Face The State Blog Wrangler Feed

Hasan moves on to movies

katemelvin — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:39:50 -0700

"Muhammad Ali Hasan, the energetic and unusual candidate for state legislature, will not become the next state representative for Eagle and Summit counties.

Penry keeps seat on Capitol Development Committee

katemelvin — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:38:55 -0700

"Incoming Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, said he opted to hold onto his seat on the Capitol Development Committee in an effort to advocate for several projects in rural Colorado.

“There are a couple rural projects that are a priority for me. … I just want to make sure we continue to push for those,” Penry said.

None of the projects, he said, are at Mesa State College.

Naked priest: now a sex offender

katemelvin — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:37:30 -0700

"Father Robert Whipkey, the priest caught jogging in the nude in the town of Frederick last year, was sentenced today to five years' probation.

Whipkey also was sentenced to 100 hours to community service and told he must register as a sex offender.
I really feel sorry for this guy. He really has not committed any crime, and he has already been punished by ostracism. To add insult to injury, he is now a “sex offender”, and that means he has received a life sentence for his supposed “crime”."

Soros infiltrates the SoS process

katemelvin — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:36:28 -0700

"Were Kenneth Blackwell and Katherine Harris worse than Jennifer Brunner and Mark Ritchie?

It depends whether you are Republican or Democrat. Jennifer Brunner and Mark Ritchie were elected by the Secretary of State Project, one of numerous Soros-funded web based political activists groups taking over local, state and federal elections.

CAP, which has 180 staffers and a $27 million budget, devotes as much as half of its resources to promoting its ideas through blogs, events, publications and media outreach."

JeffCo says no to charter school applications

katemelvin — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:32:24 -0700

"Tonight the Jeffco school board unanimously denied both charter applications submitted this fall. Global Outreach Charter School planned to serve primarily Slavic children in north Jeffco. The Lotus School for Excellence proposed replicating a school similar to the one operating in Aurora. All board members stated they had hoped the Lotus application would have been stronger since the district needs a math/science focus school, but they cited the underperformance of the already operating school in Aurora. Lotus applicants were invited to return if academic achievement approves in Aurora."

Looking ahead to 2010 in Colorado

katemelvin — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:55:07 -0700

"There will be two big elections in Colorado in 2010, the Governor's Race and the battle for Senator Ken Salazar's Senate Seat.

Governor Bill Ritter was elected in 2006 with a decisive margin over Republican Congressman Bob Beauprez. 2006 was a Democratic year and we certainly don't feel that Ritter is a shoe-in but a heavy favorite. We are placing the early odds of Ritter winning reelection at 3-1."

Atheist billboards keep popping up in Denver

katemelvin — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:53:56 -0700

"Naturally, the billboards' comparatively bland statements have caused a furor, augmented by the proximity to many religious holidays that surround the four weeks that the billboards will be displayed.

Religious observers should be secure enough in their beliefs so that another's statement of non-belief presents no existential threat. The statement itself is rather benign--a shout out to fellow atheists, more or less. We'll take his word and be thankful that this country was founded on bedrock principles that include freedom of speech and expression.

Our party failed, not our principles

katemelvin — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:52:44 -0700

"After being routed at the polls for two consecutive election cycles, Republicans are turning introspective, asking how the party fell out of favor so suddenly and how to correct course.

That introspection includes the inevitable catharsis that exacerbates tensions within the existing right-center political coalition.

Conservatives say moderates were too squishy, especially on spending matters.

Moderates say conservatives were too rigid, particularly on social issues.

Libertarians say both conservatives and moderates are correct in their diagnoses but wrong in their prescriptions."

Official Mesa County results are in

katemelvin — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:52:00 -0700

"The final vote tallies are in. The Mesa County Clerk and Recorder’s Office has completed its official tally of every ballot cast in the 2008 general election.

In the race between outgoing state Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction, and Rep.-elect Laura Bradford, R-Collbran, it appears that Buescher only won the mail-in voting category. In early voting and Election Day voting, Bradford edged him out.

Here are the complete results. Enjoy."

State GOP should heed Kafer and Hillman

katemelvin — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:49:38 -0700

"Simply put, the GOP coalition ought to be broad enough to include the Kathleen Parkers and Mike Huckabees who want to gripe, but it will consign itself to a generation in the political wilderness with either element in charge. As long as they continue along the lines witnessed above, I don’t want Parker or Huckabee to be influential voices or leaders in the Republican Party. Period.

