Republican Party Imploding In Most Important Electoral County in Colorado
80 Comments
by: Colorado Pols
Nate Marshall, GOP candidate for HD-23.
UPDATE #3: Nate Marshall not ready to formally resign as candidate in HD-23 (h/t to Ernest Luningof the Colorado Statesman). In a diatribe posted on Marshall's website (all CAPS is how it appears on Marshall's site), the candidate says that Jeffco GOP Chair Bill Tucker "[threw] him under the bus":
I AM DONE WITH THE RACE BUT I WILL NOT FILE THE PAPERWORK UNTIL THE JEFFERSON COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY AND COLORADO GOP MAKE AMENDS WITH THE TEAPARTY WHO BETTER REPRESENT CONSERVATIVES THAN RINOS LIKE BILL TUCKER. WE DO NOT NEED SELLOUTS LIKE HAVE INFECTED THE STATE AND COUNTY PARTY! WE NEED TRUE CONSERVATIVES.
BY STATE LAW YOU CANNOT BE REMOVED FROM A BALLOT UNLESS YOU SIGN A NOTARIZED FORM OF WHICH I POSSESS BUT HAVE DECIDED NOT TO FILE. I MAY JUST SIT ON THE DESIGNATION AND GIVE THE SEAT TO THE DEMOCRATS.. IMAGINE IF THEY GET 32-32 AND IN ORDER TO GET THE MAJORITY ALL THEY HAD TO DO WAS WELL RESPECT THAT I LEGALLY AND MORALLY HOLD ALL THE CARDS AS I WAS LEGALLY AND CONSTITUTIONALLY DESIGNATED.
I DO NOT WANT TO RUN AND AM NOT BUT AM LEFT WITH LITTLE CHOICE BUT TO PROTECT MYSELF AND FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES BY STANDING UP TO THESE RINO BULLIES AS BEST I CAN.
We'll continue to update this story as it develops.
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UPDATE #2: The Colorado Independent confirms big news from Republican Rick Enstrom (who ran in HD-23 in 2012) that Nate Marshall was recruited to run by Tim Neville, the Republican candidate in SD-16 who has been endorsed by RMGO:
Embattled Colorado state House candidate Nathaniel Marshall was reportedly recruited to run for office by state Senate candidate Tim Neville, a prominent Colorado Republican politiRepublican Senate candidate Tim Neville (SD-16)cian with close ties to far-right kingmaker Dudley Brown…
…Rick Enstrom, a prominent candy business executive and onetime Republican House candidate, tweeted Wednesday that Marshall told him that he was recruited to run by Neville. Today Enstrom confirmed that assertion in a phone interview.
“I’m not running for anything, and Tim Neville is a friend of mine but, hey, the facts are the facts,” he told the Colorado Independent.
This is a pretty significant twist to how a white supremacist career criminal could become the Republican nominee for House District 23. While Neville may claim that he didn't know about Marshall's past, it's hard to
believe that you could have conversations with the guy and not suspect anything strange. Anyone who followed Marshall on Facebook or Twitter would have seen some of this stuff.
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UPDATE: Marshall drops out of the race, telling the Denver Post, "I didn't think things through."
No shit.
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For anyone hoping to win a statewide election in Colorado, there is no more important county than Jefferson. In fact, it is virtually impossible to win a statewide election if you don't at least split Jefferson County. In both 2012 and 2010, no county in Colorado cast more ballots than Jefferson, and more importantly, the voter makeup of Jeffco makes it competitive for both Democrats and Republicans (unlike Denver and El Paso, for example, which are solidly Democratic and Republican counties, respectively). Republican Senate candidate Cory Gardner acknowledged as much at last Saturday's county assembly, affirming the old adage that "as Jefferson County goes, so goes the state."
But with just seven months until Election Day, the Jefferson County Republican Party is imploding.
The latest scandal in a series of problems in Jeffco comes in HD-23, where Republicans just nominated a white supremacist-sympathizer with a criminal record longer than the Party platform. Pols reader EliotFladen posted a diary about Republican candidate Nate Marshall earlier on Thursday, and here's the latest from Lynn Bartels of the Denver Post:
A Republican House candidate who has been asked to resign because of ties to white supremacists and his arrest record said sometimes he gets so frustrated he gets carried away.
"I wasn't hating on anybody," Nate Marshall of Lakewood said Thursday.
The 42-year-old construction manager said he had planned to disclose his arrest record on his campaign website. "I talked to a fundraiser Wednesday who said because I was going to disclose it, it would have been mitigated," Marshall said.
But he said before he could do so The Denver Post on Wednesday reported on his arrest by Steamboat Springs police investigating a Craigslist rental scam, and referred to the white supremacist blog. He asked if the Post could remove its articles, noting he made restitution in the rental situation and the case was dismissed.
Marshall also said he's not a white supremacist, but he is a "big fan" of a Greek group called Golden Dawn that preaches fiscal austerity. Critics have called it a neo-Nazi or fascist group, but Marshall said while it is a "little bit militant" some members have won political races.
