David Thielin has a Boulder Blog, and pretends to be a liberal. Its pretty clear that he is a reactionary and not much of a liberal; much like your typical idiot on the right. He is more of a Ron Paul or Linden LaRouche than a George Bush, because David actually tries to think, unlike president Shrub. But David Thielin only operates on instinct, without any background on how Boulder became what it is or how its politics work. So in that respect, he is much like the prez.
Hypothesis One - David Thielen knows nothing about Boulder politics.
Because David is a relative new comer to Boulder, he knows little of the history of Boulder. David, do you know what the blue line is? If you don't your opinions are seriously misinformed.
The greatest human being on earth, CU professor Al Bartlett, will explain to you the blue line, and how Boulder came to be what it is. Unlike David, I have a job, so I cut and paste from various web pages.
"In the late 1950s Professor Robert McKelvey of Mathematics and Professor Bartlett would talk occasionally about the problems that were becoming apparent as Boulder's population was growing from the 1950 U.S. Census figure of 19,999.
"The City Planning Board approved the subdivision plan for a new subdivision on the slope of Flagstaff Mountain west of 6th Street. College Avenue and 6th Street were both paved, but west of 6th, College was a gravel road that climbed steeply up the slope and ended perhaps a hundred meters up the slope. The subdivision in question was west of the end of the gravel road and could be accessed only by driving up the steep gravel road. When the Planning Board approved the subdivision, they sent the plans to the Council. Council approved the subdivision . . .
"I remember at a meeting, Bob saying,"This proves that you can't trust the City Council." This seemed to support our feeling that the Council would not really make the hard decisions that were needed to protect the people of Boulder.
Since then, Boulder has adopted a policy of controlled urban expansion. In 1959, city voters approved the "Blue Line" city-charter amendment which restricted city water service to altitudes below 5750 feet, in an effort to protect the mountain backdrop from development. In 1967, city voters approved a dedicated sales tax for the acquisition of open space in an effort to contain urban sprawl. In 1970, Boulder created a "comprehensive plan" that would dictate future zoning, transportation, and urban-planning decisions. Hoping to preserve residents' views of the mountains, in 1972, the city enacted an ordinance limiting the height of newly constructed buildings. A Historic-Preservation Code was passed in 1974, and a residential-growth management ordinance (the Danish Plan) in 1976
Boulder is only the way it is because of these policies, beginning with the blue line. If you do not support these policies, you are not a Real Boulder Liberal.
What do we have without these policies? That's right, you have crappy little towns like Highlands Ranch, Arvada and Broomfield, places I wouldn't live because of the crappy traffic and ugly homes. God, thinking of Broomfield just makes me want to crap, can you believe that f##%ing events center they put up.
But David thinks these places are neat, because there business friendly, and offer abundant recreation opportunities. And of course, wonderful places like Broomfield are there because they don't follow the preservation principle.
So one of the things David Thielin supports is a new conference center, right next to our farmers market. Hello! If anyone thinks this city can design a nice building for that area, then take a look at the "beautiful" Boulder One plaza, a total disaster in terms of asthetics. A conference center would be a disaster for Boulder, i.e., ugly eyesore.
In Boulder, being as pro development as David is is called "reactionary."
Next: Why Suzy Ageton is the Pat Roberson of Boulder politics. (But then again, I don't want to pear into Rob Smoke's bedroom, so go at it Suzy).
And: Why the Boulder Outdoor Coalition is selling out the environmental movement.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
A couple of minor corrections. First you have a boatload of typos (like there instead of their). Second, my last name is spelled Thielen.
Third, I went to CU (class of '81) and as a Physics major not only heard of Al Bartlett, he was my professor for freshman Physics.
Fourth, I am unsure as to if we should have a convention center. What I am opposed to is placing it in a dumb location.
I could go on, but I also have a job and need to get back to work.
But please, in the future, even if you can't take the time to actually read what my view on issues are, can you at least take the time to read how to spell my name?
Wow, what facts do you actually know about David Thielen? Or any of the issues that he has addressed?
It's pretty chickenshit to create a blog just to oppose Dave Thielen's, but not use your real name.
You don't allow anonymous comments, but you hide behind a pseudonym? Grow up.
Actually, David, the grammatical error was they're not their.
I find both blogs interesting, insightful, and dare I say it, liberal. Let's review the definition of Liberalism, grace of wikipedia, the online pantheon of free information...
Liberalism refers to a broad array of related ideas and theories of government that consider individual liberty to be the most important political goal.[1] Liberalism has its roots in the Western Age of Enlightenment.
Broadly speaking, liberalism emphasizes individual rights and equality of opportunity. Different forms of liberalism may propose very different policies, but they are generally united by their support for a number of principles, including extensive freedom of thought and speech, limitations on the power of governments, the rule of law, the free exchange of ideas, a market or mixed economy, and a transparent system of government.[2] All liberals – as well as some adherents of other political ideologies – support the form of government known as liberal democracy, with open and fair elections, where all citizens have equal rights by law.[3]
Post a Comment