The Day After

by Joshua Sharf | 3:37 pm, May 2, 2011

It goes without saying that it’s a very good thing. It isn’t VE-Day or VJ-Day, and Americans have enough sense not to treat it as such, but it’s worth one night’s jubilation. This day resolution was a long time coming, and Americans have the right to blow off a little steam. This is, after all, [...]

Students Now Can Apply for DougCo Choice Scholarships, Final School List TBD

by Eddie | 2:53 pm, May 2, 2011

Today is an important day for families interested in Douglas County School District (DCSD)’s brand new, groundbreaking Choice Scholarship Program. Student applications are now available. Completed forms — available either online or as a hard copy to download and print — will be accepted up through next Thursday, May 12, at 5 PM.
Events are moving [...]

Students Now Can Apply for DougCo Choice Scholarships, Final School List TBD

by Eddie | 2:53 pm, May 2, 2011

Today is an important day for families interested in Douglas County School District (DCSD)’s brand new, groundbreaking Choice Scholarship Program. Student applications are now available. Completed forms — available either online or as a hard copy to download and print — will be accepted up through next Thursday, May 12, at 5 PM.
Events are moving [...]

Reasons for Optimism

by Vande Krol | 2:05 pm, May 2, 2011

I’m standing at a door.  Outside, the wind howls at 90 miles per hour.  I step out and I’m falling.  As the airplane flies away, I plummet towards the earth, 13,000 feet below. In the back of my mind, I know that if I failed in any o…

More discussion on Colorado Congressional Redistricting and state legislative reapportionment

by CTBC Director | 11:11 am, May 2, 2011

Since publishing an article (”Redistricting versus Reapportionment – the confusion continues“) nearly two weeks ago clarifying the different constitutional constraints and processes for drawing up Colorado’s Congressional and state legislative district boundaries, Clear The Bench Colorado has received renewed interest and feedback from multiple sources concerning the ongoing developments in each area (including gubernatorial and legislative appointments to the [...]

Go Navy – Thank you SPECOPS Warriors

by Mr. Bob | 9:00 am, May 2, 2011

This blog was started shortly after 9.11. Today with Facebook and Twitter I should probably rename it to the WeeklyBlogster, but this morning I owe you my loyal readers (both of you) at least a paragraph or two.The morning of September 11 2001 I though…

The SEALS must-do list

by Rossputin | 6:59 am, May 2, 2011

Al Jazeera’s English-language web site contains about a dozen reactions to the news of Osama bin Laden’s death at the hand of American soldiers, reportedly members of US Navy “SEAL Team 6“.

Most of the reactions share a tone such as that of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who said “This is a resounding triumph for justice, freedom and the values shared by all democratic nations fighting shoulder to shoulder in determination against terrorism.”

Even a spokesman for the Palestinian Authority was basically reasonable and positive: “Getting rid of Bin Laden is good for the cause of peace worldwide but what counts is to overcome the discourse and the methods – the violent methods – that were created and encouraged by bin Laden and others in the world.”

However, the head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Haniyeh, offered just the latest proof of the nature of Hamas (and their associates in the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood): “We condemn the assassination and the killing of an Arab holy warrior. We ask God to offer him mercy with the true believers and the martyrs.”

As if that isn’t frightening and reprehensible enough, Reuters suggests that “In Gaza, Hamas now faces a challenge from al Qaeda-inspired groups that consider it to be too moderate.”

It makes this week’s coming unity agreement between Hamas and Fatah, the so-called “moderate” Palestinian party currently in control of the West Bank, that much more troubling. The move proves that even the “moderates” have no interest in peace with Israel, at least not unless it’s a “peace” that shrinks Israel to indefensible borders which Hamas and friends hope and believe will leave it vulnerable to attack – perhaps by Egypt under Hamas’ newly-influential co-conspirators in the Muslim Brotherhood.

The only difference between Haniyeh and bin Laden is capability; if Hamas thought they could do what al Qaeda has done, they would do it. When somebody in a position of political power reacts to the death of Osama bin Laden with sadness, his name should be immediately added to SEAL Team 6’s “must do” list. I’ll buy the bullets.