Those paragraphs are really just the tip of the iceberg for Nate Marshall, and now Jeffco Republican Party Chair Bill Tucker is demanding his resignation just days after he was nominated to be the GOP candidate in HD-23. At Saturday's county assembly, Marshall was the only candidate who stepped forward to run in the Lakewood-area district now represented by Democrat Max Tyler. How did Marshall slip through the cracks? And can Republicans really persuade him to drop his bid for State House? After all, they did vote for him as their candidate less than a week ago, and Marshall only needs to resist their call for a few more days and he becomes their candidate by default.
Jefferson County, Colorado
Tucker has only been the Jeffco GOP Chair for a few months now, taking over after former Chair Don Ytterberg resigned last fall in order to run for Congress in CD-7 (a no-hope bid against incumbent Democrat Ed Perlmutter), but he's got a hell of a mess on his hands already:
Infighting, Nasty Primaries, and General Nonsense
Jefferson County Republican officials are feuding with the influential conservative group Rocky Mountain Gun Owners (RMGO), and they are losing; RMGO-backed candidates defeated more moderate Republican challengers at the county assembly, though they will still battle it out in the June Primary. Republicans are looking at particularly nasty Primaries in SD-19 and SD-22, two competitive Senate seats that they cannot lose if the GOP hopes to regain control of the State Senate. In Arvada's SD-19, serial candidate Lang Sias will take on RMGO-favoriteLaura Waters Woods for the right to challenge recently-appointed Democrat Rachel Zenzinger in November. In Lakewood's SD-22, the more moderate Mario Nicolaisfaces an uphill battle against another RMGO-backed candidate, Tony Sanchez (Democrat Andy Kerr awaits the winner of that Primary).
Elsewhere, incumbent Republican Rep. Cheri Gerou is so fed-up with the nastiness that she isn't running for re-election in 2014. The RMGO attacks on Gerou won't help the GOP coalesce behind Tim Neville, who is trying to unseat Democratic Sen. Jeanne Nicholson in SD-16 (Neville's son, Joe, is a top lobbyist for RMGO who threatened Gerou at the Capitol last year). And in HD-29 (Arvada) Republicans couldn't come up with another candidate to challenge Democrat Tracy Kraft-Tharp, so instead they are recycling the shaky Robert Ramirez instead.
All of these Republican problems take place in the midst of hand-wringing over issues such as abortion, where hard-line stances from GOP candidates are turning off Republican voters.
As if these problems weren't enough, one of the GOP's few incumbents, Rep. Justin Everett, is having all sorts of trouble in the State House and was recently removed from two committees by the House Minority Leader. And then there's the new Jefferson County School Board, which has been so blatantly corrupt that it has created a resurgence among public school advocates and PTA types — a serious problem for the GOP in a county that has historically been heavily-focused on education issues. One of the new Jeffco School Board members, Julie Williams, is Tim Neville's sister-in-law.
If Republicans can't straighten things out in Jefferson County, it could well cripple the GOP's hopes at winning statewide races for Governor and U.S. Senate. Candidates at the top of the ticket can give a boost to other hopefuls down-ballot, but it can also work in reverse; if voters are disgusted enough with their local Republicans, it will impact the final tally for Gardner and other GOP hopefuls running statewide.
80 thoughts on “Republican Party Imploding In Most Important Electoral County in Colorado”
http://coloradopols.com/diary/50919/jon-keysers-failed-system-so-much-for-that And don't forget this wonderful Jeffco Republican candidate. The Dems have a candidate who has roots in Evergreen and might swing HD 25 to the Dems this year. Can you imagine that? I can. The disarray left by 20 years of out of touch nut cases who are far out of the mainstream runing the once proud Jeffco Republican Party. I told you all so, but you wouldn't believe me.
You won't get it, because there is even more here than meets the eye. Right now the big question is the possibility that this ties back to RMGO through Neville.
This is kind of like a train wreck in the sense that you can't keep from looking, but I am at least happy that Nate Marshall has now been exposed for who he is and you had a big hand in that.
I was gonna' ask earlier if this guy was RMGO endorsed — as a joke. But, I guess I should have known with that group that there's nothing funny about how far down the barrel they scrape . . .
No. I'm very much in the conservative orbit. That doesn't mean though that I can't agree with you all on a few things. Such as Strormfront people being bad people.
Free Market Capitalism. Reduction in Spending. Originalism.
Those are the biggies. I don't claim the GOP is perfect on those, but they are better than the Dems (and no, please don't send me that often rebutted chart of Obama only increasing spending by 0.X% or something like that)
Free Market Capitalism is to Libertarians as Communism was to Hippies*; A great idea, that in practice, always ends up getting perverted into a system that elevates one group, while tremendously screwing over another.
Strangely enough, in both systems, the same people end up getting screwed.
* (Latent Hippie, myself. But that's my own issue)
Once I was a socialist – until I saw how socialist governments, under pressure from the rest of the world, always centralize power more and more, until the "dictatorship of the proletariat" becomes a dictatorship, period.
