Beacon gives “thumbs down” to the truth

You may have seen this editorial (click the picture to see a larger version) in our local paper, the Beacon News. Seems the editorial staff thinks it’s time for us to call it quits with our efforts to hold Planned Parenthood accountable for their lies and violations of the law. They say it’s fine for us to protest, but we shouldn’t waste “the taxpayers'” money on a court battle that we will certainly lose. After all, they argue, two independent attorney reviews, the state’s attorney and the ZBA have all said “nothing can be legally done to shut down the clinic.” So why don’t we just give up? There are so many unbelievable statements in these four paragraphs it’s hard to know where to begin! So let’s start with the outright falsehoods. No one, not independent attorneys, not the state’s attorney, not the ZBA, not even Planned Parenthood themselves have said that nothing can be legally done to shut down the clinic. They have pulled that statement out of the clear blue sky and it is simply not true. Not only that, nearly the opposite is true. No one has even heard the case for why we believe it should be shut down. Eric blogged a while back about why the independent attorneys’ reviews were worthless and did not address our actual case, and the ZBA itself did not rule against our case, they ruled not to hear it! We are now, for the first time, at a place where our case may soon be heard. Now, with the untrue statements dealt with, let’s move on to the merely ridiculous. The Beacon thinks we should not drag on a case that “likely won’t accomplish anything” at the “taxpayers’ expense”. Interesting. Our attorneys, who have argued and won cases before the U.S. Supreme Court seem to think we might accomplish something, I wonder who knows more about law? And who exactly are these “taxpayers” whose money we are unduly spending? I was under the impression that we were all taxpayers and that we payed these taxes precisely so that we could have legal recourse! If the court system does not exist to protect the rights of taxpayers (such as the right to know and have input on what sort of highly volatile industries will be moving into their neighborhood), what exactly is it for? The editorial staff of the Beacon, admitting the whole time that Planned Parenthood has obviously broken the law, publicly proclaim that we should do nothing about it. They say we should sit idly by while the City allows corrupt businesses to lie to them, lie to the citizens of Aurora, all while siphoning down millions of dollars of the very taxpayer money the Beacon is so concerned about protecting. This complete lack of concern for the rule of law and the rights of citizens is astounding. Look for a response in the Beacon in the coming days and feel free to let them know what you think about their opinion that you should just shut up and go away.