July 4 Break--Link Roundup

I'm off to the fetid swamp of power nation's capital for a much needed break--in the meantime, check out the following links for an excellent roundup of political news, analysis, and events.

Enjoy those freedoms while they last--and keep up the good fight for liberty!

Liberty on the Rocks:



People's Press Collective:



Complete Colorado:



Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0:



Face the State:



Clear the Bench Colorado:

Move America Forward: Troopathon

Support the troops with donations for care packages--Michelle Malkin has the background, Andrew Breitbart is co-hosting, special guests (like Rush Limbaugh and Jon Voight) will appear throughout the eight hour live webcast, and the goal is $1 million:

Senate 2010: Ryan Frazier--"A New Way Forward"

Quite impressive effort to kick off Frazier's broader introduction to Colorado's voter population--combining stirring clips from his stump speech and a nice blend of visual imagery in a longer format than the soundbite campaign ads we are accustomed to:



"Capitalism over socialism, freedom over slavery, life over death, and states' rights ove central planning"--sounds like an excellent place to start.

DMYR June Meeting Featuring Lynn Bartels And David Harsanyi

Join Denver Metro Young Republicans on June 23rd for our June General Meeting. This month we are pleased to welcome members of the local Media, including Lynn Bartels (formerly of the Rocky Mountain News) and David Harsanyi, reporters from the Denver Post. They will discuss the media’s role in politics help us break down the current state of the Republican Party in Colorado.





HAVE YOUR QUESTIONS READY for these Colorado media standouts!

Our Agenda will also include election of 7 County Directors from each of our member counties (Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson). See By-laws for qualifications of officers.

These individuals will be responsible for coordinating DMYR activities in their county, providing communication between their County Chairmen/officers and the DMYR board, and tracking DMYR activism in their county in conjunction with the DMYR Activism Director. If you are ready to step up and play a critical role in your County and THE top Young Republican Organization in Colorado, we encourage you to run for these positions!

As always, if you have questions about politics, the party, or the political process in general, we are always ready to listen and answer your questions. We are ready to help YOU make a difference in your Community and the Republican Party through Education and Activism!

Meeting Date: Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009
Meeting Time: social hour begins at 5:30pm, meeting starts at 6:30pm
Meeting Location: Club M @ Hamburger Mary’s, 700 East 17th Avenue, Denver, CO 80203 [map] — Our own private bar! Entrance on the NorthEast corner of the building.

***Please be sure to join the DMYR Group and RSVP for this event on Facebook! And come hungry, as Mary’s has the best burgers in town!!***

"The Big List": 2010 State House And Senate Races

Jeremy Pelzer (formerly of PolitickerCO and 5280) has a complete rundown of announced, projected, and speculative candidates for Colorado House and Senate in 2010 (to be continuously updated):

2010 House Candidates

2010 Senate Candidates

Jeremy's blog Mile High Politics is sure to be a key source for political news for 2010, so be sure to bookmark it and check back frequently.

Pre-ATF Party: Freedom Underground - Nanny State Policy Panel; Liberty On The Rocks BBQ

Freedom Underground - Nanny State Policy Panel

Friday, June 19, 2009

The Warwick Hotel, (The former Playboy Club) 1776 Grant Street, Denver, CO

***Don’t forget to sign up for the ATF Party the next day!***

Listen to Jon Caldara and Amy Oliver talk nannyism, the ATF party, and this great panel event!

Agenda

11:00a.m. — Registration

11:30a.m. — Lunch

Keynote Speaker: David Martosko, Center for Consumer Freedom

1:00p.m. — Morality and Philosophy of Nannyism

Panelists:

Radley Balko, TheAgitator.com and Reason Magazine

David Harsanyi, author of the Nanny State and syndicated columnist

David Kopel, Independence Institute Research Director

2:15p.m. — Economics of Nannyism: Sin Taxes and Litigation

Panelists:

Terry Gallagher, President of Smoker Friendly

Jordan Lipp, attorney Davis Graham & Stubbs and of the Colorado Civil Justice Leage.