Without competition of capitalism, state production becomes only a method to reinforce power in the hands of the elite. Military force and suppression of all human rights, and unregulated destruction of the natural environment follows, inevitably. See: Chernobyl, Beijing air.
I believe that we need regulated capitalism with "natural capitalism" priorities, and some "socialist" systems, ie. health care, like most of the first world has. Food for thought.
@MamaJ – thanks for the shout-out to Natural Capitalism (I'm a Senior Fellow at NC) and Rocky Mountain Institute. Two incredible Colorado organizations that are literally, 'lighting the way'.
I've followed Rocky Mountain Institute for decades – Colorado's very own think tank, to counter the Heritage Foundation. I like how pragmatic and visionary (at the same time) RMI is.
"Natural Capitalism" is, to me, the logical progression of this concept strem:
Marx: Workers create stuff, and should share in the value created, and have power over production.
Feminist movement: The means of reproduction (making babies) is under women's power. Women should share in the value created, and have power over, means of reproduction.
Natural Capitalism returns in a circle to the ancient understandings that people and the earth cannot be separated. From Paul Hawken's Mother Jones article:
Because of our industrial prowess, we emphasize what people can do but tend to ignore what nature does. Commercial institutions, proud of their achievements, do not see that healthy living systems — clean air and water, healthy soil, stable climates — are integral to a functioning economy. As our living systems deteriorate, traditional forecasting and business economics become the equivalent of house rules on a sinking cruise ship.
This just makes so much sense to me.
Amory wrote the best article debunking the myths of the German energy transition you will find anywhere on the internet. The fossil fuel industry has been funding a great propoganda campaign trying to dismiss the German success. Why? Because they are 'winning' – and with that, busting up the monopoly power of the large, German utilities.
It's amazing what human ingenuity and entrepreneurship can accomplish when a government unleashes that power upon the marketplace.
Are you listening, Colorado legislators? Congress?
Of course not, Elliot. We wouldn't want you to bother your pretty little head with those annoying facty things.
Can anyone anywhere point to one example of a modern nation-state that has or is practicing "Free Market Capitalism"? What does that even mean, in real-world terms as opposed to acemdemic Austrian-Economic nonsense? I want to believe in the Easter Bunny but I wouldn't found my perosnal politics on it.
As MB says, No. There is no such thing as a "free" market. All markets have rules–formal, written rules and understood rules. Every rule influences outcomes, every rules favors some, disfavors others. It matters who has the power to write the rules.
What MB and Gaf said.
It was rhetorical question, really, but thanks for the confirmation. What is it about RWers that make them wax endlessly on the utopian nature of socialism, then postulate some nonsensical fantasy like a 'free market'?
Two words:
While we're on the subject of "free markets" and things, it's a neo-con's wet dream: six individuals amassing an amount of wealth equal to the bottom 40% of the nation (while waving the stars and stripes – and pillaging John Q. Public)
Walmart, the nation's largest private employer, is notorious for paying poverty wages and coaching employees to take advantage of social programs. In many states, Walmart employees are the largest group of Medicaid recipients.
"Our business operations are subject to numerous risks, factors and uncertainties, domestically and internationally, which are outside our control … These factors include … changes in the amount of payments made under the Supplement[al] Nutrition Assistance Plan and other public assistance plans, changes in the eligibility requirements of public assistance plans …
I don't understand the term Originalism.#sthash.5NysuRFh.dpuf
Reduced spending? Could you give some examples of where Republican administrations reduced overall spending? I mean since Hoover.
Free Market Capitalism – I understand the term, but not the real life example. Could you name a country, not a state, where free market capitalism prevails?
Now, I sound combative. That is not my intent, I think you would be more at home in the Democratic party and I think we need people like you. There are conservative democrats as well as those who follow Keyes and Paul Krugman.
Here's an idea. All these things you don't understand? Low info voter? Originalism? You can use the internet to look just about anything up. Amazing, I know.
Originalism.
Standard question when someone says they want the original constitution – does that mean you want to reinstitute slavery?
And when you reply no – then the question is, why do you get to pick the one acceptable change?
I fully agree with that. And I think most liberals (and conservatives) do too.
Disagree – I think many liberals believe that we had (a la Ackerman) a "constiutional moment" which allowed the Consitution to be amended without following the formal procedure.
I reject this, and especially I reject Wickard and its progeny Gonzalez v. Raich (the medical marijuana case). It has an interpretation of the scope of the commerce clause that is overly broad.
@EF.
My intent was to persuade you to consider becoming a Democrat. I think your instincts and action were more in keeping with the Democratic party. My intent was not to engage you in a debate on your values. I have reviewed the Republican Party Platform's section on the Constitutuion. While the term
"originalism"is not mentioned, and while there is no statement to pass an amendment to overturn the decision in Marbury v. Madison, I do think that positions expressed there are not compatible with the Democratic Party. So, I reluctantly understand that your views, if not your instincts, would not find a home in the Democratic Party.
