On July 4, a sense of place

(Denver Post, July 5) In lieu of fireworks, a cannon boomed at sunrise and sunset over Lewis and Clark’s campsite on a Missouri River tributary in present-day Kansas on July 4, 1804. They drank a toast and named the place Independence Creek. It was the first-ever Fourth of July celebration west of the Mississippi, writes Stephen Ambrose in Undaunted Courage. This weekend, 233 years after the Declaration of Independence claimed for Americans our “separate and equal station… among the powers of the earth,” the Colorado map abounds with reminders of the nation’s heroes and heritage. We overlook them amid the daily routine. Let’s note a few examples and think about why they matter. Colorado was at first part of Kansas Territory. We were later called Jefferson Territory, commemorating the man who authored the Declaration, bought the vast West from France, and dispatched Lewis and Clark to explore it. Jefferson County is all that’s left of that, though a town in South Park also bears his name.

Independence was a mining camp between Leadville and Aspen. It’s gone, but mighty Independence Pass remains, great for summer snowball fights when we were kids. Independence Street traverses Jefferson County, a hundred blocks west of Washington, Adams, and Madison streets. Other Denver streets honor Franklin and Jay, Jackson and Lincoln, Grant and Sherman. Up the Platte there’s also a Mt. Sherman and a town of Grant.

But as for the community where I live, “there was no Centennial,” James Michener assures us in his 1974 novel by that title. No, in pioneer days there wasn’t, but since 2000 there has been. Life imitates art. Colorado’s moniker as the Centennial State, of course, came with our statehood year of 1876, a century after the original Glorious Fourth. Town names logically followed, first fictional, then real.

Lest this historical ramble seem too lofty, we can also recall the old Centennial Racetrack near Littleton, where, if nothing politically profound occurred, at least liberty and the pursuit of happiness flourished. And for the Michener fans, we’ll note that a road in Douglas County bears the name of his imaginary Venneford Ranch. An Aurora restaurant even enshrined his trapper Pasquinel.

All quite diverting, but proving little, you say. What’s in a name anyway? Cinderella City once sat astride Jefferson Avenue in Englewood, after all. What is history, you’ll scoff with Napoleon (he of the astute Louisiana land sale, three cents an acre), but “a set of lies agreed upon.” Or blunter still, you’ll say with Henry Ford that history is bunk. But as an American and an heir of Western civilization, I’ll say it’s not.

Listen to the land. Get past the nondescript stuff, tune out the schlock, and you’ll hear Colorado place names echoing with inspiration from something new and special for human freedom that began in 1776 and hasn’t stopped yet. It has continued through 1787, 1815, 1863, 1876, 1917, 1941, 1964, 1989, 2001, and right to our own day when Navy Seal Danny Dietz was memorialized with a statue and a president was nominated at Mile High.

To look lovingly at the map of our state is to know Faulkner’s wisdom that “the past isn’t dead; it isn’t even past.” Our past is present and our past is good. It elevates and nourishes us. Barack Obama talks about remaking America, transforming America, laying a new foundation. He’s welcome to try, but a lot of us will resist fiercely for the reasons indicated here.

Make her better, yes; but honor her, celebrate her, cherish and guard her above all. The heart’s blood of generations mapped her. The truer our sense of place, of history, of destiny – the sweeter our Independence Day.

Ritter policies mirror Obama's

Monday headlines in newspapers across the nation proclaimed, “Conservatives score big wins in European Union parliament voting in France, Germany and many other nations.” But this is the opposite of what is happening in the United States as our government appears to be rushing toward an ultra liberal, socialist (or dare we say Marxist agenda) faster than a soft ice cream cone drips onto the hands of a child on a 100 degree summer day in middle America.

And it doesn’t stop in Washington, D.C. Colorado Governor Bill Ritter in his 2006 campaign (and United States Senator Ken Salazar in his 2004 campaign, for that matter) “ran to the right” with a somewhat non-offensive, mild agenda. With no record to run on they both appeared to be palatable candidates to many. What followed in the ensuing years, by any definition and to their detriment, was a liberal, far left agenda and list of accomplishments that would make Marx, Joseph Stalin, Lenin and Hugo Chavez proud. One historical internet reference to socialism suggests that ‘Socialism, to Marxists, is simply the transitional phase between capitalism and a higher phase of communist society.’ Is that the direction you want our State or our Country pursue?