Linda Gorman, Independence Institute Health Care Policy Center Director

3:30p.m. — Break

3:45p.m. — Fighting Nannyism:

Panelists:

Andrew Boucher, Boucher Strategies and NoCoPolitics.com

David Martosko, Center for Consumer Freedom

Andrew Breitbart, The DrudgeReport, Breitbart.com and Big Hollywood

5:00p.m. — Break

6:00p.m. – Dinner

Keynote Speaker: Andrew Breitbart, The DrudgeReport, Breitbart.com and Big Hollywood

8:00 p.m. – Cocktails & Cigars

This is a can’t miss event! Give us a call @ 303.279.6536 or RSVP online here to reserve your spot!

---

Liberty on the Rocks BBQ!

Date: Sunday, June 14, 2009
Time: 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Location: Washington Park
Street: Corner of Franklin and Virginia
City/Town: Denver, CO

Email: amanda@libertyontherocks.org

Location - Picnic Spot One at Wash Park next to the fire station (corner of Franklin and Virginia). There is plenty of free on-street parking.

Join others who love freedom for a fun in the sun day at the park!

BYOB - NO GLASS!!

There will be hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and other snacks provided. We will have water and soda, but if you'd like to drink, please bring your own alcohol. And be sure it's not glass - park rules!

There will also be a bake sale to raise money for the organization - so come with your sweet tooth!

We will have games to play, lunch and snacks to munch on and as always, great conversations! Come on out to Washington Park on Sunday, June 14th to network, make friends, eat BBQ lunch and have a great time!

Hope to see you there!

Fiery MEP Daniel Hannan In Denver

The Honor of Your Presence is Requested for a Special Evening With
MEP Daniel Hannan
Friday, June 26, 2009
Cocktail reception 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Grant-Humphreys Mansion
770 Pennsylvania Street, Denver, CO 80203

Daniel Hannan is a writer and journalist, and has been Conservative MEP for South East England since 1999. He has written eight books on European policy, speaks French and Spanish and is author of The Plan: Twelve months to renew Britain

Hannan has recently risen to fame in the U.S. after his fiery speech addressing British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at the European Parliament ("The devalued prime minister of a devalued government.")

RSVP REQUIRED!

Hannan skewers Brown:

R Block Party Family BBQ

PLEASE JOIN



THURSDAY JUNE 18

SEE ATTACHMENT FOR DETAILS

We invite you to join us at this casual event for Republican fellowship and to meet some of the candidates and elected officials including Ryan Frazier, Cleve Tidwell, Dan Maes, Walker Stapleton, Leondray Gholston and others.

This is a kid-friendly event and we hope you choose to bring our future voting block!

RSVP’s are greatly appreciated, but not necessary. Drop in anytime during the evening.

Date: Thursday, June 18, 2009
Time: 6:00 - 9:00 pm
Place: Dekoevend Park, Shelter C near the Goodson Rec Center

See you soon,
Nikki Mata
Lori Horn
Madelaine Rohan

E-mail rsvp or questions to:

http://www.blogger.com/rblockparty@comcast.net

Click to enlarge:

Denver International Airport Receives Nearly $500K In Farm Subsidies

Who knew?

Over the course of 12 consecutive years beginning in 1995, Denver International Airport has managed to rake-in just under half-a-million dollars in commodity subsidies from the U.S. Federal farm program. The airport owns roughly 18-thousand acres of wheat fields adjacent to the main terminal property and runways. While the dollar amount represents a very small fraction of the overall farm subsidy program, the receipts of that money essentially constituted nothing more than a windfall for the airport, because the airport was immune to rising or falling wheat prices.

Todd Shepherd has the complete yearly break down of windfall subsidies received by DIA.

This is the type of story that will only be exposed by folks like Todd, investigative reporter at the Independence Institute and editor of CompleteColorado.com.

