Warning: KLZ talk-radio host Ken Clark tells me the following blog post is a “hit piece consisting of lies and deceit in order to continue to manipulate the public and your readers at the expense of an elected official who is simply trying to protect her constituents.” If only this were true….

The elected official Clark refers to is Republican State Sen. Vicki Marble. At issue is a searing falsehood Marble delivered to Clark on his nooner Freedom 560 show on KLZ 560-AM Nov. 19:

Marble: “Those illegals infiltrate into the system, of the United States, and they bring the disease. They bring whatever from across the border — things we haven’t seen in decades and thought we eradicated. Our whole country is at risk.”

A lengthy search (still in progress) for a factual basis backing up Marble yielded nothing, and I asked Clark why he didn’t correct her on air:

Clark: The evidence is overwhelming that we are facing a health risk due to our administrations failure to protect our boarders and as a result are continuing to put our citizens at risk. Senator Marble is 100% correct when she states this fact and by failing to accept the truth and the evidence you are simply attempting to attack a public servant rather than seek the truth. She has been briefed by the Colorado Center for Disease Control as well and is privy to information that is not public, maybe you should try to get some information from them. [BigMedia emphasis]

I asked the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment if there was any evidence that undocumented immigrants are bringing any disease, much less ones that we thought were eradicated, into Colorado.

“CDPHE is not aware of any such evidence,” was the simple answer from Mark Salley, CDPHE spokesperson.

Clark provided me with numerous links, none of which named a specific illness thought to be eradicated and brought to the United States by undocumented immigrants.

You can find Marble’s comment at the 2:45 mark on this audio recording:

Like other people, undocumented immigrants get sick with chicken pox, scabies, lice, and even tuberculosis, but, again, there’s no evidence that they are spreading these illnesses in our country. There’s speculation, yes, but nothing much more.

Marble’s comment goes beyond the usual Tea-Party regurgitation of this speculation by accusing immigrants of introducing eradicated diseases, raising the specter of polio, lepers, etc.

This summer, Tea Party activists were up in arms about diseases allegedly being brought by migrant children crossing the border into the U.S. These concerns were shown to be basesless.

The New York Times reported in July:

Carrie Williams, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of State Health Services, said there have been only three cases of tuberculosis reported among the undocumented children who have come into Texas. More than 1,000 cases are reported annually in Texas.

She also said that while there have been cases of scabies among the children, “it’s not outside the norm of what we would expect and not exotic to the United States.”

What does seem to spread in the United States is not diseases from immigrants but falsehoods from talk-radio hosts. KNUS host Peter Boyles broke the misinformation back in September that undocumented immigrants are spreading disease in Colorado. And now the rot has jumped to KLZ.

Maybe it’s time to fumigate the offices at both KLZ and KNUS?

Here’s a transcript of the conversation between Clark, Marble, and State Sen. Lundberg on Nov. 19, 2014.

CLARK: There are a lot of national issues that are affecting us here in the state of Colorado, things that the President is doing are absolutely appalling and unfortunately does affect us here. We’ve got a situation where we’ve got—we’ve got respiratory diseases cropping up in Colorado. Not many people are talking about that. We’ve got the scare of Ebola going on. We’ve got an open border with an insurgent of — a surge of insurgents coming across that border into the Unitded States. And we have potential for amnesty being granted this week. I’ll start with you, Senator Lundberg. What can we do, in the state, to combat some of these things? [pause] Senator Lundberg, are you with me? [pause] Do I still have Senator Lundberg? Senator Marble, are you there?

MARBLE: Yes, I am.

LUNDBERG: Ken, I was on —

MARBLE: Oh, there he is!

LUNDBERG: Sorry! I was on mute.

CLARK: Oh, okay! We’re back.