In other words, no wage and hour regulation, no environmental regulation, states can have their religions, states can prohibit birth control…
While I do appreciate the thought behind the invitation (not the first!), I'm confident about where I belong in the political spectrum.
Look at this way – there is at least one right-winger that you can say isn't crazy. Or completly crazy, depending on your POV.
There may not be a "unified theory" of Jefferson County Republican dysfunction, but if there is, it would seem to revolve around RMGO. It is worth mentioning that Julie Williams, one member of the new right wing majority on the school board (and by far the most dimwitted) is Tim Neville's sister-in-law.
JOE Neville is a different person than TIM Neville. And no, Joe has never talked to Marshall, e-mailed with him, etc. According to Joe, Tim has talked to Marshall once (at an event, not a private meeting).
Claiming RMGO (me personally, Joe Neville, or someone acting on our behalf) recruited someone to run for office, when in fact we have had NO contact, ever, is actionable. Careful what you claim."
How would that be actionable? I could see how the person allegedly recruited could argue that being linked to slime like Brown and RMGO has been harmed.
Claiming RMGO . . . recruited someone to run for office, when in face we have had NO contact, ever, is actionable.
Of course, everyone must understand that when Dudley and the DoWrong RMGO say something is actionable, it means they're gonna draw their loaded weapon on it . . .
He apparently doesn't understand slander either. If Fox got sued for slander every time they speculated by saying that "people are saying" something that isn't true and every time they featured a guest saying stuff that isn't true, there would be no Fox.
You ever seen any of Dudley's RMGOPac e-mails? Dudley knows his slander. But, I'd be surprised if he'd actually be willing to take a break from his slandering time, to pursue slander charges against anyone else.
Elliot's right — discovery would be a bitch for Dudley . . .
Could Tim be a Tim redux. Tim Leonard was such an extemist dick that he lost to Jeanne Nicholson in the Tea Party wave year of 2010. Tim Neville seems on track to lose a winnable election too. Maybe the district has change geographically but Nicholson is a savvy politician now and has been running for re-election for quite some time. This kind of silliness is the kind of thing that costs you credibility and ultimately elections. Nicholson now has ammunition on Tims extremism to counter all his scary gun attacks. Stupid usually loses when pitted against smart and experienced and Nicholson is both.
Let me put it to you this way. This year's candidate is way worse than the last guy that ran against Jeanne. Personally, as a resident ot that district as well as the 25th House, I intend to be very active in making sure these two gentlemen go down to defeat.
Also, just typical of the bully Dudley Brown to threaten a lawsuit. So much for hating the activist courts. Oh, Dudley, wasn't there a unanimous Supreme Court decision this week that again affirmed that the Second Amendment isn't absolute? Yes, I believe there was.
Ooh, Dudley, there is such a thing the higher standard for public persons and I do believe that the Nevilles and you qualify as public persons. Me thinks that this makes it nearly impossible to bring a slander claim against anyone.
Campaign themes against Dudley's candidates:
This candidate is backed by RMGO, the extermist organization which believes that even murderers releassed from prison should be able to buy a gun without a background check..
This candidate is backed by an organization whose members supported an avowed white supremicist for the state house.
This candidate is supported by the bully Dudley Brown and his organization which threatens public officials.
Need I go on? Kinda like what the Dems are doing to the Koch brothers. The only way to deal with a bully is, well, to swing back.
Gilpin County was almost a part of HD25 until they redrew the map. We met with Chris Kennedy and some Jefferson Dems in preliminary meetings but ended up in HD13 with Claire Levy.
We'll still be involved with Jeffco Dems through Jeanne's campaign. She won a squeaker last time by being able to garner every last vote that she needed. Winning teaches you what to do right and what to avoid next time. Neville is in for the fight of his political life and Jeanne is the one who is going to be bringing it. She might not win but she isn't going to back down from her support for gun safety legislation.
All in the Family: Tim Neville, once a Colorado senator (but redistricted out of his seat) is the father of Joe Neville, RMGO's lobbyist (who had the run-in with Cheri Gerou). He's now running against Sen. Jeannie Nicholson. Patrick Neville, another one of Tim's sons, is running for HD45, where Rep. Carole Murray decided to not run for re-election. And as noted earlier, Julie Williams (new member of the off-balance Jeffco school board, is Tim Neville's sister-in-law. Gerou has apparently decided not to run for re-election. Reportedly, both Gerou and Murray are victims of the ever-more-right-leaning and intolerant GOP. Also: Tim Neville was quite active in working on the recall of Evie Hudak. He was observed several times going door-to-door gathering signatures.
Now he is "The Victim". Isn't victimization the last refuge of scoundrels? You knew this crude racist wouldn't go quietly into the night. And he acts like he would have won. No wonder they say that reality has a liberal bias.
I would just like to make a very serious observation in the midst of this hilarity.