Early this year, and again last week, conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh said that he hoped that President Obama would fail. Liberal members of Congress fell all over themselves rushing to open microphones provided by willing media and stating their outrage as to how Limbaugh could wish such a thing upon our President. But we know it was not a personal attack on our president but, rather, Rush’s opinion that President Obama’s policies will destroy this nation. He is entitled to his opinion.

The sad reality is that within his first twenty weeks as President, Mr. Obama’s actions have created a tectonic plate shift perhaps one hundred times greater than the history making 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake with regard to the long-lasting effect in will have on our nation’s economy. Additionally, more than one million lives were lost between the Shaanxi, China 8+ magnitude earthquake of 1556 A.D. (830,000) and the December 26, 2004 Sumatra 9.1 magnitude earthquake (227,898). Yet the economic disaster being crafted by current Administration policies and actions in Washington, D.C. will negatively affect the lives of tens of millions of U.S. citizens for generations to come.

The late Dr. Adrian Rogers (1931-2005) observed "You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."

Americans voted for “the change we need,” and the change we have experienced in the last four months is more than enough to send our collective heads spinning…and more than enough for a Hollywood producer to consider a remake of “Poltergeist.”

In our own backyard, in Colorado, many are paraphrasing Mr. Limbaugh’s remarks by hoping that Governor Ritter, or to be clear his agenda, will fail. Running to the right in 2004, legislating from the left since, and now beginning his 2010 re-election efforts from the middle as a moderate, makes it quite clear that he is the consummate politician…speaking out of both sides of his mouth. While some would suggest this is fraud it is, in the very least, disingenuous. Governor Ritter’s movement on his political positions gives new meaning to "Where in the world is Waldo,” or more recently “Where in the world is Matt Lauer?” Where in the world is Governor Ritter?

Former Colorado State Senate leader Mark Hillman, in the June 8, 2009 edition of Capital Review observation of President Obama stated “His actions, as well as his words, betray him.” The same can be said for Governor Ritter and his cronies and their out-of-control, reckless and irresponsible spending habits.

In 2009: · Governor Ritter and his cronies eliminated the Senior Property Tax Exemption for approximately ten percent of the population, or 450,000 senior citizens. · Governor Ritter and his cronies created a brand new State Fee on Marriage License applications of $20, for NO services rendered; this to be added to the $10 fee a county office gets for providing the service. · Governor Ritter and his cronies created a brand new State Fee for late vehicle registrations. Previously counties could charge up to $10, one time, for late registrants. Now the State wants up to $90 more for late registrations. · Governor Ritter and his cronies raised motor vehicle fees for everyone. · Governor Ritter and his cronies have created a new surcharge for roads and another for bridges. · Governor Ritter and his cronies have forced through a green vehicle bill. I prefer white or silver vehicles. · Governor Ritter and his cronies have passed a bill to eliminate the ability of any vendor to retain any amount of state sales tax revenues to compensate for the vendor’s expenses incurred in the collection and remittance of the tax revenues to the state. · Governor Ritter and his cronies believe illegal immigrants are ‘entitled’ to in-state tuition, and · Governor Ritter and his cronies repealed the long-standing state measure which placed a 6 percent annual growth limit on appropriations to the state’s general fund with excess monies diverted to two spending areas. This, to many, destroys The Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), passed in the early 1990s, which took tax-increasing authority away from the Legislature and gave it to the voters. Voters down in El Paso County should note that Senator John Morse was the bill’s primary sponsor.

The list of irresponsible spending and fee happy legislation goes on and on.

It is also worth mentioning that Governor Ritter’s hand-picked Chairman of the 2008-2009 Election Reform Commission said in November 2006 that “access to the ballot for everyone is more important that determining their eligibility to vote.” Really? Really.

