Common Sense News - September

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common IN THIS ISSUE:

sense news 5555 Erindale Drive, Suite 102 Colorado Springs, CO 80918 Telephone: 719.302.1900 Facsimile Machine: 719.302.5900 www.CommonSenseNewsUSA.com

SECTION A Who or What Won the Colorado Elections How the West was Won Back Take Back Colorado Checklist Syria: Why Do We Care?

The Syrian Mirage America: What is Wrong with Us? Where Are We Headed, America?

Reversing Something Wholly Un-American

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publisher

Intermountain Media, LLC

SECTION B Frack the Planet B-1 Do You Have Milk and Cookie Disease?

B-2 The Road to Detroit B-5 Legislative Larceny B-7 What Happens in Colorado When a Drunk Driver Crashes into a Pregnant Woman?

B-8 Heroes B-10 I Pledge Allegiance To...

B-11 Museum of Colorado Prisons B-12 Just a Mom B-13 Was Statehood Fully Conferred Part 2 B-14

editor-in-chief

Anne C. Vinnola Editor@CommonSenseNewsUSA.com

art director Elva Jeffries

graphic artists Max Aragó Elva Jeffries

account executives Lana Fore-Warkocz Jerry Vinnola Julie Naye Kelly Hoaglund

distribution manager Wayne Earp

writers

Pat Francomano Matt Arnold Ken Clark Tamra Farah Al Maurer Dr. Lee Blackwood C.W. Graybill Timothy Priebe esq.

Don Bendell Douglas Bruce Don Rodgers Anil Mathai Jacqueline Cartier Amy Mitchell Gwen Chermack Dr. Harley Ihm Keith McKim Dave Schultheis Kelly Leggett Cindy Lyons Subscriptions Available!

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ABOUT OUR CONTENT: Common Sense News provides a voice for freedom-loving Americans who share many common values, yet have differing opinions on certain subjects. This paper’s staff and writers possess diverse worldviews. The content of Common Sense News does not necessarily reflect the views of the employees of Intermountain Media, LLC. A-4

LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Total Recall Freedom and liberty are precious. They were given to us by our Creator and ensured by our Founding Fathers. We must protect those rights with our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor. Wait, I think I’ve heard that somewhere before!

Well, protect them we did! September 10th was a day where freedoms and liberties prevailed and the people spoke. It was a Total Recall in Colorado- two prominent Senators with personal agendas and special interest money flowing into Colorado were fired. Never in Colorado history had this ever happened before, never!

Grassroots activists who had their liberties taken from them decided enough was enough. When I use the word grassroots, I am not using it lightly. Everyday Americans came together with a plan; a plan to fire the Senators who ignored their constituents, catered to the special interests groups and even said that their constituents were toxic. Really?

They fought back, borrowing money from family members, went door to door talking with people and organized all on their own. No parties were involved, just Republicans, Democrats, Independents and unaffiliated voters. This was a true “bottom-up” organization like it should be. Politicians need to remember who the boss is, and who it is they represent.

Corruption is alive and well in all areas of government and throughout our State and we promise to expose all of them. All of them. I hope that the politicians who read this understand that we will never stop fighting, we aren’t going away and we can’t be silenced.

Our own Colorado Springs is facing a situation which will be highlighted in our next issue. We will be bringing you in-depth investigative stories about the developers, the Mayor, John Morse (yes, the guy we just recalled) and last but not least The Gazette. Uhmmmm, something is getting fishy and I don’t like the smell. So stay tuned because like we have said from our first issue, this is the paper in which will bring you the truth. No back room deals going on here.

The buck stops here. We are going to take our State back from the ruling elite class lining their pockets and their agendas and recall them all if we have to.

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR As I sit writing this my thoughts and prayers are on the violent rain storms and flooding hitting Colorado.

My beloved state has had so much trouble in the last few months with fires, drought and now massive flooding.

Two of our dearest friends waiting to be evacuated and we have just heard their home was destroyed by flood waters.

Colorado has been flooded with more than rain this year. We have been forced to fight for our rights as gun owners and for the innocence of our children in Colorado schools. We are facing crippling energy costs as well as a healthcare disaster of staggering proportions.

Common Sense News is working hard to bring the issues we face to light so that people can get to the bottom of them and know what and how to fight. The Democrats pushed through hundreds of partisan bills and laws that make no sense. They were funded and encouraged by a very dangerous and strong liberal machine.

Even under massive funding and support from out of state entities and even though a horrible voter fraud law was passed and implemented, everyday Colorado citizens challenged the big dogs to a junk-yard dogfight and though battered and bloody they won a victory over two senators who thought their heavy handed control and lack of consideration of their constituents views would be acceptable. The recall elections sent a message to liberals nationwide, but even more the strong wins gave a much needed morale boost to liberty loving citizens. Congratulations to Senators-elect Herpin and Rivera!

Colorado conservatives have a huge fight ahead to not only repeal crippling laws but to bring a cohesive and strong party to the table. There is much work to be done and Colorado Republicans must take the momentum of the recall win, and capitalize on it. Conservative thinking citizens MUST get involved and bring fresh ideas and strong Constitutional platforms into the forefront. We can take Colorado back and make it a better, stronger state for tomorrow.

-Anne Vinnola, Editor

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor,

Is the Mayor’s vision of a “City for Champions” driven by anything but money?

In recent weeks, the citizens of Colorado Springs have been presented with Mayor Steve Bach’s proposals for projects which address his vision of the city’s “need” for increased tourism, greater visibility in the hierarchy of cities, more businesses and jobs, and ongoing general development.

During his initial campaigning for election to the City’s first “Strong Mayor,” I strongly supported him being convinced that he had the best understanding of the primary role of government…that being to protect our individual liberties. In fact, when placed against the other candidates he espoused that understanding far better than all other candidates. I still believe he does…or at least did.

During the early months, of his “reign,” his efforts to make the city more “business friendly” by reducing regulations, encouraging a more responsive city employee force, and actually reducing expenditures by eliminating city positions were very encouraging. However, along the way, it seems a different Bach than who initially took the Mayoral helm has emerged. The tenure has changed from reducing costs and increasing efficiencies to acquiring more revenue, albeit from enticing more tourists to our area.

His bold ideas have now changed from promoting free enterprise, reducing regulation and more-responsive service to that of centralized planning. These ideas are not coming from the average citizen, but rather from the businesses seeking more profit. This, without regard to how it will affect the real quality of life of the city’s residents.

According to Mayor Bach, “we have a lot of work to do” to attract and retain 6000 stable and good-paying jobs to our city. However, why is this seemingly HIS problem to fix? IT IS NOT. Who says it is even a problem?

Having served as a Colorado State legislator for ten years, I observed full

well the tendency of those in power to desire to identify a “problem” and then work hard attempting to solve it, seeming to forget that the free market is perfectly capable of adjusting without the help of central planning by government officials if they will only get out of the way.

To implement Mayor Bach’s vision, centralized planning is increasingly becoming the order of the day. Such centralization in planning, as is being suggested by the Business Alliance and others, even to the point of setting specific job goals within industry sectors and advocating economic opportunity zones has always been known for disrupting the free market that always surely results. By their very nature, economic opportunity zones disrupt the free market by picking winners and losers without regard to population centers or marketplaces.

Mayor Bach’s efforts would be better represent the citizens’ desires of making the city government more efficient and responsive, cost effective, and supportive of free enterprise while concentrating on fulfilling the mandates that only government can do best: maintaining roads, bridges, parks, utilities, fire and police forces. Raising revenue for businesses is not part of that mandate. Building stadiums, museums, and visitor centers should not be on the list of what the city promotes; such promotion should be left solely to the private sector. Instead, Mayor Bach’s vision, while sounding beneficial to the city seems to many of us to be driven by the love of money. Increased tourism is the means being held out as a carrot by the availability of possibly $86 million from the state.

To those individuals seeking to implement Mayor Bach’s vision, I ask you to examine your true motives. I would suggest that they revolve primarily around becoming wealthier. I recently read a quote by Maurice Sendak, which said “There must be more to life than having everything.”

Those words might be worth pondering.

- Former Senator, Dave Schultheis Colorado Springs, Colorado

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor, in Reply to Wallace Gough,

You claim to be an independent and I thought Independent people want less Government and more freedom. Now first let’s see why they wanted this gun control. It was because of the killings in schools and other mass killings. Not a one to my knowledge was done by NRA or other legal purchaser of Guns. The NRA are people who take care of the forest and train there people how to handle weapons. I have no firearms in my house now but when I hunted and was in the military I did have I kept the guns and ammunition separated. I had my son and daughters take lesson from the NRA and they never hunted but had the knowledge of guns and what they are for. We have the right to bear arms by the constitution and it does not say what kind or how many. The problem of this law is not that it restricts us for our guns but that it strips us of our FREEDOM. It will get a small foot in the door and there will be no way to stop more laws. The last thing is that this law does not get the criminals and the people were writing the law about. The ones who committed these crimes were mentally ill or just evil individuals who didn’t abide by our laws.

- Rodney E. Hammond Colorado Springs, CO

In Colorado, the Republican Party, led by Ryan Call have a similar problem. Mr. Call was very quick to distance himself from an obvious abuse of the “race card” when Rep. Rhonda Fields feigned outrage over benign statements made in a joint committee meeting made by Senator Marble during a discussion of the differences in life expectancy of Hispanics, Blacks and Whites. By forming a circular firing squad against the Senator the Republican Party has proven once again that it would rather throw one of its strongest and most conservative members under the bus than stand on principle. Other organizations, such as Colorado Peak Politics, were also very quick to join the firing squad against the Senator rather than call out the obvious race baiting of the left.

For these reasons and many others, it has become painfully obvious that the Party of Lincoln has run its course and is now dead. They simply stand for nothing, run from battle, and cannot be counted on when times get tough. Americans deserve better than this kind of leadership and are starving for something to believe in. The party refuses to deliver which is why it is my belief that they will ultimately be nothing but a footnote in history.

- Ken Clark Co-Host, Grass Roots Radio Colorado 560 KLZ the Source Dear Editor,

Dear Editor, Cowardice killed the Republican Party.

With the most recent controversy surrounding Republican Senator Vicki Marble being the latest Conservative to be caught in the never ending fray of artificially manufactured outrage from the left over racism, and the Republican Parties mad dash to the appeasement and apologetic finish line, it is my opinion that the party of Republicans is now officially dead.

This never ending cowardice and failure to stand for anything other than defeat, is unfortunately, not only alive and well in Colorado but in Washington D.C. John McCain and Lindsey Graham provide cover for Obama by refusing to defund Obamacare. They refuse to expose and hold the President accountable on any of the plethora of scandals ranging from the abuses of the IRS, Fast and Furious gun running, Benghazi, Extortion 17, the NSA spying on citizens, unauthorized wars, support of the Muslim Brotherhood, to the blatant disregard for the Constitution of the United States. Any one of these scandals would be enough to take down any other administration. But the Republicans stand down.

