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April 02, 2014 11:40 AM UTC

Bob Beauprez Says Sharia Law is "Creeping In" Here in Colorado

  • 83 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols
Beauprez, via The Colorado Statesman.
Bob Beauprez does not approve of Sharia Law being implemented in Colorado. Just so we’re clear.

Check out this audio clip of Republican Gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez taking questions at a GOP event in Weld County last week. We actually held off on posting this yesterday because we didn't want readers to think this was an April Fool's joke. It is not.

In the clip below, Beauprez answers a question about what he would do to prevent Sharia Law from being implemented in Colorado, which is apparently a concern for some people.

Seriously. Sharia Law.

TRANSCRIPT:

Question: What would you do or not do to stop the implementation of Sharia Law here in Colorado. For any of you who don’t know what that is, it is the martial law that is being implemented in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran. It’s being implemented now in some of the states here in the United States.

Bob Beauprez: You’re on a very good point. It is creeping in. It’s creeping in not only in Colorado, but all across America. And it’s in this same nutty realm of social justice and tolerance, diversity, and 'can’t we all get along.' You remember the mosque case at Ground Zero.  You talk about nuts. And there was a whole lot of people who bent over backwards to say, 'Oh no, this is religious tolerance.' Well, there’s a difference between being tolerant and being stupid.

Lipstick doesn’t change the fact that it’s still a pig. There are a great many people that are Muslim, that embrace the Islamic faith. They’re decent people — I know some. But you can’t ignore the fact that many of them are extreme radicals that are sworn to our destruction. The destruction of us as individuals, the destruction of Western Civilization. We need to recognize that for what it is and fight back against it.

What? 

Maybe we're wrong, and Greeley is now holding public stonings — not the marijuana kind — in the town square. Otherwise, it's hard to understand what Beauprez even thinks he's talking about here. Colorado has a pretty low percentage of Muslim residents, and Islam is not even the most popular non-Christian religion in our state (Buddhism tops that list).

Beauprez may not be the brightest bulb in the political lamp, but we're a little surprised to see him paying lip service to a very old and idiotic "Muslim Brotherhood is taking over the United States" conspiracy theory that even Evangelicals and right-wing talk show hosts have largely abandoned. Maybe Bob is still working off of a 2006 list of conservative talking points.

 

 

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83 thoughts on “Bob Beauprez Says Sharia Law is “Creeping In” Here in Colorado”

  1. Incredible. And just to make it that much more offensive he had to use the old lipstick on a pig comparison. BWB appears to be too stupid to be allowed to cross a Colorado street by himself, much less serve in any elected office. I'd hide the sharp objects, too.

    2. I've been thinking about Beauprez's statements since I read them here late this afternoon. BC your first word is exactly correct "Incredible." The questioner and candidate Beauprez reflects the fundamental problem the Republican Party has in Colorado and across the nation. They actually want to give credence to alleged problems that have no basis whatsoever in reality.

      This is a perfect example of why I left the Republican Party. When I was active there were always a few stray fanatics with goofey ideas and conspiracy theories hanging around the party but they were shown the door if they tried to take control.

      In the mid-1960's William F. Buckley, founder of the National Review and one of the founders of the modern conservative movement, wrote the John Birch Society out of the Republican by calling them out for what they are – a bunch of kooks who believe in conspiracy theories that have no basis in fact. Buckley understood that Republicans and Democrats may interpret the meaning of facts based on their respective political philosophies and come to different conclusions, but he had no use for fantasy in policy making.

      What do we have today – the John Birch Society is now one of the annual sponsors of the CPAC conflab in Washington where the so called conservatives come to worship conspiracy theories and other baseless nonsense. The conservative movement has degenerated into mindless beliefs in fantasy issues about things that has no basis in the real world (e.g. the Birthers). Until the Republican Party rids itself of these people, it will continue to loose ground with the voters of Colorado and across the nation.

      And where does all of this leave candidate Beauprez and for that matter Cory Gardner. Beauprez has begun the same self-destruction process he initiated in 2006. When the press and the public look at his blog Line of Sight and read what he has written over the past eight years, he will be finished. He has loaded the Democrats ammunition wagons to overflowing since his loss in 2006, and as is apparent from this thread, he continues to manufacture even more for them this campaign cycle.

      And Gardner. He had better hope Beauprez isn't the nominee because when a gubernatorial candidate goes down in flames it harms everyone else on the ticket. In a close race, if Beauprez is nose diving in flames, he will take Gardner with him.