The fabric of our great nation is being destroyed in a matter of months as surely as the original American Flag by Betsy Ross has deteriorated over the last 233 years. Thankfully, our flag has been restored and now resides in the National Museum of American History, one of the Smithsonian museums on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. We can only hope that our nation, too, can be saved.

President Obama and Governor Ritter, your reckless spending spree and policies are killing us.

Coalition opposes Sotomayor

(Denver, June 5) A coalition of Colorado groups and concerned citizens joined forces today in opposition to President Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court. Organized as the Colorado Judicial Network, they are urging the US Senate confirm only highly qualified individuals who put the rule of law ahead of personal political agendas. As former State Sen. John Andrews put it: “Barack Obama said he wanted to remake the Supreme Court with his judicial nominees. Yet we are told by the administration that this is a 'middle of the road' judge who sides with conservatives more often than liberals. The White House is attempting to confuse the American people, who deserve an honest airing of the differences between the Obama-Sotomayor view of the law and the Roberts-Alito-Scalia-Thomas approach to the Constitution and the role of the Court.” “Sonia Sotomayor's statement that a 'wise Latina woman' would generally make better decisions because of 'the richness of her experiences' than a white male reveals the extent to which political and personal agendas have supplanted the rule of law in selecting nominees.” said former State Treasurer Mark Hillman. “Rule of law requires that laws be written, accessible, understandable and uniformly applied. Obama understands his nominee has little interest in impartially applying the law. He also understands that this undermines the rule of law. He just doesn’t want the American people to understand. “

“We reject the notion that Sonia Sotomayor is a 'racist,'” said Jim Pfaff who heads the Judicial Confirmation Network's efforts in Colorado. “What motivates her to say a 'Latina woman' would make a better decision than a white male—as with her statement in 2004 that the courts make law—is a belief that the Rule of Law can be ignored whenever she wants to accomplish a favored political end.”

The Colorado Judicial Network is an organization of citizens joined together to support the confirmation of highly qualified individuals to the Supreme Court of the United States. They seek judicial nominees who stand for the Rule of Law and are committed to uphold the principles of judicial restraint and fidelity to the original meaning of the United States Constitution

The Colorado Judicial Netowrk Steering Committee includes:

** John Andrews, Chairman, Backbone America Citizens Alliance and former Colorado Senate President.

** Jon Caldara, President, Independence Institute.

** Mark Hillman, former State Treasurer.

** Jeff Crank, State Director, Americans for Prosperity.

** Jim Pfaff, former State Director, Americans for Prosperity and President/CEO, Colorado Family Institute.

Pfaff serves as press contact for the coalition and can be reached at jim@iresearchanddata.com or 303.957.8600

'Mr. Main Street' mourned in Evergreen

Ted LaMontagne, a longtime pillar of the idyllic mountain community of Evergreen, Colorado, passed away this week. With his business and civic activities, neighborly warmth, and devout faith, Ted epitomized all the best qualities we associate with Main Street America. We thought of ourselves as brothers-in-law for the past decade, after his marriage to Kay D'Evelyn, the widow of Donna's late brother David. I never knew a more gentle and greathearted man. Services will be held on Sunday, June 7, at noon at the Evergreen Lake House. Here is the statement his family gave out to newspapers:

TED LAMONTAGNE 1939-2009

Ted LaMontagne, a leading citizen and businessman in Evergreen for over 35 years, passed away at home on May 27. He was 70.

The Hardware, which Ted had owned and operated since 1973, was the town’s second oldest business when it closed in 2005. Mountain Home, his award-winning furniture store that began as a department of The Hardware, now operates at the same location in the historic Hiwan Barn, which he renovated for that purpose.

Ted was long active in the Evergreen Chamber of Commerce, serving on its board in the 1980s. He helped found the Evergreen Music Festival and the National Repertory Orchestra, as well as Evergreen Bootstraps and the Evergreen Scholarships. Over the years he employed many special needs students from Evergreen High School at his stores.

He was a board member of Art for the Mountain Community and was himself a devoted sculptor and art collector. He served on the community review and planning committees for both the Evergreen Lake House and Buchanan Park. He was a longtime member and officer of First Church of Christ, Scientist, Evergreen, and a board member for Wide Horizon, the Christian Science care facility in Wheat Ridge.

