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The American Spectator has a puff piece online for the secessionists as well, likening our Governor to an abusive spouse:
"Hickenlooper plays the perfect abusive husband, promising to be better in the future."
And building up to a politically-nuanced quote by a man who will never warm the Governor's chair, Senator Greg Brophy. He's publicly stating that he's not voting for it - but is encouraging his friends and neighbors to keep talking about 'it":
"Colorado is almost a perfect state. If we had a beach, it would be. We can feed ourselves. We have enough energy production to take care of our own needs. We have great restaurants, theater, and sports venues in the metro areas, and then we have the mountains. It’s a great state and we should keep it together if we can, with a governor who will represent the entire state. So, although I wouldn’t vote for secession, I’m encouraging my friends and neighbors to keep talking about it because we’ve tried everything else — everything the experts tell you you’re supposed to do with your elected officials — and still the governor ignored us. This is a natural consequence of a governor who acts as if he’s only representing Denver."
And, of course, what hit-piece on this politically useless movement would be complete without equating our Governor to a …. "wife beater"??
"He is the husband who beats his wife and then says “I promise it won’t happen again.”
This may be to date one of the most despicable descriptions of this movement with it's characterization of the mythical foes to their "rural values". As for Brophy encouraging his 'friends and neighbors" to keep talking about "it" warrants a counter-point.
The face of the Yuma County movement has been a neighbor of the Senator. A Weld County transplant. An individual whose family re-loated to the sand hills of northern Yuma County in the 70's. A good, honest, hard working family who have built their fortune on government policy and resources: 1) the family obtained water rights from the State of Colorado – and had access to rural electricity as a result of American taxpayer-subsidized program that allowed them to pull the aquifer water to the surface and water their crops. They have been the recipient to millions of dollars in federal farm subsidies during this time – and their prudent and timely investments in ethanol plants – a market created by a federal biofuels mandate – has been a generous contributor to their bottom line. They plan to be part of a second-phase of a wind farm proposed in northern Yuma County. A development that will see the light of day because of state renewalbe portfolio standards.
In reality, the bulk of eastern Colorado's agricultural communities are more affected by federal policy than those coming from Denver and the Colorado legislature. With the exception of the recently-enacted SB-252 – the state doesn't have much input in their daily operations. And as I've discussed in this forum before, the renewable portfolio standards first implemented in 2004 have been a great deal for rural Colorado. It has forced billions in investment in rural counties with those counties not lifting a finger for their new-found bounty of new tax baseand jobs. They have been the takers – not the makers.
Rural values being attacked? Is it a rural value to egnore the some 109,000 children living in childhood poverty that are right under your nose? Is it a rural value to live in a Congressional district [to date, all counties who are taking the secession vote to the ballot box are in CD4] to be the recipient of $3.5 billion in farm subsidies – monies derived from largely-urban tax payers – and think the largess won't be noticed? Is it a rural value for the American taxpayer to underpin the financial sureity of their farm operations via the federally-insured crop insurance program and pretend John. Q. Public won't notice?
Don't get me wrong, I am an advocate of a federal farm system that provides a framework for a consistent supply of food. But that doesn't happen in a vacuum. It is a partnership between the American public and agriculture. No longer we going to get away with saying "hey, we feed you so shut the hell up".
It's time rural Colorado puts their big boy pants on and stop their damn whining and throwing this useless hissy-fit. End this hypocritical crusade. We're better than this. When I see these same, priveleged white folk spend as much energy on living wages and childhood poverty as they do trying to make you turn a blind eye to their form of welfare while trying to convince you our Governor is the equivalent of a wife beater and they are being "attacked" – I'll know we're making progress.
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