Remembering how Colorado used to be
Re: “Growth and rural Colo.,” Dec. 2 Open Forum.
I must agree wholeheartedly with letter-writer C. Murphy regarding growth in Franktown. I am native of Elizabeth, just a ways east of there, and all these years later, I can’t stand to go back. Literally, I dread any drive down Colorado 83. That road is a poster child for the Colorado natives of my generation, representing every single one of my childhood memories being paved over by developers. (That is to say, I remember when there were literally two stoplights in the whole of Douglas County.) As far as I am concerned, there is nothing left of the original character of my hometown. Douglas and Elbert counties as I knew them have died; let’s thank the urban visionaries such as Russ Berget for their contributions to my home.
Erich Fowler, Denver
Candidate Bill Ritter: Pro-life Democrat
Re: “Ritter’s position on abortion should win him votes,” Dec. 2 guest commentary.
I have been a supporter and an admirer of Bill Ritter, who is running for governor, for many years. I particularly admire his willingness to publicly proclaim a pro-life stance that is consistent with his personal religious beliefs. It is a political position, however, that I cannot and will not support. The right to an abortion is increasingly under attack and is a defining political issue for many. If those of us who are pro-choice are willing to support candidates who may compromise or not fully support that right, we will have only ourselves to blame when those rights are eroded and eventually lost. Ritter’s apparent willingness to restrict a woman’s right to choose is unacceptable to those of us who struggled to secure and will continue to struggle to ensure that this right is not diminished in any way. We cannot hand over political power to those who would whittle away this right until it no longer exists in any meaningful way.
Shirley Asher, Denver
…
Elaine Gantz Berman, Robin Finegan and Chris Whatney say Bill Ritter’s pro-life stance should win him votes. Maybe. A lot of Democrats are pro-choice. If Bill Ritter becomes governor, he will have much more power to impose his viewpoints on people. While he enforced the law in Denver as district attorney, as governor his authority will be much different. Maybe abortion isn’t his priority, so I read, and it looks these days that a Republican candidate will be in trouble next November. People of both parties (and independents) are getting fed up with Republicans. People have to come to the polls and vote for different candidates. A lot of Democrats will have a problem voting for a guy who opposes abortion, Democrat or not. Denver is an important part of Colorado, but it doesn’t make up the voters of the entire state. Maybe Republicans will vote for him, while many Democrats will just turn away from an anti-choice candidate. I’m a registered Democrat. I can’t see myself voting for an anti-choice candidate.
Mark S. Kern, Boulder
Impressions of meeting with the president
On Nov. 29, I had the honor of meeting President George W. Bush in Denver when he was there to raise campaign funds for Rep. Marilyn Musgrave. I got to shake his hand and visit with him for a few seconds, and I was impressed.
He was not at all like the “Bush- haters” describe him. He wasn’t cocky or pretentious, just a friendly man. When my friend and I walked into the room where we met him, there were only the president, two Secret Service men and a photographer. When Bush saw us, he came forward, stuck his hand out and said, “Howdy, guys, how are you doin’?” You would have thought we were a couple of long- lost friends. We then exchanged a few words about where we lived and about our representatives. I then told him I supported him in the Iraq war and appreciated all that he was doing. He said, “Thank you, I appreciate that.”
I wish all Bush-haters could have heard and seen him the way we did. I saw an extremely tough man who has rock-solid convictions. I saw a man who is as determined to keep America safe as our enemies are determined to destroy us. It’s most unfortunate that his opponents are more interested in advancing their political agenda than they are in helping him win a war, because we are dealing with a deadly enemy.
Bob Strong, Montrose
Security by ID checks
Re: “Feds review bus route’s ID policy,” Nov. 2 news story.
Benjamin Gonzales, deputy administrator who oversees the Denver Federal Center, feels more secure because RTD bus riders who ride through the center’s property have their IDs checked. I guess he believes that terrorists couldn’t forge an ID that would pass a quick check on a bus. In reality, he still doesn’t know who’s on the bus, IDs or not.
Steve Schaad, regional director for Federal Protective Services, wouldn’t discuss exactly how this policy keeps people safer. He cites “security reasons.” In this case, “security reasons” appears to be synonymous with “because we say so.”
Is anyone paying attention to just how much more intrusive and controlling the government agencies have become since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11? It would appear that Americans have become truly frightened and will go along with anything that will make them feel safer – at any cost.
David Nasser, Monument
By the people vs. for the people
Re: “Four-thirds is one-third too many,” Dec. 3 Bob Ewegen column.
Bob Ewegen’s column is a good step toward educating voters about the complexities of the state budget process and how it will influence the way Referendum C monies are spent. However, I believe that his most important point is at the very end: ” … but the budget process is inherently too complicated to reduce to television ads and campaign brochures. That’s why they call it representative democracy.”
Although this column didn’t focus specifically on the conflict between representative democracy and direct democracy, that conflict is the root of just about every problem our state has. The economic problems we have faced since the recession were not entirely due to the economy nor to the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. But since we in Colorado seem to prefer to legislate at the ballot rather than through our elected representatives, we have a long way to go before our state functions as well as it should.
An active oversight of our city councils, county commissions, state legislature, etc., is the responsibility of every citizen. But remember, the next time someone asks you to sign a petition to get something on the ballot, you may not be helping our elected officials do their jobs well, you may be hindering them and ultimately forcing another campaign that has a difficult time explaining precisely what a “yes” or “no” vote will accomplish.
Lois Court, Denver
No sympathy for child molester
Re: “There’s no excuse for sex offenders, nor for injustice,” Dec. 1 Diane Carman column.
I wonder if Diane Carman is trying to build sympathy for a child molester. Does she want me to feel compassion for this predator? The only injustice that occurred was that the sentence wasn’t stiffer for Bill Braun, a teacher at Mountain Vista High School who was sentenced to three years to life in prison for fondling a 16- year-old boy. Let’s chalk up Braun’s death to karma.
The headline on Carman’s column states that there are no excuses for sex offenders, but she goes on to list several for that one. Her position for tolerance is detrimental to society. One of the excuses she gives for Braun’s molesting a child was that he was upset by the events on Sept. 11. Millions of people were upset by Sept. 11; thank God millions of children weren’t molested because of it as well. The designation of sex offender is not randomly thrown around by prosecutors and judges; it is given to people who commit crimes of a sexual nature. Braun did not pay a terrible price; he got what he deserved.
Andrew Padden, Littleton
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