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RBG’s death ‘is the last straw’
Do not waste energy hoping Sen. Cory Gardner will do the right thing. Since news of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death broke on Friday, all eyes in Colorado turned to the junior senator, since the Senate will be called upon to confirm a new justice. Gardner posed as an independent decision-maker when he […]
Potential for election violence is high. Why do Colorado leaders seem unprepared for it?
In June, a bipartisan group of former high-ranking government, national security and other experts convened online to game out election night crisis scenarios. The results, given how President Donald Trump and his allies have behaved in recent months, were as unsurprising as they were alarming. “President Trump is likely to contest the result by both […]
A legacy of worker appreciation in Colorado
Rarely in American history have workers faced such challenges as they do in 2020. On this Labor Day, in the middle of a pandemic, uncertainty over job security for many employees is exceeded only by the hazard of showing up for work. The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment announced this week that it had […]
Oil and gas interests are trying to subvert a landmark law
Colorado lawmakers in 2019 enacted several pieces of landmark environmental legislation, including a bill meant to provide new protections against the harmful effects of oil and gas extraction. But some industry interests, along with accomplices in several local governments, are attempting to distort the intent of the bill by lobbying regulators for less local restrictions […]
Bottomless bad faith at the BLM
William Perry Pendley looked as if he could join a long list of Trump agency heads whose previous activities positioned them as enemies of the very government functions the president assigned them to lead. When Scott Pruitt was Oklahoma attorney general he sued the Environmental Protection Agency over and over. Naturally, President Trump deemed him […]
Coloradans need help staying housed but the state so far has refused it
The coronavirus pandemic has inflicted untold harm on Americans in so many ways. Its gravest threat is to life itself — as of Friday, 168,000 people in the United States have died due to COVID-19. But next to loss of life and health among COVID hazards is loss of housing, and state and federal officials […]
Pro-police too often means pro-entitlement
The protests that appeared in cities and towns across America after Minneapolis police killed the unarmed George Floyd have led to many reforms of law enforcement. But another outcome is a backlash in which self-appointed police defenders have become increasingly hostile not just to reforms but also, paradoxically, to the police. This malign force should […]
Halt evictions in Colorado
When Gov. Jared Polis issued a statewide eviction moratorium at the end of April, his executive order referred to the economic hardship caused by COVID-19. “Many Coloradans experienced substantial loss of income as a result of business closures and layoffs, hindering their ability to keep up with their rent or mortgage payments and threatening their […]
The Colorado leaders who want Denver to look like Portland
The deployment in Portland, Ore., of federal law enforcement agents, who eschew insignia and have been captured on video making what appear to be unaccountable arrests of civilians, is a chilling escalation of the Trump administration’s response to police-reform demonstrations in American cities. President Donald Trump himself has said federal law enforcement is needed to […]
Mask deniers will get us killed
Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday issued a mask mandate for Colorado. He waited too long to take this action, but the “alarming” — his word — COVID-19 uptick in the state finally forced his hand. All Coloradans older than 10 have to wear a mask in public places now. That will make Coloradans, of all […]
This is what Gardner says he’s accomplished. Impressed?
Only rarely do Coloradans get to enjoy a Cory Gardner sighting, so when one occurs it’s notable, whatever other news the junior senator makes by what he says, or doesn’t say. Gardner spoke with CPR’s Ryan Warner in an interview that was broadcast July 1, the day after former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper won the […]
Americans more than America worthy of celebration
July 4th is supposed to be a celebration of American independence and, to a greater extent, America itself. In 2020, this is a fraught proposition. The year’s events have shaken many Americans’ faith in their country. Sixteen days into 2020, the U.S. Senate began its impeachment trial of Donald Trump, who is only the third […]