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Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter’s bizarre withdrawal (Something doesn’t smell right)
Michellemalkin.com ^ | 1-07-09 | Michelle Malkin

Posted on 01/07/2010 7:39:47 AM PST by truthandlife

Something doesn’t smell right. Democrat Gov. Bill Ritter gave his press conference yesterday announcing his withdrawal from his re-election bid. By his own admission, his fund-raising had been going swimmingly. The decision took his staff by complete surprise. And the idea that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar wanted to return from the Beltway swamp to take over the governor’s mansion just doesn’t wash. He’s an incurable Washington creature who loves where he is.

So, let’s examine Ritter’s did-it-for-the-children card. While one Denver Post columnist lavished praise on Ritter’s ostensible sacrifice for family, other veteran observers point out that it doesn’t add up. Two of his college-age children no longer live at home. The others are teenagers who’ll be leaving the nest in short order. Ritter choked up when he said he hadn’t made his family a priority and called the step-down an “intensely personal decision.” That’s a carefully-chosen phrase which signals to the press: Back off. Don’t ask any more questions. But if he isn’t really stepping down over neglect of his children, who was he referring to when he spoke of failing to make family his priority?

I said the other day that the whiff of the Stephanie Villafuerte scandal taint was noticeable. Denver Fox affiliate KDVR’s Julie Hayden was the only one at the press conference yesterday who dared raise the issue. Ritter tersely dismissed her question.

Quick refresher: Villafuerte is entangled in the railroading of Denver ICE agent Cory Voorhis — whom federal prosecutors tried to punish after he blew the whistle on sweetheart deals for criminal illegal aliens during the 2006 gubernatorial campaign. A jury acquitted Voorhis of all federal charges. He’s trying to get his job back. At least one of his supervisors (whom Hayden asked Ritter about yesterday) has admitted lying. Villafuerte served on Democrat gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter’s campaign team while on leave from the Denver D.A.’s office and from all local news accounts was deeply involved in the witchhunt against agent Voorhis. Last month, Villafuerte withdrew from her nomination as U.S. Attorney in Denver amid growing questions about her role in the Voorhis railroading and the accessing of federal criminal databases for political purposes.

Villafuerte remains Ritter’s deputy chief of staff. But she was noticeably absent from the press conference yesterday.

The local buzz about a rumored affair involving Ritter and Villafuerte hasn’t died down. Her absence and Ritter’s sudden and bizarre withdrawal aren’t likely to quell the rumors.

Whatever the real story is, Ritter’s not telling it yet.


TOPICS: Front Page News
KEYWORDS: colorado; democrat; hiking; ritter; scandal

1 posted on 01/07/2010 7:39:50 AM PST by truthandlife
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To: truthandlife

I love the smell of Democrats self-destructing in the morning.


2 posted on 01/07/2010 7:48:07 AM PST by originalbuckeye
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To: truthandlife

Democrat=Criminal


3 posted on 01/07/2010 7:49:40 AM PST by mrsmel
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To: truthandlife

if you have a penchant to lie,cheat,steal and have the morals of an alley cat,have we got a party for you!


4 posted on 01/07/2010 7:50:16 AM PST by pistolpetestoys (Outside of a dog a book is a mans best friend;inside a dog it's too dark to read.)
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To: truthandlife

A whiff of Stephanie,okay.


5 posted on 01/07/2010 7:50:32 AM PST by Dr. Ursus
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To: truthandlife

I wonder who he’s buggering or being buggered by.


6 posted on 01/07/2010 7:52:09 AM PST by RockyMtnMan
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To: truthandlife

Does he play golf with Tiger Woods?


7 posted on 01/07/2010 7:52:11 AM PST by Old Retired Army Guy (tHE)
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To: truthandlife
Cherchez la femme.

Leni

8 posted on 01/07/2010 7:59:17 AM PST by MinuteGal (Bill O'Reilly: 9/8/09: "Communism is not a threat to us anymore"-10/20/09: "Obama is not a Marxist")
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To: truthandlife

A bit of info on the relationship.

http://www.examiner.com/x-28242-Election-Reform-Examiner~y2009m12d9-Are-Governor-Ritter-and-Stephanie-Villafuerte-having-an-affair


9 posted on 01/07/2010 8:02:53 AM PST by Zathras
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To: truthandlife

I understand Mr. Ritter has just been hired as the new “Sham Wow” guy. No, really.


10 posted on 01/07/2010 8:04:47 AM PST by RexBeach ("Those are my principles...if you don't like them, I have others." Groucho Marx)
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To: truthandlife

I didn’t see the press conference yesterday, but it was noted on a local radio station last night (KOA) that another noticeable absence from the press conference was Ritter’s wife.


11 posted on 01/07/2010 8:05:25 AM PST by keepitreal ( Don't tread on me.)
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To: Old Retired Army Guy
Does he play golf with Tiger Woods?

Some of the terms are the same - wood, drive, hole, trap, up and down in two - but that doesn't mean it's golf.

12 posted on 01/07/2010 8:08:34 AM PST by savedbygrace (You are only leading if someone follows. Otherwise, you just wandered off... [Smokin' Joe])
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To: keepitreal

No, she was there. She almost siezed up when a reporter asked if Voorhis had anything to do with his decision.


13 posted on 01/07/2010 8:08:34 AM PST by MileHi ( "It's coming down to patriots vs the politicians." - ovrtaxt)
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To: MileHi

Caldera said she wasn’t there. Sorry for the mistake.


14 posted on 01/07/2010 8:10:46 AM PST by keepitreal ( Don't tread on me.)
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To: keepitreal

No worries. Shades of Bea Romer.


15 posted on 01/07/2010 8:14:22 AM PST by MileHi ( "It's coming down to patriots vs the politicians." - ovrtaxt)
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To: truthandlife

Maybe the deal was made that if he steps down he won’t be named as an unindicted co conspirator.