      1. Right on, R=36.   I was also a Republican for 33 years and a fan of Bill Buckley .   The creeps we used to keep locked in the basement now run the show. 

      2. A lot of truth in your comment Republican 36. 

        As for sharia law, if the people privately agree to it what is the big deal?  Obviously if the agreement is for something that is flat out against public policy, it shouldn't be enforced.  On the other hand if it is for the delivery of halaal meat, what is the big deal?

  2. Beauprez has apparently figured out what went wrong in 2006. I'm not sure what the verdict is yet, but it's one of two things.

    1) He didn't swing sufficiently to the right in his "Both Ways" campaign during the primary.

    2) He was wrong to have ever made moves to the center-right and this time he'll stay somewhere to the right of Tom Tancredo through the whole campaign.

      1. OK I found that Jews comprise 1.8 % of the Colorado population as of 2012. I couldn't find a percent for Muslims but the total number was estimated at about 15,000, obviously a much smaller percent and one even less likely to impose their religious law on the rest of us than Jews are to force everyone to stop eating shrimp. Incidentally that's what this Jew had for dinner the other night.

          1. Seriously, when I first moved here and needed to find a pediatrician or famiyl practitioner I looked in the yellow pages for a Jewish name nearby. He was our family doctor until he retired. 

    2. I usually use the broader Judeo-Christian term, and Jews, obviously, fall into that bracket.      But I sure know a lot more Jews than Buddhists.

      1. Most of the Jews I know find the term Judeo-Christian to be kind of an oxymoron.  Sounds nice and inclusive, though. Like when I was a kid and the public school Christmas Concert (nobody called it a Holiday Concert back then) would include the dreidel song and therefore be not just Christian but Judeo-Christian.wink

  4. Keeriste . . . and here we were jgiving BWB credit for being the sane one????

    (Is Hickenlooper paying these guys to run against him??)

  6. Coming from the party that doesn't even want women to have access to birth control, this is pretty funny.

    Both Ways in his 2014 form is way sadder than the his 2006 version. 

  8. I don't understand how Christians think they're under attack here. We're not a theocracy and there is no official state religion. But this country is overwhelmingly Christian and no one is being told what they can or cannot do.

    1. "…no one is being told what they can or cannot do."

      Not quite right, David. They are being told they cannot use the force  and resources of government to impose their religious beliefs on others. (Damn those Founders of our country for such an appalling restriction!)

    2. http://www.amazon.com/The-Battle-God-Karen-Armstrong/dp/0345391691

      They think their way of life is under attack.  Normal, white, Christian American values are in danger from the modernity fairy's dust.  So are all of the world religions, and they are having temper tantrums and night terrors like two year olds.  And it has been so for quite some time.  Since a large portion of any given population is afraid of change, afraid of pretty much everything, I suppose it is to expected.  I wish we could find ways to ameliorate this.

      I'm reading the book linked above by Karen Armstrong.   It is quite helpful.  If the fundamentalists weren't so destructive, one might feel sorry for them.  However, I certainly have no pity for those who exploit their fears like our resident librarian does and the likes of BWB.

       

       

      1. The problem is in seeing themselves as normal and anyone different as other. normal in our country has always been that we are a nation of immigrants and changing demographics. A US with a single ethnicity and culture has never been normal. New groups are always moving in and bringing their cultures with them.  

        African Americans have been here from the start. They are not other. They are normal. In parts of our southwest Spanish speakers have been here in what is now the US since before there was a US.  One again, not other, perfectly normal. 

        For a group to go from being majority to minority or the other way around is normal. White Christian Americans of northern and western European descent have had a nice long run as the majority but that doesn't make them more normal than anyone else. Pretty soon that run will be over. Our normal culture is whatever it is at a given point in time. Nobody has dibs on preserving one of those moments in historic time forever.

      1. and to serve, against their will, people at their lunch counters

        and to provide, against their will, rooms in their motels to travellers

        and to allow, against their will, movie watchers in their cinemas

        and to provide seating in any car on their train, against their will, to any passenger who can afford to book it

        Elliot, I've seen enough of your postings here to know that you know why we have public accomodation laws.  You know that the choice is made when these folks open their dorrs to the public, not when they take the order for the cake.  If the religious don't wish to serve all comers, they simply need not open a business.  If they do open one, they need to just bake the f***ing cake.

        2. RE: "serve, against their will …"

          * The bakery didn't deny service.  It offered to sell existing products to the couple.  The couple was more than welcome to buy pastries on the shelf, as other customers were doing on that day.

