Defending Bruce's refusal to co-sponsor resolution for military and veterans, Gazette omitted that he did co-sponsor others

Summary: The Gazette of Colorado Springs on February 15 defended Republican state Rep. Douglas Bruce's refusal to co-sponsor or vote on a resolution honoring veterans and the military, asserting that he "doesn't like [] resolutions that serve no purpose other than validating groupthink." But the Gazette failed to mention that Bruce in fact has co-sponsored three other resolutions during this legislative session, as Colorado Media Matters pointed out.

In a February 15 editorial, The Gazette of Colorado Springs defended state Rep. Douglas Bruce's (R-Colorado Springs) February 13 refusal to co-sponsor or vote on a joint resolution acknowledging Military and Veterans Appreciation Day by asserting that "Bruce respects and admires the brave men and women who work in our military," but that "[w]hat he doesn't like are resolutions that serve no purpose other than validating groupthink." The Gazette did not acknowledge, as Colorado Media Matters has noted, that Bruce has co-sponsored three resolutions during the 2008 legislative session: one commemorating the holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr., one "[c]oncerning civility in the Colorado General Assembly," and another designating January 28 as Colorado 4-H Day.

From The Gazette of Colorado Springs' February 15 editorial, "The Joker":

Submit, Douglas Bruce, submit. Think and act like the group, or we'll crush you. And you are crushable, Bruce, because you've acted like a jerk.

That's the message one can take from the hysterical reaction of [House Minority Leader Mike] May and other House Republicans after Bruce refused to co-sponsor and vote for a resolution that said he values our military.

Bruce was steadfast in his refusal to sponsor or vote for the resolution -- co-sponsored by the other 99 members of the Legislature -- so May fired off an angry letter expressing the "outrage" of the GOP caucus and five El Paso County Republican representatives. The letter called Bruce's decision "deplorable," and "incomprehensible." Only Rep. Kent Lambert, an Air Force veteran from Colorado Springs, refused to sign the reprimand.

Like most Americans, Bruce respects and admires the brave men and women who work in our military. What he doesn't like are resolutions that serve no purpose other than validating groupthink. Of course state politicians appreciate our troops. Do we need a state declaration, in which at least one member was coerced to agree?

As the Rocky Mountain News reported online on February 13 (a print version of the article appeared on February 14), Bruce "infuriated fellow lawmakers by being the lone legislator who refused to cosponsor a Joint House-Senate resolution honoring Military and Veterans Appreciation Day. He would not say why he did it." The News further reported:

The rookie lawmaker has often protested other ceremonial resolutions, including an annual one honoring President Ronald Reagan's birthday, as a waste of lawmaker's time that could be better spent working on legislation.

Yet Bruce did cosponsor resolutions honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Colorado 4-H Day.

He did it again after the military day honor, asking permission to not vote on a resolution urging universal health care coverage for Colorado Children by 2018. He called it "a waste of time."

The request was denied by fellow lawmakers on a 55-10 vote.

—E.B.