UPDATE 3: Jane Rawlings, the Assistant Publisher and Vice President of The Pueblo Chieftain provided this comment to the Peak:
Last week, The Chieftain’s general manager did send an email to state Sen. Angela Giron, a Pueblo Democrat, in which he expressed his opposition to the gun-control bills being considered by the state Legislature.
As a way of identification, as he still is fairly new to the area, Ray Stafford told Senator Giron that he is the general manager of The Chieftain and in charge of its operation, including the newsroom. At no time did he suggest that he would use his position to slant the newspaper’s coverage. In fact, a careful review of The Chieftain’s coverage of these volatile issues reveals a very deliberate effort to provide balanced coverage.”
It is unfortunate that Sen. President John Morse told MSNBC that the general manager of the newspaper in her district had threatened Senator Giron with unfavorable news coverage unless she voted against the bills.
No such thing happened. Mr. Stafford was exercising his constitutional right as a citizen to contact his elected representative. Nothing more. We invite Sen. Morse to read our coverage himself.
UPDATE 2: The Colorado GOP just blasted Morse in a press release for additional comments he made, essentially saying his Senate caucus was ignoring comments from the public and forging ahead with their gun control agenda regardless of constituent feedback. Cancelled town halls and ignored emails do not a representative legislator make. Full release after the jump.
UPDATE: Senator Giron’s puppet master, Senate President John Morse, appeared on left wing MSNBC host Rachel Maddow’s show on Friday, attacking the Chieftain, saying “She was in the paper and on the front page for a week, practically a week straight, including with pictures that weren’t very flattering, almost deliberately.”
Was he referring to this front-page picture with him?
Did we say Giron was doubling down? We meant quadrupling down on her attack on her hometown paper.
#BobRawlingsAintGonnaBeHappy
———–
So much for cutting your losses. So much for not throwing bombs at those who buy ink by the barrel. This weekend State Senator Angela Giron doubled down on the side of Michael Bloomberg’s gun control war when Giron accused a top executive with the Pueblo Chieftain of threatening her, even though an email sent by that executive was anything but a threat.
Check this coverage from KRDO:
State Senator Angela Giron says she received a threatening e-mail from the general manager of The Pueblo Chieftain, Ray Stafford.
Stafford sent an e-mail to Giron on March 3 in which he writes that he is “responsible for the entire newspaper, including the newsroom.” Stafford goes on to write that he opposed all the bills being considered involving guns and ask Senator Giron not to vote for the current gun legislation.
“You have a copy of my e-mail and it’s not threatening at all. In fact, I point out that that was my opinion and I certainly have a right to that opinion and it doesn’t matter what e-mail account I send it from. The fact is the e-mail doesn’t contain any kind of a threat whatsoever,” Stafford said.
Giron’s escalation takes it to a whole ‘nother level. Not only is Giron making a phony accusation of a threat where no threat exists, she is also picking a fight with the purchaser of ink by the barrel. The Chieftain has a notoriously aggressive editorial viewpoint on matters large and small, but someone apparently forgot to tell the Senator.
Stay tuned. The Senate will cast its final votes on gun control today, but this isn’t over by a long shot.
Senate Pres. Morse advises Democrats to ignore constituents on national TV
GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo.—On Friday, Colorado Senate Pres. John Morse, D-Fountain, took time from ramming anti-Second Amendment legislation through the state Senate to be a guest on The Rachel Maddow Show. There, he told Maddow that he has advised Democratic state senators to ignore their constituents.
Morse said–
“Even though, you know, at this point, when you’re getting thousands of emails, you can’t read all of them, physically anyway. But it’s…We just have to stay away from some of this toxicity. We get the point that some of these folks think their Second Amendment rights are being abridged.… It’s not worth getting into that argument with them, and, so, just move along and don’t read any more of these than you absolutely have to, because it will wear on your psyche.”
Many Democratic legislators are taking Morse’s advice to heart, including Senate Majority Leader Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, and state Sen. Angela Giron, D-Pueblo, who skipped-out on their scheduled town hall meetings without notice.
