On September 20, Newsradio 850 KOA host Mike Rosen said a September 19 Denver Post editorial was “a fabulous exercise in hypocrisy” and falsely asserted that “nowhere in this house editorial does The Denver Post even use the word 'Democrat.' Nowhere.” In fact, the Post's editorial -- which supported District Judge John McMullen's order striking down a campaign finance rule that Republican Secretary of State Gigi Dennis issued August 2 -- referred to “Democrats” in its second paragraph. The editorial stated, “The GOP goal was to halt union contributions to Democrats before the November election.” -- Rosen included that statement when he read a section of the editorial on the air, minutes before his claim that it didn't “use the word 'Democrat.' ”
The Post editorial was referring to an emergency rule that would require small-donor committees to obtain written consent to donate membership dues to political campaigns. The Post previously has reported that attorneys for Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez, the state Republican Party, and the Republican-backed Trailhead Group proposed the rule and that Dennis adopted their proposal “in its entirety.” McMullen struck down the emergency rule September 15; an appeals court stayed McMullen's ruling and will hear arguments September 26.
Responding to the editorial, Rosen said, "[N]owhere in this house editorial does The Denver Post even use the word 'Democrat.' Nowhere. It's as if only the Republicans have partisan interests and the Democrats have none." He added, “Another fabulous exercise in hypocrisy -- transparent partisanship masquerading as nonpartisanship by The Denver Post -- and they do it time and time again.”
However, only minutes earlier on the same broadcast, Rosen had read aloud from the portion of the editorial that referred specifically to “Democrats”:
ROSEN: “The rule issued by Gigi Dennis, nudged by a group of Republican lawyers” -- so, this is the first example of the Denver Post talking about the partisan motives behind this -- “nudged by a group of Republican lawyers, required membership organizations to obtain written permission from members to have their dues used for political purposes. The GOP” -- that is, the Republican -- “goal was to halt union contributions to Democrats before the November elections.”
In attacking Colorado Media Matters, Rosen previously has claimed, “I'm awfully careful about my facts.”
From the September 20 broadcast of Newsradio 850 KOA's The Mike Rosen Show:
ROSEN: The Denver Post has a house editorial -- yesterday. “Colorado election rules must be fair.” Says "[c]hanging rules in the middle of the game is almost never fair, and it was appropriate that a judge struck down an August 2nd secretary of state's requirement that changed the rules for some organizations that donate money to candidates. The rule issued by Secretary of State Gigi Dennis, nudged by a group of Republican lawyers" -- so, this is the first example of The Denver Post talking about the partisan motives behind this -- "nudged by a group of Republican lawyers, required membership organizations to obtain written permission from members to have their dues used for political purposes. The GOP" -- that is, the Republican -- "goal was to halt union contributions to Democrats before the November elections." So we're talking about the Republican goal.
[...]
It's as if there's only one party involved here as you read this Denver Post house editorial. Finally, the Post finishes with this sentence: “The interest of fairness will be best served if the short-term issue is resolved quickly by the appellate courts and the long-term question given due consideration by the legislature.” And when it is given due consideration by the legislature -- and the Denver Post leaves this out -- Democrats in lockstep will oppose any kind of paycheck-protection plan, because Democrats are wholly aligned with labor unions -- especially the teachers' unions -- and the Democrats in the legislature want to make it as easy as possible for these unions to get money from the rank and file without having to first get permission from the rank and file. And nowhere in this house editorial does The Denver Post even use the word “Democrat.” Nowhere. It's as if only the Republicans have partisan interests and the Democrats have none. Another fabulous exercise in hypocrisy -- transparent partisanship masquerading as nonpartisanship by The Denver Post -- and they do it time and time again.
