Freedom Unaffiliated

By Jon Caldara

You know when Wile E. Coyote runs off that cliff and he hangs in the air, magically suspended for a while until he realizes what’s about to occur? Only then does he plummet. Well, Colorado energy regulators are the coyote just before he sees there’s nothing below him.

When Colorado’s energy system falters, and your bills skyrocket even higher than your already ridiculously high rates, you need to remember this: Our lawmakers and regulators made it happen. They knew of the cost and carnage their decisions were going to cause, and instead of changing course, they redoubled their effort to make Colorado an energy desert, and all to make no real difference in global emissions.

Government has a few core functions: public safety and utility oversight are among them. Certainly, bad decisions can be made — we call that negligence. But knowingly making our energy unaffordable, scarce and unreliable for future lawmakers and regulators to deal with is maleficence.

Except for some municipal-run energy providers, like in Colorado Springs, most of us are “served” by privately owned energy monopolies like Xcel. A grand bargain was struck decades ago with these monopolies: We’d let them have guaranteed profits (a lot of them) in exchange for charging us the “least cost” possible for energy within environmental standards.

The state’s Public Utility Commission (PUC), solely appointed by the governor, was tasked to enforce the “least cost” principle; it was its stated primary mission. That is, their “job one” was to protect our wallets.

Then, this unelected PUC changed its mission from working for consumers to decarbonizing Colorado no matter the cost, making crony power companies rich in the process.

In other words, no one in the system is protecting you, the consumer, from power failures and unaffordable bills. And it’s getting so bad even the energy monopolies who make more money when they’re “forced” to build windmills and solar farms are saying the mandates are unachievable.

When the companies making obscene profits from green mandates are saying it can’t be done, it might be a sign our lawmakers have overdone it.

Some particulars of the latest insanity: In 2021, the legislature required the energy companies to cut their greenhouse emissions by 22% before 2030, and, in exchange, they could charge us customers up to 2.5% more. Easy-peazy, right?

Utilities had to submit “Clean Heat Plans” to show how they’ll do it.

Here’s what Xcel just said in its plan: “In order to achieve the ambitious 2030 emission reduction target, annual program costs are expected to exceed the 2.5% retail cost cap by approximately six to 17 times … approximately 15% to 30% of all residential single-family homes will need to be at least partially electrified by 2030.”

Translation: To cut emissions by 22% before ‘30, it’ll have to blow past the legal rate increase limit and charge us up to 17 times more and up to 30% of us will have to ditch our gas furnaces and water heaters and pay for electric ones.

And that’s optimistic. Here’s what another energy utility, Black Hills Energy, says in its plan: “This scenario has high-cost impacts to customers, with an annual spend of $397 million, exceeding the annual 2.5% cost cap by 67 times.”

Quick math: To reach this goal by 2030, your energy bill goes up not 2.5%, but 167%.

Black Hills said if it can only increase their prices 2.5%, the maximum the legislature set, it would be only able to reach about one-tenth of the emissions reduction the legislature mandates. Reality sucks. But in the real world we can’t have two opposing things at once.

Fortunately, the PUC has the authority to stand up for us customers and enforce the 2.5% cost cap (meaning the utilities won’t meet its reduction goals).

So, of course, they didn’t.

This is how divorced from reality our lawmakers are. Instead of retooling their emission mandates, Governor Polis’ energy office is now trying to double this unreachable 2030 emissions reduction goal by only 2035.

These people are completely unhinged.

Oh, and if it matters, even if we were to reach the state’s unreachable emission reduction it wouldn’t make a difference to global emissions. You’re going to have to talk to China and India to make that happen. But it will economically flatten Colorado and your family.

By Jon Caldara

There are three ways you get taxed. The first way seems transparent — direct taxation and fees. Money’s taken out of your paycheck, you see that. You write a check for property taxes, pay sales tax on a cup of coffee.

These “transparent” taxes can still be opaque. Renters don’t realize they’re paying property tax in their rent check. Instead, they just hate their evil landlord. King Soopers’ property taxes and employer taxes are baked into every loaf of bread you buy.

Colorado’s good at hiding taxes and fees. Like when you are laid up in the hospital, you’re charged a bed tax. By law that “fee” cannot appear on your hospital bill. Thus, you get angry at the hospital, not your benevolent politicians.

The second form of taxation is inflation, caused by the feds uncontrollably printing money. We’ve been conditioned to think inflation is natural and unavoidable, and government works to keep it in check. The truth is just the opposite.

