Category: Stupid Republicans

Activism, Consumer advocacy, Deplorables, Economics, Elections, Embarrassing Republicans, Fake patriotism, Janet Rowland, politics, Public health, Ray Scott, Republican incompetence, Stupid Republicans

Incumbent Mesa County Commissioners unilaterally failing to address Coronavirus pandemic

by Anne Landman • April 22, 2020 • 0 Comments

Guest post by Dennis Simpson, CPA, reposted with permission from his “Transparency in Mesa County” Facebook page

Mesa County Commissioner Scott McInnis

The Mesa County Commissioners have been totally silent on the impact the COVID-19 crisis will have on the County’s ability to deliver basic services to residents during the many months before our economy returns to normal. Rather than buckling down and addressing the tough financial questions, they meet weekly to hear updates from County staff and to whine about just how terrible the Governor is. There is nothing wrong with these two activities. Staff needs to know the bosses support them. Complaining about what happens in Denver is a waste of time but it apparently makes them feel important.

The problem is not with what they are doing, it is about what they are not doing. There has been no discussion of the impact on the County’s reserve balances. They should be trying to get ahead of pending financial hit by reviewing numerous projections based on different assumptions of just how bad things are going to get. The development of the various assumptions and the results of each needs to be done by someone with demonstrated skills and the ability to simplify what they do so the Commissioners can understand their options. In my opinion, none of the current staff have these abilities. They need to seek help from outside the organization.

Commissioner candidate Rowland continues to undermine public health efforts to contain Coronavirus

by Anne Landman • April 16, 2020 • 7 Comments

Janet Rowland, a repeat candidate for Mesa County Commissioner in District 3 (the east side of the valley), continues to misunderstand how epidemiology works, and as a result is continuing to buck public health authorities’ desperate efforts to reduce the spread of the deadly Coronavirus in Mesa County.

Rowland has been agitating against the ongoing physical distancing measures and temporary shutdown of non-essential businesses that is the only tool available to check the spread of the new and highly communicable virus.

Today Rowland changed the profile picture on one of her Facebook pages to the following:

County Commissioner Candidate Janet Rowland endangers public health with misleading, Q-Anon-linked posts on social media

by Anne Landman • April 14, 2020 • 4 Comments

Rowland posted this article from a media outlet based in Luxembourg to support her view that there is no significant risk of catching Coronavirus from grocery shopping. The findings of the German doctor cited in this article have not been published in any peer-reviewed journal. Meanwhile, least 30 grocery workers in the U.S. have died from Coronavirus so far. 3,000 more are out sick with coronavirus symptoms.

Mesa County Commissioner candidate Janet Rowland (R) has been posting misleading information about Coronavirus on her campaign Facebook page that is linked to the nutty beliefs of the conspiracy theory QAnon, and that contradict the messaging of public health authorities telling people what they need to do to stay safe and minimize spread of the deadly Coronavirus.

Western slopers who fail to grasp danger of Coronavirus are threatening public health

by Anne Landman • April 10, 2020 • 11 Comments

Post on the Grand Junction Community Message Board on Facebook yesterday by Anita Heffalump, who has since changed her name on Facebook to “Anita Hippogriff”

Local resident Anita Heffalump alarmed members of the community yesterday by posting an event on the Grand Junction Community Message Board Facebook page that urged people to physically gather to protest public health authorities’ stay-at-home order aimed at protecting people from the pandemic spread of COVID-19, the deadly disease caused by Coronavirus.

Coronavirus currently has no no treatment, no cure, no immunization available to prevent it, and is killing people throughout the globe at an alarming rate. The only tool available to reduce transmission of the new virus and save lives during the pandemic is to distance ourselves from each other by staying home as much as possible.

In our most desperate time of need, America has a completely self-obsessed idiot for a president. Thanks, Republicans.

by Anne Landman • April 6, 2020 • 6 Comments

Above this post is a tweet that the President of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump, actually posted this morning at 9:34 a.m. east coast time.

President Trump posted this tweet as thousands of Americans across the country are dying from a deadly Coronavirus pandemic with no end in sight. He posted this amid anguished cries from the governors of all 50 states and territories that their hospitals are lacking enough basic necessities, like beds, ventilators, medication and personal protective equipment, to treat the onslaught of Coronavirus victims arriving at their doors. Trump posted this shortly after a makeshift intensive care ward was constructed in New York’s Central Park to accommodate the huge number of sick people pouring into hospitals. Trump posted this as the pandemic has almost completely disabled not just America’s economy, but the world economy.