And if conservatives and libertarians are to regain any traction with the public they need to be doing more and more investigative reporting of this type, not just amateur punditry as is so often the case.

Socialized Medicine No Joke

Liberty On The Rocks Red Rocks--Special Guest Tom Tancredo

Liberty on the Rocks Red Rocks will be hosting special guest Tom Tancredo:

Look for us at Old Chicago (weather permitting, on the rooftop patio) at 145 Union Blvd, Lakewood, CO for happy hours (5:00 pm to 7:00 pm) on the 1st and 3rd Monday of the month! Mark your calendar for:

June 15, 2009

Drum roll . . . our very special guest will be …. former presidential candidate and congressman, Tom Tancredo!

This is only our sixth meet up and we have had a number of fun and interesting people show up. The pictures on our website, RedRocks.LibertyOnTheRocks.com, show just part of fun.

Jonah Goldberg On Liberal Fascism

The bestselling book Liberal Fascism is now out in paperback.

Jonah discusses the ongoing necessity to push back against the Left's intentional misuse of the term for political purposes to bash conservatives and libertarians.

Betsy Markey On Health Care: A Tea Party Rally

Fort Collins Tea Party organizers will urge CD-4 Rep. Betsy Markey to vote against President Barack Obama's plans for socialized medicine "government-run, single-payer health care" at noon on Saturday, June 13th at Washington Park behind the Fort Collins City Hall building.

Free People, Free Markets: The Foundations Of Liberty Course

The Independence Institute is proud to offer a first-of-its-kind course on the moral and philosophical case for free market capitalism:

Free People, Free Markets: The Foundations of Liberty!

The class will take place on 5 Saturdays, from 9am to noon, starting June 27th and ending August 1st. (Skips July 4th).

This class is open to everyone. And you may obtain college credit through the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (Good for credit at CU-Boulder and CD-Denver).

The course makes the moral and philosophic case for free-market capitalism. One of the most important concepts of Western Civilization is the acquisition of property as an unalienable right. The course develops the relationship between economic liberty and political liberty. Participants learn the principles behind wealth-creation. They are introduced to the philosophy of the Austrian School of Economics and its connection to the founding ideas of the American experiment. Participants are awakened to their heritage of economic liberty. It will be more than worth your time.

Classes will meet once a week for five weeks, from 9-12 on Saturdays (skipping July 4). The course is designed for business and community leaders, college students, and the general public. If desired, you may obtain three college credits through the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs by paying the usual college per-credit fee.

Come if you love liberty. Come if you love collectivism, but need to understand the libertarian position. Come if you want to receive an inexpensive, thorough, and energetic exposure to the founding principles of economic and political liberty.

If you would like to register, please call 303-279-6536, or send an email to rsvp@i2i.org.

For more information and/or to register, go to
http://www.i2i.org/main/event.php?event_id=63.

Class fee is $75

FBI shuts down gun range, calls it "militia training camp"

The FBI is investigating a Washington state gun range that is supposedly "serving as a militia training camp."

What is notable is that the range was shut down because of "violation of commercial zoning laws," although the gun range has been around for a while. The owner, Jim Faire, thinks it's because of Andrew Gray, a convicted felon who is now facing weapons and drug charges. An informant told the FBI that Gray was using Faire's range to fire rifles. Evidently Gray was worth watching because of his "history with anti-government groups."

The FBI felt compelled to raid Gray's storage units, where they found 21 firearms and 300 marijuana plants. Now Gray is out on bail, due to appear in court on Thursday.

Back to Jim Faire. He didn't catch Gray because he didn't have the means to do a background check on every customer, which is, of course, way over the top and has been secretly (and illegally) used as a means to keep information on gun owners and their firearms. I have been to a number of gun ranges and have only had to sign waivers saying that it isn't their fault if I shoot myself.

The FBI is also touting the informant's assertion that Faire's range is a "militia training center." Faire says that the word "militia" is merely a joke, thanks to his range being a member of the Appleseed Project, a program of the Revolutionary War Veterans Association that promotes a return to a nation of marksmen.

