Katrina was bad. The government, especialy local government made it worse.
Sometimes you just have to see it…
July 3, 2008Dudly Brown, local hero
July 2, 2008Dudley Brown: “Guns Up” Approach to Political Advocacy
Filed Under: Civil Rights, Elections
Topics: Aimee Rathburn, Bill Owens, Colorado State Shooting Association, Dale Hall, David Kopel, Dudley Brown, Independence Institute, Mike Kopp, National Rifle Association, Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, Scott Renfroe
July 2, 2008
Face The State Staff Report
Colorado’s political activists come in all shapes and sizes, and so do their budgets. Millionaire Democrats Tim Gill and Pat Stryker regularly see their political tactics grace the front pages, and they have become famous for pumping unprecedented cash into state legislative races. Their impact can be measured by the Democrat takeover of the Colorado General Assembly in 2004 and further Republican losses in 2006. But there is another kind of activist in Colorado attempting to turn the political wheels. He operates on a shoestring budget, and his fellow Republicans have called his methodology controversial, uncompromising and on a bad day, damaging to conservative causes.
RMGO.org
Dudley Brown, executive director of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, is a one issue kind of guy. His focus: The Second Amendment. He will accept no compromises. For candidates daring enough to fill out his candidate questionnaire, they’d better score 100 percent if they want the support of Brown and his members. Playing an active role in Republican primaries during the last few election cycles, Brown believes that party affiliation isn’t enough.
Brown says he picks candidates who are “rock stars on conservative issues,” and claims he was instrumental in securing wins in the 2006 Republican primaries of Sen. Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch, Sen. Mike Kopp, R-Littleton, and Sen. Scott Renfroe, R-Greeley. In 2006, Renfroe won a competitive Republican primary against House veteran Dale Hall, who’s experience and name recognition was expected to win him the seat.
Not everyone is giving Brown credit. “It is amazing to me how many people have taken credit for ousting Dale Hall,” said Amy Oliver, host of a morning political talk show on Greeley’s 1310 KFKA radio. “Dale Hall was an arrogant candidate who felt entitled to that seat, and the voters told him no. The losses that Northern Colorado has seen can be credited to the candidates themselves [and] I don’t give one activist that much credit, unless you are a Tim Gill or a Pat Stryker.”
But Brown maintains that his influence and approach make a difference. At the 2000 state Republican Convention he organized crowd members to boo then-Gov. Bill Owens, who had just signed legislation that closed the so-called gun show loophole. After an infuriated Owens left the stage, party insiders questioned Brown’s tactics, saying they were dangerous to party unity in the aftermath of the Columbine High School shootings.
“You have to hang some hides on the barn door in order to keep the coyotes away,” said Brown in justification of his hard-line ideology.
Brown operates on the grassroots level, getting out his message through mail, phone calls and door-to-door campaigns. He also claims to have shown up at his opposition’s fundraisers with the specific purpose of embarrassing a candidate in front of his donors.
Aimee Rathburn, a 2006 candidate for House District 1, became a target of Brown after he decided that she was soft on gun rights. Rathburn was the executive director of the Colorado State Shooting Association, has a record of opposing stricter gun controls, and has won several national awards for her shooting abilities. “Dudley thinks he is going to gain politically by working against people who are with him,” said Rathburn, who called Brown “completely ineffective.”
Rathburn says Brown has a mailing list of pro-gun people, which is his only forum. She said the “average Joe” doesn’t know who he is. For Brown’s part he says he doesn’t care how people respond to him and prides himself on not compromising his beliefs.
“We think the best way to advance gun rights is to force the Republican Party to force its members to be disciplined,” said Brown.
According to Dave Kopel, research director for the Golden-based Independence Institute and a nationally recognized 2nd Amendment expert, most voters don’t demand perfection on gun-related issues.
“I think too much of his efforts go to tearing down the National Riffle Association and tearing down candidates who are 90 percent with us,” saidKopel . “There are times when to move this cause forward you have to work with people who are good 90 or 50 or 30 percent of the time.”
