Rocky Mountain Voice

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The COvid Chronicles June 16-23, 2020: Social justice got a platform—police got massive reform
Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, State, Top Stories

The COvid Chronicles June 16-23, 2020: Social justice got a platform—police got massive reform

By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board In this ninth chapter of The COvid Chronicles, summer arrived—but sanity didn’t. Looking back at our COVID-19 history is painful. But as Spanish-American philosopher put it, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Approaching the summer solstice, Colorado entered a new phase—shaped not just by COVID-19, but by weeks of racial unrest.  Early tremors signaled what was coming. Inflation began to stir.  Ever-libertarian Gov. Jared Polis sermonized about how Coloradans needed the right “responsibility, behavior and will” to earn their freedoms back. CU Boulder, shrine of elite enlightenment, spoke solemnly of COVID safety out of one side of its mouth and pledged allegiance to the state’s racial reckoning out ...
Devotional: The compass that always points to truth
Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, Devotional, Top Stories

Devotional: The compass that always points to truth

By Pastor Drake Hunter | Commentary, Elevating Life Church I’ll never forget the sting of the Texas sun at Camp Bullis, just outside of San Antonio. It was the next phase of my training, following Basic Training and the Police Academy at Lackland Air Force Base. This training wasn’t just about learning the ins and outs of the M60 machine gun or polishing our field discipline—it was survival training in its rawest form. Out there in the wild terrain, you either adapted or you got lost. Literally. One of the most essential portions of our field training was compass navigation. Now, this wasn’t just about map-reading for the sake of passing a test. In real-world combat or security situations, knowing where you are—and where you’re headed—can be the difference between safety and disaster...
Garbo: Sheriff Darren Weekly is the exception that proves the GOP’s problem
Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, Local, Top Stories

Garbo: Sheriff Darren Weekly is the exception that proves the GOP’s problem

By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice In 2022, Darren Weekly wasn’t supposed to win. At least not according to the self-appointed gatekeepers of Republican purity in Douglas County. Branded a “RINO,” derided as “Tony 2.0,” and accused of being soft on Second Amendment rights due to the endorsement of outgoing Sheriff Tony Spurlock, Weekly was the target of aggressive intra-party attacks. The purist wing of the GOP put its full weight behind John Anderson, another outstanding, articulate, and Constitution-minded candidate whose campaign centered on resisting the Red Flag law and defending liberty.  I was among Anderson’s vocal supporters - endorsing, donating, campaigning, and even hosting events on his behalf. But Weekly won. By just over one percentag...
Jeffco Kids First: Court sides with defamer, silences truth in heartbreaking reversal
Jeffco Kids First, Approved, Commentary, Local

Jeffco Kids First: Court sides with defamer, silences truth in heartbreaking reversal

Lindsay Datko | Commentary, Jeffco Kids First The sharp sting of brutal injustice cuts deep, searing the soul. Your time spent reading this is my measure of justice, and for that, I am profoundly grateful. “In reviewing the record, the Court identifies instances of Defendants’ conduct that a trier of fact could find as clear and convincing evidence of their anger and hostility toward Plaintiffs to sufficiently show actual malice.” Judge Loewer On the afternoon of October 7, 2022, my phone lit up with text messages: “You need an attorney ASAP.”  “Be prepared, there’s an article that just came out.”  Everything went silent except the ringing in my ears as I read the article, the world spinning around me. I remember the exact square-footage of my kitchen I was standing in. With m...
Gazette editorial board: Why taxing servers and medics is political malpractice
denvergazette.com, Approved, Commentary, State

Gazette editorial board: Why taxing servers and medics is political malpractice

The Gazette editorial board | Commentary, Denver Gazette You’d think our state’s ruling Democrats would be doing their level best to win back the working class in advance of next year’s national midterm election. It will be a referendum, after all, on the Trump presidency and congressional Republicans — who won power last year with the support of workers long deemed the sole domain of the Democratic Party. Yet, Colorado’s Legislature and Gov. Jared Polis decided to gut-punch Colorado workers, instead — by essentially taxing their hard-earned overtime wages. That provision was buried in an obscure, wide-ranging bill innocuously titled, “Tax Expenditure Adjustment,” which lawmakers passed this spring. Polis signed it into law in May. The state’s overtime tax is intended to offset fe...
Gaines: Watch the framing—Karlik’s slant and Polis’ quiet appointments
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Gaines: Watch the framing—Karlik’s slant and Polis’ quiet appointments

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Colorado Politics' Karlik lets his bias slip (again). Colorado Politics judicial reporter Michael Karlik is back at it (see the first link below for an earlier post about his reporting). If it's not using his pen to question the motives of a conservative judge, it's tossing softballs at a liberal judge rather than challenging him. It's framing his questions in such a way as to clearly indicate what the point of the whole endeavor has been. The Colorado Politics article linked second below is a Q and A Karlik had with retired judge John Leopold** to discuss Leopold's signing an amicus brief about the arrests of Minnesota Judge Hannah Dugan. She was the one who hustled someone ICE had a warrant for out the back door whe...
Garbo: The Hippocratic Oath demands compassion—even for MAGA voters suffering from Texas floods
Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, National, Top Stories

Garbo: The Hippocratic Oath demands compassion—even for MAGA voters suffering from Texas floods

By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice The moment Dr. Christina B. Propst chose to mock flood-stricken Texans as “getting what they voted for,” she exposed a depth of moral bankruptcy that defies belief. In a now-deleted Facebook post under the name “Chris Tina,” she wished safety only for “children, non-MAGA voters and pets,” while implying that political affiliation should determine who deserves compassion amid a deadly disaster.  Her employer, Blue Fish Pediatrics, acted swiftly to dismiss her. But firing her is only the first step in addressing a breach that demands far stronger accountability. Propst’s remarks struck at the heart of medical ethics.  Every physician takes an oath to treat patients impartially, regardless of background or belie...
O’Donnell: The Strategic Plan that turned patriots into suspects remains unresolved
Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, National, Top Stories

O’Donnell: The Strategic Plan that turned patriots into suspects remains unresolved

By Mike O’Donnell | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice In April of this year, the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, declassified a June 2021 plan by the previous Biden administration to counter domestic terrorism. During his four-year term, President Biden repeatedly stated that “Domestic terrorism from white supremacists is the most lethal terrorist threat in the homeland.” Variations on this catchphrase were parroted by other senior politicians in the Biden circle—although never with any corroborating evidence. The declassified 15-page document, titled the Strategic Implementation Plan for Countering Domestic Terrorism, was intended to confront this supposedly lethal threat. This came even as the administration simultaneously opened the gates at the southern ...