Content area
Full text
A group that might be kindly characterized as a "liberal watchdog," the Colorado Ethics Watch, has released a list of "Colorado's most corrupt public officials in 2008." And who do you suppose was at the top of the list?
You guessed it -- the oft-maligned former county commissioner and current state Rep. Douglas Bruce.
And why, you might ask, did the Dougster receive this dubious honor?
No, he didn't take any payoffs from crooked contractors. And no, he didn't steal from the collection plate at church. And no, he didn't pad his expense accounts or set up a dummy company to bid for government contracts.
What he did was be himself -- obnoxious, insulting, vituperative, combative and arrogant. He kicked a photographer, and refused to apologize. He owns vacant, dilapidated properties and refuses to repair them -- local ordinances be damned. He coarsely insults his colleagues and bullies anyone who can't, or won't, fight back.
He's a jerk -- but he's not corrupt.
His principal claim to fame -- or to infamy, if you prefer -- is his authorship of TABOR, the 1991 tax limitation amendment. Depending...