          * The bakery invited the customers to dine in their establishment (i.e., sit at the counter to eat products from the shelf, just as other customers were doing).

          Using your logic, a Jewish-owned deli could be forced by the gov't. to prepare and serve pork products.  In your world, diners would have the right to demand that all Jewish delis have pork on the menu.  

          Why must you try to deploy the full force of gov't. coercion over a matter as trivial as a wedding cake?  Must every thought that doesn't conform to your rigid, politically correct worldvie be stamped out?

      2. I was once forced against my will to participate in a war I did not approve of.Seems somehow more serious to me , after many years perspective than anything those poor bakers might have to endure.

      3. Nobody is forced to bake cakes for anyone or to sell anything to anyone. However if you choose to make your living with a business that sells goods and services to the public you have to obey laws against discrimination. If your personal beliefs won't allow you to do that then you should be looking for a way of making a living other than selling good and services to the public. 

  10. There are so many intelligent follow-ups that an intelligent reporter could ask of…Beauprez. What states are implementing Sharia Law? Name a place. How is it "creeping into Colorado"?

  11. Sharia Law.   The Gay agenda.  Statewide Fracking bans.  An assault on Christian values. Illegals taking our jobs.

    Yes, election season right-wing fearmongering has arrived.  Be very afraid !

    2. To be fair, there are a lot of people, including many on this board, who would love a statewide (indeed, worldwide) fracking ban if they could get it.   local control is an obvious starting point, not a philosophy for the anti-frackers.

      2. Lots of people want lots of things but they don't get to say a statewide ban has been proposed until some legislator proposes it or somebody is out there collecting signatures for it. Same goes for taking away our guns. Some people would probably like to do that, too. Somebody somewhere would probably like to do anything you could name or imagine. But that doesn't make slippery slope fears facts.

        2. No, Elliot, no matter who wins the Governors race, they will be obliged to execute the will of the people.  Just as the Govenor has reluctantly embraced Amendment 64, it is his duty as CEO of the state.  It will be the same scenario if the Local Control initiative passes as well.  

          I think the balance of contributors here would agree, in contrast to your above statement, that the Governor does not personally support the Local Control movement. For God sakes, he's suing four municipalities right now for instituting bans and moretoriums.

          1. Details, details. Hick has a D connected with his name so he obviousy can be ascribed whatever rightie's think the generic D attitude is regardless of what he actually does. Why are you s hung up and on living in a reality based world?  Relax and create your own. Chill.cool

        1. Elliot and Andrew are fracking acolytes because they they have never lived next to a well site or compressor station. Please, fellas, tell us about your real time experience in the O&G business. Describe to us the joy of living next to a poorly maintained tank battery. Share with us the pleasure of having 5,000 barrels of crude oil spilled next to your house, or diesel trucks parked next to your bedroom window, idling, 24/7.

          But mostly, tell us how much you enjoy the aroma of petro-carbons…ethylene, toluene, benzene, and all those exotic, aromatic, perfumes so lovingly dispersed by our oily billionaire friends.

          Do tell….

          1. At the core of this argument is really the question of how we are going to develop a broad, diverse economy statewide using Colorado's plethora of natural resources and human assets.  In contrast to what the O&G industry would like us to believe, we are not going to build a long-term, sustainable economy on the back of fracking – an industry that accounts for just over 2% of our state GDP.

            Every community and region of the state has different resources.  Yuma County isn't going to draw high-tech into the Ogallala region any more than Boulder County is going to develop large pork and cattle confinement operations.  The chances that Yuma County would institute a local fracking ban is nil; t will be a different story on the Front Range (and possilbly in the sacrifice zone on the western slope).  If Boulder County, for instance, decided it's long term economy should be built around its environment, human assets and research instituional capacity, they should be able to do that. (btw, the high-tech sector produces 2x more jobs per dollar of state GDP than O&G). 

            Weld County is an economic powerhouse because it has mastered the exploitation of its gas resources.  That is their energy resource.  Eastern Colorado has the energy-equivalent of the Weld County gas reserves – it just happens to be in a different form,  'wind'.  Ditto for the San Luis Valley, the "Weld County of solar resources). 

            "Energy" is "energy".  Natural gas is no more important to this states job creation and economy than any other form of energy.  And it's increasingly apparent that betting our long-term future on the extraction of these prehistoric forms of energy is a bad bet.

            Our detour from Ritter's 'New Energy Economy' (a platform that gave him a 16-point advantage over BWB on election day, 2006) over the past four years has provided us little in any long-term benefits to the state economy.

