In Which Rep. Libby Szabo Takes It Way Too Far
by: Colorado Pols February 24, 2013 at 8:54 AM MST
Republican Rep. Libby Szabo of Arvada isn't generally known as an intellectual powerhouse–or for that matter, anyone you would want to be the spokesperson for much of anything. Part of this has to do with her awful public presence and speaking voice, which has been regularly likened to fingernails on a chalkboard. And let's not forget the teachings of Szabo's husband, a theological instructor at the notoriously hard-right Faith Bible Chapel megachurch (see: "Libby Szabo, Barack Obama, and the Anti-Christ").
Last week, Rep. Szabo crossed the line into something else entirely.
Appearing on FOX News' O'Reilly Factor on Friday, Rep. Szabo helped host Bill O'Reilly build the case for why Colorado House Speaker Mark Ferrandino "doesn't want to protect the children." This has been the allegation made by Colorado conservatives each time a law known as "Jessica's Law" has been proposed, and then killed because our state is already quite tough on the matter of tracking and controlling repeat sex offenders.
Of course, there's legitimate room to debate that. What's not legitimate, however, is the disgusting accusations made by Bill O'Reilly, and eagerly added to by Rep. Szabo, about Mark Ferrandino personally over this bill. O'Reilly begins his pregnant description of Speaker Ferrandino as "the state's first openly gay speaker" and "a fervent gay marriage person." O'Reilly notes ominously that Ferrandino sent "Jessica's Law" to the same "kill committee" that civil unions (mislabeled by O'Reilly as "gay marriage") was sent to. The sickeningly obvious inference here is that Ferrandino retaliated against "Jessica's Law" over the defeat of civil unions.
As you know, any "retaliation" from Speaker Ferrandino over civil unions occurred in the last election, when Republicans lost their majority in the House after killing civil unions in an epic and ultimately self-destructive fit of pique. The linkage of these two bills, in addition to being shockingly offensive, is totally off-base.
Just after 2:00 into the video, O'Reilly asks Rep. Szabo if Ferrandino had spoken to the press about the defeat of this bill. Rep. Szabo responds that the media covered the issue well from her perspective, Ferrandino wasn't willing to speak to the press. The reason?
Because obviously, he's protecting somebody. [Pols emphasis]
And with that, Rep. Libby Szabo has leveled one of the most deplorable allegations against a fellow Colorado legislator, certainly against a sitting Speaker, that we have ever seen in our years covering this state's often-crazy politics. The clear intention of this nationally televised segment is to accuse Speaker Ferrandino of not wanting to "protect the children," even willfully protecting child predators…because he is a gay man.
Like we said, Rep. Szabo is not very smart, and not very telegenic. But she appearently makes up for that by being willing to descend to the darkest, ugliest depths of character assassination imaginable.
La Libertad says:
February 24, 2013 at 9:39 AM MST
Wow, nice attempt to nuance a diversion away from the kids. Your attempt to highlight Colorados first openly gay speaker as the victim misses the mark. The entire Democratic caucus and the Hickenlooper administration and the states attorneys office need to be held accountable for their failure to protect the kids.
Jess CIA law is simple …. "The law is named after Jessica Lunsford, a young Florida girl who was sexually battered and murdered in February 2005 by John Couey, a previously convicted sex offender. Public outrage over this case spurred Florida officials to introduce this legislation. Among the key provisions of the law was classifying lewd or lascivious molestation on a person under the age of 12 as a life felony, and a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in prison.[2] and lifetime electronic monitoring[3] of adults convicted of lewd or lascivious molestation against a victim less than 12 years old. The statute almost requires that if an offender is sentenced to a term of years, he or she must be given lifetime probation following the imprisonment. In Florida, another charge, capital sexual battery is defined as: A person 18 years of age or older who commits sexual battery upon, or in an attempt to commit sexual battery injures the sexual organs of, a person less than 12 years of age commits a capital felony. The charge carries a mandatory life sentence.[4]" source wiki
EccentricRepublican says:
February 24, 2013 at 7:37 PM MST
Yep! It takes a Republican to really understand the naughtiest, nastiest connections. Thanks for remembering AGAIN that Mark Ferrandino is gay!