LUNDBERG: Got some quiet, yeah. When it comes to the immigration issues, we are held hostage by federal policy in almost every respect, even though we could get tougher with our requiring people to be here legally before they enjoy all of the benefits of living in Colorado. You know, we tried that back in 2006 with a special session and supposedly came up with some legislation that toughebned things up, but they only went a teeny little direction down the right path. You know, with just the Senate, we’re not going to make much progress — we can talk about it, we can pass bills, we can run resolutions, and get those though the Senate, but it’s not going to become law until we take the next step and take the House back, as well.

CLARK: Well, I would agree with you. Senator Marble, could you respond to that as well?

MARBLE: I’d just like to say that without leadership in the Governor’s position, we’re never going to see reforms here in the state of Colorado, as far as illegal immigration goes. What has happened in the state of Texas has been because of the actions taken  by Governor Perry. And he put together a very good, multi-level layer of agencies to protect the United States from illegal immigration. And I say “to protect the United States”, not just Texas, because those illegals do not stick around once they cross the border. Those illegals infiltrate into the system, of the United States, and they bring the disease. They bring whatever from across the border — things we haven’t seen in decades and thought we had eradicated. Our whole country is at risk. The illegals, they migrate to other states at will, and that’s why I say, if we don’t have a governor step forward and take leadership, like that of Governor Perry of Texas, we don’t have a snowball’s chance in you-know-what of doing anything.

CLARK: Well, and what is interesting, though, is I was a part of a coalition that went down to the border. Both of you were in that coalition, as well. In fact, I believe I was your guest. I went down with you guys. And it was interesting because we were able to see first hand just how simple a problem this is to solve, and how lack of will — we don’t have any will on the federal level to solve this problem. Senator Lundberg, I’ll start with you.

LUNDBERG: You’re right! We could fix it. We could secure the border, if the federal government would show some backbone, even as the state of Texas has. Now, I’ll have to tell you, I was down in Texas this last weekend discussing this very issue with some members of the Texas legislature, and they did suggest that maybe Colorado could help foot the bill for security that Texas is providing. They’ve spent probably $100 million in the last several months, helping to show that you can secure the border. I’m all for Colorado stepping up and being a part of the solution. It’s just that, not being a border state, we don’t have quite the prerogative they do. And yet, we can’t let this rest. This is a big issue that is not going away. Indeed, the President, maybe in the next twenty-four hours, will start rushing down the other direction towards more and more amnesty. That’s nuts! That’s just going the wrong direction! You’ve got to first, secure the border. We can do it. We need to do it. In the Colorado Senate, we need to talk about it, and we need to promote it. But, we’ve got to realize that we can’t do it on our own.

CLARK: Senator, that is something Ix would definitely applaud funding. I think that is very important. I think it affects all of us, even in the state of Colorado. Senator Marble, what say you?

MARBLE: Well, unfortunately, I can’t hear what Senator Lundberg is saying, so i have no idea what that was. I just —. I don’t know—.

LUNDBERG: The audio is a little low for us hearing one another.

CLARK: [Clark paraphrases Senator Lundberg’s remarks]

MARBLE: I agree! It’s exactly the way I feel, and what I saw, and was my take-away from the Texas trip, down in McAllen. It is a crucial point. And beyond — if people could just go down and see and have the opportunity to see what we saw and do what we did, they would understand. This is so critical. And I agree with Senator Lundberg on what he said about were the steps to take. I believe it is very necessary.

Here’s Ken Clark’s entire email response to my request for a statement:

Clark: Pretty quick search of some of the news out there, pretty easy to find and most of the stories have imbedded links to the reports and documentation that back up the assertions. The evidence is overwhelming that we are facing a health risk due to our administration’s failure to protect our borders and as a result are continuing to put our citizens at risk.

Senator Marble is 100% correct when she states this fact and by failing to accept the truth and the evidence you are simply attempting to attack a public servant rather than seek the truth. She has been briefed by the Colorado Center for Disease Control as well and is privy to information that is not public, maybe you should try to get some information from them.

