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.

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.

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:

• Moore Recovers
• Habitat for Humanity International
• AmeriCares 
• Samaritan’s Purse
• Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief

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

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.

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!

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.

SB13-260 - Perhaps the most controversial bill that Hickenlooper signed this week was Johnston’s school finance bill.  Readers may recall this bill because it has a $1 billion tax increase attached to it.  Don’t worry.  The tax increase must still be approved by voters.  If voters don’t approve the tax increase, then the bill fails.  The good news – a recent poll showed that Coloradans already aren’t in favor of a proposed $1 billion tax increase.

HB13-1001 - We reported on the Advanced Industries Accelerator Act earlier this session.  The greatest issue with this legislation is that it essentially turns the State of Colorado into a venture capital firm.

HB13-1006 – For families in crisis, there’s no problem providing a safety net like breakfast for hungry “kiddos”.  That’s not what the K-12 Breakfast and After the Bell Nutrition bill is about.  We reported on this massive government overreach because it qualified approximately 68% of Denver Public School attendees for free breakfast during the school day. 

SB13-200 – The expansion of medicaid is simply code for Obamacare, and takes Colorado one step closer to a truly socialized medical system, as we reported in March.

SB13-201 - While one has to question whether the appropriate role of government is to name rescue pets as the official state pets.  Who are we to begrudge man’s best friend it’s day in the sun?  The bill also garnered a mention on the Denver Post‘s Winners list.

One of the most controversial that Hick signed into law the week before was the Enabling Voter Fraud Voter Access and Modernized Elections Act, which legalized same-day voter registration.  To see all the bills that Hick has signed into law (thus far),  visit here.

We’ll keep you posted on other bills signed into law post-session.

UPDATE: SB13-260 is not Michael Johnston’s $1 billion education bill, but the regular school finance act.  H/T to Missing Pundit (our favorite liberal anonymous Twitter account) for the catch.

One of those groups — the Western Slope Conservative Alliance — even made the cold open of Saturday Night Live this weekend. Check it out after the jump:

UPDATE: KDVR‘s Eli Stokols gets Morse denying he’ll step down, but Colorado Democratic Party Chairman Rick Palacio acknowledges Merrifield being on the ballot is a distinct possibility:

DENVER — Senate President John Morse, who may be facing a recall election in Colorado Springs later this year, says he will not resign his seat early.

“I am in now until the bitter end,” Morse told FOX31 Denver Tuesday.

Conservative blogs have been suggesting that, should a recall election be set, that Morse would resign in order to avoid it, enabling a vacancy committee to install former Democratic state Rep. Michael Merrifield to finish out the final year of Morse’s term…

Palacio did acknowledge that the two-part recall election could involve Merrifield.

If an election is set, the first question would be whether or not to recall Morse; the second question would be who to replace him with.

Merrifield, who has already filed papers to run for Morse’s seat next year, would likely be listed as a possible replacement on that recall ballot.

———–

Wondering exactly how large a role New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is playing in the recall of Colorado Springs Senate President John Morse?

About this big — If the recall against Morse goes ahead, liberal gun grabbers Plan B is to appoint the Bloomberg gun group’s Colorado State Director to run for Morse’s seat, Michael Merrifield.

Merrifield was previously a State Representative known for saying supporters of charter schools “deserve a special place in hell.” That comment forced him to resign his chairmanship of the House Education Committee.

In the time since, Merrifield has unsuccessfully run for a number of political offices and held the position of state director for none other than Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG).

Bloomberg Plan A…spend enough cash convincing people sex offenders are trying to steal their identities to protect John Morse from recall. 

Bloomberg Plan B…promote Bloomberg’s director of gun control to the office of Colorado State Senator. 

These people have some serious chutzpah. Dig with us a little deeper… 

Long before Morse faced a recall, Merrifield had been posturing to take Morse’s place when the Senate President is term limited.

From our friends at Rocky Mountain Right:

Former State Representative and gun control activist Michael Merrifield (D-Manitou Springs) is preparing a campaign to run for State Senate in 2014. Merrifield will be running for Senate District 11, currently occupied by Senate President John Morse (D-Colorado Springs) who will be term-limited.