Trump posted this on a morning when America’s national news headlines read:

Pentagon asked to provide 85 refrigerated trucks, 100K body bags for coronavirus response, ABC News

Temporary Burials Possible for COVID-19 Victims, But NYC Park Trenches Plan Denied, NBC 4 New York

“Hospitals Run Low on Supplies as the U.S. Death Toll Nears 10,000,” New York Times

“At war with no ammo: Doctors say shortage of protective gear is dire,” New York Times

U.S. death toll surpasses 10,000, CBS News

El Paso County GOP pushes out their leader after she publicly suggests Coronavirus pandemic is a hoax

by Anne Landman • April 4, 2020 • 1 Comment

El Paso County Republican Party chairwoman’s wacky, insensitive Facebook post that led to her quick removal.

There may be hope for Colorado’s Republican Party, at least in El Paso County.

El Paso County elected Republicans took immediate steps to remove their party’s chairwoman after she published an insensitive Facebook post that suggested the Coronavirus pandemic is a hoax.

Ray Scott trounced in Republican Assembly

by Anne Landman • March 29, 2020 • 1 Comment

Ray Scott

Republican State Senator Ray Scott got only 107 out of 349 total delegate votes cast for County Commissioner in yesterday’s Mesa County Republican Assembly. Scott, who is running for the District 1 commissioner seat, is seeking to abandon his state senate seat halfway through his term and seize the job of County Commissioner instead, which would pay him three times as much ($30k vs. $90k/ year).

Scott got crushed at the assembly by Cody Davis, former chair of the Grand Valley Drainage District, who won 231 votes. Even with that miserable result, though, Scott will still be able to appear on the primary ballot in June.

Mesa County Clerk stumbles onto 500+ uncounted ballots from 2019 city/county election

by Anne Landman • February 20, 2020 • 6 Comments

Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who was elected despite having zero experience as a government clerk.

The Daily Sentinel reports that when Mesa County Clerk employees went out to collect the early Democratic primary election ballots from the silver box in front of the County building downtown, they found more than 500 ballots from last year’s election sitting inside, unopened and uncounted.

I hate to say it, but…

I told you so.

Back in June, 2018 I wrote a blog about the candidates running for County Clerk that year. I pointed out that Tina Peters had absolutely zero experience in the clerk’s office, while the other candidate, Bobbie Gross, was a ten year veteran of the County Clerk’s office in charge of the entire DMV and its employees, had co-directed the 2016 presidential election in Mesa County, was a Certified Elections Official and was about to become a Certified National Elections Administrator by the end of 2018.

The choice was clear.

“The Day Democracy Died,” sung by our Founding Fathers

by Anne Landman • February 15, 2020 • 2 Comments

A lesson for every western slope voter.

Crazy Republicans, Democracy, Economics, Embarrassing Republicans, Fake patriotism, Liberals, Lies, politics, Stupid Republicans

Socialism is already here and we love it

by Anne Landman • February 13, 2020 • 141 Comments

Republicans fought socialistic programs put in place by Democrats, that Americans now love and depend on, like Social Security, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act.

Many people fear socialism, but that’s because they misunderstand what it actually is.

Democratic socialism already exists at all levels of our government, and not only do we love it, we can’t do without it and when it’s threatened, we even fight tooth and nail to keep it.

In the U.S., we collectively tax ourselves to pay for programs and projects that benefit quality of life for society as a whole. That’s a form of socialism, and it’s how we live.

Examples of socialism are:

Modern-day Republicans oppose progress

by Anne Landman • February 9, 2020 • 1 Comment

Results of a news quiz printed in today’s Daily Sentinel demonstrates the backwards thinking that is the hallmark of conservative, right-wing Republicans.

A short blurb in the Sunday, Feb. 8, 2020 Daily Sentinel offers a lesson on why Republicans are such harmful elected officials.

The Sentinel has a regular weekly news quiz on Fridays, and gives the results in the following Sunday paper. An item today stood out for what it demonstrates about the ramifications of conservative Republican views not just for the western slope, but for society.