The Republicans in the House led by the cowardice of John Boehner simply refuse to stand on principle and defund the “Affordable Care Act” simply because they are afraid that they may lose the PR battle. As a result, they lose all credibility and prove once again that they have no spine and stand for nothing but rhetoric. They have passed bills to repeal the act over 32 times, but refuse to do the one thing that would actually have an effect and kill the bill. They have an unprecedented opportunity to do what is best and right for the American People, but they simply don’t have the will to act.

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It’s a political lie to say the Morse/Giron recalls are just about “policy disagreements.”

The angry reaction, especially to Morse, is over much more. He hijacked and manipulated the process, saluting outside pressure to pass terribly drafted and rushed bills over massive public objection, in what should have been a session about jobs and the economy. Neither Morse nor the Governor made gun control a priority in their first-day remarks.

But when national Democrats called, Morse jumped. He willingly thrust Colorado into a national debate as a showpiece boast: If we can pass it here, we can pass it anywhere. It wasn’t about the needs of his district or his state, it was about a polarized national debate.

He took calls and directions from Joe Biden and Michael Bloomberg even as he urged his colleagues to ignore the floods of calls, letters, and emails of Colorado opposition. He sponsored an outrageous bill to impose liability on makers of sound, functioning products that was so extreme, his caucus wouldn’t support it and he had to withdraw it.

In making his withdraw, he referred to cleansing the “sickness from our souls” that gun rights advocates believe was a direct slap at them and their souls. He manipulated and jerked around the committee meeting schedule, confounding efforts of citizens to plan and attend all bill hearings.

He pushed through bills so overreaching and badly drafted that the governor and attorney general had to promise that no one would really enforce them as they were written. Their promises are hollow, because neither man controls local prosecution. A DA will do as he or she pleases.

So, did Morse pause and allow the bills to be amended and improved?

No, so fierce was the opposition, so fearful were Democrat leaders of losing lawmaker votes to the public outrage, that they rammed their steaming pile of political malpractice home and to the spineless governor’s desk for a private signing ceremony.

No, Denver Post, pundits, and Morse apologists. This is not about “policy disagreements.” This is about betrayal, about treachery in leadership, about opportunistically ramming an agenda, turning your back on your constituents, and saluting your liberal national puppet masters.

It was a historic breach of trust, which is why Coloradans rose up in righteous anger and responded in historic opposition.

- Shawn Mitchell Broomfield, Colorado Dear Editor, GOP State Chairman Ryan Call sure has a lot of nerve trying to take credit for the successful recall votes removing John Morse and Angela Giron from the state senate. It’s been widely reported that Chairman Call opposed the Recall efforts from the start, and continued to repeatedly discourage the recall efforts even after they got rolling, especially in Pueblo. Call told Republican donors NOT to give money to the Pueblo recall drive, forcing LETTERS TO THE EDITOR CONTINUED ON PAGE B-6

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PeoplE WHO (OR WHAT) WON THE COLORADO RECALL ELECTIONS?

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he unprecedented ouster of two incumbent state legislators in this month’s Colorado Recall Elections (state senators John Morse, SD-11 Colorado Springs 51%-49% and Angela Giron, SD-3 Pueblo 56%-44%, respectively) was historic not only in the outcome, but in the resources poured into the electoral fight.

Supporters of the incumbents spent over $3 Million (mostly coming from out-of-state special interests) while supporters of Recall spent nearly $500,000 – flooding the airwaves and filling mailboxes with campaign advertisements and flyers, attempting to persuade those few voters who had yet to make up their minds about how (or even whether) to vote.

Yet despite the massive spending on the advertisements and volunteer-intensive “get out the vote” efforts, the electoral outcome will have been shaped far more by less-noticed, but ultimately MUCH more impactful, battles in our state courts.

Even the composition of the districts now held by Morse and Giron were determined, very much to the advantage of the Democrat incumbents, by court battles over the legislative district reapportionment process back in 2011. (See the many contemporaneous articles on the Clear The Bench Colorado website, search keyword “reapportionment” for details – www.clearthebenchcolorado.org).

Those court battles left the Democrat incumbents in those districts with a sizable registration and voter “performance” advantage (see, “Myths and Reality about the Colorado Recall Elections” for details: http://politigurugop.blogspot.com/2013/08/myths-and-reality-about-colorado-recall.html) The next round of court battles were fought over whether the Recall elections could go forward at all – as Democrat attorneys attempted to get the petitions for the Recall vote thrown out on a technicality.

This time, the Democrats lost – and lost resoundingly. The Recalls (and mail ballots) were on the way.

However, just as the first mailing of ballots (to overseas

BY MATT ARNOLD

voters) was starting, yet another court challenge was filed, seeking to uphold the constitutional provisions (and timelines) for candidate ballot access (which were incompatible with the recently-passed “all-mail-ballot-elections” legislation, HB13-1303). This time around, the challenge (and the primacy of the Colorado Constitution over statute) won – forcing the elections to be held primarily as polling-place elections, since the candidate certification deadline of 15 days before the

vague (and allegedly vote-fraud enabling) provisions of the Morse-Giron sponsored new elections law (HB13-1303).

Yet even those court-authorized rules changes were subjected to yet another round of legal challenges. Several of the new rules (including the clarified residency requirements and provisions expanding the use of E-mail ballot delivery) were struck down as exceeding the court’s mandate to allow new rules only in those areas needed to ensure compli-

election date made “all-mail-ballot” voting practically impossible.

This case may have been the most important in shaping the ultimate outcome of the Recall elections – possibly even saving the Recall effort, since “all-mail-ballot” voting favors the (Democrat) incumbents (admitted by the Left in attacking the ruling, saying): “With a recall election that voters have to attend in person, lower turnout is likely, which is historically not beneficial to the Democratic incumbents in off-year elections.”

The same case empowered the Colorado Secretary of State to issue new rules for the Recall elections, including some intended to reduce the opportunity for voter fraud by tightening the definition of “residency” requirements under the

ance with the constitution’s Recall elections language.

A last-minute challenge attempting to force Pueblo County Clerk & Recorder Gilbert “Bo” Ortiz to allow poll-watchers full access to observe the process (as required under elections law) after reported voting irregularities was denied a hearing by a Denver judge, raising fears of vote fraud.

(For more on all of the Recall-related court challenges, search keyword “recall” on the Clear The Bench Colorado website, www. clearthebenchcolorado.org).

Finally, the court case that didn’t happen (but probably should have) – allowing the out-of-state money machine to funnel massive contributions to the anti-Recall forces while skirting campaign finance laws.

Challenging the multiple anti-Recall committees before an administrative law judge (ALJ) would have not only highlighted how money was shifted around by various special-interest groups to avoid campaign contribution limits and reporting requirements, but also (if successful) could have resulted in fines and penalties to the Bloomberg-backed machine in excess of $1M (yes, that’s one MILLION dollars).

Sadly, although such complaints could still be filed up to 180 days AFTER the violation occurred, they would be too late to affect the outcome – which even a modest investment to fund bringing a complaint (probably about $5,000) could have achieved, if filed BEFORE the election.

The Left, which has mastered this tactic/technique in Colorado (see last month’s article in this paper, “Shylocks, Shysters, and Shenanigans” for more on the subject) has used it to great effect (including a “campaign finance complaint” filed against the Herpin campaign), while the conservative movement has lacked an effective counterpart.

Isn’t it time for a Colorado “Campaign Integrity Watchdog” on our side?

Not to take anything away from the magnificent grassroots effort to get the Recall campaigns rolling, the various individuals and organizations joining in to help the effort, and the countless volunteer hours put in to gather petitions and “get out the vote” – ultimately, these court cases may prove to have been the deciding factor in Colorado’s historic recall elections.

We continue to ignore these lessons at our peril.

Matt Arnold is a strong, principled leader and American patriot.

He is a military veteran (currently a Captain in the Army Reserves), an active advocate for education reform and gun rights, but best known as the founder and director of Clear the Bench Colorado, a judicial accountability group providing independent analysis and commentary on our judicial system. (www.clearthebenchcolorado.org) A-7

HOW THE WEST

WAS WON BACK

BY AL MAURER

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he media mostly got the recall elections in Colorado wrong. They said it was about guns; it was not. They said it was started by the NRA; it was not. In fact, it was started by three ordinary people in Colorado Springs and three friends in Pueblo.

GOT REMORSE? Former senator John Morse does not have remorse, but a majority of the voters did. The Recall Morse effort was 100% grassroots.

Rob Harris, the leader of the effort, has never been involved in politics before. What got him off his couch was Morse’s dismissive attitude toward his constituents. When Harris complained to his mother, she suggested he do something about it. He did.

At the same time—and independently at first—two other people reached the same conclusion.

Miriamber Daigneault was one of them. She described an experience remarkably like Harris’s. In her case it was her father who challenged her to do something if she felt so strongly about what was happening in Denver. Daigneault is a nurse who works with newborns. She works a night shift. During this campaign she would get off shift in the morning and work petitions. She has three children of her own.

With all of Bloomberg’s money and union-paid workers, you can’t buy dedication like that. Daigneault said that Morse’s side was complaining about how much taxpayer money was being spent on the recall efforts. Her response: “How much is our freedom worth?”

The third person was Tim Knight. Knight said that the recall was not about guns—it was about John Morse not listening to his constituents. The anti-gun bills were just the last straw. Knight said that for him the issue of being ignored was brought home in March when Morse engineered the testimony on the bills so that opponents were almost completely silenced.

science. But the crucial difference is that in Burke’s frame of reference, the voters first selected a man—women neither voted nor served as legislators in Burke’s day—who shared the people’s values and beliefs and was a person of integrity.

Absent direct instructions from the people, Burke’s legislator could be counted on to vote his conscience in the best interests of the people.

John Morse, like much of the self-appointed political elite today, does not share the values and beliefs of the people. His dancing to the tune of Michael Bloomberg shows his lack of integrity as a legislator.

PUEBLO FREEDOM AND RIGHTS The Pueblo Freedom and Rights organization was headed by brothers Victor and Adam Head and their friend Ernest Mascarenas. The plumbers were joined by carpenters, veterans and other salt-of –the-earth types.

Victor said that he started the recall effort after Giron completely ignored her constituents and voted for every gun control bill. Three of the four state representatives who collectively represent the same people in Pueblo County as she does voted against the bills, Victor said. According to Head, this was not a partisan issue—this was an issue of people’s rights and a representative who doesn’t listen to the people.

When the bills were brought up, Giron held two town hall meetings which she did not even attend in person. Video of one of the meetings shows a supporter holding a microphone to a cell phone as Angela calls in.

After refusing to take questions about the bills at those two meetings, Giron finally agreed to hold a third at the Rawlins Library in Pueblo. More than a thousand people showed up, all but a dozen opposed to the gun bills. People present say the room was at capacity, the library itself was at capacity and there were more people waiting outside—more than a thousand all told.

