Official: Salazar At Interior

With an ambitious set of goals:

Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar today was nominated to be Interior secretary by President-elect Barack Obama today.

"I look forward to serving as a strong voice for the West and the nation," Salazar said in his acceptance speech.

"I look forward to serving as we take the moon shot on energy independence," he said.

Salazar said as Interior Secretary he would also, "make sure we make wise use our natural resources, including coal, oil and natural gas."

"I look forward to investing in our nation's young people by implementing Barack Obama's youth programs," Salazar said.

Obama noted that one of the priorities for Salazar's tenure would be improved relations between Washington and tribal nations.

"We need more of a nation-to-nation relationship," Obama said. "Ken and I will work to together to make sure tribal nations have a voice in this administration."

Color fellow RMA blogger Steven Nielson unimpressed on that last goal. We can also expect that "wise use" of natural resources, including the vast quantities of Colorado oil shale, will probably mean "unused"--as the numerous articles discussing Salazar's appointment point repeatedly to his opposition of oil shale exploration and production.

The Rocky posted odds on the most likely replacements--including Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, Rep. Ed Perlmutter (CD-7), and former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff.

The GOP sees an opening in 2010 with the Salazar departure, but will still need to figure out who exactly remains viable on the extremely short Republican bench for both Salazar's Senate seat and a run against Gov. Bill Ritter, and how to avoid the type of ineffective campaigning seen most prominently in Bob Beauprez's failed gubernatorial bid in 2006.

Doug Bruce Draws Censure Recommendation, Criticizes Denver Media As Too "Aggressive"

Boo hoo:

Rep. Douglas Bruce (R-Colorado Springs) tells YOUR SHOW he does not believe he should be censured for an altercation between him and a Rocky Mountain News photographer last Monday.

A committee of his House colleagues is recommending the new state representative face a penalty never before issued in the legislature's 131-year history as well as requiring him to apologize to his peers for violating the decorum of the House of Representatives.

The committee made its recommendation on Friday afternoon after hearing from the photographer involved and Bruce. The photographer, Javier Manzano, said he was kicked by the representative during the House's morning prayer while Bruce described it as a "tap" with the bottom of his shoe that came after two previous requests not to take his picture. The longtime anti-tax advocate does not believe he did anything wrong.

"I don't think (the photographers) should have disrupted the public proceeding with their noise and their flashing and taking pictures of somebody praying who politely twice asked them not to do so," Bruce said in response to a viewer's question on the program. "I tapped him with the bottom of my shoe because he was seated in front of me. I didn't haul off and kick anybody. It never happened. I tapped him with the bottom of my shoe to say, 'Look, I asked you twice, the prayer is ongoing, please stop.' I don't consider that to be an assault, an act of violence, a crime.

"Apparently around here, they're setting up a rule that you can never touch anybody, so OK, I won't touch anybody."

Bruce told viewers the media in Denver are "much more aggressive and much less courteous" than the media he's used to dealing with in Colorado Springs. He called them "paparazzi" and said he'd only received three messages from his district in Colorado Springs about the event. Two were supportive of him and he said one was not.

Did Bruce forget that in most circumstances outside of consenting touch or self-defense, touching/hitting/kicking etc. is generally considered to be inappropriate, if not a prosecutable offense--especially in this day and age?

You can watch Bruce answer some questions from Adam Schrager on YourShow.

House To Investigate Bruce Incident, GOP Condemns New Member's Actions: "It Is Not The House Of Bruce"

"This is the House of Representatives. It is not the House of Bruce"--said an angry House Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker

The expected fallout from the Douglas Bruce saga begins (9NEWS has video of Romanoff and May discussing the Bruce incident):

House Speaker Andrew Romanoff and House Minority Leader Mike May this morning announced the creation of a special committee to investigate Rep. Doug Bruce's kicking of a Rocky Mountain News photographer on Monday.

Bruce this morning called his swift kick more of a "nudge or a tap" but said the House leaders are "entitled to have any committee about any incident that they want."

Romanoff told reporters that he has reviewed a tape of the incident, spoken with Bruce and conveyed his apology on behalf of the House to Rocky Editor, Publisher and President John Temple.

"This is a very troubling development, and I think it warrants further examination, and I think we're both looking forward to the recommendations of the committee before we proceed," Romanoff said.