Deflation is the norm when money supply growth is attached to something that can’t be easily increased. When the United States was on the gold standard, the buying power of cash would increase, not shrink.

Warning: boring but important illustration with numbers ahead.

If you saved a $20 paper note from 1925 it would be worth $20 today, duh. And due to inflation, it could only buy a tiny fraction of what it did 100 years ago. But a 1925 $20 gold coin (1 ounce) is worth more than $3,300 today, because dollar bills are printed willy-nilly without limit. But you can’t print gold. It’s limited.

Imagine if we never went off the gold standard (a process then-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt started in 1933, and Nixon finished in 1971). The cost of an average new home in 1925 was $11,600, or 580 ounces of gold (or $20 paper bills, they were interchangeable then). The average cost of a new home today is roughly $500,000, or only 151 ounces of gold at the current price.

If we stayed on the gold standard, a house today would cost almost a fourth of what it did a century ago — deflation.

The more powerful example is with Bitcoin, which acts like gold because of its limited supply. The average price of a new home 10 years ago was $290,000. If you paid for it in Bitcoin, it would have cost you 1,160 Bitcoin. Today’s new $500,000 home costs a little more than four Bitcoin, which is trading now at about $120,000 — colossal deflation.

The third truly insidious form of taxation is regulation. Appointed, not elected, bureaucrats create regulations for, they claim, our health and safety. But most of it is to protect special interests or engineer behavior.

Regulation is how government gets what it wants without paying for it. They want homes to have electric-vehicle charging stations. They mandate it. You pay for it. It’s a tax.

Is a mandated brick home exterior or all-electric heating system needed for our health and safety? Regulatory compliance now makes up about 25% of the cost of a new home.

The untold story of the Jared Polis years is the explosion of Colorado’s regulatory state. The Mercatus Center released a report on regulations throughout the states. And congratulations, Colorado, we have skyrocketed to No. 12 in the number of regulations.

As of 2023, we have 165,994 regulatory restrictions. By contrast neighboring Kansas and Nebraska have around 75,000. Idaho clocks in at only 31,497 — five times less than us.

Colorado has 53,550 environmental restrictions, while the national average is close to half that. How much of your health care costs are from regulations? We have 13,719 restrictions on health care services, while the national average is only 4,673.

It’s not just that there are so many more regulations here. It’s that authorities to create even more regulations is growing like a cancer.

Take the Air Quality Control Commission. Just a few years ago, it was called the Regional Air Quality Council and had no real authority other than making recommendations. The legislature mutated it into a “commission” on par with the likes of the omnipotent Public Utilities Commission.

It now has near-unlimited authority to regulate the state out of business. From banning gas-powered tools to forcing companies to require their employees to carpool, this unelected star chamber is working to make Colorado unaffordable.

Remember all three types of taxes as the legislature cries poverty.

By Jon Caldara

Really? We’re talking about a new Denver Broncos stadium already? Well, before saying yes, let’s make it contingent on fixing the city first.

Voters approved the current Broncos stadium in 1998. The structure was ugly to begin with and built to be scraped to the ground as soon as bond dealers could con us to buy another stadium.

The arena was designed as a giant Dixie cup to be crushed and tossed away, a monument to modern American commercial architecture — built to be bulldozed.

It’s the opposite of Coors Field, designed to be a timeless baseball park that will be even more cool in 50 years than it is today.

You remember the threat back in 1998. We were bullied. If we didn’t pay the ransom of a new publicly financed stadium for the privately owned Broncos, our “predominantly orange” team would move to a city who loved them more.

We crumbled and bought them Invesco-Sports-Authority-Empower Field. It’s not even 25 years old, so of course it’s time to buy a new one.

Expect the same blackmail tactic again. If we don’t buy them a new stadium, they might leave. Mayor Mike Johnston has claimed the city’s top priority is to keep the team in Denver. (The top priority?! Not ending stabbings?)

They are setting the narrative early — “The Broncos might leave.”

The people of Colorado have been faithfully loyal to the Denver Broncos, win or lose, for 65 long years. We should get a fraction of that loyalty back. If your girlfriend demands you buy her a new car or she’s leaving, you might be dating the wrong girl.

Look, we all know how this game is going to play out. Once the Broncos have a decent season or two, they’ll announce their plan for a new stadium. The “economic development” bros will pimp study after study showing how this colossal redevelopment will pay for itself many times over within 15 minutes of the first kickoff. (Really, every city should build 10 stadiums to be rich). And there will be rumors of cities wanting to lure the Broncos to their town.