Brown’s desire for perfection is evidenced in a recent interview with the Fort Collins Coloradoan where he said the U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision to repeal the D.C. ban on handguns is “not a victory for gun owners.”
Amendment 46, leveling the playing field
July 2, 2008June 30, 2008
Face The State Staff Report
Goodman, Corry and HartPacifica Network
While the November election is still months away, public attention is already heating up around Amendment 46, known as the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative, with two debates televised over the last two days.
On Sunday morning, CoCRI Executive Director Jessica Peck Corry squared off against CU Law Professor Melissa Hart during KUSA’s “Your Show” with Adam Schrager.
Less than 24 hours later, the duo hit the national stage for a second debate – this time on Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman. The show was broadcast from the KBDI studios in Denver. Goodman’s show is traveling this week, airing two shows here before heading on to Aspen.
Amendment 46, if passed by voters this November, would ban discrimination or preferential treatment based on race or gender in government hiring, contracting, and education. Corry advocates color-blind outreach efforts, saying Colorado is too diverse to define disadvantage based on skin color and gender. Meanwhile, Hart believes past discrimination against women and minorities still demands race and gender-specific remedies.
As Face The State reported last week, a recent Wall Street Journal poll indicates that just 15 percent of Colorado voters are opposed to the initiative, with 66 percent saying they support it and the rest remaining undecided.
Corry and Hart have at least one more duel scheduled, with Schrager set to host a longer televised Oct. 6th debate from the University of Denver campus.
How the Irish Saved Civilization, Again
July 2, 2008 How the Irish Saved Civilization, Again
The Irish Times reports that the Lisbon Treaty has been defeated in a referendum held in the Republic of Ireland. The Lisbon Treaty is a new version of the proposed EU Constitution, which had previously been rejected by the voters of the France and the Netherlands. This time, the French and Dutch governments refused to allow a popular vote. In the U.K., the Labour Party had promised a referendum, but that promise was broken. Former French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing explained: “Public opinion will be led to adopt, without knowing it, the proposals that we dare not present to them directly… All the earlier [EU Constitution] proposals will be in the new text [Lisbon Treaty], but will be hidden and disguised in some way.”
Treaty proponents lamented that Ireland, with only 1% of the EU population, could derail a 27-nation treaty. But the very fact that only 1% of the EU’s population was allowed to vote on a treaty which would massively reduce national sovereignty and democratic accountability was itself an illustration of the enormous “democratic deficit” of the EU in general, and the Lisbon Treaty in particular. According to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the Lisbon Treaty would be defeated in every EU nation if referenda were allowed.
The referendum debate in Ireland involved some Irish-specific issues, such as the Treaty’s impact on farmers, its threat to Ireland’s official foreign policy of neutrality, and the danger that Ireland might be forced to raise its low corporate income tax rate of 12.5% (which almost everyone agrees has been an essential part of the economic success of the Celtic Tiger). But the broader opposition seemed to stem from the sheer incomprehensibility of the Treaty. Even Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Brian Cowen admitted that he had not read the Treaty, which is over 400 pages long and deliberately written to be obscure. Treaty proponents included both of the two largest political parties (Fianna Fail and Fine Gael), and they appealed to the Irish people’s strong support of trade with Europe, and to Ireland’s optimistically internationalist orientation.
A group named Libertas was formed to lead the opposition, and Libertas agreed with the principles of international trade and Ireland’s integration into Europe. But Libertas was successful at convincing Irish voters that the Treaty was perilous threat to the democratic sovereignty which is the glory of European civilization, and for which the Irish had struggled for so many centuries to win for themselves.
More coverage at the excellent British site EU Referendum (which astute readers may remember for its outstanding work in exposing media complicity in cooperating with Hezbollah to create staged pictures of the alleged Israeli atrocities at Qana, Lebanon).
Well..?
