Mount Virtus

Thank a veteran or active-duty serviceman for their great sacrifices as we remember those who “gave the last full measure of devotion,” from Lexington & Concord to Baghdad and a thousand places in between.

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life.
America, America,
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And ev’ry gain divine.

In the Denver Post story this morning highlighting Marc Holtzman’s submission of 21,000 petitions (he needs 1,500 from each of Colorado’s 7 Congressional districts to be verified by the Secretary of State’s office) to get on the gubernatorial primary ballot:

The former University of Denver president was assisted by Denver lawyer Mark Grueskin, a Democrat who has a history of representing Democratic candidates and causes.

“I don’t like it when party bosses tell people not to run,” Grueskin said. “It rubs me the wrong way.”

Grueskin, eh? Strangely not the first time this character has been mentioned on my site. Perhaps you remember the case of the teachers union caught in cahoots with a state Senate Democrat’s 2004 campaign? In the Fort Collins Coloradoan on April 29, 2005, we heard from the union lawyer:

Attorney Mark Grueskin, who represents both the PEA and CEA, said the allegations against both unions are unsupported and therefore should be thrown out.

“The lawyer for Mr. Rutt and Mr. Marrick said that PEA violated the law. He didn’t provide any fact that would suggest that a violation of law really did occur,” Grueskin said. “We believe there’s ample reason to dismiss any if not all of the claims that they’ve raised.”

Helping unions get away with shady campaign activities that aid Democrats, and now fighting to make sure Holtzman petitions on the ballot? Republicans ought to be wary, because this attorney certainly does not appear to have their best interests at heart.

We don’t know Grueskin’s motives for taking this case – perhaps it just pays really well – but we can construct a picture from facts in evidence, and helping Republicans have a fair & honest primary election debate so they can choose the best and strongest candidate seems a far-fetched motive, at best. It ought to raise Republican hackles to think that after he litigates any cases on Holtzman’s behalf, the attorney still will have to mingle in his liberal social circles.

Maybe the response from the defenders of Holtzman’s petitioning efforts is that the self-proclaimed anti-establishment candidate is cleverly manipulating Grueskin for the greater good of the Republican cause in Colorado. Such an assertion, however, carries with it a very lofty burden of proof.

If anyone else has any evidence either to support or to challenge my line of thinking, please feel free to comment. But this lawyering up with a well-known Democrat supporter does not leave me feeling good.

Update: Joshua has more on Grueskin’s previous involvement in Republican intra-party debates. Anyone who doesn’t see the ugliness looming over the horizon is wearing blinders.

Following the lead of state party chairman Bob Martinez, 31 sitting Republican state legislators and 9 Republican candidates for state legislative office sent a letter today to Marc Holtzman asking him for the sake of party unity (about which he spoke eloquently at the Assembly) to withdraw from the race.

While these kind of things don’t happen every day, at least
Republican leaders from Routt County agree.

And so does a first-time delegate from Boulder County, who has brought up an excellent point about the Holtzman campaign’s earlier spin, which frankly disappoints me to see in retrospect:

Holtzman estimated that more than 2,500 Holtzman delegates were elected to state and county assemblies in the statewide caucus proceedings Tuesday night. “We will clearly reach our stated goal of sending at least 30 percent of the delegates to the Republican State Assembly in Colorado Springs on May 20th, assuming we receive fair treatment,” said Dick Leggitt, Holtzman’s Campaign Manager.

I have yet to see any real evidence to show Holtzman received anything but “fair treatment” at the Assembly – I was there. And let me tell you, 902 is nowhere near 2,500.

I hope it isn’t true, but with each recalcitrant response to voices of reason from all over the state party it appears the Holtzman campaign is becoming more about Marc Holtzman than anything else. He can prove otherwise, doing the party and its principles, platform, and policy priorities a favor by stepping down and running in the future.

This recent Holtzman-delegate blogger was one of the very first to ask him to do just that.

Cross posted at Holtzman v Beauprez.

Update: The Denver Post reports that another key Holtzman supporter – one of the state’s leading grassroots GOP activists – has left his campaign:

Lynne Cottrell, Holtzman’s field director for Arapahoe County and that county’s former GOP party chair, left the campaign “very reluctantly” on Monday.

“I respect Marc Holtzman and think he would make a very good governor,” she said. “But I also understand the need to keep unity in the party.”

Over the past few months, Holtzman has lost his treasurer, Meyer Saltzman; finance chairman, Blair Richardson; and campaign manager, Dick Leggitt.

Each day digs the hole a little deeper.

Meanwhile, the Post‘s editors also are right to say that state party chairman Bob Martinez overstepped his bounds in publicly urging Holtzman to withdraw.

After nearly 3 weeks of waiting the news is finally in: my Hillsdale College friend Brant Luther has won his primary election by a whopping 13 votes. (See previous post for background.)

With such a whopping victory under his belt, Brant would seem to need a new nickname. Food for thought….

A Republican friend passed along an account of yesterday’s Republican Assembly through the eyes of a very insightful and well-spoken young attendee. Read below to see the report of 11-year-old Elizabeth Armstrong, daughter of delegate Wil Armstrong and granddaughter of former Senator Bill Armstrong.