      5. And there are others on this board, and around the state, that believe local jurisdictions should have the same types of authorities they have on other issues, and not face getting sued by their own governor.  The actual language on the ballot measure is what sets the policy–not what lies in the hearts of fractivists.  On one hand industry touts local government in Brighton reversing a drilling moratorium, then on the other hand these same boosters scream that allowing local control would leave to statewide fracking bans.  On one hand industry says ‘a statewide fracking ban would never pass’ that local control will lead to a ‘defacto ban.’  And while I doubt the troll, now V’s newest fan, will no doubt ignore or fail to see the glaring inconsistencies in these two-faced positions, I suspect others will. 

        1. Once again, ct, it is that 1% doctrine, slippery slope bullshit…

          Ask any O&G guy where they should not be allowed to drill and see what they say.

  12. These words are stunning:

    And it’s in this same nutty realm of social justice and tolerance, diversity, and 'can’t we all get along.' – See more at: http://coloradopols.com/diary/56335/bob-beauprez-says-sharia-law-is-creeping-in-here-in-colorado#comment-545059

    And it’s in this same nutty realm of social justice and tolerance, diversity, and 'can’t we all get along.'

    The same nutty realm of social justice and tolerance?!! Tells you EVERYTHING you need to know about BothWaysBoob.

     

    2. Yep, BothWaysBoob is right, there is waaay too much social justice, tolerance and diversity in this world. 

      Elect Republicans and put everyone in prison that doesn't practice "Right Think"!

      1. God Bless the 'Land of the Free'…

        This is How Private Prison Companies Make Millions Even When Crime Rate Falls

        All the big private prison companies—CCA, GEO Group, and the Management and Training Corporation—try to include occupancy requirements in their contracts, according to the report. States with the highest occupancy requirements include Arizona (three prison contracts with 100 percent occupancy guarantees), Oklahoma (three contracts with 98 percent occupancy guarantees), and Virginia (one contract with a 95 percent occupancy guarantee). At the same time, private prison companies have supported and helped write "three-strike" and "truth-in-sentencing" laws that drive up prison populations. Their livelihoods depend on towns, cities, and states sending more people to prison and keeping them there.

          2. Here in Colorado, we're still hanging on to public prisons with unionized staff…but most of the drug and alcohol intervention services are private companies, and they make money hand over fist, mostly from the poorest of the poor and their families.

            Like mandatory wrist monitors, which supposedly track the heartbeat rates of amphetamine users. Users have to pay $250 a month to wear the things, and stop in at the office to have the data downloaded. All of this is for profit  for Intervention, inc a private, supposedly non-profit company- it does not increase Colorado's tax base.

            If one of these "criminals" does not pay the fees, or if, for example, they have a panic attack or have an atrial fib episode  so that their heart rate data looks as if they might have taken amphetamines, they are liable to be re-incarcerated.

            So Colorado's incarceration rates look pretty good on paper – they are decreasing, and 23% lower than the rest of the country- but the actual burden on families and the newly released "criminals" (because most of these are victimless crimes, only drug use) is enormous.  What Colorado does is release drug offenders onto the streets and force them into a battery of monitoring (not therapy or addiction treatment) services, all of which are immensely profitable to private companies.

            I would add that there is little or no actual therapy or counseling that might actually help people to overcome addictions.. it's all"pay the man, or go back to jail."

            It's gross.

              1. My daughter has made it through that mess and come out the other side. She is one of the lucky ones.  I'm incredibly proud of her, but I look at all of the thousands of people still stuck in this maze of addiction, non-treatment, and for-profit exploitation, and, like you, it pisses me off and makes me sad.

                It's why when AC  started getting all judgmental about Mark Udall's son,he alienated so many people on this forum. Most of us have friends or family members who have gone through some kind of substance and/or mental health issue, with or without criminal justice system involvement. I wouldn't mock my worst enemy if their kid was going through that.

                1. Roger that, mama. Rich people can buy their way out of almost anything. The Catholic church used to sell salvation. The American Taliban does it now, just more covertly.

            2. I've often wondered how much of that court-ordered counseling/monitoring is beneficial for the addict and how much is simple rent-seeking for the monitoring companies. 

  13. Someone from out of state made a statement to me about how the Colorado Republicans seemed "moderate" to him.  I pointed out that the Colorado clown car went empty of "moderates" about fifteen years ago.  The ones left are flat out nuts.  They see and hear things that the rest of us do not.  They are beyond the foil hats and micro-chip scanners. They need help, a lot of help, and that is a form of help they are refusing.