Rep. Shawn Mitchell: No on SB 200: Resist federal control

by Brian T. Schwartz | 5:30 am, May 2, 2011

Gov’t-run “exchanges are cogs in the machinery of the federal bill. SB 200 creates increased bureaucracy & the framework for subsidies — costs for most of us — & mandates, while conveniently concentrating the action in a perfect shooting gallery for the same special interests & connected players that drag the current system.” Shawn Mitchell in the Denver Post.

Bin Laden Dead

by Joshua Sharf | 10:09 pm, May 1, 2011

Osama bin Laden is dead.  Of course, this doesn’t end the War on Islamism, there are more practitioners out there, but it is a signal victory for which all of us, as Americans, are grateful. Given that we got the news on May Day, I think in future years, we should co-opt the communist holiday [...]

Bin Laden Dead at Last

by T.L. James | 9:47 pm, May 1, 2011

Thank you to the members of the military and the CIA who pulled this off.

Bin Laden is dead

by Rossputin | 9:45 pm, May 1, 2011

It is being reported that Osama bin Laden is dead. Reports, while somewhat sketchy, say that he was killed a week ago and that his body was somehow acquired by the US which performed DNA testing, comparing the body’s DNA to that of a Bin Laden relative to prove identity. UPDATE: President Obama says the operation was carried out on Sunday, not a week ago.

UPDATE: It is being reported that after verifying the identity of the body as Osama bin Laden, the military dumped bin Laden’s body in the ocean so that there would be no land-based place for radical islamists to think of as a shrine. This strikes me as good thinking as long as they kept good enough proof of Osama’s death. I wonder if the fish and crabs will find the body to taste bad. And I wonder if, under Islam, being torn into tiny bits by sea creatures means someone can’t go to terrorist heaven.

Initially, the reports were that he was killed by a bomb or missile, but further updates suggest that he was killed in a “ground operation” in a mansion in Abbottabad, a city in the northwest frontier region of Pakistan. UPDATE: Fox News reports that the town Osama was in includes a major Pakistani Army presence and that for Bin Laden to have been living in a home in this town raises questions about what the Army knew or didn’t know about who was sleeping under their noses.

I’m a little ashamed to admit that after my initial moments of joy at the news, a small part of me thought of the potential beneficial impact on Barack Obama’s reelection chances as the dark cloud on the other side of the silver lining.  (I was in the car when the news hit so couldn’t cancel my offer on Intrade.com of Barack Obama’s re-election chances at 62%. I had gotten “filled” on that order by the time I got home. I guess that proves that I wasn’t the only one thinking about the domestic political implication of the news.)

But even with a president as bad as this, that’s just too cynical.

It’s unvarnished good news that bin Laden is dead.

So what happens now? How will the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan, which have been hedging their bets, to put it politely, react?

How will the “Arab street” react?

And, keeping in mind the reported near-miss against Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi in a bombing which may have killed his son, how will Gaddafi and the Libyan rebels react?

Another thing which occurs to me: If the bin Laden story remains more or less as we’ve learned prior to Barack Obama’s speech this (Sunday) evening, how does it impact the argument by President Obama to keep the US out of the Libyan operation and more broadly to lessen the use of (and apologize for) American power.

Obama just started speaking as I’m typing and he made it clear that Osama was killed in an American operation – a fitting end to the worst terrorist in history.

Obama recounted 9/11 and war in Afghanistan, noting that bin Laden kept escaping.

Obama tried to take credit for this event by saying that he directed CIA Director Leon Panetta to capture or kill bin Laden.

Obama said that the tip actually came to the intelligence community in August but that it was not until now that he felt the information was certain enough to act on. (This information will probably lead to some interesting questions, i.e. Why did it 9 months to take him out following the first tip?)

Obama: “A small team of Americans carried out the operation… After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.”

Obama said that this is “the most significant achievement to date” in the fight against al Qaeda – which may be true.

He then offered some of his usual and possibly sincere (but possibly not) rhetoric about how we didn’t start this fight, how we’ll be “relentless” in defense of our citizens and our allies, etc.

He closed by addressing those who lost loved ones on 9/11, suggesting we should “think back to the sense of unity that prevailed on 9/11″. I’m sure he didn’t think that when George W. Bush was president…but then as I said there will be time later to discuss the domestic political implications of tonight’s tremendous news.

All that said, I thought Obama’s tone was essentially reasonable, not overly jubilant, and essentially bipartisan. Better than usual for our campaigner-in-chief, but even he knows better than to campaign on a night like this.

