Rocky Mountain Voice

Commentary

The COvid Chronicles May 1–7, 2020: Seven days that set the stage for open rebellion
Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

The COvid Chronicles May 1–7, 2020: Seven days that set the stage for open rebellion

By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board This third installment of RMV’s COvid Chronicles is divided into two parts — for good reason. The first week of May set the stage for something bigger: the breaking point. As pressure mounted and defiance spread, Colorado crossed from quiet frustration into open resistance. Part one captures the fuse. Part two will show the wildfire. May began just like April ended – edicts from above, fear from the press and politicians telling Coloradans to stay home, shut up and stay six feet apart. But by the first week of the month, cracks were showing.  From Castle Rock to Colorado Springs, citizens, sheriffs and small-business owners weren’t waiting for permission. They had bills to pay, kids to raise and a Constitution they weren’t willing to qu...
Sencenbaugh: DEI and CRT may sound noble, but they’re driving academic mediocrity in schools
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Sencenbaugh: DEI and CRT may sound noble, but they’re driving academic mediocrity in schools

By Robert Sencenbaugh | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice If you are on the left or the right, Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in the average classroom does not look like one tends to believe. Both are far more subtle. Thus, any debate on these issues devolves into both sides yelling at one another with neither actually listening. During a House Oversight Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) declared, “We can stop with the nonsense because K-12 was not teaching critical race theory…in our country K-12 is not learning critical race theory. Just for those who are unfamiliar.”  Having taught in both Texas and Colorado, I can tell you that she is not being completely honest. While she is correct ...
Walcher: Want to fix Congress? Break the budget process first
Approved, Commentary, GregWalcher.com, National

Walcher: Want to fix Congress? Break the budget process first

By Greg Walcher | Commentary, GregWalcher.com A popular blogger called Taylor Cone gave some great advice for budding inventors, discussing the process of prototyping: build it, then break it, then fix it. That’s a strategy Congress ought to try. The House Appropriations Committee, Congress’s most powerful panel, has 63 members, only 8 of whom have ever voted to do what the law requires of them, namely, to pass 12 appropriation bills to fund government agencies and programs. In fact, Congress has passed the required bills on time only 4 times in the last 40 years, the last time 26 years ago. Only 25 of the 435 House members and 8 of the 100 Senators were even in Congress then, all of them now in their 70s, 80s, and 90s. They may not even remember how it was supposed to work. The b...
Enos: Colorado’s 2025 session pushed the most woke agenda we’ve ever seen
Approved, Christian Home Educators of Colorado, Commentary, State

Enos: Colorado’s 2025 session pushed the most woke agenda we’ve ever seen

By Colleen Enos | Commentary, Christian Home Educators of Colorado “Woke” does not begin to describe the ideological beliefs of the majority in the Colorado legislature. They have become bold in their desire to reorder our lives in accordance with two basic ideological beliefs. First, there is no intrinsic value to human life. It is a commodity to be disposed of at will, and the destruction of pre-born life is a required service in every emergency room. Second, there is no such thing as a person’s sex; it is merely a “gender identity” seen through “gender expression.” Ryan Anderson explains that the origins of “trans” thinking come from cultural breakdown and fear, among other things. “Too many people were afraid to say that the emperor has no clothes,” he reasons. The...
McWilliams: Social-emotional learning teaches empathy—but through whose lens?
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McWilliams: Social-emotional learning teaches empathy—but through whose lens?

By Jennifer McWilliams | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Social-emotional learning (SEL) is championed as a way to instill empathy, emotional strength, and relationship building skills in students. Sounds perfect for K-12, doesn’t it? Think again. SEL is designed to push a leftist agenda on students and transform their attitudes, values, beliefs and worldview towards “leftist radical ideology.” It promotes specific emotional behaviors that force kids into lockstep conformity, crushing their individuality and critical thinking, all while hiding behind the facade of “mental health.” An ongoing challenge to stopping this is that parents are deceived into thinking SEL is teaching their children life skills in a way they approve. They hear “Social Emotional Learning’s flowery la...
Hancock: The future of Colorado hangs between boom and blackout
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Hancock: The future of Colorado hangs between boom and blackout