Bottom line: sports-crazed voters will pass the tax and debt package, and a new Dixie cup stadium will go up.

So, why don’t we taxpaying Broncos fans get out in front of it? Before the Broncos owners make a deal with the city, let’s demand a deal from the Broncos. Instead of waiting for them to threaten to leave, let’s hold a new stadium over their heads until we get something first.

Taxpayers are diffused, rarely organized to flex political muscles or negotiate for real results, so we get little for what we pay for. Perfect example: tax increases for schools.

Colorado’s educational system is a failure. Reading and math scores are in the toilet. So, inevitably, school districts ask for more money to fix the problem, promising with more cash our kids will finally read and write at grade level. But we never demand any accountability in exchange.

You wouldn’t build your house like that. You wouldn’t pay a contractor the full price before he even put a shovel in the ground. You’d give him enough money to get started. Then, when he finishes the foundation, you’d give him another check, when the framing is done, another check, and so on.

We should only agree to school tax increases if the deal is structured with guaranteed outcomes before money is paid. The school district gets a first tranche of money to get started and then, in two years, if reading and math scores reach a mutually agreed level, they get the next tranche.

The accountability must be verifiable and agreed to before we say yes.

We taxpayers and Bronco fanatics should make a deal with the Broncos, not the city. Government doesn’t care about us; we just pay taxes. But government cares about their crown jewel of the Rockies, the Broncos.

We need to let the Broncos know we will not vote for a new stadium until they pressure Denver to fix the city.

If quantifiable measurements of litter, graffiti, street people, open drug use and crime rates are met, then and only then will we support a new stadium.

Call it the grand Broncos Bargain — safe and clean, then the football team!

By Mike Rosen

The leadership of the Democratic party has changed. It once included rational people who worked alongside Republicans to try to improve people’s lives. Despite having different views on specific topics, they were tails to the Republicans’ heads on an all-American coin. Today’s Democratic leaders are not just frustrating or annoying, they are dangerous. The result has been policies that, collectively, threaten to destroy our country physically, financially, and spiritually.

Sadly, many Democratic voters don’t understand how dangerous their leadership has become, getting their news exclusively from left-leaning sources – The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, NPR, MSNBC, social media, etc. – and interacting only with liberal friends and co-workers, they live in a self-affirming information bubble that distorts reality to enforce a narrative that Democrats are good and Republicans are evil.

The free market is a beautiful, vital, self-correcting system the helps ensure that our limited resources are used efficiently and effectively. It’s the major driver of prosperity and health for a large portion of the world. The principles of free markets were first laid out by Adam Smith in “The Wealth of Nations,” published in 1776. The most quoted phrase from his book is that every individual, acting in his own self-interest, is “led by an invisible hand” to promote the public interest. But Democrats see it as an evil, exploiting force that only benefits the rich. They see greed instead of self-interest.

The U.S. Constitution is a brilliant political document designed to limit government, safeguard individual liberty, and protect the rights of the minority. Despite being written more than 200 years ago, it gives a clear, sound direction while providing enough flexibility to adapt to today’s world. However, Democrats don’t understand or agree with the thinking behind it and often try to subvert it to their own ends.

Propaganda is an intentional and systemic effort to use language to achieve a defined set of goals. It is dogmatic, the opposite of an open exchange of ideas. It promotes lies and distorts the truth through omission and distortion. Democrats are experts at this. They are deceptive about their proposed policies, the reasons for their proposed policies, the results of their past policies, and the ideas and character of their opponents.

A major initiative of the Democratic party was stacking universities with left-leaning professors. In the 1960s, many bright and affluent students in elite universities avoided the Vietnam era draft by staying in school to earn post-graduate degrees. They tended to be anti-war Democrats. Many chose university teaching careers to influence the next generation of students and ultimately controlled which faculty members were hired and who would receive tenure. Today, university professors are overwhelmingly Democrats who advocate for extreme liberal philosophies and policies and actively disparage and suppress conservative ideas.

Once established at the university level, Democrats were positioned to influence ensuing generations of K-12 public-school teachers who then passionately advocated for liberal ideas and social policies. Today, class curriculums are peppered with liberal propaganda, our public schools are controlled by Democrats and will be for decades. With control of public schools, they influence and indoctrinate children. Given the political leanings of its members who overwhelmingly vote for Democrats, the major teacher unions are megaphones for the Democratic party. The Democrats they elect return the favor with lucrative salaries, benefits, and pensions for their members…

DISCLOSURE: While I agree with everything you’ve just read, these aren’t my words. They’re a sampling condensed from a new book by Drew Baker, “Why Democrats are Dangerous.” Drew earned a bachelor’s degree in economics at Dartmouth and an MBA from the University of Chicago. After a successful banking career, he moved to North Carolina where he taught economics and business in college.