When I speak of my house of many colors, that is exactly what I mean. We have intermarriage and multiracial beautiful people in my extended family. Some live in Jefferson County and we are still trying to decipher what the hell happened with the School Board. The prevelance of ideas and I hope apathy that would allow Nate Marshall to be the only candidate on the ballot is alarming to me.
It is not enough to sit back and watch the republican party implode and hope it keeps happening. There has to be an affirmative response. As I have pointed out over and over. Talk radio, in my humble opinion, fosters the expression of
One thought on your comment on apathy. While RMGO may deserve some blame for this racist, I have to wonder where the party leadership is on this one. I do not know the specifics of job description, but isn’t it a big part of the County Chair and State Chair’s job to recruit and vet candidates for house and senate races. Was this such a no hoper that they couldn’t get anyone to step up, and couldn’t ne bother to vet the one idiot that volunteered?
NATE MARSHALL IS EXACTLY RIGHT! THE RINOS HAVE TREATED HIM VERY BADLY, AND HE SHOULD FORFEIT THE RACE FOR THE REPUBLICANS AND HAND IT TO THE DEMOCRATS OUT OF PROTEST!
I kind of hope that Marshall stays in the race until it's too late to nominate someone else, too. Max Tyler will continue to do a great job serving all of his constituents, as he has for three years now.
Alas, it looks like he's bailing – beating a fast retreat from the defiance of the all-caps message of a couple of days ago, Herr Marshall's campaign site now bears the following message:
Hello Everyone
This page will be deleted in the next few days. It usually takes 48 hours.
I sincerely apologize to the community, the party, my family and friends. This is not who I am. I am respectful of cultures. I sometimes get frustrated like everyone else. My participation was only anti sharia and islam and nothing more. I ask for understanding and again I apologize.
I strongly condemn any attacks on diversity or culture. I realized I was wrong and distanced myself from the people who participate in that.
My goal in running was to help people protect their constitutional rights, get good paying jobs through small business and enterprise and generally improve peoples lives.
I have withdrawn. I will take the paperwork to the sos office on Monday.
I will no longer discuss this matter. I wish to move on with my life and and I want to be a productive member of society.
Sincerely,
“Conservatives believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the liberals believe every day is April 15.”
― Ronald Reagan
So…damn. All he wanted to do was serve, respect cultures (except the Islamic ones), and fight for the Constitution, but those nasty RINOs done whupped him into surrendering and withdrawing from the race altogether. Gone are the days, I guess, when a right-winger would rather nail his colors to the mast and go down with the ship than knuckle under to a bunch of milquetoast "sellouts" and "RINO bullies."
If you look at the FB comments below, you'll see links to screenshots, answering Marshall's claim that he's only "against sharia law and islamic extermism.. nothing more! "
Here's an idea. All these things you don't understand? Low info voter? Originalism? You can use the internet to look just about anything up. Amazing, I know.
March 28, 2014 02:00 PM UTC
80 Comments
http://coloradopols.com/diary/50919/jon-keysers-failed-system-so-much-for-that And don't forget this wonderful Jeffco Republican candidate. The Dems have a candidate who has roots in Evergreen and might swing HD 25 to the Dems this year. Can you imagine that? I can. The disarray left by 20 years of out of touch nut cases who are far out of the mainstream runing the once proud Jeffco Republican Party. I told you all so, but you wouldn't believe me.
Then there are these three extremists running for HD15 in the Springs.
Gordon "Dr Chaps" Klingenschmitt
Dave Williams, chair of the GOP in that county (likely winner)
Michael Kuhn, a political novice and Tea partier
County Assembly March 29- Elliot, please report!
So much I could write on that race. I have to pay the bills though with a day job. If you want to write it MJ I will tell you what is up.
I would add that I already helped PCG thoroughly expose Dave Williams as a gay bashing bully last year.
I await the comment that this is a non-story, and only important to pols. Perhaps I just preempted it
You won't get it, because there is even more here than meets the eye. Right now the big question is the possibility that this ties back to RMGO through Neville.
This is kind of like a train wreck in the sense that you can't keep from looking, but I am at least happy that Nate Marshall has now been exposed for who he is and you had a big hand in that.
I was gonna' ask earlier if this guy was RMGO endorsed — as a joke. But, I guess I should have known with that group that there's nothing funny about how far down the barrel they scrape . . .
And the EF is on a roll today. Good call.
"Red Rover, Red Rover, Let Elliot come over." He belongs on our side.
No. I'm very much in the conservative orbit. That doesn't mean though that I can't agree with you all on a few things. Such as Strormfront people being bad people.
@EF
What exactly are those conservative principles that you find in absolutely conflict with the democratic party?
It is easy to confuse execution with principle.
Free Market Capitalism. Reduction in Spending. Originalism.
Those are the biggies. I don't claim the GOP is perfect on those, but they are better than the Dems (and no, please don't send me that often rebutted chart of Obama only increasing spending by 0.X% or something like that)
So – Libertarianism and the dream of a Constitutional vision that didn't survive the first Supreme Court.