In local media, Giron said that she knew she was voting against the will of her constituents but, like John Morse, she decided to vote for the bills anyway.

Knight stays at home to raise his son. He previously had an interest in a small business which he sold to his partner. Like Harris and Daigneault, he had never before done anything political.

There is little love in Pueblo for Giron, who was appointed by the party to fill a vacant position. It is probably more understandable in her case why she feels more loyalty to the party than to her constituents. In the final analysis, however, it is her constituents she must answer to.

Refusal to listen to his constituents is par for the course for Morse, who described on national television how he counseled fellow senators to ignore their constituents’ emails and calls and vote for the gun control bills. Morse actually believes he is smarter and knows better than his constituents.

SUCCESS BREEDS SUCCESS

That arrogant attitude was cited more than any other by people signing the recall petition. A large number of people signing the petition said they had voted for Morse and wanted to fix their mistake.

“We want a representative, not a ruler,” Harris said. “Morse has tried to be a ruler and we’re firing him.”

An unrepentant Morse said again in his concession speech last night that sometimes an elected official must make decisions that are unpopular with his constituents and if that costs him his political career, so be it.

Morse is wrong. Edmund Burke, the great British conservative legislator and friend of the American Revolution, did indeed believe in voting one’s conA-8

Harris made it clear that the recall efforts were entirely grassroots efforts.

The NRA didn’t sponsor the recall nor did any organization with out of state money. In state, no Colorado gun rights organization or any political party backed the effort. The state Republican Party actively discouraged them.

Once the petitions were turned in the first two weeks in June, people began to take notice. Outside organizations did join the fight, as did candidate committees for Bernie Herpin in El Paso and George Rivera in Pueblo.

From Ohio came four very special volunteers led by Sean Maloney, owner of Buckeye Firearms. After reading about the recalls they flew to Colorado at their own expense. With Maloney were Ken Hanson, Linda Walker and Zach Biscoe.

Maloney said that his support for Second Amendment rights resulted in his store’s website being taken down by denial of service attacks. The server was shared by two hospitals; their sites went down, too. He’s received death threats as well.

Hanson is an attorney who wrote amicus briefs in both the Heller and MacDonald Supreme Court cases. Walker is an employee of Buckeye Firearms.

Biscoe took a year off from Miami University to help out. After being at university, he said being around conservatives instead of the liberals on campus is like night and day. “There’s no hate,” he said.

While the Tea Party is depicted as “haters” by the media, he explained, all the hate is on the left. Working with conservatives is refreshing, he concluded.

IT ISN’T OVER TILL IT’S OVER Unseating two state senators in first-ever recall elections is historic, but it is only a beginning. We have not seen the last of John Morse. Democrat Betsy Markey, swept into Congress on the Obama tide in 2008 and out in the Tea Party Revolution of 2010, landed a plum position in the Department of Homeland Security. She resigned that position this January and intends to run for Colorado State Treasurer.

We can expect something like that for Morse and perhaps for Giron as well.

A MODEL FOR THE COUNTRY—BECAUSE IT’S NEVER OVER These citizen activists and the many others they recruited to their cause have accomplished the seemingly impossible. They had little money and they were outspent. They had no “sponsors” in the establishment. The political class of both parties was largely against them, especially at the beginning.

Yet they exhibited honesty, integrity, courage, and a love of country that can never be defeated. They proved to us all that government for the people must be of the people and by the people. Elected officials work for us, not we for them.

As Tim Knight said in his election night remarks, “We must stop looking for a leader; we must become leaders.”

Al Maurer is a political scientist and founder of The Voice of Liberty. He writes on topics of limited government and individual rights for The Washington Times Communities.

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TAKE BACK COLORADO CHECKLIST: RECALL SENATORS MORSE AND GIRON–CHECK!

BY TAMRA FARAH

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he voters in SD 3 and 11 checked a very important box when they voted YES to recall both Senators Morse and Giron. This was a win in the air and on the ground. Across the air waves and web the message rang out that politicians who get in office and go rogue, ignoring the will of WE THE PEOPLE, will be taken to task. On the ground, everyday, hard-working, Constitution-loving people walked and talked to thousands of voters, urging them to get to the polls. As in any effective war effort, the battle for this recall victory was waged in both theatres.

The campaign efforts for the recalls were not well-oiled machines run by a few with Blumberg-style funded ad campaigns. Countless individuals and numerous groups on the Recall front, people from everyday citizens to experienced political activists and everything in between, banded together to succeed.

Unity in spite of diversity, check!

And, just when we thought we were without hope in the face of those on the other side who know how to organize and work together better than us; just when we were all bemoaning the lack of big money ponied up to rival Morse and Giron’s ads, well, a “Whole Lotta People Against Morse”

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and Giron rose to the challenge.

Okay, let’s revel in the win! For many who worked tirelessly in 2008 and 1012, it’s refreshing to have a win. Yes, take a breath.

Take a breath, check!

But, we mustn’t rest long. There are many more battles to fight to take back this great State. Apparently if we take back Colorado, we will mess with the plans of the progressives nationwide, so let’s get back to work quick!

What’s next on the To-Do list? Plenty. Already I have heard from many of our volunteers, buoyed by the recalls. They are filled with fresh hope that they can change things. And they are right. So, there is no time to rest on our laurels. There is much to be done in Colorado.

What to do next? First on the list, streamline your personal activism to-do’s. Hone it down. No one of us can do everything.

Then, go through this checklist of ideas. Which of these things will you add to your to-do list?

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Help on a local school board race. We must keep or regain local leadership to ensure our children learn true American values as well as receive a world class education.

Participate in the 2014 State House and State Senate races. Is your local legislator up for re-election next year, or term limited? Get behind a good candidate who believes in upholding the constitution and protecting our individual rights and free market system, and work hard door to door and on the telephones informing voters about why he or she is the right choice.

Take note of City Council and County Commissioner seats. Find out which ones are coming up for re-election in your area and ask how you can help.

Identify issue campaigns that are critical and become a local spokesperson or helper. The new, burdensome and freedom-leaching legislation passed during the 2013 session that we need to fight seems legion. But, as every list person knows, difficult tasks are broken down into manageable steps. Discover the battlefront for one of these issues and jump in the fray.

I raised my children with To-Do lists greeting them on the breakfast counter at least a few days a week. Most of us relish the sense of accomplishment we receive when we check things off our list. Let’s keep up the good work, and let’s do it together. This is no time for infighting or division. We have a country to save.

It’s not time to put our feet up on the couch after this successful recall, but to retread our shoes, sharpen our pencils and get to work. For the sake of all our founders fought and died for, we have a state–and a country– worthy to be on our To Do list.

Tamra Farah served as the campaign coordinator for Colorado Citizens Protecting our Constitution, assisting with strategy and coordinating the ground campaign for the Morse Recall. Contact Tamra at tamrafarah@gmail.com.

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NatioN SYRIA:

WHY DO WE CARE?

BY JACQUELINE CARTIER

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ttacking Syria is truly historic; not necessarily the act, but the nonpartisan divide that has strangely united members of both parties. There are strong opinions, with each offering credible positions.

Within these arguments are viable questions. Exactly, what happened in Syria with the chemical weapon attack? Which is the better group to support – the lesser of two evils? How does our involvement affect the balance of power in the Middle East? What are U.S. interests?

What would we call a ‘win’? What is our exit strategy? Does our involvement actually accomplish anything? Are we being manipulated into another Middle East conflict, and if so, by whom and why? If we aid the rebels, will it be like Afghanistan where those weapons are later used against us in the killing of our soldiers? Why are we alone in our support for intervention? How do we justify an intervention in Syria while ignoring similar atrocities in other countries?

There are no easy answers, as each response generates both short-term and long-term consequences. Even the decision to do nothing, is a decision that results in something. This civil war in Syria has been going on for quite some time, yet suddenly it has hit crisis mode. We must wonder, why now?

The chemical weapon attack strangely occurred at the most inopportune time, during a visit from UN chemical weapons inspectors.

Now, if you had complete control over those weapons, then certainly you would have control over when they were used. Why would you use them when there was no large-scale imminent attack? Why would you use them when traditional weapons have been equally effective? Why would you use them against innocent civilians when you have the actual location of militant targets? But most importantly, why would you use them in the face of UN weapons inspectors?

Perhaps, because it wasn’t you!

Who stands to gain the most from a chemical weapons attack in Syria? Not President Bashar al-Assad. How desperate would you get if you were losing a war with little hope of gaining additional support? What would you have to do to get the attention of the global community?

What if there was no such thing as a useless death in the pursuit of Jihad? What if you discovered that you were losing strength and credibility in the region and desperately needed a ‘win’ to retain power? What if you were able to temporarily gain access to the ultimate weapon that

could change the entire course of your war?

Perhaps you might call yourselves the Muslim Brotherhood.

The lesser of two evils, still gives you evil.

So we must ask ourselves, why do we care when other nations appear indifferent? Of course, we can attribute some of this to the fact that Obama allows himself to continually be played by Middle East leaders. While some question his loyalty, I submit for consideration the fact that this junior-senator-suddenly-president, is just naive.

International relations has never been his strength, or even his interest, and he surrounds himself with academics who are expert at theory but inexperienced in practice, thus making us incredibly vulnerable, gullible, and disrespected in the global arena. When you carelessly place a “red line” to the leader of another country, then later claim, “I didn’t set the red line, the world set a red line.” followed by “My credibility is not on the line; America’s credibility is on the line.” just makes President Obama look weak and foolish.

When he separates his personal credibility with America’s credibility, given his position, it undermines his authority and loyalty to the nation he represents. He ends up sounding like a kid caught lying, when he should have simply said that in the passion of the moment, during an

for all”; we consider human rights to be universal, and as leader of the free world, an obligation to protect those less fortunate. As Ronald Reagan once said, “There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.”

While we cannot solve all of the world’s problems, perhaps we feel able to make a difference in preventing the atrocities occurring in this one, even at great cost to ourselves. Our sense of moral obligation sometimes outweighs our logic.

Both arguments in this scenario have just merit, particularly considering the affiliations and history of both sides of this civil war. Neither of these guys are great humanitarians or ethical leaders.

As we struggle with the decision to intervene, let us remember that despite the probability of being manipulated by the Muslim Brotherhood, the suffering and deaths of innocent people are very real. The greatest challenge is in balancing our desire to save the world with the realistic limitations that we face as humans and as a nation.

The fact is, that the United States is truly exceptional; it is not just patriotic rhetoric. We continually work to live up to our founding

The greatest challenge is in balancing our desire to save the world with the realistic limitations that we face as humans and as a nation. election speech, he made a statement that actually required much more evaluation than what he had at the time. Instead, he now hides behind the veil of diplomacy and wonders why others won’t join him. It reminds me of the joke, “If it wasn’t for the starch in his shirt, there would be nothing holding this man up.”

