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September 30, 2009 03:33 PM UTC

Wednesday Open Thread

  • 71 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

“Virtue is persecuted more by the wicked than it is loved by the good.”

–Gautama Buddha

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71 thoughts on “Wednesday Open Thread”

    1. Many college presidents worried that they’d get too little say in the process and remained lukewarm to the proposed study, though it was favored by Ritter. It’s unclear whether Skaggs would have run the study, which has been postponed until his replacement is found.

      Study the problem till it goes away or a crisis occurs. Then study it again.

          1. Dave Skaggs won election to Congress when Colorado had six Congressional districts and won in an area far less Democratic than it is today.

            David Skaggs could unite the Democratic party after winning the primary and go on to win next November. I would prefer Governor Skaggs to Governor Penry any day.

            1. David Skaggs would be a great Governor.

              More to the point he would beat Ritter in the Primary and Penry next November.

              Will he do it? Probably not but if he does his first name in January 2011 will be Governor.

            2. …in an area “far less Democratic than it is today”?  Did he ever win anything where he might possibly have lost?  And, to put it delicately, isn’t he 90 years old?

              1. in the 2nd District, but back in the ’80s when the seat was way more competitive than it is now. Skaggs worked in Wirth’s office for a while before serving in the legislature.for three terms. He’s 66 years old.

                  1. since Wirth first took it in 1974, so no, not since it’s been the Wirth-Skaggs seat. Udall followed and now Polis has it. The seat has gradually moved from West Denver-Jefferson County-Boulder to the north and west through successive redistricting, leaving the more urban parts behind.

                    The last Republican to hold the seat was Don Brotzman, who lost in the Watergate landslide. But Ed Scott almost won it the next election (went down to the wire) and came close the one after that.

    2. Instead of tackling the problem head on, the Governor’s office gets embroiled into a brand new scandal. I wondered why David Skaggs was leaving, now I understand it’s because of Ritter’s absolute total lack of leadership.

      Bill Ritter likes to talk about how he listens to both sides and then makes an informed decision. Well, just who is he listening to here? The university presidents, David Skaggs, and pretty much anyone with a brain are telling him that a study will waste time and money when we need action to be taken now.

      Instead of leadership on issues like this, we get the failed A-58 campaign, blue ribbon commissions out the ass, and more concern from Jim Carpenter and Evan Dreyer over how the resignation of a top official will make the Governor look than concern for the reasons why he’s quitting in the first place.

      Now we have to wait even longer while Skaggs’s replacement is found before the study to see what we’re going to do to tackle the problems that are facing us now will tell us to do about them. Makes perfect sense in Bill Ritter Upside Down Crazy Land, but very little sense in the place most of reside–the real world.

      Evan Dreyer talked in the article about Ritter’s “long-term vision”, and it’s obvious that it puts a lot of emphasis on getting re-elected, but not too much on what’s best for the state.

    2. What legislative experience does he have that qualifies him to be a US Senator? Would he, for example, support the three DB initiatives to cut taxes/fees ?

      What does he see as the correct US military goal in Iraq? Afghanistan Does he support continued occupaiton in either/both?

      What health care/insurance reform if any would he support?

      Does he support the President’s pan for a missile shield?

      Does he accept that President Obama was born in Hawaii and is a legal citizen of the US?

      What are the biggest obstacles to prosecuting crime that could be addressed from the US Senate?

      How would he fix the federal estate tax?

      What would he advocate the US do about a potentially nuclear Iran? Korea?  Nuclear proliferation in general?

      Does he support allowing the states to mandate stricter clean air standards than the EPA?  Does he support extending the protections of the clean water act to fraccing fluid disclosure?

      What does he believe is the appropriate role of the Senate when it comes to approving federal judges? SCOTUS Justices?

      What does he believe it would take for the Republican party to return to a majority in the Senate? House? State Leg?

  5. A technical question for David:  I have been giving the link here to EducationNewsColorado.  This was a website which was the only place I could find with news of the DPS election.  

    Suddenly the links don’t work.  Not from my own aol  or when I click on the links I had previously posted here.

    The message says that the URL cannot be found on this server.  What does that mean, and is it common for a change to abruptly happen?  Or is it just me?

    Three is a DPS/BOE candidate forum tonight, but I don’t have a clue where it is.  

    1. http://www.ednewscolorado.org/

      That’s what I just googled. Worked for me.

      There is something called the Domain name Server (DNS), that basically interprets the URL you send, and returns one of those 10-digit numbers that is used to route your request to the appropriate web server. If that registry gets corrupted (rare), then you could get a File not Found. or maybe EdCO changed service providers and the DNS hadn’t been updated yet.

      Or maybe the cleaning lady accidentally unplugged the server.

        1. I appreciate it. That is the webside.  I will wait and try later.

          Cleaning lady??????? In my household of many colors, I think I should just assume that  title…god knows, that is one path I do not want to travel….

