Archive for the ‘Journalism’ Category

Colo. House Dem Leader Waging PC Fight against “War on Terror” Memorial?

Posted on February 26th, 2010 in Colorado Politics, Journalism, National Politics, PPC, World Events, clean government, liberty | No Comments »

In case you’re like me and didn’t listen to the Peter Boyles Show this morning, then you’ve probably missed this gem from our state legislature. As reported by Colorado Senate News:

A memorial to honor soldiers that have sacrificed their lives fighting the War on Terror could be derailed following objections from one Democrat lawmaker.

“It is disrespectful to the families of fallen soldiers to drag this memorial into the political mud,” said Sen. Mike Kopp, R-Littleton.

Kopp sponsored the 2007 legislation that created the War on Terror Fallen Heroes Memorial. Rep. Paul Weissmann, D-Louisville, was the only lawmaker to oppose the proposal. Now Weissmann is saying the memorial should be renamed since President Barack Obama declared an end to the War on Terror last March….

Click here to listen to the audio of Senator Kopp’s interview with Peter Boyles (note: large file).

Three takeaways: (more…)

19-Year-Old Student Daniel Lippman Proofreads Beltway Reporters

Posted on December 14th, 2009 in General, Journalism, My Life, PPC, Random and Miscellaneous, clean government, media bias | No Comments »

And I thought I was anal. (H/T Betsy’s Page)

Now if someone could help with the AP’s whole ideologically-driven, selectively sloppy investigation problem.

Memo to Colorado GOP: Court–Don’t Co-opt–The Tea Party Crowd

Posted on December 1st, 2009 in Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Journalism, PPC, clean government, liberty | 2 Comments »

Update, 12/2: More valuable insights from Joshua Sharf.

First, the Denver Post’s Dan Haley weighed in on the Republicans’ “Platform for Prosperity.” Today, the story went national with coverage from Wall Street Journal reporter Stephanie Simon, and a quote from from one of my favorite grassroots activists (in spite of her misplaced football loyalties):

Republicans, however, said the platform would prompt voters to focus on the party’s message, rather than their feelings about individual candidates. “People can vote for the agenda,” said Tom Tancredo, a former Republican congressman who had been mulling a run for governor.

But Nikki Mata, a conservative activist in suburban Denver, said that such a strategy misses the point of the tea-party movement. Endorsements and platforms matter less to her and her fellow activists, she said, than their gut feelings about whether a candidate would shake things up — or would cave in to the establishment. (more…)

State of Colorado’s Republican Race for Governor: After Penry, the Deluge?

Posted on November 14th, 2009 in Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Journalism, PPC, liberty | No Comments »

Chuck Plunkett is one of the more liberal members of the Denver Post’s editorial board, but he’s a straight shooter. And his Friday posting on the state of Colorado’s Republican primary for governor — “Whither Tancredo?” — is full of spot-on insights, such as:

Party insiders say the problem is that the campaign [Scott] McInnis has structured to date has created a vacuum that conservatives abhor.

And: (more…)

Rumors Okay as Long as School Board Candidates Not Backed by Union?

Posted on October 13th, 2009 in Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, Journalism, Labor, PPC, clean government, liberty | 4 Comments »

In the world of K-12 education politics, when you are trying to do something right and shake up the status quo a little bit, it’s very hard to avoid flak. And anyone running for local school board deserves careful scrutiny. But when silly rumors start flying and supposedly serious news agencies report them, I suppose it’s time for someone else to step up and take on the challenge. Hey, no problem: I’m used to being called silly names by teachers unions.

In case you’re not aware, I’m talking about the upcoming elections for Douglas County Board of Education, an area south of metro Denver for the uninitiated. The story begins last December when the local teachers union — affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers — endorsed and gave money to four Board candidates (including two incumbents), one in each of the competing districts. (See the document at the bottom for screenshots of campaign finance reports.)

Then the local Republican Party endorsed four other Board candidates (including one incumbent) to challenge them. So why do we act shocked that Republicans representing parents and taxpayers in conservative Douglas County opt to back candidates other than the ones financed by the teachers union?

Maybe because it’s not terribly common to see those bound together by their support for parental choice, charter schools, high academic standards, financial transparency, and accountability — agenda items to which union leaders generally are not favorable — try to get a little organized.