Jason, I have been to the boarder, so has Senator Marble, we have both seen first hand and have spoken with the people on the ground about what they/we are in fact facing. Denying these facts in a not so veiled attempt to discredit a siting Senator further demonstrates your bias when it comes to journalism. I would hope that you will start to seek and report the truth as this situation will continue to escalate based upon recent events. Now, Like Gruber, you have decided to put together a hit piece consisting of lies and deceit in order to continue to manipulate the public and your readers at the expense of an elected official who is simply tying to protect her constituents.

Protecting our borders is a national security issue first and foremost. Most of the good folks down on the border realize this, they are concerned about terrorism, they’re concerned about disease. they are concerned about the unknown factors coming across that border on a daily basis. The administration has been involved in a cover-up of where these people are headed throughout the United States since the beginning. And I believe every citizen of the United States has a right to know.

Let me know if you need me to do any more research for you.

CDC Warning: Immigrant Children Could Be Spreading This New Mystery Virus In Public Schools

http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/immigration/item/19260-disease-rampant-among-illegal-immigrants-housed-in-u-s-facilities

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/oct/6/diseases-still-problem-illegal-immigrant-families/?page=all

http://www.examiner.com/article/cdc-admitted-disease-imported-as-states-data-reveals-illegal-immigrant-links

Report claims illegal immigrants carry deadly diseases

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Texas/2014/08/07/Feds-Bend-CDC-Rules-for-Sick-Illegal-Immigrants

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2014/06/illegal_immigrant_flood_bringing_disease_outbreaks.html

http://www.nationalcenter.org/P21PR-Immigrants_Health_Schools_090214.html

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/08/01/unaccompanied-illegal-immigrant-kids-exposed-federal-agents-to-lice-scabies/

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/06/24/potential-for-a-public-health-disaster-illegal-immigrant-surge-leaves-officials-with-no-idea-which-diseases-are-coming-across/

http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2014/07/illegal-alien-minors-spreading-tb-ebola-dengue-swine-flu/

Obama Dumping Illegal Aliens with Contagious Diseases Across the Nation (Video)

http://www.wnd.com/2014/10/mystery-virus-found-where-illegal-alien-kids-sent/

DHS Report: Tuberculosis And Scabies Spreading In Migrant Holding Facilities

http://www.oig.dhs.gov/assets/Mgmt/2014/Over_Un_Ali_Chil.pdf

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Border-agents-in-Texas-warned-not-to-talk-to-media-5550807.php

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/14/border-patrol-media_n_5495545.html

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Texas/2014/06/13/Border-Patrol-Agents-Threatened-with-Criminal-Charges-for-Speaking-to-Reporters

This post was updated 11/25/14 with links from Clark that I left out of my original post.

A “Rocky Mountain Gun Owners” attack advertisement, mailed to constituents of State Sen. Andy Kerr, appears to violate a couple of campaign finance rules.

The return address on the ad reads, RMGO SuperPAC, but the disclaimer lists the sponsoring organization as “Rocky Mountain Gun Owners SuperPAC.”

Neither entity has reported a campaign expenditure attacking Kerr, according to campaign finance reports, so there’s almost certain violation of the 48-hour reporting rule currently in effect.

Another problem, “Rocky Mountain Gun Owners SuperPAC,” does not exist on Secretary of State’s website, and sponsoring organizations must file reports. Obviously, this could be a typo-like error, but it’s still a likely violation.

Here’s the text of the ad, with a surprising last line:

When seconds count, Andy Kerr wants to leave you defenseless

Vote No to Kerr in the Nov. 4 Election

Andy Kerr wants to leave you vulnerable to armed rapists when you’re working the late shift to make ends meet

Kerr voted to make YOU liable if you defend yourself at your workplace

Kerr also voted to make women pay a fee and get government pre-approval to borrow or buy a gun for protection against a deranged stalker or violent and abusive ex the next time he violates the “restraining order.”

