Tag: Cringeworthy

Conspiracy theories, Crazy Republicans, Cringeworthy, Embarrassing Republicans, Ethics, Extremism, Generic idiocy, Janet Rowland, Lies, Public health, Republican lies

Red Alert: Janet Rowland appointed to the Mesa County Board of Public Health

by Anne Landman • April 26, 2023 • 27 Comments

Janet Rowland probably did the most damage to current vaccination efforts through her campaign last year where she denigrated masking and embraced Q-Anon conspiracy theories about Covid-19.

Updated 5/6/23 to reflect support for the REOPEN movement by the violent, seditious hate group The Proud Boys, anti-vaxxers and conspiracy theorists, and the homophobic comments Rowland made on a statewide political TV show in 2006.

In a move akin to appointing an arsonist as fire chief, Mesa County Commissioners Cody Davis and Bobbie Daniel appointed Commissioner Janet Rowland to the Mesa County Board of Public Health yesterday, Tuesday, April 25.

Rowland has been an outspoken enemy of public health for years.

She fought Covid-19 precautions before vaccines were available and disseminated disinformation about the virus that was linked to QAnon. Her social media posts promoted the notion that Covid-19 was no more deadly than the flu. She said things on social media about the virus that contradicted public health messages instructing people in how to stay safe and reduce spread of what was then a largely deadly virus.

Tina Peters falsely implies on Joe Oltmann show that the Mesa County D.A. murdered the brothers of two witnesses against her

by Anne Landman • February 4, 2023 • 8 Comments

This article was authored by Erik Maulbetsch and originally appeared 2/2/23 in the Colorado Times Recorder.

Tina Peters’ mugshot from her arrest on 3/9/2022

Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters took her conspiracy promotion to a new level this week when she implied that law enforcement murdered two family members of her former staff members in order to compel them to testify against her.

Appearing on Joe Oltmann’s far-right podcast, Peters falsely stated that the brothers of her former deputy Belinda Knisley and staffer Sandra Brown were both killed in separate unsolved hit-and-run accidents prior to the Mesa District Attorney offering them plea deals in exchange for their testimony.

Boebert draws ridicule of western Colorado on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert

by Anne Landman • February 3, 2023 • 8 Comments

Colorado House Rep. Lauren Boebert’s joke portraying her district as a redneck hillbilly paradise drew embarrassment to western Colorado nationally on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert in Colbert’s monologue on February 2, 2023. The Late Show is broadcast nationally.

Tina Peters is back begging people for money, this time on a Christian crowdfunding website

by Anne Landman • February 1, 2023 • 3 Comments

Tina’s new crowdfunding campaign on GiveSendGo, which has become a favorite fundraising site for far-right extremist groups like QAnon, the Proud Boys and anti-vaccine groups, which have been banned from GoFund Me.

Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters is at it again, begging people to send her money while she awaits trials in March on obstruction charges (for recording in a courtroom and kicking a cop) and on multiple felony charges related to her election tampering.

Now Tina is using a free Christian crowdfunding website called GiveSendGo.com, that was originally created with the idea of helping religious people raise money for missions. GiveSendGo’s website says the “reason we started GiveSendGo” was “to share the Hope of Jesus through crowdfunding with everyone who comes to our platform.”

Former G.J. Chamber of Commerce CEO Diane Schwenke to run for G.J. City Council

by Anne Landman • January 1, 2023 • 24 Comments

Longtime Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce President Diane Schwenke

The former longtime CEO of the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce, Diane Schwenke, has announced she will be running for the at-large seat on Grand Junction City Council in 2023.

Yes, THAT Diane Schwenke.

The one who endorsed convicted felony embezzler Steve King for state Senate in 2012.

The one who endorsed Ray Scott as a replacement for convicted felon Steve King. In 2018, Scott double-billed both his legislative and campaign expense accounts for over $1,000 in Uber rides, effectively doubling his personal reimbursements. He was also sued by the ACLU for blocking constituents from his official social media accounts, costing taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars.

The same Diane Schwenke who endorsed Laura Bradford for Colorado House of Representatives in 2012. Bradford was pulled over by Denver police for driving under the influence of alcohol during her first and only term in the House. She quit after that term.

The same Diane Schwenke who endorsed Rose Pugliese for County Commissioner. Pugliese worked to kill the Riverfront Trail System by gutting all funding for it, circulated a petition to force D-51 teachers to stop teaching kids about climate change, and also stumped for the disastrous Tina Peters to be elected County Clerk.

Rep. Lauren Boebert calls women “the lesser vessel,” says women need masculinity to balance their weakness & frailty

by Anne Landman • October 23, 2022 • 12 Comments

In an interview with conservative comedian Brad Stine October 17, Republican Colorado CD-3 House Rep. Lauren Boebert called women “the lesser vessel” compared to men and said women need masculinity to balance their weakness and frailty.

