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October 25, 2014 07:40 AM UTC

The Orwellian Desperation of Jefferson County Republicans

  • 47 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

SATURDAY UPDATE: The Denver Post's Eric Gorski, who took the photo of Jefferson County protesters that was crudely doctored for this Republican mailer to remove their original protest message, is most unhappy to see it being misused:

The photo on the fliers appears to blur out the faces of the students. The sign messages were changed to reflect … it’s not clear.

But one thing that is clear is students took to the streets because they are unhappy with a school board controlled by three Republicans who won office in 2013… [Pols emphasis]

Neville, Sanchez and Woods won GOP primaries and had the backing of the strongly conservative Rocky Mountain Gun Owners organization. Neville’s son, Joe, is a lobbyist for the gun group. Neville’s sister-in-law, Julie Williams, sits on the Jeffco school board.

In addition to Jefferson County Public Schools' demand that these candidates stop using the district's trademarked logo, the Post's lawyers are demanding they stop using the doctored image of these students:

“Not only does the use of the photograph infringe copyright interests, it violates other intellectual property laws by unlawfully associating The Denver Post with your campaign. It also violates basic transparency principles by altering a photograph without informing the readers. Finally, it offends the Fair Use policies in place by Twitter and creates an actionable claim by the person pictured in the photograph holding the sign.” [Pols emphasis]

If we were one of the kids in this doctored photo, we'd be talking to Mom and Dad about a lawyer.

—–

nevillemailer

7NEWS reports:

Attorneys representing Jeffco Public Schools have sent a cease and desist letter to candidates for state senate who used the district's logo in a campaign mailing.

Tim Neville, a self-described "Independent Republican," is running for office in Senate District 16. The campaign flier in question criticizes incumbent State Senator Jeanne Nicholson.

Beside the district's logo, the flyer states: "Jeffco schools are in crisis because Denver politicians like Jeanne Nicholson are keeping funding from the classroom while giving more power to corrupt union bosses."

Neville's statement of "crisis" in the district references recent widespread protesting over the conservative board majority's decisions regarding teacher compensation and a plan to review the AP US History Curriculum…

As you can see above, the mailer plainly makes use of the Jefferson County Public Schools' copyrighted logo, and that's obviously not okay. But there are other aspects to this mailer that make it vastly more deceptive. For starters, a sign held by a student in the photo has been crudely doctored to replace their protest message with the words "I want my future back." The original photo, taken by the Denver Post's Eric Gorski, clearly displays the student's original message: "my education, my voice, save AP U.S. history." We assume nobody has spoken with that student about this mailer yet, but we rather doubt she would approve of her sign being altered in this manner.

We think she'll be especially outraged to learn, as 7NEWS continues, that

Neville is the brother-in-law of Jeffco School Board Member Julie Williams. [Pols emphasis]

That's right, folks–the brother-in-law of Julie Williams, the school board member at the heart of the recent internationally-publicized controversy over "reviewing" the district's AP history curriculum, is himself altering the history of the recent protests against Williams to make it look like he sympathizes. The mailer includes a photo of Tim Neville with his wife Barb, Julie Williams' sister, who also runs Williams' political action committee (PAC). The deception here is so over the top brazen that it just leaves you shaking your head in disbelief. It's not much better for two other Jefferson County Republican Senate candidates who sent out similar mailers, Laura Waters Woods in SD-19 and Tony Sanchez in SD-22, both of whom have been supported by Williams and vice versa–but in Neville's case it's so outlandishly hypocritical and insulting to have doctored this student's protest sign that we have to think it will end in disaster.

That, or history is in greater danger than anyone ever imagined.

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47 thoughts on “The Orwellian Desperation of Jefferson County Republicans”

      1. I thought it was too (I remembered the picture from reading stories on the protests).  However, Pols the Great and Powerful already had a link to it in the article above.  Second best again.

  6. In addition, the Laura Woods ad sites "Rather than fix Jeffco's funding problems, she [Zenzinger] even sponsored legislation to spend more money outside of K-12 classrooms. Source: Voted for HB14-2096, 5-5-14."  There is no House Bill that goes beyond 1398. But, just in case it was a typo, HB1096 has nothing to do with schools. HB1196 has nothing to do with schools. HB1296 has nothing to do with schools. And HB1396 has nothing to do with schools. This is a complete and total lie.

  7. Hold on everyone. I'm sure Modster will show up eventually to explain why this is perfectly OK,  Johnny does it to, we're beating a dead horse and making a mountain out of a molehill.  Or else even the Borg can't figure out how to spin this one.