History shows that if Republicans had their way in the last century, most of America wouldn’t have electricity.

Despite overwhelming evidence of the President’s guilt, CO Sen. Cory Gardner votes to acquit him

by Anne Landman • February 5, 2020 • 11 Comments

Republican Cory Gardner voted to protect Trump, who was documented to have violated U.S. law, from removal from office.

Colorado’s Republican Senator Cory Gardner voted this afternoon to acquit President Trump of the high crimes of obstructing Congress and abusing the power of his office, even though House Representatives presented overwhelming evidence during the impeachment trial that the President was guilty on both charges. A vote of two thirds of the Senate was required to convict the President. With the exception of a single Republican vote by Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, who voted to remove the President, the vote was divided along party lines.

The House accused the President of withholding taxpayer funds destined for Ukraine in an attempt to force Ukraine to announce fake investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden — a move that Trump envisioned would advantage him in the 2020 elections — and of blocking Congress from accessing witnesses and documents pertinent to the President’s actions.

GAO concluded Trump broke the law

Rick Wagner’s column illustrates problems with conservative thought

by Anne Landman • October 16, 2019 • 1 Comment

Rick Wagner’s column in the October 16, 2019 issue of the Daily Sentinel

In his column in the 10/16/2019 issue of the Daily Sentinel, local lawyer and perennially annoying right-wing political columnist Rick Wagner asks why Proposition CC on the current ballot is identified using double letters. “Have we run through the alphabet once already?” Wagner guesses, apparently attempting to infer something negative about the state ballot. He doesn’t answer the question, and is content to not to find out the real answer.

This demonstrates a common problem with right wing argumentation: They are an incurious bunch and think information doesn’t matter. Don’t know something? Gloss over it, make a joke, make some incorrect innuendo. No one cares, no big deal.

Wagner thinks his readers should just take his word for whatever he says.

State Senator Ray Scott cites full-on wacko nutbag source in tweet on climate change

by Anne Landman • September 18, 2019 • 2 Comments

Ray Scott’s September 17, 2019 tweet citing NaturalNews.com, a conspiracy-theorist website that rivals InfoWars

One of the most dangerous things about Colorado State Senator Ray Scott is that he can’t tell the difference between credible sources, authoritative sources of information and paid promotional research or websites known for trading in wacky conspiracy-theories.

Case in point: On September 17, 2019 Senator Scott posted a tweet saying “NASA admits that climate change occurs because of changes in Earth’s solar orbit, and NOT because of SUVs and fossil fuels.” To support this claim, Scott cites an article published by a website called “NaturalNews.com.”

So… what’s the problem?

NaturalNews.com is not anywhere close to being legitimate scientific website. In fact, it’s the polar opposite. It is described as “a conspiracy theory and fake news website” that hawks dietary supplements, promotes alternative medicine,” makes “tendentious nutrition and health claims,” promotes “fake news, and espouses various conspiracy theories.” NaturalNews.com is as far from an authoritative, legitimate science-based website as you can get.

Sen. Ray Scott’s tweet opposes progress and planning for future

by Anne Landman • September 14, 2019 • 1 Comment

Ray Scott’s tweet lamenting planning for the future, and indicating he can’t wait for such folly to end

Is Republican State Senator Ray Scott concerned about Colorado’s economy and workforce?

It sure doesn’t look like it, judging from his twitter feed.

On September 4, Scott posted a tweet that said “2022 an’t come fast enough.” It was his response to an announcement that Governor Polis had just created a new government office to deal with pressing new problems facing Colorado’s workforce. Scott’s tweet referred to the year when Governor Polis’s first term in office will be over.

Sen. Scott tweeted his disdain Governor Polis’ newly-created “Office for the Future of Work,” announced September 4.

Sen. Scott either 1) failed to investigate the need for this office, or he 2) doesn’t care what’s going to happen to Colorado workers in the near future if we fail to plan for coming trends.

State Senator Ray Scott lied to the Daily Sentinel about social media blocking case

by Anne Landman • September 1, 2019 • 1 Comment

Full disclosure: I was the plaintiff in the lawsuit that the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado brought against State Senator Ray Scott for blocking constituents from his official social media accounts.