July 1, 2008Let’s start a bit of controversy, among my friends, as well as others that wish to weigh in. Just what, is the best rifle type, and caliber for the most common type of hunting that you do, where you live.
Here is my honest answer: There just isn’t one. Small game I like the Ruger Ten Twenty Two, 10/22. Varmints that are a bit to large for the 22 long rifle? I have long been a fan of the Remington model 700 medium weight barrel rifle chambered in 22/250. For Deer sized game, and Pronghorns? Several combination will do the job, and again, territory has a lot to do with this… Model 700 in 280 Remington; But if I could have two? A model 70 in 257 Roberts, and a Marlin 336 in the venerable 30/30. Then we get to big deer, and Elk, and Bears that top 400 pounds. The 300 Winchester Magnum wins hand down for caliber and I could care less if the rifle is Ruger, Winchester, or Remington. I have a caveat here though. In thick stuff, like dense Elder, or Black Timber? The Marlin guide gun in 450 Marlin…
This was for North America, let the fireworks begin! 🙂
Those Oldies but Goody’s …
July 1, 2008I received this from my good friend TexasFred in the mail this morning. It is indeed and oldie, and a goody’s. Enjoy, or cry in your granola whichever fits…
I received this from my neighbor and fellow gun nut and thought it was really great, I am sending it email and will post on the blog as well, please feel free to send it out if you like, or use it on your blogs too…
Fred
The purpose of fighting is to win.
There is no possible victory in defense.
The sword is more important than the shield, and skill is more important than either.
The final weapon is the brain.
All else is supplemental.
1. Don’t pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he’ll just kill you.
2. If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck.
3. I carry a gun because a cop is too heavy.
4. When seconds count, the cops are just minutes away.
5. A reporter did a human-interest piece on the Texas Rangers. The reporter recognized the Colt Model 1911 the Ranger was carrying and asked him ‘Why do you carry a 45?’
The Ranger responded, ‘Because they don’t make a 46.’
6. An armed man will kill an unarmed man with monotonous regularity.
7. The old sheriff was attending an awards dinner when a lady commented on his wearing his sidearm. ‘Sheriff, I see you have your pistol. Are you expecting trouble?’
‘No Ma’am. If I were expecting trouble, I would have brought my rifle.’
8. Beware the man who only has one gun. HE PROBABLY KNOWS HOW TO USE IT!!!
But wait, there’s more!
I was once asked by a lady visiting if I had a gun in the house. I said I did.
She said ‘Well I certainly hope it isn’t loaded!’
To which I said, of course it is loaded, can’t work without bullets!’
She then asked, ‘Are you that afraid of some one evil coming into your house?’
My reply was, ‘No not at all. I am not afraid of the house catching fire either, but I have fire extinguishers around, and they are all loaded too.’
To which I’ll add, having a gun in the house that isn’t loaded is like having a car in the garage without gas in the tank.
I’m a firm believer of the 2nd Amendment! If you are too, please pass this around.
Liberty Library
June 30, 2008This is a resource that anyone concerned with Liberty should be able to utilize.
Liberty Library
Liberty Letters and The Center for Moral Liberalism’s goal is to pull together the premier liberty library on the internet, some of it eventually housed in Liberty Letters, the rest elsewhere, but all of it organized for your easy access right here on this page. Browse, bookmark, and spread the word to family, friends, and neighbors!
The Library
1. The Founders’ Constitution: Online library a joint project of Liberty Fund, Inc (who produced this five volume wonder, and the University of Chicago.
2. Liberty Library of Constitutional Classics: A project of Jon Roland’s Constitution Society. Filled with original full text source documents dating back to the 4th Century BC., all the way up through the founding era.
3. Political Sermons of the American Founding Era: 1730-1805, Foreword by Ellis Sandoz, from Liberty Fund. Vital, inspirational read for those who wish to witness for themselves the powerful influence of Judeo-Christian thought on inspiring and sustaining the American Revolution and the marvelous American Constitution that followed. These are actual sermons, in the original, given by religious ministers of the day.
