With stories yesterday and today, Face The State brings out the 1-2 punch, exposing the bonus Democrats get from groups that exploit Colorado's campaign law, and then highlighting an effort by some local governments to clean up the act. From yesterday: During the last election, the nation's largest unions utilized a loophole in Colorado's campaign finance laws that allowed them to give millions of dollars in anonymous political contributions to Democrat candidates—all while never revealing the name of a single individual donor. For the Service Employees International Union, the nation's largest union with more than 1.6 million members, this setup allowed its leadership to transfer portions of membership dues to small donor committees … [Read more...]
Get a Life, Lefties
Via the Denver Post today, another example of Colorado's liberal/Lefty activist blogger community with not enough to occupy their time and interest this slow news August: "Schaffer's 'if' stirs a ruckus." The only people who have stirred a ruckus are the usual suspects. Here is a voice of reason quoted in the Post story, basically saying "What's the big deal here?": ...Bob Loevy, professor of political science at Colorado College, said excessively long campaigns lead to extreme scrutiny of candidates' words. The Senate election is more than a year away. "My feeling is that he misspoke, the campaign manager corrected it and that's the end of it," Loevy said. My only quibble with the story is its failure to identify the undisputed … [Read more...]
TNR: Down in Flames?
Wow, this punishing expose by Pajamas Media' Richard Miniter really lifts the lid on some serious problems at The New Republic. Things don't look good for Franklin Foer & crew. Scott Thomas Beauchamp looks to be more of a millstone around the bi-weekly liberal publication than was the devastating Stephen Glass saga of 1998 - primarily because its leadership wasted no time in dealing with the perpetrator of fraud. The "batten down the hatches" plan in action now, as highlighted by Miniter, is doing nothing to rescue their credibility. In fact, the ship of print may be quickly crashing in flames - reminiscent of a real disaster some 70 years past: Quite sad, really, because so much was avoidable on the part of TNR's leadership. So … [Read more...]
Cesar Chavez Success Revisits Merrifield’s Infernal Email
Congrats to Pueblo's Cesar Chavez Academy (and thanks to Colorado Charters for pointing out the accolades) - one of two charter schools nationwide to be featured as models of excellent education in a U.S. Department of Education documentary video. This must only make more painful the recent episode of an email sent by state Rep. Mike Merrifield (D-Manitou Springs) to Sen. Sue Windels (D-Arvada), indicating that there is "a special place in hell" for "charterizers" and the like. If one remembers, the specific context of the message was in response to efforts to replicate the highly successful Cesar Chavez Academy model in Colorado Springs. Democrat education committee chairman Merrifield summarily assigned people who wanted to try a … [Read more...]
Alternative Professional Teacher Group Emerges in Colorado
The Colorado Springs Gazette editorialists bring our attention to a new alternative professional organization for teachers in Colorado: the Professional Association of Colorado Educators (PACE). PACE offers liability insurance, legal coverage, and professional development opportunities without the political baggage: PACE will not give union dues to political candidates, nor involve itself in political causes, which will come as a relief, we’re sure, to teachers whose politics differ from those of unions that purport to represent them. Remaining apolitical allows PACE to keep membership dues low, at just $15 a month. PACE dues come to about a quarter of the typical Colorado Education Association dues (amounts vary from local to local, … [Read more...]
Yankees Fan Dealing with Disappointment
It appears my last post has stirred up a little East Coast angst in my friend David Harsanyi, the genial libertarian and Denver Post columnist who for the most part is a very sensible, stand-up sort of guy. (Nobody's perfect.) Well, I may have dashed my chances at getting a free galley copy of his new book Nanny State to review - though there is no denying Harsanyi's ability to use clever and shameless self-promotion. I didn't realize that Harsanyi and I both shared a past as sportswriters - albeit he got to cover the World Series, and I was busy writing about high school track meets and Division II college football. The best part of this exchange is the sweet, sweet memories of last October and the Yanks' demise at the hands of the … [Read more...]
Taking it to the Yankees
Though many on the team have been feeling under the weather, the Detroit Tigers came out on top of the New York Yankees last night, 8-5. Nothing like heading into the heart of the Evil Empire to win the first of a critical four-game set (unless it turns into a four-game sweep of the Bronx Bombers in their own backyard). And as the struggling bullpen is healing up and returning to normalcy (you can't come back soon enough, Zoom), let's go back out there, keep up the momentum, and beat the Yanks! … [Read more...]
Remembering Elvis
On this the 30th anniversary of the passing of the legendary Elvis Presley, we pause to reflect on a tremendously successful musical talent remembered today through a long series of sub-par films, dime-a-dozen Las Vegas impersonators, and velvet paintings hung from the walls of mobile homes. As for me, I cried the day Elvis died but haven't given him much thought since. Well, at least I'm not a hound dog. … [Read more...]
Suicide Killers: A Stunning Documentary
Pierre Rehov's new documentary "Suicide Killers" may be too politically incorrect to receive an Academy Award nomination, but that fact should recommend the film to more American viewers. And certainly, there were more viewers at last night's screening at the Colorado History Museum than event organizers anticipated. The modest size of the screen in the large hall forced the rows to be tightly-packed, but most guests eagerly pressed in to get a closer look. Reading the frequent subtitles - absolutely essential to absorbing the film's startling content - presented a minor challenge of tilting heads and craning necks. I was drawn in to the disturbing images, largely appropriate in their context and level of graphic detail, as well as … [Read more...]
Lefty Attacks on Schaffer “More Rovian Than Karl Rove Himself”
Face the State highlights the fraud and deceit behind Michael Huttner's attacks against Republican State Board of Education vice chair Bob Schaffer. Key passages: Earlier this year, Schaffer was in the majority of the board when he voted to remand back to the Denver School Board a decision to deny Life Skills Center its charter. While Denver previously denied the mostly-minority school’s charter, it ultimately agreed with the state board and approved the school’s proposal to continue in existence. After the vote, Schaffer received a campaign contribution to aid his current U.S. Senate bid from David Brennan, an individual who runs a charter school management company that has contracts with Life Skills. Huttner is trying to say that … [Read more...]
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