A sweatshirt gets you kicked out of the Co Assembly? I'm skeptical. House Dems are indeed using secret quadratic voting. A telling juxtaposition on CPR News' main page.
Pardon some skepticism on my part ...
I saw the article linked below and pardon some off the cuff remarks made in complete ignorance (I wasn't able to find much online about it), but I can't help but think there's more going on here.
Is it possible that the Democrats would call for someone in a pro life sweatshirt to be removed from the Senate gallery? Yes. Yes it is.
Is it possible that he was removed for something else and then claims it was for the sweatshirt? Yes. Yes it is.
You know one sure way to know? A lawsuit. If a lawsuit is indeed forthcoming, I would say the chances of it being the former case and not the latter are good. No lawsuit? That puts serious doubts on it being the former and not the latter.
Either way, I'm skeptical about this one til I know more.
https://www.westword.com/news/pro-life-u-senate-gallery-sweatshirt-colorado-capitol-jeff-hunt-legal-lawsuit-16518295
If you've ever felt while watching bills or testifying that the outcome was already set, I don't blame you. I've had the feeling myself.
One of the reasons I've had this suspicion is because I've been reading up on and following the Democrats' use of their secret, quadratic voting system to help them caucus outside public view and decide on things.
I knew they were doing it last year. I had a feeling that this year wasn't different, but couldn't find anything to confirm it.
Until the article below.
**One important difference this year compared to last: likely because they were caught last year with their hand in the cookie jar and got admonished by several groups, this year the House at least has pledged to make its survey results public.
To wit, quoting the article:
"[House Speaker Julie] McCluskie said the results of the secret survey would be released to the public, which would be a change from previous sessions."
The results will be anonymous, but I guess they ain't nothing.
https://www.kunc.org/news/2023-04-02/colorado-lawmakers-say-theyll-continue-using-secret-ballot-system-to-help-decide-fate-of-bills
A telling juxtaposition from CPR News' front page the other day.
The screengrab attached is from CPR News' main page last week. Notable is the two articles I've underlined.
One is a memoir about a former member from a far-right group and about how we should be watching out for said groups. The second is a loving review of a (fictional) movie about a group of people so committed to climate change that they want to blow up oil pipelines.
I think we all get the subtext here.