Bomb Threat In Greeley, Letter In Spanish Demands Release Of Illegal Immigrants

by elpresidente | 1:15 pm, April 17, 2009

Developing . . . “intent to kill the most number of Americans”

And here I thought it was “right wing extremists” we had to look out for:

A bomb threat demanding the release of immigrants being held for deportation was received by the Weld County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday.

The threat was a handwritten letter in Spanish threatening judicial and law enforcement officers with the bombs with the “intent to kill the most number of Americans,” according to a press release.

Currently, there are 58 inmates with immigration holds being held in the Weld County Jail.

In the letter, the writer threatened to place bombs in and around Greeley after April 20 unless the immigration holds are released.

“Sheriff (John) Cooke wants the public to know that the Sheriff’s Office is working diligently to locate and arrested the person or persons responsible for threatening harm to our community,” the press release said.

Undersheriff Margie Martinez said Thursday the sheriff’s office wants the public to “be aware but don’t panic.” Cooke said persons with information about the letter should call (970) 350-9600 or (970) 356-4015.

April 20 is the 10th anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings.

Michelle Malkin has more.

Confessions of a Tea Party Dodger

by TJ Wihera | 12:38 pm, April 17, 2009

Alright, I admit it. I blew it. I didn’t go to the Tea Party. I went to a ball game instead. Which, really isn’t a good enough excuse, because even Ted Williams was able to step away from baseball for a while to fight communists. So, the question I begin to ask myself is: Should [...]

Michael Huttner Lies About Josh Penry Speaking at Tea Party Rally in Denver

by randomridge | 12:34 pm, April 17, 2009

Michael Huttner lied about Josh Penry speaking at Wednesday’s Tea Party rally. Which is no suprise, since Huttner and ProgressNow are paid to make stuff up about those with whom they disagree.

It’s Official: You’re All a Bunch of Racist, Redneck, White-Power Idiots

by randomridge | 11:37 am, April 17, 2009

Washed-up “comedienne”-turned-psychologist Janeane Garofalo explains it all: the Tea Party movement is all about racism, nothing else, just a bunch of “limbic brain” neanderthals who are motivated only about hating a black president.

Friday not so funny – Quotes

by Mr. Bob | 11:07 am, April 17, 2009

#tcot #redco #gop #teaparty #stimulus

“ Socialism is simply Communism for people without the testosterone to man the barricades“

Gary North

“The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.”

Winston Churchill

“Socialism is workable only in heaven where it isn’t needed, and in hell where they’ve got it“

Cecil Palmer

You buy these quotes on a T-shirt like this over at my REDBUBBLE page.

Ryan Frazier Fires Up Crowd at Colorado Tax Day Tea Party

by Ben DeGrow | 10:39 am, April 17, 2009

El Presidente has posted video of the Denver Tax Day Tea Party, but the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel has the video coverage of Colorado’s largest Western Slope gathering.
The apparent highlight of the event was the rousing speech of Ryan Frazier, who also announced a formal step toward a U.S. Senate campaign (watch the video below [...]

Democrat shills at ProgressNow lie about Denver Tea Party

by Rossputin | 8:36 am, April 17, 2009

ProgressNowColorado, a group of paid left-wing propagandists, has written yet another dishonest article, this time their assessment of Denver’s Tax Day Tea Party.

The errors and omissions are non-stop, with essentially every sentence containing an erroneous implication or an outright lie. It’s not surprising given that (1) these guys are paid to lie, and (2) they were removed by police from the demonstration very early on, so they’re “reporting” on an event they really didn’t see.

[After reading this note, I encourage anyone who attended the Denver Tax Day Tea Party to contact Michael Huttner of ProgressNow and tell him what you think of his article and his behavior: The contact number, which is printed on the press release linked above, is (303) 931 4547.]