Yet, despite all of the pros and cons of the situation, we must also wonder why it has become so important to us, and less so to other countries.

Perhaps, we are torn between the obvious political and economic implications of our actions, weighed against our sense of obligation for human rights.

In a country that was founded on moral and religious principles (even if we didn’t always live up to them; we aim high) with “One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty, and justice

principles; “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” While, we cannot make every country into America, we can influence others towards providing an environment where unalienable rights become a reality for all.

Jacqueline Cartier, CEO of Winning Images, with over 25-years of communications experience in local to presidential campaigns, with a specialty in crisis communications and bipartisan messaging on conservative issues. Cartier is a regular contributor to the Vail Daily with offices in Vail, CO and Washington DC. Her website is: www.CartierWinningImages.com and may be contacted at WinningImages.Cartier@gmail.com

THE SYRIAN MIRAGE

BY ANIL MATHAI

I

n 1999, I remember walking in the morning from my office in Malvern, PA across the street to our production facility and as I was walking, I watched 4-5 union guys supposedly “picketing” the Bell Atlantic office next door to us. In actuality, they were sitting on the floor, wasting time when they heard NBC 10 was coming around the corner to interview them. I watched them immediately get up, then the reporter came and did the interview; it was over in 5 minutes. After the camera crew left, the union guys went home. At night, I saw the interview on TV and the media made it look like there were many strikers and they were striking all day. I saw the lie before my own eyes; a mirage!

The President and other politicians (including Republicans) assume that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gassed his people by looking at pictures of children that were “gassed” to death.

The same media deception that occurred that morning in Pennsylvania is happening again on this issue (and most other issues). Yet, has anyone questioned the authenticity of the pictures? Islamists like Hamas, Hezbollah, and Al Qaeda are known to kill their own people and stage false pictures to get westerners to fall for their evil agenda.

the Islamists kill their own and recent reports confirm that it was the rebels themselves that released gas on their own people.

But even with this new revelation, the President and Washington politicians want to go to war with Syria on no solid fact of the US being potentially attacked or our interests being threatened.

We even have a Republican politician (Sen. John McCain) visiting Islamists and supporting them in the most ludicrous way (i.e. explaining they mean “Thank God” like Christians when they say “Allahu Akbar”).

What nonsense! Senator, your thoughts about Nidal Hasan saying Allahu Akbar before killing people at Fort Hood and/or the terrorists on Flight 93 saying the same before crashing in PA??

Side note: Where are Cindy Sheehan and the leftists these days??

I don’t believe a UK trained

Many people think they know what is going on in the Middle East through our American eyes, which is ignorant at best! I have traveled to various countries in the Middle East even meeting a Muslim Brotherhood member on the streets of Cairo. I have studied Islam and know its real goal is to dominate the world. Islamists are bent on killing all non-Muslims (infidels) throughout the world; that is the truth of Islam whether we accept it or not. Islam has made war on Hindus in India, Buddhists in Thailand, Catholics in the Philippines, Animists in Africa; Islam is always at war with all religions and

Ophthalmologist who is

secular, would gas his own

people. Assad is not a lunatic like Saddam Hussein.

I don’t believe a UK trained Ophthalmologist who is secular, would gas his own people. Assad is not a lunatic like Saddam Hussein. In fact, I warned for days that Assad wasn’t the one using chemical weapons but only

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AMERICA: WHAT IS WRONG WITH US?

BY DON BENDELL

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humbs moving like fish flopping on a riverbank, our children watch wideeyed, giggling while the blood splatters from their latest video game. They shoot up and stab twenty-five more bad aliens and make it to level five, while we sit in the family room in front of the flat screen analyzing the Kardashians, giggling at Honey Boo-Boo, or chuckling at a barely-grown up gyrating Hannah Montana acting more like Hannah the Whore.

We were told how horrible the Trayvon Martin verdict was because our President said if he had a son he would look like Trayvon before the trial even started. If we were white and said anything about Trayvon being a punk who was kicked off his school bus, expelled from school, and had marijuana in his system when the autopsy was performed, we would be called a racist for going against the President’s wishes. So we keep sitting idly by doing nothing. What is wrong with us?

For years, I have heard angry Americans complain about the utter stupidity of the participants at the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. Every year, we see deaths and major injuries of dozens when rank amateurs, many drunk, invade the Basque capital in July to be chased down the streets and some gored and trampled by very angry bulls. So now, some

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enterprising American entrepreneurs have brought the running of the bulls to Virginia, to our country.

Are we so desensitized now that we are seeking major adrenalin-pumping distractions every five seconds like an Acapulco cliff diver with ADHD? Maybe it’s time. Maybe we should rent a few venues like the Hollywood Bowl, or some NFL stadiums and start putting Christians on display fighting for their very lives, bare-handed against a pride of hungry lions? We pay money to sit idly by and watch our national character crumble. What is wrong with us?

We have a limp-wristed, weak President who celebrates the courage of a gay basketball star “coming out,” but ignores the plight of 4 heroic Americans in harm’s way, including an Ambassador, while they were under siege in Benghazi and eventually killed. Then he, his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, (who was in charge), who wants to follow his path to the White House, and their minions, completely covered up their mismanagement, bungling, and total lack of loyalty and resolve. Transparency, he boasted? This Administration is as transparent as a steel door in a coal mine.

Nero fiddled while Rome burned, and Obama played more golf. That exhausted, him so he took yet another vacation. But guess what, we

sit idly by and watch this continuing display of faux leadership emanating from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. What is wrong with us? Our Constitution is being dismantled before our very eyes, our military gutted and totally demoralized by social experimentation and funding cuts, yet entitlements soar at an astronomic rate. Our nation used to be ruled by the tenets of the Constitution, but it is now ruled by Chicago “thuganomics,” and we sit idly by and watch.

What is wrong with us? Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the American heroes I long admired, so on his famous speech’s 50th anniversary who did the liberal news media interview?

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who Martin Luther King Jr., could not stand. Why? Because he knew that Jackson, like his pal the Reverend Al Sharpton, are phonies, hypocrites of the highest-order, poverty pimps, who want to enslave black Americans with a victimization mentality instead of motivating them to achieve, become responsible parents, get an education, and contribute to society. And, we sit idly by and watch. What is wrong with us?

Our Senate just came within four votes of giving away all our gun rights to the United Nations Small Arms Treaty. We have more and more miscreants and loose cannons open fire in schools and other buildCONTINUED ON PAGE B-3

WHERE ARE WE HEADED, AMERICA?

BY PAT FRANCOMANO

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s watchful guardians of our liberty, now is a good a time for a status check on America.

Looking around today we see many troubling signs: out-of-control government spending, unreasonable government intervention into virtually every area of human existence, political correctness and multiculturalism intruding more and more into personal liberties. Can history be our guide?

We see that welfare pays more than a minimum-wage job in 35 states, likely increasing long-term dependency on government. We see that unemployment benefits may be collected for 99 weeks, providing no incentive to look for work. We see over 90 million Americans dropped out of the labor force.

We see, instead of a free market, crony capitalism—an unhealthy alliance between business and government, in which the government, not the consumer, chooses winners and losers. We saw this with the bailouts of the automakers and of banks too big to fail.

We see the erosion of the separation of powers, with legislating by executive orders issued

for political purposes and selectively interfering in the economy.

We see political correctness trump the 1st Amendment of the Constitution, as in New Mexico, where its Supreme Court ruled that the owners of a photography studio, who, by refusing to photograph a gay wedding because of religious beliefs, had violated the New Mexico Human Rights Act. The court wrote that the owners “are free to think, to say, to believe, as they wish,” however, “they have to channel their conduct, not their beliefs, so as to leave space for other Americans who believe something different.”

In other words, the owners can believe in their religion, they just can’t exercise it.

And there is so much more: Fast and Furious, the Benghazi cover-up, the IRS scandal, NSA, etc.

In a speech delivered in New York City in 1943, Henning W. Prentis, Jr., President of the Armstrong Cork Company said this about the historical cycle of democracies: Paradoxically enough, the release of initiative and enterprise made possible by popular self-government ultimately generates disintegrating forces

from within. Again and again after freedom has brought opportunity and some degree of plenty, the competent become selfish, luxury-loving and complacent, the incompetent and the unfortunate grow envious and covetous, and all three groups turn aside from the hard road of freedom to worship the Golden Calf of economic security. The historical cycle seems to be: From bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to apathy; from apathy to dependency; and from dependency back to bondage once more. [Emphasis added.]

Dr. Kuehnelt-Leddihn, a European scholar and lecturer, in an article, “Democracy’s Road to Tyranny,” reminds us that historian Alexis de Tocqueville could see the coming problems of a democratic government: “the ‘Provider State,’ in which almost all human affairs would be regulated by a mild, ‘compassionate’ but determined government under which the citizens would practice their pursuit of happiness as ‘timid animals,’ losing all initiative and freedom.”

Lawrence W. Reed, President of the Foundation of Economic Education, in an article, “Are We Rome?” made some CONTINUED ON PAGE B-3

REVERSING SOMETHING WHOLLY UN-AMERICAN

BY DON RODGERS

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any see America being transformed into something wholly un-American and look with mounting hope towards the next election cycle as the solution in reversing the damage being done to our way of life. Yet, they fight with political weapons designed to defeat a political rival; weapons totally ineffective against a rival turned enemy to our founding principles and values that are uniquely American.

The enemy has taken control of society by high-jacking our educational system, the judiciary, through imposing massive regulatory authority, and through media propaganda. All the while, the ruling class from all major political parties have stolen power and put in place a system where “government of the people, by the people, for the people” are just words to them.

President Reagan was the voice in our lifetime in sounding the alarm against these threats and while we listened and acted then, we soon fell into complacency and the evil he spoke of took deep and poisonous root.

John Hayward sums up the nature of what we face in a review of Mark Levin’s book Liberty Amendments, Restoring the American Republic.

“The balance of power between the three branches of the federal government, the states, and the American people has been distorted beyond the ability of conventional politics to repair. After all, if the power of the legislature has been diminished relative to the executive, the executive has dispersed its disproportionate power into unelected bureaucracies, and the states are increasingly powerless vassals of Washington, then there is no way for the peoples’ representa-

tives in Congress or state houses to draft laws that would correct the situation.

The entire point of this century-long quest to centralize power was to remove it from the clumsy hands of foolish American citizens. We are spectators to a game show in Washington. We might be able to vote a few of the contestants off the show, but we have no control over the rules of the game.”

These Amendments offer a great vision of what can be done, but they offer a solution that is very long term. In the short term, to lay the groundwork for the long term solutions, we must understand the true nature of those who undermine our liberty and understand that they wear political badges of every type and for us to fight them we must reject not only them, but their individual political party’s brand of control.

