RSSPrinted letters, August 3, 2012
The Daily Sentinel’s Aug. 1 editorial, “Integrity, not tardiness, is the issue for Wright,” and related articles motivated me to do my own investigation. I obtained a copy of Chief Angelo’s memo (dated July 6) and compared it with the editorial and news articles.
What I found was disturbing. Yes, former Officer Jared Wright was less than candid on the incident, but so was the chief. In his memo, Angelo used the phrases “I believe,” “we believed” and “my belief” to justify the termination of Officer Wright. The use of those phrases brings up a reasonable-doubt issue.
Additionally, during the July 9 meeting, if, as reported, the chief told the officer he only had the options of resigning or being fired, the chief was remiss in failing to tell the officer there was an option to appeal the decision.
Also, the chief’s statement that he was legally bound to release the “Brady advisement” to the district attorney’s office was only partially true. During the appeal process the officer could have been exonerated. Therefore, the “Brady issue” would not be an issue.
Unfortunately, the chief acted prematurely when he sent it out on July 6, before the officer had been officially notified of his impending termination. The officer was still within the time limits of an appeal, and the time limits of the appeal process (which could take weeks, if not months).
It seems, in regard to this issue, integrity is a two-way street.
GARY PARROTT
Grand Junction
Article was unfair attack on a conservative writer
I could not have been more disappointed with The Daily Sentinel’s journalistic scraping of the bottom of the barrel when what was thought to be a private Facebook venting by a frustrated and unhappy wife became a front-page, above-the-fold personal attack on a conservative volunteer and political writer in the paper’s July 30 edition.
Is Kelly Sloan really that big of a concern to the Sentinel and its subscribers that it warrants a front-page story filled with little more than speculation and questions surrounding his personal life? If the Sentinel had a true public policy interest in this area, it would have voiced its outrage about the time, bureaucratic-invoked frustration, the lawyers’ fees and big-government complexity involved in trying to become a legal American citizen at a time when so many do it the easy and illegal way.
What provoked this keen interest in private matters unrelated to any valid public policy topic? Could it be Sloan’s affiliation with Americans for Prosperity that triggered this National Inquirer tactic of using his wife’s personal Facebook page for unflattering information? Whatever it was, I think most reasonable Coloradans would agree it was completely uncalled for.
The Sentinel should strive for a higher and broader standard of public policy debate than what we see in the checkout line at the grocery store.
SEN. STEVE KING
Grand Junction
Stories on Olympics belong on sports page, not front page
It seems very insensitive to splash on the front page the item about Jordan Weiber when she had a bad day. I am sure she felt bad enough without you splashing it on the front page in supersized letters as the lead story.
She was a strong contributor to our “fabulous five” when the team won the gold medal at the Olympics after a long, long drought. You chose to put this victory on the sports page (which is where all sports items belong), rather than the front page in supersized letters.
I know this won’t change the way you exploit embarrassing items and hide exceptional ones, but this type of decision is the reason many people, including myself, regard newspaper reporters and editors just above trial lawyers but below politicians.
ROBERT CAMPBELL
Battlement Mesa
Businesses are still backbone of our country
It’s tough to get the truth from political speeches. Once in a while it slips through the cracks. When the president was talking about business, he meant it when he said, “You didn’t build that.”
This idea is nothing new. His choice to set up his new consumer protection agency, Harvard Professor Elizabeth Warren, said the same thing in a speech last August. They believe government is the most important source of business success. I’ve often heard local liberals saying this.
Who cares? This is old news now. I say we all should care, because this is the closest we will get to what Obama really thinks. Most of us, to include old-fashioned Democrats, don’t often get to hear what the hard-core left is typically saying. They like to keep a low profile on issues like this because, when you hear what they really are thinking, it can be scary. They know it and get angry when you call them out on their core beliefs.
Most people believe that exceptional American businesses are the backbone of our country’s prosperity, not government. Government should be playing a supporting role. When it gets in the way of individuals building up their businesses, we all suffer.
Does anyone believe President Obama is supportive of business? Those who matter, the small business owners, certainly don’t. Higher taxes and more regulations are not supportive.
DAVE KEARSLEY
Mesa
COMMENTS
Commenting is not available in this channel entry.Senator King, You show little understanding of the news-worthiness of a non-citizen that works(ed) for a wealthy shadowy so-called “Republican” Americans For Prosperity group, that rails against support for the health and safety of our community on a myriad of levels. While taking food stamps for his family, he railed against the use of the same stamps for AMERICAN CITIZENS. While being able to avail himself of free medical care in Canada, he railed against even preventative care for AMERICAN WOMEN Republican or not. He railed against immigration reform while possibly being in the USA under unfavorable terms. He’s white. That he has going for him. So your statement “trying to become a legal American citizen at a time when so many do it the easy and illegal way.” is ludicrous. If he has trouble, how is it easier for non-whites to do it the “illegal” way?
The Western Slope Conservative Alliance, whose board is appointed by the board, who unequivocally claims to be the real Republican party/Tea party changed their bylaws specifically to allow him on the board in hopes of accessing all those Koch Brother billions. He ran your first Senatorial campaign. And after all this you think his status is not news worthy? What are you using for a ruler Mr.Senator?
Is this how in-depth and thought provoking your thought processes are when it comes to making Colorado State law?
Sen. King, Mr. Sloan made himself a public figure. He became a part of the Western Slope Conservative Alliance(Rules were even changed to allow a non-citizen to sit on the board.) , working for the MCRP, and was the spokesperson for AFP.
No matter where the information came from, his actions reflect his values and principles. Are they also yours ? Do you condone dishonesty, believe in amnesty for illegals , and blindly support anyone who backs the Republican party ?
Maybe your letter tells us more about you than it does about Kelly.
Dave Kearsley (“Businesses are still backbone of our country”, August 3, 2012) joined conservative apologist Josh Penry (“Obama’s ‘you didn’t build it’ slip”, July 20, 2012) in regurgitating Rush Limbaugh’s latest fact free talking point.
As every intellectually honest listener knew immediately when President Obama said: “You (they) didn’t build that” two weeks ago, the antecedent of “that” in the President’s immediately preceding sentence referred to the roads, bridges, schools, courts, and the internet (i.e., the “public goods”) upon which all businesses depend for their success.
Thus, the President was agreeing with Kearsley: “Government should be playing a supporting role”. But – because the factual record does not support their facile “spin”—“hard core” conservatives stoop to intellectual dishonesty to contort the record. Common sense knows that our private enterprise system could not flourish without investment in the very infrastructure that Kearsley and his ilk willfully take for granted.
Kearsley also suffers from selective amnesia, conveniently forgetting that – after eight years of profligate deficit spending under George Bush—the financial crisis Republicans imposed on President Obama resulted in the demise of some 170,000 small businesses (defined by the Census Bureau as employing fewer than 100 workers) by 2010.
Meanwhile, President Obama salvaged the U.S. auto industry, thereby saving hundreds of small businesses otherwise lost had he heeded Romney’s dubious “business acumen”.
Since then, President Obama has signed into law more tax cuts for small businesses than any other President in our history – and is now proposing another tax cut on everybody’s first $250,000 of taxable income. Consequently, Kearsley and every small business will realize a tax cut on their first $250,000 of net (after all business expenses) income, but will pay higher rates only on net income over $250,000.
Obviously, there is just no satisfying the avaricious “1 %”’s greedy demand for “more”.
Bill Hugenberg
543 Rim Drive
Grand Junction, CO 81507
Word Count = 300 257-1998