I knew Drew when he was growing up and I became his brother-in-law. In 1970, when he was 15, I bought him a subscription to National Review magazine, William F. Buckley’s conservative flagship, and introduced him to the works of Milton Friedman and Ayn Rand. I, too, changed course from my business career to join the war of ideas as a rare conservative in the liberal media. A great source of gratification is to have mentored young people to join that cause. I couldn’t be prouder of Drew.

In about 100 concise pages, his book packs loads of wisdom and factual examples of Democrat duplicity in plain talk that makes it a great primer for young people and a reaffirmation for all who want to restore America. You can get it at AuthorHouse.com or at your favorite online bookstore.

By Jon Caldara

My son is severely disabled with Down syndrome. Since just turning 21, he is no longer eligible for K-12 educational services from our school district. Like many Colorado graduates today, he cannot read, write or consistently count to five. But on the bright side, I will continue to pay taxes to the school district that no longer helps him.

Other states provide education services for the disabled until age 22. Michigan provides it up to 26. The ugly catch there is you must live in Michigan. And I just don’t hate my son that much.

The fear for people in my situation is that the disabled people we love are cut out of an integrated society of people their age, just to be warehoused until they die.

This is the time in my son’s life I’ve dreaded the most. How do I keep him learning and growing without school?

And now add to that the scaling back of Medicaid spending in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.

The “perma-crisis” media and paid panic class are scaring people like me that up to 12 million people, including the poor, elderly and handicapped, will be cruelly purged from Medicaid on which their lives depend. Those who avoid the ax will suffer heartless and severe cuts and endless red tape.

We’re told that society should be judged by how we treat the most vulnerable. So logically, the new law proves Americans are heartless, greedy and cruel.

Let me first say how grateful I am to the generous people of America and Colorado for the resources they provide for people like my son. (I’m looking at you, dear taxpayers.) There was a time when only churches and fraternal organizations helped the disabled, and that depended fully on charity.

Most Americans believe there is a government role for a safety net to care for those who are incapable of caring for themselves. But being incapable of caring of oneself is quite different than just preferring not to.

So, before we believe the spin and completely freak out over people like my son being dumped on the side of the road to die, it might be worth looking at what the new law does.

Overwhelmingly, the savings from this change in Medicaid come from a simple work requirement. If you want near-free health care, you need to be a productive part of society. Does this mean the Republican pipe dream comes true? Developmentally delayed children in wheelchairs working in coal mines? Sadly, no.

The work requirement is only for those who are able to work, and even then, one only needs a half-time job, or a volunteer job. And those caring for children are exempt.

Before Obamacare, my son’s mom and I had to fight for three years to get him accepted by Medicaid. Three years! The kid with Down syndrome who needed open heart surgery to survive, among another dozen operations and procedures, could not get Medicaid.

It took three years for the federal government to believe he was disabled.

After Obamacare, any able-bodied fraternity bro could go online and be enrolled in Medicaid in five minutes, without expectation of paying into the system. Rewarding not working surprisingly results in fewer people working (and less tax money to give to people who don’t work).

Medicaid’s no longer a safety net for the nation’s most vulnerable. It is a La-Z-Boy recliner for able people to receive health care for near nothing.

As we found under welfare reform during the Clinton years, demanding able people work before they get freebies dramatically reduces the amount of those asking for handouts. The fearmongering over welfare reform turned out to be like the Y2K panic of 1999. The horror never materialized. The same is likely true here.

The new bill will require states to pick up a bit more of their own Medicaid costs. This is not a bad thing. It means that states like Colorado that promote Medicare benefits to people here illegally will have to rethink their free-for-all. Even California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom is saying they should stop enrolling immigrants here illegally in Medicaid.

Could the paid-to-panic crowd be more upset that the new law bars Medicaid money for “gender affirming care”? Heaven forbid a man be denied a boob-job — so there’s money instead for a kid to get a wheelchair.

By Jon Caldara

I remember asking a Denver cop how the morale was among his peers. His answer, “Well, let me put it this way. Yesterday, I arrested a guy for stealing four cars. Two hours later, I arrested the very same guy for stealing a car again.” Criminals who are issued the equivalent of a parking ticket and kicked out of jail in mere minutes after their major felonies must be a greater demotivator for cops than a doughnut ban.

