RMA 2.0: Rocky Mtn Blogs Radio Show #10

by elpresidente | 6:07 am, January 19, 2009

**NOTE: New time and extended format–Every Tuesday–next show January 20, 8:30 pm.

The Blog Talk Radio version of the Rocky Mountain Alliance. A weekly discussion about politics–national, state, and local–featuring RMA members bloggers led by featured host and producer Joshua Sharf, with rotating co-host duties from Ben DeGrow of Mount Virtus, Randy Ketner of Night Twister, and Michael Alcorn of Best Destiny.

**January 20 lineup–Guests include Todd Shepherd, Independence Institute and Mark Hillman, Colorado Republican National Committeeman.

Next week–TBD.

Last week (all shows archived): January 13–State Rep. Ellen Roberts, R-Durango (HD 59) and State Senator Mike Kopp, SD 21, R-Littleton.

January 6–CU Regent Tom Lucero, chairman of the successful Amendment 54 campaign and a candidate for CD 4 in 2010.

December 30–RMA took a look back at a dismal year in their 2008 year-in-review.

December 23–Joshua and fellow commentators (including yours truly) hosted Jim Pfaff of Americans for Prosperity Foundation and Opinion Times. Pfaff discussed the AFP Colorado report “Keeping Colorado Competitive” and bridging the Christian/libertarian gap.

On December 16 we hosted State Rep. Kevin Lundberg (District 49), and discussed the Salazar appointment as the Secretary of the Interior in the Obama cabinet.

The December 12 edition featured Aurora City Councilman Ryan Frazier.

**Bookmark the new RMA Radio home page, with embedded player and calendar of upcoming shows and featured guests.

Stream the show live, or play/download the podcast at your convenience.

I’ll update co-host and guest info for each episode as it becomes available. Stay tuned . . .

RMA’s shows are archived–if you missed any of them, be sure to check out the archive page to stream or download, or scroll down this page a bit, for the embedded archive player.

The Detroit Lions Are Doing Something Good for the Cause of Education

by Ben DeGrow | 8:56 pm, January 17, 2009

Say what you will, the 0-16 Detroit Lions at least are doing something to alleviate complaints that too many top-flight college athletes are jumping ship early and skipping out on finishing their degrees. From today’s Detroit Free Press:

There has been speculation that the fear of becoming a Lion was one of the variables Heisman Trophy-winning [...]

A Tale of FaceBook and Racial Consciousness

by Eileen McGuire-Mahony | 6:16 pm, January 17, 2009

Disclaimer: Kids – what grammatical and spelling mistakes may be in this post are due to my inability to stop laughing. I had been looking for a little story that would grasp the utter zaniness of the Obama-cult, something that had not already been broken and analyzed to death. In this age of the non-existent [...]

Sheeple Watch #14: Ie. Gallwn Ni. Ni! Ni! Ni!

by T.L. James | 5:33 pm, January 17, 2009

Gads – as if we didn’t have enough pretentious poetastery in this country, we now have poets from across the pond compounding our calliopean torments by writing odes to the Miracle of the Øbamessiah: The old year and the old era dead, pushed burning out to sea bearing the bones of heroes, tyrants, ideologues, thieves and deceivers [...]

Bob Schaffer News

by Mr. Bob | 9:55 pm, January 16, 2009

Bob Schaffer became Chairman of the Colorado State Board of Education yesterday. » link to BOB Schaffer 9:35 PM Jan 14th from web

The H Word

by admin | 6:25 pm, January 16, 2009

“A true hero!…You are a hero!…Sully = hero!…You, sir, are a real hero…This man is a hero!…”
Michelle Malkin’s Blog

Now that the jubilation has settled, I think it’s important to point out something.
No rational airline pilot wishes to be called a hero.
It’s true. If you are called that….name, it is the beginning of a nightmare. [...]

Quote of the Day: Greg Brophy on Gov. Bill Ritter’s New Energy Economy

by Ben DeGrow | 6:08 pm, January 16, 2009

State senator Greg Brophy – “the Senate GOP’s self-described ‘eco-freak’” – on the trumped-up claims of Governor Bill Ritter’s New Energy Economy:
Said Brophy, “I guess if you can’t use tax dollars to effectively promote green energy, you always can use them to promote the promotion of it.”