Here are a few of Huttner’s whoppers:

• They say they “braved a crowd of belligerent right-wing protesters”. In fact, police were reported to have said that it was the best-behaved large protest they’ve ever seen. Furthermore, it was ProgressNow’s own Michael Huttner who was escorted out by police after apparently trying to instigate an argument with a woman. It’s the leftists who were belligerent.

• ProgressNow showed a few posters which were arguably in poor taste, though it wouldn’t surprise me if they brought at least one of them. If those signs were real, they were a tiny minority among the signs such as “I work, you eat. That’s socialism”, or “It’s time to clean House…and Senate”, and of course the many dozens of Gadsden flags waving in the breeze. By the way, although any mention of Hitler is always instantaneously reacted to with revulsion, there is good reason to fear economic fascism in this country and there are real comparisons with Hitler’s pre-war Germany, including an emphasis on “green” and government-mandated health policies.

• It is an outright lie that the Tea Parties were “chiefly organized by right-wing lobbyist groups.” Certainly FreedomWorks served as a clearinghouse of Tea Party information and they encouraged participation. I interviewed FreedomWorks’ Brendan Steinhauser, who offered the following:

Unlike the unions or ACORN, FreedomWorks doesn’t pay its volunteers to protest. The outrage is real. The protests are real. They’re just the beginning. If Paul Krugman would have actually done some research or given us a call, he would have learned that. Since the left orchestrates most of its so-called “grass roots” events, it’s inconceivable to them that conservatives and libertarians can do this without those same types of methods. The tea parties are a little bit disorganized and decentralized precisely become they are coming from the ground up…and you can’t fake that.

• Then ProgressNow derides “keynote speaker” Josh Penry, who did NOT speak at the event. I guess Huttner wouldn’t have known that since he was thrown out for causing trouble. Huttner also quotes himself as saying that the Tea Party “brought out the worst elements in our political culture.” I suppose it’s true…since Huttner was there. Other than that, the statement simply shows the gutters in which the left is willing to trudge.

• And then there’s simply the despicable closing of the ProgressNow press release which says the Tea Party was made up of “a few hundred crazies and racists”. First, I didn’t mean one person there who seemed even borderline “crazy”. Angry, yes. Frustrated with government, yes. Fed up with both political parties, yes. Racist? You must be kidding. There will always be a racist or two in any crowd of several thousand people (Huttner must have gotten thrown out even earlier than I thought if he believed there were only a few hundred.) But as I and others written elsewhere, the real racists in this country are on the left, and I don’t believe anybody was there opposing Obama’s policies because of Obama’s skin color. And the left simply throws out the “you must be a racist” card simply to try to shut up people who disagree with Obama’s policies.

ProgressNow is just the latest addition to the left’s fear and loathing of a genuine anti-big-government grass-roots movement. They’re scared to death that people who disagree with their socialist, Nanny State policies will begin to push back against their Soros- and Tim Gill-funded propaganda and their Soros-, Gill-, and union-owned politicians.

These left-wing organizations, like Joseph Goebbels (Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda) operate under the presumption that if you tell a big enough lie often enough, people will come to believe it. And they’re probably correct, so it’s time for those of us who are sick of the left’s manipulation and fabrication to stand up and point out at every opportunity that Huttner and people like him are simply paid liars. On the bright side, I do believe people are waking up to this fact, as shown by the demise of Colorado Media Matters which operated as a slightly less low-brow (but just as untruthful) version of ProgressNow.

A Chance for Denver Tax Day Tea Party Protestors to Clarify the Record

by Ben DeGrow | 8:18 am, April 17, 2009

Update, 9:40 AM: Rossputin has a more thorough and comprehensive debunking of the ProgressNow nonsense. It’s simply a must-read. Also, Joshua explains the “astroturfing” myth and why the Left is pushing it.
Here’s a shock: the local Soros-funded Lefty media hack is completely misrepresenting the Tax Day Tea Party here in Denver and as a nationwide [...]

