Suthers Burned By "Clear The Bench" Nutters

This is bullshit

Suthers clearly did not say he won't support 3 of the justices - they're putting words in his mouth. People like this give blogging a bad name - for shame.

No trees were destroyed in the posting of this comment. But a large number of electrons were horribly inconvenienced.

---

by: DavidThi808 @ Wed Jan 20, 2010 at 02:55:14 AM UTC

Read Clear the Bench and other blogs

The nuts are those who deny reality. And the reality is that this year we have one of the most organized and intense efforts in the state's history to unseat unprincipled and intellectually dishonest members of the state supreme court.

Spend a few hours reading Clear the Bench Colorado.

http://www.clearthebenchcolora...

It helps to know what you're talking about.

---

by: Another skeptic @ Wed Jan 20, 2010 at 04:56:52 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I spent a couple of minutes

I felt like Alice as she tumbled down the rabbit hole. You guys have this skewed view of reality and when people do not hew to it 100%, you scream unconstitutional.

They're stuck in this very difficult position where our constitution is logically inconsistent - thanks to all the badly written amendments, from both the left and right.

They do a really good job of balancing all those requirements out. What you're trying to do is blatant judicial activism - using the courts to overrule when you can't win in the legislature & executive.

No trees were destroyed in the posting of this comment. But a large number of electrons were horribly inconvenienced.

---

by: DavidThi808 @ Wed Jan 20, 2010 at 05:06:11 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

You have to admit, David

if you spent "a few hours" reading that blog, you'd come out the other end thinking like Another skeptic. Spend a day there and your synapses would be totally fried, and you'd be Libertad!

A leader on the battlefield can be a leader in Congress. -- redstateblues

---

by: RedGreen @ Wed Jan 20, 2010 at 05:30:09 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

It tough to be principled RedGreen

Sorry for setting these high expectations, but your lowest common denominator strategy is un American.  We can and should do better.

So, have fun funding the re-elect campaign for the Guvs weak minded principles in the tax hike effort.

---

by: Libertad @ Wed Jan 20, 2010 at 06:09:59 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Freepers and Redstate

Occasionally I go into the depths of tinfoil hat and hate to see what they are down to.  

The absolute lack of facts, logic and sanity is amazing.  The abject hate directed at most people who are not like them is huge. Thankfully there are not a lot of people like them.

I never provide links to those sites, they don't need the traffic and innocent people should not have to wash their keyboards and eyes out with bleach just for following a link.

In a democracy, the majority of the citizens is capable of exercising the most cruel oppressions upon the minority. Edmund Burke

10/26/11 Colorado Ex-Pat; S/V Sisu Catalina 30

---

by: Pam Bennett @ Wed Jan 20, 2010 at 12:49:35 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Amen AS

---

by: Libertad @ Wed Jan 20, 2010 at 06:04:12 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

When will these extremist idiots learn

that their thinly veiled political tactics only hurt the Republican cause?  Voters see how bad their rabid ideology is for Colorado almost every voting season now.  Just another reason to explain why the people of Colorado keep leaving the R Party.  Andrews, Bruce, Caldara and crew are really D's secret weapons.  One could make a good argument that their party exsanguination is being done on purpose.  Voters rejected their attempt to manipulate judicial retention four years ago.  Viva la Missouri Plan!  Even if, somehow, they got their lame wish now, their juvenile actions won't be forgotten when soon-to-be Governor Hickenlooper gets the opportunity to appoint a new SCJ.  They have now managed to suck Suthers into the trash compactor with them, with damage to his reputation and credibility in the process.  Good work, guys.

"Beatniks and politics, nothing is new
A yardstick for lunatics, one point of view"  -strawberry alarm clock

---

by: WesternSlopeThought @ Wed Jan 20, 2010 at 03:37:35 AM UTC

And let's don't forget the bullying factor

as I mentioned at the beginning of the day.  One reason these creeps go after the judges and justices is that they KNOW that judges and justices cannot ethically respond in kind, and cannot even campaign when they're up for retention election.  Do you want to live in an uncivilized, chaotic society?  Then corrupt or destroy its judicial system.  