Oldies but goodies
June 30, 2008Here are some old jokes, but too good too forget about:
Girls Bathroom
According to a news report, a certain private school in Washington
recently was faced with a unique problem. A number of 12-year-old girls
were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom. That
was fine, but after they put on their lipstick they would press their lips
to the mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints. Every night the
maintenance man would remove them and the next day the girls would put
them back.
Finally the principal decided that something had to be done! She called
all the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the maintenance man.
She explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for
the custodian who had to clean the mirrors every night. To demonstrate how
difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, she asked the maintenance man
to show the girls how much effort was required.
He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned
the mirror with it. Since then, there have been no lip prints on the
mirror.
There are teachers, and then, there are educators
Advanced in age, old Charlie’s hospital bed is surrounded by well-wishers,
but it doesn’t look good. Suddenly, he motions frantically to the pastor for
something to write on. The pastor lovingly hands him a pen and a piece of paper,
and Charlie, struggling to write, uses his last bit of energy to scribble a hasty note,
then flops back in bed and dies.
The pastor thinks it best not to look at the note right away being as everyone
The pastor thinks it best not to look at the note right away being as everyone
is in mourning,, so he places it in his jacket pocket..
At Charlie’s funeral, as the pastor is finishing his eulogy, he realizes he’s wearing
At Charlie’s funeral, as the pastor is finishing his eulogy, he realizes he’s wearing
the same jacket he was wearing when Charlie died at the hospital.
Thinking that this would be the perfect time to share Charlies last words of love
Thinking that this would be the perfect time to share Charlies last words of love
for his family and church, he announces…..
“Our dear brother, Charlie, handed me a note just before he died,” he says. “I
haven’t looked at it, but knowing Charlie, I’m sure there’s a word of inspiration in it
for us all.” ….and opening the note, he reads aloud,
“Move your foot, you idiot! You’re standing on my oxygen hose!”
Cowboy Boots
(Anyone who has ever dressed a child will love this one!)
Did you hear about the Texas teacher who was
helping one of her kindergarten students put
on his cowboy boots?
He asked for help and she could see why.
Even with her pulling and him pushing, the little
boots still didn’t want to go on. By the time they
got the second boot on, she had worked up a sweat.
She almost cried when the little boy said,
“Teacher, they’re on the wrong feet.”
She looked, and sure enough, they were.
It wasn’t any easier pulling the boots off than
it was putting them on. She managed to keep
her cool as together they worked to get the
boots back on, this time on the right feet.
He then announced, “….These aren’t my boots.”
She bit her tongue rather than get right in his face
and scream, “Why didn’t you say so?”, like she
wanted to. Once again, she struggled to help him
pull the ill-fitting boots off his little feet. No sooner
had they gotten the boots off when he said,
“They’re my brother’s boots. My Mom made me wear ’em.”
Now she didn’t know if she should laugh or cry.
But, she mustered up what grace and courage
she had left to wrestle the boots on his feet again.
Helping him into his coat, she asked,
“….Now, where are your mittens?”
He said, “I stuffed ’em in the toes of my boots.”
She will be eligible for parole in three years.
Click this link, then click on play arrow, this is hilarious:
The CU journalism school, ethics lost
June 30, 2008A sad era for the CU journalism school
Free Speech at the University of Colorado’s journalism school has died a sad death, suffering from a lack of outrage over the recent decision by campus leaders to impose politically correct and intellectually bankrupt censorship on student reporters there.
The Boulder campus has been in a tizzy for more than two months after Campus Press columnist Max Karson wrote a controversial satirical column titled “If It’s War They Want…” The piece, which included offensive references to Asian stereotypes, was memorable for two reasons. First, it was poorly written. And second, while Karson says he wrote the piece in an attempt to provoke dialogue on what he considers to be a racist campus, he failed to do so.
