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March 05, 2009 08:26 PM UTC

When Message Becomes "Blah Blah Blah"

  • 41 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

A subtle demarcation, but we begin to see it–in ways like Denver Post reporter Jessica Fender’s (not generally considered unfriendly to the GOP in her coverage) Politics West summary of Josh Penry’s press conference yesterday.

The clock ticking down to the 2010 gubernatorial race may ever-present for political buffs, but rumored candidate and Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry says he doesn’t even hear it.

At a briefing where Republican leaders gave their assessment of the session so far (SPOILER ALERT: Democrats are bad)…

We stopped reading. And frankly, everything after this line was a restatement of the lede anyway.

To recap, what did Penry call a press conference for again? Because as Fender makes clear, he’s not talking about a run for Governor. After all, you’ve been living on the same planet the last couple of weeksdefinitely not the right time. Something about “Democrats are bad,” um, blah blah blah…

It’s kind of sad, isn’t it?

Comments

41 thoughts on “When Message Becomes “Blah Blah Blah”

  1. You seem to be slipping.  It took until 10:30 to attack Penry.  This site was relevant, but now you are truly democratic hacks.

    No time for Ritter’s questionless training session’s on the COGCC rules?  

    See ya

    1. Seriously, if you have something to say about Ritter’s COGCC rules, write a diary or post something on the open thread. Look at Libertad’s rants and raves, they always draw a response and occasionally lead to a substantial discussion.

      If you can’t be bothered, well, don’t go blaming Pols. Sack up and take some responsibility.

      Otherwise, see ya.

    2. What does the state think it’s doing providing these training session? The COGCC should just let the operators figure this out on their own and just enforce and fine the hell out of anyone who doesn’t get it right.

      <./sarcasm>

      Again, I am disappointed that the COGCC has adopted this approach of not allowing time for questions during the training sessions. It’s stunning in its apparent arrogance. However, the whining (not yet at the CSB stage) from the O&G shills has been standard operating procedure for the last couple years.

      O&G is fast using up any sympathy the people of Colorado might have had. Meanwhile, I can sympathize with the COGCC staff who probably don’t want to listen to anymore of this whining that is just variations of “This is too hard. I’m telling the CSB-Boy-Wonder Penry that this is too hard.”

    3. he might not get so much bad press from the Daily Sentinel, Denver Post, Colorado Independent, Westword, ToTheRight, GJDailyBlog, Colorado Conservative Project, Media Matters, Progress Now, Square State and GJ Free Press.  Just to name a few others.  Now, will we hear your frothing at the mouth rant about that damn “Liberal media” again?  It’s been working so well for you in recent elections, hasn’t it?

  2. Pols must have a man crush on Penry.

    I guess blame Penry for not issuing a gag on other GOP state senators, blame him for “Swastica guy,” and it’s his fault there was talk of removing Marostica from the JBC, even though Marostica is a state rep., not a senator. Removing Marostica from the JBC post would have been done by House Minority Leader Mike May, right…

    It’s starting to get laughable here on this site, which I do enjoy visiting from time to time.

    Penry does deserve the occasional hit like all party leaders, but seemingly going out of the way for daily clubbings is getting a bit old.

    1. The argument with Marostica was comparing his treatment by House leadership with Penry’s silence in the face of, well, much much worse.

      The same argument the Denver Post made the day after we did.

      Something’s laughable here, agreed.

  3. is the lack of criticism of Bill Ritter on this site.  Here’s a guy who ran on big, bold promises (lots of ’em!) and has been playing small ball.  It’s been government by distraction since he took office.  He’s focused first and foremost on paying off favored political consituencies.  He’s done nothing to address the state’s fiscal challenges.

      1. to create an account, log in, post some irrelevant bs, log out, then log in under another account and post a response to your first post.

        Is this the best way to spend campaign dollars?

      2. I find that shocking Dino, that you would pull something out of your rump and not have anything to back it up.  You give Western Slope residents a bad name.  Most of us at least have some common sense.  

    1. Another instant Penry sock puppet.

      By the way, your post is a good example of deflection.  Your guy screws up, so you want to know why nobody’s bashing Ritter.

      We’re all politically jaded.  We recognize that shit instantly when we read it.

      Try harder next time, will you?

    2. Who has Governor Ritter been “paying off.”  Name them.

      Second,what “distractions” are you referring to.

      Third, Governor Ritter isn’t in control or reponsible for the State’s “fiscal challenges.”  The economy began to decline in 2007 and it became apparent there weren’t going to be the kind of revenues flowing into the state treasury that had been anticipated. Governor Ritter took the prudent route and began managing the budget based on realistic revenue projects.

      Fourth, as far as his big promises go, he has delivered on his alternative energy promise. Colorado is the leader in this field and it is a direct result of Governor Ritter’s policies. Colorado is now a recognized leader in alternative nergy inside the United States and abroad.

      In the area of transportation, when it would have been easy and politically palpable to do nothing based on declining state revenues, he took the road less traveled by almost all other politicians. He saw the need for additional transportation needs and he led the battle to pass SB 108 which adds $250 million annually to the transportaiton budget. He did it not because it was popular or without political risk, but rather because the state transportation needs had to be addressed. He should be praised as a leader. Most political leaders would have quietly sat on the sidelines.

      Finally, he led the fight to fund the public schools by freezing the mill levy, again, not because it was popular, but because our public educaiton system badly needed the money.  Again, he was willing to put his political popularity on the line to do what had to be done from a realistic point of view.

      Gov. Ritter is not a braggart and he doesn’t go around the state looking for public praise. I’ve known him for almost thirty years and he is the kind of person who is more interested in helping our state and our citizens than anything else.

