I’m going to Wisconsin to check on my investment, a dueling piano bar called Lucille’s.   For some of you, knowing that I am part (very small part) owner of a bar just made my stock go up!   Actually, my brother Ted Oliver and his business partner Brian Bernier  are the  talent and brains of Lucille’s Rockin’ Pianos.   I’m just a groupie who can claim ownership status due to my minimal investment.  

I’m not taking my laptop so I won’t be blogging but rather I’ll be enjoying my family and friends in Wisconsin.   I’ll be back next week.

Cheers!

Will Channel 9 pay for the Greeley Stampede’s bias toward democratic senatorial candidate Mark Udall?   A very reliable source tells me that a “complaint will be filed against Channel 9 at the FCC for their clearly partisan coverage of the Greeley Independence Stampede Parade.”   I’ll let you know if and when it happens.

How paranoid can they be?  Apparently plenty!  Republican senatorial candidate Bob Schaffer gets relegated to  a group entry at the  end of the Greeley Stapede Independence Day Parade  (don’t get me started) while uber liberal Boulder democrat Marx Udall gets  a starring role  at the front of the parade with full TV coverage, and still the left is paranoid of Bob Schaffer.   So paranoid in fact, that they had a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee staffer stalking Bob during the parade. Thanks to my friend Ben DeGrow from Schaffer v Udall for exposing it.

What if Schaffer had the nerve to…shhhh…say it quietly…campaign?   Afterall the Greeley Stampede committee sterilizes the parade of politics.   Besides, any campaigning was supposed to be left to Udall. He got all the free air time from Channel 9 and a free entry into the parade.  

I should cut them some slack.   Afterall, maybe they have a right to be paranoid.   The latest polls show that the senate race is a dead heat.   Furthermore, Rasmussen Reports, a trusted polling firm that I cite routinely on my show, has the race  within  the margin of error  after Udall was up by 9 percentage points just last month.   Right now, likely Colorado voters are smart enough to distiguish between paranoid propoganda and sound public policy.    Check out the debate  between Bob Schaffer and Mark Udall if any questions still linger as to which candidate is the most qualified, most truthful and most concerned with  the best interests of the majority of Coloradans.  If the trend continues, then Udall supporters will have reason to become more and more paranoid.

The KFKA Players present

King Ritter:   When Your Goose is Cooked!

an audio adaptation of

When Your Goose is Cooked from Andrew Ripemoff of Face the State.

Today on my show, I debuted King Ritter: When Your Goose is Cooked!   We utilized most of the on-air talent including George Gray, Luke Shilts, Scooter McGee, and me.   Also, you’ll hear the melodious voice of Greeley’s own Allison Hamling as the narrator and Damon Sasso (a.k.a. Board Monkey) as King Owens.   A big thanks to Board Monkey for doing a superb job of producing this masterpiece and keeping us all on track.

If you’ve listened to my show for more than 5 five minutes, you’ll get the analogy.   Governor Ritter and his supporters are crushing  Colorado’s $23 billion oil and gas industry under the weight of excessive regulation and, now, a possible industry-crippling, economy-killing  $300 million plus tax increase.   Of course the losers in this whole thing are taxpayers and consumers, essentially every single Coloradan.  

And if you live in my county, Weld County, the pain of crippling the oil and gas industry will be particularly acute.   Oil and gas revenue keeps our property taxes  in check  and provides a steady stream of money flowing into county coffers.    

While our “fairy tale” does have a happy ending, let’s hope that Colorado voters will provide a happy ending for all Colorado residents and vote no on Ritter’s gas industry gouging initiative.   Ritter’s having a hard time finding support beyond the fringe eco-left.   A few weeks ago the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce (hardly a conservative organization) voted to oppose it. With very little public support, the prospects for a happy ending appear promising.

I am thankful that Ed Clark is our Mayor!   He is proof that there are a “few good men” in Northern Colorado.   And now that the  Larimer County District Attorney has completed his investigation, Mayor Clark can breathe a sigh of relief because no charges will be  filed against him.  

When a spoiled, foul-mouthed teenager named Remington Stitt wouldn’t stop committing an illegal act (riding a motorbike on a sidewalk without a license), Mayor Clark had had enough.   He grabbed the kid and held him until police arrived.   Some claim the Mayor “slammed” him to the ground.   Most parents would be horrified that their kids were so disrespectful to another adult, but not the Stitt family.   So the kid and his enabling parents, secured a restraining order against Clark.   Really this family, should be thanking Clark for administering  a miniscule amount of curbside justice.    If he and his parents bother to learn the lesson that bad behavior comes back to bite you, Clark will  have  saved Stitt from having the crap kicked out of him later in life.  

According to my sources, this kid has a history of using the most vile, foul behavior towards the Mayor’s wife, others in his neighborhood and kids at school.   This kid is a bully, and someone role modeled this behavior for him.   I don’t claim to know what the environment is in this kid’s home, but he learned this behavior somewhere.  