On August 31, 2019 the Daily Sentinel printed an article about the settlement we reached in the case.

Had the Sentinel contacted me for this article, I would have let them know that Ray Scott lied to them about several specific pieces of information regarding the case.

Ray Scott’s first lie:

Scott told the Sentinel that he blocked people from his social media accounts “only if someone posted a profane or inappropriate comment.”

That is absolutely false.

Court Settlement: State Senator Ray Scott must unblock constituents from his social media

by Anne Landman • August 30, 2019 • 2 Comments

Senator Ray Scott blocked and banned constituents from his social media accounts simply for disagreeing with him on his policies. Then he got sued.

Every elected official in Colorado is now on notice: you cannot block constituents from your official social media accounts because they don’t agree with your point of view. If you do, you’re breaking the law.

ACLU of Colorado announced a settlement (pdf) today on behalf of Anne Landman, a constituent who State Senator Ray Scott blocked from his official social media accounts in 2017 after she was publicly critical of several of his policy positions. As a result of the lawsuit, Scott has now unblocked Landman and must refrain from censoring anyone else with critical viewpoints from his social media accounts as a Senator, or in any future elected position.

“The overwhelming majority of cases has made very clear that the official social media pages of public officials, like Senator Scott’s, are public forums where individual’s speech is constitutionally protected,” said ACLU Staff Attorney Sara Neel. “Recognizing this, Senator Scott has agreed to unblock all users from his social media pages and will not block anyone else in the future based on viewpoint.”

Beware electing Janet Rowland as county commissioner again

by Anne Landman • August 24, 2019 • 14 Comments

Former County Commissioner Janet Rowland (January 2005 – January 2013) once compared same-sex marriage to bestiality on a state-wide talk show, drawing condemnation from around the nation.

Janet Rowland is running for Mesa County Commissioner.

Yes, again.

She’s already been a Mesa County Commissioner — from January, 2005 to January, 2013 — but that doesn’t mean her being commissioner again is a good idea. It arguably is not a good idea. From her previous two terms, we have an abundance of experience with her and know what is in store if Janet Rowland gets another chance to be Commissioner.

So let’s take a look at the past and see what it tells us.

Morally and ethically challenged

Certainly Janet has done some good things through her career, like trying to address child abuse and finding homes for foster kids. While those endeavors are laudable, we also need to take into account all the things she’s done that have set a poor example for kids, and our entire community and that have harmed the County.

Plagiarism

Shortly after losing statewide election for lieutenant governor as Bob Beauprez’s running mate in 2006, and while she was previously Mesa County Commissioner, Janet was a guest columnist for the Grand Junction Free Press, at the time a competing newspaper to the Daily Sentinel. She wrote several articles for the Free Press until one day a sharp reader noticed Janet had lifted most of one of her columns word for word from a government-published pamphlet, and brought this information to the attention of the Free Press’s editor.

Feb. 3, 2007 column in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel about Janet Rowland plagiarizing a guest column she wrote for the G.J. Free Press.

The Daily Sentinel reported on Rowland’s plagiarism on February 3, 2007:

A Mesa County official has plagiarized a government substance abuse booklet in her two most recent columns in the Grand Junction Free Press, that newspaper’s editor confirmed Friday.

The majority of Mesa County Commissioner Janet Rowland’s Feb. 1 column in the Free Press, titled “The importance of a strong parent-child bond,” was lifted verbatim from a 2006 National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism publication titled, “Making a Difference: Talk to Your Teen About Alcohol.”

A reading of Rowland’s unattributed column and the text of the booklet revealed the two are virtually identical. The only differences were found in the column’s first sentence and its lead into several bullet points.

The editor said if Rowland had been a staff writer, she probably would have been fired.

Janet’s first reaction to the plagiarism charge was to claim she couldn’t even remember writing the columns. (Denial.) When that failed to tamp down the controversy, she next said the information she used in her columns had been intended for “mass duplication anyhow,” adding that if people wanted to make what she did out as something evil, that was THEIR prerogative. (Sour grapes.) Next, she blamed the plagiarism on others, saying she had included the necessary attributions in her column, but Free Press staff had edited them out. (Lying and blaming.) Free Press management quickly produced the emails that contained the articles exactly as they had received them from Janet for publication, showing that they contained no references or attributions.

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