Michigan getting redder slowly, largely due to the implosion of Detroit. Missouri and West Virginia are getting redder. Demographics and migration are complex forces and the nation is in flux.
The South has certainly become less Democrat, but I don’t know that it’s become more conservative. I always thought that the shift toward the GOP in the South was more due to the people who already lived there deciding that they were leaving the Democratic Party because (to paraphrase Ronald Reagan) it left them.
Michigan and post-Katrina Louisiana are also becoming less Democrat due to people leaving, and not more Republican/conservative due to people moving in, at least not at this time. I would also suspect that West Virginia and perhaps Kentucky are getting “redder” due to the decline of the (highly unionized) coal industry.
As for the Show Me State I’m not sure what caused its sharp right turn of late; could disgruntled downstate Sucker Staters defecting to the west side of the St. Louis metro area have something to do with it? Or is it, again, a case of liberals all leaving for what they percieve to be greener pastures while conservatives stay put?
“I always thought that the shift toward the GOP in the South was more due to the people who already lived there deciding that they were leaving the Democratic Party because (to paraphrase Ronald Reagan) it left them.”
That is incorrect. You can see it in the Congressional districts that first flipped to the Republicans and which tended to be the ones with lots of Northern migration.
“All right, now, what happened? Well, the Dixiecrats disappeared. Why did they disappear? So then we moved backward. They disappeared because of the rise of the Republican Party in the South. Sooner or later, conservatives, instead of being Dixiecrats, became Republicans. Now why did they become Republicans? Well, because a sufficient number of people who were Republicans moved to the South from the North. And the question is, why did they move South? This Dixiecrat phenomenon is 100 years old.
That is, the phenomenon that put the Dixiecrats in their positions of power?
Yes, it’s 100 years old. From the Civil War and the Reconstruction, onward. So why did that finally break down? Why do Republicans suddenly appear down there? And the answer is, they migrated down there. Why did they migrate down there? Well, basically, a fair number of them had spent winters down there, but with the introduction in the early 1950s of residential air-conditioning, people began to stay down there. It was interesting to me that the first safe Republican seat in the South, outside of the ones up in the Appalachian Mountains — there are only four or five of those — but the first safe Republican seat under the new dispensation was St. Petersburg, Florida, which was a winter resort, and it happened in 1954. And then Dallas, Texas.
That was Bruce Alger’s seat.
Bruce Alger. That’s right, you’re a Texan, so you remember those things. But anyway, that seemed to be it. Now, how did I verify this? Well, there is some demographic material, which seems to show this, and, also, of course, I went around and talked to some Southern Republican congressman. They told me some wonderful stories about how they had become Republican, or their parents had become Republican. And it was all about Northerners moving down and making it possible.”
http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people2/Polsby/polsby-con4.html
Southern Democrats tended to be conservative on Defense and foreign policy but just as liberal as Northern Democrats on economic issues. The New Deal was just as popular among Southern Democrats as it was among Northern Democrats. Recall that Senator Huey Long of Louisiana attacked Roosevelt from the left on economic issues.
I suspect that in Missouri, Kentucky, Michigan and Lousiana we are beginning to see the Roe effect, a factor that I think will loom larger in our politics as the years pass. Democrat leaning voters are doing a poorer job of reproducing themselves than Republican leaning voters. Crashing demographics in Mexico indicate that long term that source of new Democrat voters will be closed off. Leftists liked to say in the Sixities that the personal was political. Close. The culture is political and always has been.
I just hope she doesn’t come back here. We have enough Yankees moving here wondering why we can’t be more like New Jersey or wherever, and voting Democrat.
I can speak from experience that the more conservative parts of the South (excluding, say, Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida) have indeed become even more conservative. My home state of Texas is FAR more conservative now than it already was when I was growing up. Part of the reason is that when the Democrats were in charge, there was still a populist New Deal tendency among even the most conservative of the Democrats. It’s been only about 20 years since Texas became solidly Republican, and it has clearly become more conservative over that 2 decade stretch.
(That will likely change in the intermediate future as more and more outsiders from north and south of Texas’ borders relocate there.)
Oh my feeling exactly! As a matter of fact I have voiced these same sentiments to many of the city slickers who have moved in around our farm, and now want US to change farm practices after oh, 70 years! Good God they all want to live in the COUNTRY. If you don’t like it move back to wherever it is you came from. As a citizen of both Colorado and Wi I need and use and want my gun available for many things! Why would anyone move to Wyoming and want them to give up their guns. I bet she moved to Wyoming so she wouldn’t have to pay high taxes. Probably got nothing to do with “raising the children”. So far we are winning the battle and have put the whole dang thing in a family conservation trust. It can NEVER be developed so it will be farmed for at least the next 50 years or so and then it can be a retreat center and animal refuge for ultra conservative bleeding heart liberals. We aren’t a show place farm. We are a working farm so they’re stuck with us FOREVER! We also have a small gun range to practise. Everytime the sheriff comes out on a call about something being done here, he smiles and says, “I have to investigate these calls have a great day and keep up the good work. We need you people”. (Farmers)
“I have to investigate these calls have a great day and keep up the good work. We need you people”.
How the liberals use our laws against us.
Paul – “If you are fleeing one area of the country because another area offers dramatically more opportunities, how obtuse do you have to be to vote for the policies that made you need to leave where you are coming from?”
Simple. People don’t recognize the effect of their policy recommendations. If they recognized it, they’d have changed their positions before they moved, when the consequences of their policies started to take their toll. The obvious analogy is the person who moves to a rural area to get away from all the chaos of the city. Then they want free sewer and water service, a main highway a couple of miles away, and shops within walking distance.
They sure know how to frack in Wyoming whether the target is busting rocks to release natural gas or cracking the skulls of red-heading liberals.
Sigh! Don’t you hate politicians who are afraid to give their honest opinions? What a coward!
Hunt for President 2028!
Art:
I read your comment about the controversial comments made by “Thaddeus Kozinski.” If you would, please e-mail me if you see this happening again. Thanks. I can ask that they are removed. Wyoming Catholic is a good place, and I don’t want it to get a reputation for being a breeding ground for off-the-wall people. Thanks.
tjkozinski@gmail.com