While criminal gang-bangers run around Denver with unlimited ammo, Young [sic?] voted to cap your firearms to 15 rounds. [BigMedia emphasis]

Click here to see RMGO’s mailer ad attacking mostly Kerr but Young too 10 21-14

So, you can see that in the last line of the advertisement, there’s an abrupt change from outrageously attacking Kerr to outrageously attacking “Young,” possibly meaning State Rep. Dave Young, who’s been the object of attack mail.

It’s a strange strategy to dedicate one bullet point, if you will, in Kerr’s ad to Young, but RMGO’s logic usually escapes me and most normal people.

With all the negative attention on Rocky Mountain Gun Owners of late, you’d think the outfit might want to hide its name when it attempts to influence voters. On the other hand, RMGO isn’t known to care about what normal people think.

It appears, though, RMGO has actually gotten the message that its RMGO name scares people. Instead of simply using its independent expenditure committee “RMGO SUPERPAC” to oppose at least one state senate candidate, RMGO is sending money to do so to an entity called “Colorado Liberty PAC.”

Exactly $55,000 of the $60,000 donated to Colorado Liberty PAC comes from RMGO. (The other $5,000 came from the “Colorado Tea Party.”)

And the designated filing agent for Colorado Liberty PAC is Joseph Neville, who runs RMGO in Colorado and serves as its notorious lobbyist here. So RMGO apparently controls Colorado Liberty PAC. Neville did not return an email seeking comment.

In turn, Colorado Liberty PAC is sending mailers attacking SD 22 candidate Andy Kerr, who’s Jeffco district is populated by people whom, RMGO has apparently concluded, don’t like the RMGO brand.

See a Colorado Liberty PAC mailer attacking Andy Kerr 10-2014.

And another one attacking Kerr.

If you don’t know about Ari Armstrong’s “Defend Liberty Always” blog, you should take a look at it. In this post, Armstrong, who’s a detail-oriented, deep-thinking libertarian, explains why he can’t vote for state senate candidate Laura Woods.

I confess that I tried not to look too closely at the Republican candidate for my Colorado senate district (number 19), Laura Woods, because I was afraid of what I might find. After gleefully witnessing the fall of Evie Hudack following her reckless, Bloomberg-inspired campaign against peaceable gun owners (after which Democrats replaced her with Rachel Zenzinger, now the Democratic candidate), I really wanted the seat to turn Republican.

After the fiascos of ObamaCare (implications of which played out in the state legislature), the Democrats’ persecution of gun owners, the Democrats’ war on energy producers and consumers, and other matters, this would have been an excellent year for the GOP to punish the Democrats and win back some seats. But, Republicans being Republicans (aka “The Stupid Party”), Republicans in my district nominated a candidate I cannot possible vote for.

Thus, just a couple of weeks after announcing I planned to vote a straight-Republican ticket, I now have to make an exception and declare that I cannot and will not vote for Laura Woods. The basic problem is that Woods enthusiastically endorses total abortion bans, including the insane and horrific “personhood” measure on the ballot this year.

Armstrong writes frequently and thoughtfully about how personhood amendments would violate the basic freedoms a women should have in America. Woods went too far down the personhood path for Armstrong.

And if other self-identifying libertarian pundits in town, like the Independence Institute’s Jon Caldara, are going to be consistent, they should agree with Armstrong.

A familiar pattern among GOP candidates in Colorado has been to openly oppose gay-marriage during primary season and then try to sweep such positions away for the general election.

You have to doubt that this week’s developments on gay marriage will change this dance, as exemplified by >GOP state senate candidate Tony Sanchez.

Sanchez came out strong against same-sex marriage prior to his unexpected primary victory in June, stating on his campaign website at the time:

Sanchez: “I will protect the lives of the most vulnerable, defend traditional marriage, and protect your right for personal/religious liberty.”

But shortly after his primary win, the “Pro-life, Pro-family, Pro-liberty” section of his website, including his promise to “defend traditional marriage” vanished completely, in an apparent makeover move for Jeffco voters.

