The Seacoast welcomed Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo on Monday, and it was wonderful to have her in Seabrook visiting Aero Dynamics to tour that manufacturing facility. Secretary Raimondo was in Hampton before her visit to Seabrook, listening to a cross section of business and community leaders on the very serious challenges our region has faced through the pandemic, and how we are recovering. Secretary Raimondo is the former Governor of Rhode Island, and that experience gave her a real understanding of some of the major issues our region faces.
This visit was made possible through the efforts and office of Senator Jeanne Shaheen. My thanks for another strong effort by Chamber of Commerce President John Nyhan, who worked very hard to help organize the visit.
With Secretary Raimondo at Aero Dynamics in Seabrook. Secretary Raimondo and Senator Shaheen in Hampton. With Portsmouth City Manager Karen Conrad and Hampton Town Manager Jamie Sullivan. At Aero Dynamics in SeabrookTouring Seabrook Manufacturer Aero Dynamics.
The Seabrook Board of Selectmen did an inspection of the newly renovated police locker room on a recent visit to the Police Building. This renovation replaced the original locker and shower area, and was funded with Seabrook’s share of the State of New Hampshire surplus budget money returned to localities.
The Board of Selectmen advocated for, and approved, this improvement, utilizing state funds rather than local property tax dollars. Thanks to the Board, as well as Chief Walker and Deputy Gelineau for their hard work on this project.
Rite Aid and The Brook are partnering to offer a COVID vaccine clinic on May 2, 2021. This clinic will be held on the site of The Brook, at:
The Brook
319 New Zealand Rd.
Seabrook, NH 03874
The Pfizer vaccine will be offered this day. There is no cost for the vaccine regardless of insurance status, however we do ask that you bring a copy of your ID and any existing insurance.
The clinic will accept ages 16 and above.
People are encouraged to make a password so that if they need to change or cancel they can do so. Rite Aid also strongly encourages patients to use their email when entering information in the event we need to reach them regarding the clinics.
They only need to sign up for the May 2 appointment. They will be handed a reminder card for their second appointment on May 23.
Please note that when entering the zip code it should be the Seabrook, NH zip code of 03874.
The Seabrook Board of Selectmen, at their meeting of April 19, 2021, have approved restarting the curbside recycling program, which had been suspended during the pandemic. That program will begin starting on Monday May 3.
The Board also ordered the full reopening of the Transfer Station, which will, effective immediately, be open six days a week. The hours will be: Monday-Thursday 8:00 am-3:00 p.m. Friday 8:00 am-12:00 p.m. Saturday 8:00 am-11:00 a.m. Sunday closed. The Rocks Road gate will be closed. Please access the station from the North entrance. The swap shop will remain closed.
Thank you to DPW Manager John Starkey and all of the employees of the DPW, who have worked very hard to keep our services to Seabrook residents during this pandemic.
The Seabrook Board of Selectmen joined Water-Sewer Superintendent Curtis Slayton and Water Chief Operator George Eaton on a tour of the Route 286 Water Tank, which has had work on it restarted. This project, approved by the Board and the voters through Article 5 in 2019, provided finance to fully sandblast and recoat the interior and exteriors of the Route 107 and Route 286 water tanks. The Route 107 tank was completed last year, and we are on schedule to complete the 286 tank by mid-May. This project is part of the deep commitment of the Board of Selectmen to protecting our water infrastructure and bringing new sources of water online. Thanks to Curtis Slayton and George Eaton, who have done such a wonderful job of managing this project while keeping our water flowing. This project was budgeted at $2,039,000 and we have brought it in at $1.3 million.
Volume 1 of the Presidential memoirs of Barack Obama has arrived and weighs in at 700 pages. There are some that prefer to deal with independent historical narratives as opposed to memoirs; my view is that memoirs offer valuable insight, despite Presidents looking to put the best spin on their actions. In this case I do believe Obama’s insights are indeed valuable, and reflect some authentic pressures he felt, with an honest amount of self-doubt expressed throughout.
It goes without saying that every President faces monumental decisions, some of which are choices between bad and worse. Obama is a reflective man, and that reflection brings forward some admission that choices he made were disappointing to some, especially those who voted for him and were expecting change to come faster and bigger. Our system, like it or not, is built for incremental change, and President Obama understood that, but also understood that his election brought some outsized expectations that could not always be met.
The book gives us some biographical background, and takes us on a brief tour of the Obama political career in Illinois, as he climbs the political ladder while experiencing some defeats. Obama gives us, throughout the book, the challenges inherent in maintaining a marriage and family while trying to build a political career. Michele Obama, while supportive, had some doubts about some of the political decisions that were made. He was pretty honest about those disagreements (doubts) that Michele had.
