Concord has been keeping busy this spring with busy bills—like HB-524 (anti-vaccine), HB-115 (anti-education), and HB-148 (anti-trans). These busy bills give lawmakers an open mic for fear-mongering and false narratives about imaginary enemies and you can watch it on YouTube by searching the bill numbers with "NH" as experts are often mocked and ignored.

A party that is obsessed with false narratives about its citizens is antidemocratic. Weak people are defined by their enemies, and the weakest of all are defined by imaginary ones. The Republicans in Concord have more than Batman. Take HB-524, for example. It featured testimony from a vaccine skeptic named Laura Condon, who claimed expert input threatens politicians’ power (a good thing) and that vaccine procurement is corrupt (false). The only committee member with medical credentials, Rep. David Nagel, was pushed out by Wilton Republican Jim Kofalt for not toeing the party’s anti-vaccine dogma.

Meanwhile, diseases like measles and polio are undergoing a resurgence thanks to conspiracy theorists. This isn’t new – legislative malpractice has a long history. Consider the infamous “Indiana Pi Bill,” where lawmakers tried to redefine the mathematical constant pi. It’s as absurd as it sounds. Fortunately, reason won that time.The takeaway? When lawmakers abandon expertise for political gain, the unfortunate results can be deadly. If you care about your civil rights, public education, and life-saving health care, vote for people who actually represent you. The alternative is terrifying.

John Zavgren

Wilton