Common Core and the nationalizing of education, Marxist/Socialist nationalized health care, and the projection of freedom crushing power through unelected agencies all have the support of many of the most powerful leaders and big money donors in every political party; they must be rejected and rejected now. This can’t be done through the normal politics of blindly choosing one party over another as the party’s on a national level are no longer capable nor willing to reverse the broken political process as it would diminish their own power. Politically, it must be done locally through supporting only those who understand and truly believe they are servants of the People.

This is not as easy as we like to believe. We have seen the pressure applied to support a candidate based solely on the letter next to their name no matter their beliefs, past records, or intended CONTINUED ON PAGE B-3 A-15

“SYRIAN MIR AGE” CONTINUED FROM PAGE A-13

all people who are “infidels”; with their favorite target being Jews and Christians in Israel, Islamic and/or western countries.

To date, Obama has brought down moderate Muslims and installed Islamists.

He has done that with Islamists in Tunisia to replace Ben Ali, Al Qaeda in Libya to replace Qaddhafi, Muslim Brotherhood to replace Mubarak in Egypt, now with Al Qaeda in Syria to topple Assad, next will be Abdullah in Jordan but interestingly he won’t touch Islamic states – Iran (Rouhani) and Turkey (Erdogan). Why not? I believe Obama’s real goal is to Islamize the Middle East and topple Israel and I believe America will be severely punished by the God of the Bible for our hand went against his blessed people - Israel!

“In conclusion, I implore you President Obama to open your eyes in this Syrian Mirage and not attack Syria nor support the Islamist “rebels” aka Al Qaeda. The American people, of all political stripes, have united overwhelmingly to oppose your intent to enter Syria. If you want to bomb Syria because you believe the Syrian Mirage, of Assad killing hundreds of children via chemical weapons, then you must be consistent to your convictions and confront abortion clinics for their killing of 3000+ unborn children each day; forty two times more people killed in a week than what is happening in Syria!! But I know you won’t as “Life” has different meanings to you and your leftist, communist allies. Again, Mr. President, your

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entrance into Syria in a “limited” war will do further damage to US influence and our safety.

And my fellow Republicans, you don’t get off scot free, if you vote for this mess, you will also be included by history (and hopefully soon by the voters) as perpetrators in this war against true freedom in the Middle East and also ensuring Israel’s security! Stop the madness; wake up and see the Syrian Mirage!”

Anil Mathai, lives with his wife Marisol and their three kids in Westminster, CO. Anil holds a BSChE, MBA, and MDiv and is an executive with

an organization ensuring regulatory and quality assurance commitments are met and lean projects are enacted to bring cost savings to his organization.

Anil is 1st Vice Chair of the Adams County Republican Party and was also a National Delegate from CO to the 2012 RNC in Tampa, FL. Anil loves talking about all issues that affect individuals & society, meeting families & people of all stripes, coaching youth basketball and other sports. He believes that our nation can indeed return back to success if we enact the conservative, moral and biblical principles valued and promoted by our Founding Fathers.”

common

SensE FRACK THE PLANET

BY C.W. GRAYBILL

W

hat do you do if you are an environmental activist, academic elitist or an unsuspecting do-gooder looking for a cause, any cause? You ignore facts and evidence, cherry pick studies hastily compiled and incompetently conducted to promote energy technology not yet (or maybe never) commercially viable or reliable.

Then, you demonize competing industry, lie about your findings and incite public fear to block the use of hydraulic fracturing (a.k.a. fracking) and horizontal drilling to recover crude oil and natural gas, previously trapped in shale rocks and too dispersed to be recovered economically.

High profile Hollywood director/actor activists want to scare you into opposing fracking, rather than educate you about the benefits of these and other enhanced fossil fuel recovery techniques that can end our dependence on foreign oil or other energy sources. You have probably all heard or seen faucets caught on fire “because of fracking,” claims that fracking pollutes your drinking water, causes breast cancer and pollutes the air. All false, as I will prove below, but first just what is fracking?

Hydraulic fracturing is a process of injecting high pressure water (think power washing or the recent Highway 24 floods in Colorado Springs, CO) and minute amounts of chemicals (about 99% water to 1% chemicals) into the earth to crack open shale rocks and release natural gas and crude oil. In combination with horizontal drilling, it has exponentially increased the amount of recoverable fossil fuels at lower cost.

Now to the environmentalist myths: Here in Colorado, a lit match was used to ignite tap water in which natural gas had dissolved. Bad fracking!

No, the homeowner’s water well was drilled through several layers of coal, causing methane gas to escape, according to findings from an investigation by the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. Fracking=1, environmentalists=0.

In Pennsylvania, it was implied that fracking was the blame of a house explosion that killed its inhabitants, but instead it was human negligence by a conventional gas well drilling company. They failed to ensure the well

casing was properly sealed with cement. Cement is poured around the steel piping to prevent gas or fluid transfer into exposed rock along the bore hole and then aquifers or wells. Fracking=2, environmentalists=0.

In fact, according to a spokesman for the Environmental Defense Fund, ALL groundwater pollution incidents to date have been HUMAN CAUSED well construction problems. Fracking=3, environmentalists=0.

Fracking is allegedly a major air polluter, emitting neurotoxins and carcinogens, and creating smog. Name me one industry that does not pollute the air in some fashion or capacity.

However, according to a study of Pennsylvania air quality by the Rand Corporation, the entire natural gas industry in the state contributed, at most, less than 5% of all measured pollutants. That means converting just one of the state’s coal fired power plants to natural gas would improve Pennsylvania air quality more than shutting down the entire natural gas industry.

Fracking also allegedly increases the incidence of breast cancer in women in counties in which it is used. But, according to studies by Texas researchers, there is no evidence of increased cancer risk in Texas counties where fracking is conducted.

Albeit not perfect, especially when humans get involved, natural gas produced by means of fracking and burned in power plants, is far less polluting than burning coal.

Greenhouse gas emissions (which this author believes is voodoo science) from electricity production from fracked or conventionally drilled gas wells, is very similar.

As an aside, if President Obama truly believes the USA, via EPA pollution mandates, can unilaterally solve supposed greenhouse gas emissions from coal fired power plants, he is delusional. U.S. air coal fired power plant emissions are pristine when compared with that of other industrialized nations like China, India, Brazil, Russia et al. All he will do is increase coal exports and lower utility rates everywhere but here!

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Do You Have Milk and Cookie Disease?

R

ecently the news reported that a doctor is diagnosing her pediatric patients with milk and cookie disease. Sounds pretty good to me, “May I die in a pile of milk and cookies,” but what is it?

The symptoms run the gamut from runny noses, snoring, upset stomach, migraines, and asthma to skin rashes, weight gain and inflammation. The traditional medical route has always been allergy meds, pain meds, and antacids. Basically, that is what is in the medical doctor’s tool box; drugs and surgery. The problem is that all the drugs in the world do not address the root of the problem, which could quite possibly be a sensitivity or allergy to milk. This medical doctor noticed that the children she was seeing were really drinking a lot of milk and incorporating milk into every meal they ate. Cereal and milk for breakfast, pizza for lunch, a yogurt snack and then milk and cookies before bed was a typical day for her patients – Thank you dairy lobby and the FDA. She hypothesized that the milk may be the problem.

Now there is a difference between sensitivity and allergy. An allergy can be obvious to observe, eat this watch the rash appear. But a food sensitivity is more subtle. I explain it this way. If your

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BY LEE BLACKWOOD

body’s immune system runs at 100%, you are healthy. But with a sensitivity to milk, for example, may keep that immune response at 85%. So you are not really sick, but not really vibrantly healthy either. Then at a lower operating rate, other immune assaults take their toll more virulently. So the child with a milk sensitivity may get every cold at school, all year long. The adult with a milk sensitivity may notice their pollen allergy flares up worse after the cheesecake and latte.

But why would dairy be the problem? I know my parents drank as much milk as they wanted, without stuff y noses. Right now there are more chemicals and modification in our food supply than ever before. I believe these changes and additions are modifying our food on a very basic level, in a toxic way and we are seeing these changes erupt through chronic, low grade bad health.

When patients come to my office with the above symptoms, one treatment I recommend is to remove all milk from the diet. Even adult cows don’t drink milk. That would include ice cream, cheese, raw milk and yogurt. After going the medical route and symptom chasing for years at an MD’s office, I have had patients cry, whine and

grumble at the thought of modifying their diet, but when they stick to it for a couple of weeks, “miracles” can occur.

Could the solution really be that simple?

Well not always. But what we do is examine the pros and cons of eradicating milk from the diet.

Cost – none, inconvenience – major to minor depending upon how the patient takes the news, side effects – none. If this “treatment” works, calcium supplements can fill in any gap on the nutritional side, an easy fix. But just think how happy you would be to not snore, to lose weight, to not have a runny nose and breathe easier. The benefits completely outweigh the costs, and for children the results can be dramatic.

So if you are suffering from milk and cookie disease, try nixing the dairy and see what happens. You may experience a “miracle” in your life.

Dr. Lee Blackwood has been in private practice since 1994 and is a chiropractor, naturopath and acupuncture doctor. He currently practices in Black Forest, Colorado, and specializes in working with his patients to find solutions to their complex health care issues. For more information, he can be contacted at his office at 719-533-1100. He is in the office Sundays by appointment, Monday – Friday.

“AMERICA: WHAT IS WRONG WITH US?” CONTINUED FROM PAGE A-14

ings, so we put up more Gun Free Zones signs, inviting even more unchallenged slaughter, instead of arming our citizens and educating them on safe gun handling. We ignore independent studies like the recent one by Harvard University showing that violent crimes go down significantly when gun control laws are eased in communities. Yet we sit idly by and ignore all this. What is wrong with us?

I will tell you what is wrong with us. We have become a nation of wimps, just like our leadership in Washington. Why should we actually think about what is best for America when a liberal network news anchor or talk show host with personal agendas can do our thinking for us and tell us how to think? Why should a politician, like Ronald Reagan did, explain the conservative principles he stood for and try to win voters over? It is easier to watch daily polls and try to say empty phrases that will appeal to the audience at hand. We have forgotten what made us great, which was rugged individualism, principle, morality, and a constant thirst and quest for freedom. These blessings have always been zealously guarded and watched over by a motivated, well-equipped, heavily-armed, highly-trained military and guided by the principles of our precious Constitution. You want America back? You want America great again? Then start acting like a real American. Think for yourself, get involved, and make the change happen, and let’s get God back in our lives.

President Theodore Roosevelt said, ““If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn’t sit for a month.”

Don Bendell is a best-selling author, a disabled Green Beret Vietnam veteran, and a 1995 inductee into the International Karate and Kickboxing Hall of Fame. He owns a ranch in southern Colorado and is the author of the just-released western Blood Feather (Berkley-Penguin, Aug, 2013).

