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January 30, 2007 04:16 PM UTC

Tuesday Open Thread

  • 64 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

“Colorado” is much easier to spell than “Massachusetts.”

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64 thoughts on “Tuesday Open Thread”

      1.   Has “Tank” said whether he will disclose his mental health records from the 60’s and 70’s now that he’s exploring a run for president? 
          If his depression was serious enough to keep him out of Vietnam, don’t we have a right to see just how disabled he really was? 
          It could have an impact on his fitness to serve as cmmander in chief, could it not?

    1. I just went through the websites of today’s Denver Post, Rocky Mountain news, and Channels 7 & 9.

      Not one mention of the fact that today is election day. I don’t know how anyone expects any kind of turn out when even the media seems to have forgotten about it.

      1. as of the close business Monday.  Almost all have been returned through the mail.  A little over 5,000 have been dropped off.  Some 287,000 ballots were originally mailed.

        Not sure what today will show.

        1. Once we subtract the 33,000 ballots that bounced back to the Commission, that leaves roughly 254,000 potential voters. That puts us at 15.7% turn out so far. That measn nearly 62,000 ballots will have to be turned intoday to reach the 40% mark.

          I think a more realistic goal would be 25% turn out which wold require 23,5000 ballots being turned in today.

          So much for mail-ballots elections increasing turn out!

          1. Oregon moved to all mail ballots and their turnout has increased tremendously.  This election will have small turnout because it wasn’t publisized by anybody (campaigns or press) and the average voters either don’t understand the issue fully or don’t care all that much.  Mail elctions do increase turnout and I hope Colorado moves in that direction.

            1. Oregon turnout has been historically high.  I spent my freshman year of college in Oregon right after they institutded mail-in ballots and the sense I got was that the political environment is a lot like Minnesota–very active and turnout is always high.  It may be true that Colorado’s turnout would be higher with all-mail ballots.  But I much prefer going to the polling place–as do many other Coloradans–and we should have that choice.

              1. Oregon’s SOS statistics.  You will see an increase even from their high turnout.  I prefer making it as easy as possible in a Democracy for people to vote and mail ballot is the way to go.  Obviously in Denver and Douglas county we didn’t make it too easy for people to go to the polls. 

          3. 1/2 dozen of another.

            Who cares about this election, Dan?  I think you and Karen Morrissey are the only ones.  If it really mattered, more people would have voted.  Had this election not been by mail, you would have seen far fewer votes cast/mailed.

            1. There are a few more besides Karen and myself. All this election is, is a an effort by City Counctil to try to say “we are doing something…re-elect us”.

              Pity we had to spend the $600-700k to accommodate them. And, if this measure passes it has some serious consequences on the election process in Denver. That’s a lot for the voters/taxpayers of Denver to help re-elect City Council members, the Mayor and the Auditor.

              1. the Mayor and the Auditor appear to be running unopposed, not sure that your premise holds water.

                At this point it appears that the only contested races in the city will be in the open seats (Wedgeworth, MacKenzie and Rodriguez seats).

                  1. Actually, if some incumbents had a bit more pressure on them for reelection, they might display a little bit more independance and backbone.

                    But since what really impacts my working life is the legislature, I worry less about city officials, other than the fact that I live in Denver.  What the leg does impacts my financial well-being more than what the City Council does.

  4. Interesting presidential polling from the great state of Ohio…

    http://time-blog.com…

    Notice how the Hildebeast is drawing an astounding 35-38% of the white evangelical vote.  Count the black and Hillary is getting about 50% of the total evangelical vote against Rudy and McCain.  Romney does a lot better and he’s gaining steam–especially in Iowa and New Hampshire.  Nevada is fairly Mormon so he’ll get a lot of votes in Nevada, too.

    I think if you take the big swing stats–Florida, New Hampshire, Ohio, New Mexico, Iowa, Pennsylvania, and Colorado (though Colorado leans more Republican than all of the above)–Ohio may be the biggest flip the Dems get.  They won’t get Florida and Colorado most likely but they probably will get the rest of them–especially with a Bill Richardson VP.  That means the GOP needs to get to work–hard–in the West and Minnesota.  Without the upper-midwest and Colorado, the GOP is DOA.  I think Colorado’s a good bet to stay red–but the upper midwest really jolted back in the blue in 2006.

            2. He’s dishonest, a con, a wannabe, and paid way too much for shitty work.  His only level of honesty is anger, which is of course, misplaced.

        2. You are on call, on guard, 24/7?  What exactly is the schedule and job description which we tax payers are paying for, Bud. …you know the one which says you can use a public funded computer, in a publicly funded work space, to play partisan politics and viciously trash the candidates and elected officials of the Democratic party and promote the candidacy of various Republicans?  Tell, Bud. spite it out…

            2. I am a tax payer, buddy. Don’t tell me to chill. Okay, so you are not on a tax paid computer….but you are in a public job where you are free to hop on your private computer and blog whenever you want to?  I don’t believe that.  I am not real impressed with “academia elite.” claims….you don’t have any set hours at your job?  I don’t believe that. Are we paying you to “think for us” 24/7.  You come and go at will?  Tell us what you do. 