---

by: The realist @ Wed Jan 20, 2010 at 05:38:35 AM UTC

God Bless Matt Arnold & Clear The Bench

God Bless the folks at CLEAR THE BENCH

Clear The Bench is fringe? What is fringe is a Supreme Court that VIOLATES the State Constitution by approving a mil levy freeze that clearly violated the Taxpayer Bill of Rights - you may hate the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, but it impossible to defend the mil levy freeze against it

Shame on Senator Pat Steadman for referring to the Clear the Bench movement as "radical" and "disruptive"

What is "radical" and "disruptive" is a Supreme Court that interprets laws based on political bias, not Constitutional Law

The Supreme Court Justices here in Colorado are not kings who sit on a fiefdom - they are not infallible either - they are held accountable just like any other elected official and for that reason, the bench does, indeed, need to be cleared

TABOR4LIFE

---

by: Muhammad Ali Hasan @ Wed Jan 20, 2010 at 09:35:49 AM UTC

They are not elected officials.

They are appointed officials who periodically stand for retention election.  Colorado's system of appointment, evaluation and retention elections for judges/justices is the best there is.  Judges and justices are human, thank goodness, and none of us will always agree with every decision.  So, are you of the opinion that we should dump ANY official with whom we disagree on one decision?  Makes no sense to me.

---

by: The realist @ Wed Jan 20, 2010 at 14:19:21 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

They didn't violate the state constitution

What they did by and large is where the law is unclear or conflicting they deferred to the legislature because they are elected by the voters. By any measure this is judicial restraint. What you want is judicial activism in favor of your political views.

No trees were destroyed in the posting of this comment. But a large number of electrons were horribly inconvenienced.

---

by: DavidThi808 @ Wed Jan 20, 2010 at 15:15:29 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

There you go again . . .

Please stop confusing Muhammad's issues with actual facts--his head may explode.  Oh, wait--it already did.

Discipline without purpose is tyranny.

---

by: Automaticftp @ Wed Jan 20, 2010 at 15:32:31 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

That is how courts work

If the courts never went that extra step in clarifying matters of the law, then a lot of the landmark SCOTUS cases that have made this country better wouldn't have happened. Did SCOTUS violate the constitution when they said separate but equal wasn't constitutional?

Judicial review, as much as conservatives may hate it, has saved this country time and time again.

---

by: redstateblues @ Wed Jan 20, 2010 at 19:13:48 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Wonder if anyone has briefed

Muhammad the Republican about the State Treasurer having to keep books and count money.

---

by: WesternSlopeThought @ Thu Jan 21, 2010 at 04:15:17 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Tell that to Cary Kennedy, WST

More than $2 billion in Colorado monies invested in Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae combined?

There's much more to the State Treasury than keeping books and counting money - too much of our State Investments are with bailout companies and that needs to change

TABOR4LIFE

---

by: Muhammad Ali Hasan @ Thu Jan 21, 2010 at 07:53:49 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

and btw

I just gotta add my anger over Senator Pat Steadman's comment

Matt Arnold, of Clear the Bench, has been nothing but a gentleman when it comes to getting the word out

He works tirelessly to get the word out and is polite in all of his speeches - to have him described as a "radical" is a pure ad hominem attack against an individual whose points are purely logical and full of intellect

Senator Pat Steadman - you owe Matt Arnold an apology

TABOR4LIFE

---

by: Muhammad Ali Hasan @ Wed Jan 20, 2010 at 10:01:10 AM UTC

Pat Steadman is a Hero

I congratulate Senator Pat Steadman for telling it like it is. There are three branches of government, independent.  The far right anti-government mob knows that by destroying one branch our form of government fails and we become a failed state and country.