Free Market Capitalism is to Libertarians as Communism was to Hippies*; A great idea, that in practice, always ends up getting perverted into a system that elevates one group, while tremendously screwing over another.
Strangely enough, in both systems, the same people end up getting screwed.
* (Latent Hippie, myself. But that's my own issue)
Let's explore Natural Capitalism. Colorado's own Rocky Mountain Institute is lighting the path forward.
Once I was a socialist – until I saw how socialist governments, under pressure from the rest of the world, always centralize power more and more, until the "dictatorship of the proletariat" becomes a dictatorship, period.
Without competition of capitalism, state production becomes only a method to reinforce power in the hands of the elite. Military force and suppression of all human rights, and unregulated destruction of the natural environment follows, inevitably. See: Chernobyl, Beijing air.
I believe that we need regulated capitalism with "natural capitalism" priorities, and some "socialist" systems, ie. health care, like most of the first world has. Food for thought.
@MamaJ – thanks for the shout-out to Natural Capitalism (I'm a Senior Fellow at NC) and Rocky Mountain Institute. Two incredible Colorado organizations that are literally, 'lighting the way'.
I've followed Rocky Mountain Institute for decades – Colorado's very own think tank, to counter the Heritage Foundation. I like how pragmatic and visionary (at the same time) RMI is.
"Natural Capitalism" is, to me, the logical progression of this concept strem:
Marx: Workers create stuff, and should share in the value created, and have power over production.
Feminist movement: The means of reproduction (making babies) is under women's power. Women should share in the value created, and have power over, means of reproduction.
Natural Capitalism returns in a circle to the ancient understandings that people and the earth cannot be separated. From Paul Hawken's Mother Jones article:
This just makes so much sense to me.
Amory wrote the best article debunking the myths of the German energy transition you will find anywhere on the internet. The fossil fuel industry has been funding a great propoganda campaign trying to dismiss the German success. Why? Because they are 'winning' – and with that, busting up the monopoly power of the large, German utilities.
It's amazing what human ingenuity and entrepreneurship can accomplish when a government unleashes that power upon the marketplace.
Are you listening, Colorado legislators? Congress?
Of course not, Elliot. We wouldn't want you to bother your pretty little head with those annoying facty things.
Can anyone anywhere point to one example of a modern nation-state that has or is practicing "Free Market Capitalism"? What does that even mean, in real-world terms as opposed to acemdemic Austrian-Economic nonsense? I want to believe in the Easter Bunny but I wouldn't found my perosnal politics on it.
No. (to answer your first question).
As MB says, No. There is no such thing as a "free" market. All markets have rules–formal, written rules and understood rules. Every rule influences outcomes, every rules favors some, disfavors others. It matters who has the power to write the rules.
What MB and Gaf said.
It was rhetorical question, really, but thanks for the confirmation. What is it about RWers that make them wax endlessly on the utopian nature of socialism, then postulate some nonsensical fantasy like a 'free market'?
Two words:
While we're on the subject of "free markets" and things, it's a neo-con's wet dream: six individuals amassing an amount of wealth equal to the bottom 40% of the nation (while waving the stars and stripes – and pillaging John Q. Public)
Bowman v. Monsanto. As soon as these assholes figure out how to patent sunshine and air , they'll <fill in the blank>.
Better to emulate this guy:
…and this one
I don't understand the term Originalism.#sthash.5NysuRFh.dpuf
Reduced spending? Could you give some examples of where Republican administrations reduced overall spending? I mean since Hoover.
Free Market Capitalism – I understand the term, but not the real life example. Could you name a country, not a state, where free market capitalism prevails?
Now, I sound combative. That is not my intent, I think you would be more at home in the Democratic party and I think we need people like you. There are conservative democrats as well as those who follow Keyes and Paul Krugman.
I also have no idea why this collection of nonsense, .#sthash.VyL00O0I.dpuf showed up;
I just mean to copy and paste the word.
Here's an idea. All these things you don't understand? Low info voter? Originalism? You can use the internet to look just about anything up. Amazing, I know.
Standard question when someone says they want the original constitution – does that mean you want to reinstitute slavery?
And when you reply no – then the question is, why do you get to pick the one acceptable change?
Originalism is more the idea that you have to formally amend the Constitution to change it. Slavery was already abolished by formal amendment
I fully agree with that. And I think most liberals (and conservatives) do too.
Disagree – I think many liberals believe that we had (a la Ackerman) a "constiutional moment" which allowed the Consitution to be amended without following the formal procedure.
I reject this, and especially I reject Wickard and its progeny Gonzalez v. Raich (the medical marijuana case). It has an interpretation of the scope of the commerce clause that is overly broad.
@EF.
My intent was to persuade you to consider becoming a Democrat. I think your instincts and action were more in keeping with the Democratic party. My intent was not to engage you in a debate on your values. I have reviewed the Republican Party Platform's section on the Constitutuion. While the term
"originalism"is not mentioned, and while there is no statement to pass an amendment to overturn the decision in Marbury v. Madison, I do think that positions expressed there are not compatible with the Democratic Party. So, I reluctantly understand that your views, if not your instincts, would not find a home in the Democratic Party.
