I dunno -- maybe it's the altitude.
As Timothy Egan noted in today's New York Times, Colorado is reaping the whirlwind of the Citizens United
Colorado is ground zero for what’s happening in John Roberts’s America, competing for the dubious distinction of being the top state in the nation for spending by shadowy outside groups telling people how to vote.
Really, we don't need the help in making our elections any more bizarre.
I received my mail-in ballot last week, and sat down today to peruse just what schlock had made it onto the ballot for my consideration.
There's the governor's race, in which Republican candidate Dan Maes is fairing so poorly -- thanks to fellow nutjob Tom Tancredo's entry as the "American Constitution Party" candidate -- that the Republican Party may lose it's "major party" status in Colorado. But we do thank Denver Mayor Hickenlooper for his amusing attempts to divert us from the deluge of anonymously-financed Ken Buck senate ads.
Oh, and going down the list of judges up for retention (can one call it "re-election" since judges are appointed in the first instance and are only on the ballot to retain the seats handed to them?). I habitually vote "no" on all of them, unless the judge has made a specific admirable ruling I know about.
When we flip the ballot, we get to the various State of Colorado ballot questions -- asking us to amend the State Constitution.
Amendments are another place where I habitually vote "No". There are very few instances where I see the need to changing the fundamental document of the laws of our state. Constitutional amendments gave us such anti-tax nightmares as TABOR and the Gallagher Amendment; nor do I believe that most citizen-initiated statutes are worthy of my support.
This year's ballot is no exception -- the anti-taxers are at it again with Amendments 60, 61 and Proposition 101; and Amendment 63 would constitutionally mandate that Colorado opt out of health care reform. Then Amendment 62 would declare fetuses "persons" "from the beginning of the biological development of that human being" (wait... wouldn't that mean every sperm, and ovum, is sacred?)
So I can't find any state ballot questions which I'll approve.
And then, way down at the bottom, I find the "City & County of Denver Ballot Question", Initiated Ordinance 300:
Shall the voters for the City and County of Denver adopt an Initiated Ordinance to require the creation of an extraterrestrial affairs commission to help ensure the health, safety, and cultural awareness of Denver residents and visitors in relation to potential encounters or interactions with extraterrestrial intelligent beings or their vehicles, and fund such commission from grants, gifts and donations?
Yes, that's Denver, now known for a plethora of medical marijuana outlets, the Mile High Pot Law (we did it first California!), and the E.T. Convention and Visitors Bureau.