LONG TIME, NO TALK: Ritter’s Revisionist Recitations

Published on May 21, 2013 by

Just when we thought Democratic Sen. Bennet was the clown of the week with his faux outrage over the IRS scandal that he, himself, caused, former Colorado Governor and (we presume) current Democrat Bill Ritter steps in with a trite and totally inaccurate assessment of the current state of affairs here in Colorado.  Here is the rubbish that froths from his pen Sunday in the Pueblo Chieftain:

“Here in Colorado, we are ahead of the curve on many public policy issues that other parts of the country call intractable. There’s a pragmatic optimism in Colorado that leads us to find sensible solutions and compromises on tough issues, and move forward when others dig in their heels, putting ideology over progress.”

Initially, we thought he was planning to chastise his own party and we settled in to read the rest of the piece.  But, no.  Is Ritter living in an entirely different Colorado than the rest of… Colorado?  In the “real” Colorado, the Democrats killed bills that would have saved children from pedophiles, worked overtime to strip citizens of Second Amendment rights, penalized small businesses with extra burdens and regulations, and just generally made life miserable for Colorado’s middle class all in the name of liberalism.  (Or, perhaps, all in the name of their radical leftist patron saint, Tim Gill, who bought this year’s legislature and it’s bassackwards legislation.)

The ideas he expressed throughout his op-ed aren’t new, nor are they disagreeable – “let’s work together to get things done”.  It’s just that he’s so detached from reality.  And, it’s not just about the state of Colorado.  He even seems to have rose-colored glasses when it comes to his own administration.

He claims he “balanced the budget” – doesn’t every Governor have to do so because of TABOR?  That’s kind of like a criminal taking credit for serving his time.  And, then there’s the Medicare fee that he passed, which contributed heartily to the national debt.  Since he’s so worried about our debt.

By putting such a rosy spin on his and other Democrats’ actions, we can’t help but wonder if the lady doth protest too much.

 

FRACK WARS HIT THE SILVER SCREEN: FrackNation To Screen In Boulder Opposite Gasland 2 Tomorrow Night

Published on May 21, 2013 by

In a battle of fact vs. fiction, two fracking documentaries are set to air in Boulder tomorrow night.

FrackNation will be airing at the Boulder Marriott at 6:30 p.m. which IMDB describes as:

Journalist Phelim McAleer faces bogus lawsuits, gun threats and intimidation questioning environmentalists and anti-fracking activists in his search for the truth.

At the same time, the Michael Moore-esque Gasland 2 will be screened at CU Boulder. 

You can sign up to see FrackNation here.

If you’re more in a fiction mood, you can get tickets to Gasland 2 here.

 

HEALED: Ken Buck Declared Cancer-Free

Published on May 21, 2013 by

In March, Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck announced that he would be undergoing treatment for lymphoma.  Today, he announced he was cancer free, although he will finish his remaining chemotherapy treatments.  From his Facebook update:

“Praise the Lord! I went to my doctor today and after blood tests, a CT scan and a PET scan the consensus from the Radiologist and Oncologist is that I am in remission. After only 3 chemo cycles, there is no detectable cancer in my body. I feel so blessed to have so many friends who have prayed, prepared meals, sent cards, called, emailed and expressed love and support in so many positive ways. Perry and I want to thank you for allowing us to share this time together and grow in our marriage, faith and love. It has been a time for the Buck family to reflect and we are all so much more appreciative of the blessings we enjoy. Our daughter Kaitlin graduated early from college and put her life on hold since January to support her Papa and we could not have asked for a greater gift than her loving devotion. I have a few more chemo sessions to make sure there is no cancer lingering in the blood system and then I will be fighting again with my entire heart, body and soul. Thank you so much for your prayers and overwhelming support.”

We’re glad to hear that he’s on the mend.  Please keep sending positive thoughts and prayers for his continued healing.

 

WHO’S RESPONSIBLE? Senate Democrats Attack Sheriffs As Supporting Criminals, Buck Stops At Morse

Published on May 21, 2013 by

The recall against Senate President John Morse has angered the notoriously thin-skinned Senator from Colorado Springs, with accusations being thrown at his opponents of being sexual predators and criminals.