              2. I have department meetings, office hours, and student appointments off and on throughout the day.  Between all of that I teach class. Fortunately for me I have ample time in office–just like my colleagues.  If you don’t like that take it up with the Regents.

              3. I’m quite amused at your obsession with what I do for a living.  It’s a little creepy, to be sure, but amusing nonetheless.  I work hard–make no mistake.  When I’m not doing poli-sci stuff I’m also a library preservationist.  My days are full–it’s just that I have large gaps in my schedule.

                Davey likes to talk about soem 80/20 business.  Every public employee I know is a very hard and devoted worker.  I know a library guy whose been in the library for something like 30 or 40 years!  That’s devotion–and it’s not unique.  Public employees do a fine job for this state and it’s too bad they get a bad wrap from whine-sipping elites in Boulder.

                Now that I think about it, almost EVERY employee gets a bad rap from the folks with tofu and cheese stuck in their teeth. 

            3. That your internet connection is through your cell company’s wireless card of some type, or tethered cell phone, and not the on campus wi-fi! 

              Or satellite phone?  🙂

                1. Up to the point they need to add servers or AP’s, what little traffic you add doesn’t add to the taxpayer’s bill.

                  However, vee vill have to start monitoring your IP address for security reasons for zee Faderland!

            1. company. Have been here for over 22 long miserable years.
              I don’t get to spend a whole bunch of time on the puter as I’m out in the field most of the time, but I do get to dabble.

    2. The Ohio GOP has a problem: they’re corrupt from top to bottom, or so the impression has been made.  You know the Ohio GOP is in trouble based on the state of races in truly conservative districts – they’re way closer than they should be.

      Florida will stay GOP so long as two things remain: (1) a truly partisan gerrymandering that has a near 50-50 state represented by nearly 2/3 Republicans, and (2) a moribund Florida Democratic Party whose party officials are occasionally prone to siding with their Republican counterparts against things like auditable voting systems.

      Colorado will remain what Colorado has been in recent years: an independent-minded electorate which leans conservative but doesn’t go for ideological absolutes and petty issues.  Coloradans, like many Midwesterners, are interested in an American energy economy, are concerned about their high healthcare costs, and want a high-quality education environment for their children.  We will be one of the swing states in 2008, replacing Ohio in part (Nevada, New Mexico, and Arizona will join us on that list).

      2. For quite a while.  The three fastest growing counties in the state are as red as an El Paso county on steroids.  In a nationally-D election, the Rs in Florida practically ran the table.  (Well, except for the incumbent Senator Nelson, but Katharine Harris ran a terrible election, and Nelson ran ads that were practically word-for-word Republican talking points on stations out of Mobile, AL)

        I tend to agree that the swing states are moving in a westerly direction.  Minnesota’s beginning to trend to the right, while the Southwest will be a huge battleground in the coming years.  Should be interesting.

        1. Republicans seem to come close a lot of the time–just like the Dems get close in Colorado–but at the end of the day there’s just too many liberals to overcome.  Same in Colorado.  You’ve got to do more here than simply pick off a few independents–you have to win Republican votes are a very large amount of independents.  If you can’t pick off independent votes against Bush you surely wont’ do it WITH Hillary AGAINST Rudy or Romney–two center-right Republicans.

          1. the fuckers are frozen solid (Hence blue). Their brains can’t think due to the cold.

            Ever listen to Lewis Black do his routine about the people that first migrated to Minnesota?
            Freekin hilarious.

            1. But they sure are nice up there.  Crazy–but Minnesota Nice.  Certainly a lot nicer to GOP delegates than our fine state will be to the Tofu Party convention here.

  5. “A U.S. soldier patrols a street Tuesday in Khadamiya, Iraq. Hundreds of thousands of Shiites are marking the annual 10-day mourning period of Ashura, which commemorates the martyrdom of the Prophet Mohammed’s grandson Imam Hussein in the seventh century.”

    Ashura is apparently the commemoration of the formal split between Shia and Sunni in 680 AD.  680 AD !  That was what, 1,300 + friggin’ years ago!  And the Shiites still celebrate every year by cutting their skulls open and bleeding all over themselves while they parade in the streets, apparently because they didn’t do enough to protect Imam Hussein from the Sunis in, yes, 680 AD.

    Iraq dosen’t strike me as the kind of place where people accept the concept of forgive and forget.  And we’re going to get Shia, Sunni and Kurds to live happily ever after together, in what, a few years ?  months ?  Christ sakes, they are still obsessing about something that happened 1300 years long ago.  Good luck.

    2. and that schism came only a few decades after Mohammed cranked up his new faith.  Even the Christians of most stripes and Jews are successfully cohabiting on this planet.

      Condi:  Mr. President, these factions have been killing each other for 1300 years.

      Bush:  No problem, we’ll bring them democracy.  Everyone wants freedoms on the internets. 

