Candidates using classic deflection

Colorado is the 2nd most dangerous state in the nation according to a recent US News and World Report. According to Consumer Affairs, Colorado is the 3rd most dangerous state in the nation for road rage. Despite all the hoopla about no longer ranking first in the nation for auto thefts like it was in 2021, according to Auto Theft News, Colorado still ranks 6th worst in the nation for auto thefts, although some reports say it’s only 14th worst. At least that indicates improvements could be made if the legislature wanted to.

The Reason Foundation ranks Colorado the 2nd-worst state for rural interstate highway conditions and fifth-worst state for urban interstate highway conditions. Wallet Hub ranks Colorado the fourth-worst state overall for driving. A recent Colorado Chamber of Commerce study ranks Colorado the 2nd-worst state for housing affordability and the 3rd-worst state for cost of living. A Colorado Chamber Foundation report says that since 2019, nearly 100 companies have either left Colorado, expanded elsewhere, or canceled plans to locate in the state. Data shows Colorado to be a crime-ridden, dangerous, and expensive place to live, with some of the worst roads in the United States.

Colorado didn’t used to be like this. So with all this data indicating all these problems you would think Michael Bennet and Phil Weiser, the Democratic Party candidates running for governor, would be addressing how they intend to fix roads, increase affordability, bring back business and reduce crime. Instead, all you hear from them is “Trump, Trump, Trump.” Classic deflection for problems that they and the Democratic dominated legislature helped create. I don’t care about Trump. I care about Colorado. Forget about Trump. Focus on the state. Keep criminals in jail and focus on victims not criminals. Make Colorado safe again. Cut regulations in half to improve affordability and bring back business. Fix the roads. On our 150th birthday, let’s make Colorado great again!

Chris Colvin

Colorado Springs

Taking a break from the digital world

I’d like to make a connection between two recent pieces in the Gazette.

In the article, “America Online”, June 21, Kimberly Ross echoes a brilliant author, Jonathan Haidt, who wrote, “The Anxious Generation”. He provides statistics and substance to the argument that children spend an excessive amount of time on screens – both at home and at school. This hinders their mental health, social development, and exposes them to a Pandora’s box of toxic content. Furthermore, screens are a huge “time suck” and childhood primarily consists of time.

This dovetailed with a June 10 piece written by Angela Seals. Ms. Seals championed the many physical and mental health benefits that come from embracing the arts. She suggests attending concerts, shows, museums, or actually creating something yourself.

As an amateur painter this resonated with me, and so I want to give a shout-out to Cottonwood Center for the Arts and the role they play in the community. I have had the pleasure of taking landscape painting classes at Cottonwood. When I paint there, I simply feel better. My instructor, Ben Bires, is excellent and encouraging. The classes are small communities unto themselves with delightful people of various ages and abilities. Creating a cool painting gives me great personal satisfaction.

Cottonwood is but one of several places in town where anyone can have fun making art while taking a break from the digital world. To your health!

Benjamin Fromuth Sr.

Coloreado Springs

Reader Garner (Reflecting Pool is Old News, June 23) believes that others are trying to keep the story alive to embarrass the President. Actually, there is more news about it every day as the tragicomedy goes on and on. Until now, the President has controlled the conversation by saying and doing outrageous things at a high frequency- the “Trump news cycle-” such that before there is a chance for public discourse, the President says or does the next outrageous thing…and again… and again… But in this case, the same story continues to grow and evolve.

The Washington Post printed an analysis that explains simply, clearly and without rancor or vitriol “The President has created a visible symbol of the perils of his headlong style.” I would encourage thoughtful readers to read it.

Paul Shannon

Colorado Springs

Election fraud evidence

In the Sunday Gazette, a letter writer claimed that there is no truth to election fraud because no legal case has been won by President Trump or the Republicans.  Could there be some willful blindness by the letter writer? One doesn’t have to SEE smoke to understand there is a fire, or SEE the sun to feel the heat.

How are we to have confidence in elections when the political class and not the voters have come to control elections?

Why is there no proof of citizenship in elections? Why mass ballot mailings, ranked choice voting, same day voter registration, ballot harvesting, and ballots that are collected for weeks because our election DAY has been eliminated?

Why does Colorado allow pre-registration of eligible voters beginning at the age of 15, and our high schools are required, by law, to designate a staff member to be trained in Voter Registration?

Thousands of noncitizens have been registered in states.  The Biden administration sued Virginia for removing noncitizens from voter rolls. Why are Blue states refusing to allow the public to see their voter rolls, yet they give their rolls to leftist organizations such as the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) and Zuckerberg’s Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR) for free.  Deceased voters, those registered in another state, fictitious birthdates and duplicate registrations exist in some states.  And why is it a requirement to send Eligible But Unregistered (EBU) voter mailers as a requirement of ERIC membership? Colorado Secretary of State Griswold sent EBU’s to 30,000 noncitizens.

Interesting that there’s no way to date a ballot in a drop box.

Numerous law organizations or lawyers are notoriously progressive and left-leaning.  The National Lawyers Guild, Lawyers Defending American Democracy, Lawyers for Good Government, Voter Protection Program, Democratic Attorneys General Association, and the Progressive State Leaders Committee.

Why are we re-engineering the way we elect our leaders? Is it to secure a controlled outcome? And why is Colorado following California’s election model?! We have seen the scenes of homeless people in Los Angeles who tell stories of strangers bringing and collecting voter registrations and ballots to their tents and paying them to register and “vote” as they were told.

Janice Taylor

Colorado Springs