Well-said. I guess we’ve found one area where Ritter [...]

Search the Stimulus Bill

by Mr. Bob | 5:40 pm, January 16, 2009

Or Crap Sandwich as Michelle Malkin is fond of saying.
Want to see what your goverment is spending the 800 Billion on…Brand new site with the package online…and searchable.

http://readthestimulus.org/

“The Count” Reads KidsCount! Report, Shakes Head in Disgust

by Jon Caldara | 12:15 pm, January 16, 2009

There’s an old adage that I tend to follow, “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” A slight twist on that one I also use often is, “if it sounds like BS, it probably is.” Nothing could fit that second insight better than when I came across this,
between 2000 [...]

Quote of the Month

by Mr. Bob | 10:01 am, January 16, 2009

I was reading one of my favorite bloggers this morning and he mentioned a bumper sticker a middle aged Russian/American woman had on her car during the election that said “Freedom vs. Socialism – November 4, 2008.”

Last week, Barack Obama said this;

“Only government can provide the short-term boost necessary to lift us from a recession this deep and severe. Only government can break the vicious cycles that are crippling our economy.”- President-Elect Barack Obama (via Churchill’s Parrot)

I wonder if he really believes this, or if this is just a political move to gain the trust of those who have placed their faith in him…he must know that it is the government’s overreaching social experiment of “getting every American into a home” that set this mess into motion. …..nah it was the free market…all those greedy businessmen, they are way more evil than ordinary Americans who are all saints……….

var addthis_pub=”mrbob”;

Congrats to D’Evelyn JH/HS

by Ben DeGrow | 9:06 am, January 16, 2009

Via the Rocky Mountain News, Jefferson County’s own D’Evelyn Junior High-High School received another well-earned recognition yesterday as Business Week and GreatSchools.Net teamed up to name D’Evelyn the top-performing school in Colorado:

D’Evelyn is a Jeffco public school started by a group of parents in 1994. It accepts students from across the district starting in grade [...]

Tom Daschle’s High Court of Health

by Brian Schwartz | 2:00 am, January 16, 2009

In the Washington Times, Robert Moffit sums up the implications of Daschle’s proposed Federal Health Board:
“Details kill.” That’s Tom Daschle, President-elect Barack Obama’s nominee for secretary of health and human services and the nation’s new “health-care czar,” explaining to the Associated Press … [visit site to read more]

Sheeple Watch #13: Obama, bin Laden

by T.L. James | 11:12 pm, January 15, 2009

Remember how President-elect Øbama promised that He would re-focus our efforts in the War on Terror to getting Osama bin Laden? Recall how He pandered to the nutroots by agreeing with them that President Bush had ‘taken his eye off the ball’ by invading Iraq instead of pursuing bin Laden to the ends of the [...]

Now That’s a Debate Dinesh D’Souza & Christopher Hitchens Couldn’t Win

by Ben DeGrow | 10:02 pm, January 15, 2009

The headline of the day comes from the Boulder Daily Camera (H/T Complete Colorado):
Conservative D’Souza, atheist Hitchens to debate God at CU

Go back and read that again, out loud if you must… Dinesh D’Souza and Christopher Hitchens – two very bright, educated, opinionated men – are going to debate against the Almighty? Of course, this [...]

Michigan Can Keep the Bitter Cold; I’m Glad to Be in Colorado

by Ben DeGrow | 6:23 pm, January 15, 2009

From an article that appeared yesterday highlighting weather conditions in the region in which I grew up:

Here’s the bad news:
Flint broke a 95-year-old record early Wednesday morning when the temperature plummeted to a frigid 19 below zero. The previous record? Minus 10, set in 1914, according to the National Weather Service.
Here’s the even worse news: [...]

Phony Hiring “Freeze” Latest Example of Bill Ritter Really Stepping in It

by Ben DeGrow | 9:14 am, January 15, 2009

Governor Bill Ritter’s political future looks bleaker and bleaker. It sure looks like the phony hiring “freeze” issue will come back to haunt him. If you think I was hard on Ritter, check out Rossputin’s hard-hitting essay:
I think it’s just one more step toward Bill Ritter being a one-term governor. He ran as a “pro-business [...]