How can you keep doing your job when your work is rigged so, no matter how hard you endeavor, it doesn’t really make any difference? Imagine being in charge of recruiting police officers in large metro cities today.

The same sense of making no real difference, of complete irrelevance, is infecting the ranks of Colorado Republican legislators. It’s so bad, two of the best have decided to quit their jobs, pull up stakes, and get the hell out of Dodge.

Senate Majority Leader Paul Lundeen was perhaps the most sane, articulate, politically savvy and principled Republican under the Gold Dome. In any other state he’d be looking to run for governor. But this isn’t any other state, so, instead, he’s looking to run away.

This is the hyper-progressive state of Colorado. Being in the micro-minority year after year after year and watching freedom-limiting, economy-killing, social engineering bills becoming law, well, it has got to be like the cop watching everyone he arrests back out on the street moments after being caught 

Honestly, how do you get up in the morning?

Lundeen is fleeing to take a job with the American Excellence Foundation to spread the word of limited government to states that might listen.

So that Paul doesn’t feel alone in his escape from the asylum — I’m sorry, the “unsupervised mental health facility” — the equally sane House Minority Whip Ryan Armagost is bolting out of the state for an undisclosed “fantastic professional opportunity” in Arizona 

Rumor has it he landed a more enjoyable and respected job there like telemarketer, pig slaughterer, crack whore or even assistant crack whore.

Is there a more lonely and frankly useless job in Colorado, outside of Rockies general manager, than being a Republican state legislator, shooting rubber bands at bad ideas?

Frankly, those who stay and fight, I’m looking at you, Rose Pugliese, are amazingly optimistic and resilient people who deserve at least a commercial by Sarah McLachlan. “Hi, I’m Sarah McLachlan. Will you be an angel for a helpless legislator? Everyday, innocent Republican legislators are abused, beaten and neglected. And they’re crying out for help. For just $5 million a month, you can rescue these legislators from their abusers.”

But it’s not just abused Republicans who can no longer take it. The growing civil war between Democrats is beginning to take its toll.

Remember that scene from “Gone with the Wind” with the acres of wounded laying around the train station? In Colorado, the merely-progressive Democrats of the North are attacked by the socialist Democrats of the South with similar results.

Recall, Democrats have near veto-proof majorities in both houses, all statewide offices, including governor and attorney general, and judges almost completely appointed by progressive Democrat governors. Like your sibling whom your parents love more than you, Democrats get whatever they want.

Your wallet is their oyster. Resigning in 2023, Democratic Rep. Ruby Dickson said the “sensationalistic and vitriolic nature of the current political environment is not healthy for me or my family.”

Democratic Rep. Said Sharbini left, citing “the polarized and contentious climate in the state House.” Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis said the job was emotionally and physically tough when she recently split.

But these spoiled kids can have anything they want. They’re not squabbling with Republicans. Republicans aren’t even in the equation. Republicans are hiding in the janitor’s closet hoping not to be found and slapped around. These Democrats are backbiting fellow Democrats.

The “sensationalistic and vitriolic” unhealthy environment is amongst themselves. The polarization and emotional toll isn’t coming from the feckless Republicans.

Team Left is beginning to eat their own.

More than 20% of our legislators were never voted into office in the first place. They were appointed to fill vacancies of those who wanted to get out.

Though this calls for reform of how vacancies are filled, the bigger question is, what are the Democrats doing to make the place so unlivable?

By Jon Caldara

When a city’s major league sports team wins a world championship, celebrations get out of hand. Fans get intoxicated, they vomit and urinate on sidewalks, throw trash everywhere, light stuff on fire, break windows, get into brawls with police and more.

In other words, they turn their city into what Denver already looks like.

I was with an out-of-towner the other day when he looked around and said, “Whoa, I didn’t know the Nuggets won the championship.”

Denver has no world champions right now. But we might by the end of this baseball season. There’s a very good chance the Colorado Rockies will end the year in very last place. That is, they could be this year’s champions of really sucking at baseball.

The city already looks like we’ve won the World Series. So, if we become world champions of losing, logically we should have the opposite reaction. I expect people to uncontrollably pick up litter, hose down sidewalks, scrub graffiti off walls and forcibly bathe transients.

It could be the prize for being first of the worst. Maybe the embarrassment will focus the collective mind of Denver to clean itself up. When things go bad, people change. I’ve seen newly divorced women get in shape, buy attractive outfits and try out a new version of themselves. That could be Denver after being divorced from winning.