But just exactly why did the highly-respected Ed News Colorado team report the story so breathlessly yesterday? (more…)

Vince Carroll: Not So Fast, We Have a GOP U.S. Senate Primary, After All

Posted on September 20th, 2009 in Colorado Politics, General, Journalism, National Politics, PPC, clean government, liberty | No Comments »

What a difference a week makes! Last Sunday Denver Post editorial page editor Dan Haley laid out the red carpet for Republican Jane Norton’s U.S. Senate campaign. Today, in the printed space directly beneath Haley, columnist Vince Carroll took a look at Norton’s “clunky” bio page and “languid and subdued” introductory video, and had to say Ummm… Not so fast: (more…)

5280, Meet Denver Post (and PPC, Too)

Posted on September 15th, 2009 in General, Health Care, Journalism, National Politics, PPC, liberty | No Comments »

Trying to build on Lefty hitman David Sirota’s smear that the anti-Obama Care movement is characterized by “racist undertones” leading to rampant death threats, the 5280 blog recounts:

He isn’t the only public figure in Colorado to be threatened for digging into the intricacies of the health care debate. Last month, Congressman John Salazar received a death threat during a protest in Grand Junction, leading his office to contact Capitol police and the FBI, according to The Pueblo Chieftain.

Umm, does 5280 not read the Denver Post? (more…)

Once Proud Freedom-Loving Gazette Backs Colorado Springs Tax Hike

Posted on September 10th, 2009 in Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Journalism, PPC, liberty, property rights | 5 Comments »

Last week I pointed out that financial concerns might end up pushing the Colorado Springs Gazette to abandon its longstanding position as a beacon of limited government, personal liberty, and fiscal sanity. Well, buckle up, because it’s started happening really quickly.

Witness today’s Gazette editorial co-signed by publisher Steven Pope and John Weiss, publisher of the Lefty Colorado Springs Independent, pulling out the big scare to support a tax hike on the city’s ballot.

However, it’s not clear the new Gazette management has considered all of the implications of the property tax increase (H/T Sean Paige).

If the Gazette losing its independent, libertarian voice concerns you in the least, now is the time to speak up.

Anatomy of a Dick Wadhams Rumor: Nevada’s Chuck Muth Gets Last Word

Posted on September 10th, 2009 in Colorado Politics, General, Journalism, National Politics, PPC, Random and Miscellaneous, blogging | No Comments »

Last Friday, the Dump Reid PAC out of Nevada sent out an email update that included the following note about Colorado’s Republican Party chairman and a leading Republican contender to take on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in 2010:

Sources confirm that Dick Wadhams was in Las Vegas recently to meet with [Sue] Lowden and is prepared to join the campaign if/when it becomes official.

Awakening from the long Labor Day weekend, the Dead Governors opined on Tuesday morning: “Dick Wadhams is reportedly considering a move to Nevada.”

Some time later that same day, fellow Right-leaning Colorado blogger Joshua Sharf reported on a memo from Wadhams that all but definitively indicated he had no plans to head to the Silver State. The Associated Press made it more definitive: (more…)

Obama Speaks to School Children: Sharing My Thoughts with the Post

Posted on September 4th, 2009 in Education, General, Journalism, My Life, National Politics, PPC, clean government, liberty | 1 Comment »

The Denver Post this morning has up a story by Jeremy Meyer filled with local reaction to the news of Obama speaking to school children next Tuesday. Meyeer quotes several people in the story, but my remarks to him yesterday didn’t make the cut. Here’s more or less what I said:

This has all the signs of the Obama cult of personality. Parents who don’t want to subject their children to the organized hero-worship of a controversial political figure certainly can’t be blamed for wanting to pull them out. The decision should be made at the local school level, but in any case the parents at least should have the opportunity to opt out. That’s perfectly appropriate.

(more…)

Decline of “Freedom Philosophy” at the Colorado Springs Gazette?

Posted on September 1st, 2009 in General, Journalism, PPC, Random and Miscellaneous, blogging, liberty | No Comments »

Could a rare newspaper editorial voice for liberty — a long-time fixture on Colorado’s Front Range — be on its last legs? Sean Paige writes about news of bankruptcy at the Colorado Springs Gazette (where he used to be the editorial page editor) and the possible demise of the “Freedom Philosophy” on the newspaper’s opinion pages.

Like the demise of the Rocky Mountain News, this too would be a sad development for Colorado. But if it does come to pass, is new media ready to step in the gap? Paige’s own Local Liberty Online is one place to start, but those are huge shoes to fill.

Denver Post Editorial Sunday: The Good, The Good, and The Far-Fetched

Posted on August 24th, 2009 in Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, Health Care, Journalism, National Politics, PPC, liberty | No Comments »

I can only imagine very few readers of Sunday’s Denver Post opinion page shrugged their shoulders with a ho-hum. All stacked together on good old page 3D of the Perspective section, the collection of pieces had to evoke some wholehearted assent, some serious disagreement, or both.