Permission is hereby granted to reprint, copy, or pass this on wherever and to whomever you choose. This is posted on Don’s blog, Shooting from the Hip, accessed at his website www.donbendell.com “REVERSING SOMETHING WHOLLY UN-AMERICAN” CONTINUED FROM PAGE A-15

purpose once elected. We have watched as candidates are destroyed, not based on their ability to serve the People and the Constitution, but because of something, no matter how irrelevant, in their personal background that is exploited and exaggerated to any degree to undermine them for the preservation of the power of others. In this, we often refuse to exercise our power as individuals to stand against the attacks against those we believe in because we fall back into normal politics and the distorted lies of electability pushed by those and the powers behind them who must be elected to retain power over us.

There are great men and women who currently hold office or who will run in Colorado fighting with us to preserve our liberty, but there are forces aligned against them who will stop at nothing to oppose them and us. We can win over those forces, but we must have the courage to not waiver in what we know to be true. We must refuse to support candidates or office holders based solely on party affiliation. They must share and exhibit the values that preserve our liberty and have the courage challenge all, even their own party, who work against our values. Most importantly, we must stand firmly with them or we have little chance of success. Together, we must move past politics as we know it today and move towards the preservation of our Republic.

In Too Big to See, Rick Joyner wrote, “We must realize that in times such as these, some of the greatest patriots will be branded traitors, and some of the worst traitors can be branded patriots. We must resolve now we will not be swayed by how we are portrayed by our government, by our media, or even our fellow Americans. We must resolve to just do the right thing with the conviction that liberty is worth paying any price to preserve.”

What price will we pay? Are we willing or even capable of making the changes needed to face our enemies and reverse something wholly un-American?

Constitutional Champions (CC) has as our mission and our responsibility to promote patriotism through American History Education. Learn more about Constitutional Champions at www.constitutionalchampions.org or contact Don Rodgers at www.912PikesPeakPatriots.com

“WHERE ARE WE HEADED, AMERICA?” CONTINUED FROM PAGE A-15

interesting parallels between the Roman Empire and America. But the bottom line is that it was a character issue with Rome.

He noted that, “when Romans abandoned self-responsibility and self-reliance, and began to vote themselves benefits, to use government to rob Peter and pay Paul, to put their hands into other people’s pockets, to envy and covet the productive and their wealth, they turned down a fateful, destructive path.”

And he states, “The paramount lesson of the Roman experience is actually not peculiar to Rome. It may be, in fact, the most universal lesson of all history: No people who have lost their character have kept their liberties.”

We may not be a full-blown democracy, but we are getting close enough to be concerned about some of these warnings from history about democracy’s demise, and the cycle of democracies.

Regardless of just where in this cycle we are today, we have an opportunity to defy history. We have an opportunity to choose where we are headed.

But we have to remember where we started, with the “release of initiative and enterprise.” We have to remember that material inequality cannot be achieved without giving up liberty. We have to turn away from the current path of growing government interference in so many areas of our lives. Then we have to return to the things we did before through hard work and self-reliance. We have to return to the “release of initiative and enterprise,” and do so with character.

Pat Francomano is a freelance writer living in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He is a retired software engineer and holds a master’s degree in mathematics. His writing interests are on political, economic and social issues as they affect individual liberties.

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from under the

ScaffolD COLORADO;

The Road to Hell (Detroit) is Paved with Higher Taxes.

BY KEN CLARK

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here are truly so many different and confusing aspects to the “Future School Finance Act” and Amendment 66 it is hard to know where to begin. Here is some background. SB 213, The School Reform act was passed during the 2013 Legislative Session, arguably the most radically Marxist session in Colorado’s history. It was sold as a “reform” act that would be the most comprehensive education reform ever passed by any state, they were right.

So, what exactly does it do?

SB 213 has basically two parts, the “school reform” aspect, and the “tax increase” now known as “Amendment 66.” You see, they have promised all of these neat and pretty, radical reforms guaranteed to miraculously make your kids smarter, but only if you give them an additional billion dollars per year in new taxes but you can’t have one without the other.

After the passage of SB 213, the Democrats then had to push a ballot initiative in order to raise the money for the reforms, thank you TABOR. The Democrats passed SB 213 on a purely partisan push with no Republicans voting for it, and after rejecting over 100 proposed amendments by Republican legislators in their desperate attempt to try to make something positive happen within a bill they knew they couldn’t stop. All efforts to put lipstick on this pig failed.

SB 213 in a nutshell removes all local control of your education tax dollars, 4 billion from the state, another 4 billion from the school districts themselves, and transfers of the money to a brand new bureaucracy under the Gold Dome. The board members of this new bureaucracy are all appointed personnel and have zero accountability to the tax payer, yet they control all of our education dollars.

This new board will control the curriculum in all of our districts and they will control which district gets what dollars. They have come up with a new “formula” of how they will allocate our education tax dollars which is a “weighted” formula placing emphasis on lower income students and students who must learn to speak English.

A district which relies heavily on government subsidized school lunch will rank higher in allocated funds than one that does not. A school which has students who are learning our language will have the same higher weight placed upon its students. It’s ok to assume that those schools who rely on the school lunch program are some of the same ones that have to teach the kids to speak and read English first. Those districts will get a disproportionate amount of funding; some students in these districts will actually be counted as two students with the new formula.

On the issue of charter schools it should be noted that the bill removes one thousand dollars per student in these schools and will force them to use the standardized curriculum that public schools employ. This is a great way to eradicate the charter school program.

A district which relies heavily on government subsidized school lunch will rank higher in allocated funds than one that does not. A school which has students who are learning our language will have the same higher weight placed upon its students.

Right now in Colorado, less than 1/2 of our employees in the education industry are teachers.

Our spending has gone up every year but our enrollment stays roughly the same and our student performance is not improving even with the additional spending.

Over the last several years we have seen an increase of 38% student enrollment and an CONTINUED ON PAGE B-6

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR CONTINUED FROM PAGE A-6

Pueblo Freedom & Rights founder Victor Head to take out a personal loan to finance the effort. Call instructed local party officers in several counties not to support petition drives with voter or walk-list information (our chair in Pueblo told him off and did the right thing to support the Recall).

committed financial support for the two Republican candidates against Morse and Giron, he gave money only to the candidate opposing Morse, but only gave in-kind contributions (mailers) to the Republican facing Giron, so that he (Ryan) could keep control.

Once the petitions against Morse and Giron qualified for a vote, Chairman Call promised support to pay for legal defense against Democrat challenges (but only under pressure, and only if the legal work went to his law firm) –then failed to follow through, leaving the grassroots efforts footing the bill.

Finally, only hours before the election results came out, Chairman Call told the Pueblo Recall campaign and Republican Party officers that they were going to lose, and should start preparing their concession speeches (which he arrogantly told them “better not” raise any issues about reported voter fraud).

Chairman Call even opposed the lawsuit which kept the Recalls from being all-mail-ballot elections, calling the judge’s ruling to uphold the constitution “disappointing.”

So: Call opposed the recall campaigns, sabotaged Pueblo efforts, tried to take credit for the win after jumping on the bandwagon, lied about financial support, and totally misunderestimated the Pueblo win.

Only when it looked like the Recall campaigns were gathering momentum, Chairman Call tried to jump in front of the parade (with some photo-op phone banking, mostly on the Morse recall). Even though Call “THE ROAD TO HELL” CONTINUED FROM PAGE B-5

increase in of 86% administrative personnel combined with a flatlining of test scores in math, science and reading, evidently more bureaucracy doesn’t make for better education. SB 213 calls for roughly 300 million to be set aside for the implementation of a new bureaucracy that will allocate roughly 6 million in new teacher incentives. Yes, you read that right!

This nightmare continues as Amendment 66 which is just that, an amendment to the Colorado Constitution. This also has two aspects to it, one is the largest tax increase in Colorado history and the other, more menacing aspect is a progressive tax structure.

Today, every citizen of Colorado pays the same rate as we have a constitutionally mandated flat tax system, Amendment 66 would change this to a tiered structure, where everyone making over $75,000 per year will pay a higher tax rate than those making under $75,000 per year. This is the left’s tried and true strategy to sell the citizenry on sticking it to the “Rich” and making them pay “their fair share.”

What they won’t tell you is the tax increase on those in the lower income bracket will be roughly 8% but the real kicker is those in the higher tax bracket will see their income tax rise a whopping 27% per year. The proponents of this tax and spend strategy needed a progressive tax structure in order to avoid the state of Colorado having the highest flat tax structure in the nation. This is a stigma they very much wanted to avoid.

So what we have in Amendment 66 and SB 213 is a total loss of local control and spending by our local school districts, a new appointed bureaucracy that will be unaccountable to anyone, formed to allocate funds and dictate curriculum, the largest tax increase in the history of Colorado, a new progressive income tax structure, and funds that will never make it into the class room.

Any questions?

Ken Clark is the Co-Host of Grass Roots Radio Colorado 560 KLZ The Source, Vice Chair Loveland 912 Project, Colorado Field Director FreedomWorks, Chair of the First Committee of Correspondence Colorado, Member of the Northern Colorado Conservative Think Tank, President of Colorado Tea Party.

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Maybe it’s time to Re-call Call?

- Pueblius

Legislative Larceny I

BY DOUGLAS BRUCE

despised the political racket long before my 2008 session in the state legislature. My urge to reform the system caused me to enter the lion’s den. Here are some grisly details.

share of our money. Before TABOR passed, politicians warned we faced hell on earth. Instead, state revenue has doubled, despite the national Great Recession.

First is their legislative salary. Legislators whine that they get “only” $30,000 in salary. They don’t volunteer that their session is only 120 days per year, including weekends and holidays. So $30,000 for working onethird of a year equals a $90,000 annual salary, the same as the governor.

Meeting 81 days would reap $370 per day.

Legislators cheat repeatedly. They violate their oath of office to obey the state Constitution. In 2005, they conned voters into approving a law called Referendum C, by promising the revenue growth limit would be suspended only for five years. We would lose our refunds during this “time out” and then the limit would be reinstated.

It gets worse. They pay themselves a daily stipend of $150, including weekends. That’s an extra $18,000 they never mention. They need not document spending it on travel to and lodging in Denver. My nearby apartment was $450 ($15 per day), leaving $135 for daily meals (!) Now, the punch line (drum roll, please): It’s all TAX-FREE. Hypocritical bastards tell us we need to pay more taxes, then vote themselves tax-free cash. I gave my stipend to charity, though it was already tax-free, yet the state prosecuted me for my prior salary donations to muzzle this whistle-blowing reformer.

They lied. Changing a constitutional by a statute is illegal; a constitution can be changed only by a constitutional amendment. Ref. C ended in 2010 but the old limits did not return. We have lost our year-to-year revenue growth limit and our refunds.

Legislators say they don’t have enough money to spend. Their total budget, which they don’t mention, is now nearing $22 BILLION per year, rising over a billion dollars yearly. That’s over $60 million per day, $2.5 million per hour, $41,000 per minute.

Legislators passed a fee that more than doubled the existing charge for car registration. (The true cost is about four dollars.) They diverted that money to road work without voter approval. A fee is a charge for providing a requested service, but we now have a car tax over $100 per year, hundreds of millions imposed without voter approval.