Marostica must go

by Rossputin | 12:52 am, April 17, 2009

Both the Democratic and Republican leaders in the State Senate, Peter Groff and Josh Penry, respectively, asked the state’s Joint Budget Committee to look for ways to spread spending cuts so that higher education wouldn’t essentially be the only place the state made serious cuts to deal with the current budget troubles. In typical fashion, so-called Republican Don Marostica answer was “Nuts to them. Tell them to go jump in a lake. Josh Penry first, and then all the lemmings will follow.”

With luck, Don Marostica, probably the single worst member of the House of Representatives and certainly the worst Republican, will face a primary challenge in 2010. The challenger, however, will have to be fairly well-off or be able to raise a lot of money because, like last time, Marostica will certainly put as much of his own money into the race as he thinks he has to. He barely beat his last primary challenger, Kevan McNaught, even though Marostica spent something like $150K or $200K of his own money, versus a small fraction of that amount raised and spent by McNaught.

I continue to believe that Marostica is driven by two things: His ego (can’t you just tell that by his hair?), and a desire to use government to increase the value of his real estate holdings.

In addition to trying to help Bill Ritter avoid government spending transparency (by which effort I assume Marostica wants to make it as hard as possible to find out where he’s able to funnel money to help himself), Marostica was the key Republican to support eliminating the Arveschoug-Bird 6% annual spending increase limit for state government. (Read more about Arveschoug-Bird from Ben DeGrow HERE.)

Let me make this clear: Don Marostica is a cancer in the Colorado government and in the Colorado Republican Party. I urge anyone who believes he has or can raise the money to challenge Marostica whom I believe is quite vulnerable just based on his record and his insults of fine men (regardless of what you believe of their political views) like Mark Hillman, Josh Penry, and Jon Caldara.

Note to Protest Sign Dumbasses, This Is What Happens When You Don’t Think Through What You’re Saying

by randomridge | 11:30 pm, April 16, 2009

If you don’t pay attention to how others read your message, you give Michael Huttner a case of the feigned outrage vapors. Have a little common sense when you make up your protest placards, morons.  You have to remember that hacks like Huttner are paid by the Democracy Alliance of Billionaires to attend these events and [...]

In Which the Washington Bureau Chief Tells You What the Founders Really Thought.

by Eileen McGuire-Mahony | 10:18 pm, April 16, 2009

Jan Schakowsky, chosen Congressional avatar of the citizens of Illinois’ 9th District, is against tea parties.   Fine, Jan, we say:  don’t have one. Instead, go have a bit more plastic surgery.  You look more and more like Speaker Mimi all the time.  Representing part of Cook County, she can afford to be mind-bogglingly left.  Which [...]

Months Later, Michael Bennet Still Vacillating Over Union Card-Check Bill

by Ben DeGrow | 10:17 pm, April 16, 2009

More than two months ago I noted that the union card-check bill had put newly selected U.S. Senator Michael Bennet in a bind. Three weeks ago I observed that Bennet might be finding relief in the fading prospects of the legislation.
But Big Labor proponents haven’t backed down, and business leaders are in the fight for [...]

In Which the Washington Bureau Chief Is Mauled by a Polar Bear

by Eileen McGuire-Mahony | 8:51 pm, April 16, 2009

Earlier this week, I took brief respite from my travails in the Beltway wilderness, the most over-protested wildlife refuge anywhere, to attend what is referred to in local dialect as a ‘policy forum’. I’ve been to plenty of lectures given by people who, broadly speaking, agree with me.  And I’ve crashed plenty of the other [...]

The Motorhome Diaries

by Joss Armstrong | 5:50 pm, April 16, 2009

Now, I recognize that The Motorhome Diaries are a take-off of the Motorcycle Diaries. . . But I kinda like the word “trailer”.  Mostly because one can then refer to one’s self as “Trailer trash” and use phrases like “you can take the girl out of the trailer, but you can’t take the trash out [...]