Folly and Hypocrisy of Colorado Media Matters in New Deal Debate Exposed

by Ben DeGrow | 9:04 am, January 15, 2009

Over at Free Colorado, Ari Armstrong does excellent work deconstructing the silliness of Colorado Media Matters (CMM) and its well-compensated director in the debate about the New Deal.
It seems CMM has placed nearly all its intellectual eggs in one basket, the bottom of which has just fallen out. Armstrong took the initiative to contact [...]

Economic Recovery Soon? Even if Obama Slows it Down, He’ll Get Credit

by Ben DeGrow | 5:26 pm, January 14, 2009

Larry Kudlow is a very knowledgeable voice on economic trends and developments. I sure hope his post at The Corner is correct:

Investors continue to ignore one of the very brightest spots in the firmament: Namely, the credit freeze is thawing, according to all manner of key interest rates and spreads. In fact, LIBOR is around [...]

With Bob Schaffer at Helm, State Board on Right Education Reform Path

by Ben DeGrow | 5:12 pm, January 14, 2009

Congrats to Bob Schaffer, new chairman of the Colorado State Board of Education (H/T Complete Colorado). Schaffer himself has graciously (and ironically) quipped on more than one occasion since his difficult defeat in last November’s U.S. Senate campaign, that perhaps he ought to be flattered that so many Coloradans saw fit to keep him serving [...]

Must See TV – The American Form of Government

by Mr. Bob | 1:32 pm, January 14, 2009

Click here; http://www.wimp.com/thegovernment/
Quite good.

Bill Ritter’s “Hiring Freeze” Doesn’t Include Lobbyists or Potato Inspectors

by Ben DeGrow | 9:13 am, January 14, 2009

A few months ago I called out Governor Bill Ritter for his delayed hiring freeze tactic. Well, as the Denver Post reports this morning, that’s nothing compared to what’s happened since the alleged hiring “freeze” went into effect:

A Denver Post review of hundreds of applications for exemptions shows that in three months, Ritter’s office approved [...]

Latino Angst Over Democrats’ Political Appointments In Colorado

by elpresidente | 7:50 am, January 14, 2009

Guest post by Meg.

A statement jumped off the front page of the Sunday Denver Post at me: “This will have legs down the road, I swear to God it will.” Upon further examination, this hot-headed and mildly blasphemous statement was not made by a grade-school student, but by a man who was once duly elected by the people of Colorado, former Democratic state senator Paul Sandoval.

The issue? Colorado’s Latino political and business leaders believe that they have been left out of the recent slew of political appointments and turnovers at the state level. Former U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar has moved on to Interior, but the man that Gov. Ritter chose to be his replacement? Michael Bennet, the Denver Public School superintendent, a white man. Then the man Ritter tapped to take Bennet’s place at DPS? Tom Boasberg, DPS’s chief financial officer, also a white man. The Colorado secretary of state position, vacated by Republican Mike Coffman, was also Ritter’s to fill. His choice was Bernie Buescher, recently rejected by Grand Junction voters in his state House re-election bid. You guessed it… Buescher is a white man.

All of this has caused much angst among the Latinos in the state. Former Denver Councilwoman Ramona Martinez joined the chorus. She reminded “those who feel we are not good enough to fill positions of power” that “no more will we be taken for granted. No more will our numbers be only counted on Election Day. No more. No más.”

The Latino leaders’ main issue is said to be that they were not consulted before the appointments were announced. In the case of DPS, they specifically asked the president of the Denver school board, Theresa Peña, if she would meet with them beforehand. The request was ignored. They sent Peña a subsequent letter chastising her for her inattention, and seeking a discussion of “the creation of an open and transparent process for this and future appointments within the Denver Public Schools.” The Latinos also disagreed with the “secret” process to appoint the secretary of state of the Senate seats.

