On September 15, Colorado Governor Bill Owens (R) proclaimed September 16, 2006, “Gunny Bob Day,” in honor of Robert “Gunny Bob” Newman, the host of Newsradio 850 KOA's The Gunny Bob Show. As Colorado Media Matters has noted, Newman has made numerous false claims on his radio show; has called a congresswoman a “psychotic, hate-mongering, racist, scum-sucking pig wench”; and has asserted Democratic leaders “would be rejoicing” if a recently foiled terrorist plot had succeeded.

Owens's office provided Colorado Media Matters with the text of the proclamation in which Owens stated, among other things, that “Gunny Bob airs on News Radio 850 KOA from 7p.m. - 10p.m., Monday through Friday, educating and enlightening Colorado citizens on a variety of topics from counter-terrorism to survival tactics” and that “the State of Colorado recognizes Gunny Bob for his ability to keep citizens informed about war tactics and strategies, as well as the current situation in the Global War on Terror.”

Owens also “commend[ed]” Newman “on the launch of his new book, Minefields to Microphones: Global Asymmetric Warfare, the Radical Left, and Winning the War on Terror," which the book's publisher (Paladin Press) says “exposes the treason and treachery of America's maniacal liberal machine while laying out a roadmap to victory in the war on terror that will stun the enemy and infuriate America's wild-eyed left.”

On the September 18 broadcast of The Gunny Bob Show, Newman thanked Owens:

And I also owe a big thanks to Governor Bill Owens, who last week declared September 16th Gunny Bob Day in the state of Colorado. Governor Owens, I was not expecting that, sir, and thank you very, very much. It is certainly my honor and hope I can live up to the expectations that are now set upon me even higher.

Colorado Media Matters recently has noted the following ways in which Newman has been, in Owens's words, “educating and enlightening Colorado citizens”:

• On August 8, Newman, commenting upon the defeat of U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) in an August 8 primary election, called her a “psychotic, hate-mongering, racist, scum-sucking pig wench.”

• On August 25 , Newman falsely claimed that as first lady, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) “passed a White House rule...that forbade the wearing of military uniforms unless it was absolutely necessary for an official function.” Newman used this myth as evidence that Clinton “loathes the U.S. military” and added that Clinton is “the scum of the earth.” Newman also repeated the long-discredited smear that Clinton “delegated” someone “to whack Vince Foster,” the deputy White House counsel who committed suicide in Northern Virginia's Fort Marcy Park on July 20, 1993.

• During his August 10 broadcast, discussing British officials' recent thwarting of an alleged terrorist plot to blow up airliners en route to the United States, Newman claimed that “if the attacks had been successful, they'd have been even happier, the liberals would have.”
  
  Later in the show, when challenged by a caller on this comment, Newman stated that, while “not all” liberals would be happy, "[t]here are some extraordinarily unethical people who are ruled by their politics. And some of them are people like [Rep.] John Murtha [D-PA], [Sen.] John Kerry [D-MA], [Sen.] Hillary Clinton [D-NY], [Senate Democratic Leader] Harry Reid [D-NV], people like that." According to Newman, "[A]lthough they wouldn't tell you to your face that, oh -- if this plot were carried out, let's say 3,000 Americans died in all 10 aircraft -- they would say, 'Oh, it's a national tragedy.' When they were in the back room and the doors were closed, they would be rejoicing because of their politics."

• On August 7, Newman falsely accused The Denver Post of having “refused to cover” an August 6 pro-Israel rally at the state Capitol. Newman further asserted that "The Denver Post refused to provide you with information about that rally on the orders of editor Greg Moore." In fact, on August 7, the Post published a 6 1/2" x 5" color photograph of the rally above the fold on the front page of its Denver & The West section. The picture was accompanied by a 71-word caption.

• On August 1, Newman proposed that in response to illegal immigration, "[w]e can do things like announcing to other nations that if you come to Colorado and our police catch you here illegally, we're going to put you on a chain gang. And you're going to work for five years on our state chain gang." Newman added that “if you wanted to be barbaric about it, what you do is you make it a capital offense for them to come here illegally, and you hang them. And I'm not for that.”