Let’s go with the bad news first, the lead fantasy-ridden editorial “Public option is critical to reform”:

Opponents also say the public option is a ruse meant to facilitate a government takeover of health care. On the contrary, we think it will give the insurance industry every incentive to innovate and find efficiencies, best treatment practices and ways to make their rates more attractive to businesses and policy holders.

Based on what, the wishful thinking of the Post’s editors? My jaw almost hit the floor as I read this editorial. Whether or not they like the cheese shop sketch analogy, here’s one good place (or here, for that matter — written by a fellow journalist) they could start to dunk their heads in a dose of reality. If the Post wants to promote real “game-changing reform” of health care, here are some much more promising ideas friends of liberty need to be talking up. (more…)

Really Wanting to Know More About Why Mr. Curtis Left the Colorado GOP

Posted on July 6th, 2009 in Colorado Politics, Cultural Conservatism, Fiscal Policy, General, Journalism, PPC, clean government, liberty | No Comments »

Congratulations appear to be in order for Jeremy Pelzer, who has landed some sort of gig at the new online Rocky Mountain Independent. Jeremy’s fairly long feature today is the latest Colorado GOP postmortem piece, with the standard news hook of a lifelong moderate Republican switching parties in disgust:

The Colorado Republican Party has had few supporters more loyal than Brandon Curtis.

The 32-year-old sales marketer from Denver had voted straight Republican in every election since he first cast a ballot in 1996. Last year, he was a delegate for John McCain in the Republican presidential caucus.

But in the general election last November, Curtis voted Democratic for the first time in his life, picking Barack Obama and Mark Udall for president and U.S. Senate, respectively.

And he says he’ll do it again next election.

“I feel like the current state of the Republican Party would lead me away and have me vote Democratic,” Curtis said. “It’s a situation where moderates like myself — the (Republican) party just doesn’t want us right now. . . . There’re still a lot of principles that I agree with, but I think there’s too much focus on the social issues.”

Having read that, I don’t doubt its veracity or Mr. Curtis’ sincerity. I’m not exactly thrilled with the state of the Republican Party myself. But as usual when reading this sort of story — especially with someone of the same age and especially of the ambiguity of the term “moderate” — I’m left with a series of questions for the person highlighted. For the purposes of drawing the most meaningful lessons from his example, I’d be curious to know the following answers: (more…)

More Bad Unintended Consequences from Media Swine Flu Hysteria?

Posted on June 11th, 2009 in Fiscal Policy, General, Health Care, Journalism, National Politics, PPC, clean government, liberty | No Comments »

So some of y’all must be thinkin’ … Whatever happened to that thar’ swine flu thing? Apparently, the World Health Organization is set to issue an alert for a “level 6 pandemic” — the first such designation in 40 years.

Before you start stampeding through the streets in panic, take note:

The declaration of a global epidemic was expected Thursday as WHO officials huddled in an emergency session in Geneva in the wake of 141 swine flu deaths worldwide, including 12 in New York City….

If WHO moves from level 5 to level 6 on its pandemic alert scale, it would be the first flu pandemic declared since the Hong Kong flu killed an estimated 1 million people in 1968.

On Wednesday, WHO reported 27,737 cases worldwide, most of them mild and requiring no treatment.

Are you scratching your head, too? How can a mostly mild H1N1 strain that affects about one-fortieth the number who were killed by the Hong Kong flu evoke the same designation and any meaningful comparison between the two? (more…)

Rossputin Takes On The Government General Motors Takeover Travesty

Posted on June 2nd, 2009 in Fiscal Policy, General, Journalism, PPC, clean government, liberty | No Comments »

Last night I wrote about my personal connection to a General Motors plant closing. To put that into meaningful (and frightening) perspective, you simply have to read Rossputin’s insightful account of the travesty that is the wildly unpopular government takeover of GM.

It’s the lead story at Human Events, and for good reason. Congratulations, Ross!

Obama DOJ Drops Black Panther Voter Intimidation Lawsuit… But Why?

Posted on May 29th, 2009 in Education, General, Journalism, National Politics, PPC, clean government, liberty | No Comments »

Remember the story of the Black Panthers intimidating Philadelphia voters on our most recent Election Day? Well, there’s an interesting update at The Next Right that strongly suggests the Obama Department of Justice (DOJ) is happy to let the issue drop.

Author Mike Roman makes some cogent points in his conclusion:

These actions raise a number of troubling questions. For example, why did the Civil Rights Division voluntarily dismiss a lawsuit that they had effectively already won, against defendants who were physically threatening voters? Is the Division concerned that this dismissal will encourage the New Black Panther Party, or other groups, to intimidate voters? Why did the Division seek such limited relief against a defendant who was actually carrying and brandishing a weapon at a polling station on election day?

Don’t expect to see this story at the top of your network news broadcast or anywhere near the front page of the New York Times.