One question raised by the death of Osama bin Laden is whether al Qaeda “prime” or offshoots will attempt terrorist acts more aggressively in the short term to fight back against the tremendous psychological blow against the organization as well as to wrangle for their own superiority within it.

Finally, I would note the crowds around the White House around midnight (Eastern time) chanting “USA”, waving American flags, and cheering – and compare that to the dancing in the streets we saw in the Palestinian Territories after the 9/11 attacks nearly a decade ago. Celebrating the death of a murderer versus celebrating murder. A stark contrast indeed.

Arguing With Senator Gail Schwartz

by PerlStalker | 9:43 pm, May 1, 2011

A couple of weeks ago, I sent a letter to the editor of the Valley Courier and Pueblo Chieftain that was extremely critical of Sen. Gail Schwartz and Rep. Ed Vigil. They are both on the Redistricting Committee and represent me and the San Luis Valley where I live in the Colorado Assembly. That letter is reproduced below. Keep in mind that this was written before the Democrats gave up on the process and introduced SB 11-268. That bill codifies their City Integrity #4 map and sends it to the Senate for approval. A couple of their proposed maps included the South Denver Suburb of Parker in the 3rd Congressional District with Southern Colorado.

When the Assembly formed a bipartisan redistricting committee that
included Rep. Ed Vigil and Sen. Gail Schwartz, we thought that there
would be someone looking out for the interests of the San Luis Valley.
We were wrong. Rather than protecting the San Luis Valley, they
proposed Congressional maps that would put the San Luis Valley in the
same district as El Paso County, Douglas County and the Southern
suburbs of Denver. The maps supported by Rep. Vigil and Sen. Schwartz
would include the Denver metro area in all seven Congressional
districts.

No longer would we have a representative that could defend our water
from the Front Range because he would also represent the Front Range.
No longer would our farmers and ranchers have a representative as
money from urban interests draw his support away. No longer would the
3rd CD be a voice for rural Colorado in Washington. Rep Vigil and Sen.
Schwartz have sold us Front Range special interests.

While I could have expected this betrayal from Aspen elitist Gail
Schwartz, Ed Vigil was supposed to be one of us. Instead, he has sold
us out to Denver politicians and Front Range special interests.

No matter the result of the redistricting, Sen. Schwartz and Rep.
Vigil have proven that they don’t represent us. Their support is
available to the highest bidder. I hope they enjoy their spoils
because their betrayal will not be forgotten on election day.

Fast forward a bit to yesterday when I attended a health care forum at Adams State College attended by both Sen. Schwartz and Rep. Vigil. Apparently, they had both read my letter. [cue ominous music]

I walked in to the familiar room and see Rep. Vigil speaking to Julia Wilson, a reporter from the Valley Courier. As I headed towards my seat I hear her mention “A letter by Randy Smith.” My ears perked up and saving a huge amount of suspense, I walked over and said in a friendly voice said “Hi, I’m Randy Smith.” What followed was a friendly discussion where Rep. Vigil kept trying to assure me that the map would face a lot of changes before it finally passes (if it passes).

The real fireworks came at the end of the meeting when I went to the front to talk with Sen. Schwartz and thank her for holding the forum. (I like to do that regardless of who holds a forum or town hall because 1) it’s polite and 2) I’m pleased that they took the time to come talk to us.) At that point she lit into me over my letter and it was game on.

The first thing she tried to do was blame all the redistricting committee problems on the Republicans. She held up the fact that they produced biased maps and ignored the fact the Democrats, by their own admission, also produced biased maps.

Not gaining headway there, she also tried to convince me that it didn’t matter that the 3rd CD included part of the Front Range because “nobody lives there.” If that were truly the case, there would be no need for that spur. (The “official” map is more than a spur since the 3rd CD would go all the way up to Elbert, Lincoln and Kit Carson counties.)

Moving on to my letter specifically, she told me that she would prefer to have a dialog rather than be attacked. That’s understandable but had a dialog when the redistricting committee was down here. No one in that room suggested that Colorado needed wholesale changes to the Congressional districts. In fact, based on the discussion, it sounded to me like everyone was working on minor changes to the existing maps. Boy, was that wrong. Anyway, I told that I felt like we’d been attacked when the she and her party proposed maps that would pair the San Luis Valley with metro Denver.