By Michael A. Hancock | Commentary, Substack There's a difference between dreaming big and hallucinating. Colorado's progressive legislators have yet to figure that out. Once a beacon of frontier grit and entrepreneurial promise, Colorado is drifting into a twilight of self-imposed stagnation. This isn't the result of some unforeseeable external shock. No. The decline is being engineered — brick by legislative brick — by a political class more interested in social signaling than in fostering economic vitality. The question isn't whether Colorado faces a reckoning. The question is whether we will admit the cause before we hit the wall. Let's start with energy, the lifeblood of any serious economy. Colorado holds a wealth of natural resources—oil, gas, coal, and uranium— all of ...
Caldara: Time to see if Polis will choose his socialist friends or Colorado’s future
Approved, Commentary, denvergazette.com, State

Caldara: Time to see if Polis will choose his socialist friends or Colorado’s future

By Jon Caldara | Commentary, Denver Gazette There are only three jobs worth having in Colorado. The first is fortunately mine. Any person who can make a living by indulging his passion is beyond blessed. I somehow have provided for my family by fighting for personal and economic freedom in Colorado. Running Independence Institute, Colorado’s machine to promote liberty principles over party, politicians and special interests, is a dream come true. The next coolest job in Colorado is quarterback for the Denver Broncos, which, by the way, I would be totally awesome at. The only other job I’d want here would be governor, the most influential and powerful gig for changing policy and shaping the state’s future. And to be Jared Polis, a near billionaire to boot, would be a rip. I m...
Notarfrancesco: Pueblo D70 Schools handed kids’ emotional data to political NGOs without parental consent
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Notarfrancesco: Pueblo D70 Schools handed kids’ emotional data to political NGOs without parental consent

By Kelly Notarfrancesco | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice  It is said there is no such thing as a free lunch.  One small school district in Pueblo, Colorado, recently learned that a free lunch can be served with a side of community outrage. When the Pueblo D70 Board of Education unanimously voted in March of 2024 to “accept” a significant in-kind gift of $700,000 from the organization TRAILS (Transforming Research into Action to Improve the Lives of Students), did they realize what they were implementing in district classrooms?  D70 accepted a “gift” of controversial psychosocial educational content, financed and promoted by multi-million-dollar non-governmental organizations dedicated to transforming the world through social change.    The...
The Good, the Bad, and the Alarming: What You Need to Know from Colorado’s 2025 Legislative Session
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The Good, the Bad, and the Alarming: What You Need to Know from Colorado’s 2025 Legislative Session

By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board The 2025 legislative session officially adjourned Wednesday evening after 120 days, leaving behind a flood of new laws, deep partisan divides, and a public increasingly skeptical of the pace and priorities of progressive lawmakers. From sweeping gender identity mandates to gun control and TABOR attacks, the Democrat supermajority pushed through one of the most ideologically driven sessions in recent memory. Here’s a full breakdown of what passed, what failed—and what it all means for Colorado: 🔺 The Most Controversial Bills of Session SB25-003 – Gun Permit-to-Purchase Law (BECAME LAW): What began as a sweeping semi-auto ban was revised—under pressure from Gov. Polis—into a permit-to-purchase system. Starting in 2026, Coloradans must take ...
Davidson: Why Pope Leo XIV will probably not be Francis 2.0
Approved, Commentary, The Federalist

Davidson: Why Pope Leo XIV will probably not be Francis 2.0

By John Daniel Davidson | The Federalist It didn’t take long after Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, emerged onto the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica on Thursday as the new leader of the Catholic Church for social media commentators on the right to begin decrying him as “Francis 2.0.” This snap judgment was based largely on his social media history of reposting criticisms of President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance on immigration policy, as well as a few reposts of left-wing claptrap on climate change and race relations.  So does this mean the 69-year-old Chicago-born Pope Leo is going to be the next Pope Francis? The short answer is: probably not. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE FEDERALIST