In other words, no wage and hour regulation, no environmental regulation, states can have their religions, states can prohibit birth control…
While I do appreciate the thought behind the invitation (not the first!), I'm confident about where I belong in the political spectrum.
Look at this way – there is at least one right-winger that you can say isn't crazy. Or completly crazy, depending on your POV.
There may not be a "unified theory" of Jefferson County Republican dysfunction, but if there is, it would seem to revolve around RMGO. It is worth mentioning that Julie Williams, one member of the new right wing majority on the school board (and by far the most dimwitted) is Tim Neville's sister-in-law.
Maybe just a theory of relativity – like in Pueblo- everyone's a relative.
Pop your favorite corn and enjoy watching the dumbinoes fall.
Dudley threatened me and the Independent with a slander lawsuit today.
See thread here:
https://www.facebook.com/ElliotFladen/posts/10100995317512523?comment_id=8279175&offset=0&total_comments=32
"Dudley Brown · 116 mutual friends
This Marshall guy said he knows Tim Neville, not Joe.
The Colorado Independent is asking for a lawsuit if they're not careful."
"
Dudley Brown · 116 mutual friends
JOE Neville is a different person than TIM Neville. And no, Joe has never talked to Marshall, e-mailed with him, etc. According to Joe, Tim has talked to Marshall once (at an event, not a private meeting).
2 hrs · Like
Dudley Brown · 116 mutual friends
Claiming RMGO (me personally, Joe Neville, or someone acting on our behalf) recruited someone to run for office, when in fact we have had NO contact, ever, is actionable. Careful what you claim."
Is Tim Neville any relation to RMGO's
dirtbagethically-challenged lobbyist, Joe Neville?Like father, like son.
How would that be actionable? I could see how the person allegedly recruited could argue that being linked to slime like Brown and RMGO has been harmed.
Of course, everyone must understand that when Dudley and the DoWrong RMGO say something is actionable, it means they're gonna draw their loaded weapon on it . . .
Dudely DoWrong — perfectly appropriate. Should use that from now on 🙂
Tell Dudley to go suck on it . . .
(Not legal Advice.)
;~)
I told him that I looked forward to getting discovery into his activities
LOL. . . Bet that made Dudley's magazine shrink a few rounds?!?!
He apparently doesn't understand slander either. If Fox got sued for slander every time they speculated by saying that "people are saying" something that isn't true and every time they featured a guest saying stuff that isn't true, there would be no Fox.
You ever seen any of Dudley's RMGOPac e-mails? Dudley knows his slander. But, I'd be surprised if he'd actually be willing to take a break from his slandering time, to pursue slander charges against anyone else.
Elliot's right — discovery would be a bitch for Dudley . . .
To be clear he doesn't understand grounds for suing for slander.
A gun-sucker, making empty threats? Who'da thunk it?
Another Facebook page: Support Arvada Walmart (SAW)
At the risk of taking these morons too lightly and causing a Nazi take over, I think I'll just bask in the schadenfreude for a while.
Could Tim be a Tim redux. Tim Leonard was such an extemist dick that he lost to Jeanne Nicholson in the Tea Party wave year of 2010. Tim Neville seems on track to lose a winnable election too. Maybe the district has change geographically but Nicholson is a savvy politician now and has been running for re-election for quite some time. This kind of silliness is the kind of thing that costs you credibility and ultimately elections. Nicholson now has ammunition on Tims extremism to counter all his scary gun attacks. Stupid usually loses when pitted against smart and experienced and Nicholson is both.
Let me put it to you this way. This year's candidate is way worse than the last guy that ran against Jeanne. Personally, as a resident ot that district as well as the 25th House, I intend to be very active in making sure these two gentlemen go down to defeat.
Also, just typical of the bully Dudley Brown to threaten a lawsuit. So much for hating the activist courts. Oh, Dudley, wasn't there a unanimous Supreme Court decision this week that again affirmed that the Second Amendment isn't absolute? Yes, I believe there was.
Ooh, Dudley, there is such a thing the higher standard for public persons and I do believe that the Nevilles and you qualify as public persons. Me thinks that this makes it nearly impossible to bring a slander claim against anyone.
Campaign themes against Dudley's candidates:
This candidate is backed by RMGO, the extermist organization which believes that even murderers releassed from prison should be able to buy a gun without a background check..
This candidate is backed by an organization whose members supported an avowed white supremicist for the state house.
This candidate is supported by the bully Dudley Brown and his organization which threatens public officials.
Need I go on? Kinda like what the Dems are doing to the Koch brothers. The only way to deal with a bully is, well, to swing back.
Gilpin County was almost a part of HD25 until they redrew the map. We met with Chris Kennedy and some Jefferson Dems in preliminary meetings but ended up in HD13 with Claire Levy.