It’s a refreshing view, less cynical than most political writing these days, and very encouraging to see younger people with intelligent observations about the great democratic process of one of the major political parties. And you surely will find some details in her account of Saturday’s goings-on not included in any newspaper or other blog. Quite thorough. Perhaps some day she will have a political blog of her own.

Here are her unedited remarks:
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Some of you may have noticed a prominent change on the sidebar, in the way of candidate support. Here’s the story…

Bob Beauprez and his campaign made a statement today, and Colorado’s Republican delegates responded in force. As reported by the Denver Post‘s Dan Haley, Beauprez won the delegate vote 72.2 percent to 27.8 percent. Haley also has reported that the Holtzman campaign has refused to sign off on the results.

I’m not sure what the Holtzman team’s specific complaint is, since as one who attended today’s Assembly, I saw it as apparent that the State Party bent over backwards to accommodate their requests. It was also apparent from the reactions of the crowd that Holtzman would have a hard time reaching the crucial 30 percent plateau to get him on the ballot.

As I explained clearly yesterday, neither candidate has a strong or legitimate case to bypass the Assembly and petition onto the ballot. Today I cast my delegate vote for Marc Holtzman, but today the Party’s delegates have spoken with a strong message. We need to rally around Bob Beauprez as our candidate for governor and focus our energies on keeping the executive office in Republican hands. As my friend and fellow delegate Clay Calhoun has observed this evening:

Step aside gracefully Mr. Holtzman. If you’re serious about bettering Colorado and the state’s GOP, get involved in the party and look at 2010 or 2014.

Unlike Clay, I have been one to support Marc’s candidacy and used this platform on more than one occasion to attempt to persuade others to support him as well. But I have to agree with Clay. When I first heard rumblings of the Holtzman campaign’s plan to petition onto the ballot, I felt very uneasy. In my opinion, it’s not the right thing to do. Marc spoke of the importance of party unity during his speech at today’s Assembly, and I feel strongly that the most significant thing he can do now to enhance party unity is to step aside, graciously endorse his rival, and work hard to elect Republican candidates across the board for this fall.

I tip my hat to Marc and Lola, and want to congratulate them for bringing some important ideas and issues to the debate. The candidates and the campaign staff have been nothing but kind to me, and I bear ill will toward none of them.

On the other hand, I have been proud to see Beauprez take strong conservative stands on issues important to Colorado. Taken in view along with his successful track record in tough conditions and his strong character and conviction, I can see no reason why every loyal member of the Republican Party should not throw his or her support behind Bob Beauprez.

As the Denver Post highlights this morning, tomorrow is the big “showdown” in Colorado Springs, also known as the State GOP Assembly. I along with several other center-right Colorado bloggers will be on hand for various official duties and will give you updates as possible.

There are a couple salient points I wanted to bring forward about the Assembly, as raised in the article. First, both Republican gubernatorial candidates have focused an extraordinary amount of effort in seeking to persuade delegates from across the state to give their support. Neither candidate has been shortchanged in opportunities to control and direct their messages to this important audience, to make their best case for why their respective candidate should be the Republican nominee for governor.
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I don’t normally write about state politics in Ohio, but I couldn’t pass up this one. My good Hillsdale College buddy Brant Luther – former Stark County auditor, Alliance city councilman, and current attorney-at-law – is on pins and needles awaiting the final results of his May 2 Republican primary election for State Representative in Ohio’s 61st District.

In a rollercoaster of a vote count, Brant’s opponent Randy Pope had a 25-vote lead going into the apparent last precinct on election night. Brant won that precinct by 35 votes to give him a lead of 10. When officials later realized they forgot to count a precinct, Pope edged ahead by 1. Then a second realization was made that a precinct had accidentally been double-counted, giving Brant back his 10-vote advantage.

The latest news from today’s Youngstown Vindicator is that 2 of 4 county’s provisional ballots have been tallied, stretching my friend’s lead to 14. With 41 votes left to be certified in the other 2 counties on Monday or Tuesday, it looks like it’s going to go right down to the wire.

Brant’s comment: “I feel a lot better adding the four votes.” But what else could you say at this point?

Out of nearly 8,000 votes cast, a tenuous margin of 14. Every vote certainly does count. And in this case, it looks like an automatic recount is coming, too. Hang in there, Brant!

The Denver Post‘s Dan Haley is coming around to my view on the importance of the race in Colorado’s House District 29. Go, Affie!

Anyone who ever takes a glance at the editorials of the Boulder Daily Camera has come to expect a certain strong Leftward slant. Rather than your ordinary pristine example, however, today’s editorial follows a common-sense trail before veering sharply into the abyss of fuzzy logic and inflammatory rhetoric.

