April 21, 2010 03:44 AM UTC

"I Hate America," Attorney General John Suthers Edition

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• by: Colorado Pols

Turning as we occasionally do to the subject of competing campaign presences on the web, here’s an interesting comparison: first, check out the website of newly-announced Colorado Attorney General candidate Stan Garnett. There’s not a lot there but it hasn’t been online for very long. And what is there doesn’t suck, there’s nothing to turn voters off, which at least shoots for par.

Once you’re done, well, you’ve got to be fair and check out suthersforag.com, haven’t you?

Something funny about that American flag in the upper left corner, isn’t there?

Here’s some helpful U.S. flag etiquette: the only way the stripes appear above the stars on an American flag is if it’s upside down. This is usually done in the modern era as an antigovernment political protest (see ruddy, balding flagbearer right), though apparently it can indicate “distress” of a few different kinds without technically being disrespectful. So maybe Suthers was dog-whistling his closet protester, or maybe the prospect of a credible opponent just freaks him out this much.

The third possibility, of course, is an extremely indifferent (or malicious Democrat) web designer, and Suthers not paying a lot of attention. We assume this is the minimally-updated prefab website that John Suthers beat Fern O’Brien with in 2006, and with all the Canadian mountains and Photoshopped persons of color in the news lately–online gaffes of this kind having a long and distinguished history–we’re surprised our Attorney General’s little act of civil disobedience didn’t get noticed earlier. But, and this feels like a broader issue than just Suthers’ website, nobody paid any attention to the state of things until he had a real opponent.

If you think about it, we’re just doing our bit for the local economy–in this case GOP-leaning web designers, one of whom will be getting a phone call from the Suthers campaign about…now.

One more question: “Colorado’s people, land and water?” Because we’ve been looking all over this website for a Ken Salazar attribution and, uh, can’t find it.

FRIDAY UPDATE: Liberal activist group Progress Now…well, you can imagine the fun they were able to have with this. Release follows, says Bobby Clark, “It must be frustrating to find one’s self so consistently on the wrong side of the issues…[w]hile we assume the upside-down American flag on his website simply reflects incompetence on the part of his campaign…”

Really would suggest some (local) mountains and pretty flowers for that banner. Quickly.

Call for Attorney General Suthers to Explain Bizarre Logo on Website

Suthers’ website depicts American flag upside-down, reflecting either extremism or incompetence. Which is it?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, April 23, 2010

CONTACT: Bobby Clark, Executive Director at 303-905-8375

DENVER: Responding to news this week that the campaign website of Colorado Attorney General John Suthers prominently displays an upside-down American flag, ProgressNow Colorado, the state’s largest online progressive advocacy organization, called on Suthers to explain the meaning of this imagery immediately.

“This has definitely left people scratching their heads this week,” said ProgressNow Colorado Executive Director Bobby Clark. “There are only two possible explanations for Suthers featuring an upside-down American flag on his website: either he is completely oblivious to the image he is projecting, or he actually believes there is a ‘state of emergency’ in America that justifies displaying the American flag this way.”

Earlier this year, Suthers became a hero of the extremist right when he joined a partisan lawsuit against the new federal health care reform law, even though the suit is considered by legal experts to have no realistic chance of success. Suthers’ lawsuit against health care is just the latest in a long line of partisan political crusades he has launched from his office since his appointment in 2005, including briefs filed in support of gay marriage bans in other states, and flawed partisan opinions on Colorado fiscal policy that were rejected by the Colorado Supreme Court. (Denver Post, 4/8/2010)

“It must be frustrating to find one’s self so consistently on the wrong side of the issues,” continued Clark. “While we assume the upside-down American flag on his website simply reflects incompetence on the part of his campaign, given Suthers’ history of wading into the issues of the day on behalf of the far right–more often than not ending in failure and embarrassment–Suthers needs to explain to the people of Colorado what this imagery means to him.”

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