"I was just getting the hang of it some, but with all the slightly unfavorable publicity I've been getting the last few days, I'll never be an effective lawmaker," Harty wrote. "So I hereby submit my resignation from the House. Sorry my big mouth caused this furor."
The short, 60-day tenure of Martin Harty ended with an incredibly lame non-apology, leaving the New Hampshire Republican Party looking very bigoted, very racist, very inhumane and even a bit ... pedophile.
Martin Harty was the Republican New Hampshire state freshman representative who, 91 years old, never held a public position before. He will probably never hold one again. That "slightly unfavorable publicity" comment is the understatement of the year: he "jokingly" told a community healthcare manager that the disabled and the mentally ill should be shipped off to Siberia.
Think Progress: Barrington Republican Martin Harty told Sharon Omand, a Strafford resident who manages a community mental health program, that "the world is too populated" and there are "too many defective people," according to an e-mail account of the conversation by Omand. [...] Harty confirmed to the Monitor that he made the comments to Omand.
"I wish we had a Siberia so we could ship them all off to freeze to death and die and clean up the population...Hitler did something right, and I agree with (it)."
Of course, the comments became viral within minutes, prompted Republican lawmakers to wince and immediately chorus "no comment."
Subsequent media coverage: The Concord Monitor (unfortunately) was able to get in touch with Harty for a sponse. Harty said nature has a way of "getting rid of stupid people," and "now we're saving everyone who gets born."
Pro-lifers are now busy distancing themselves from Harty and proposing he's so senile, he has no clue as to what he's saying. This was not good. Pat Robertson pissed off a multitude of Christians with his Haiti-contract-with-the-devil comments. They tried to cover it all up with a kind of senility defense, but it didn't work.
But wait, there's more ...
It was Marty Harty's 2008 statements for which he got elected:
Topic: Hate Crimes Legislation
Answer: mostly trumped-up stuff.
Topic: Punishment of companies who employ illegal immigrants
Answer: Who's going to pick the apples?
Topic: Education
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