Denver Tea Party: Tax Day Rally Coverage; Photos And Video

by elpresidente | 12:45 pm, April 16, 2009

**Comprehensive coverage of Tax Day Tea Parties scheduled in Colorado (dates/times/locations) . . . People’s Press Collective has a live video feed of the Denver Tea Party rally for those unable to make it down to the state capitol . . . photos/video following the Tea Party

**Update 1: First photos are up at People’s Press Collective . . . more scenes from the rally . . . crowd in excess of 5000 . . .

Part 1 is up:

Part 2:

Part 3–”Gunny Bob” Newman:

Part 4–Jon Caldara:

Part 5–US Rep. Mike Coffman, CU Regent Tom Lucero:

Part 6–State Sen. Mike Kopp:

Part 7–Lenina Close, Gadsden Society:

Part 8:

Part 9–David Williams, Gadsden Society; Matt Arnold, Clear the Bench Colorado:

Part 10–State Rep. Cory Gardner, Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck:

Part 11–Denver Tax Day Tea Party organizer and emcee Brian Campbell:

More photos of the Denver Tax Day Tea Party from El Marco.

---

Tea Party search trends by state from Google–Colorado is #6

Quick links (via Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit)–Tax Day Becomes Protest Day (How the tea parties could change American politics):

–The difference between “astroturfing” and a “grassroots movement”

–Tea Party tax revolt

–Why Lefties are upset, and Tea Party Derangement Syndrome

–Tea Party ramifications for Democrats and Republicans

–The rise of distributed online activism on the Right

Good News, Bad News Today at Colorado State Capitol

by Ben DeGrow | 12:03 pm, April 16, 2009

This morning, good news comes from the Colorado State Capitol: the state house approved House Bill 1288 (PDF), the Colorado Taxpayer Transparency Act, by the overwhelming margin of 61-4. This legislation will create a detailed online searchable database of state government revenues and expenditures.
The bad news? Among the four (all Democrats) voting against open government [...]

Ritter throws in the towel? Raises only $118,000 in first quarter

by RMR | 11:32 am, April 16, 2009

Is Bill Ritter throwing in the towel? Campaign finance reports for the first quarter of the year show that Ritter raised only $118,000 and has only $125,609 in the bank. For those of you keeping track, that is less than one-tenth of what Bill Ritter’s statewide ticketmate Michael Bennet raised during the same period. The Denver Post reports:

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter raised $118,000 for his re-election campaign during the first three months of this year.

That leaves Ritter, a Democrat, with $125,609 in the bank, according to finance reports filed Wednesday.

The amounts pale in comparison with what former Gov. Bill Owens raised during the same point in his re-election campaign in 2001.

What happened, Bill? Numbers that lousy will not only encourage Republicans to come after you, but may open you up to a primary challenge from within your own party.

HB 1288 passes House

by Amy Oliver | 10:43 am, April 16, 2009

On a 61-4 vote, the Colorado Taxpayer Transparency Act just passed third reading in the House.  Voting no were Representatives Judd, Green, Gagliardi and Ryden.  Now it moves to the Senate.
COST will post more information as it becomes available.

Tea Parties Nationwide – reactions and reports

by Mr. Bob | 9:48 am, April 16, 2009

#tcot #redco #teaparty hat tip to the bookworm room and founding bloggers, links below.
Denver Tea Party Video

Santa Ana Tea Party Report – pics
Santa Ana video;

Atlanta – eyewitness comments

Ventura – eyewitness comments
Chicago Tea Party video

Chicago – eyewitness comments

New York Tea Party – World Mag Report

Joliet – eyewitness comments

San Francisco – eyewitness

Denver Tea Party MSM report

Denver Tea Party Video Reports – lots of video

St. Louis Tea Party video
Chicago Tea Party – pics

Salt Lake City – MSM report

Tea Party in Minnesota – pics and videos

Tea Party Raleigh – pics and video

Provo and more Utah tea party – pics
__________________________________________________________

Tax Day Tea Party, Colorado

by Ben DeGrow | 7:34 am, April 16, 2009

Update VI, 4/16: Here are some pictures taken by Jimmie H. Butler at yesterday’s rally in Colorado Springs. Re-posted with permission:

Update V, 4/16: My brother-in-law has a great set of photos from yesterday’s Denver event. Slapstick Politics has begun to post video from the well-attended festivities at the West Steps of the Capitol. Rossputin has [...]

