well, while we're at it, you know getting a US team into the World Cup is a socialist plot, right? it's so americans won't be able to use their arms. You know, when the jackboots come.
On Wed, Aug 4, 2010 at 5:28 PM, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
> [Sometimes it seems too easy to make fun of right-wing yahoos, but really,
> they make it hard to resist. Via Gawker]
>
> Denver Post - August 4, 2010
> <http://www.denverpost.com/election2010/ci_15673894>
>
> Bike agenda spins cities toward U.N. control, Maes warns
> By Christopher N. Osher
>
> Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes is warning voters that Denver
> Mayor John Hickenlooper's policies, particularly his efforts to boost bike
> riding, are "converting Denver into a United Nations community."
>
> "This is all very well-disguised, but it will be exposed," Maes told about
> 50 supporters who showed up at a campaign rally last week in Centennial.
>
> Maes said in a later interview that he once thought the mayor's efforts to
> promote cycling and other environmental initiatives were harmless and
> well-meaning. Now he realizes "that's exactly the attitude they want you to
> have."
>
> "This is bigger than it looks like on the surface, and it could threaten
> our personal freedoms," Maes said.
>
> He added: "These aren't just warm, fuzzy ideas from the mayor. These are
> very specific strategies that are dictated to us by this United Nations
> program that mayors have signed on to."
>
> Maes said in a later interview that he was referring to Denver's membership
> in the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, an
> international association that promotes sustainable development and has
> attracted the membership of more than 1,200 communities, 600 of which are in
> the United States.
>
> Denver became a member of the group in 1992, more than a decade before
> Hickenlooper became mayor. Eric Brown, the mayor's spokesman, said the
> city's contact with ICLEI "is limited."
>
> George Merritt, a spokesman for the Hickenlooper gubernatorial campaign,
> said the group's goal is "to bring cities from all over the world together
> to share best practices and help create the kinds of communities people want
> to live and do business in. John Hickenlooper believes collaboration leads
> to smart decisions."
>
> Hickenlooper has often touted bicycling as an environmentally friendly and
> healthy way for people to commute to work and has said he hopes more people
> will do so.
>
> Last week, Hickenlooper upset some auto dealers on the eve of a fundraiser
> when he lauded the city's B-Cycle bike-sharing program at an event and
> asked: "How do we wean ourselves off automobiles?"
>
> Maes, at the rally July 26, took aim at Denver's bike-sharing program,
> which he said was promoted by a group that puts the environment above
> citizens' rights.
>
> The B-Cycle program places a network of about 400 red bikes for rent at
> stations around the city. It is funded by private donors and grants.
>
> Maes said ICLEI is affiliated with the United Nations and is "signing up
> mayors across the country, and these mayors are signing on to this U.N.
> agreement to have their cities abide by this dream philosophy."
>
> The program includes encouraging employers to install showers so more
> people will ride bikes to work and also creating parking spaces for
> fuel-efficient vehicles, he said.
>
> Polls show that Maes, a Tea Party favorite, has pulled ahead of former
> Congressman Scott McInnis, the early frontrunner in the Aug. 10 primary for
> the Republican gubernatorial nomination. Maes acknowledged that some might
> find his theories "kooky," but he said there are valid reasons to be
> worried.
>
> "At first, I thought, 'Gosh, public transportation, what's wrong with that,
> and what's wrong with people parking their cars and riding their bikes? And
> what's wrong with incentives for green cars?' But if you do your homework
> and research, you realize ICLEI is part of a greater strategy to rein in
> American cities under a United Nations treaty," Maes said.
>
> He said he's worried for Denver because "Mayor Hickenlooper is one of the
> greatest fans of this program."
>
> "Some would argue this document that mayors have signed is contradictory to
> our own Constitution," Maes said.
>
>
>
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