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According to the Denver Post, “Out of 232 red flags on Denver officers, two led to formal remediation.“
The Post found that “[o]nly twice in three years was a Denver police officer forced to undergo formal corrective intervention even though the department flagged officers 232 times for exceeding use-of-force and citizen-complaint thresholds.”
In other news, the sun sets in the west, the ocean is salty and Sandra Bullock is hot.
Government, at any level, can not be allowed to police itself anymore than a fraternity should be allowed to investigate itself on charges of underage drinking or the Lakers should be allowed to call their own fouls.
We readily see the absurdity of the last two. Somehow we overlook it on the first.
David K. Williams, Jr.
I have often kidded about and exaggerated the horrible apocalyptic warnings from the Al Gore Cult of Global Warming if we humans do not reduce our comparatively miniscule contributions to “greenhouse gases” and implement some policy akin to Cap and Trade.
It is no longer an exaggeration. Auden Schendler, the Vice-president of Sustainability at Aspen Skiing Company ( no, I did NOT make up that title, I swear), says we are doomed to “a world like Cormac McCarthy described in his novel ‘The Road’” if we do not shape up and become better stewards of Mother Earth. (See “The first casualty of climate change” in today’s Denver Post.) For those unfamiliar with Mr McCarthy’s novel, it is perhaps the most depressing novel ever written. At least I thought it was until I read his other novels. Let’s just say Mr McCarthy has a bleak view of humanity. I doubt he would be much fun at a cocktail party. But I digress…
Mr McCarthy never describes the cause of his post-apocalyptic world in “The Road.” Somehow, however, the entire planet is covered with ash. Nothing grows. Nothing. The sun, blocked out by a gray sky, is never seen. Never. Things are so bad, people have become cannibals. Yep, cannibals.
And Aspen’s VP of Sustainability says this is our fate within 50 years if we do not ACT NOW! He and his Chicken Little ilk want the government to control all carbon dioxide emissions, no matter the effect on the world economy. I mean, c’mon! After all, living in a hut without running water or heat is far superior to an ashy, gray world rife with cannibals!
When the government decides how much CO2 each company can produce, the world will be safe. Of course, the intellectually privileged in the government will make those decisions. After all, they are far smarter than us mere citizens and have our best interests at heart. Of course, these intellectuals would never hand out preferable CO2 allowances to favored companies that make big donations, would they? Since this never, ever happens in government it really should be of no concern.
In any event, carbon dioxide, including both the man made and naturally occurring kind, makes up 3.6% of all greenhouse gases. The man made contribution to the CO2 in the atmosphere is 3.2%. The remaining CO2 in the atmosphere occurs naturally. You know, from, like, breathing. And rain forests decaying. So destroying the rain forests actually helps curb greenhouse gases. Wouldn’t a world without rain forests be superior to an ashy, gray world rife with cannibals? I guess not, but I am no intellectual. I will leave those decisions to my intellectual betters. You know, like Charley Rangel and Joe Biden and Sean Penn. Water vapor makes up 95% of all greenhouse gases. Putting a lid on the Great Lakes would be more effective and less costly than Cap and Trade. I demand a lid! Or at least ketchup for my first meal as a cannibal.
Do we taste like chicken?
Colorado State Troopers are spending your tax money prosecuting someone that made a rude gesture to them. Yep, that is right. Thin-skinned traffic cops clearly have too much time and resources on their hands if they have time and resources to spend on this. ( See the Denver Post’s article, “ Man who flipped off trooper faces harassment charge.”) State troopers don’t provide a single service not already provided by local sheriffs or police. They write traffic tickets and investigate car wrecks. That is all. They are not state police that investigate crimes. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation is the state agency that does actual police work. The Colorado State Patrol is another example of a duplicative, wasteful government program. The State Patrol should be discontinued and the money saved. Instead of traffic cops with cool hats we could spend the money on teachers or additional $9 million phone systems like the one JeffCo Schools bought.
The State knows where you live. They think you have a nice car and a house. You are its subject. And they will find you if you do not comply.