Post-Tea Party thoughts

by Rossputin | 12:19 am, April 16, 2009

[A new poll question: Do you believe the Tea Parties will lead to any sustained political activity by the day’s participants, or was it basically a one-time thing for the vast majority of them?]

It was a day to inspire a little optimism for those of us who believe in liberty and expect better from both our state and national governments. Denver’s Tax Day Tea Party was, in my opinion, a great success despite not having a great sound system in place.

The crowd, from young to old, was enthusiastic and generally in an excellent mood.

And the Gadsden Flag (yellow, rattlesnake, Don’t Tread On Me, etc) was on wide display…doing good for the heart of a libertarian.

Although I heard of two people being removed from the event, I never personally saw disruption, nor jeers nor signs from leftist disruptors.

There were hundreds of flags and signs being held by the (my guess) 3,000 people there. Others have estimated as many as 5,000 people. Unlike left-wing highly organized rallies with professionally made signs, you could tell these banners were efforts of love (for our nation and liberty) and frustration (with governments which are destroying both.)

Although a lot had been going on before the noon start time, the proceedings officially began with the Pledge of Allegiance. My thought was “I’m sure MoveOn.org rallies are JUST like this…not.”

Speakers talked of being “sons and daughters of revolutionaries”, of “taking back our country”, and repeatedly of the massive debt that the federal government is saddling future generations with.

Jon Caldara led the crowd in a round of cries of “No you can’t”, as opposed to Obama’s empty “Yes we can” mantra. “Gunny” Bob Newman talked about the time of our founding, including the fact that his great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather (maybe I missed one “great”) was the guy who signaled Paul Revere to start his famous ride. Politicians and candidates spoke, but mostly avoided partisan politics or mention of political parties.

About 10 members of the General Assembly (and a couple of state Senators) came out to the balcony above the crowd, bringing great cheers as well as a minute-long chant of “Where is Ritter?” (For those of you not in Colorado, Bill Ritter is our truly horrendous governor who has every reason to be a one-termer and actually left Denver today, presumably to escape questions about the Tea Party.)

The Tea Party, rather than being about partisan politics, was about people finally getting angry enough with government to get involved. The message was to stay involved, that the winners in politics tend to be the ones to make an effort.

It’s unusual for conservatives and libertarians to protest. That’s generally something liberals do. Particularly libertarians…we just don’t normally think of telling others what to do. Again, that’s something liberals do. But as I said, the energy in the crowd was consistent and uplifting.

I realize that my liberal readers (not that I have very many of those) will simply not understand what I’m talking about. But that’s OK. Just as they think the world is full primarily of people like them and that we lovers of liberty and respecters of the constitution are a fringe group, I look forward to the day when we can, at least for a few minutes, think the same of them. That time is coming. And the further both the Colorado and the federal governments continue down their current paths, the sooner that time will arrive.

More Tea-Party Photos and Audio: Ari Armstrong Interviews Ralliers

by T.L. James | 6:51 pm, April 15, 2009

Ari Armstrong of FreeColorado.com interviews attendees at today’s Tax Day Tea Party in Denver.

Denver Tax Day Tea Party: Estimate the Crowd Size!

by T.L. James | 5:15 pm, April 15, 2009

You tell me – how many people were at the event?   Estimates from emcee Brian T. Campbell are in the 7000 range. UPDATE: here’s a video from the Capitol balcony showing the crowd.

My former U.S. Rep and my alma mater

by David K. Williams, Jr. | 5:12 pm, April 15, 2009

Tom Tancredo, former United States Congressman from Colorado, was scheduled to speak at the home of the reigning NCAA Division I National Men’s Basketball Champion Tar Heels, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, yesterday. (The National Championship has absolutely nothing to do with the event, but I like saying it.)

