THE TRUTH IS NOT ONLY VIOLATED BY FALSEHOOD; IT MAY BE EQUALLY OUTRAGED BY SILENCE. ~ Henri Frederic Amiel
Dear Friends and Supporters,
I would like to thank everyone for their participation and support during this protest. At our demonstration yesterday, we had a turnout of about 50 people from various third parties across Colorado. Some protesters drove 2-3 hours to be there. It was a great feeling to be able to come together despite philosophical differences and stand together against one of the most insidious problems that we all, as third parties face. Protesters agreed that the event was a success for all of us, regardless of whether we were going to receive any attention from the Media or not.
During the protest, which lasted just over an hour (during rush hour from 5:30-6:30pm) the editors of the Rocky Mountain News sent down two reporters to take down our story. After pointing out the blatant lie in their Voter's Guide (which we of course had handy, and highlighted...), I stated to him that this action "goes beyond politics, it goes into journalism and ethics, and it cannot be tolerated. Newspapers and reporters are supposed to print the whole truth, after all 'Half the Truth is a great lie...' Ben Franklin said that..."
I told him something along the lines of, "You print the Voter's Guide as a public service, meant to give the voters the information they need to make a decision. The American People deserve to know about ALL of their choices, not just the ones you decide they should know about."
The reporter was very good, he stopped me several times to make sure he got every word exactly. At one point they asked what we wanted, I wasted no time in relaying what CO Reform Party Chair, and candidate in one of the misrepresented races, Victor Good had suggested as a fair response, "A pull-out section with ONLY third party candidates, a 'Third Party Voter's Guide'." This was met with positive response from all protesters who had gathered to hear the interviews. Thus this, and an admittance of a mistake and correction of the lie, has become our "demand", we shall see what they decide to do.
After interviewing several candidates, protesters, and myself, the reporters stated they were running close to a deadline. We checked the paper this morning and there was no mention of the protest, or of their "mistake". We are awaiting further comment or silence this weekend to determine what our next course of action should be.
Near the end of the protest I read a prepared statement from Rep. Ron Tupa (D - Boulder, CO). He was the sponsor of the 1998 legislation in Colorado that allowed minor parties much easier ballot access. His statement follows:
STATEMENT BY REP. RON TUPA
SPONSOR OF THE LEGISLATION ALLOWING EASIER BALLOT ACCESS TO MINOR POLITICAL PARTIESIt seems to me to be fundamentally unfair when a newspaper intentionally provides inaccurate information about the number of candidates running for a given office.
I don't understand why the decision to exclude the candidates representing the minor political parties from the Rocky Mountain news Voter Guide was made, but their intentional exclusion was an injustice and a disservice to the voting public, not to mention "democracy" itself.
That kind of censorship is not only un-American, it is wrong.
As the sponsor of the 1998 legislation allowing easier ballot access for minor political parties, I would hope that the Rocky Mountain News will correct the omission in the future and provide readers more accurate information on the full range of candidates running for office.
Thank you,
Rep. Ron Tupa and candidate for State Senate
D-Boulder
We want to thank Rep. Tupa for his continued support of Third Parties in Colorado. It was the first time I had the opportunity to speak with this gentleman, he is a very popular legislator here in Colorado, and I can see why. He is very nice, very generous of his time, and very supportive of our cause. It was unfortunate he had a prior speaking engagement and could not attend.
After that I thanked everyone who had showed up. It proved to be emotional for me, for I have always wanted to be able to get a group of people together and stand up against something like this! I expressed that our actions there really represented what America is supposed to be all about. I spoke of the importance of putting aside our differences to stand together for things that we all without a doubt, agree are important. I talked about the fact that when we lose the Free Press we will lose our right to participate in the decisions that affect all our futures. I stressed the fact that right now, against the two-party monopoly we are all in the same boat. I expressed an interest in keeping the lines of communication open to join together whenever the need should arise in our state. All in attendance agreed that this was a good idea.
[We are already in communication about another protest that will be happening this coming Monday concerning the Drug War, the 1st Amendment and the Government searching the records of a beloved local Bookstore by the name of The Tattered Cover to prove a suspect purchased a book regarding the manufacture of methamphetamines... (more on that soon...).]
Although no other press showed up to the protest we did some coverage that is of good value. An ironic event however was when the Channel 4 News Truck (they co-sponsored the guide) was stopped at the light right in front of our protest. We were yelling to them, they kept the windows rolled up but were smiling and I saw one of them pick up their phone and call someone! They didn't stay, but we think they were headed for some huge thing going on at the City and County Building several blocks away. Although we never could figure out what they were covering, all the news stations in town had trucks there during the time of our protest.
On the way to get some pizza with fellow Libertarians following the protest I did a taped interview over the phone with KOA 850-AM (they operate a shared newsroom for Clear Channel Communications which own several radio stations in the Denver area). The interview lasted approximately 15-20 minutes and segments were aired throughout the night on the hour. The story itself was about 20-30 seconds in length. I heard three of the segments.
At 2:00 AM I did a half-hour on the Rick Barber Show, also on KOA 850. Rick is a member of the Libertarian Party of Colorado, and it was a lovefest to say the least. We didn't even have to break for a commercial. The best thing about this radio station is that its broadcast range is 38 states and into Northern Mexico and Southern Canada. It is the most listened to station in Colorado as well.
Our Media Relations Director from the El Paso County LP Affiliate Steve Gresh notified us this morning that the protest had been mentioned on the NBC evening news down in Colorado Springs. This was the only television coverage that we are aware of.
By the end of the day today we had found two articles in Denver area publications. There was no coverage in any of the main papers in the Denver area however.
The Colorado Daily (a publication of CU-Boulder) published a story titled, "Third Party Activists Target Paper". An online transcription of the article can be found here: http://www.lpboulder.org/archives/protest/daily1026.html
Westword, (a very popular alternative weekly news source in Denver) also published in the "OFF LIMITS" column written by their associate editor Jonathan Shikes a summary of our fight entitled "Party Poopers". The entire column can be read here: http://www.westword.com/issues/2000-10-26/offlimits.html
In both articles phone calls that were made to the Rocky Mountain News went unreturned.
So, would you like to see see what it looks like when a group of third party supporters come together?
Now, thanks to the wonderful invention of the digital camera, and thanks to our wonderful supporter and Libertarian Party of Boulder County, CO Webmaster, Tom Parker...
WE'VE GOT PICTURES!!!!
Please go to and take in the view the thousands of motorists on Colfax Ave. got yesterday evening on their way home from work: http://www.lpboulder.org/protest/photos.html
In addition to the protest, I am happy to report I have gotten phone calls, and emails of support from across the nation. One supporter forwarded me his emailed letter to the editor with a request for me to forward it to the paper, as his original email was not able to be delivered due to "Congestion in the destination messaging system"!
The responses I have gotten have all been positive, and I have to say this turned out better than I could have imagined, again, despite not getting a response out of the RMN OR coverage out of their competitor either! I will let you all know as soon as there are further developments. This is too important to let go of just yet...
If you would like to get more information on the Background and previous releases regarding this protest, a compilation of protest related documents and links can be found at: http://www.lpboulder.org/protest
Again, Thanks for all your support and if anyone has any questions regarding the protest don't hesitate to contact me... I am a little behind on email but I will respond as soon as possible.
For Liberty,
Michelle Konieczny
303.427.6929