One of the truly bad decisions highlighted was Obama’s entry into a congressional race against Bobby Rush, the incumbent. Obama saw Rush as easy pickings (my words) but he soon discovered his error. He got crushed in that race, losing by 30%. He realized that he had overreached, building a campaign on false assumptions. He made up for that mistake by winning an open U.S. Senate seat after getting drubbed in a Congressional race. After losing the Congressional race Obama related a story about traveling to the Democratic National Convention and not having the proper credentials to actually get on the convention floor. He points out something that served him well. “It speaks, I tell my audience, to the unpredictable nature of politics, and the necessity for resilience.” Page37
Obama’s Senate win changed the dynamic, and he immediately became a celebrity Senator. We get a look at his now famous speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention, which helped to give him a national profile. The campaign for President, and the interaction with Hillary Clinton, is covered, and in a surprisingly candid way. Obama spreads some praise onto Clinton, but the book reveals some tensions. Obama used the accusations of “dog whistles” in describing a Bill Clinton campaign speech, comparing it to tactics deployed by Lee Atwater. That is pretty tough.
After winning the Presidency Obama was generous in his praise of President George W. Bush and the transition he ran, but like the Clinton praise it is mixed in with some (diplomatic) hard shots on President Bush on policy. The disaster that was left behind for Obama to deal with is covered, and we get to see some of the folks that became mainstays of the Administration. (Rahm, Plouffe, Axelrod)
The book does a good job of covering the major issues of his first term, including some of the dynamics of group meetings with Harry Reid, Mitch McConnell, Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner. (We will take a look at the new Boehner book for some additional detail there.) As Obama moved to try to win bipartisan support for the American Recovery Act he ran into a stone wall of GOP opposition, giving us the seeds of the political polarization that has become so difficult to navigate. We see that in the withdrawal of NH Senator Judd Gregg from consideration as Obama Commerce Secretary, and the Obama hug that ended Florida Governor Charlie Crist’s career as a Republican.
There were many monumental decisions taken to deal with the inherited economic mess, including the actions taken to save the auto industry, the continued issues in the financial sector, and a host of foreign policy issues. Obama still has some sharp elbows for some in the banking and business sectors who resented his “rhetoric” on the medicine necessary to accompany the massive financial bailouts afforded to that sector. Obama’s obvious resentments here are not restricted to the business community, but are spread over to those who felt that he should have taken the opportunity to impose harsher medicine, possibly breaking up some large financial institutions and sending some bankers to jail. Yes, Obama took much flak from the left on that score. He addresses those concerns, and while sympathetic to the reasons for such criticism he believes that on balance his administration did the best they could without causing further disruptions to the economy.
As you might expect we get some interesting takes on foreign leaders, including Gordon Brown, Angela Merkel, and Nicholas Sarkozy, as well as his take on then Russian President Medvedev, keeping the seat warm for Vladimir Putin.
His take on the passage of Obama Care, and how a Massachusetts Senate race between Republican Scott Brown and Democrat Martha Coakley impacted the legislative process, was a key part of the book. (He was not too kind to the Coakley campaign)
Obama had disagreements with the military, and a complicated relationship with Bob Gates, who he kept on as Defense Secretary. (The Gates memoir, although I have not read it yet, nicks up Obama a bit) Obama, like his successors, had no easy answer to the problems and contradictions involved in our policy and presence in Afghanistan.
I have only managed to highlight a few pieces of this first memoir, which I think contributes to the historical understanding of the events of Obama’s first term. I understand that President’s put their own spin on the actions and policies they undertook in their memoirs but I believe they all contain some important information, even if it is given through a sympathetic view. Obama’s first term was most certainly impactful, and we continue to wrestle with some of the same issues today. I highly recommend this first installment of the Obama memoir.
The Seabrook Board of Selectmen in the Board Meeting Room.
The Seabrook Board of Selectmen have voted to return to “in-person” meetings at the Seabrook Town Hall, starting with their meeting of April 19, 2021. The Board has directed that all state regulations be observed. At the Board’s direction we are working on producing a “hybrid” technology solution that will allow input and participation to occur via Zoom, if that is the preferred method for some participants. During the last meeting of the Board, conducted on April 5, we had 98 participants giving input to the Board on Beach parking and placards. It would not have been possible for us to have accommodated that type of participation in the Selectmen meeting room without changing the venue. As we hopefully leave the pandemic behind it has become obvious that some of the technology that has been so helpful to municipalities will continue to be utilized in modified ways. The meeting on April 19 will be open to the public.
The Seabrook Fire Department swore in Tiah Eaton, the newest Seabrook Firefighter, at a recent ceremony at Town Hall. Welcome to the Seabrook Fire Department Tiah!
A new(er) biography of the Long Fellow, Eamon De Valera, a giant of Ireland, seemed like a good read as we enjoy the St. Patrick’s Day holiday. David McCullagh has taken a new look at De Valera in a two-volume series on a highly complex man who still stirs great emotion, and whose imprint remains solidly on the Irish nation even today.
This book deals with De Valera in the period up to his entering the Free State Dail. His governance after that entry will be the subject of the second volume.
The book makes an attempt to remain even-handed in presenting the career of De Valera as the leader of the Irish resistance to British rule in Ireland. That effort is difficult, as many of De Valera’s actions in the run-up to the Irish civil war, in my opinion, were simply dead wrong and had devastating consequences for the Irish nationalist movement and the Irish people.