Colorado Republican Committee Chairman Ryan Call said that while we should be disappointed that Morse and his fellow Democrats are ignoring their constituents, we shouldn’t be surprised—
“Whether Sen. Morse is forcing through tax increases on struggling families and seniors, increasing regulations on small business owners, or taking away Second Amendment rights, he and his fellow Democrats know that they are not representing their constituents. So, Sen. Morse is publicly telling his members to ignore the voters. Sen. Morse and Democratic legislators are paid to represent the people of Colorado, and they can’t do that if they’re ditching town hall meetings and ignoring emails from constituents.”
You can see Morse advising Senate Democrats to ignore their constituents here.
Shawn Rosvold Seems like your whole "minority" bullshit argument was provably just you talking out of your ass. She's been recalled, dipshit. Can't do that with a "minority." I love libtards that think that because they're louder and mouthier that makes them the majority. How's it feel to be in the minority, moron?
Stephen Butler – Yes, you are in the minority. The majority of people do not own a gun. The majority of Americans, Republicans and NRA members favor background checks for every gun purchase. The majority of Americans favor smaller magazines. These are the two issues that will pass the Congress and Senate right now. Your constitutional rights are not being threatened, despite what Faux News, Rush and Wayne Lapierre are telling you. I love this country, and I'm not going anywhere. If democracy makes you angry, maybe you should consider a move to Kansas or North Korea.
We need to facilitate the recall of Giron. Cannot be trusted to represent the people based on her statements and actions. We cannot let these leftists remain in office doing the will of the party rather than representing the people they swore an oath to.
Ryan Crystal – Too bad the Senate has no role whatsoever in determining if a law is Constitutional.
So now Giron has voted for it, let the cat out of the bag. What Pueblo Democrat can I donate funds to?
To bad the US senate deemed them constitutional.
Drink another glass of Kool-Aid, Shawn. You're going to need it come next election.
Shawn – disagreeing with the liberal / socialist / statist agendas is doing something that's good for the country. If you want to do away with the Constitution, the answer is simple – move to a country with a government more to your liking. May I suggest one of the former soviet states so that you can see the reality of socialism up close and personal?
Let the Colorado voters decide on these gun control issues & let's see who is in the minority Shawn
Shawn. We are not in the minority. What part of " shall not be infringed" do you not understand? You don't like our constitution, feel free to leave. Libtards like you are ruining this state and this great nation.
Shawn you keep repeating that phrase, "you guys are in the minority" like it was a religious mantra. The Dems have miscalculated how much anti-gun garbage the populace are willing to have dumped on them. Now there are growing voices opposing them and they are running and hiding. They won't face their constituents or the local press, they run to the national media forum that will be the most friendly to them. If you're anti-gun, you won't have to answer uncomfortable questions on MSNBC. These aren't the actions of politicians who are confident that their proposed laws are popular.
So Shawn, please enlighten all of us to the whole story. Story goes like this: Sen Giron skips townhall meetings in her district because she doesn't want to disucss her voting record. Sen Giron gets email asking her not to vote for this legislation and cries "I am being harrassed" and then complains about unflattery pics of her speaking to the Senate president. What this tells all of us is that Sen Giron doesn't like to answer questions or stand up to the people that voted her to office.
As usual, your one-sided, biased, right wing BS doesn't tell the whole story. Besides, you guys are in the minority, so stop whining about everything and try doing something that's good for the country for a change.
RECALL VOTE!!!!
RECALL Giron, she is a worthless Socialist!
Colorado will go Red-State in 2014 following the economic and civil collapse.
http://www.koaa.com/news/senator-john-morse-facing-recall-effort-over-gun-laws/#_
It's simple, really: The dirty Leftist traitor-whore is trying to set up a narrative wherein it's seen as "moral, legal and wise" for The Anointed to order a drone strike on the offices of the "Chieftain".
What are all these liberals taking…stupid pills or smoking the wacky weed?
Fire this idiot!
Well done Dems! Between this woman and Sen. Hodge saying Vets are too unstable for 20 round magazines… the next state election should be very interesting…
Looks like we need to start hoarding sodas bigger that 16 ounces, Bloomberg seems to be winning the first round. No time to lick our wounds now, round two is coming up soon and it might just get nasty.
Vote this Constitutional traitor out of office!