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Get rid of religious exemptions for vaccines
Too often the faithful get the wrong idea about the freedom that the First Amendment accords religion, and they take it to mean that their claim to it supersedes other rights — even the right to life. What’s worse, misguided policies of the state encourage this attitude. That’s what’s happening with the COVID-19 vaccine in […]
Colorado’s top 10 most dangerous election deniers
Detractors of American voting, driven by a cult leader who as president was inimical to democracy and as ex-president is a sworn enemy of it, have gone on the attack in Colorado in the form of proposed voting restrictions, threats against the secretary of state and county election officials, an election-system security breach in the […]
These public servants think the public should stay out of their business
Colorado state agencies have a well-earned reputation for anti-transparent behavior. Throughout state government records are regularly destroyed, and the pandemic has exposed persistent disdain for transparency in the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. But an agency within the health department — the Air Pollution Control Division — has refined antipathy to open government to […]
CU trades an insurrection speaker for a Steve Bannon apologist
What will it take for the University of Colorado to learn its lesson? The position of visiting scholar in conservative thought and policy at CU Boulder was never a good idea in conception, and it has proved humiliating in practice. It launched in 2013 for the express purpose of injecting right-wing teaching into course offerings. […]
Anger is the only reasonable response to COVID obstructionists
We were willing to debate the efficacy of masks. We agreed there should be balance between lockdown measures and economic interests. We patiently accumulated evidence that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective. We kept our cool through every quack remedy and grifter treatment. We offered guidance to the confused and correctives to the misinformed. We […]
The whole system was indicted with charges in McClain case
Finally, the beginning of some justice for Elijah McClain. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser on Wednesday announced felony grand jury indictments against three Aurora police officers and two paramedics involved in McClain’s death. It was a relief, in a case so marred by abuse of power and betrayal of the public trust, to see public […]
Teams should stop playing Valor Christian
Valor Christian High School, based on statements from school officials and the former Valor coach they forced out for being gay, practices a form of rank bigotry. The school, located in the south metro Denver community of Highlands Ranch, is unabashed in its religiosity, and administrators think they can flash faith as a form of ethical […]
Tina Peters is a symptom. Threats to Colorado democracy go beyond her.
The clerk and recorder of Mesa County, Tina Peters, appears to have engaged in direct, potentially illegal, activities that threatened election integrity in her jurisdiction. The irony of the case is infinite — she is a far-right adherent of the big-lie movement that claims former President Donald Trump won the November election and purports to […]
The real reason the GOP’s gas station event flamed out
The Colorado Republican Party’s rollout of its 2022 election pitch to voters was a flop. That part is not much in dispute. Party leaders thought it would be a good idea to unveil their so-called “Commitment to Colorado” at a Denver gas station. They were determined to punctuate a lower-gas-prices plank — but this was […]
Do not feel bad for Kristi Burton Brown
Republican lies about the election, the January coup attempt, the threat of a former president building a new regime on the ashes of American democracy — these are not matters on which political leaders can remain aloof. Every leader in the country with a constituency to answer to must choose a side. It’s either preservation […]
Shoulder to shoulder with a seditionist in Grand Junction
Some of the photos from Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s visit to Grand Junction last week made the rounds because they illustrated how out of place Rep. Lauren Boebert appeared. There was the freshman Republican, who seems to believe she was elected to Congress for the sole purpose of antagonizing the left, trying to fit in […]
Beware leftist bashing of redistricting commissions
As Colorado’s new redistricting commissions were forming this year a hostile view of them could be detected among Colorado progressives. It started quietly and started to grow, and now it’s emerging into full view. It demands a response. The commissions were adopted after Colorado voters in 2018 approved amendments Y and Z. States redraw political […]