Finally, she handed me a latter that attempted to justify their map. Unfortunately, she asked that I not share that letter on this blog. You see, she doesn’t believe that correspondence between legislators and their constituents should be public. When I pressed her on that, she demanded the letter back. I told I would keep the letter but, at her request, would not post it.

More than anything else she said, that disappointed me the most. You would think that a Senator would be happy to publish her reasons for supporting a bill to stave off attacks like mine. Instead, Sen. Schwartz would rather operate in secret. I should have expected nothing less from an Aspen elitist.

SB 11-226, the Democrat’s gerrymandering bill is below.

Colorado Redistricting Map SB 11-268

The Day Bin Laden Died

by T.L. James | 9:28 pm, May 1, 2011

Jose is on the spot in front of the White House, live broadcasting the impromptu celebration… Yes, it’s a little hard to follow, but about a minute in you’ll start hearing the cheering and seeing the crowd in the darkness.

Business Loves SB-200

by Al Maurer | 9:18 pm, May 1, 2011

Good for small business, bad for citizens and taxpayers.

SLV Health Care Forum and a Colorado Exchange

by PerlStalker | 5:21 pm, May 1, 2011

Yesterday, I attended a health care forum put on by Sen. Gail Schwartz and Rep. Ed Vigil held at Adams State College. The meeting was basically an attempt to sell the idea of health care exchanges. In the end, it was mostly preaching to the choir as mo…

Backbone Radio, May 1, 2011: Birth certificates, NLRB tyranny, and your electricity

by Rossputin | 5:41 am, May 1, 2011

Audio archives for this show:

Segment 1 – Intro; Donald Trump
Segment 2 – William Yeatman of CEI about Colorado’s illegal Regional Haze Plan
Segment 3 – Peter Schaumber, former Chairman of the National Labor Relations Board, about the NLRB complaint against Boeing and other shenanigans
Segment 4 – More with Peter Schaumber;
Segment 5 – More about Donald Trump
Segment 6 – Yet more about the Donald

From Ross Kaminsky:

In our first hour of this week’s edition of Backbone Radio, we’ll first talk about news of the week, including the profane Donald Trump and whether Obama’s release of his long form birth certificate has defanged The Donald. I’m also very curious whether Backbone listeners think that Trump is a credible candidate. (For the record, I don’t…and I’ll explain why…but I’d love to hear from someone who disagrees with me.)

Americans are under assault from within our own society. As a taxpayer and utility rate payer, we’ll learn about an Orwellian – and probably illegal – law which has just passed in Colorado which will cause Xcel Energy electricity customers to see their rates rise. So, we’ll continue our first hour by discussing this law, enacted in the name of Colorado’s Regional Haze Plan, with William Yeatman of the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Yeatman how the law was based on lies, passed with lies, and, in his view is unlikely to withstand a court challenge.

As workers and employers, the right to find or create a job where we want to live, work, or start a business is being challenge by the radical socialists on Barack Obama’s National Labor Relations Board. During any other presidency with the possible exception of FDR, the move would be shocking. Under Obama it’s par for the course.

Perhaps appropriately on May Day, we’re privileged to have as our guest in the second hour Peter Schaumber, former Chairman of the National Labor Relations Board. Mr. Schaumber will explain – if it even can be explained – why the NLRB is suing Boeing Corporation for the company’s decision to build expand airplane production in a union-free South Carolina plant rather than the union-friendly (which is to say employer-unfriendly) state of Washington. The NLRB is also suing states that have passed state constitutional amendments ensuring secret balloting during voting whether a company’s workers will be represented by a union. Again, there are few better experts to be able to discuss this with than Peter Schaumber.

In our third hour, we’ll spend more time talking about Donald Trump and the birth certificate. Who wins, who loses, by the timing of the President’s disclosure? Why do you think he took so long? And do most Americans really care?  What do you make of Trump’s now calling for Obama’s college and law school records? Again, do most (or even many) Americans care?

Please join me by listening to (and calling in to) this week’s Backbone Radio program from 5 PM to 8 PM on 710 AM KNUS in Denver and 1460 AM KZNT in Colorado Springs.

If you’re not in range of the radio waves, you should be able to listen to the show online by clicking HERE.

I hope you’ll actively participate in the conversation with me: Call the studio at 303 696 1971.

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