The weekly newsletter of The Denver Post’s opinion pages.
This is The Denver Post’s Sound Off newsletter. Every Monday, we deliver to your inbox a roundup of what we’ve been publishing on the opinion pages over the past week, including both print and . That includes Denver Post , op-ed by Post columnists like Chuck Plunkett and Megan Schrader as well as nationally syndicated columnists like George F. Will and Catherine Rampell, plus guest commentaries, and editorial .
Perspective
First, a summary of what was in our Sunday Perspective section this week:
What Trump was trying to say: Peter Singer, a professor of bioethics at Princeton, in Charlottesville, Va., who chose to fight hate with violence. While many people believed President Trump wrongly equated neo-Nazis and white supremacists with those who oppose racism, a more charitable interpretation of his comments suggests he had a point about the counter-protesters’ behavior.
Echoes of Vietnam: Regarding President Trump’s about-face on Afghanistan, Walter Shapiro wrote: Donald Trump is the seventh president since the end of World War II who inherited on taking office his predecessor’s war or the planning for one. And like most of these American presidents, Trump decided that the most important strategic consideration was .
Of eclipses and rain: Washington Post columnist David Von Drehle recounted The first was when he was much younger and a couple rescued him in a rainstorm, and the second was last week when he and thousands of others witnessed the miracle of a total solar eclipse — also during a rainstorm.
Confederate statues: Editorial page editor Chuck Plunkett wrote: My take on what to do about the Confederate statues is not to remove them, but remember there is a third option. Add a plaque, and take it a step further. . After all, the Confederacy lost — twice.
Map oil and gas lines: In its Sunday editorial, the editorial board argued that Coloradans should be allowed to see the locations of and asked Gov. John Hickenlooper and the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to reconsider their opposition to doing so.
Letters to the editor: On the letters page, Denver Post readers tackled several issues. Here are several of their letters:
70 years after India’s partition: In a from his childhood, Ved Nanda — a law professor at DU and a Denver Post columnist — explained how India’s partition in 1947 gave his life purpose, after nearly taking it away.
Eclipsed by Amazon: Denver Post columnist Steve Lipsher, who lives in Silverthorne (population: 4,505), wrote about his to find a pair of eclipse glasses locally — so once again, he had to go to the online giant Amazon. And that wasn’t the end of his frustration.
Mob rule at town halls: Scott Gessler, the former Colorado secretary of state, weighed on — like Sen. Cory Gardner — during public town halls. He wrote that it’s past time for responsible voices on the left to speak out against mob behavior coming from their allies.
Not the time to stand by: Denver Post columnist Diane Carman wrote that when friends or family repeat the bilious lies that keep coming out of Washington and creeping into everyday conversation. ’s like standing up to a playground bully. Looking away is not an option.
Flawed justice in rape cases: Mario Nicolais, an attorney and regular Denver Post columnist, that led to a rapist like Boulder’s Austin Wilkerson serving a minor sentence — he was recently released from jail a year early after being given only two years — while his victim, Kendra Heuer, is serving what she considers a “lifelong sentence.”
We deserve better than Trump: Jennifer Gregory, a former public school teacher and librarian who lives in Covington, Texas, wrote that America deserves better than Donald Trump: Frankly, I am sick and tired of listening to this man, his hate, his arrogance, and the hate from his supporters. from the leader of our country.
The problem with open primaries: Ken Toltz, who is planning to run for Congress in Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District, argued that the state’s open primary system is . He wrote that the top-line gubernatorial race will have an inordinate impact on unaffiliated voter participation in down-ballot primary races.
Laws that subvert the rule of law: Washington Post columnist George F. Will wrote: When John Adams wrote into Massachusetts’ Constitution a commitment to a “government of laws and not of men,” he could not have imagined the modern proliferation and complexity of laws, or how subversive this is of the .