Of course, newly divorced men usually put on 20 pounds from binging Doritos and Netflix, so let’s move on from this bad analogy.

But there is even bigger title. The worst season for any professional baseball team was 1918. The Philadelphia Athletics won an infinitesimal 36 games all season, with a win-ratio of .235. Halfway through this season, the Rockies have won only 18 games, a ratio of .225 (due to today’s longer seasons). We’re on track!

I’m telling you, we can do this! With a little team discipline, no changes in pitching, and a bit of luck, the Rox have a shot at the all-time greatest loser title!

The Harlem Globetrotters, who always win, constantly play the Washington Generals, who always lose. The Generals make their money by losing. I’ve learned that the hard way, by always betting on them (I mean, come on, they’re due).

The Rockies are the Washington Generals of baseball. People don’t pay to see them win. People come to see the other team. Thus, games against popular teams, like the Dodgers and Yankees, are packed.

The Rox have a disincentive to hire better players and coaches. It would cut into their profits. Oddly, they make more money when other teams’ owners hire better, expensive talent. That sells more home Rockies tickets.

Colorado is sports crazy. We love sports more than teenage girls love Taylor Swift. Coloradans keep shelling out crazy prices to see teams lose. And damn those designers of Coors Field. It’s the most beautiful, serene and timeless ballpark in the country. Who doesn’t want to go there?

We show up for ball games no matter how lousy the team is. Heck, I just took my son to see the L.A. Dodgers humiliate us. Bought my kid a hamburger and a Coke for $25, while envisaging the hotdog and soda at Costco I get for $1.50.

What’s the plan, what’s the celebration if we hit that century-old, all-time crappiest record for a city which has turned, literally, rather crappy? The Rockies’ owners need to answer that and take leadership. They’re the real winners in the Rox losing seasons.

Since the Rockies can’t, or won’t, invest in winning talent, I think the least they can do is promise a big gift to the people of Colorado should they break the all-time losing record. After all, this community bought them a taxpayer-built stadium, fills it regularly and chokes down bus-station food at airport-food prices.

Should they break the all-time record, I say the Rockies should commit $10 million to clean up Denver. A one-time litter pickup and washdown won’t do. The money should be spent on lobbying city government to enforce the laws against living on the streets, litter, car theft and assault.

Give us something to root for, Rox! Commit you’ll clean up our trashed-out city, be the voice City Hall can’t ignore. Demand the city be saved block by block.

Let us root for Blocktober!

By Mike Rosen

On June 14, a trio of events intersected. It was the birthday of the United States Army, but far more than a typical birthday it was the 250th. It was also Flag Day, commemorating the adoption of the flag of the United States by resolution of the Second Continental Congress in 1775. And, coincidentally, it was also the 79th birthday of President Donald Trump. I say “coincidentally,” because the first two of these events were obviously of greater significance than Trump’s birthday as, with his characteristic modesty, he’d certainly concede.

Not coincidentally, it was the day picked by a virulently anti-Trump, radically leftist group that goes by the childishly idiotic name of “No Kings.” (At first glance I thought they hated Elvis Presley.) It recruited 175 like-minded outfits to join in a mass protest in “2,100 cities and towns” labeled the “No Kings Nationwide Day of Defiance.” The roster included the ACLU, Democratic Socialists of America, the American Federation of Government Employees, the American Federation of Teachers, and even some communist groups. “No Kings” bragged it’s goal was to “upstage Trump’s self-coronation event by grabbing more of the attention.” Hardly a self-coronation, plans for the celebration of the Army’s 250th birthday, started two years ago, well before Trump’s election.

Attending or even watching the parade on TV with 7,000 troops marching in combat fatigues and other uniforms amidst Abrams tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, motorized cannons, and warplanes flying overhead is the last thing that crowd would want to do. For most of them, patriotism is a dirty word. No Kings claimed 5 million people joined their protests. I’d rank their credibility on this estimate about low as Hamas’ daily count of civilian casualties in Gaza.

But even if there were 5 million protestors, that would be a mere 1.4% of America’s 344 million population. That leaves quite a few who didn’t participate. On the other hand, here’s my ballpark guesstimate of how many Americans on June 14 much preferred the celebration in Washington, the military parade, patriotic music and fireworks: Counting active-duty military personnel, reservists, the national guard, military veterans of all the services, their families and friends, 77 million people who voted for Trump in 2024, the many millions of Americans who are thankful for our military, our police, our ICE and border patrol officers, patriots who still love our country, and even some Democrats, I’d put that number at more than 200 million.

