Why is it important to pay attention and share with others? Why do we have rights?
This is why you need to pay attention, share information with others, and speak up.
Were you surprised to find no bags in Walmart at some point? Were you surprised to start paying for plastic bags at the grocery?
My guess is that you're not alone (and if you weren't surprised, my guess is that you knew at least one person who was).
The thing is, it's easy to not pay attention. It's easy to get busy doing other things. You have kids (so do I). You have a house (again, same here). You have a job (check). You have multiple demands on your time (again, check).
So I say this without judgement and without any fingers wagging. Please start paying attention. Please start sharing information. Please start speaking up.
Because it's so easy to let things that change our very lives slip us by ... until they bite us in the rear.
So one day you are charged for bags. One day, as in the op ed below, you find that you can't see an elephant at the Renaissance Fair for God's sake.**
Tiny little changes snuck into law now can have consequences later.
**A quote from the op ed on why there are no elephants: "Senate Bill 135 quietly passed the Legislature in 2021, and Gov. Jared Polis signed it. The law took effect in 2022, 'prohibiting certain animals in a traveling animal act.'”
https://denvergazette.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-far-left-forbids-elephants-from-celebrating-america/article_c57cc68e-48e5-50d0-a861-95e270c6d750.html
Related:
Colorado conservatives (I'll expand beyond the group the author of the op ed linked below considers) do indeed need grassroots efforts in this state.
Great thing to say, a better thing to do. Step out there in some way. Big or small, step out there.
https://www.coloradopolitics.com/opinion/colorado-gop-needs-grassroots-solutions-podium/article_3c64efe8-0a41-11ee-a392-bbd99e3ebd57.html
Why do we have a Constitution? Why do we have rights?
I think the concept itself is pretty simple to explain: we have them because, without them, we cannot depend on our government to protect values that we have (by virtue of writing and accepting our Constitutions both Federal and State) specifically laid out as being special.
In other words, we put these values above other competing interests and specifically lay them out so that crusading politicians cannot come through and prioritize for us.
Implicit here is also a contract, an agreement, we make with each other that says I will respect your rights and you will respect mine (even if we may not necessarily agree about every detail of every social issue).
Unfortunately, our lawmakers** (and Progressive Democrats have a nasty habit of this) sometimes let their preferences step over our rights. They say, through their actions and choices, that they're willing to sacrifice what we hold dear for what they see as a greater good.
A group of lawmakers in the 2021 session passed a bill (SB21-088, linked below) that they knew was likely unconstitutional, and they knew it at the time. SB21-088 expanded the ability of victims to open civil trials against their abusers for past abuse.
A worthy idea if there ever was one. I am in support of the notion of holding people that do horrible things like this to account. I also support the idea that we hold those who aid and abet them to account.
There is one catch here, however. The Colorado State Constitution prevents laws from being passed that "look back"; that is, laws that reopen crimes for which the statute of limitations have run out. And the lawmakers that sponsored this bill likely knew ahead of time that what they were doing was unconstitutional (choosing to forge ahead because of the onerousness of sexual abuse and thoughts of the victims).
Again, let me state that I am not in support of sexual assault in any way. The thing is, and it's what I allude to above, a principle is only a principle if it applies everywhere. I believe that the state supreme court (which recently ruled to overturn this law--see the Colorado Politics article below) ruled correctly in overturning this law.
We depend on our lawmakers to uphold principles and to not just do so in cases where it's expedient or matches their personal values. That didn't happen in this case. I find the idea that they forged ahead despite warnings, and despite likely knowing that they were acting unconstitutionally, unacceptable.
Maybe you're tempted (as I am) to give them a pass in this case. Are you as willing to give them a pass when a group of radical Progressives try to limit your Second Amendment rights? Are you as willing if a group of radical Republicans try to limit equal rights and protection for homosexuals in this state?
I'm not. And because I'm not in other cases, I am not willing to tolerate it quietly in this case.
**Important to note here is the fact that SB21-088 had bipartisan sponsorship.
https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb21-088
https://coloradosun.com/2023/06/26/senate-bill-88-colorado-backstory/
https://www.coloradopolitics.com/courts/colorado-supreme-court-strikes-down-law-benefitting-child-sex-abuse-survivors/article_64bb6fda-0f78-11ee-b805-17e3226a6e18.html