As part of their “Dirty Dozen” tax hikes a few years ago, Democrats imposed sales taxes on candy, soda pop, and flavored water. They said sin taxes would change our bad habits and THEIR noble desire to change OUR behavior justified taking away our right to vote.

Not enough? Whenever citizens object, liberals shriek that even a one percentage point cut in the annual increase (remember the three ballot issues TABOR requires voter approval for multi-year “direct or indirect in 2010?) would cause anarchy; bridges would crumble, schools would close, district debt or other financial obligation whatsoever.” Borrowing expands your wife would be raped and slain. So citizens docilely retreat into what government and gives it more money to spend, which must be repaid with Thoreau called “lives of quiet desperation.” interest. After TABOR passed, our corrupt courts said government could TABOR did not cut any tax. It said revenue would grow normally with change the name of its debts and go on borrowing. Judges voided the phrase the economy, but citizens must get to vote before government takes a bigger “or other financial obligation whatsoever.” They call debt “certificates of CONTINUED ON PAGE B-9

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What Happens in the State of Colorado When a Drunk Driver Crashes into a

PREGNANT WOMAN?

BY GWEN CHERMACK

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eather Surovik knows too well. She was leaving her last pre-natal appointment when a drunk driver slammed into her car harming both Heather and her mother, and killing her unborn son, Brady.

The repeat drunk driver was charged with damaging the vehicle, but not with the death of the child who was going to be born literally any day.

There was no justice for baby Brady.

HEATHER’S STORY “On July 5, 2012, I was eight months pregnant when a repeat drunk driver slammed into my car. Although my mother and I survived, my unborn son Brady did not. Because Colorado does not recognize Brady as a person, there was no prosecution for his tragic death. He was eight pounds, two ounces.

In January, when I tried to change our state laws to protect babies like Brady, abortion advocates and their allies at the capitol testified that I had merely “lost a pregnancy”. Planned Parenthood shot down a bill that would have brought justice to babies killed during the commission of a crime.

Immediately following those hearings, I filed “The Brady Amendment” which calls for fetal homicide laws to at last be applied to unborn victims of violence in Colorado.

Just weeks ago those same lawmakers passed H.B.1154, dishonestly titled the “Crimes Against Pregnant Women” act. Planned Parenthood and supporters of H.B. 1154, who opposed my efforts to bring justice for Brady, have now passed a law that specifically reinforces that babies like Brady are not persons and eliminates criminal liabilities for abortionists who kill women during an abortion.

Outrageously, Governor Hickenlooper signed this law, which says that drunk drivers like the one who is responsible for Brady’s death, could have as little as a $2,000 fine.

My son’s life was worth infinitely more than $2,000!

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CHERMACK CONTINUED

I believe that this is one of the most offensive and deceptive bills to ever be passed in Colorado. Please help me change this law through the Brady Amendment, which I am collecting signatures for right now.

Together, we can put the issue of protecting mothers and unborn children before the people and be a voice for Brady.”

To honor her son, Heather Surovik has initiated the Brady petition to recognize in law that Brady was a person deserving of protection.

In the interest of the protection of pregnant mothers and their unborn children from criminal offenses and negligent and wrongful acts, the words “person” and “child” in the Colorado Criminal Code and the Colorado Wrongful Death Act must include unborn human beings.

HOW CAN YOU HELP? We’re running out of time, so we urgently need your help! We covet your prayers as we fight this battle to protect the unborn.

We need approximately 86,000 valid signatures to get the Brady Amendment on the next election ballot. Your involvement will make the difference. The signatures must be turned in this month. We only have a couple of weeks remaining.

Help the helpless. Protect the innocent. Stand up for life. Will you be a voice for those who have no voice? The time has come for you and me to act. Together, let’s be a voice for Brady.

To obtain a petition for signatures or to make a donation, please contact Gwen Chermack at Personhood USA. (720) 443-2260. PO Box 486 Arvada, CO 80001. www.personhood.com

“LEGISLATIVE LARCENY” CONTINUED FROM B-7

participation” or “lease purchases.” They said the money is not “debt” even though repaid with interest over many years. Result: They’re sticking your children with the bill.

Why did they do this? The Supreme Court wanted a new courthouse, which cost almost $500 million with interest. They knew voters would not approve bulldozing the existing 35-year-old building. So they came up with their judicial BS. Since 1993, the state and local governments have borrowed BILLIONS of dollars without voter approval to fund such illegal pet projects.

Yes, all the contempt you hold for State politicians and judges is justified. I have here simply scratched the surface.

Douglas Bruce, a former prosecutor, legislator, and county commissioner, authored The Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) constitutional amendment state voters approved in 1992. He can be reached at taxcutter@msn.com.

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our proud

HeritagE I

HEROES

would like to define what a hero is. Not a dictionary definition, but the definition of the life of a man who I think we can all agree is a hero. A man by the name of Roy Perez Benavidez.

Roy was born in 1935, the son of a Texas sharecropper. Orphaned at age 10 he dropped out of school in the 7th grade. In his hometown he was known as a “dumb Mexican.”

This “dumb Mexican” was to become one of that rare class of warriors, a recipient of the Medal of Honor, the highest award that the United States can bestow on its military heroes.

Roy enlisted in the Army in 1952 at the age of 17.

BY KEITH MCKIM

At 1:30, that day, screams for help were heard over the radio in the communications tent, “Get us out of here, for God’s sake get us out!”

Benavidez was in the communications tent and heard the call. He grabbed a knife and a medical bag, then jumped on the helicopter that would try to rescue the trapped team.

When they arrived at the scene, the enemy were too numerous to attempt the rescue. The chopper retreated to a position about a hundred yards away, hovering ten feet off the ground.

Benavidez leaped from the helicopter with only his knife and his medical supplies. Landing on the ground he was shot in his leg.

Just then a North Vietnamese soldier charged from the jungle and clubbed Benavidez with the butt of his rifle, breaking his jaw. Roy fought on and killed his enemy, but not before he was bayoneted in both arms.

He focused his mind through the numbness in his feet and into the pain of his toes until he could move them, then he moved his ankles, his feet and eventually he hoisted himself up and stood leaning against the wall. Later he walked out of the hospital under his own power.

In January 1968, he returned to Vietnam.

On May 2nd, 1968, a Special Forces (SOG) team, (Special Operations), was surrounded by a hard core North Vietnamese Army battalion.

This fight would pit 480 NVA soldiers against Roy Benavidez, two other Green Berets and ten Montagnards all seriously wounded, four dead.

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Creating a defensive perimeter Benavidez radioed for the fast movers, the jets planes to come in and conduct air strikes. He also called for another helicopter to attempt the rescue. He kept fighting, and encouraged the other wounded to fight until the helicopter could arrive. He was shot several more times.

A second helicopter finally arrived at the LZ (landing zone) and Benavidez loaded everyone on board, both dead and wounded.

This “dumb Mexican” didn’t believe the diagnosis, and defying doctor’s orders he began an exercise program on his own. At night in the darkness he would slip from his bed and using his elbows and chin he would crawl to the nearest wall.

Despite continuing pain from his wounds he worked hard and finally qualified for Special Forces.

It rose up off the ground and the pilot was shot in the head and killed. The helicopter crashed. Benavidez pulled everyone, dead and wounded from the burning helicopter.

When the jets arrived he directed them to their targets until the enemy got so close that he directed the jets to come in “Danger Close” In military jargon “Danger Close” means that the good guys are in danger of getting killed by friendly fire.

In 1965 while serving with the 82nd Airborne in Vietnam, Benavidez stepped on a land mine. He was evacuated to Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas, where he was told that he would never walk again.

Benavidez stayed in the Army and was assigned to Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, home of the 82nd Airborne and the Green Berets.

helicopter dragging his dead comrade. A grenade wounded him in the back and neck. He got up again and kept moving, and made it back to the chopper.

He got up and moved toward his comrades.

A grenade blast knocked him down, shrapnel punching into his face and neck collapsing one lung.

He reached the team and began treating the wounded, distributing ammo and calling in air strikes. He was shot again.

Ordering the helicopter to come in closer, he got most of the dead and wounded aboard, then ran back to retrieve the last dead body.

He was shot in the stomach. Holding his guts in with his left hand he moved toward the

This “dumb Mexican” with 34 wounds including a broken jaw, bayonet wounds in both arms, a bullet in his gut, one lung collapsed from grenade shrapnel, a piece of shrapnel embedded in his heart fought on with his knife and killed his attacker.

Dragging the last of the team aboard the chopper, Benavidez saw two enemy soldiers charging out of the jungle. Picking up his enemy’s AK-47, he killed both of them.

After counting the team to make sure that all of them were aboard, Benavidez let the crew pull him inside.

Gunships had been ordered to escort the rescue chopper home. The gunship pilots reported that blood was dripping out of both doors of the rescue chopper and onto the jungle floor below.

CONTINUED ON PAGE B-13

“I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO...

HMMM, THAT DEPENDS”

A

BY DR. HARLEY IHM

ccording to www.ushistory.org/documents/pledge, The Pledge of Allegiance was written in August 1892 by the socialist minister Francis Bellamy (1855-1931). It was originally published in The Youth’s Companion on September 8, 1892. Bellamy had hoped that the pledge would be used by citizens in any country. In its original form it read: “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

In 1923, the words, “the Flag of the United States of America” were added. At this time it read: “I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

In 1954, in response to the Communist threat of the times, President Eisenhower encouraged Congress to add the words “under God,” creating the 31-word pledge we say today. Today it reads: “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

It seems that it was fear that caused the President to realize that America needed God’s help and protection if it were to survive the perilous times.

Did President Eisenhower realize that America had drifted so far from her Judeo-Christian origin that she was setting herself up to fail. I believe we are truly indebted to the President for showing the courage and fortitude to make such a bold proclamation against 62 years of pledging loyalty to our country without mention of our Creator.

That brings us to a critical point to consider. Where do our true loyalties lie? Two passages of Scripture are critical to understanding that question. They are Scriptures I believe our founding fathers would have embraced and fully agreed with. The first one is that God’s institutions were designed to create peace and the protection for the innocent. Paul writes to the Christians in Rome, people who were certainly not abused. “Everyone

must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring harsh judgment on themselves” (Romans 13:1-2). I cannot see how that could be offensive to anyone in this nation. Who does not what to protect innocent people? God’s will to protect the innocent is a blessing. But there is another passage that clarifies this line that can become blurred.

In an effort to trap Jesus, the great leaders of the day asked Jesus if it was right to pay taxes to Caesar. Rome was abusing Israel with taxes. Jesus looks at a coin with Caesar’s portrait on it and points out Caesar’s picture, his royal claim. Then Jesus answers, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s” (Matthew 22:21).

Here are the two great principles revealed: 1. All authority is set up by God to punish the wicked and protect the innocent. That is the purpose of Governments, even though the stray from the principle. Without authority and order chaos and anarchy would rule. The stronger and more evil would dominate those physically weaker and the honest.