Who determines Colorado law?
(a) Colorado voters via amending the state Constitution through the petition process.
(b) The general assembly.
(c) The Colorado Supreme Court.
(d) A local DEA agent.
The answer is (d).
Jeffrey Sweetin, the head of the federal DEA in Denver, has unilaterally decided that Colorado’s constitution means nothing. Despite a constitutional amendment allowing medical marijuana in this state, despite the general assembly working on a regulatory framework, despite his boss the President of the United States of America telling him that the feds will not use its resources to arrest those in compliance with local medical marijuana laws, this rogue fed decided to arrest a medical marijuana grower in Highlands Ranch.
Apparently all the meth labs have been closed in Colorado.
Apparently Barack Obama has no control over his policemen.
Apparently one federal cop gets to decide not only Colorado policy, but federal policy as well.
That is an awful lot of power for one man.
According to today’s Denver Post, Sweetin “said he has no plans to start cracking down on the hundreds of medical-marijuana dispensaries that have popped up around the state.”
Well, that is certainly reassuring. As long as he has no plans on once again ignoring the Colorado constitution, we should be okay.
But since when does Colorado law depend on the whim of one federal cop?
Even if you think medical marijuana is a horrible idea, this abuse of federal power on an internal state matter should be of serious concern.
I hope all that profess to believe in state sovereignty and the Tenth Amendment, regardless of their position on this internal issue, complain long and loudly about this usurpation of state power by the federal government.
Call your U.S. Rep and let them know you want the feds out of Colorado internal business.
As the Denver Post reports, “Major metro grower jailed,” federal agents have asserted their authority, primacy and superiority over its mere subjects in the district of Colorado.
I say “district,” because states have rights. Districts are mere political subdivisions of, and exist at the whim of, the larger federal government.
Last night the feds, asserting their supremacy, arrested a man who was in full compliance with Colorado state law.
With the federal government’s decision to completely ignore the Colorado Constitution and assert its statutes, any semblance of Colorado autonomy has been crushed.
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Lest there be any doubt, Special Agent Jeffrey Sweetin, who is in charge of the DEA’s office in Denver, was very clear:
“Technically, every dispensary in the state is in blatant violation of federal law. The time is coming when we go into a dispensary, we find out what their profit is, we seize the building and we arrest everybody. They’re violating federal law; they’re at risk of arrest and imprisonment.”
And you thought the Governor, state legislature and state Supreme Court had some say what goes on in Colorado.
Not if the feds decide they do not like it.
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TAKE ACTION
Remember, this is not about medical marijuana. It is about Colorado sovereignty.
In a polite, reasoned manner, tell the feds you do not appreciate them stepping into a Colorado law enforcement matter. Tell them if they have enough time and money to spend usurping Colorado’s sovereignty to enforce federal policy, they have too much time and money.
Tell them to leave us alone. We can handle our own business.
CALL NOW IF YOU CAN
Here is the Denver DEA office contact information:
Media Contact – Special Agent Mike Turner
Phone: 720-895-4214
Email: Robert.M.Turner@usdoj.gov
You can also call these other Colorado field offices:
Colorado Springs, CO — (719) 866-6100
Durango, CO — (970) 385-5147
Glenwood Springs, CO — (970) 945-0744
Grand Junction, CO — (970) 683-3220
And let your U.S. Representative and Senators know you want him/her to get the federal agents out of Colorado state business:
United States Representatives
District 1 – Diana DeGette
(303) 844-4988
District 2 – Jared Polis
D.C. # (202) 225-2161
District 3 – John Salazar
D.C. # (202) 225-4761
District 4 – Betsy Markey
D.C. # (202) 225-4676
District 5 – Doug Lanborn
D.C. # (202) 225-4422
District 6 – Mike Coffman
D.C. # (202) 225-7882
District 7 – Ed Perlmutter
D.C. # (202) 225-2645
Colorado Senators
Mark Udall
Toll free # 877-7-MUDALL
(877-768-3255)
Michael Bennet
Toll free # (866) 455-9866
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Please forward this to any other citizen concerned about Colorado’s sovereignty.
