Five facts about the case of Mike Merrifield

Eliot Spitzer once wrote that the secrets to success are, "Never write when you can talk. Never talk when you can nod. And never put anything in an e-mail." It's a lesson Colorado Representative Mike Merrifield learned too late.

Merrifield has "stepped down as chairman of the House Education Committee." But in the resulting furor, the media lost perspective. Here are five facts that voters would do well to remember.

• Indications are that Merrifield wasn't talking about all charter school advocates, just two former School District 11 board members. [Source]

• The whole thing was uncovered only because of a "fishing expedition into private emails sent prior to session." [Source]

• The mainstream media has sometimes failed to note the biases of the rightwing website that broke the story. [Source]

• The dust-up was absolutely not more embarrassing than the Mark Foley scandal. And it is morally reprehensible to suggest that it is. [Source]

• The case should be considered closed. It's silly to suggest that Senate Education Committee chairwoman Sue Windels - the recipient of Merrifield's email - should also step down. [Source]

UPDATE: CoCo is reporting on who filed the open records request and why. Meanwhile, Jason Bane explains how the GOP managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Jon Caldera, John Hickenlooper, and the wisdom of investment

On Fridays, I try to make time to watch Independent Thinking, the show where "hard-pressing conservative host" Jon Caldera hosts "lively - and sometimes heated - debates among elected officials, journalists, activists, concerned citizens." The show is typically littered with distortions and falsehoods. But Caldera is interesting. And it's always good to expose yourself to different points of view.

But I've just about had it with Caldera's insistence that tax dollars spent on transportation, education and healthcare should not be considered investments. This is hogwash. For instance:

1. For every dollar invested in education through the G.I. Bill, "it is estimated that nearly seven dollars was returned to the American public."

2. Money invested in public transportation provides "an economic stimulus far exceeding the original investment - as much as six dollars for every dollar invested."

3. Democratic Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper's plan to reduce homelessness may save the city $1.5 million.

The investment meme scares Republicans for the same reason that the Fighting Dems and Western Pragmatists do. They all disprove the assertion that the Democratic Party is made up of dewey-eyed idealists, raising taxes to fund half-baked schemes.

The Democratic Party of the year 2007 is about results. And the GOP can't deny it any longer.

Cross-posted at SquareState.