          But everything looks plugged in.  Understand, I have been blogging here three years and just figured out what a diary was…

          Thanks again.

          1. Clear you cache (in Firefox it’s Tools/Clear private data).

            Quit your browser (best to use File/Exit, rather than clicking the x in th eupper right).

            Restart the browser.

            try again.

            If your browser is pointing to the wrong place, it may be stuck in your cache. Thus you may need to start fresh.

  6. At what point are we allowed to point out that there is incipient fascism at work in this country?

    http://tpmlivewire.talkingpoin…

    In a column published yesterday, Newsmax’s John L. Perry wrote that there is a “gaining” possibility that the military will stage a coup to “resolve the ‘Obama problem.'”

    Newsmax has apparently removed the column from its site. Links are now redirected to the homepage, and Perry’s author page has no mention of his latest work.

    The coup — which would be “civilized” and “bloodless,” according to Perry — would consist of a “patriotic general” sitting down with the President and working out a new system in which “skilled, military-trained, nation-builders” would “do the serious business of governing and defending the nation” while Obama would still be allowed to make speeches.

      3. .

        If our military has skilled nation-builders, I say let’s send them to Iraq or Afghanistan.   Neither of those proto-colonies has yet seen such skills.

        .

        1. Is that the kind of nation-building we could expect if Perry’s coup prevailed? And would funding for the coup have to be carried off-book? I don’t see tea baggers cottoning to that!

    3. While we’re at it, let’s replace the Supreme Court with a military tribunal.

      And we can turn the halls of Congress into a barracks.

      Military junta/Fascist dictatorship 2012!

    4. I assume advocating treason is still covered under freedom of speech which is good news for Perry, isn’t it? Because it seems he has no problem throwing out the Constitution when it suits his purposes.  

      1. From Wikipedia: Sedition is the stirring up of rebellion against the government in power. Treason is the violation of allegiance to one’s sovereign or state, giving aid to enemies, or levying war against one’s state. Sedition is encouraging one’s fellow citizens to rebel against their state, whereas treason is actually betraying one’s country by aiding and abetting another state. Sedition laws somewhat equate to terrorism and public order laws.

        It is still technically illegal under the Smith Act to advocate for the overthrow of the United States government, though it’s rarely invoked and apparently hasn’t had a single case brought under its terms since 1961.

  7. who talks about a military coup knows nothing about the U.S. Armed Forces.  Ever member of the armed forces, from buck private to four-star general, takes an oath to support the constitution and would sacrice his or her life to defend that constitution, which mandates civilian control of the military. As a veteran of the Vietnam-era military, I resent this vile slur upon the patriotism of our officers and enlisted personnel.

        1. .

          When I was an Air Force civilian, in the span of about 1 year, there was the 2-star Air Force lawyer who raped the wife of his subordinate; the 4-star who dispatched a cargo plane with the comfort package to pick up his NCO girlfriend and take her for a tryst in Italy (The General was traveling with his wife on a separate aircraft;) a 2-star (retired later as a 4-star) who arranged special access to confidential contracting info for a recently retired 2-star buddy; and a 4-star who was selected to be CJCS, but then unselected for past misconduct.  That’s off the top of my head.

          About that same time, Merril McPeak became CSAF and announced plans to fix the broken culture of the AF, which focused on taking care of one’s boss, rather than serving the national interest.  The long knives came out and he was sabotaged.  

          Last year, Secretary Gates fired the Secretary of the AF and 2 4-stars for improprieties and malfeasance, and the Generals got full retirement.  

          That sort of stuff rarely happens in the other services.

          If you’ve an AF vet, but never got your own flag, then you were not likely to be wrapped up in that, and I’m not dissing you.  More than half of the AF officers, senior NCO’s and senior civilians I knew at HQ Air Force Space Command were honest people serving their country.  

          But a surprising proportion – more than 10%, by my estimate – used their official positions for self-dealing, and they weren’t shy about it, because they saw that behavior modeled by some of their superiors.  

          I don’t know the actual numbers, but a remarkable number of former AF Generals are lobbyists for major defense contractors, and are still trying to resurrect the F-22 production contracts.  Their conduct appears to be inconsistent with ethics regulations and restrictions on post-retirement employment.  

          My background is mostly Army.  No big-ticket programs to compare with F-22’s or DDX Destroyers, except maybe the Future Combat System.  Thus, Army Generals don’t face the same temptations to advocate, from both sides of the military-industrial complex, for unneeded programs.   Except for the one Army 4-star now on active duty who is currently using his official position to run covertly for President, I don’t know of any others who stoop to the level that AF Generals occasionally stoop to.  

          Perhaps that reflects how poorly informed I am.  Or maybe there’s something to it.  

          …..

          I acknowledge that Lyman Lemnitzer was an Army General, and he did some devious stuff.  Other than him, when Army Generals do stupid stuff, like the current request to escalate in Afghanistan, or ethnic cleansing in Iraq, I feel safe in assuming that they honestly believe what they are doing is for the best for the nation, and not self-dealing.