We'll still be involved with Jeffco Dems through Jeanne's campaign. She won a squeaker last time by being able to garner every last vote that she needed. Winning teaches you what to do right and what to avoid next time. Neville is in for the fight of his political life and Jeanne is the one who is going to be bringing it. She might not win but she isn't going to back down from her support for gun safety legislation.
All in the Family: Tim Neville, once a Colorado senator (but redistricted out of his seat) is the father of Joe Neville, RMGO's lobbyist (who had the run-in with Cheri Gerou). He's now running against Sen. Jeannie Nicholson. Patrick Neville, another one of Tim's sons, is running for HD45, where Rep. Carole Murray decided to not run for re-election. And as noted earlier, Julie Williams (new member of the off-balance Jeffco school board, is Tim Neville's sister-in-law. Gerou has apparently decided not to run for re-election. Reportedly, both Gerou and Murray are victims of the ever-more-right-leaning and intolerant GOP. Also: Tim Neville was quite active in working on the recall of Evie Hudak. He was observed several times going door-to-door gathering signatures.
If you like popcorn boys and girls, better go out and get some while it's still in stock.
Tim Neville more or less demanded the Indy to retract story yesterday. I analyze that issue here:
http://coloradopols.com/diary/56136/tim-nevilles-statement-does-not-make-suspicions-of-link-between-himrmgo-and-nathaniel-marshall-unfounded – See more at: http://coloradopols.com/diary/56130/friday-open-thread-24#comment-544232
@Nate,
Please, please stay in the race.
The GOP: Party of Hate® needs more
true conservativesAryan Nation candidates.Now he is "The Victim". Isn't victimization the last refuge of scoundrels? You knew this crude racist wouldn't go quietly into the night. And he acts like he would have won. No wonder they say that reality has a liberal bias.
I would just like to make a very serious observation in the midst of this hilarity.
When I speak of my house of many colors, that is exactly what I mean. We have intermarriage and multiracial beautiful people in my extended family. Some live in Jefferson County and we are still trying to decipher what the hell happened with the School Board. The prevelance of ideas and I hope apathy that would allow Nate Marshall to be the only candidate on the ballot is alarming to me.
It is not enough to sit back and watch the republican party implode and hope it keeps happening. There has to be an affirmative response. As I have pointed out over and over. Talk radio, in my humble opinion, fosters the expression of
these kinds of ideas.
One thought on your comment on apathy. While RMGO may deserve some blame for this racist, I have to wonder where the party leadership is on this one. I do not know the specifics of job description, but isn’t it a big part of the County Chair and State Chair’s job to recruit and vet candidates for house and senate races. Was this such a no hoper that they couldn’t get anyone to step up, and couldn’t ne bother to vet the one idiot that volunteered?
NATE MARSHALL IS EXACTLY RIGHT! THE RINOS HAVE TREATED HIM VERY BADLY, AND HE SHOULD FORFEIT THE RACE FOR THE REPUBLICANS AND HAND IT TO THE DEMOCRATS OUT OF PROTEST!
Yup.
. . . Hell hath no fury like a [RINO-spurned stormtrooper-wannabe] scorned ??
I kind of hope that Marshall stays in the race until it's too late to nominate someone else, too. Max Tyler will continue to do a great job serving all of his constituents, as he has for three years now.
Alas, it looks like he's bailing – beating a fast retreat from the defiance of the all-caps message of a couple of days ago, Herr Marshall's campaign site now bears the following message:
So…damn. All he wanted to do was serve, respect cultures (except the Islamic ones), and fight for the Constitution, but those nasty RINOs done whupped him into surrendering and withdrawing from the race altogether. Gone are the days, I guess, when a right-winger would rather nail his colors to the mast and go down with the ship than knuckle under to a bunch of milquetoast "sellouts" and "RINO bullies."
P.S. Might wanna head over and get your screenshots now; looks like his site's gonna go down the Memory Hole by Sunday or Monday. http://natemarshallcoloradohd23.nationbuilder.com/
How can one be respectful of cultures and be 'anti – Islam'?
If you look at the FB comments below, you'll see links to screenshots, answering Marshall's claim that he's only "against sharia law and islamic extermism.. nothing more! "
@BC
RE:
BlueCat says:
Sat March 29, 2014 at 12:15 AM MDT
Here's an idea. All these things you don't understand? Low info voter? Originalism? You can use the internet to look just about anything up. Amazing, I know.
– See more at: http://coloradopols.com/diary/56080/republican-party-imploding-in-most-important-electoral-county-in-colorado#comments
I would remind you of your pledge that I found so encouraging and would hope you might revisit.
BlueCat says:
Fri February 21, 2014 at 1:12 PM MST
Oh and here in my last reply to you ever,
I was just tryng to be helpful. You seemed so lost and confused and there's no need to be.
BlueCat says:
Fri February 21, 2014 at 1:12 PM MST
Oh and here in my last reply to you ever,
– See more at: http://coloradopols.com/diary/56080/republican-party-imploding-in-most-important-electoral-county-in-colorado#comments
Cute. Very cute. Big improvement over your usual comments.