As an Army vet myself, I had a lump in my throat watching all that. Despite the petty whining of leftists, the US Army deserved nothing less than a parade like this on its 250th birthday.

As for the recognition of Trump’s birthday being a “self-coronation” overshadowing the event, the gift of an American flag to him by a member of the Army’s Golden Knights paratroop team and some soldiers in front of the podium singing “Happy Birthday” took just 10 minutes. (A thinly-clad Marilyn Monroe singing a sultry version of “Happy Birthday” to JFK on his 45th birthday in 1962 at a Democrat fund-raiser in NYC’s Madison Square Garden had a different flavor. I doubt Melania would approve.)

Crowds in the Denver protest ironically waved Mexican, Palestinian and LGBTQ+ flags, which was not quite the intent of Flag Day. There were some American flags but I suspect that was more for show than love of country for many of the anti-American protestors. It’s an irrational contradiction when illegal immigrants who deserted Mexico to come here wave Mexican flags and burn American ones while they fight deportation back to Mexico.

Predictably, this “mostly peaceful” protest ultimately turned unlawful and violent when some assaulted police, started fires, obstructed roadways and attempted to block I-25, with some 35 arrests made. The First Amendment protects your right to “peaceably” assemble and to “petition the government for a redress of grievances.” These are not peaceful acts or petitions. No one has a right to break the law because they disagree with it.

As their protest moved theatrically to the Governor’s mansion (where Jared Polis and his spouse don’t actually reside) one leftist fool proclaimed that Polis is a just another of the “corrupt politicians who run this country.” As if the Democrat politicians who run Colorado aren’t leftist enough for him. Another speaker was cheered for advocating revolution, shouting “This is what democracy looks like.” No. Angry mobs, in general, that disturb the peace, assault the police, set fire to vehicles, obstruct immigration officers from doing their job, and incite revolution isn’t democracy, it’s mobocracy. Trump’s election was democracy.

By Jon Caldara

Colorado’s Secretary of State Jena Griswold is responsible for running the state’s TRACER system. This is the public database where campaigns must file their contribution and expenditure disclosures. If you wanna see who’s funding a candidate, that’s where you go.

But if you went there last week, you would have seen it was “down for maintenance.”

That was a lie. There was no “maintenance.”

Griswold took it down to have the home addresses of elected officials redacted from the site. In the wake of the shootings of state legislators in Minnesota, many of Colorado’s elected officials asked her to do it.

So why not just tell us that? We would have more than understood the truth.

This database is required by law. Scrubbing it might or might not be a good policy. She might or might not have the authority to do it. But to fib and say it was “down for maintenance” just adds to the reasons trust in government is at an all-time low. They can’t even tell us the truth on this reasonable feat.

In fact, we might not have known any of this falsehood had it not been for a scoop by Axios Denver’s John Frank. Only when confronted did the Jena’s office cop to shutting it down to redact information. Yes, a tiny lie. But that’s the gateway drug to big lies.

A couple of years back, the Colorado Department of Transportation didn’t want folks driving on a high mountain pass during a snowstorm, so they lied and said it was closed. A fabrication, it was open and fine.

There is a pretension and arrogance with those it’s-for-your-own-good lies. And it conditions citizens to let government play parent to them.

It takes a certain amount of arrogance to use the machinery of government to promote inaccuracies and lies (insert Trump joke here). Government should be the record holder and storehouse of truth.

The secretary of state, county clerks, law enforcement, auditors and researchers must be wholly committed to recording only the full truth, no matter what.

Where does my property line end and yours begin? Who owns that car? When was someone born? When did he die? We must trust government records or pretty much everything — everything — falls apart.

But now records can be redacted and altered.

Changing one’s gender on a Colorado birth certificate is as easy as changing your mailing address. Was a person born a boy on a certain date? Who knows? Those records can now be legally falsified.

If changing birth certificates is legal, I need to change the birth date on mine. I identify as 67 despite the government record saying I’m 60. I want my Social Security checks now.

We’re told redacting TRACER records was a matter of safety for those in politics. But lots of us are in politics. Why only protect the elected?

These records still show the home addresses of everyone of us who donated to a campaign. Aren’t we worth the same level of safety and protection?

If an elected official is targeted for an act of violence, wouldn’t those who paid for him to get into office also be possible targets? Why does Griswold protect the privacy of her elected colleagues but not their supporters?

