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How corporate Colorado held public schools hostage
One of the biggest stories out of the Colorado General Assembly this year emerged late in the session as a group of corporate executives threw its weight around. They wanted to keep more of their money, and who can blame them for that. But the episode revealed that policy makers are in thrall to a […]
How to protect abortion rights in Colorado
Abortion rights are protected in Colorado, but their stability is uncertain, and there is much that should be done to secure them. Colorado in 1967 was the first state in the country to loosen its abortion laws. It bolstered its legacy of reproductive justice this year when it codified abortion as a fundamental right in […]
Take a moment to reflect on Wynn Bruce
An act of self-immolation exposes the object of protest by matching horror inflicted at large with horror inflicted on one. Other forms of protest, like a march, might be loud. They might inconvenience others and require little sacrifice on the part of the demonstrator. They might have theatrical qualities, like the Tiananmen Square Tank Man […]
Bring on the climate change lawsuits in Colorado
Colorado officials are failing to respond to climate change with the urgency the crisis demands. The least they can do is let everyday Coloradans help. The state already expects residents to do their part. Gov. Jared Polis prefers to nudge individuals to make lifestyle changes such as upgrading to an electric vehicle rather than require […]
Anti-LGBTQ bigotry has no place in Colorado
Colorado has made significant progress toward being a safe place for the LGBTQ community, but now that progress is challenged by reactionaries who are promoting misinformation and dusting off latent bigotry. Anti-trans and anti-gay rhetoric in recent months has become increasingly vile. It’s showing up in schools, the campaign trail and social media. A surge […]
What Andy Biggs says about Colorado Republicans
Republican Party leaders in Colorado say they want to get past stop-the-steal rhetoric. They say voters aren’t interested in hearing about the “big lie” that the 2020 election was rigged against former President Donald Trump. They say they want to look ahead and focus on issues like gas prices, crime and education. Then they contradict […]
Climate timidity rules in Colorado
Every climate-enabled fire in Colorado should spark fury at the timidity that inhibits the state from taking serious climate action. Every instance of climate blowback should prompt fierce campaigns of accountability. Every time lives and property are threatened due to human-caused warming in the West, Colorado residents should demand a change in approach or, absent […]
Keep your guns out of the Capitol
The American legislative process depends on the willingness of elected representatives to engage in debate without recourse to force or coercion. Legislative assemblies are battlefields of ideas, not physical power, and they’re established on principles of reason and free expression. That’s why the presence of armed legislators is antithetical to legislating, and lawmakers should keep […]
Election deniers reveal themselves as charlatans
Colorado’s election deniers are absurd, but you can’t accuse them of sloth. It seems they never tire of attacking democracy. While most of their activity only proves their misguidedness, they represent a danger to constitutional order and, indeed, people’s lives, so when the state’s primary election-denial organization unveils its biggest purported achievement, it warrants review. […]
The GOP is the gallows party
“I’ve said we need to build more gallows.” Those words were spoken last month by a Republican state senator from Arizona, Wendy Rogers, at a white nationist rally. The topic was the execution of political enemies. “If we try some of these high-level criminals, convict them and use a newly built set of gallows, it’ll […]
Get Colorado out of the crosshairs of Putin’s nukes
Colorado is by design a prime target for a Russian nuclear attack. Residents were reminded of this unpleasant circumstance when Russian President Vladimir Putin alluded to the use of nuclear weapons as part of his invasion of Ukraine. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the threat of nuclear attack seemed relatively dormant […]
Fear of a Marshall Fire at Rocky Flats is real
The Marshall Fire could have been worse if it had entered Rocky Flats. On the evening of the fire in December, authorities feared this could happen. Federal officials are at pains to convince local community members that the former nuclear weapons plant and Superfund site is effectively cleansed of radioactive contamination, but their account of […]