It's a good thing I'm eccentric because otherwise, I would really hate my job.
Your group attempt to victimize the Speaker misses the mark again. His status as the first openly gay speaker has nothing to do with the failure of Colorados elected Democrats to passJessica's Law.
Sure, by failing to address the press he gives cover to every Democrat, a caucus-wide free pass on the subject. If anything the Speaker is an enabler for the Democrats … because he wasn't protect somebody, he was protecting "alottabodies".
Curmudgeon says:
Nice misdirection, there, Libby. What she said is scummy and cowardly enough, what you said in an attempt to defend her is downright pathetic.
But go ahead and mention that the Speaker is openly gay if that'll make you feel better. It seems to.
So we can only celebrate of highlight diversity when we are allowed by you and other properly vetted authorities?
Oh, no… you're welcome to point out that he's openly gay as many times as you like,over and over and over and over again, as furiously as you need to say it, for whatever purpose it serves you.
I could care less about his sexuality. It just doesn't affect me in the way it seems to affect you.
roccoprahn says:
Stop changing the subject, PUtad, You're not even any good at THAT.
Two questions for you. First, young taker, why do you think the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault is adamantly against this legislation? I shouldn't have to do your work for you, and I won't. But I'll need you to get that and then report back to me on Erin Jemison's take on this,
Secondly, why would "blanket laws, mandatory sentencing, and zero discretion" work in this situation, but not in gun legislation? You can have one or the other, oh diapered one, but not both.
Is the threat of a set mandatory sentance going to disuade a predator any more than a gun goon?
Get to it.
This is a lunsford/szabot wedge issue scam. fox picks up on it and o'reilly gets on it because they can run the same scam coffman did last year on it.
But please, PUtad, please proceed.
The above statement just proves the point here. If the fact that he is gay didn't have anything to do with the matter then why did you and Libby and O'Reilly have to say it. Right, it has nothing to do with this matter. Bull Shit.
I'm sorry posters, I know that I'm not supposed to respond to this asshole, but it's been a while and it was so much fun.
bullshit! says:
February 24, 2013 at 11:11 AM MST
This isn't just character assassination. It's hate speech.
February 24, 2013 at 12:01 PM MST
What kind of twisted hate-filled world exists in Szabo's mind? The mental gymnastics required to make the claim "protecting someone" show a complete lack of any logical thought. Rep. Szabo comes across as not only really fucked up, but also incredibly stupid.
That's who and what the szabot is, 24/7/365. Dumb as a stone, legislatively uneducated, extremely teabagular, hate filled, married to an absolutely vicous evangilical bomb hurler, the aformentioned denis. She does few events, never sends out mailers to Democrats, doesn't reach out to constituents other than the faith bible crowd, and basically exists under a rock.
The reds went with her on the "killing of the Jessica Law" grift because her District is considered so safe that this kind of crazy rhetoric is not only condoned, but actually cheered on.
Remember, It's what green zone coffman used last November in US HD6. It fired up the willfully uneducated and uninformed red goober base to the max.
HD27's Democrats ran a GREAT candidate in Tim Allport against the szabot last November, but the demographics in that part of west Arvada simply tilt, a lot of it due to gerrymandering, pure older, christian right hate red. It's getting a little younger, but very slowly.
In the end, the reds are just screaming to that nasty base through the szabot., those racist, homophobic, anti-choice zealots that actually prefer to believe anything nasty and vile told them about Democrats..
It's just who and what they are, and the repubs know their people.