The Greeley Tribune consistently recounted the story from the kid’s perspective and dismissed Clark’s,  using the kid’s words “slammed to the ground” or thrown to the ground repeatedly and not Clark’s words of “detained.”   Also  on June 28 the paper  published an article repeating Stitt family claims that Clark called the family after the restraining order was approved even though Clark denied having done so and provided the newspaper with proof.   This is how the paper began the  biased story:

“Greeley Mayor Ed Clark on Wednesday called relatives of a boy he’s accused of attacking, seeking the father’s phone number, according to the boy’s family.”

It went on to quote the boy’s father who said “I’m worried for the safety of my family.”   The story made Clark look bad.  

After the paper promoted the kid’s perspective over Clark’s explanation, then it  went on to claim that Clark overreacted.    Of course Clark overreacted from the  Stitt and his family’s perspective.    In my opinion those  who overreacted include the following:   the Stitt family, the Greeley Tribune, the Denver Post  and now it appears Greeley businessman Tom Roche.   News Talk 1310 KFKA reports that Tom Roche allegedly used a spoofing website  to make  the phone calls to the Stitt family look  like they originated with Mayor Clark.  

Full disclosure:   I know Tom Roche and consider him a friend.  

This is an ugly situation.   Why would a very  rich, very successful businessman who has done a great deal of good for the community want to set up Greeley Mayor Ed Clark especially since Tom Roche has been a friend and campaign supporter of Clark?   My guess is Roche wanted to embarrass Clark, make public opinion turn against him.   But again, why?   Don’t know unless he wanted to get rid of Clark for some reason.   Now,  the Tribune  reports that Roche was considering a mayorial run in 2010.   Roche already lost a bid to be Mayor of Greeley to Tom Selders who was hammered by Clark in the last election.   Doubt this will help  Roche’s chances.   Look out for robocalls.

Also, Roche is on the Board of Governors at University Schools, a charter school campus where Clark is the head of security.   Wonder what this will do their working relationship?   If Clark is fired and Roche remains…there will be problems.

Sadly, all this contributed to yet another story that put Greeley into the national headlines.  News outlets from  USAToday to MSNBC  reported on this soap opera.   Just another day in “Greality.”

Colorado state treasurer and state senator Mark Hillman, playing on  Governor  Ritter’s  absurd “new energy  economy”,  coined the term Colorado’s “no energy” economy.   He recently penned an op-ed that appeared in the Denver Post, on his website  and which I discussed today on my show.   Mark explains the painful energy policy of Colorado democrat political leaders including Congressman Mark Udall, Senator Ken Salazar and Governor Ritter  that has Coloradans struggling to put gas in their cars and heat their homes this winter.   Seems that this year the pain will be even more acute  as  Xcel energy announced yesterday  that 72,000 Colorado residents will have their electric or gas service shut off this year.   That’s a 33 percent increase over 2007.   Sadly, Colorado’s  ”no energy” economy is very real for tens of thousands of  our families,  friends and neighbors.   Meanwhile our eco-hypocritical governor expands his carbon footprint with an  Arctic expedition to study the “effects” of global warming   for himself, of course that was after his junket to Spain.

The whole thing reminds me of the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld:   “NO ENERGY FOR YOU!”

I wish I had thought of that pithy name, but I give credit where it is due!  The credit goes to my friend over at Marx Udall (another one of my favorite names).   It seems that for all the Udall campaign’s squawking about “grassroots” fund raising they really should be eating some crow. Marx Udall exposes the eco-socialist 2nd CD congressman for the hypocrit that he is, revealing how much of Udall’s cash comes from out-of-state, especially from California.   If they like him so much, why doesn’t he move there where they won’t mind if he ruins their state?

Have you ever dreamed of pulling infront of  one of those  overpriced hybrids  sporting an  Obama bumper sticker with your car proudly displaying  ”NOBAMA”? Now is your chance to scare the life out of  liberals with your very own NOBAMA bumper stickers.   They are red lettering on top of a white background, good quality.   Contact Brian Eckstine at SBT123@aol.com.   They are $2 each with a minimum order of five.   Brian is a good guy who’s not looking to make a profit just cover his cost that’s why he’s giving $1 of each bumper sticker sold to the Republican party.      I have 2 and intend to buy more!   Get them while you can; he can’t keep them in stock!

I love competitive sports which explains why I’ve loved the Olympics for as long as I can remember, but I doubt that I’ll watch much this year because they are in Beijing.   Check out Regime Watch,  a great blog penned by my friend Mike Krause  that exposes China for the international thug that it is.

In his most recent post, Mike makes this plea:

“How do you use video to summarize the breadth and scope of Beijing 's economic and political complicity in the genocide in Darfur in just ninety seconds, and in a way that makes people willing to watch? From the outstanding Darfur advocacy group, Dream for Darfur, comes this satirical animation video featuring Gengen Genocide, the Olympics mascot Beijing doesn 't want to talk about.”

“Please watch it, and then pass it along.”

I’m happy to oblige and to offer that the Genocide Olympics might need another mascot.   One that represents the 1.25 million Chinese that have been evicted from Beijing since the capitol began its “beautification” project to  impress all the international visitors.   Even if you put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig.   Sorry Beijing.