2. Support your government as LONG AS it does not contradict God’s Truth. Jesus never asked us to give anything to Caesar that belonged to God. Therefore, if our authorities ever call for us to disobey God’s ultimate Truth in the Scriptures, then they are demanding for us to give them what belongs to God. Jesus never asked us to put anyone or anything above our God. God will have no one before Him! So, when I pledge allegiance, it will always be first to my God and then to my country. As we drift more and more toward a post-modern, humanistic way of life in America, there will be difficult times and divisive issues when we have to say, “I cannot give that to you. That belongs to my God.”

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MUSEUM OF COLORADO PRISONS IN CANON CITY STORY AND PHOTOS BY CINDY LYONS

I

choose to hit the criminal path for my first article on Colorado history. I recently took a tour of the Museum of Colorado Prisons.

It’s one of those places where you get your curiosity about prison satiated a bit, but then it makes you thankful you don’t have to live in such a tiny cell. Actually the cells in the museum are about 1 foot smaller in length and width as a typical cell in the prison next to it. And they usually house two inmates per cell. Talk about cramped quarters.

Getting out your car you may think that the structure next door to the museum is a part of the museum; it’s not. It is an active medium security prison; Colorado’s first Territorial Prison “Old Max.” At various times

during the visit in the cells you may hear a loud speaker from the prison which gives your visit an edge of reality. It is an odd feeling to be visiting to a prison museum and be just yards away from an active prison.

The way into the entrance of the prison museum is past 15 plus feet of steel doors. As you enter there are two tiny cages with bars which were the first cells; earlier cells that housed only one person.

A historical cell house that was the original Women’s Correctional Facility constructed in 1935 the museum has been set up so each cell highlights a part of Department of Corrections (prison) history.

One cell display that has a focus on gangs. Sitting on a glass case is a binder full of papers about prison gangs, their signs, behavior and lingo. It is a bit alarming to take note of the number of gangs in a typical Colorado Prison.

Other exhibits feature infamous inmates such as Alfred Packer who was convicted of cannibalism and Antone Woode a twelve-year old convicted of murder.

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Actual shanks (prison made weapons) found in prison cells and on prisoners are abundant. Some of them have been used by convicts to murder fellow inmates.

A model of a wooden apparatus called “the old grey mare” like the one they used to bend prisoner’s over and flog them is displayed. Controversial Territorial warden Roy Best was charged with cruelty to prisoners and the practice was stopped in the 1950’s. There are several forms of correction which are fascinating to look at such as the electro shock machine. If you like firearms there is the “Federal 1 1/2” Caliber Gas Gun” displayed there (for riot control).

Th is innocent-looking building was the gas chamber.

The museum covers many of the riots and escapes from Colorado prisons such as the riot of 1929 which was the worst in Colorado penal history. One such prisoner who died in the riot was James Perdue who masterminded the awful event. Read the fascinating account of the riot on http://ccpl.lib.co.us/History_Old/Prisons/1929Riot.html.

They have on display the last noose to have been used on a prisoner in Colorado. And upon your exit of the museum you walk down towards an exhibit that shows the last gas chamber used in Colorado. Currently the only method of death is by lethal injection.

Exhibits at the Museum cover over 140 years of history, depicting prison life from early Territorial Prison days forward.” http://www.prisonmuseum.org.

There is nothing like a visit in person to get an idea of prison life in the past in Colorado.

You can visit the museum for your self-guided tour at 201 1st St, Canon City, CO 81212 Phone (719) 269-3015

Just a Mom:

BREAK THE RULES! TALK POLITICS!

H

BY KELLY LEGGETT

ow many of us have been taught to never talk about religion or politics? Well, unless you know the people you are talking to are of the same opinion as you are. For a people pleaser and someone who doesn’t like to rock the boat, this can be a real problem.

The Pollyanna in me would like to vote only according to my world view and values. The other side of me sees this as a game on the grandest scale.

You’ve got to understand the rules, the players and the different strategies being played. It is a real dilemma.

Gun control, abortion and gay marriage are definitely topics that can cause some pretty explosive reactions. Then there is the war in Afghanistan, healthcare, the economy, taxes and immigration. What about education, government spending, social security, national security and the environment? There is no doubt that the issues facing this nation are serious and many.

When your life is already too busy the thought of spending time figuring out something as complicated as local, state and national politics is overwhelming, especially local politics. Short of going to city council meetings it is virtually impossible to get information about what is going on.

Also, during elections many of those running are first time candidates with no voting record.

What are the chances you will find candidates that agree with you on every one of these issues? Slim and none I’m guessing. Is it any wonder that many of us just don’t want to deal with thinking about these things?

We are bombarded with ads during election seasons. These sound bites make it into our minds whether we want them to or not. Where can we get accurate information? There is network news, cable news, talk radio, the internet, and let’s not forget Saturday Night Live and the late night shows. I recall seeing a disturbing statistic several years ago which stated an alarming number of people made their voting decisions based off of late night monologues and comedy skits.

Voting is a privilege we have in this country, true? Doesn’t privilege go hand in hand with responsibility? The percentage of people who vote is pretty low and there is always a great push to get citizens registered and to the polls. This is important but it is also important that those voting know what they are voting for and why.

We are free to have different opinions and to vote the way we see fit.

We need to protect that right even for those that don’t hold the same views we do.

How do we sift through all of the information out there? It stands to reason that people have grown apathetic. But, the stakes are just too high!

We’ve got children and future grandchildren who are going to have to sift through the ashes of what is left of our country if we don’t stand up and see how we as individuals are part of a whole and each of our votes mean something. We have got to stop seeing it as a privilege and start seeing it as an obligation, a responsibility to be taken very seriously.

For me, I’ve had to spend some time really thinking about what is important to me and why. I’ve had to look at the different issues separately.

The first step is figuring out what is important to you and why. Then, start breaking the rules; start asking some questions and talk politics!

We’ve been given a wonderful opportunity with our system of government. Let’s not squander it through casting uniformed votes.

“HEROES” CONTINUED FROM PAGE B-10

Lying on his back, Benavidez held his guts in with his own hands for the 20 minute ride back to the base.

At Loc Ninh he was taken off the chopper, triaged and placed with the dead.

This 32 year old son of a Texas sharecropper had just fought for six hours, suffered seven serious gunshot wounds, twenty-eight shrapnel wounds, a broken jaw, two bayonet wounds, a collapsed lung and a piece of shrapnel embedded in his heart was triaged and placed with the dead.

His uniform was ragged and torn, his body was filthy, his intestines were exposed, covered in disgusting jungle slime, his body oozed his life blood, his eyes were blinded from the dried, black, blood that covered them, his jaw broken, but he was alive, could hear and he knew what

was happening.

He lay in a body bag bathed in his own blood as a doctor came over to feel each dead man’s chest for a heartbeat before zipping up the bag for the final time.

When the doc touched Benavidez’s chest, Roy forced his head up and spit a bloody glob of goo into the doc’s face. The surprised doctor revised Roy’s condition from dead to, “He won’t make it, but we’ll try.”

Roy did make it and he received the Medal of Honor for his actions that day.

When President Ronald Reagan awarded the Medal of Honor to Roy Benavidez He said that if Roy’s heroic deeds had been a movie script you would not believe it.

Roy Benavidez was a hero and an inspiration

for those of us who are in this fight to save our nation. And make no mistake; we are in a fight for the life and the soul of our nation.

“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who are wounded and killed. Rather, we should thank God that such men exist.” General George Patton Thank GOD for men like Roy Benavidez and for those of you who are in for the long fight.

Highly decorated retired U.S. Army, Green Beret who served in Vietnam, Mr. McKim is a much sought after patriotic speaker. For booking information and corporate, political or private entertainment, call (719) 748-8013 or email 1EYEDDUDE@GMAIL.COM

“MUSEUMS” CONTINUED

Rates: Adults: $7; Seniors (65+): $6; Children 6-12yrs: $5; Children under 5: FREE; CO Dept. of Corrections: $5; Federal Bureau of Prisons: $5; Military (Active and Retired): $5 NOTE: This museum does not have access for those in wheelchairs and you’ll have to go up few steps to enter the museum’s doors.

Left: A display of actual shanks (improvised knives) made by prisoners.

Right: One exhibit details a daring escape.

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Was Colorado Statehood Fully Conferred?

PART 2. FINANCIALLY IT MATTERS.

BY AMY MITCHELL

A

s explained in the September issue of Common Sense News, 36.63% of the State of Colorado is owned and managed by the Federal Government; the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s U.S. Forrest Service, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Parks Service as well as several other federal bureaus. When Colorado became a state, the Federal government held the land in trust and promised through the enabling act the title of land would be extinguished with land ownership conferred to the state; but the promise was not honored.

Each state entering the union was to be treated the same; to exist on equal footing to enjoy municipal sovereignty within the state’s border.

Because Colorado’s statehood “contract” was not honored by the federal government, Colorado now is at a 36.63% disadvantage compared to other states to the east, being unable to utilize 36.63% of the land to generate a tax base through the state’s land management or through private ownership.

The federal government has handcuffed Colorado by blocking access to potential revenues through responsible access to minerals, energy and forest resources. Would Colorado not benefit from responsible development of energy resources such as oil, natural gas and mineral resources?

Colorado is not only financially shackled but suffers the mismanagement of the land by the federal administrative bureaucracy; a structure set-up to block action rather than facilitate action. Colorado has 3.4 million acres (5,300 square miles) of beetle-decimated forests. It is tragic, cutting permits are slowly processed through the federal structure, but worse, the B-14

trees are left standing to ensure maximum combustibility of our forests; 70% of the High Park fire in Larimer County was beetle-killed with nearly 50% of the forest “managed” by the federal bureaucracy. The state of Colorado can and does manage the forests much better than the federal government. Would Colorado not benefit from selling permits to allow the dead trees to be harvested at a profit to the state?

Financially, state managed and private-owned land will generate a tax base and allow Colorado to remove dependency on federal funds. With the increased federal government’s appetite for spending, it is likely monies tagged for the states will be reduced as the federal structure grows in size.

Compare Colorado’s current status to North Dakota. The federal government controls 3.9% of North Dakota, the land was conferred to North Dakota, allowing it to independently determine the destiny of the state and its citizens through the utilization of its natural resources. In 2012 North Dakota enjoyed a 13.4% growth rate; the only state in the country enjoying a double-digit rate last year. With that growth, North Dakota added 18,000 new jobs, saw an improvement of $1.4 billion to its infrastructure and school buildings and enjoys a high level of spending on education; in the classroom exceeding the national average by $3,700 per pupil.

Could any Coloradan disagree that it is best for Colorado to drastically reduce its dependency on federal handouts and develop a tax base that will provide for the children’s education, keep our roads and bridges in good repair and allow Colorado to determine its own destiny?

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