Faire's neighbors think that the FBI is being heavy-handed. What's the real reason that the FBI is cracking down? Could it be a repeat of the old Clinton administration's zeal for gun control? President Obama knows the lessons of Clinton's "assault weapons" ban, and is not eager to repeat them. But maybe his FBI heavies just can't help themselves.

RMA 2.0: Rocky Mtn Blogs Radio Show #30

**Every Tuesday--next show June 9, 8:30 pm.



The Blog Talk Radio version of the Rocky Mountain Alliance. A weekly discussion about politics--national, state, and local--featuring RMA members bloggers led by featured host and producer Joshua Sharf, with rotating co-host duties from Ben DeGrow of Mount Virtus, Randy Ketner of Night Twister, and Michael Alcorn of Best Destiny.

June 9 lineup--Dan Maes, candidate for governor.

Aurora City Councilman Ryan Frazier On 9NEWS' "Your Show"

Aurora City Councilman Ryan Frazier answered viewers' questions on 9NEWS' "Your Show" this past Sunday.

Frazier's GOP primary opponent Ken Buck appeared on the show in May.

D-Day 65th Anniversary

BlackFive has an enormous D-Day blogburst roundup, with tons of great links.

Ben DeGrow has excerpts from General Dwight D. Eisenhower's D-Day charge and President Ronald Reagan's 40th anniversary commemoration.

President Barack Obama noted the passing of one Normandy veteran on the eve of the 65th anniversary of D-Day (h/t Mary):

Obama saluted the contributions of individual veterans of the Normandy landings, including one veteran, Jim Norene, who fought as a member of the 101st Airborne Division.

"Last night, after visiting this cemetery for one last time, he passed away in his sleep," the president said. "Jim was gravely ill when he left his home, and he knew that he might not return. But just as he did 65 years ago, he came anyway. May he now rest in peace with the boys he once bled with, and may his family always find solace in the heroism he showed here.

Hot Air commemorates the soldiers:

Usually we celebrate the great leaders when we reflect on World War II, but the anniversary of D-Day is a day to reflect on the heroes who clawed their way onto and off of the beaches in the face of withering fire, overwhelmed a truly evil regime, and set the stage for its destruction.

The Denver Post profiles an Army Diver and D-Day veteran.

20th Anniversary Of Tiananmen Square Massacre June 4, 1989

The NYTimes has an extended feature on the "Tank Man" photos from June 4, 1989--including a never before published photograph of the unknown hero just before his encounter with the tanks near Tiananmen Square.

Here is the video:

---

Blog post from June 4, 2007--just after I returned from China:


A lone hero thwarts tanks deployed by the Chinese government, 1989.

Gateway Pundit has more photos and a roundup on the 18th anniversary.


A replica of the Goddess of Democracy statue erected in 1989 by protestors in Tiananmen Square and destroyed by the Chinese government June 4, 1989.

On Astroturfing--Or How Not To Make Friends On The Internet

Earlier in the week, good friend and fellow blogger Rocky Mountain Right brought forward evidence that demonstrated a bad-faith, astroturfing campaign by or on behalf of the Cleve Tidwell for US Senate campaign.

Ben DeGrow provides additional examples of what appears to either be a hijacking of Tidwell's personal email address (unlikely) or a concerted effort to astroturf under a variety of fake names known as sockpuppetry. Numerous conservative/libertarian/GOP blogs have been pounded by "swarms" of purported Tidwell supporters, including the People's Press Collective.

Of course, this was bound to hit the media at some point, and today Lynn Bartels of the Post covered the brewing controversy:

A conservative blog this week accused Republican U.S. Senate candidate Cleve Tidwell of anonymously posting flattering comments about himself.

Tidwell said he had nothing to do with the posts, adding "as important as I'm sure these blogs are I don't get involved with them. I don't even read them."

