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Conflict of Interest Exposed

The Dead Governors appear to be the first on the story of alleged conflict of interest going on in the Republican primary. And there's a LOT of disinformation floating around in the comment section, as usual. There is only one essential disagreement between the Holtzman campaign and the State Republican Party: is it proper for a professional political vendor to work for two clients with overlapping interests? I hate airing dirty Republican laundry like this, but when you are close enough to the sources to know what's going on, and the whole thing needs to be cleared up, well... the choice was easy. … [Read more...]

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Spencer to Allen: Take Your Left-Wing Indoctrination Like a Man

Employing his best attempt at writing a column with adolescent logic, the Denver Post's Jim Spencer tells 16-year-old Sean Allen - the Overland High School student who recorded his "geography" teacher Jay Bennish make a diatribe off the deep end of fairness, balance, and reality - that he should have given into peer pressure, sucked it up, and taken his Left-wing indoctrination like a man: What Allen did violates the unwritten "us-and-them" code of adolescence. You defy authority and adults when you're a teenager. You don't suck up to them. When you're 16, having middle-aged fogies like Bill Owens or Rush Limbaugh or yours truly sing your praises carries no "street cred" with the "dude, whatever" crowd. Frankly, there's a wimp … [Read more...]

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Littwin Joins “Dump Hanna” Chorus

The notable Rocky Mountain News center-left political columnist Mike Littwin has joined the chorus of those calling for disgraced Democrat State Senator (and alleged extortion artist) Deanna Hanna to resign from her Lakewood seat: She can resign now. Or she can resign later. But, one way or the other, she has to go. The typewriting is on the wall - and it's as clear as an extortion note written in bright red crayon. It's one thing to survive a political embarrassment. I mean, it could have been worse: She could have shot someone. But it's another to survive when you've become a major political liability for your party. The Senate Democrats I've talked to are more than prepared to dump her. The question is whether Hanna is … [Read more...]

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Book Review: Tasty Red Meat for Red State Republican Families

The other night I lay in bed with my wife and weeks-old daughter. We snuggled up with a copy of Katharine DeBrecht's Help, Mom! Hollywood's in My Hamper, and I read aloud. My wife and I shared a few giggles throughout the story and dozed off (as best we could under the circumstances) with a warm feeling. The baby? Well, I'm pretty certain she'll appreciate the Help, Mom! series some day. I can picture her a few years from now tugging at my pant leg, pleading for me to read one of the sequels. And I can tell you right now - my whole family hopes for DeBrecht to publish some more that meet the quality of the first two. … [Read more...]

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Bennish Update

Fox News reports a positive development in the controversial Colorado geography teacher case: Jay Bennish has decided to drop the lawsuit against Cherry Creek School District in exchange for the district dropping the media gag order. In my opinion, both sides chose wisely. We may start to hear from the embattled Marxist instructor in various outlets. Stay tuned. … [Read more...]

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Irony: Bennish Case Goes Federal

The Rocky Mountain News reports that Jay Bennish lawyer David Lane plans to file a lawsuit in federal court this morning to put the highly controversial teacher back in the classroom. Bennish is currently on paid administrative leave while the Cherry Creek School District conducts an investigation based on his 20-minute recorded left-wing political tirade. From the News story: "I know about 10 federal judges who are more than willing to teach the Cherry Creek School District what the First Amendment is all about," his attorney, David Lane, said Thursday. Lane said he expects to file a federal lawsuit as early as this morning, and that seeking a court order to return Bennish to the classroom is one option he might pursue. He … [Read more...]

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More Bennish…

Due to overwhelming popular demand, I thought I would respond to a couple commenters from my previous post on the gigantic Jay Bennish flap, and shed a little more light on the whole topic. When a story erupts and spreads through the media - old & new - as fast as this one has, the caution needs to be made that we don't make hasty judgments that outstrip the evidence we have. Furthermore, we should promote a healthy, moderate, and reasonable tone to the debate. No one I have seen is calling for violence to be done against any of the parties involved, and that should hold for both supporters of Bennish and for those like me who admire the smart and courageous 16-year-old Sean Allen. That being said, I think some judgments can be made in … [Read more...]

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The Stengel Affair

In his Thursday metro side column, the Post's David Harsanyi shines the light on a series of cases that give Coloradans plenty of reason to be cynical about politics. Maybe as cynical as one of my commenters, who after my post on Deanna Hanna's more legally serious misdeeds implied that I was ignoring the Stengel affair because of party loyalties. Memo to commenter: sorry for giving you an excuse to feed your cynicism. If you would care to respond to this post and reveal your identity, my respect for you will increase greatly. Harsanyi's lead case is indeed that of Republican House Minority Leader Joe Stengel, who charged taxpayers for 240 days of work last year, including a trip to Hawaii. Yesterday, five of Stengel's constituents … [Read more...]