16 posted on 01/07/2010 8:20:31 AM PST by Carley (OBAMA IS A MALEVOLENT FORCE IN THE WORLD)
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To: Zathras

Shesh, this woman has all the qualifications to head the TSA. /sarc.

http://www.mainjustice.com/2009/12/01/colorado-gop-continues-to-press-for-answers-about-villafuerte/


17 posted on 01/07/2010 8:20:50 AM PST by maggief
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To: truthandlife

I have thought all along that the Obama administration has been conducting oppositional (and very personal, destructive) research on all politicians, both Dem and Repub. I think his minions have been using what they’ve learned to get Dems to vote for whatever Obama wants to pass. They’re scared and they’re leaving government.


18 posted on 01/07/2010 8:33:25 AM PST by twigs
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To: Old Retired Army Guy
golf with Tiger Woods?

No, hikes with Mark Sanford.

19 posted on 01/07/2010 8:33:46 AM PST by tbpiper
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To: twigs
***They’re scared and they’re leaving government.***

I was wondering the same thing myself. I think the Dodd retirement is unusual as well. The dems don't quit - they just steal elections. Something funny is going on.

20 posted on 01/07/2010 8:43:58 AM PST by GrannyAnn
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To: Zathras

His poll numbers were in the toilet.


21 posted on 01/07/2010 8:45:38 AM PST by rushmom (l)
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To: GrannyAnn

I agree. The Obama administration is using Dems to get what they want and are lining up new politicians who will, in turn, become the new fodder. When they have done what the adm. wants them to do, also probably based on dirty research, they will be thrown over and new aspiring politicians will be brought on. And so the pattern continues. The president is evil.


22 posted on 01/07/2010 8:51:19 AM PST by twigs
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To: Dr. Ursus

Wonder if that statement in Malkin’s column was intentional; or not.


23 posted on 01/07/2010 9:01:08 AM PST by SeaHawkFan
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To: truthandlife

Well, if he’s been playing around with a corrupt aid, the media aren’t going to say anything about it. Not if they’re Democrats.

Maybe we should hope that one of the Supermarket Tabloids goes after them. That’s the only way this possible scandal will break into the news. That was what finally sunk Edwards.


24 posted on 01/07/2010 9:01:45 AM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: truthandlife

Ritter is totally corrupt and is mixed up in far more than an affair with an ambitious little liar - he has endangered all Coloradoans with his crooked scheme of bringing in felonious illegal aliens and get payed off with his cronies drug deals and crimes for the Democrat Party in Denver. He’s going down and he’s taking his scummy friends with him. Senators’ Udall and Bennett will do nothing to stop Ritter so they too should be buried under a pile of complicity and corruption. Ruining my home State hasn’t taken long but we will rid ourselves of these crooks and take back our Governor’s office and the two U.S. Senate seats. Then we’ll work on ridding ourselves of DeGette and other DemocRAT congress scum.


25 posted on 01/07/2010 9:14:33 AM PST by Rockiette (Democrats are not intelligent)
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To: GrannyAnn
The dems don't quit - they just steal elections. Something funny is going on.

The weaker ones are being forced to retire. They would lose those seats to Republicans. Now the Dems can run stronger candidates, and lose fewer seats than they otherwise would have.

It's just a re-grouping. They'll be stronger than they are now.

26 posted on 01/07/2010 9:18:40 AM PST by ShadowAce (Linux -- The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
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To: truthandlife
Is this the one?


27 posted on 01/07/2010 9:19:10 AM PST by Cletus.D.Yokel (FreepMail me if you want on the Bourbon ping list!)
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To: Cletus.D.Yokel

Yes, that is her


28 posted on 01/07/2010 9:20:47 AM PST by truthandlife ("Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God." (Ps 20:7))
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To: truthandlife

There’s also talk of him hiding his cellphone records.


29 posted on 01/07/2010 9:53:28 AM PST by bergmeid (obama. With a small o.)
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To: truthandlife

I would have cut him some slack if she was fat and ugly, but after looking at her photo, I guess he is just another dumb politician who thinks with something besides his brain.


30 posted on 01/07/2010 10:21:03 AM PST by Old Retired Army Guy (tHE)
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To: truthandlife

The Obamunist scorched-earth strategy towards achieving U.S. fasco-socialism continues to unfold. Indeed, as many have forecast for some weeks now, Dims are being sacrificed. However, it’s now clear the sacrifice has not been unwitting. What we are now witnessing is that the sacrifice has been a deliberate and knowing political suicide, rather than a naive being-thrown-under-the-bus.

The brilliance of this strategy is that there’s a good chance the Obamunists can have their cake and eat it too. There will no longer be a plethora of wildly unpopular incumbent Dims upon which the wrath of the electorate can be unleashed by voting for the “other guy” in protest.

Instead, the Dims are simply retiring the hated incumbents and running brand new candidates who can run without any baggage. Even better, the Obamunists can handpick those candidates most amenable to their fasco-socialist aims, though of course, as with Obama himself, these new candidates will be trotted out as middle-of-the-road do-gooders. Instead of a passel of pariahs, the Obamunists will have a brand new shiny bunch of wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing all ready to continue to perpetuate Obamunism.

I can only hope and pray the electorate does not fall for these latest Obamunist tricks.


31 posted on 01/07/2010 10:34:35 AM PST by catnipman (Cat Nipman: Made from The Right Stuff)
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To: Old Retired Army Guy

Whats up with this? Spitzer,Sanford,now Ritter. There are only 50 governors, 2 or 3 affairs a year is something else.


32 posted on 01/07/2010 1:49:43 PM PST by CPT Clay (Pick up your weapon and follow me.)
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