As John Andrews says, "Deliver us, please, from such friends." Other GOP members felt the same:

"This is the House of Representatives. It is not the House of Bruce," said an angry House Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker.

House leaders were seeking legal advice on how to investigate the kicking incident, perhaps by convening a panel.

"This won't go unanswered," May said, noting he didn't think chamber rules stated anything specific about kicking. "It's almost incomprehensible that this has happened on the House floor."

Finally, Colorado GOP Chairman Dick Wadhams also denounces Bruce's behavior that diminishes the GOP and his own fiscal reform record:

Having said all that, as the state chairman of Colorado Republicans I must strongly denounce the behavior of State Representative Douglas Bruce.

Representative Bruce’s reputation as a fiscal reformer was terribly tarnished by his refusal to be sworn in last week when the Colorado General Assembly opened because he wanted to guarantee he could potentially serve a full four terms.

House Speaker Andrew Romanoff was absolutely right in not according Representative Bruce the special consideration of being sworn in before the entire House of Representatives.

I am especially proud and appreciative of House Republican Leader Mike May for having the House Republican Caucus vote almost unanimously, 22 to 1, to declare the seat vacant if Representative Bruce refused to be sworn in yesterday. House Republican Leader May and the House Republican Caucus made Colorado Republicans proud with their leadership.

Representative Bruce was absolutely wrong in literally kicking a Rocky Mountain News photographer on the floor of the House. Representative Bruce does owe that photographer and the entire House of Representatives an apology.

Advice to Bruce--suck it up, be a man, and apologize for this crazy outburst.

Exit question--why does Bruce go crazy on the photographer while simultaneously being videotaped by CBS4's camera? If it is rude to be captured in photos while praying, why does filming catch a break?

Douglas Bruce Gone Wild--Kicks Photographer At Swear-In Prayer, Then Demands Apology--All Following GOP Peer Rebuke

**Updated and bumped**

Don't bring the GOP down, Bruce! (my apologies, first thing that came to mind)

Douglas Bruce's no good, very bad day--entirely the result of his own actions.

First:
“He can take the oath or take a hike"--Rep. Jim Kerr, R-Littleton

Bruce, the author of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, was criticized by Democrats and Republicans for delaying his swearing-in until five days into the 2008 session and then refusing to take the oath until the full House was present, an unprecedented request for an appointee filling a vacancy.

Speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver, gave Bruce the option to take the oath at four different times but refused to do it while the House was conducting business, setting up Monday’s showdown in the Capitol.

Bruce gave in, taking his seat while only five other legislators were in the chamber, saying he’d made his point that he was being picked on by House leadership.

Right before that, the House Republican Caucus voted 22-1 to ask the House District 15 Vacancy Committee to appoint someone else to fill the seat if Bruce did not take his oath by the end of the day. Members said they needed to send a message that the rules of the House are more important than a single man and that the district needs representation.

“He can take the oath or take a hike,” said Rep. Jim Kerr, R-Littleton.

Other House GOP members (with one notable exception, Rep. Kevin Lundberg, R-Berthoud) took Bruce to task:

"The citizens of his House district need to be represented," House Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker, said during the caucus, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette. "This can't go on. We can't have this sideshow every day of someone refusing to take the oath of office."
. . .
Rep. Al White, R-Hayden, introduced the resolution, saying the caucus must show Bruce that "no individual is greater than the office we represent or the constituents we represent," according to the Gazette.
. . .
Even Rep. Kent Lambert, R-Colorado Springs, the lawmaker who helped Bruce enter the floor this morning as a guest, voted against him.

"It's the very strong sense of the Republican Caucus that a member who is elected or appointed to fill a vacancy ought to take the oath of office within a reasonable time and begin representing one's constituents," Rep. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs, said after the vote.
. . .
"It's also a sense that no single member of this body, of either party, is larger than the party or the work that we do. This is not about any single individual," Gardner said.

"We believe very strongly as representatives, and it is what I think we were expressing in our caucus today, that we expect people to be present for duty and to represent their constituents," he added. "Even more critical – our party is in the minority and we need each and every vote all of the time," he said.

With Douglas Bruce everything is about Douglas Bruce. Didn't you guys get the memo?