On Friday, the Twitter account for Morse’s State Senate Democrats went even further, accusing the 55 Sheriffs, both Democrat and Republican, who are suing to overturn overreaching gun control legislation, of standing with criminals.

Reports The Colorado Observer‘s Valerie Richardson:

DENVER–Locked in a fight for his political life, Senate President John Morse is showing that he’s not afraid to deliver a few low blows.

The Colorado Senate Democrats, which he leads, issued a Twitter message Friday accusing 55 county sheriffs of siding with “criminals.” A week earlier, the Morse campaign launched radio ads claiming that those gathering signatures to place him on the recall ballot were “criminals convicted of forgery, fraud and even sexual assault.”

El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa, one of the sheriffs accused by Democrats of backing criminals by filing a lawsuit against the state’s new gun-control laws, said such political tactics have become par for the course.

“I’m not at all surprised,” said Maketa. “This is their typical way of deflecting having to engage in a true debate. I would challenge the Senate Democrats to respond to the issues instead of making these childish claims and accusations.”

There are two options here: either Morse directed that this attack be made by his caucus’s communications arm, or a staff member went rogue and made this accusation themselves.

Either way, as taxpayer money is used to run the Twitter account, an answer is needed: who is responsible for accusing the Sheriffs of standing with criminals?

Does Morse stand by the attack? If not, will he fire the staff member responsible?

 

DUNLAP DECISION: Sources Say Hickenlooper Chief Of Staff Threatening To Resign If Death Penalty Not Commuted

Published on May 21, 2013 by

Gov. Hickenlooper and his Chief of Staff Roxanne White deep in discussion

Chuck E. Cheese killer Nathan Dunlap may have a few more months before his scheduled execution in August, but sources tell Colorado Peak Politics that a decision on whether or not to commute his sentence is likely coming much sooner than that.

Governor Hickenlooper has been publicly weighing whether to commute Dunlap’s death penalty sentence, giving the mass murderer a reprieve for killing four Coloradans in 1993, including three teenagers.

Part of Hickenlooper’s calculus has been his outspoken senior staff, most visibly his Chief of Staff Roxanne White, who tweeted at Dunlap’s hearing that “there has to be a more humane path.”

Humane is not a word we’d use to describe the punishment deserved by a cold-blooded killer who bragged abou the killings afterwards and got a prison tattoo with a smoking gun that said “By Any Means Necessary.”

But White has shed crocodile tears for Dunlap and been one of the most outspoken members of Hickenlooper’s top aides urging the Governor to cancel Dunlap’s death penalty, a sentence decided by a jury almost 20 years ago.

Now sources are telling the Peak that White has threatened to resign if Hickenlooper doesn’t commute Dunlap’s sentence. With a long and close relationship with the Governor, White’s alleged threat could carry a great deal of weight with Hick.

As we’ve asked before, is the tail wagging the dog over at the governor’s mansion? What is driving this literal life or death decision? The people of Colorado have a right to know.

 

AX TO GRIND, PART I: Denver Post’s Finley Fails to Identify Enviro Activist Sources (Again)

Published on May 21, 2013 by

He looks so pensive, doesn’t he? Photo courtesy of BruceFinley.com

Last month, we covered an unusual article written by Denver Post environmental reporter Bruce Finley that failed to disclose the radical environmentalist ties its source.  In that article, Dr. Mitchell Gershten was just portrayed as a small town doctor, when, in fact, he is also an experienced environmental activist with a particular ax to grind with the state’s oil and gas industry.  Based on Finley’s long career in journalism and the editorial standards at the state’s most influential newspaper, we thought that this instance was an outlier.  Unfortunately, it is not.

Below are just a few examples of Bruce Finley enlisting environmental activists as sources for his stories, and painting these individuals as just ordinary citizens.  There an numerous other examples from the Denver Post that are not included here, but will be in subsequent posts.

In this March 2013 Denver Post story about seismic monitoring, Finley sought out Kim Smith for the article, simply calling her an “intensive care nurse and mother of three.”  In reality?  Kim Smith is an environmental activist who had a letter to the editor of the Denver Post on fracking published online last year, and called for a moratorium on fracking in Arapahoe County as early as 2011.