The cleaning up of his website apparently hasn’t done much to help Sanchez raise money. Sanchez and fellow Rocky-Mountain-Gun-Owner-backed candidate Laura Woods are lagging way behind their non-RMGO-backed GOP counterparts from the 2012 election cycle.

Sanchez and Woods are running in swing Jeffco state Senate districts that Republicans had hoped might flip the state senate over to the GOP.

Here is a comparison, from campaign finance reports, of Sanchez’  fundraising totals in 2014 (vs. Summers’ in 2012) to Laura Woods’  fundraising totals in 2014 (vs. Sias’ in 2012):

Ken Summers (SD 22 candidate in 2012)

Total raised (full cycle): $ 130,000

Cash-on-hand (Oct. 1) : $ 80,000

Tony Sanchez (SD 22 candidate in 2014)

Total Rasied (Oct. 1) $ 69,000

Cash on hand (Oct. 1): $ 19,000

Lang Sias (SD 19 Candidate in 2012)

Total raised (full cycle): $ 123,000

Cash on hand (Oct. 1): $ 74,000

Laura Woods (SD 19 Candidate in 2014)

Total Raised (Oct. 1): $ 99,000

Cash on hand (Oct. 1): $ 27,000

I wrote last week about how senatorial candidate Cory Gardner’s support for Colorado’s personhood abortion ban was part of his formula for winning the 2010 Republican caucus process, which was a big step to his being elected to Congress.

If you look at the State Senate races in Jefferson County today, you see that the influence of key personhood backers persists, meaning that Cory Gardner would have likely faced the same pressure to embrace personhood positions today as he did then. Gardner, of course, did not run in Jeffco, but similar dynamics play out statewide.

And don’t forget that Jefferson County is the most critical battleground between Democrats and Republicans for control of the state legislature. The swing district could also decide Colorado’s Governor and U.S. Senate races, and the outcome of Colorado’s Senate contest could put the entire U.S. Senate in Democratic or Republican hands.

The latest campaign finance reports reveal that Jeffco Republican candidates Tim Neville (SD-16), Laura Woods (SD-19), and Tony Sanchez (SD-22) all have notorious GOP strategic consultant Jon Hotaling on the payroll via his company, “Liberty Service Corporation.” Liberty Service Corporation was Sanchez’s largest expenditure ($1,750) during the latest campaign-finance-reporting period and the second largest for Woods ($1,000) and Neville ($1,000).

Hotaling’s firm has worked over the years for Rep. Janak Joshi, gubernatorial candidate Tom Tancredo, and other personhood supporters, most notably for Colorado For Equal Rights, which ran the pro-personhood campaign, fronted by Kristi Burton, in 2008, according to campaign-finance reports. In 2008, Hotaling collected about $12,000 from Colorado For Equal Rights.

So a major consultant for Personhood is deeply integrated into the campaigns of the three Republican senate candidates in Jeffco. Neville, Sanchez, and Woods all support personhood, as defined by Colorado Right to Life, based on their responses to its candidate survey this year.

Using what Republicans themselves called unethical tactics, Woods and Sanchez hammered their Republican primary opponents on the abortion issue during their primary campaigns against Lang Sias and Mario Nicolais.

In one flyer produced by “Colorado for Family Values,” (see link below), Nicolais was pictured next to openly-gay Democrat Pat Steadman and accused of advancing the “radical agenda of gay marriage” by supporting civil unions.

A search for Colorado for Family Values on the Secretary of State’s website returns, “Decommissioning Colorado for Family Values,” which was previously called “Colorado for Family Values.” Its agent is Mark Hotaling, Jon’s brother. No expenditures are listed, apparently indicating a campaign-finance violation, like the one that prompted a complaint Tuesday by Colorado Ethics Watch against Colorado Campaign for Life and Rocky Mountain Gun Owners.

The bulk mail permit (#255) used for 2014 mailers against Sias by the Christian Coalition of Colorado, a staunch anti-abortion group previously directed by both Jon and his brother Mark Hotaling, is identical to the bulk mail permit number used by Colorado for Family Values for Gosnell mailers against Nicolais.