          .

  8. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09…

    Not a lot of revelation in the article, sounds as if they’ve been reading Pols. This doesn’t sound that neutral to me, just say’n.

    Ms. Waak, the party chairwoman, said she was disappointed with Mr. Romanoff’s decision to enter the race and has warned local party officials to stay out of the campaign. But the state’s elected officials are a different matter.

    1. “Senator Bennet has told us that he is willing to lose an election over immigration reform,” said Jessie Ulibarri, a Latino Democratic advocate. “It is comforting to have a senator with that stance.”

      http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09…

      It’s a pretty safe bet that immigration will not be on the table for the 111th Congress.  It’s comforting to know that this song gives me comfort when I think of stance versus substance.

      “As Time Goes By”

      Louis Armstrong

      “…..You must remember this

      A kiss is still a kiss,

      a sigh is just a sigh

      The fundamental things apply

      As time goes by

      …..That no one can deny

      it’s still the same old story

      A fight for love and glory

      A case of do or die….”

      1. that interestingly enough, comes right before the one you blockquoted.

        Perhaps you left it off when you realized it doesn’t reinforce or back up the meme you’ve been shoving down our throats of late:

        Mr. Bennet has been making inroads among Hispanics, some of whom are still wary of Mr. Romanoff because of his prominent role during a special legislative session in 2006, in which tough immigration measures were passed.

        2. But haven’t you read in the press about the Hispanic Firepower Romanoff has with Polly Baca backing him and with Ramona & Joelle Martinez running the show and making sure their names are everywhere to tell Latino/a community Romanoff is A-OK?

          I find it offensive that anybody is saying Latinos will vote in one block for anybody. Supporting immigration bills and what happened in 2006 will all be considerations but it’s not like any one Latina leader can suddenly bring all Latino/a voters together behind any one candidate. Does the Latino/a community really all fall in line behind Ramona Martinez? Bennet or Romanoff can try to spin whatever they want about what they or the other has done or will do but every voter regardless of skin color will vote on who the best overall candidate and trying to play race politics will only blow up in their face.

          Anybody know how many Latino/a voters are registered Dems in Colorado? I know there will be efforts on both sides to court every group of voters but curious how many votes are at play realistically with Romanoff’s people making a lot of effort to make him the Latino/a choice.

        3. I see Speaker Romanoff is heading a fundraiser for former Rep. Cheri Jahn.  

          Cheri was the most conservative House Democrat and a consistent vote for the insurance and pharmaceutical lobbies and against organized labor. By lending his name publicly to Cheri, Andrew is telling us the kind of Democratic Party that he wants to represent. A Democratic Party that is anti-consumer, and is not discernible in any substantive way from the Republican Party.

          1. I’m completely aware, unlike some of Romanoff’s disciples, that he is in no way a progressive. This is just another affirmation of what so many of us have been saying for quite some time regarding the bullshit meme that his supporters keep putting forward–and the question remains–precisely what does Romanoff offer that makes voting for him in a primary a palatable alternative to Bennet?

            At this point, for me, he has nothing to offer me to cause me to support him.

    3. but that’s definitely the best. Takes a while to get there (1:30 is the first really funny bit), but once you get to 3 minutes it’s just laugh-out-loud funny all the way through.

  10. If Penry can somehow out raise McInnis by over $25,000 the Scooter will be under intense pressure to drop out. We all know that when the going gets tough as it did in 2008 the Scooter gets on his scooter and goes away.

    Cory Gardner may scare off any serious GOP challengers when he reports his numbers.

    Cory will be in a race with Michael Bennet to announce their fundraising totals.  Gardner has assured himself a spot on the hottest races in the country list with his prolific fundraising. As for Bennet what recession? This guy just keeps on raising big dollars from everywhere.

  11. The vehicles affected by the advisory were the:

    * 2007-10 Camry

    * 2005-10 Avalon

    * 2004-9 Prius

    * 2005-10 Tacoma

    * 2007-10 Tundra

    * 2007-10 ES350

    * 2006-10 IS 250 and IS 350

    http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.co…

    Meanwhile, Toyota’s advice for handling a stuck accelerator includes how to shut off the engine in a vehicle with a starter button. When the vehicle is moving a single stab of the button won’t do it. The button must be held down for three seconds. Mr. Lyons said that was a safety feature to prevent the engine from being shut off accidentally if the button were brushed.

  13. ….and while I’m packing, I’m watching the Chinese 60th Anniversary Military Parade.

    While it should be a note of caution to TRADOC and DoD that the US Military can’t fight an AirLand battle anymore, I have to admit that the Chinese troops look damn good in formation. The Chinese military seems to have discovered spray-starch.

    And, at the same time, I NEVER have to stand at attention, in full kit, sweating my ass off and waiting for some high-level asshole to finish walking by..

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