In the piece, the Daily Camera editors criticize their fellow “progressives” who have applauded the deranged rantings of anti-Western Islamofascist Iranian dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a valid criticism of President Bush. My initial response as I started reading was a general agreement with the editors for the sensible reproach of their indiscreet ideological allies. But then out of the deep bleachers in left field came a closing paragraph that was as stunning for its chutzpah as for its naivete and fuzzy thinking:

Liberal anger at the Bush administration is warranted. But cheering Ahmadinejad’s critique of Bush foolishly ignores the reality of his noxious vision. After all, if men like Ahmadinejad were to rule the world, they’d find more in common with radical right-wing Christians than with liberals. It’s no secret who’d swing from the gallows first. [Emphasis mine]

Perhaps I am being charitable, but I am inclined to ascribe this absurd statement to willful ignorance. [My first thought was: "You've got to be kidding me!"] But their statement begs quite a few questions, including the following:

I’m sure there are more questions for future discussion fodder, but that will suffice for now.

It says a lot about America’s political Left if their allegedly more sensible voices would favorably compare any of their fellow citizens with a maniacal, Holocaust-denying, freedom-hating, anti-Western Islamofascist tyrant. Perhaps Ahmadinejad is the Left’s new “Hitler card” that they believe will trump conservatives in every political argument. Instead, the use of the “Ahmadinejad card” only marginalizes any sensible thing they have to say.

Perhaps it wouldn’t be too much to ask the editors of the Daily Camera to publish a clarification… or even a retraction.

Last fall Colorado Democrats supporting Referendum C poo-poohed the notion that they were attempting to grow the size of state government, just restore some pre-recession cuts. Yet as April Washington reports in today’s Rocky Mountain News, with Democrats in charge in both houses at the State Capitol, state government payroll has added more than 1,000 jobs since the beginning of 2006.

Both Republican candidates for governor have the right idea: hold Ref C supporters to their word and refund any additional revenue raised above the amount forecasted to be raised by the voter-approved mandate. For Marc Holtzman, it’s the $3.1 billion figure originally released by the Legislative Council in 2005. For Bob Beauprez, it’s the revised $3.7 billion estimate tossed around during the heat of the campaign season.

In either case, the message is clear: the Democrats obviously have more money than they need. So while honoring the will of the voters last year, let’s hold the tax-raising politicians to their promises and put a little money back in the pockets of average, hard-working Colorado families. Sounds simple, right? Well, here is one of the clearest divides on this year’s ballot between fiscally conservative Republicans and tax-and-spend Democrats.

Whichever Republican gubernatorial candidate comes out on top needs to be held to these promises to the taxpayer.

They say you can’t get them active in politics too young.

Little Virtus gives the “thumbs up” (look closely) to Marc Holtzman and Lola Spradley to be Colorado’s next governor and lieutenant governor – along with Mom, Dad, and “Winks” the Elephant

All in good fun and good spirits. Thanks to Marc and Lola for so graciously taking a minute to pose for the camera with Mrs. Virtus, myself, and our three-month-old gem (the real star of the photo, according to her dad) this morning at the 7th Congressional District Republican Assembly. Only one week ’till the GOP state convention in Colorado Springs!

It appears the Republican majorities in Congress may have turned the corner and started to figure out what it’s going to take to accomplish the people’s business in 2006 and earn continued majority status for 2007 and 2008. How are they doing?

Win the war? (Ongoing)
Confirm the judges? (Making progress … Sen. Specter, don’t let the obstructionists continue to hold up Brett Kavanaugh)
Cut the taxes? Check.
Control the spending? Not there yet.
Secure the border? Not there yet.

A few more moves like yesterday’s tax-relief bill and the GOP majorities in Congress might just find an enthusiastic base of support out there eager to work for their re-elections.

The Independence Institute’s Dave Kopel took the major local media to task for their coverage of last week’s immigration rallies in his Saturday column for the Rocky Mountain News. In one memorable passage, he specifically criticizes local media for their choice of terminology:

Even more deceptive is the media phrase “undocumented worker.” The term is inaccurate, because illegal aliens usually do have documents, albeit fraudulent ones. “Undocumented worker” is an euphemism used by those who want to avoid mentioning that the worker in question has entered and remained in the United States unlawfully and has procured a job unlawfully, often via criminally forged documents.

If the newspapers are going to continue using “undocumented worker,” then the papers should, to be consistent, start writing that illegal users of morphine are really “undocumented patients,” that bank embezzlers are “undocumented withdrawers,” school truants are “undocumented vacationers,” people who drive after their licenses have been revoked are “undocumented drivers,” and 15-year-olds who use fake IDs to buy vodka are “undocumented drinkers.”

Indeed.

While living among the mundane trappings of relative peace and calm, days of punctuated horror and profound tragedy often seem dreamlike. Such is 9/11, and such is why every American should strongly consider seeing the movie United 93.

Typically, when I watch a new film at the theater or on DVD, I can find some other movie with which to compare it. Be it the acting, the story line, the scenery, distinct or oblique references. United 93, however, is anything but a typical film.

For a culture sometimes too fixated on everything from sporting events to celebrity relationships – and various other diversions from reality – United 93 is like a bucket of badly needed cold water. Or like a punch in the gut. That’s what I felt for an hour or more after I left the theater earlier today to watch the gripping, real-time recreation of America’s still-fresh horrific memory.
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