3/22/08 note:

Since commissioners are elected at large in the county, It looks like the petition requirements are too high of a threshold for Schroeder, Neumann or Thayer to petition on to the primary ballot.  It looks like Valdez wouldn’t need so many signatures to petition on, however, he’d have to do so as something other than a Republican or Democrat.  So, it’s probably safe to assume that Schwab and Goetz will sit two of the commissioners seats, and it’s still a horse race between Wyer, Shipper, and Thomasson for the third seat.  Andy’s a nice enough guy, probably not enough executive skill for me.  Shipper, former lobbyist, probably too hooked up for me.  Thomasson, all about transparency, will he remain so once he’s on the inside?  Perhaps we shall see.  

Now here’s what we like to see in Elbert County, good ol’ fashioned objective reporting. A tip of the hat to Gary Begin of the West Elbert County Sun, Thursday, 3/6/2008, page 5.

I still want to see the Democrats do well in Elbert County this political season because that’s the only way to get the Left out of the Elbert County Republican Party and back home in the Democratic Party where they belong. If the Republicans keep winning everything around here the Left will just continue their masquerade.

But while it’s no secret that deep in the heart of most Democrats you’ll find a firmly rooted prejudice that sees Republicans as stupid morons, the Democrats will do much better in November if they at least appear to treat their opponents as legitimate.

Also, memo to Editor Hill, western Elbert County already has a one-trick-pony fish wrap where Democrats can find their weekly fix of anti-commissioner, anti-growth, anti-development, and pro-intrusive-government mantras. Please consider taking the West Elbert County Sun in a more constructive direction.

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Leaving Mr. Schroeder’s problems aside, the leftist big-government pro-tax wing of the Elbert County Republican party does at least as much damage to Republican ideals.  End the corrupt caucus system.

Principles shouldn’t be so inflexible that strict adherence elevates a worse alternative.

Far right may get what it deserves – Clinton

At some age, mere survival usually brings a certain enlightenment. You come to know when something emanates from the south end of a northbound bull. You know the difference between what works and what looks good. You’ve learned the fine line between art and crap. You know to judge ideas by their predictive value, not by how seductive they seem. At a certain age, you know, or should know these things.

Next Tuesday, February 5^th, Coloradoans are supposed to bring this sort of experience to their political caucuses to make decisions about representatives and issues. [Read more…]

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From: B.I. [mailto:brooks@forethought.net]
To: jh@adapt-a-life.com; Andraija@aol.com

J.H.

Thank you for making my point about “self-selected.”

Brooks [Read more…]

The Last King of Java
Indonesia ‘s former president offers a model of Muslim tolerance

BY BRET STEPHENS
JAKARTA, Indonesia–Suppose for a moment that the single most influential religious leader in the Muslim world openly says “I am for Israel.” Suppose he believes not only in democracy but in the liberalism of America’s founding fathers. Suppose that, unlike so many self-described moderate Muslims who say one thing in English and another in their native language, his message never alters. Suppose this, and you might feel as if you’ve descended into Neocon Neverland.

In fact, you have arrived in Jakarta and are sitting in the small office of an almost totally blind man of 66 named Abdurrahman Wahid. A former president of Indonesia, he is the spiritual leader of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), an Islamic organization of some 40 million members. Indonesians know him universally as Gus Dur, a title of affection and respect for this descendant of Javanese kings. In the U.S. and Europe he is barely spoken of at all–which is both odd and unfortunate, seeing as he is easily the most important ally the West has in the ideological struggle against Islamic radicalism.

Conversation begins with some old memories. In the early 1960s, Mr. Wahid, whose paternal grandfather founded the NU in 1926 and whose father was Indonesia’s first minister of religious affairs, won a scholarship to Al-Azhar University in Cairo, which for 1,000 years had been Sunni Islam’s premier institution of higher learning. Mr. Wahid hated it. [Read more…]

Tom Tancredo Radio ad 1

Tom Tancredo Radio ad 2

TRW, October 07

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TRW, August 07

“Elbert County does not have a sales tax, but our commissioners will ask for one in November. Their reasoning is that the Elbert County Road and Bridge Department needs the money to, you guessed it, repair and maintain Elbert’s woeful system of roads. Unfortunately, the board of county commissioners is the very group that has been shifting money out of the road and bridge department for other projects that caused gross deficiencies in the first place. In what can only be described as a move that demonstrates shortsightedness, Elbert’s commissioners say that if the tax increase passes, all of the money will be earmarked for road and bridge. Before you start calling us hypocrites, understand that if this money is put toward that department, there is no way to get it back into the general fund without breaking the law. Lord knows the road and bridge department is a deserving group, but it is irresponsible to put all of the money from a tax increase into a place where the money can’t be used when emergencies occur. We do have emergencies from time to time.”

However you parse it, the lure of public money overcame their disdain for the BOCC.

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Switching party affiliations –after an election– to the majority side says more about Stafford than it does about Republicans.  It says when the going gets tough, Debbie hits the road.  It says her many years in a party she fundamentally disagreed with were disingenuous and a fraud.  It says her loyalty takes a back seat to opportunism.  None of these conclusions seem to warrant the euphoria on Democrat blogs, web sites and newspapers over this news.

RE:   TRW 10/11/07 a     TRW 10/11/07 b

After you get through the repetition from the wisdom of former commissioner Dunn and the TRW=judge&jury legal conclusions about alleged open meetings violations, you get to this moral point, “[T]he public trust — your trust — must always be considered as the paramount responsibility of elected officials.”  And, “Trust of the people should trump the convenience of the commissioners.”

 In principle these are good ideas, however, in the context of the TRW’s weekly ECN attacks on the BOCC, treating them as whipping boys and girls for their leftist agenda, and considering the virtual certainty that no matter what the BOCC did, the beatings would continue (because the BOCC are not leftists and never will be,) these moral arguments ring as hollow as the pumpkins on my front porch.

You never have to look long to find the 800 lb. gorilla in the TRW’s living room.

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RE: “The agenda for the September 12, 2007 meeting of the BOCC did not mention that this item would be brought forward.”

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 In reviewing many BOCC agendas, it appears the same disclaimer given in the 9/12/07 agenda is routinely given, and it also seems that the subject matter under “County Attorney” sections is never disclosed ahead of time.  This begs the question of why Abe21 suddenly chose to take offense over a standard protocol.  Also, why did they not approach the BOCC to change the agenda protocol?  That would have been the constructive thing to do if they were really interested in contributing to “a better Elbert.”