JM Ver. 2.0
06-20-2013, 18:46
EDITORIAL
John Morse recall is an abuse of political process
The attempt to recall John Morse is a perversion of a process that should be reserved for corruption and incompetence, not partisan politics.
By The Denver Post Editorial Board
We've had our issues with state Senate President John Morse, calling his gun liability plan from the recent legislative session "wishful thinking" in one editorial and saying it "flies in the face of logic and federal law" in another.
And last month we described Morse as one of the "losers" in the recent session because of the clumsy way he handled not only that liability bill but other measures as well, including a half-baked plan allowing for the repeal of marijuana legalization.
But disagreeing over policy is what happens in the political arena. It doesn't mean that one side or the other is corrupt or not fit to hold office.
We mention this because an extraordinary recall effort against Morse, wholly political in nature, reached a milestone Tuesday when the secretary of state confirmed that organizers had turned in enough signatures to trigger a special election. Unless recall opponents are successful in raising legal objections to the wording of petitions, this ill-conceived election will proceed, setting a dangerous precedent.
Traditionally, Coloradans have been content to wait for scheduled elections to roll around before attempting to vote politicians out of office whom they dislike. But proponents of Morse's recall are determined to short-circuit that process. Rather than wait for Morse to serve out his term in 2014, they want his head on a platter today.
It's an abuse of the citizen right to recall officials, a right that in our view should be reserved for corruption, glaring incompetence and other non-partisan faults.
Instead, recall proponents — as well as many of the 10,137 voters who provided validated signatures, apparently — were mainly motivated by Morse's support for various gun-control measures (some of which this editorial page supported as well).
As if to confirm the crassly political nature of this recall exercise, Americans for Prosperity Colorado announced Wednesday an "issue advocacy effort" in Morse's district to "highlight liberal Senate President John Morse's tax and spend policies."
The conservative group makes no mention of the recall, of course, but you'd have to be a fool to think the timing was coincidental.
Read more:John Morse recall is an abuse of political process - The Denver Post (http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_23495661/morse-recall-is-an-abuse-political-process#ixzz2Wo6bgKyn)http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_23495661/morse-recall-is-an-abuse-political-process#ixzz2Wo6bgKyn
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John Morse recall is an abuse of political process
The attempt to recall John Morse is a perversion of a process that should be reserved for corruption and incompetence, not partisan politics.
By The Denver Post Editorial Board
We've had our issues with state Senate President John Morse, calling his gun liability plan from the recent legislative session "wishful thinking" in one editorial and saying it "flies in the face of logic and federal law" in another.
And last month we described Morse as one of the "losers" in the recent session because of the clumsy way he handled not only that liability bill but other measures as well, including a half-baked plan allowing for the repeal of marijuana legalization.
But disagreeing over policy is what happens in the political arena. It doesn't mean that one side or the other is corrupt or not fit to hold office.
We mention this because an extraordinary recall effort against Morse, wholly political in nature, reached a milestone Tuesday when the secretary of state confirmed that organizers had turned in enough signatures to trigger a special election. Unless recall opponents are successful in raising legal objections to the wording of petitions, this ill-conceived election will proceed, setting a dangerous precedent.
Traditionally, Coloradans have been content to wait for scheduled elections to roll around before attempting to vote politicians out of office whom they dislike. But proponents of Morse's recall are determined to short-circuit that process. Rather than wait for Morse to serve out his term in 2014, they want his head on a platter today.
It's an abuse of the citizen right to recall officials, a right that in our view should be reserved for corruption, glaring incompetence and other non-partisan faults.
Instead, recall proponents — as well as many of the 10,137 voters who provided validated signatures, apparently — were mainly motivated by Morse's support for various gun-control measures (some of which this editorial page supported as well).
As if to confirm the crassly political nature of this recall exercise, Americans for Prosperity Colorado announced Wednesday an "issue advocacy effort" in Morse's district to "highlight liberal Senate President John Morse's tax and spend policies."
The conservative group makes no mention of the recall, of course, but you'd have to be a fool to think the timing was coincidental.
Read more:John Morse recall is an abuse of political process - The Denver Post (http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_23495661/morse-recall-is-an-abuse-political-process#ixzz2Wo6bgKyn)http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_23495661/morse-recall-is-an-abuse-political-process#ixzz2Wo6bgKyn
Read The Denver Post's Terms of Use of its content: http://www.denverpost.com/termsofuse
Follow us:@Denverpost on Twitter (http://ec.tynt.com/b/rw?id=drJey4bd8r3PGFab7jrHtB&u=Denverpost)|Denverpost on Facebook (http://ec.tynt.com/b/rf?id=drJey4bd8r3PGFab7jrHtB&u=Denverpost)