With Morse’s recall gaining steam, and recent polls showing Morse is in serious danger, there is rampant talk in the community that, if enough signatures are collected to force a recall, Morse will wave the white flag, and a Democratic vacancy committee will appoint Merrifield.

From the Colorado Springs-based Jeff Crank Show on Saturday morning:

We do not know how accurate these reports are, but we do know that this scenario has been widely discussed among Capitol chatterers. There is no doubt that conservatives and Second Amendment enthusiasts would love to take the fight all the way to an election.

Make no mistake, though. Forcing the Senate President to resign would be an incredible victory for Second Amendment supporters, and would portend very bad things for the many other Democrats, including John Hickenlooper, who have to face the electorate in 2014. In effect, Morse’s resignation would be an admission of guilt, that the legislature’s assault on gun owners was so grievous that it couldn’t be defended in a Democratic leaning district.

We don’t actually believe that Morse will quit, notwithstanding comments made this weekend. Morse is too arrogant for that. His comments in The Denver Post this weekend suggest that arrogance hasn’t been watered down.

If he does, though, Democrats have a Plan B in the wings. Is anyone surprised that it is Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s point man in Colorado? We aren’t.

NOTE: ProgressNow’s eternally outraged political director, Alan Franklin, informs us that Merrifield is no longer the state director for MAIG, having left the position last year. Someone should tell Merrifield to update his Huffington Post bio.

Apparently, the state director is now this creepy looking dude, Seth Ford:

Via Twitter

Our point remains the same — a Bloomberg lackey sits in the wings should Morse decide to decline the recall challenge.

I was just about to plant out my tomatoes when the phone rang. ID said “Ziegler.” I punched the talk button and said “Hello?”

“This is Ananias Ziegler, Mr. Diepenbrock, media relations director for the Committee that Really Runs America. My bosses say get with the modern era and start talking with bloggers. Since you and I both have good, honest American names, I picked you.”

“Fascinating,” I replied. “What’s on your mind?”

“The Committee doesn’t want a government of namby-pamby do-gooders. We want leaders who aren’t afraid to keep the media under control and who think government should squash dissent,” Ziegler said. “That’s why we are now backing Barack Obama.”

What? You’re kidding,” I interrupted. “Why would you do that?”

“The Committee that Really Runs America does not kid,” he replied. “Eric Holder’s performance before Congress was the best stretch to conceal facts since Rosemary Woods erased the Watergate tapes for us. Lerner is a true patriot: she gave part of her $40k in “stomp the Tea Party” performance bonuses to re-elect Obama. You must sacrifice as we all did who served in Vietnam.”

“When did the committee begin to consider backing Obama?” I asked.

“We had Scroogle run the metrics on Obama. The man bashes Wall Street, but funnels government cash to all those Wall Street too-big-to-fail operations … and took their money to win his re-election. Obama uses government to reward his friends – which we, emphatically, want to be. Look at how Obama got Pat Strkyer the cash for her energy company.”

“Lying with a straight face is essential to American progress. Obama excels at it,” Ziegler concluded.

“Well,” I asked, “are you also backing Hickenlooper instead of Tancredo for governor next year?”

“We’ve got our eye on Hick,” Ziegler replied. “He survived a tough childhood in a pricey private school in Philly, even with his nickname about sexual congress with fowl. But he’s not our favorite Colorado pol.”

“Ferrandino, wow, high hopes for that kid. When he said every Democrat bill was a ‘jobs bill,’ we knew we had a comer in him. That’s PR spin control.”

“What will take him over the top with you,” I asked.

“Two things. Only healthcare and education are still growing in our economy. Grow ‘em both, we say. Ferrandino needs to pass the billion dollar tax hike for educrats and get behind Aguilar’s $16 Billion tax hike to provide adequate pay to doctors. We at “Really Runs” don’t see any other economic engines to grow our economy, so he could get on our short list. Another of our changes: taxes, schmaxes, only chumps pay. Gotta go; Putin’s on the throwaway cell.”

The phone went dead.