Boebert is supporter of the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and an election denier who believes there was fraud in the 2020 election.

This clip of her comment about the weakness of women was posted on the Twitter account of Patriot Takes on October 22, 2022.

Boebert is running against Adam Frisch.

Conspiracy theories, Crazy Republicans, Cringeworthy, Dangerous Republicans, Election deniers, Embarrassing Republicans, Ethics, Extremism, Lies, Republican lies, Scams, Tina Peters

Tina Peters is lying to audience after audience about her divorce: “They took away my husband…these people are criminals.”

by Anne Landman • August 8, 2022 • 9 Comments

Tina Peters repeatedly tells a sad story in interviews and at conferences that she would have been married to her husband for 36 years by now if only Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein and the FBI hadn’t gone into a Grand Junction nursing home and forced her husband Tom, who she says has “advanced dementia,” to sign divorce papers dissolving their marriage. She tells this story sometimes angrily, and sometimes tearfully, dabbing at her eyes, sniffing and sounding like she’s about to cry. She says the story is evidence of a coordinated plot being carried out against her by a cabal of high-level Democrats who are intentionally harassing her and trying to silence her because of what she’s supposedly revealed about election fraud here in Mesa County. The cabal consists of D.A. Rubinstein, his “criminal” investigators, the FBI, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, wealthy financier George Soros and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Like Enstrom Candies? You might want to re-think that. They’re one of Boebert’s biggest donors.

by Anne Landman • May 15, 2022 • 10 Comments

Enstrom Candies is Lauren Boebert’s 4th biggest donor. Source: OpenSecrets.org

How OpenSecrets.org computes donations from an entity.

GovTrack officially lists Colorado House Representative Lauren Boebert as a participant in the January 6th, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters. She has had zero accomplishments while in office. Instead, to cover that up, she lied to her constituents and took credit for

Enstrom Candies, a favorite coffee shop, ice cream shop and candy factory in downtown Grand Junction, is Boebert’s 4th biggest donor

accomplishments achieved by Democrats. She supports Putin and Russia with her votes. She embarrassed all of Colorado with her shocking outbursts at the 2021 State of the Union address by President Biden, shouting out loud at him while he was talking about his deceased son. She openly insulted a group of Jews who were visiting the U.S. Capitol. She made homophobic comments about Transportation Secretary Pete Butigieg about his taking parental leave to care for his two newborn twins. Boebert made bigoted jokes to intentionally disparage a Democratic colleague. She challenged a wheelchair-bound House colleague to a sprint. She mocked the death of a 42 year old cinematographer who was accidentally killed on the set of a movie by a firearm. Boebert wants government to take orders from the church. She has openly promoted the white supremacist myth of “replacement theory” that is leading to more mass shootings in the U.S. She voted against a bill to help Americans get easier access to baby formula.

Convicted felon Rod Blagojevich to headline campaign fundraiser for indicted Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters

by Anne Landman • May 5, 2022 • 11 Comments

Kyle Clark of 9News in Denver reported yesterday (video) that convicted felon Rod Blagojevich will headline a Saturday, May 14, 2022 fundraiser for indicted Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters‘ campaign for secretary of state. The fundraiser will be held at Dunafon Castle, a wedding venue in Lakewood, Colorado owned by Debbie and Mike Dunafon, who also own Shotgun Willie’s strip club in Glendale, Colorado. The Dunafons are hosting the fundraiser. The cost to rent the venue on a Saturday for a group of up to 150 people is $9,400.00.

Tina Peters claims she was “framed” with the ballots left in the ballot box from the 2019 election

by Anne Landman • March 4, 2022 • 1 Comment

Speaking to members of the Jefferson County Republican Men’s Club on February 21, 2022 (video), Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters claimed that she was “framed” when election workers found “429 ballots” uncollected in a ballot box from the 2019 election.

The ballots were discovered when election workers went to empty the box for the 2020 election, but Peters refused to petition a judge to open and count them and include them in the final vote tally from the 2019 election. In her talk, Peters also got the number of uncounted ballots wrong. 574 ballots were discovered left in the ballot box, not 429.

Peters claimed without evidence that “they stuffed the ballot box with 479 ballots” in order to “take over my office” and said it was part of an effort to “take over the western slope.”

Rep. Boebert embarrasses western Colorado again with shocking outburst at State of the Union

by Anne Landman • March 3, 2022 • 15 Comments

Colorado House Rep. Lauren Boebert once again roundly embarrassed her western Colorado constituents nationally with her continuing over-the-top bad behavior, this time by shouting at President Biden during his first State of the Union speech on March 1 as he began to talk about his deceased son, Beau, who died at age 46 from brain cancer in 2015. Biden raised the issue of members of the military who, like his son, had “ended up in flag-draped coffins” after being exposed to toxic burn pits in the military. As Biden mentioned the soldiers who had died, Boebert yelled out “You put them there. Thirteen of them!” apparently referencing the explosion carried out by an Isis bomber at the Kabul Airport in Afghanistan last August that killed 13 American service members.