I  spoke with Ron Wildeman, chairman of the Stampede parade committee.   He seems like a nice guy  but a bit defensive, repeating several time that “no one has a clue” about how difficult it is to organize a parade.   Yes, I will acknowledge he has a tough job, but  he volunteered for it.    No one forced him.   And yes, I do appreciate all the work he, the other committee members and most especially the Wranglers do to organize the Stampede.   All that being said, below is his explanation on how Mark Udall got an entry in the parade  while Bob Schaffer did not.

Basically, Wildeman says it was an “oversight.”   He and his committee relied on “past history” and it seems that Bob Schaffer was never on the list.   From what I could tell, Wildeman did not even know that Bob Schaffer is an elected official.   The committee did send out invitations to Colorado’s congressional delegation.   Although, my sources tell me Senator Allard never received a letter of invitation, only a follow up email in June.   Congressman and US Senatorial candidate Mark Udall accepted.     Wildeman also said that politicians are not allowed to campaign however participants are asked to send in their own description of their entries, which explains the  long puff piece on Udall.   Below is part of what TV was supposed to read about Udall:

Mark Udall is serving his fifth term representing Colorado’s Second Congressional District which straddles the Continental Divide.

Udall is a member of the House Armed Services Committee, the House Committee on Science and Technology, and the House Natural Resources Committee.   He serves as Chairman of the Committee on Science Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee.   In addition, he is the co-chair of the House Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus, and is a recognized national leader in promoting a balanced national energy plan.

Mark made his entrance into politics in 1997 as a representative in the Colorado State House and is no stranger to the world of public service.   His father, Morris “Mo” Udall, served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 30 years and ran for the Democratic nomination for President in 1976.   His uncle, Stewart, is widely revered for his accomplishments while serving as the Secretary of the Interior under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson.

Mark has spent his entire adult life in Colorado.   After graduating from Williams College in 1972 he moved to Colorado’s western slope and began a long and successful career with the Colorado Outward Bound School, as a course director and educator and as the organization’s Executive Director.   Taking the challenges of his career into his own life, Mark is an avid mountaineer and has climbed or attempted to some of the world’s most challenging peaks, including Mt. Everest.

There’s more but you get the picture.   That is the type of publicity and TV air time that candidate Udall got  but was denied to candidate Schaffer, despite the fact that Schaffer is an elected official representing Greeley and asked for his own entry.    

Notice that the “script” doesn’t mention that Udall is in debt to the extremist environmental lobby. In fact, Congressman Udall was the number one recipient of eco-extremist money in House of Representatives.   Nor does it mention that he received a substantial amount of cash from lawyers/lobbyists according to Open Secrets.  

I don’t think that Wildeman and his committee did anything devious.   I think they are horribly niave and don’t seem to know much about their own elected officials or politics.  

There’s another issue here.   If the politician doesn’t pay for the entry and he or she is running for re-election, is that an in-kind campaign contribution?   Wildeman said that the Stampede asks politicians to pay for their entries but “none of them do.” Despite Wildeman’s insistance that the candidates are not allowed to campaign, any TV appearance that includes a description of all the candidate’s accomplishments and how wonderful he is for the state of Colorado is campaigning.   So again, I ask the question should that be an in-kind donation?

As for the imbalance in state elected officials, Wildeman  said the same thing happened with State Rep Jim Reisberg, Scott Renfroe and Glenn Vaad.   Reisberg was on the list while Renfroe and Vaad were not.    Below  is the  free publicity, I mean  ”script” for Reisberg.  

Jim is currently in his second term as your State Representative in House District 50

He recently was awarded the 2008 Community Health Care Champion Award from the Colorado Community Health Care Network “For his dedication to Colorado’s Community Health Care Centers.” In December of 2007 he won the Legislator of the Year from the Colorado Bioscience Association.

He is a Proud Graduate of the University of Northern Colorado with a Bachelor 's degree in History and Economics and a Master 's in Gerontology.

Jim is a Colorado native who has lived in Greeley for most of the last 45 years. He and his wife, Sharron, have been married 43 years and they have 2 children and 5 grandchildren.

Thank you for joining us Mr. Riesberg.

The oversight in not extending an invitation to Renfroe and Vaad is even more difficult to understand given the fact that Renfroe approached the Stampede about doing an event with them.   They worked on doing something for several months.   In the end, event details could not be worked out so it was cancelled.   The Stampede Committee as a whole has a responsibility to be more balanced about the parade.   If Wildeman doesn’t know his elected officials than he should seek counsel from someone who does.  It’s embarrassing.

Finally, Wildeman reiterated the Stampede’s stance on political signs during the parade.   They aren’t allowed!   Honestly, what is the 4th of July without political discourse? That’s the essense of the holiday.   To me, there is a First Amendment issue here.   If the Stampede is not going to allow political signs and continue to be biased regarding politicians/candidates then it should not receive any type of taxpayer subsidies including law enforcement or first responders.   The Stampede should pay for all of that plus not be able to shut down 10th Avenue in Greeley for hours to hold its parade.

The Stampede parade claims to be a family event but from one parent’s perspective  it’s boring — no political signs, no candy, no water, no wonder attendance appeared to be down.