Edward W. LaMontagne was born January 11, 1939, to American parents in Mexico City, remaining there for his early education until returning to Texas for high school. After graduating from the University of Texas in 1961 with a BA in history, he was an officer in the US Navy.

He is survived by his wife, the former Kay D’Evelyn, who continues as the proprietor of Mountain Home; his son and daughter by a previous marriage, Evan LaMontagne and Kendall Peterson, both of Denver; and his stepson and stepdaughter, Melanie D’Evelyn of Washington, DC, and Kenny D’Evelyn of Elsah, IL, as well as five grandchildren.

A memorial service for Ted will be held on Sunday, June 7, at 12:00 noon at the Evergreen Lake House.

'Change' now our issue

(Denver Post, May 10) Colorado Democrats are having a lousy year. It’s been a tough 2009 for the party in power, and 2010 may be worse. Which is odd, because 2008 was great for state Dems. They gained a Senate seat, a House seat, and threw a coronation party for Obama, who is now embarked on the most brilliant reign since Louis XIV, the Sun King. Yet with the legislature done and election year eight months off, there’s a sense that Democrats have worn out their welcome with Coloradans, creating an opportunity for Republicans to reintroduce themselves and get back in the ballgame. Malaise hangs over the Capitol. Will Gov. Bill Ritter do a Jimmy Carter and become a one-termer? You’ve seen the numbers. Voters disapprove Ritter’s performance by 49% to 41%, according to an April poll. Matched against potential GOP challengers, he trails Scott McInnis and barely leads Josh Penry. His appointee in DC, Sen. Michael Bennett, is disapproved by 41% to 34% and trails Republican Bob Beauprez. They’re a pathetic pair.

Camelot magic is gone from the Dem ascendancy that began in 2004 when Ken Salazar was elected senator and Andrew Romanoff stormed the statehouse. We’re now slogging through a recession that Ritter recklessly failed to prepare for, his legislative allies are split and ineffectual, and Susan Greene commiserates on “what a bummer it can be to be a Democrat in Colorado.”

Despite commanding majorities of 37-28 in the House and 21-14 in the Senate, Democrats this session failed on a number of cherished goals, including a tuition break for illegal aliens, easing sentences and ending the death penalty, quitting the Electoral College, and nanny-state rules for cellphones and seatbelts.

The majority party found itself well to the left of common-sense opinion on those issues, hence unable to ram through its liberal agenda when vulnerable members balked. Centrists from Colorado Springs, Adams County, and the Western Slope made the difference on last week’s capital punishment vote, for example. Senate minority leader Penry brokered the deal.

Governing is no picnic. Leading the Senate during the last budget crisis, back in 2004, I agonized through some of the same no-win choices President Peter Groff and Speaker Terrance Carroll have faced this year. You manage your diehards as best you can. You resort to ugly fiscal solutions and wince, knowing the out party will slam you for it in the campaign. In power, it’s hard to do otherwise.

This is the beauty of our two-party system. It pushes policy toward the center and curbs the ideologues. As a conservative Republican, I naturally believe our side has better answers. I also concede our sins and imperfections. For Colorado’s benefit at present, however, that’s beside the point. What’s great is how a feisty opposition from right OR left produces wiser lawmaking as well as livelier elections.

Lively indeed is the prospect for election 2010. Four Republicans are vying to take on the little-known Sen. Bennet, along with two each who are targeting Gov. Ritter, State Treasurer Cary Kennedy, and Secretary of State Bernie Buescher. With Obama likely to suffer off-year erosion, Democrat congressmen Betsy Markey, Ed Perlmutter, and John Salazar sit uneasily in districts the GOP used to own.

Democrats might also forfeit legislative control in retribution for mismanaging the budget, gutting taxpayer protections, and saddling families with a billion dollars in new taxes and fees during economic hard times. And if the Tea Party rebellion continues, four activist justices could get voted off the state Supreme Court.

“Are you better off than you were four years ago?” Not really, Coloradans are likely to answer if asked the famous Reagan question in 2010. On kitchen-table issues like jobs and roads, the incumbents have little to boast of. Change is now OUR issue.