U of Colorado just picked as its new president a former oil executive who denies global warming.

[marmar]

from OurFuture.org:



That's Why We Call It the Big Con
By Rick Perlstein

February 21st, 2008 - 10:22pm ET


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Did you know that the University of Colorado just picked as its new president a former oil executive who denies global warming?

Benson Battle Bruises CU Image
By Richard Martin, 2-11-08

The candidacy of Republican fundraiser Bruce Benson to become the president of the University of Colorado received another blow over the weekend when CU regent Cindy Carlisle announced she would no longer support him. A candidate for state Senate from Boulder, Carlisle had previously been the sole Democrat on the board of regents to come out in favor of Benson.

Late last week the CU faculty assembly postponed a vote on whether to support the proposed appointment of Benson, who has been an oil and gas CEO and is the former chairman of the Colorado Republican party. He is the sole finalist for the job of CU president.

The strikes against Benson are easily compiled: he has no experience as a scholar or a college administrator; he holds no advanced degrees; he has been a partisan political figure (helping head up, for instance, the right-wing Trailhead Group); he doesn’t believe in global warming (at one campus gathering last week he cited National Geographic as proving that current climate change could be part of long-term cycles); and he has no apparent qualifications to head a major state-funded research university. ........ (more at: http://www.newwest.net/city/article/benson_battle_bruises_cu_image/C94/L94/ )

Now that I've got your attention.

In a post yesterday David Sirota mentioned Colorado's lunatic "Taxpayer Bill of Rights," or TABOR—the fruit of mad scientist Grover Norquist's attempt to drown government in a bathtub, one state at a time. TABOR laws basically force state legislatures to systematically cut spending, regardless of need. How's that working out for the Rocky Mountain State? Well, an outstanding and comprehensive post on the blog Scholars and Rogues shows how, thanks to TABOR's enforced budget cuts, "the state isn't producing enough quality grads to meet the labor demand here."

That's why they've brought in this millionaire right-wing Republican to run the flagship state university. To, you know, help them raise enough money to make up for the shortfall brought on by millionaire right-wing Republicans.


http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/thats-why-we-call-it-big-con

[Uncle Joe]

1. I'm just curious is Colorado the state that outlawed collecting rain water in barrells? n/t

[Dr. Strange]

5. Yes, although Chris Romer wants to change that.

http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20080207/NEWS/272616652

[Uncle Joe]

8. I can't understand with this critical drought going on

not just out West but in the Southeast as well, what would possess a major university in the midst of it all to hire as President an admitted Global Warming denier?

If anything, Global Warming Climate Change will only cause this growing catastrophic drought to become more acute, so to hire a denier seems to be spitting in the face of the wind to me!:shrug:

[islandmkl]

2. the acronym TABOR has its roots deep in Colorado lore:

Horace A.W. Tabor, inspiration for, among other things, the shopkeeper in 'Paint Your Wagon' has the quintessential Colorado rags-to-riches-to rags story.

http://www.babydoe.org/horace.htm

[ThatPoetGuy]

3. Democrats need to remember to get their hands dirty.

When Benson ran for governor, all kinds of crap came out about him -- his racist comments about Black women. His divorce papers, where his wife claimed he'd beaten her. The police going to his home for a domestic violence case. His license suspended for drunken driving. His subsequent arrest for driving without a license.

None of these things are mentioned. Instead, we get the clean criticisms:

"he has no experience as a scholar or a college administrator; he holds no advanced degrees; he has been a partisan political figure (helping head up, for instance, the right-wing Trailhead Group); he doesn’t believe in global warming (at one campus gathering last week he cited National Geographic as proving that current climate change could be part of long-term cycles); and he has no apparent qualifications to head a major state-funded research university."

[FiveGoodMen]

4. Is Colorado trying to give Florida a run for it's money?

Tancredo, Dobson, Haggard, this guy...

[Blue_Tires]

6. U. of Colorado must be real proud

their president doesn't even have an advaced degree (!)

[Froward69]

7. The republicans have

been reaching for some sort of power for a while now. slowly they have been trying to "rescue" CU from the clutches of us Dems. installing benson by the closest margin in cu history.

he has no advanced degree and will fail miserably. the republicans want to have CU return to being a conservative institution. however the student body wrestles with and usually returns it to a decent University. eventually

[librechik]

9. partisan vote, 6 Pukkkes to 3 weenies.

tis ever thus in the Coors capitol.

[pleah]

10. That's CO for ya! It is a very strange state.

:shrug:

[leftofthedial]

11. which makes it even more surprising that they disciplined the unruly frat boys

they're just acting like their heroes in our oil gummint

[Blue_Tires]

12. ttt