The retired Denver businessman said today that when he questioned his campaign about the posts, an "enthusiastic" volunteer with access to his e-mail addresses admitted she "might have stepped over the line."

He declined to identify the volunteer, but said she has since quit the campaign.

The accusation against Tidwell was posted Monday by Anthony Surace, a 22-year-old student at Metropolitan State College who operates Rocky Mountain Right.

Gotta love the "rogue staffer" defense.

Tidwell earns himself no plaudits either for his backhanded dismissal of blogs in the Post story above even as he is scheduled to appear on the Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0 Blog Talk Radio Show tonight, and has attempted to cultivate relationships with bloggers for the past few months as the campaign began to swing into gear.

Look, campaigns and their surrogates--whether paid staffers or overzealous volunteers--are always welcome and indeed encouraged to promote their candidates in a friendly manner, without reverting to the use of astroturfing and sockpuppetry to give a veneer of widespread support online when in fact there may be little more than a handful of real supporters at this point in the primary. Not only does the concerted effort to deluge online straw polls and spam comment sections and email inboxes with regurgitated and misspelled testimonials shed a bad light on the campaign itself--and by extension, the candidate, whether or not he is directly involved or even knows that this type of behavior is taking place on his behalf--but betrays a basic lack of Internet-savvy that currently plagues many in the GOP.

Simply having a Twitter feed or a Facebook account does not constitute a campaign with "Web 2.0" capabilities. Those are merely tools for messaging and developing relationships with potential volunteers and fundraisers.

The gross misuse, however, of blogs and other Internet forums to "plant" support for a candidate while then accusing a blog of being "in the bag" for another candidate when that information comes to light is absurd. True grassroots movements rely on the activism of individuals who share a common goal or support a worthwhile candidate, and their efforts will show in the amount of money raised, the turnout for events hosted, and the number of votes cast in the primary. Faking such a grassroots movement--hence the term astroturfing--reveals the paucity of support for this or any other candidate relying on such tactics.

Ken Buck, Cleve Tidwell, and Ryan Frazier all have campaigns and will be afforded plenty of opportunities to make their strongest case for their own candidacies. For his part, Frazier has extended multiple opportunities to this blogger to chat, conduct interviews, and attend events. Tidwell has agreed to appear on the RMA Radio Show this evening to make his case. Buck will be given similar opportunities, and is indeed welcome to contact this blog or any other in the RMA/PPC community for an interview or an appearance on the radio show as well.

The bottom line? No one likes to be played for fools, or have their own forum abused by even well-intentioned staffers or volunteers, rogue or otherwise.

You want to shout from the rooftops all day about Buck, Tidwell, or Frazier?

Good for you!

Now get your own damn blog and stop crapping on someone else's carpet.

RMA 2.0: Rocky Mtn Blogs Radio Show #29

**Every Tuesday--next show June 2, 8:30 pm.



The Blog Talk Radio version of the Rocky Mountain Alliance. A weekly discussion about politics--national, state, and local--featuring RMA members bloggers led by featured host and producer Joshua Sharf, with rotating co-host duties from Ben DeGrow of Mount Virtus, Randy Ketner of Night Twister, and Michael Alcorn of Best Destiny.

June 2 lineup--Gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes and Senate candidate Cleve Tidwell will join RMA to discuss their respective campaigns.

May 26 lineup--GOP political consultant Patrick Davis and Independence Institute analyst Jessica Corry.

May 19 lineup--State Rep. Kent Lambert and a review of the 2009 Colorado Legislature.

May 12 lineup--At 8:45, U.S. Senate candidate Ken Buck, and at 9:30, Colorado Secretary of State candidate Scott Gessler

May 5 lineup--Blogger Ken Marrero, of Tennessee’s Blue Collar Muse.

April 28 lineup--Walker Stapleton, candidate for Colorado State Treasurer.

April 21 lineup--Matt Arnold of Clear the Bench Colorado from 8:45-9:15pm to discuss judicial accountability and retention of judges on the Colorado Supreme Court in 2010.