In another March 2013 Denver Post story about exploration in the vicinity of Colorado Springs, Finley sought out the sage advice of Dave Gardner of the Colorado Springs Citizens for Community Rights.  The story gives no background information on Dave Gardner or the Colorado Springs Citizens for Community Rights.  The Colorado Springs Citizens for Community Rights is a single-issue advocacy group focused solely on eliminating fracking in Colorado Springs.  This radical group issued a press release last year for an event titled “Bring Your Own Gas Mask.”  Even a cursory investigation of this group would uncover that their website is FrackFreeSprings.org.  Just days before Finley quoted Gardner in the Denver Post, the biased source for Finley’s article penned this opinion piece for the Colorado Springs Gazette.  Gardner is even working on an anti-growth environmentalist documentary, yet Finley doesn’t even offer a hint that Gardner is an extremely biased source for Finley’s article.

In a January 2013 Denver Post article about setbacks from homes, Finley tracked down Thomas Thompson for multiple dramatic quotes in his article, who Finley simply identified simply as a “Rifle-area resident.”  WRONG.  Thomson is a hard-core activist who hosts “Fracking Ground Zero Tours” and blogs “Voices from the Gaspatch.”  Thompson is even involved in a lawsuit against Encana, an obvious conflict that any unbiased journalist should have disclosed.

These are just a few instances.  There are numerous other instances of this biased reporter using his position at the Denver Post to advance an anti-oil and gas agenda by portraying hard-core environmental activists as unbiased sources for his articles.  These are just a few.  In the coming days, we will expose more of these bizarre and allegedly unbiased sources.  Stay tuned.

 

THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS: How to Help Oklahoma Tornado Victims

Published on May 20, 2013 by

This afternoon a massive tornado ripped through the suburbs of Oklahoma City, OK, leaving an unimaginable wake of destruction.  According to the Oklahoma State Medical Examiner, there have been at least 51 fatalities as a result of this beast that primarily struck in Moore, OK.  Included in the victims were many children at Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, OK.  We’re sending our thoughts and prayers to the families of those who were killed by this enormous storm as well as those who have been injured or who have lost everything.

The citizens of Moore and the surrounding area have lost an unimaginable amount, including homes, cars, and personal belongings.  In addition to your thoughts and prayers, they could use your help.  Here are a few ways you can help alleviate the suffering of the victims:

  • Red Cross: Donate to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund here.  You also may send a $10 donation to the Disaster Relief fund via text message by texting the word REDCROSS to 90999. The donation will show up on your wireless bill.
  • Salvation Army: The Salvation Army is sending mobile kitchens that can serve meals to 2,500 people a day, and to the hardest hit areas of Oklahoma.  You can donate online here.  You also may send a $10 donation to the Salvation Army via cell phone by texting the word STORM to 80888.  To send a check, please use put the words “Oklahoma Tornado Relief” in the check’s memo, and mail it to: The Salvation Army, P.O. Box 12600, Oklahoma City, OK 73157.

The Denver Post has also provided a list of additional resources:

This is a terrible tragedy.  Please share your resources with the victims.

 

CAN’T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS: Bennet Can’t Claim Concern Over A Partisan Witch Hunt He Called For

Published on May 20, 2013 by

It seems that Senator Michael Bennet is still a little wet behind the ears when it comes to Washington, D.C. and the role of a sitting United States Senator.

The rules of D.C. engagement are pretty simple: you can be a partisan pitbull and use your political energy to attack the other side, or you can be the politician that seeks compromise and consensus.

What you cannot do is be both. That. Does. Not. Work.

Bennet has fancied himself as the reluctant businessman who entered politics to “make things right.” With his business background, Bennet still has strong allies among the GOP donorati in Colorado, but he pretty much left the position of “bipartisan dealmaker” when he decided to run the Senate Democrats’ slash and burn campaign machine as head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC).

And he hasn’t looked back. 

We’ve spent a good deal of time calling Bennet out for his involvement in the current IRS scandal that has been widely condemned by Republicans and Democrats alike. Since then, Bennet has been trying desperately to distance himself from the growing IRS mushroom cloud suffocating the Obama administration. 

In Friday’s Denver Post, Bennet’s press flack Adam Bozzi is quoted as saying about the Bennet letter, “This is exactly the kind of distraction and overreach that prevents us from getting to the bottom of what is a very serious issue and punishing the people responsible.”