And if his actions up to this morning weren't cause for ensuring permanent minority party status for Colorado's recently floundering GOP, then his subsequent actions sure didn't help.

Following this brave and warranted (and welcome!) rebuke from his GOP peers--obviously fed up with his grandstanding even before he officially joined them--Bruce proceeded to provide even more anti-GOP fodder when, during the ceremonial prayer before his swearing-in, he kicked Rocky Mountain News photographer Javier Manzano while he was taking Bruce's picture--and then demanded that the photographer apologize to him:

Bruce brought a Bible to the Legislature and kicked a photographer from the Rocky Mountain News after the man took his photo during the traditional morning prayer to open Monday's brief session.

Several photographers were taking pictures of Bruce to chronicle his first day as a legislator.

"Don't do that again," Bruce said, then brought down the sole of his shoe hard on photographer Javier Manzano's bent knee.

Denver Post photographer Mark Osler was right next to Manzano when it happened.

"I took two pictures in quick succession and Javier was about to take a picture and Mr. Bruce looked down at him and said something to the affect of, 'don't,' and Javier put his camera down," said Osler. "He put the camera up and took one frame and at that point Mr. Bruce said something to the affect of, 'I told you, don't,' and he kicked him pretty hard."

Dude.

Dude.

"How showing a person in prayer is negative, I don't understand. If there's a problem, there's ways of dealing with it that are not kicking another human being."--RMN publisher John Temple

Video shot by CBS4 shows Bruce bowing his head in prayer, the DP and RMN photographers, and finally Bruce kicking Manzano and then verbally reprimanding him.

Bruce remained defiant and chastised the media for even broaching the subject (video of news conference):

"I think the Rocky Mountain News photographer ought to apologize to the House and to me and to all the people whom he disrupted. He needs to get a lesson in manners and decorum," said Bruce. "He was told already not to block the aisle. See you want to make a big deal out of it and again sort of make me out to be the bad guy. He was disrupting a prayer and disrupting a Pledge of Allegiance and blocking traffic and I told him politely not to do it and he insisted on doing it and he ought to be ashamed of himself."

"I said, 'Don't do that,'" said Bruce. "His behavior was reprehensible. He shouldn't be disrupting a public prayer during a House session."
. . .
"He should not have done what he did. You want me to say that 50 times? I'll send you an e-mail. He should not have done what he did. He should apologize to me and to the House," Bruce told the media. "I was trying to stop him from causing a public disruption and I asked him not to do it beforehand. Specifically. I'm glad that he maybe, finally, I hope, learned a lesson."

The other photographer and RMN publisher John Temple argued that Manzano did nothing wrong (agreed, wholeheartedly) and that Bruce's actions were reprehensible:

Osler says the photographers were not violating any rules.

"There's nothing that would have given anybody any cause to think that what was going on was inappropriate. No one else responded to it other than Mr. Bruce," said Osler.

Rocky Mountain News Publisher John Temple said Manzano had a right to take Bruce's picture.

"It's standard and no lawmaker makes the rules of what should occur on the floor. The rules are set by the Speaker of the House and if there's a problem, the Speaker of the House will address the problem," said Temple.

Temple said he would discuss the incident with House leadership.

"The House floor is a place where journalists are allowed to operate. It's outrageous for Mr. Bruce in a public place to assault a photographer," Temple said. "All the leadership that I spoke to were concerned about what the impact this was on the reputation and the image of the House."
. . .
"It was certainly inappropriate and over the top," said Osler. "You have to be able to exhibit restraint when you are operating in the capacity he is and he didn't and I think that's inappropriate."

"How showing a person in prayer is negative, I don't understand," said Temple. "If there's a problem, there's ways of dealing with it that are not kicking another human being."

It appears that the only person on the House floor in need of a good lesson "in manners and decorum" is Bruce himself.

You stay classy, Douglas Bruce.

The Colorado Index--Doug Bruce, the clown
FTS--YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP...

Dem blogs are all over this--and rightly so--and in a rare moment of bipartisanship applaud the remaining House GOP members for taking a stand against Bruce's self-aggrandizement:
SquareState--Doug Bruce assaults Rocky photographer
ColoradoPols--Bruce Goes on the Attack...Literally
Elevated Voices--Colorado’s Top Jackass: Douglas Bruce, Doug Bruce Kicks Photographer at State Capitol