(Click here to see the Christian Coalition of Colorado mailer using bulk permit #255 and the Colorado for Family Values mailer using bulk permit #255.)

A pile of accusations point to Hotaling as using similar mailers and messaging to destroy his past opponents, Republicans or Democrats.

For example, Hotaling was accused of orchestrating dirty tricks in support of Rep. Doug Lamborn’s primary victory in 2006 over talk-show host Jeff Crank and CO Springs Mayor Lionel Rivera. In that race, a mailer linked to Hotaling and his brother accused the ultra-conservative Crank and Rivera, of supporting the “homosexual agenda.” And you can imagine how that was received by Colorado Springs Republicans. On his KVOR radio show, Crank still talks bitterly about the race.

The mailed advertisement against Crank came from the Christian Coalition of Colorado, directed at the time by Jon Hotaling’s brother Mark, who’d just taken over the organization from brother Jon, who’d left to run Lamborn’s campaign.

Hotaling, who was once Marilyn Musgrave’s campaign manager, has been investigated by the Federal Election Commission (See graphic on page 9.).

I didn’t receive a response to phone and/or email messages offering Jon and Mark Hotaling, Sanchez, Woods, and Neville a chance to respond to the issues raised in this blog post.

I’m not saying all personhood backers are anything like Jon Hotaling.

My point in this short blog post, and there’s more where this came from, is that the personhood pressure, in its various forms, faced by Gardner as he worked his way to power, is still very much alive within Colorado’s GOP, even in Jeffco, one of the entire country’s most critical swing counties.

This post was updated 9/13/2014

About a week after State Rep. Chris Holbert alleged that Gov. John Hickenlooper “treats us like his abused spouse,” State Senate candidate Tony Sanchez said people “feel like they’ve been in an abuse relationship” with lawmakers like Obama and Sanchez’s Democratic opponent Andy Kerr, both of whom Sanchez called “narcissists.”

Even within the mean-world politics that surrounds us, it should be news when one candidate accuses his opponent of narcissism and abuse.

Sanchez did not return my call yesterday asking to discuss the comments, which were made Aug. 12 on KLZ 560-AM’s nooner show Freedom560, and to explain why he thinks the extreme accusations of narcissism and abuse are warranted.

Sanchez: “If we keep talking about those that should not be named, we empower them, their narcissism. We don’t want any more narcissists, whether it’s Obama, whether it’s Andy Kerr. We want people who are there to listen to us and understand that we matter. That’s what people are feeling, like they don’t matter. They feel like they’ve been in an abuse relationship and that we’ve enabled that abuse relationship. Here I am saying, people matter. We matter. And that’s exactly where we need to be going, I think.”

By saying, “we’ve enabled that abuse,” Sanchez shows he agrees with the characterization.

In June, Sanchez prevailed in the GOP primary over attorney Mario Nicolais, in a race marked by comparable extremism, unaddressed by Sanchez.

For example, in one flyer produced by Colorado Campaign for Life, Nicolais was pictured next to Kermit Gosnell, a Philadelphia doctor convicted of murdering babies, above the caption: “Kermit Gosnell and his ‘House of Horrors’ abortion mill operated in secrecy for 17 years before his murderous crimes became infamous. Ask Mario why he won’t publicly defend the unborn? Call Mario…”
A similar flyer targeting GOP state senate candidate Lang Sais was first embraced by Sais’ opponent, Laura Woods, then denounced by Woods, who reportedly wrote that she had “more respect for my opponent than what was implied” in the Gosnell comparison.

But I can’t find any record of Sanchez denouncing the Gosnell flyer targeting Nicolais.

Listen to Sanchez on KLZ Freedom560 8.12.14

See the Colorado Campaign for Life 2014 GOP Primary Mailer Targeting Mario Sanchez Opponent Mario Nicolais.