       

      1. 1.  H-e-l-l-o!  The unions.

        2.  He’s expended at least as much political capital on providing collective bargaining to public employees, on unconstitutionally raising property taxes, and on trying to punish oil and gas companies as he has on transportation, health care and education.  In fact, the biggest education reform approved during his term was a Republican idea: raising graduation requirements.

        3.  Ritter called for a government hiring freeze but continued to hire.  Ritter projected rosy fiscal scenarios last year while the Republicans warned.  Now, we have to make even bigger cutbacks because he didn’t listen.  Ritter was handed a gift — Ref. C (no matter what you think of it, it was a gift) — and yet we now find ourselves in the same position we were in 2004-05.  It’s an abdication of leadership.

        4.  He’s rhetorically taken a ton of credit for a so-called “new energy technology.”  Where’s the evidence he’s brought new jobs?  The green report he trumpets was from his frist year in office.  So shouldn’t Owens get the credit?  Last I heard, the windmill company was putting its expansion plan on ice.

        1. First, the only union bill that would have impacted private companies was HB 1072 in 2007 and Gov. Ritter vetoed that bill.

          Second, you claim that he unconstitutionally froze the mill levy. That issue is still before the Colorado Supreme Court.

          Third, your hiring freeze statement ignores  what the Governor said when he put the hiring freeze in place. He specifically said that public safety positions, like prison guards and state patrol positions, would be filled where there were vacancies and that is exactly what he did.

          Fourth, you need to read the news reports about the new energy manufacturing plants opened in Windsor as a direct result of the Governor’s efforts.

          Our budget cutbacks are not because of the Governor. The economy began a steep decline in September 2008, at least four months after the most recent budget was enacted. No one predicted that kind of decline.

          1. Come to grips.  He’s the worst Governor we’ve had in most of our lifetimes.

            1. Private sector employers and even the Denver Post were angry about his executive order payoffs to unions for good reasons.  Go back and read some of the comments and editorials.

            2. The Appeals Court ruled it unconstitutional.  Even a Democrat judge found it unconstitutional at the trial level.  With Mary Mullarkey as an instrument of the far left, the court may indeed overturn the lower courts, but reasonable minds know much better.

            3. Government hiring (an effort to create more “blue” voters) went pretty much unabated, even under the hiring freeze.  Regardless, he’s hired thousands of additional government workers at a time when technology should necessitate fewer workers.

            4. Wow!  So you have direct evidence of how many new workers that the Governor is taking credit for?  Governor Owens attracted a whole lot more technology jobs in his first two years by courting Silicon Valley.

            5. The Governor’s record is one of mismanagement and lack of leadership.  Republicans warned of the 2009 budget’s excesses one year ago.  Call them soothsayers if you want, and you are right that no one could have foreseen something this bad, but his budget was based on extremely rosy scenarios.

            1. …you’ll leave fantasy land and enter reality.

              1. I’m a private sector employeer (CEO of a Colorado company) and as a CEO, not as a Dem but as a CEO, I didn’t care about his executive order regarding unions.

              2. The judicial decision that matters is the final one. Judges are imperfect and latching on to a single decision in the review process has nothing to do with if it’s constitutional.

              3. I’ll agree that the state has been slow to make effective use of technology to lower costs. But Bill Owens was even worse bringing in horrible software systems that made things worse. Bill Ritter is still trying to fix the disaster left to him by Owens.

              4. It’s easier to attract people during a boom than during a bust. I think Owens did good on this and I think considering the economy, Ritter is doing well too.

              5. Republicans warn of over-spending every time it’s a Democratic budget. Hell, many complain even when it’s a Republican budget. Predict rain every day and you will be right about 50% of the time.

              Ritter is a good governor and is doing so in a horrible economic climate. And add to that the additional constraints this state faces with TABOR, Avwhatever-Bird, Gallager, etc. and I think it’s fair to say he’s doing quite well.

              The fact that you don’t agree with Ritter politically has no bearing on if he’s doing a good job.

            2. 1.  How has the Governor’s executive order for public sector employees changed anything or cost the state a dime?  Your emotional response is obvious but please explain what negative things have actually happened because of it.

              2.  Which workers that have been hired on the Governor’s watch could be replaced by technology and please name the particular technology.

              3. As David said, and it received extensive coverage in the paper, the computer mess in the Department of Human Resources was caused by a contract that was signed during the Owens’ administration. To fix it cost the state millions and Arapahoe County spent over $1 million alone when it didn’t work.

              4.  Since your comparing Gov. Owens ability to attract jobs compared to Gov. Ritter you can surely cite their respective numbers and I’m sure you blame Gov. Owens for the dot.com bust and therefore the loss of all those jobs.

              5.  You say his record is one of “mismanagement.” That’s a word that covers a lot of ground. Please cite to what parts of the government he has mismanaged and keep in mind that mismanagement is something other than policy or philosophical differences.  

    3. as the Democratic guest FP editor, I have criticized Ritter plenty. It’s not just me either, check out that Big Line and you’ll see that the Governor does not get a free ride here.

      The fact of the matter is he’s still better than anything the Republicans can come up with. Find a better candidate, and then maybe you won’t have to accuse political blogs of not being critical enough of the Governor.

    1. I’VE GOT A FEVER, A FEVER THAT CAN ONLY BE CURED BY –

      MORE HOLTZY !

      ( I can’t wait until he announces – those will be good times )

    2. And not just from us, but from every local media outlet, is because he is the GOP leader in the legislature. When you are the leader, you get the headlines – good or bad.

      1.    Any word on when the other co-leader, Mike May, steps down to return to being an innkeeper?  I thought he put off his resignation “temporarily.”

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