In a democracy, the majority of the citizens is capable of exercising the most cruel oppressions upon the minority. Edmund Burke

10/26/11 Colorado Ex-Pat; S/V Sisu Catalina 30

---

by: Pam Bennett @ Wed Jan 20, 2010 at 12:52:32 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

It's possible to be both polite & radical

The polite part I know nothing about but their approach by any reasonable standard is radical - it politicizes our judiciary.

No trees were destroyed in the posting of this comment. But a large number of electrons were horribly inconvenienced.

---

by: DavidThi808 @ Wed Jan 20, 2010 at 15:13:11 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Cold facts on Colfax

The Honorable Senator Pat Steadman hit it right on the head with his clear and concise statement. Further, his statement is directed at the issue, not MA, so to insinuate an apology in needed is a bit asinine.

"Same stance but more thoughtful.  How can you tell?  Does he stroke his chin more?" -BlueCat

---

by: milehiloco @ Wed Jan 20, 2010 at 19:09:22 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Correction MAH,

Senator Steadman did not call Mr. Arnold a "radical".  He called his idea "radical".  The Senator owes no more of an apology to Mr. Arnold than you owe an apology to Chief Justice Mullarkey.

Further given that you are a candidate for State Treasurer, I am not sure how comfortable I am with you chiming in on issues realative to another seperate and equal branch of government.  Without a doubt AG Suthers was out of line, but I think you may have just stepped in it as well....

"Corporations are people, my friend... of course they are."  Willard M. Romney  

---

by: Arvadonian @ Wed Jan 20, 2010 at 20:45:23 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

A Pity Suthers Has No Opposition

Good, bad or indifferent, if nobody runs against him, he wins, no matters who seriously he screws up.

Indeed, one wonders (as it appears that he himself does) what he was thinking when he engaged Clear The Bench at a time when the guaranteed winning campaign for him is to not campaign.

I would be completely stunned if any of the retention elections resulted in the non-retention of a state supreme court justice.  No appellate justice has ever failed to be retained in Colorado, and non-retentions are almost always proceeded by some manner of scandal.

---

by: ohwilleke @ Wed Jan 20, 2010 at 20:49:19 PM UTC

"No appellate justice has ever failed to be retained . . ."

Sometimes I think that is unfortunate.  New blood on the state supreme court is a good thing, especially since Colorado's supreme court is pretty mediocre.

That said, Clear the Bench is nothing more than a fringe group.  I wonder how they'd feel about Gov. Hickenlooper naming 4 replacements?  ;)  I will guess that would NOT be their first choice.

Discipline without purpose is tyranny.

---

by: Automaticftp @ Wed Jan 20, 2010 at 23:51:07 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

New blood flows....

...unlike the US supreme court, the state court has a mandatory retirement age (which, I read, largely cleared the bench during the 1990's).  Also, people like Justice Kourlis leave the bench, just cuz.  The current court has been intact since....um.....I don't know.  2005?  Anyway, the Post article I read said that Mullarkey is doing poorly (health-wise) and might not stand for retention anyway.  I don't know about the others.

I'm not as sweet as I used to be.

---

by: Jambalaya @ Thu Jan 21, 2010 at 00:05:45 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

No Apologies - No Regrets

Our Supreme Court is politicizing the law, not interpreting it

And having a public discussion and charge to replace them is not at all "disruptive" or "radical" - it is a fabric of our democracy - after all, they are on a ballot, as the State of Colorado requires - therefore, should a conversation about their record of judgement not take place?

I'm proud to support Clear The Bench and I hope we are successful  

TABOR4LIFE

---

by: Muhammad Ali Hasan @ Thu Jan 21, 2010 at 07:50:26 AM UTC

"Clear the Bench"

Truly, a nuanced and rigorous conversation about judicial judgment.

A leader on the battlefield can be a leader in Congress. -- redstateblues

---

by: RedGreen @ Thu Jan 21, 2010 at 12:05:48 PM UTC

[ Parent ]