In a Facebook posting yesterday, state Republican Rep. Chris Holbert wrote that Gov. John Hickenlooper “treats us like we are his abused spouse.”

In explaining why he’d vote for gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez, Holbert wrote in response to a Facebook post of one of Holbert’s Facebook friends:

Because Hickenlooper treats us like we are his abused spouse. He smiles and tells us that things will be better, signs bills into law that trample on the freedom and prosperity of the People, apologizes, becomes angry when we don’t forget, swears at us, then promises to abuse us again.

Don’t put Hickenlooper back in office for another four years. That ONE person can cancel out anything that a Republican Senate might accomplish. Don’t allow ONE Governor to cancel out 18 or more Senators who would work to repeal eight years of Democrat control.

Reached by phone this afternoon, Holbert stood behind the comments.

Asked if he thought his comparison to spousal abuse could be offensive to actual abused spouses and others concerned about domestic violence, Holbert said:

Holbert: “I think there are various kinds of abuse, and what I am pointing to is verbal. I’m not comparing it to physical abuse. People would have greater respect for the governor if he would have one story and stick to it.”

“He tells us one thing and tells his supporters another thing,” Holbert said, explaining his Facebook post further. “He suggested to the sheriffs that he didn’t talk to Bloomberg and records show he did. He apologized for signing bills that he claims he didn’t understand were so controversial. And then he talked to Eli Stokols, I believe, and says he’d sign the bills again. So which doe he mean? I feel that’s abusive to the people of Colorado who look to him for leadership.”

The day before the Republican primary, in which Republican Laura Woods triumphed over Lang Sias for the right to take on Democratic State Senator Rachel Zenzinger, Woods made the following comment on the KLZ’s Grassroots Radio Colorado:

WOODS: “…tomorrow, if you’re an unaffiliated voter, and you don’t want more of the same, go down to the polling place, change to a Republican for a day or two, fill out a ballot, and then after the primary, if you don’t want to stay a Republican, you don’t have to stay. You can unaffiliate again. But you can be a part of the change right now by electing somebody who is going to stand up for the Constitution.”

Listen to Woods suggest unaffiliated voters briefly switch parties to help her win GOP primary 6-23-14

There’s nothing illegal about Woods’ suggestion, but the folks down at KLZ, including host Kristina Cook, are all about “principles.”

How principled is it to try to win a Republican primary with the votes of fake Republicans? It doesn’t appear that Woods’ suggestion made any difference in the election, but if I were running the show at Grassroots Radio Colorado, I would have asked Woods about her idea that unaffiliated voters should join the GOP for “a day or two.” But it’s done now.

I can tell you I’ve heard plenty of love for vouchers on conservative talk radio. I can also tell you I rarely hear a grain of sand fall in opposition.

Typical of the unchallenged statements is the one below, from State Senate candidate Laura Woods from KLZ 560-AM’s Wake Up with Randy Corporon June 2. Waters is fighting Lang Sias in a State Senate primary Tuesday to take on Democrat Rachel Zenzinger.

State Senate Candidate Laura Woods: I am a believer in empowering teachers. I want teachers to be empowered to use the skills that they’ve been given to teach our kids, and mold and shape creative geniuses to come out of our schools. For that to happen, we need to get Common Core out of our schools. I’m in favor of parental choice where school is concerned. I would be very much in favor of a voucher system for schools. And I would support private school, home school, charter school, public school, across the board, evenly, so that parents have the choice in whatever they choose, their kids get the best education possible.

Listen to Laura Woods on KLZ 6.2.14

Her words flow over the airwaves free from any resistance from critical thought.

Here’s a Politico article that Corporon can save in his pocket and pull out next time he has Woods or another voucher lover on his show. Titled, “Vouchers Don’t Do Much for Students,” the article provides a good national glimpse at the problems with vouchers.

But behind the outrage is an inconvenient truth: Taxpayers across the U.S. will soon be spending $1 billion a year to help families pay private school tuition — and there’s little evidence that the investment yields academic gains.