Mr. Bozzi, we couldn’t agree more. The problem you and Sen. Bennet are currently experiencing is this: Bennet is responsible, Bennet is the problem. Bennet signed and sent his letter to the IRS admonishing them to attack non-profits and highlighted only a conservative group in his press release trumpeting the letter.

Herein lies the rub.

Bennet is in no place to condemn a partisan witch hunt that he himself called for.

Much like his misunderstanding of the rules of combat in DC, Bennet doesn’t seem to understand that you can’t pretend to be concerned about a partisan attack when you called for it in the first place.

 

PLAN B (VERIFIED): Eli Stokols Confirms Former Bloomberg Gun Control Director Merrifield Will Likely Be On Ballot

Published on May 20, 2013 by

OUR VIEW: In a recall that is quickly becoming a referendum on Mayor Bloomberg’s undue influence in Colorado, having Bloomberg’s for-hire henchman on the ballot as Plan B is a dream come true for conservatives.

Earlier today we reported that Mike Merrifield, the one-time State Rep who was forced to leave a committee in disgrace, would be the Democrats’ Plan B if a recall against Senate President John Morse succeeds.

Did we mention that Merrifield used to be on NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s payroll? Yes, we did. Today Fox 31′s Eli Stokols confirmed that Bloomberg’s Plan B is indeed his former employee Mike Merrifield.

The real news in Stokols’ reporting was the spin from Colorado Democratic Party Chairman Rick Palacio, who claimed that Merrifield replacing Morse isn’t something conservatives planned for:

“It just shows that the people pushing the recall didn’t really think this through,” Palacio said. “If they really gamed this out, they’d have realized that this is a possibility.”

Didn’t think this through? Try again.

In a recall that is fast becoming a referendum on Bloomberg’s undue influence in Colorado, having Bloomberg’s for-hire henchman on the ballot as Plan B is a dream come true for conservatives. It is a stroke of luck so fortuitous that it almost seems as if God doesn’t hate Republicans in Colorado anymore. (Ok, almost.)

Anyways, nice try Palacio. Let the debate on Bloomberg’s undue influence in Colorado begin!

 

LIBERAL DESIRES: ProgressNow Hopes The Independence Institute Would Matter Less

Published on May 20, 2013 by

Like us at Colorado Peak Politics, the left-wing ProgressNow Colorado published their own version of Winners and Losers from the 2013 legislative session. While it read like it had been written in January and stuck in desk drawer, it did draw the attention of one of its targets — the conservative/libertarian Independence Institute (i2i).

ProgressNow dubbed the Independence Institute a “Loser” and claimed it had badly damaged its reputation and influence. That drew some snark from i2i’s President and funny man Jon Caldara, who wrote in an email:

I feel I must respond directly to this fallacious assertion. They are in error. I have been at the helm of the Independence Institute for 15 years now. And I can assure you, we have never been influential.

But we have always been right ;)

If there was any way to describe the Independence Institute this past session — ineffectual would not be it. The right-leaning think tank rose to a level of prominence unattained by its rival liberal institutions. 

With one of the preeminent Second Amendment experts in the country in Dave Kopel, the conservative think tank was a major force down at the Capitol, much to liberals, er, progressives chagrin. 

During the gun debates, Kopel was the go-to expert for legislators from both parties, as well as the governor’s office. He even helped craft language to fix a major error in a gun control bill that would have outlawed most shotguns.

Add to that Caldara’s viral YouTube series on the Mag Ban which pre-empted the damning 9News exposé, the rallying of a bipartisan team of County Sheriffs, and the recently announced lawsuit targeting the most overreaching gun bills that passed, and it’s pretty hard to paint a picture of ineffectualness.

Beyond direct impact on policy and news cycles, the Independence Institute’s headquarters – dubbed the Freedom Embassy – played host to many important strategy meetings that helped shape key messaging on the gun issue. Previously a geographically displaced alliance, the center-right coalition in Colorado has been able to better unify its strategy and messaging thanks to Caldara’s new digs.

Not that it stopped ProgressNow from projecting what they wished i2i would be, rather than what it accomplished.

Keep on hoping the Independence Institute would matter less, ProgressNow. It’s working real well.

 
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