A March 12 Rocky Mountain News article by Lynn Bartels and April M. Washington about the first half of Colorado's legislative session reported Republican criticism of a Senate resolution opposing President Bush's plan to increase the number of troops in Iraq but failed to offer any Democratic comment about the measure.

The News reported that “Republicans say” the Iraq resolution “will undermine the morale of the troops and divide the legislature just as it begins work on the state and school budgets.” However, the article did not include any Democratic response, and it failed to note that Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald (D-Coal Creek) “supports having what will no doubt be a long and contentious debate on Iraq because the war has become a state issue by siphoning money for health care and education,” according to a March 4 column by Denver Post Capitol Bureau chief Jeri Clausing.

As the News noted, “A legislative session billed as odd, bland and boring by a number of political veterans is half over, but some of the fiercest battles -- over the budget, for instance -- have yet to be fought.” It further stated:

The biggest fight of all could happen Wednesday, when a Senate committee debates a Democratic resolution on the Iraq war that Republicans say will undermine the morale of the troops and divide the legislature just as it begins work on the state and school budgets.

The article also quoted Sen. Greg Brophy (R-Wray) as saying, “If you introduce this [resolution], I'm going to come uncorked. Dear God, have you talked to these soldiers' parents? They feel these resolutions are undermining their effort in the war.”

While uncritically repeating GOP criticism of the Democrats, the News failed not only to offer a Democratic rebuttal, but also to explain why Democrats consider the Iraq war to be a state issue.

As Colorado Media Matters has noted, the News reported on February 23 that Democratic state Sens. Ron Tupa (Boulder) and Ken Gordon (Denver) are the primary sponsors of a resolution, Senate Joint Memorial 002, opposing Bush's plan to escalate the number of U.S. troops in Iraq. As the News noted, a resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives opposing Bush's plan for troop escalation had passed the previous week, but Senate Republicans, including Colorado Sen. Wayne Allard, blocked a similar resolution in that chamber.

In contrast to the News' uncritical reporting about the Iraq resolution, Clausing's March 4 Post column noted, “Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, who usually prefers to contain floor debate to state issues, has said she supports having what will no doubt be a long and contentious debate on Iraq because the war has become a state issue by siphoning money for health care and education.” The column further reported the comments of Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter:

Gov. Bill Ritter expressed similar sentiments last week after returning from his first National Governor's Association meeting in Washington, D.C.

At that meeting, he said, Republican and Democratic governors alike were disturbed by the escalating cost of the war and the Bush administration's refusal to help them plug a $750 million hole in health insurance programs for kids.

“Whatever you believe about the war, you cannot deny this is a state issue,” Ritter said.

While the administration's tab for the war is in the hundreds of billions, funding for education, health care and agencies such as Boulder's National Renewable Energy Laboratory suffers, he said.

[...]

States, he said, are also very concerned about the impact the war is having on their National Guard troops and equipment.

The Post also noted the comments of Tupa, the resolution's co-sponsor, by reporting, “Tupa's original proposal, he said, detailed some of the 'untold millions of dollars that are no longer coming back to the states' for important programs such as education, Medicaid and the emergency relief recently denied farmers hit by blizzards this winter. But the version introduced last week is shorter, mirroring a resolution passed last month by the U.S. House.”

A February 28 Associated Press article similarly reported, “Tupa said that Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chief of Staff Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace have acknowledged that debating the war won't hurt the morale of troops, something which he also included in the resolution.” The same article noted:

Tupa said state resolutions could help put pressure on the president to change the direction of the war.

The Colorado resolution also states that 3,150 soldiers, including more than 100 from Colorado, have died in Iraq and that the war has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians, hurting efforts to bring peace and democracy to the country. It also urges Congress and Bush to respect the patriotism of all Americans, “including those who respectfully express their dissent concerning the United States' current foreign policy.”

Additionally, a March 1 News article by Washington reported on one military family that doesn't approve of Brophy's criticism:

A Loveland father with a son getting ready to return to Iraq for the third time is furious over a lawmaker's criticism of a resolution opposing the war.

“This war has nothing to do with 9/11, with terrorism, with our national security,” Ken Bennett, 58, wrote to Sen. Greg Brophy. “We are the parents of a Marine. We do not support the war. You do not speak for us, so please do not claim to speak for military families.”

Sen. Ron Tupa, D-Boulder, introduced the resolution Wednesday, urging against any troop buildup in Iraq.

Brophy, a Wray Republican, warned Tupa to expect an all-out war on the Senate floor if he introduces the resolution.

Their exchange resulted in Bennett's impassioned e-mail to Brophy, which was copied to Tupa.

The March 12 article marks the second time within a week that the News uncritically repeated GOP criticism about Democrats' supposed lack of support of the troops, but failed to offer any Democratic response.

From the March 12 Rocky Mountain News article “Fierce battles yet to come,” by Lynn Bartels and April M. Washington:

A legislative session billed as odd, bland and boring by a number of political veterans is half over, but some of the fiercest battles -- over the budget, for instance -- have yet to be fought.

The biggest fight of all could happen Wednesday, when a Senate committee debates a Democratic resolution on the Iraq war that Republicans say will undermine the morale of the troops and divide the legislature just as it begins work on the state and school budgets.

[...]

CHAMPAGNE, ANYONE?

“If you introduce this, I'm going to come uncorked. Dear God, have you talked to these soldiers' parents? They feel these resolutions are undermining their effort in the war.”

Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray, warning Sen. Ron Tupa, D-Boulder, against introducing a resolution opposing any troop buildup in Iraq