The Return of Jackassman

Democrats are meeting this weekend in Denver as part of the Democratic Leadership Council, and The Denver Post’s John Aloysius Farrell reports that Sen. Ken Salazar’s successful 2004 campaign will be a hot topic of discussion as an example of how to win cross-over votes with a moderate campaign. Salazar picked up nearly 80,000 more votes in Colorado than Presidential candidate John Kerry.

First there was the X-Men, then Superman. This summer has been full of superhero characters, and now we have the return of another being with unexplainable powers: Jackassman! Former state Rep. Jim Welker is a mild-mannered phone record peddler by day, but he also possesses the incredible ability to embarrass not only himself but the entire Republican Party.

Welker got into trouble last legislative session for repeatedly forwarding inappropriate and downright racist e-mails to colleagues, hiding behind the excuse that he didn’t necessarily agree with the messages in the e-mail but felt that it was worthy of discussion. That’s sort of like forwarding around pictures of bestiality and later saying, “Look, I’m not really into it, but don’t you find the animal-human interaction that goes on at such a primal level worthy of discussion?”

Welker did it again yesterday, forwarding an article to colleagues titled “Black Culture is Responsible for Hurricane Katrina woes.” When asked about it by the News’ April Washington, Welker said the message reflects conservative values. POW! WHAM! KABLOOIE!

The Rocky Mountain News today joins The Denver Post in criticizing President Bush’s decision to veto Rep. Diana DeGette’s stem cell funding bill, which he did yesterday. Says the News editorial board:

… the veto is a serious mistake on several levels…We hope President Bush would allow a similar measure to become law next year so that this research can move forward under strict, sensible guidelines.

President Bush will be in Denver on Friday to raise money for CD 7 Republican congressional candidate Rick O’Donnell.