    1. Just to give him a heads up from his favorite lawyer, what they've done is a violation of state and federal copyright and trade mark law.  Neville, Woods, and Sanchez and their family members and cronies on the Jeffco School Board think they own Jefferson County.  Finally candidates who are willing to speak unabashadely about their conservatism.  This should really turn folks off.  I heard today at lunch that yet another Jeffco candidate for the legislature  is hearing nothing but disparaging remarks about the school board.  Keep singing guys.  Please keep showing your conservative bona-fides.  Yell it at the top of your lungs.  Pretty Please.  

    2. It really is a Roadrunner vs. the Coyote cartoon everyday here with AC and Moddy.  No matter how many times they fall off the cliff holding an anvil (the indefensible actions of their candidates and paymasters), they dust themselves off and prepare themselves for the next time to be steamrolled by the facts.

      1. When you're a conscienceless, sociopathic degenerate with an internet connection, the number of brutal beat-downs per day is irrelevant. The masturbatory thrill for them lies in getting reactions.

      2. I was thinking Beep Beep too Davie.  "The candidates in your rearview mirror are closer than they appear in the mirror" and then Hickenlooper blows by them and they are left standing still whining about Udall in a pensive manner.  Beep Beep.  Hope Dems pick up the early voting.  Repubs have a healthy lead in returned ballots at this point.

  8. Orwellian is right.  This is too creepy by several magnitudes.  Day is night.  Night is Day.  Nicholson had to deal with just as big a slimeball with Tim Leonard in 2010.  This stuff won't surprise her but I hope she has some resources to counter it.  You can bet the Jeffco School Board doesn't mind little Timmy using their logo in his campaign trash.  They don't care that it puts the brand in a political gutter but there are a lot of taxpayers who might feel differently.  Like Beauprez, this has the smell of desperation.  They know they are in trouble and are trying to lie their way out of it.  The funny part is that Jeanne lives in rural Gilpin County so portraying her as a Denver liberal is a big stretch.

  9. Tim Neville as an independent Republican???   ROFLMAO    His brain is hot-wired to Dudley Brown's brain which is also sharing some of its voltage with Laura Waters Woods.

  10. Not to give too much credit to this box of rocks, the promise of a great salary with no performance criteria till 4 yrs later is a great enticement for the mentally challenged. Gilpin guy has had good posts on this as well. More and more, it seems each generation must have due diligence in thwarting hijacking of govt. As pointed out by Mr. Black, who jailed a thousand bankers in the S&L debacle.

    ,   I forgot about an anvil being involved –for wiley coyote to hold on to.

  11. Craig wrote: "please keep showing your conservative bona-fides," (among other stuff).  Folks, it would be most appreciated if you're not tarring & feathering all conservatives because of the ass hole hi-jinks of the Neville, Woods, Sanchez, and Queen campaigns. Yes, let's not forget Larry Queen, running in SD 20, which happens to be my district. Not all conservatives are as in-bred as this group of clowns; among which I include Dudley Brown.    

    And I recall that, on another post, I challenged both Andrew C. and Moderatus to answer some basic questions about who should control family reproductive decisions and womens' health care decisions; the people themselves or big government/big religion. I never got an answer; which gives me pause to think that neither is a true conservative.

    Regards,   C.H.B.

     

     

    1. Thanks again C.B. for the reminder that we should stereotype our opponents just because there are ones who are walking caricatures of their movement.  We like our conservatives to be honest and earnest C.B.  There have been a few that pass through but a lot come to just dump on liberals with illogical screeds.  You can't have an engaging discussion with someone who only wants to vent.  The thing I think is most apparent with the new school conservatives is a lack of humility.  They can't admit to mistakes or concede a point.  Being perfect, they are here to lecture us lazy liberals on all things right and moral.  Getting past that stereotype of stuffy asshole is pretty difficult sometimes.  They don't give you a lot to like but they are our 'Partners in Democracy'.  Thanks again for the reminder that prejudging based on labels can be a mistake.

    2. Unfortunately, your idea of a true conservative, accurate as it may be, is no longer operational for the overwhelming majority of those who call themselves conservatives, including all of the Republican congressional leadership and probably close to 99% of elected Republican pols. 

      Go on a "conservative" blog with your ideas and you'll get thoroughly trashed. We treat conservatism as what it is today, not what the technically correct definition of it should be, because for practical purposes, that's what it is in the 21st century and has been for several decades now.  

      That doesn't mean we should lump you in with today's version of conservatives but nether is it useful to accept your no longer operational definition as relevant to what all but a tiny few self described conservatives advocates for. Your "true" definition has been rendered nothing more than an ivory tower debating point by facts on the ground.