It’s time to admit something’s wrong with Tina

by Anne Landman • February 22, 2022 • 18 Comments

Embattled election conspiracy theorist Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters grins proudly for her mug shot taken upon her arrest on 2/10/2022

Lots of people have been saying it under their breath, but no one has come out and said it publicly. Mostly people have just gotten angry at Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters for her increasingly strange behavior, but maybe it’s time to start pitying Tina.

We can all agree that Tina’s behavior has been very far outside what is considered normal for an elected county clerk:

Normal clerks don’t compromise their own election equipment. They don’t flee the state on private jets, spend weeks hiding in safe houses in secret locations around the country or accept largesse from multi-millionaires to promote wacky election conspiracy theories. Normal clerks don’t blow off their obligation as clerks (pdf) to get certified to run elections as the state requires. Normal clerks don’t proclaim that the candidates who won an election shouldn’t have won because they were the wrong people to win. Normal county clerks don’t get their homes raided by the FBI.

Rep. Boebert openly insults Jews visiting the U.S. Capitol

by Anne Landman • January 22, 2022 • 6 Comments

Boebert, grinning while wearing a T-shirt that makes fun of the tragic death of 41 year old cinematographer Halayna Hutchins, who was accidentally shot by a prop gun held by actor Alec Baldwin, who was rehearsing a scene that required the gun. Baldwin called Boebert’s wearing of this shirt “unconscionable.”

News outlets are reporting on an incident that occurred at the U.S. Capitol in which Colorado House Rep. Lauren Boebert, while exiting an elevator, saw a group of Jews who were visiting the Capitol. The person leading the group was an orthodox Jew with a traditional beard, the others were wearing yarmulkes and some were rabbis. The group was there to meet with Rep. Thomas Suozzi (D-NY).

Reports say that upon seeing the group, Boebert looked them up and down and asked aloud if they were there to “do reconnaissance.”

The question left the group confused.

When news outlets questioned Rep. Boebert about the incident, she responded by text that she was making a joke:

“I saw a large group and made a joke. Sadly when Democrats see the same they demonize my family for a year straight.”

She added that she was too short to see yarmulkes on people’s heads.

New lawsuit poses even more trouble for Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters

by Anne Landman • January 20, 2022 • 15 Comments

Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters

A new lawsuit (pdf) filed December 23, 2021 against Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters by her former husband, Thomas M. Peters, involving a dispute over property ownership could pose even more trouble for the embattled clerk at a time when a grand jury is set to determine whether criminal charges should be brought against her for tampering with election equipment.

“Theft by Deception” and “Breach of Fiduciary Duty”

Allegations against Tina Peters in the case include “conversion” (defined as “unauthorized possession of personal property causing curtailment of the owner’s possession,” in this case residential property), “breach of fiduciary duty” and “theft by deception.”

Documents about the lawsuit were sent anonymously and are of public interest.

The case number is 2021CV30321, and the judge in the case is 21st Judicial District Court Judge Gretchen B. Larson. The next hearing is a review set for February 22, 2022 in Room 12 of the Mesa County Justice Center.

Redlands chiropractor spreads dangerous medical misinformation amid pandemic

by Anne Landman • January 8, 2022 • 6 Comments

In a video on his business web page under the heading “Covid Treatments,” Grand Junction chiropractor Ronald Engler of the Redlands Chiropractic and Wellness Center administers horse deworming medication to himself and encourages others to do the same to themselves, in violation of FDA guidance on use of the drug.

NOTE: This video has been banned on YouTube previously for posing a serious risk of egregious harm. It was uploaded again here for purposes of criticism in this article. We’ll see if it lasts.

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While some Grand Junction chiropractors are profiting from the pandemic by marketing proprietary dietary supplements that they falsely infer will prevent or treat Covid-19, others are using their credibility as health care providers to openly promote dangerous medical misinformation to the public.

One of these is Ronald W. Engler of the Redlands Chiropractic and Wellness Center.

CO House Rep. Lauren Boebert challenges wheelchair-bound House colleague to a sprint

by Anne Landman • November 27, 2021 • 0 Comments

In a light-hearted competition among the most extreme right wing Republican members of Congress to see who could glorify killer Kyle Rittenhouse the most after his acquittal this week, Colorado House Rep. Lauren Boebert (Republican-CO) turned down an arm-wrestling challenge and instead challenged her colleague, House Rep. Madison Cawthorn, to a sprint.

Rep. Cawthorn is in a wheelchair due to injuries sustained in a 2014 vehicle accident.

Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC). Photo: Campaign web page