Instead, Karson’s column served to effectively bait CU’s liberal administration into censoring all student journalists. Campus Press editors were condemned as racist for failing to dump Karson’s column before it ran, diversity sessions were imposed on the Campus Press staff, and an inevitable investigation was commenced by Boulder Chancellor Bud Peterson.
All over a column. A poorly written column. By a kid who swears he’s not a racist.
After weeks of reflection, Peterson has now decided just exactly what CU’s response will be. In a column published in the Colorado Daily, an independent newspaper, Peterson outlined four specific responses to the column.
The most notable is the first response. According to Peterson, CU is investigating whether Karson’s column violated Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, a provision that specifically prohibits federally-funded institutions like CU from discriminated against protected classes, including race and sex.
Apparently, Peterson has never heard of the First Amendment, which clearly protects political speech—even bad political satire.
Predictably, diversity activists are also using this controversy as an opportunity to divert more funding to campus diversity efforts – already pegged at over $30 million annually. According to Peterson, CU’s second response includes “additional funding for programs and scholarships, a broadened focus on diversity and quick administrative action when a racist incident occurs.”
Third, Peterson also announced the creation of a Campus Press oversight board that will include “not only journalism faculty but also non-journalism students, faculty and administrators representing a broad diversity of campus interests.” In other words, students can’t be trusted to use the First Amendment without the guidance of diversity activists indoctrinating them at every step.
In addition, Campus Press editors will have a new opinion policy that states in part “that all opinions deemed controversial will be discussed by student editors who will strive to offset controversial opinions with a counter opinion published the same day on the same page.”
How exactly is an opinion column “deemed controversial”? Perhaps Peterson meant to say “unpopular.”
According to Journalism Dean Paul Voakes, the efforts are not meant to censor student reporters. The oversight panel, he claims, will merely offer suggestions and insights from people about how to make Campus Press more successful. We wish we could believe him.
As it stands, the Campus Press is a disgrace of a student newspaper even without this latest controversy. Once published weekly, and now only available online, the publication as currently organized does little to prepare students for the real of work of journalism. The Colorado Daily, once the school’s student rag, moved off campus decades ago amidst controversy over its editorial independence and continues to serve as the Boulder campus’ de facto newspaper.
Any of the four responses advocated by Peterson are a step in the wrong direction. Taken collectively, however, they create a devastating chilling effect in the one place on campus where free speech should be most sacred.
Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter
June 30, 2008Ritter’s arrogance, undeterred
Filed Under: General Assembly, State Government, Taxes
Topics: Bill Ritter, Christina Habas, Independence Institute, Jon Caldara, Mary Mullarkey, TABOR
June 2, 2008
Face The State Staff Editorial
Give credit where credit is due. Gov. Bill Ritter is gutsy these days. Even after having a controversial tax increase he championed slapped down in district court as unconstitutional, he remains undeterred. The Governor will use your tax dollars to backfill his endless promises to taxpayers.
On Friday, Denver District Judge Christina Habas sent shock waves throughout Colorado when she ruled that Ritter’s 2007 tax “freeze”, passed into law by the state’s Democrat legislators and which raised $118 million in revenue this year alone, amounted to an unconstitutional tax increase. Under Colorado law, all tax increases must be approved by voters, not simply adopted by a majority of state legislators. Ritter’s plan, according to Habas’s reasoned ruling, was a tax increase.
Ritter has only been emboldened, telling The Denver Post, “We’re still confident in our position here, we really are…We understand this is in greater flux than it was, but we have to still go forward and budget with what we believe will be in place.”
In other words, Ritter is banking on the likelihood of the Colorado Supreme Court to overturn Habas’s ruling on appeal. And maybe he’ll win his gamble with a notoriously liberal high court. (Last month, under the direction of Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey, the court issued an opinion that gives unions free reign to ignore important coordination prohibitions under Colorado’s campaign finance laws).
Conservative Libertarian Outpost 