Ritter asked a blue-ribbon panel, as is his wont, to give him three names for the secretary of state finalists. The three names were white men. The Post jumped on the critical bandwagon today by blasting Ritter in an editorial, saying that it was “unfathomable” that Ritter did not “ensure” that Rosemary Rodriguez was one of the finalists. The Post’s rationale was that Rodriguez has more election experience than those who were recommended, and suggested that Buescher’s appointment “seemed to be a nod to the Western Slope.” They were similarly critical of the Boasberg appointment. The Post editorial board made a token concession that the selecting officials “can and should hire the candidate who best fits their needs” and that they shouldn’t be “intimidated by any person or group.” They even declared that they “like Boasberg… [he is] well-versed in district operations.” But then they return to the complaint that the Latinos were not involved in the process.

The Latinos’ response is wildly out of proportion. It is entirely Ritter’s prerogative to decide who is nominated to empty state positions (Article IV, Section 6, Colorado state constitution). He does not have to involve anyone else whatsoever in the process. The Post editorial called the shutout and the “secret” process “bad politics and even worse policy.” My guess is that if a Latino had indeed been named using the same secrecy, there would be no outcry. As a Latina myself, I am well acquainted with this notorious double standard.

It is not the “secret” process that the Latinos don’t like. It’s their perception of losing ground, of being disrespected, of being left out. Latino culture is very heavy on demands of respect. When this respect is not forthcoming, they become vocal and agitated, even when, as in this case, the process was completely correct. Both the Post and the Latino leaders seem to be arguing for a quota in state appointments. They seem to be suggesting that although a Latino did not originally hold two out of three of those positions, they should have been top contenders for the appointments—solely on the basis of race.

The Post plays into this by not criticizing Ritter for appointing Buescher, a Democrat, to fill Republican Mike Coffman’s shoes. All is fair in politics, but when it comes to race? Then the Latino community is a “growing constituency” who must not be ignored. We’re not supposed to remember the majority who elected a Republican secretary of state.

The Latino leaders are unseemly in their endless demands for “respect,” even to the point of vague “No más” threats in Spanish. Many of them fought hard to be elected to office. Why are they clamoring for jobs to be handed to them for free? They should look inward and work to put forth quality candidates for public office in the future. If their growing constituency is as outraged as they say, such candidates should be quite competitive in future political races.

Show Me the Incriminating Quote

by Eileen McGuire-Mahony | 8:30 pm, January 13, 2009

PPC covered the pro-Israel rally held this past Sunday at the State Capitol. In response to one of our articles, a commentator is insisting that former Congressman Tom Tancredo screamed an epithet during the course of his remarks. Asked to provide proof, he admits that he has no proof but still insists it did occur. [...]

Bill Ritter Ginning Up Excuses for His Attack on Taxpayer Protections

by Ben DeGrow | 7:33 pm, January 13, 2009

Wandering out to the Western Slope on his cross-state jaunt with his U.S. Senate protege Michael Bennet, Governor Bill Ritter yesterday sat down with the editors of the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. When asked about his reckless anti-TABOR remarks (“the straightjacket”) in his State of the State speech, here’s reporter Mike Saccone’s retelling of how [...]

Affirmative Action for Men Losing Jobs?

by Ben DeGrow | 4:30 pm, January 13, 2009

Snark of the day: Where’s affirmative action for men who are losing jobs at a much faster rate than women?

Putting State Government’s Checkbook Online Should Take Months, Not Years

by Ben DeGrow | 4:26 pm, January 13, 2009

I quickly hoorayed last week when Governor Bill Ritter announced his full backing for putting the state’s checkbook online. But a follow-up report from Face The State seemed to suggest the process could take a long time:
“Putting the budget online will be different because there is too much to put it all,” [state representative Don] [...]

RMA 2.0: Rocky Mtn Blogs Radio Show #9

by elpresidente | 1:26 pm, January 13, 2009

**NOTE: New time and extended format–Every Tuesday–next show January 13, 8:30 pm.

**January 13 lineup–State Senator Mike Kopp, SD 21, R-Littleton.

Next week–TBD.

Last week: January 6–CU Regent Tom Lucero, chairman of the successful Amendment 54 campaign and a candidate for CD 4 in 2010.

December 30–RMA took a look back at a dismal year in their 2008 year-in-review.

On December 16 we hosted State Rep. Kevin Lundberg (District 49), and discussed the Salazar appointment as the Secretary of the Interior in the Obama cabinet.