April 14 lineup--Brian Campbell discusses the April 15 Tax Day Tea Party rally in Denver and the movement in general, and Kate Melvin dishes on the showdown between the Independence Institute and CU over their budget and administrator salaries.

April 7 lineup--In an excellent solo hosting gig, Ben DeGrow reviewed the heated Fort Collins City Council race with co-host Randy Ketner, spoke with J.J. Ament, who is considering a run for state treasurer, and discussed parental rights and homeschooling with Marya DeGrow of the Independence Institute.

March 31 lineup--Nancy Doty talks about a potential run for Secretary of State, and DU law professor Robert Hardaway on HB1299, the bill to replace the Electoral College with a National Popular Vote.

March 24 lineup--we review of the recent state GOP organizational meeting, where Dick Wadhams was reelected as state chair, and Leondray Gholston was elected vice chair after three rounds of voting with Boulder County GOP chair Scott Starin, and David K. Williams, co-founder of the Gadsden Society of Colorado.

March 17 lineup--State Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry was our first guest, followed by Nathan Chambers, candidate for Colorado Republican Party state vice chair.

March 10 lineup--From 8:45 to 9:15, Colorado Republican Party Chair Dick Wadhams and at 9:30 Hassan Daioleslam.

March 3 lineup--two candidates for Fort Collins City Council, Aislinn Kottwitz (District 3) and Andrew Boucher (District 5), and Tom Stone, who is challenging Dick Wadhams for state party chairmanship.

February 24 lineup--Evan Coyne Maloney of Indoctrinate U, whose film of the same name was shown at the inaugural Liberty on Film last Thursday, and Nadeem Esmail of the Fraser Institute, discussing the dangers of single-payer (socialized) medicine from first hand experience.

Indoctrinate U trailer:


Plus two special editions of RMA Radio--the Pork Roast/anti-stimulus rally edition from the steps of the state capitol, as well as extensive coverage of the Larimer County Lincoln Day dinner.

February 17 lineup--Denver-based political activist Chris Maj, also an affiliate of Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty, and a look back to today's anti-stimulus/pig roast rally at the state capitol.

February 10 lineup--State Rep. Cory Gardner (R-63), probable candidate in the CD-4 GOP primary, and Leondray Gholston, Republican activist and candidate for state GOP vice-chair.

February 3 lineup--Daveed Gartenstein-Ross from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and Mike Saccone of the Grand Junction Sentinel.

January 27--Guests included elections expert Jan Tyler and State Sen. Greg Brophy.

January 20--Guests included Todd Shepherd, Independence Institute, and Mark Hillman, Colorado Republican National Committeeman.

January 13--State Rep. Ellen Roberts, R-Durango (HD 59) and State Senator Mike Kopp, SD 22, R-Littleton.

January 6--CU Regent Tom Lucero, chairman of the successful Amendment 54 campaign and a candidate for CD 4 in 2010.

December 30--RMA took a look back at a dismal year in their 2008 year-in-review.

December 23--Joshua and fellow commentators (including yours truly) hosted Jim Pfaff of Americans for Prosperity Foundation and Opinion Times. Pfaff discussed the AFP Colorado report "Keeping Colorado Competitive" and bridging the Christian/libertarian gap.

On December 16 we hosted State Rep. Kevin Lundberg (District 49), and discussed the Salazar appointment as the Secretary of the Interior in the Obama cabinet.

The December 12 edition featured Aurora City Councilman Ryan Frazier.

Complete list of guests featured on RMA Radio can be found here.

**Bookmark the new RMA Radio home page, with embedded player and calendar of upcoming shows and featured guests.

Stream the show live, or play/download the podcast at your convenience.



I'll update co-host and guest info for each episode as it becomes available. Stay tuned . . .

RMA's shows are archived--if you missed any of them, be sure to check out the archive page to stream or download, or scroll down this page a bit, for the embedded archive player.