For the record, I am referring to this here:
The sheriffs on both ends of the Roaring Fork Valley expressed their displeasure Sunday about the impact and costs that Vice President Joe Biden’s short visit to Aspen this past weekend placed on their communities and agencies.
Helicopters buzzing above Aspen and multiple road closures along Highway 82 and Interstate 70 on Friday and Saturday accompanied Biden’s entourage, which involved a 40-car motorcade and at least nine local law enforcement agencies.
Biden, who stayed in town for less than 24 hours, was here to speak at a private event involving journalist Charlie Rose and other entities, according to sources.
“The responsible thing to do when big corporations invite him here is to consider the impact not only financially on a small county but also everyone here,” said Pitkin County Sheriff Joe DiSalvo.
He said he reached out to a representative who was working the event, Betsy McFadden, on Friday to ask the people behind the event to pay for the thousands of dollars it costs to have his deputies work overtime to protect the country’s second-in-command.
“I called her more or less to tell her what an impact it was,” he said, adding her response was “cool.” He said she deferred to the U.S. Secret Service as the agency responsible for the costs.
Still, DiSalvo said he plans to send an invoice to whoever is behind the event once the expenses his office incurred are finalized.
“I told her I would send an invoice [that reflected] the complementary services they received,” he said.
DiSalvo said he suggested to McFadden that, in the future, the event planners should donate to a local charity to offset the impacts it makes when it hosts high-profile politicians here.
“I hope they stand up,” DiSalvo said.
McFadden did not return a voicemail message seeking comment.
via Sheriffs miffed about Biden’s impact on local communities | Aspen Daily News Online.
Progressive blog reaction is as follows:
On the other hand, what is this crap Biden is jetting off to? A private confab organized by a huge private equity firm (well, Biden is from Delaware, after all), and hosted by that gaseous hero of liberal totebaggers, Charlie Rose?
(And did Biden go to this in order to grovel for cash for his 2016 presidential run, which is obviously going to end in failure? As awful as it is to be a plutocrat bootlicker, how much worse is it to be a plutocrat bootlicker when there isn’t the slightest chance that you’re going to get anything out of it?)
It’s all repulsive. A meteor can’t wipe our civilization out soon enough. — Steve M. – No More Mister Nice Blog
I dunno about that Meteor part… 😯 But, the rest is on point. 🙂
More:
I blame Joe Biden. For someone who continually touts his working class roots and presents himself as the “common man,” he’s remarkably tone-deaf. If he really cared about the common people, he would have insisted the corporation send a private jet small enough to land in Aspen, or at least pay for the cost of Air Force 2, and the accompanying security his over-nighter entailed. And he would have dismissed the idea of a 40 car motorcade as absurd.
I sure hope he’s given up the thought of running for President. – Jeralyn Merritt – TalkLeft
Both very valid points from two respectable blogs of influence on the left. Both of which I used to read, quite a bit, when I was still among the Blue-Dog Democrats. I am thinking that if the Democrats even want a remote prayer come 2016, that a major optics change is in order. Because quite frankly, the Democrats, especially among the Obama-bots have lost the optics war.