      Salutations, cheers, huzzahs, etc., BlueCat

       

      1. Blue Cat: you "haven't lived" until you actually try to post on a "conservative" blog. I try to read, and post, regularly on PJ Media. I of course have a user name different from what I use here on Pols. I seem to get banned 2-3 times a year and have to request re-instatement. 

        I think some careful digging around will reveal that I'm not the only conservative of my nature around. Here in JeffCo, the party has been hijacked by the religious right; sadly true also in many other parts of the country. Reading the state Republican platform is an exercise in levity, with all the mis-conceptions and constitutional violations. But we still soldier onward.

        Regards,   C.H.B.    (AC/DC Rules!   (got to use my slogan every now and then))

        1. PJ Media, the same idioft media that had Jeff Gannon/Jeff Guckert as their media darling? (Quatloos for everyone who remembers this guy)

          Sorry, CHB, but reading that rag just confirms your ideological beliefs.

           

        2. It doesn't matter that you aren't the only one. What matters is that you represent a tiny minority that no longer counts in the context of Republican politics. It makes no sense for the rest of us to judge the overwhelming majority of Republican self described conservatives by you and a handful of your like minded friends.

          Just as it no longer makes sense to look at the Republican party as the party of progressive reform though that's its origin. Just as it makes no sense to see it as the party that supports a strong union as taking precedence over the states because of Lincoln or as the party that champions creating and conserving public lands and trust busting because of TR or the party that advocates for labor and against the power of the military industrial complex because of Ike.

          None of the aforementioned Republicans, not a self described or actual conservative among them BTW, would stand a chance of advancing in the Republican party to win primaries today and neither could any candidate representing your now close to non-existent brand of conservatism.

          Maybe some day the pendulum will swing your way but today is not that day and it's hard to see that day coming any time soon. So, for today, you can't expect us to be concerned with your view of conservatism as opposed to what the overwhelming majority of self described conservative pols say it is, the policies they advocate and the legislation they support or oppose.

          We have to function in the political world that is. In that world now, a vote for any Republican is a vote that potentially contributes to Republican legislative majorities, executives, and judicial appointees that are collectively pure bat shit crazy.

          You might want to ask yourself if the the fact that you keep getting barred at conservative sites and feel more comfortable posting here with us isn't the universe's way of trying to tell you something. 

          With sympathy, BlueCat

        3. C.B.  I personally applaud your efforts to encourage your political party to return to it's natural positions.  Advocacy for smaller but more efficient government, a robust free market and personal liberties would be a welcome message instead of the constant drumbeat of fear, fear and more fear wrapped in religious intolerance.  The original purity of conservative concern about personal freedom has been replaced by half-baked arguments about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin or when a sperm becomes a human.  WTF CB.  The country needs Republicans to return to their roots and give the social extremism a break.  Would be fun to see the Republican Party reform itself and drop the deadwood that doesn't help move the country forward.

    3. I struggle with what to call dumbasses like Neville, Woods, Sanchez and Queen. I don't feel comfortable calling them Republicans because I know there are those in the GOP who stare in disbelief as the Tea Party continues to try to pull the GOP off the right end of the political spectrum. I know there are Republicans who believe in small government, not anarchy. "Conservative" is the only word we have to describe them. It doesn't fit, but it's what they think they are.

      Some more truthy names I can think for them are:

      • Cultists of Capitalism
      • Free Market Anarchists
      • Not Quite Sovereign Citizens
      • Evangelical Anarchists

      What do you call someone who believes living life as a good Christian is less important than telling other people about Jesus? Cuz that would be a name for them too.

    4. CHB, If I failed to respond to you it was not intentional.  

      I personally believe that the state's role in reproduction and birth control should be as follows:  No role in birth control between adults.  No  or little role in reproduction until viability.  A significant role in reproduction once viability occurs.

  12. The Jeffco Republicans have moved so far to the right that they aren't even 'conservative' anymore in any conventional sense of the word — they are radical reactionaries. 

    However, I disagree about the use of the school district's logo … it is our logo. I have never understood how government that is a servant of the people can prevent us from using a logo, especially when it comes to political speech. (Only when used for criminally fraudulent purposes ought use of a government logo be illegal.)

  13. The Cliven Bundy argument.  Not buying it.  To me, something that is owned jointly shouldn't be able to be used for profit individually.  That logo belongs to everybody and embodies the group.  For it to be used by Neville for his personal corruption and benefit seems to be way outside the lines of what that logo represents. 
     

  14. Stop whining.
    There is no punishment for "being creative".
    There is no punishment for outright lying.

    Democrats need to get down in the gutter and do the same to the Republicans.
    Winning elections is all that matters.
    How you win does not matter.