HB 1288 passes second reading

by Amy Oliver | 4:35 pm, April 15, 2009

Transparency in Colorado has more lives than even the luckiest of felines. Powerful anti-transparency forces never wanted this bill to see the light of day.  In a pleasantly surprising turn of events, HB 1288 the Colorado Taxpayer Transparency Act passed through the House Appropriations Committee this morning, April 15, unamended. The vote was 12-1 vote.  Representative [...]

Denver Tea Party – After-Action Report

by T.L. James | 4:31 pm, April 15, 2009

Arrived at 10:00am, to find a crowd already gathered.  To my eye, the crowd was already at that time larger than any of the protests I have been to in the past year except the Saturday anti-war rally before the DNC. And it only got bigger from there. Did not see any real “infiltrators”, and [...]

Ryan Frazier takes first step toward challenging Michael Bennet

by admin | 4:30 pm, April 15, 2009

( Front-paged by Senate Watch )

Ryan Frazier has taken the first step towards becoming the first Republican challenger to Michael Bennet by filing an exploratory committee. The Hill reports:

    Aurora City Councilman Ryan Frazier is the first Republican to take a formal step toward the Colorado Senate race, launching an exploratory committee on Wednesday.

    Frazier made the announcement at a Tea Party rally in Grand Junction.

    “We have an amazing opportunity to create economic prosperity, reform our government and build a better future,” Frazier said, according to a release. “I stand before you to do my part.”

    If he wins the GOP primary, Frazier would likely face appointed Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), who replaced Interior Secretary Ken Salazar (D) in the Senate earlier this year.

Frazier has been cleaning up at Republican straw polls and has been gaining prominence at event like the Grand Junction Tea Party arguing for fiscal conservativism. Other likely candidates include Weld County district attorney Ken Buck, radio host Dan Caplis, and former Congressman Bob Beauprez. Frazier has a campaign site live at FrazierForColorado.com.

Look who is against the tea parties…no surprise – DENVER

by Mr. Bob | 3:26 pm, April 15, 2009

#tcot #redco #teaparty
NARAL – National Abortion Rights Action League fights for public funding to go to private doctors performing abortions.

ACORN – community organizing firm whose mission statement reads like the communist manifesto. They are into voter fraud and intimidation of businesses who don’t distribute their

New Era Colorado and ProgressNow Colorado – left wing organizations who think Obama is the second coming and see nothing wrong with HUGE government…unless it of course tied to Defense spending.

Read the report

Sights from the Denver Tea Party

by RMR | 2:44 pm, April 15, 2009

Turnout in Denver was very good.

Michael Huttner of ProgressNow is off to the left in this photo looking visibly annoyed at conservative turnout and how paltry the liberal "counter-protest" was in comparison.

What conservative-liberterian protest would be complete without an appearance by Guy Fawkes?

Michael “the” Huttner

by Joss Armstrong | 2:38 pm, April 15, 2009

ALERT!! I spotted that tightly wrapped package of virility and machismo otherwise known as Michael Huttner at the Denver Tea party. I can’t wait to see what toe-curling episode of manufactured outrage Mikey will bestow upon us. I will keep you, dear readers, updated as the story develops.

« go back — keep looking »

Featured Posts

• Judge Rules Americans Can Be Forced to Testify Against Themselves

  In order to protect our rights, our security must be protected. In order to protect our security, our rights must be invaded. Nothing wrong with that, is there?

• World Economic Forum in Switzerland: Global Elites Celebrating Hypocrisy
• SCOTUS decision on warrantless GPS surveillance produces an expected friend of privacy
• You didn’t want your Fifth Amendment rights, anyway, did you?
• Keynesian Economists Finally Catch Up and Agree: China to Have Hard Landing
• The Beauty of Private Property—from China?
• Regime Uncertainty, Regulatory Surge, and Unemployment Numbers