February 27, 2009 06:37 PM UTC

Penry Pilloried

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• by: Colorado Pols

Apparently, the Denver Post editorial board has seen enough.

Want to know what ails the Colorado Republican Party? Events at the statehouse over the past few days offer a glimpse.

Offensive diatribes by social conservatives Sen. Dave Schultheis and Sen. Scott Renfroe have been all but condoned by Republican leadership.

Are Republicans just trying to cement Democratic control of state government?

In case you missed it, Schultheis, R-Colorado Springs, said HIV-infected pregnant women ought to have to watch their child grow up with AIDS as punishment for being promiscuous. Renfroe, R-Greeley, quoted the Bible in saying homosexuality was an “abomination,” and a sin comparable to murder.

It’s not even worth our energy to begin to refute those comments. Schultheis, at least, has a history of intolerant remarks, so it wasn’t entirely surprising.

But where’s the GOP leadership on all of this?

State Rep. Don Marostica, a fellow Republican, recently was taken out to the GOP woodshed for disagreeing with his party on a certain fiscal matter and for calling a handful of Republicans “has-beens” and “losers.” How is it possible his comments were worthy of a dress-down by party leaders, but not the comments from Schultheis and Renfroe? [Pols emphasis]

Pretty much exactly what we said yesterday. And it is Minority Leader Josh Penry who ultimately bears responsibility for this situation, as the Post continues:

Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry, who has aspirations for higher office, was quoted as having said that “we should never lose sight of the humanity of people on the other side of an issue.”

Is that all you got, Josh?

Former Gov. Bill Owens did a far sight better in 2005 when he scolded Republican lawmakers for the garbage they spewed about a bill outlawing workplace discrimination against gays and lesbians. Owens, however, vetoed the bill.

It’s unbelievable that hateful comments about gays and HIV-infected women don’t merit a public smackdown, yet Marostica’s venture into political name-calling does. [Pols emphasis]

Yet it goes a long way toward explaining why Republicans are the minority party in this state and, if they don’t wise up, could be for a long time.

It’s a disaster, folks, and everybody seems to get that now except for the people who need to the most. And as the Post drives home, we’re talking about Minority Leader Josh Penry first and foremost, for whom this–whether he likes it or not, no matter how many directions he points fingers–constituted the first real test of his ability to lead.

A test he has, sorry to say, failed. That sound you hear is the flaming out of a former “rising star.”