David K. Williams, Jr.
Little Brother had an idea, but he knew his big brother did not approve.
Little Brother went ahead and tried it, but tried to keep it small so as not to bring undue attention to himself. Big Brother eventually noticed, however, but said, “sure, Little Brother, go ahead and play with your little idea, I don’t care.”
Little Brother, no longer concerned about undue attention, really expanded his idea. He still had lots of issues to work out, but he felt he could work them out eventually.
Well, Big Brother decided one day he did not like Little Brother’s idea any more. So he stepped in and stopped it. Just like that.
He does not need a reason. He is Big Brother.
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This is exactly what has happened in Colorado and its burgeoning medical marijuana industry.
And Big Brother is not in a fairy tale or contained in an Orwell novel. He wears a windbreaker with “DEA” across the back in yellow letters.
See “Major metro grower jailed.“
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was one of the most successful presidents in our history. This is unfortunate.
His vision of a government that could provide bounty to all is fanciful. Far worse, it is malignant. And it lives on today as strong as ever.
One may assume FDR had good intentions. But we all know what paves the road to hell, or, in our case, the road to serfdom.
FDR’s version of utopia was laid out in his State of the Union address on January 11, 1944.
In this speech, he lays out a “Second Bill of Rights,” which include:
The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;
The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;
The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;
The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;
The right of every family to a decent home;
The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;
The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;
The right to a good education.
All of these rights, no matter how well-intentioned, have disastrous results.
Let us look at just one: “The right of every family to a decent home.”
If such a right were to exist, then every family would have the right to demand it.
If they have the right to demand it, then someone has the obligation to provide it.
If someone has the obligation to provide it, that person MUST provide it. What if they don’t? Then the government must use force to make the person provide it.
The result is not freedom. It is the opposite.
And this is perfectly acceptable to FDR and the “progressives” he has spawned.
From the Associated Press:
DENVER (AP) — Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter does not have a staff photographer – but he has billed taxpayers more than $200,000 to hire outside contractors and pay for photographs, videos and TV ads promoting his accomplishments since June 2008, including videos of him receiving a “Father of the Year” award and a press conference naming his friend, Michael Bennet, to a U.S. Senate seat.
Until nonsense like this goes away, statists can save their tears about a lack of government money and the need for more taxes.
The government need for more money is a lie.
The bill, among other things,
hands regulators broad new powers likely to impact everyone from the average mortgage applicant to multibillion-dollar financial houses that lord over the global economy.
Among its most applauded — and controversial — components, the 1,279-page bill would create an entirely new regulatory agency, the Financial Services Oversight Council. Its charge would be to protect consumers and give regulators the power to pre-emptively dismantle companies if they conclude those firms threaten the economy.
The premise of such regulation is based on a fanciful idea. Those in favor of regulation such as this believe that government functionaries have some idea how to successfully manage an industry, or at least some portion of it.
This premise has no basis in fact. Even if one believes that Wall Street firms and bankers are evil and must be reigned in, this regulation does not solve the problem.
It merely substitutes the evil bankers with evil, and incompetent, bureaucrats.
More regulation is not the answer. More regulation results in more rules. More rules means more time and money must be spent in complying with those rules. It provides incentives for those that can find loopholes in the rules. It costs money to enforce the rules.
Society eventually ends up spending more time and resources arguing about commas, definitions and exceptions to arbitrary regulations than to actually solving the perceived problem.
The problem can be solved with one rule, and it is already in place:
Do not commit fraud.
All people, even Wall Street Bankers, should be able to engage in any voluntary transaction with any other person as long as no fraud is perpetrated.
This simple rule, however, does not allow politicians to control anything. They do not get to create new agencies. They do not get to hire new regulators. They do not get to pay off political debt. Nor do they solve the problem.
But it is not about solving the problem. It is about control. And the House bill gives Congress plenty of that.
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