Colorado Democrats, Journalists Duped by Fraudulent Vet “Rick Duncan”

Posted on May 14th, 2009 in Colorado Politics, Cultural Conservatism, General, Journalism, National Politics, PPC, clean government, media bias | 5 Comments »

From 9News:

Sure, he stuttered on occasion. He said strange things from time to time. But Rick Duncan was passionate about veterans in the state of Colorado. He told anyone who wanted to listen that he had served in Iraq on three occasions. That gave him an unofficial license to talk to journalists, politicians, and civilians about the war.

So, many people simply ate it all up.

The only problem was that Duncan wasn’t actually a Marine, a Naval Academy graduate, or a wounded Iraq War Veteran, according to those who have looked into his background.

His name, according to the Denver Sheriff’s Department, isn’t even Rick Duncan. It’s Rick Strandlof, and as of Thursday afternoon, Strandlof remained inside a Denver County Jail cell.

He was arrested earlier in the week on an El Paso County traffic warrant. His bond has been set at $1,000.

(more…)

Dispelling Facebook Membership as Motive to Scott McInnis Voicemail Story

Posted on May 2nd, 2009 in Colorado Politics, General, Journalism, My Life, PPC, clean government, liberty | 2 Comments »

Can’t help but say that I’m a bit disappointed in the Grand Junction Sentinel for the shoddy article and headline erroneously equating the Facebook group membership of my colleagues Todd Shepherd and Justin Longo with support of Josh Penry.

On the other hand, the Dead Guvs’ complicity in their own headline writing and truly bizarre conspiracy theorizing is downright amusing. It reinforces the case that they’re out of touch with local Republican politics and are relying on deductive logic to perpetuate a pre-fabricated narrative. They’ll have to do better if they wish to be believable as something other than a fountain of Democrat talking points.

When Todd — a man of journalistic integrity (and amazing vocal impersonation skills) — explains the origin of the “serious questions” for Scott McInnis by writing: (more…)

Colorado Well Represented Among Top Conservative Columnists

Posted on March 16th, 2009 in Colorado Politics, Commemorative, Cultural Conservatism, General, Journalism, National Politics, PPC, liberty | No Comments »

It seems Colorado’s own David Harsanyi is getting some national attention for his column-writing talents. Witness “The 30 Best Conservative Columnists for 2009″ list compiled by John Hawkins of Right Wing News. David breaks in at number 22.

Yes, David is a native New Yorker and not really from Colorado. (Then again, few of us really are from Colorado.) But he’s certainly made a name for himself while on the editorial board of the surviving Denver Post. Some of us even can say we knew him “when”. You can find his columns here and his blog contributions here.

Of course, Michelle Malkin – who regularly graces the lists of top conservative columnists and comes in at number 7 on the latest – is officially a Coloradan as of last summer.

I’d say that, all in all, Colorado is well represented on the list of today’s top conservative writers.

The Colorado Blogosphere is on a Roll … and It’s Only Wednesday

Posted on March 11th, 2009 in Climate Hysteria, Colorado Politics, Cultural Conservatism, Energy, Fiscal Policy, General, Journalism, National Politics, PPC, Random and Miscellaneous, blogging, clean government, liberty | 3 Comments »

Too much good stuff out there, too little time. Here’s a quick Wednesday morning roundup of the best from the Colorado blogs (in no particular order):

  • Rocky Mountain Right brings attention to Governor Bill Ritter’s lavish overseas business trip on Colorado taxpayers’ dime during a very tight budget situation
  • Now your 10 dollars (or more) can go a lot further in helping the Independence Institute promote transparent government in Colorado
  • Rossputin points to a hilarious Scott Ott spoof on embryonic stem cell research and global warming (did he read yesterday’s post?)
  • Michael at Best Destiny observes some irony from Al Gore concerning global warming and moon landings
  • Rossputin also points to Gateway Pundit’s detailed litany of the abomination that was the first 50 days of the Obama presidential administration … It can’t get worse, right?
  • Getting more specific, Joshua bids an unflattering adieu to another failed Obama nomination: Chas Freeman
  • Julian Dunraven details the Obama administration’s ongoing diplomatic faux pas
  • Both Slapstick Politics and The Drunkablog are keeping tabs on the Ward Churchill trial so you don’t have to
  • Sean Paige (aka The American Contrarian) offers a tongue-in-cheek idea for another mandate our Democratic state legislature could propose
  • At The Colorado Index, Civil Sense lauds the ongoing alternative work of recently displaced Rocky Mountain News writers

The Colorado blogosphere is certainly on a roll… and then some. I’m sure I’ve missed other good entries, but this is probably more than enough to keep you busy for awhile.