If you are looking for a more detailed look at how the breakdown came over the Treaty with Britain this book comes up a bit short. McCullagh is writing a biography of De Valera and appears to me to want to stay away from concentrating on the role of Michael Collins in the Treaty, as well as Collins outsized role in the War of Independence. I understand the sentiment but it is difficult to get to the heart of the split in the Dail, and in Sinn Fein, without examining the role of Collins and the relationship of De Valera and Collins over a longer period. Like it or not the two are intertwined in this period, and a full examination of the actions of either man must take into account the details of that relationship.
McCullagh gives us a very good account of the De Valera role in the Easter uprising, and how his leadership traits began to show even then. The book gives great insight here, bringing De Valera’s commitment to the “Irish Volunteers” and the development of his political philosophy a great and detailed look. Without question De Valera was an Irish patriot, and his contributions, as “the Chief” of the Irish nationalist movement, and then the President of the Irish Dail, were enormous. It was De Valera, and his strong leadership, that put the Irish in a position to break free of the British. But when it came time to make the difficult decisions necessary to actually break free De Valera flinched, creating a rupture that broke the Irish Republican movement in two, laying the groundwork for the Irish Civil War.
The book covers, although not in great detail, the Irish uprising that led to the negotiations with the British. With all of the concentration on the negotiations that led to the Treaty not much attention has been paid to the direct negotiations that preceded the final negotiation. De Valera was the leader of the Irish delegation that went to London to negotiate with David Lloyd George, heading up an Irish delegation that omitted Michael Collins. That conference, and the following correspondence between Lloyd George and De Valera are covered here and although the conditions under which the final conference was scheduled later became a source of great controversy we only get a cursory view of the acceptance of the final conference by De Valera and the Irish Dail.
“…Lloyd George was forced to considerably tone down his draft reply. This once again insisted that a conference would be impossible if the Irish side demanded the right to set up a Republic and repudiate the Crown.” De Valera Rise 1882-1932 David McCullagh Pg 221
McCullagh gives us a view of the back and forth on the “pre-conditions” for the final peace conference, but the above quote misses the mark slightly. De Valera, in a letter to Lloyd George seeking to establish the final peace conference, had indicated that the Irish entered the conference as the representatives of an independent State, with powers bestowed by that State. (De Valera letter to Lloyd George of September 12, 2021.) Lloyd George explicitly rejected, and refused British participation in, a conference based on de Valera’s letter. Lloyd George made it explicitly clear that the British could not, and would not, recognize the Irish Republic. Although not in the book Lloyd George’s reply left no doubt about the position of the British:
“It might be argued in future that the acceptance of the Conference on this basis had involved them in a recognition which no British government can accord. On this point they must guard themselves against any possible doubt. There is no purpose to be served by any further interchange of explanatory and argumentative communications upon this subject. The position taken by His Majesty’s Government is fundamental to the existence of the British Empire and they cannot alter it.” (Lloyd George to De Valera September 29, 1921.)
So before the Peace Conference the British had explicitly rejected the idea of an Irish Republic, but De Valera chose to accept the conference anyway. Collins would later make great political points on this very issue.
The book, of course, deals with De Valera’s decision not to attend the peace conference himself, sending Arthur Griffith, Michael Collins, and others as plenipotentiaries with full powers to conclude a treaty. Was De Valera, understanding the true British position, looking to send scapegoats? It certainly appears that way. The author gives, in my view, a fair look at De Valera’s outrage upon learning that the Treaty had been published without his approval. That outrage can be described as personal pique, but the author correctly assigns to De Valera a political desire to hold the hard liners in place, attempting to walk a tightrope that simply could not be balanced. He came down on the side of the hard-liners.
With the onset of the Irish Civil War and the creation of the Irish Free State the book does a good job of describing the tortured position of De Valera in those years. His ridiculous propagation of what became known as “Document No. 2” as a substitute for the Treaty highlighted his difficulty, as all sides, including the IRA, simply rejected his position.
De Valera, despite reaching a low point politically that would have driven most out of public life, soldiered on. McCullagh covers the De Valera split with Sinn Fein and the creation of Fianna Fail by de Valera. His decision to enter the Free State Dail and sign the hated oath is well covered, and once again shows the political gyrations De Valera needed to undertake to make the argument that his position had not changed. In fact it had, and that entry into the Free State Dail, in my view, was the final testament to how wrong he was on the Treaty. Collins had described the Treaty as a steppingstone, and de Valera entering the Free State government showed that the Collins argument, over the longer term, was the absolutely correct one. It just took Dev a bit longer to see it. De Valera not only entered the Dail but in 1932 assumed the reigns of the Free State apparatus with Fianna Fail taking control. That is where the second installment will begin. I recommend the book for anyone looking for an understanding of Eamon De Valera, who may have been flawed, but most certainly was a giant of Ireland.
The Seabrook Town Meeting was held yesterday, Tuesday March 9,2021. Congratulations to Seabrook Select Board member Theresa Kyle, who was re-elected to a three year term. The full results of the warrant are below. Thank you to all those that came out to vote, and to those who ran for office.
Bill Manzi.com 