JeffcoBlue says:
+100. This is my backyard, and Szabo is the product of the FBC Christian-hate community that afflicts us in west Arvada. But to smear the Speaker of the House she serves in this grotesquely? I just don't know how she will be able to look him in the eye tomorrow. I know she will, because she is a hateful, soulless dimwit, but it's gut wrenching to be reminded that people like her actually have power.
Her District's not all that red. Shame on the Democrats for not really taking her on. Remember what happened to Michelle Bachman who is easily as rabid, has easily as bad a voice and is easily as stupid.
Craig, I agree with you on one point, but disagree on the other.
You're right, Tim Allport decided to run an above the fray, issues based campaign, and he stayed away from the szabot's husband's lunacy, He did not take advantage of her own extreme views, and instead really promoted his agenda, which was pro growth, pro addiction intervention, pro mental health, pro labor, pro law enforcement, and pretty nuetral on the wedge issues.
It just didn't take. He left the anti womens' House votes szabo championed alone, and didn't hit her hard on her virulent opposition to choice or civil unions. Maybe it was because he knew he was fighting an uphill battle, what with the extremely teabag/christ-ee atmosphere in west Arvada.
But I disagree on the demographics. The redlegs have a 8% registration advantage walking out the door in the morning, and ryan call really funded her. It's really tough for a Democrat to win in 27, but………they have no shot at her if they let her get away with the lunacy. The religious one issue crazies that vote have to countered with an equally agressive campaign message that brings motivated lucid voters to this down ballot race.
Believe it, some people just didn't know how nuts she is.
Tim was just too nice AND that 8% disadvantage is huge.
Szabo comes across poorly (mostly due to limited intellect), and O'Reilly looks worse. What is he trying to get her to say? Perhaps just what she said but it leaves the impression O'Reilly was going for more.
This segment certainly wasn't about reality in Colorado. I don't know if there have been any substantial changes in our sex offender laws in the past four years but here's a Leg Council memo from four years ago that does a side-by-side comparison between Colorado law and Jessica's Law (p. 4) – we have pretty comprehensive laws already.
This is sick, and if she is not censured by her follow legislators, we have a big problem. Every decent member of the General Assembly, regardless of party, needs to stand up and tell Rep. Szabo this is not acceptable.
DaftPunk says:
O'Reilly: Coloradans too busy legalizing pot to protect the kids.
I don't see much daylight between existing law and the proposal Szabo brought, but the speaker is a "villain."
Do we see anything like this from any elected Democrats. Yes both sides talk about how it's the end of the world if the other's policies are enacated. But I can't recall anything like this or the hope babies die of aids coming from the left?
Am I just not paying attention? Or do the worst of the GOP go far beyond the most strident statements from our side?
It's beyond the pale. She's so utterly dimwitted, I almost take pity on her, but then she proves she is dimwitted and hateful to the core.
If this is not repudiated thoroughly and immediately, by everyone on both sides, there is a serious fucking problem under the Dome.
MADCO says:
Yeah….but wasn't there a legislator with a convicted (though unregisterd) child sex offender living in his house? Maybe she just got confused.
Oh, yes – let us not forget the embarrassment of Baumgardner in his primary win over Sen Jean White last spring. Baumgardner was harboring a registered sex offender who failed to re-register as the law requires when he moved from Kremmling (I believe) to Hot Sulphur Springs. But as Baumgardner said at the time, we all make mistakes . . .
For those less attuned, "Baumgardner / that other guy" it is a mistake anyone could make.
"Obviously, he's protecting somebody."
The sick hypocrisy of it all. And of course, nothing in the Denver media.
I sometimes think the media is so desperate to keep controversy alive that they allow Szabo and her ilk to do what they do without calling them on it. It doesn't matter what's true. What sells papers is all that matters.
So what harm does that do? To me the fact that they publicize this kind of nonsense is enough. People are getting te point, finally, as to how radical these people are.
Gray in Mountains says:
"Reasonable", "loving" Xtians ought to be there to condemn this behavior and these words
Clear the chamber the next time she sets...