Drawn to the News: For those of you who can’t get enough editorial , here are the two we featured on the back page of Sunday’s Perspective section, on the topic of President Trump’s Afghanistan stance:
The past week
Here are highlights from last week’s opinion coverage:
Denver Post editorials:
So much for collaboration: U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke undid five years of hard work and collaboration when he changed existing habitat protection rules for the in favor of captive breeding and population targets.
Flawed system for rape sentences: ’s that Austin Wilkerson served just a few days over a year of his two-year sentence in a Boulder County jail work release program for sexual assault. We hope lawmakers will finally use this case as a rallying cry to reform Colorado’s Lifetime Supervision Act.
Protecting Hanging Lake: Long overdue plans to limit foot traffic on the overwhelmingly popular trail to Hanging Lake in Glenwood Canyon are finally before the public.
Perlmutter’s disappointing decision: Congressman Ed Perlmutter in deciding to reverse his decision not to run for re-election. In vowing to run again, the longtime Democratic lawmaker from Arvada yanked the rug out from under interesting candidates lining up to replace him, and broke his word.
Good government in Denver: In two recent examples, we’ve been impressed to watch Denver’s progressive city leadership outdo Republican-controlled Washington in that are truly refreshing.
Op-ed columns:
Get the facts on immigration: Denver Post editorial writer and columnist Megan Schrader wrote that White House adviser Stephen Miller needs to — both the legal and illegal variety.
Pardoning of Joe Arpaio: In an op-ed that was widely quoted in news stories after President Trump pardoned Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, Harvard law professor Noah Feldman argued that such a pardon would show .
Behind Trump’s Afghan plan: Bloomberg View’s Jonathan Bernstein wrote that President Trump’s policy on Afghanistan is a case of “his” generals — John Kelly, H.R. McMaster and James Mattis — to get what they want.
All the president’s generals: The Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart explained the generals are in control in the Trump administration
Winning streak for Trump? Ed Rogers of The Washington Post wrote that in his Afghanistan speech and in the firing of Steve Bannon, Trump — but how long will it last?
Echoes of Nixon’s crash: Greg Dobbs argued that itap not preposterous to between President Trump’s loss of credibility within his own party and the unraveling of the Nixon presidency.
Passwords and warning signs: Garrison Keillor wrote: I grew up in an America with . Now we buy coffee in cups that say, “Caution: Hot Beverage.” Someday I will drive by a sign, “Turn On Wipers In Event Of Rain.”
The sacred right to vote: The Washington Post’s Catherine Rampell wrote that for American citizens, voting is a sacred and constitutionally enshrined right. It’s time the country, and those paid to serve the public, actually treat it as such. She argued that public officials who disenfranchise voters .
Pregnancy and Down syndrome: Michelle Sie Whitten, the president and CEO of the Global Down Syndrome Foundation, to a recent CBS News report about the “eradication” of Down syndrome in Iceland, which involved Icelandic mothers being given information that led them to terminate their pregnancies.
Death of Jerry Lewis: Mike Ervin, who has muscular dystrophy and who protested against Jerry Lewis’ annual muscular dystrophy telethon, to the comedian’s death.
GOP’s tax plan: Bloomberg View’s Noah Smith wrote: There’s in the Republicans’ tax plan, but we also have to acknowledge political reality that it’s unlikely that much, if any, of it will ever become law.
Has Hillary abased herself enough yet? Paul Waldman wrote that is supposed to beg for forgiveness, absolve everyone else of any sins they committed, and whip herself until we’re good and satisfied that she has been punished enough.
@fear and @loathing: Bloomberg View columnist Megan McArdle decried the fact that we now live in fear of the , especially on Twitter.
Letters to the editor:
Notable and quotable
“If President Donald Trump pardons Joe Arpaio, as he broadly hinted at during a rally Tuesday in Arizona, it would not be an ordinary exercise of the power — it would be an impeachable offense.”
Noah Feldman, Bloomberg View columnist and Harvard law professor
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