There’s a reason why people want to give their money anonymously — to save their lives and livelihoods.

During the bloody civil rights battles, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, NAACP, had to go to court to protect their donor’s privacy. Why? If doxed, those who financed their mission would have been lynched.

A few years back, there was a mass shooting at a Planned Parenthood office in Colorado Springs. Fortunately, Planned Parenthood also keeps their donors private. If that shooter could look up their funders’ addresses, they might have been targeted, too.

Every year the legislature tries to pass bills to end donor privacy, labeling such donations as “soft money.” “Soft money” is the pejorative term for “political speech I want to support, but don’t want to be killed over.”

How fun it will be to watch those very legislators who pressured Jena Griswold to redact their home addresses to turn around and demand others involved in politics be treated differently and stay easy targets.

Privacy and security for me. Exposure for thee.

By Jon Caldara

I got to know Jeff Hunt in his many years running the socially conservative Centennial Institute at Colorado Christian University. He now co-hosts the morning talk radio show on 710 KNUS.

He is a social conservative Christian; I’m a libertarian conservative. In other words, he’s wrong about a lot of stuff, but you know, in that oh-so-righteous way. And that’s what makes teasing him so fun.

We get into friendly brawls over moral questions like doctor-assisted suicide and end-of-life issues, where he explains God’s greatest gift to man was free will, and somehow it’s social conservatives’ job to take it away. (OK, he never said that, I did.)

Anyway, sometimes I just wanna kick him. And, oh, my lord, I’m not the only one.

Not only did he get aggressively kicked in the back a few days ago, but it was so satisfying some 9 million people needed to watch the video of it on social media.

To be clear, there is no reliable proof I put any “kick me” sign on his back.

A little context: Jeff has always had a keen sense of social media self-promotion, handy when you’re an aspiring talk-show host. He’s made it a habit of going to angry leftist rallies with a video camera and asking people straightforward questions while recording the inane answers.

Remember Jay Leno’s “Jaywalking” routine? It’s like that, but instead of the people being just idiots, they’re angry and unhinged, as well. Good stuff.

At last week’s anti-ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) rally at the state Capitol, he was meandering through the crowd videotaping the mostly peaceful protest when, out of nowhere, a man viciously kicks him in the lower back. Worse than a sucker punch, there’s absolutely no way to see it coming. And yes, there was a real injury.

Being the stand-up person it takes to kick someone in the back, this young, white man runs off as the crowd is chanting, “No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here!”

Immigrants are welcome here. Others with different viewpoint, however, will be assaulted.

It’s worth making the small observation these protestors call Trump a fascist and carry placards of him cartooned as Adolf Hitler. Remember, it was Hitler’s followers who beat up those with opposing views. Physical assault is a fascist tactic. So, exactly who are the fascists here?

We could go on that theme all day. It was Hitler’s fascists who attacked Jews. Today, it’s pro-Palestine progressive college kids and illegal immigrants throwing Molotov cocktails attacking Jews. So again, exactly who are the fascists here?

Jeff followed and confronted his assailant on camera, who calmly responded to Jeff, “Hey pal, what are you here for?” Well, to be physically assaulted at your peaceful protest, of course. Duh.

Two interesting things followed. First, a fellow protester intervenes and advises the assailant to stop talking, obviously a criminal lawyer in the making. “Don’t talk to him, you’re going to ruin the image.”

The guy didn’t say, “Hey, we don’t do violence,” or “apologize to the man for kicking him,” but “you’re going to ruin the image.” That speaks volumes. It shows what’s important to the protestors. Imagery.

And secondly, the assailant says to this budding lawyer and public relations expert, “He pissed me off, okay.” That’s important because it shows intent. This guy was angered by Jeff, so he attacked him. That makes this a premeditated assault.

Jeff has gone to the police. The assailant is very easy to identify. So, we’ll see if this mostly peaceful protest results in criminal charges.

Jeff has covered about a dozen such protests and tells me they are growing in intensity and anger. The Bernie Sanders/Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez rally drew a crowd of mellow, old Boulderites making it resemble an audience at a John Tesh concert. The latest rallies have more people covering their faces with masks and itching to brawl with police.

And unlike the earlier rallies, Jeff is now followed by his own personal entourage of antifa censors. Whenever he starts filming a conversation with a protester, these people swoop in to tell the person not to interact with Jeff, ending the interview.

Another telltale sign of fascism is clamping down on free speech.

Look for the violence and vandalism to ratchet up. These people just can’t help themselves.