    2. You're misinformed.  It's not nonsense.  Sharia law has infected Europe (83 Sharia Law courts now exist in the UK), and we're starting to see the same disease arrive in the USA.  I'll repeat what I mentioned in another post on this board:

      In 2009, Hudson County Superior Court Judge Joseph Charles Jr. ruled (S.D. v. M.J.R.) that the Muslim ex-husband repeatedly had sexually assaulted his Muslim ex-wife, both before and after their divorce. Following testimony from the Muslim man's imam, however, the judge denied the ex-wife's request for a permanent restraining order against her ex-husband, citing the Muslim man's "belief" and "practices": "The court believes that [defendant] was operating under his belief that it is, as the husband, his desire to have sex when and whether he wanted to, was something that was consistent with his practices." – See more at: http://coloradopols.com/diary/56335/bob-beauprez-says-sharia-law-is-creeping-in-here-in-colorado#comment-560043

  15. Sharia law won't be happening in Colorado or any state for that matter. It's a violation of the 1st Amendment.

    As for Colorado Republicans being moderate, if somebody can develop a persuasive reason for Rob Witwer to make a comback………he is sorely missed. 

    Sincerely, Conservative Head Banger  (AC/DC Rules!)

    1. You're misinformed.  You really need to do some research on this topic.  Here's something to get you started:

       

      In 2009, Hudson County Superior Court Judge Joseph Charles Jr. ruled (S.D. v. M.J.R.) that the Muslim ex-husband repeatedly had sexually assaulted his Muslim ex-wife, both before and after their divorce. Following testimony from the Muslim man's imam, however, the judge denied the ex-wife's request for a permanent restraining order against her ex-husband, citing the Muslim man's "belief" and "practices": "The court believes that [defendant] was operating under his belief that it is, as the husband, his desire to have sex when and whether he wanted to, was something that was consistent with his practices."

      1. Crush, you just make this crap way too easy. Give me a challenge.

        Y'all come on in here with the same old tired racist bat droppings that my crazy ex's crazy Muslim-hating freaky-sex-obsessed BBF has been trashing my inbox with for years.

        Anyway….I did find the case you referenced, S.D. v. M.J.R. from Hudson County.  I'll let the legal experts on this forum weigh in, but the way it looks to me, the judge decided AGAINST applying Sharia law to the victim's complaints of domestic violence. To quote from p. 20:

        The Court concluded:

        The government's ability to enforce generally

        [*35]

        applicable prohibitions of socially harmful conduct, like

        its ability to carry out other aspects of public policy,

        "cannot depend on measuring the effects of a governmental

        action on a religious objector's spiritual development."

        To make an individual's obligation to obey such a law

        contingent upon the law's coincidence with his religious

        beliefs, except where the State's interest is "compelling"

        –permitting him, by virtue of his beliefs, "to become a

        law unto himself," –contradicts both constitutional

        tradition and common sense.

        [

        Id

        . at 885, 110 S. Ct. at 1603, 108 L. Ed.2d at 889-90

        (citations and footnote omitted).]

        Did you get that, OC? Let me repeat it for you: "Contradicts both Constitutional Tradition and Common Sense."

         

        That is the precedent which your vaunted exhibition of Creeping Sharia (which sounds like an attractive porch planting, btw) has established.

         

        I am glad to be able to put Both Ways Bob's fears to rest.

         

         

        1. Crushed, Orange.Crush has fled the belfry, leaving the guano behind…

          But if Both Ways thinks it will help scare some more old white folks out to the polls, he'll keep at it IMO. 

           

          1. My juicer stands ready. I forgot to mention that, in the case OC referenced, the victim got her restraining order against her abuser, not for anything to do with Sharia law, but because the second judge thought it was necessary for her safety, reversing and remanding the first judge's order, (which again had nothing to do with Sharia law, although the husband/defendant had tried to argue "religious freedom" – the first judge just had the typical Christian American tolerance for wife-beating).

            So that dreaded "camel's nose" of Sharia law was well and truly stomped upon in that '09 case. I haven't found a single instance of anyone arguing a Sharia defense in Colorado, BWB's claim notwithstanding.

              1. Thanks! Now I'm going to go march in one of Pueblo's perennial parades. I get to smile and wave with a bevy of aspiring politicians, then smell Indian tacos and funnel cakes at the Colorado State Fair. Good times!

                ps I should have said "traditional Christian tolerance of wife-beating" , because that attitude is slowly disappearing.

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