The December 12 edition featured Aurora City Councilman Ryan Frazier.

**Bookmark the new RMA Radio home page, with embedded player and calendar of upcoming shows and featured guests.

Stream the show live, or play/download the podcast at your convenience.

I’ll update co-host and guest info for each episode as it becomes available. Stay tuned . . .

RMA’s shows are archived–if you missed any of them, be sure to check out the archive page to stream or download, or scroll down this page a bit, for the embedded archive player.

War Correspondent Michael Yon May Sue Anti-American Propagandist Michael Moore

by Mr. Bob | 9:59 am, January 13, 2009

Yon:During my trip to Washington, D.C., I had a chance to catch up on some matters neglected while I was overseas. My attorney may have to file a lawsuit against Mr. Michael Moore. In May we contacted Mr. Moore, through his counsel, about Mr. Moore’s unauthorized use of my work on his website. He did not respond. My attorney has written again. If Mr. Moore and his counsel continue to ignore our correspondence, we will proceed with a lawsuit.

This lawsuit, though, should not be a distraction from combat reporting; the proceedings should be easy and require almost zero hands-on work from me. But it will be potentially costly. I’ve never sued anyone in my life. Looks like Mr. Moore might be the first. READ THE REST

Less than Independent Michael Bennet Invites Fresh, Articulate GOP Opponent

by Ben DeGrow | 8:47 am, January 13, 2009

In his Rocky Mountain News column today, Vince Carroll points out that Bill Ritter’s new U.S. Senate designate Michael Bennet hasn’t shown much in the way of original, independent thought thus far:

I’ve listened to Bennet speak about education issues often enough to appreciate his intelligence and what I sense is an independent mind. And I [...]

Online “Bill” Pay: Colorado Media Matters And The Colorado Model

by elpresidente | 8:33 am, January 13, 2009

I come to praise Bill Menezes, not bury him.

This really isn’t about him in particular anyway. Back in November I squared off against Menezes on CBS4′s election night webcast. We started off by discussing “how we got started” (first 5 minutes of the webcast)–and I made it clear to distinguish what for me is essentially a serious hobby from Menezes’ professional and well-paid outfit at Colorado Media Matters.

He described the function of the “non-profit” “research organization” as a tool to “correct conservative misinformation” in the MSM by employing a “staff of researchers” using a “proprietary archive system” that enabled the organization to track, document, and expose what they perceived as a conservative bias. Agree with them or not, they have a clearly defined role, and have been aggressive in pursuing their objectives.

CMM, formally or informally, formed a large part of the online arm of the vaunted “Colorado Model”–now partially reduced due to the incredible success seen over the past three election cycles.

It is no secret that the GOP and conservatives and libertarians in general have been forced, at the very least, to play catch-up with their liberal/Democrat opponents. But what about benchmarks? In order to know where you want to concentrate your precious time, energy, and resources in any attempt to bring about parity with the other side (let alone any thought of leapfrogging them), it would be helpful to know what greased the wheels of the rather large and multi-faceted left-leaning apparatus employed here in Colorado.

And in politics the golden rule applies–he who has the gold, rules.

Or in this instance, he who has the gold and employs it wisely in a concerted, coordinated effort to spread a particular political message–wins elections.

Which brings me back to Menezes.

Here is a jpeg of the 2007 filing for Media Matters for America (click to enlarge):

Menezes’ actual pay is almost beside the point. We already know that the director of CMM receives compensation, and that CMM was the first state-level division of the overall Media Matters operation.

As I said, Menezes is to be praised (and that is not a backhanded compliment either)–he has earned his keep, and the successes on the left in this state provides the clearest evidence that the “Colorado Model” and the implementation of organizations like CMM can produce immediate results.

So here’s a note to the powers that be on the center-right, both here in Colorado and across the country–in case you were wondering how we got our a&$#*! kicked these past few election cycles, here is at least one reason. It’s because there were some 100%-dedicated, full-time positions like this made available by the deepest of pockets on the left.

Just a thought.

« go back — keep looking »

Featured Posts

Follow PPC

Search

WayIn

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Advertise Here!

Categories

Archives

Meta

Blogroll

Contributors