      1. He's actually somewhat correct.  I would draw the line at outright lies; leave that to our friends on the right.  I remember the '80s, when our party wanted to take the high road, and we did.  The result:  Willie Horton ads and 12 years of Republican presidents.  In '92, Clinton, Carville and Begala came along, set up the war room and the rapid response team.  The days of turning the other cheek were over.  When the Bushies started talking about Gennifer Flowers, the Clintons let it be known the Jennifer Fitzgerald (Daddy Bush's long-time mistress) would be brought up.  

        When you're in a knife fight, pick up a knife.  This is one of the reasons I'm a fan of HRC in '16.  Do you think for a moment that she would put up with any of the crap the Repukes have been hurling at Obama?

         

        1. And she is besties with Henry Kissinger, and have said so over the summer.

          No HRC for me. Give me someone else, please. And I'd like to finish this election in 9 days. Then we can talk about '16. I'm liking this Elizabeth Warren, and we need someone that is similar in her three P's, progessivism, policies and populism.

        2. Agree, Frank. Dems don't have to be sleaze bags like their R opponents but they definitely have to be more aggressive, more on offense with the gloves off and, most of all, project actual pride in being Dems and in supporting the policies they voted for. They also need to do a lot more bragging about their accomplishments instead of being vaguely apologetic about not being R, not being conservative enough, etc.

  15. This is just bad politics. If you're a Republican running in Jefferson County, you should be running away from the school board issues, not actively reminding voters about it and pretending that somehow a fellow Republican would be a better person for that issue than a Democrat. People in Jefferson County know which party is behind the school board and which party is responsible for the problems of the board.

    They might not have known the connections between tea-party Republicans running for state offices and the members of the school board, but thanks for this awful, ham-handed, doublespeak, they do now!  Always glad that we can count on the Republicans complete idiocy to win elections for the Democrats.

  16. Looks like there was a blog on this at the Denver Post late last night, but alas it is gone now. Must've been a humdinger to get scrubbed; here's the leftovers from the Google search:

    1. Why does Caldara's involvement with the Jeffco school board history re-write not surprise me?  I imagine John Andrew and Doug Bruce are also in on it.

  17. Aha, here it is, courtesy (of all places) Bing's cache:

    ——————————————————————–

    Jon Caldara plays a role in “insane ad” connected to the Jeffco school board

    By Lynn Bartels

    The Denver Post 

    Lynn Bartels

     

    Jon Caldara, chief jester for the Independence Institute, says a new ad that manages to link pink plaid shorts, Hitler, haters and the Jefferson County School Board is “easily the best attack ad of the political season.”

    Of course, Caldara’s somewhat biased. He did come up with the clever line at the end: “Paid for by the committee who thinks it’s asinine to compare school board members to brutal dictators.” 

    “Think this ad is insane? So do we,” the narrator says.

     

    The narrator then references an earlier ad from the Democratic Senate Campaign Fund. That spot attempted to tie a curriculum controversy involving the conservative-controlled Jefferson County School Board to four Republican state Senate candidates. Caldara’s still stunned by the quiz in the original ad. 

    Pop quiz: The censoring of textbooks and the rewriting of history recently resulted in public protests. Where?

    a. North Korea
    b. Soviet Russia.
    c. Jefferson County School Board.

    The new ad features two Democratic state senators, Andy Kerr with the shorts and Jeanne Nicholson with the dog, scrambles letters to come up with “hater” and notes Hitler was a hater. 

    “We did have fun. It was a group effort,” Caldara said of the ad, but declined to name names. The Independence Institute bills itself as a free-market think tank.

    1. This my-addy-can-beat-up-your-addy thing is getting old. The Independence Institute appears to have had second thoughts about promoting the Jeffco School Board's nonsense.

      As for Caldara, I just want to know in which county he's going to vote this time. Does he have his gypsy wagon ready? Is the couch prepped for him? Cameras ready to roll? 

      Opportunistic SOB. 

      1. Currently, "Dear John" is primary backer of an arcane ballot measure for open negotiations twixt a teachers union and board?  ( begging you to correct this)

        And he has always been "trigger happy" ( along with co star "Robin" DU law prof) Each pay homage (scruffies) as well to the original beard farmer Grover Norquist, NRA  board member 

    2. Wow!  That means that Caldara, the Independence Institute, John Andrew's CCU Madrassa, the Centennial Institute, the entire clan of Neville mongoloids, Dudley's goose steppers, and the nutters on the Jeffco Ministry of Truth, are all emergent residents of the very same single fetid compost heap . . . ???

      . . . in other news — the sun rose this morning . . . 

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