In Colorado, we’ll be much better off heeding voices like Krista Kafer rather than Kathleen Parker, and elevating leaders like Mark Hillman rather than Mike Huckabee."

Will Salazar face a 2010 primary challenge?

katemelvin — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:14:36 -0700

"Sen. Ken Salazar's probable 2010 campaign has enemies--from within the party.

One of the more principled and less vitriolic statements on Salazar's record at SquareState (debating whether Salazar is "liberal or conservative"):

I won't vote for Salazar at any stage in the 2010 elections. He might not have principles, but I do. Democrats' acceptance of Salazar's voting habits is putting the party before everything else."

Congrove: It ain't over till it's over

katemelvin — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:12:12 -0700

"Jefferson County Commissioner Jim Congrove had such an eventful first term in office — a grand jury probe into his financial dealings, a Colorado Bureau of Investigation inquiry into the county's use of a private investigator who happens to be a bosom pal of Big Jim, a slew of lawsuits launched against him and the county by former supporter and perpetual county critic Mike Zinna — that he decided not to run for re-election this year. But with only a few weeks left in office, Congrove is far from free and clear of the legal morass that's enveloped county politics over the past four years."

Civil war in the blogosphere over Ken Salazar

katemelvin — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:11:11 -0700

"ColoradoPols is desperately talking down the growing calls for a primary against Ken Salazar. Monday they fired out a post directed at liberal activists in the state mocking them as "Daily Kos purists." SquareState fired back with a post of their own noting Salazar's surprisingly poor approval ratings causing one commenter to observe:

Wow, that shatters an illusion I also bought into--Ken's supposed sky-high popularity here in Colorado. Maybe naysayers like me will reconsider our contention that it is hopeless to primary Ken (DfL-CO) Salazar."

Wayne Wolf's "beachhead of conservatism"

katemelvin — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:09:04 -0700

"Outgoing Delta County Commissioner and former Republican 3rd Congressional District candidate Wayne Wolf has, in reflecting on his unsuccessful electoral bid, concluded that his efforts “established a beachhead of conservatism in Western Colorado.”

Here are Wolf’s thoughts on the matter, sent in an e-mail to Political Notebook:

LTE: The Republican Party Has Gone Bankrupt

katemelvin — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:07:45 -0700

"My following letter to the editor was published in the Denver Post Editorial page of November 15 in response to David Harsanyi's column, "Getting out of the Republican coma."

Cindy Acree visits with DMYR

katemelvin — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:06:00 -0700

"A few highlights from Representative-elect Acree’s address to the DMYR membership, loosely translated from my notes. ...We will not rework this party, this state, and this country without the time, talent, and treasure of all Republicans. We look forward to Representative Acree’s inspiring leadership in the coming months…"

CU panel rails against Israeli "apartheid"

katemelvin — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:02:55 -0700

"As I sat there waiting for the presentation to begin, I saw one young man in the front row scanning everybody who walked into the lecture hall. Another guy walked in with a T-shirt in Hebrew, and the guy who'd been watching the arrivals eventually went over and asked if the Hebrew-shirted guy was there to "listen or argue." I would hope that at an institution of higher learning there's another option to dutifully ingesting every word or an all-out brawl: debate."

Buescher's app for SoS sparks a buzz

katemelvin — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:38:24 -0700

"If case you hadn’t heard, outgoing state Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction, has thrown his hat into the ring to succeed Congressman-elect Mike Coffman, R-Colo., as the next secretary of state.

Progressives targeted state Senate, left House for GOP

katemelvin — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:35:59 -0700

"About a week ago, I blogged about the improvement that the state Republicans had shown in the state House of Representatives races. That's the good news.

The bad news is in the state Senate. Aside from the probable loss of Lori Clapp's seat, the aggregate vote also took a turn for the worse, and for many of the same reasons the Republicans did better in the House.

RMA blog talk radio debuts tonight

katemelvin — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:35:12 -0700

"Reminder: Tonight at 9 PM local Mountain time is the inaugural broadcast of the Rocky Mountain Alliance Blog Talk Radio show. Joshua Sharf has the details on the show’s first guest - Seeme Hasan."