  6. I am reading returns on Channel 8 and they are saying the yes on the  clerk/recorder has 68% of the vote and no has 32%….but I don’t know if that is the final tally or if they are still counting….yah, I could go to denvergov….but that would mean leaving this fun group….

  7. Elsewhere on Coloradopols., Dr. Dobson has…posted the following:
    I am a library preservationist (real exciting!!!) at the University of Colorado
    And yes, the public employee crowd is ovewhelmingly liberal–especially in libraries.  But somebody has to be a beacon of conservative thought.

    Look, dr. god….I am a firm believer in the first amendment and you are entitled to your opinions…but not written on the taxpayer’s dime.  Am I to understand that a “library preservationist” is not a 9 to 5 job? You don’t have a regular shift at the Library?  I am, among many other things, a CU/Boulder grad….hence my appreciation for the Constitution…and the taxpayer’s dollar.
    if we have government employees free to roam all over this blog because they are not 9 to 5 and are in “academia” , then we need to review how we are structuring the work load up at Boulder….might be a good looksee for Hank Brown…a..good conservative…very respectful of the taxpayer’s dollar.

    Thank you for your participation.

    3. If it makes you feel any better I’m on salary–as all instructors are.  I make about 65K a year as a preservationist and poli-sci adjunct.  I’m married and I have two kids–one more on the way. 

      Do you need my SSN, address, or maybe my wife’s maiden name?
      Don’t be nosy, dwyer.  You know nothing about me or what I do (well, now you do).  You don’t know when I blog and when I work.  Rest assured that I work hard for the university and, don’t worry, my monstrously, bigoted conservative opinions are not voiced “on your dime.”

      But I do find it interesting how you have no problem with liberal professors’ books, blogs, and classplans which are inevitably opinionated.  But when a conservative expresses his opinion—even though it’s not on your dime–to take up half a fucking thread to whine about what I do for a living.  That’s what academia is all about–the pursuit of ideas.  In my less-intense library position I work as a preservation expert for ancient books.  Did you know that at Norlin is a copy of the Guttenberg Bible?  I’m the guy who takes care of thousand-dollar relics like that.  Come up some time and I’ll show you around.  I love books and the library is a nice fit for me.

      Any questions?

      2. Look, Bud, I have never posted anything about “liberal” professors.  Where do you get off accussing me of that?  That is exactly what I don’t like about your rantings. You sterotype. I want an apology.

        What I don’t like about your opinions, apart from the  vicious attack mode, is I don’t think you have an objective historical perspective. I really want to ask you what do you teach and to whom….but I won’t.  There now is an issue of academic freedom here.  CU has had plenty of witch hunts through the years, which are destructive.  I disagree with your historical comments and I will watch your posts and correct them.

          I still can not shake the feeling that this is part of some kind of paper or research experiment.  Like when I see all those people holding up signs across from the Auraria camput and they are wearing better shoes than I…..I wonder if I am looking at Sociology 101.  The stereotypes you use are hackneyed which would be pretty consistent with some kind of research format.

        As for Norlin, I practically lived there for four years…worked part of my way through college at that library.  I don’t know what your technical skills are, but you don’t show any respect for history.

  8. Once again the loyalty of the Bush administration towards the members of the U.S. Military is on display. From today’s WaPo its clear that the troops surging into Baghdad will not have all the equipment they need. Armored trucks and humvees are in particularly short supply. A full supply of armored trucks will not be available until the summer. Supplying humvees will greatly deplete the supply leaving few for other contingencies. The brigades may also be deployed without a full complement of personnel having necessary job skills.

    When they return from combat they will find that there are insufficient services to meet their needs. From today’s Star Tribune in Minneapolis a story of marine who went to 2 VA centers for mental health services to be told to come back in a couple of months because they were full. I guess he couldn’t wait, he committed suicide.

    There is something truly grotesque about urging that the United States take better care of the mentally wounded men and women who come home from Iraq. Mental wounds are a given of any war, which is why Americans should be absolutely sure war is necessary before they ever agree to put the lives of U.S. troops on the line. The extreme anguish that can come from killing others, risking death and seeing friends die is a wound that relentlessly keeps on wounding.

    [snip]

    On the second issue, Daniel Zwerdling of National Public Radio reported two months ago with devastating illumination on just how far the U.S. Army has to go. Zwerdling’s report focused on Fort Carson, Colo., but anecdotal responses to his story suggest the problems are widespread. Zwerdling told of soldiers with strong military records who sought mental health assistance and were, like Schulze, told to come back later, were ridiculed and hazed by superiors and peers, and in some cases were drummed out of the service for behaviors that were obvious symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
    Zwerdling’s reporting and Schulze’s tragic story make you wonder: What kind of nation would put men and women in the Iraq hellhole and then treat them with such disdain when they come home wounded? The answers that come to mind aren’t very nice

    OK wingers tell us again how you support the troops. Despicable.

  9. As a volunteer worker in the capitol again, I have noticed a distinct diminishment of snacks and food stuffs coming from the lobbyists!  Hey, what do they expect us to survive on, our own sandwiches or something? 

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