Keep the party primary ballots separate
Re: “State GOP (and Colorado) will be worse off without unaffiliated voters,” Feb. 18 commentary
The proposition by Kent Thiry that all the candidates should be on one primary ballot seems counterproductive and counterintuitive. When you put all the candidates on one ballot, you destroy the two party system (this may be his goal), and instead of a primary, you have created a version of the main election. The purpose of the primary election is to poll each party on their preferences. This would completely defeat that purpose. However, I would submit that each party is currently in need of some deep self-evaluation.
William F. Hineser, Arvada
Independents should be able to exercise independence
I like to vote for candidates based on their individual merits and positions, not because they belong to a given political party.
Since 2018, independent/unaffiliated voters have been allowed to vote in primary elections in Colorado. That’s great, but independent voters must still vote a single-party ticket. Shouldn’t being independent mean one can exercise the right to pick the candidate of one’s choice regardless of party affiliation instead of being tied to a single party? Moreover, the current system of sending both party ballots to independents is confusing. Despite attempts to clarify to voters that they can only submit one of the two ballots they receive, confusion still reigns, and thousands of independent ballots are discarded as a result.
There is a solution that would avoid confusion and cost the taxpayer less. Instead of mailing out two ballots, mail out a single ballot with candidates from all parties on it, clearly indicating the political party of each. Republican, Democrat, Independent, or other — you get the same single ballot. If independents are legally allowed to vote in the primaries, they should be able to fully exercise their choice rather than being forced to, in essence, temporarily become a Democrat or Republican.
Almost 48% of active registered Colorado voters are unaffiliated. That’s far more than either registered Democrats (about 27%) or Republicans (about 24%). Let’s change our state law so that independents can exercise their independence in all elections.
Virginia Ravndal, Fort Collins
“Playing with the impeachment weapon”
Re: “Impeachment of Mayorkas was Republicans’ attempt to distract,” Feb. 18 commentary
Krista Kafer, a very reasonable conservative, lambastes House Republicans for playing with the impeachment weapon.
Like a loaded gun left lying on the coffee table, this weapon might be used to hurt somebody in the family. If the trend persists, we might see impeachments voted on even before the winner takes office. It’s a weakness we never have solved: how to deviate from a path now taking us to perdition?
Laws have been passed to fix wrongs that sit in law books long after the original wrongs faded. High-minded at the time become contentious and obstructive now. Conservatives have the thankless task of removing them — not repurposing them — and it wouldn’t kill liberals to give them a needed hand.
Harry Puncec, Lakewood
Thank you, Krista Kafer, for reminding me there are still folks in the Republican Party who can see simple reality. The McCains and the Romneys are gone, but your column often makes me think there is still a chance for the party. I lean left, though I consider myself independent, but if you ever run for office, you have my vote. Keep up the good work.
Raymond K. Clark, Centennial
This wave of refugees is different for its lawlessness
Re: “Colorado statute of liberty,” Feb. 18 commentary
The article misses one important difference between the current invasion of our country by people who have no respect for our laws and all previous waves of refugees, including me, who followed the laws and entered this country legally. It is very unfortunate that a Denver elected official who took an oath to uphold the laws of this country appears not to understand the difference or respect it.
Janna Blanter, Colorado Springs
Swimming pools in the desert
Re: “Arizona is smart about water and should stay that way,” Feb. 18 commentary
The Sunday opinion piece made some good points. But the picture at the end of the opinion piece made my jaw drop. A picture of the Rio Verde Foothills development, which has never had running water and where the owners of homes have to bring in their water, shows homes with swimming pools.
I cannot see any logic for a housing development located in the desert, trucking in water, to have swimming pools. Here again, we see people thinking only about their own comfort to the detriment of others and the planet. Two things the dry Western areas of the United States should eliminate are golf courses and personal swimming pools. Colorado has made positive steps in that direction with incentives and encouragement to remove water-guzzling grass by replacing it with xeric-focused landscapes. If only all Western states would be so inclined.
Mariann Storck, Wheat Ridge
True memory loss? No
Re: “Biden vs. Trump: Whose flaws are more dangerous?” Feb. 18 commentary
In his commentary, Doyle McManus does not get to the gist of the age issue.
For a more scientific commentary on forgetfulness in aging, Dr. Charan Ranganath, a neuroscientist and author of an op-ed for the New York Times and featured recently on PBS’s “On the Media,” is more instructive.
He writes, “There is forgetting, and there is Forgetting.” People conflate recall problems, such as forgetting names and dates or blanking on a word — which begins in the 30s — with actual memory loss. True memory loss involves not remembering that an event happened, such as if Biden forgot that his son Bo had even died rather than failing to recall the year he died.
A history of speech impediment, such as Biden’s stuttering in early life, can create speech anxiety, which can be aggravated in stressful situations. Many of us experience this regularly: I have to introduce this longtime friend, but in a panic I forget her name.
Ranganath points out that a person’s age does not say anything about the person’s cognitive status, and hence their ability to do the job.
What does make a difference is experience and character. Long experience in a field can enable one to make good judgments — the wisdom that comes with age.
Character is not linked to age, but age does reveal character as developed over the years. McManus’ considerations relate to the pattern of our two candidates’ lives. Both have flaws and strengths, but which has the experience, cognitive ability, and character to carry our country forward as we face multiple challenges?
Frances Rossi, Denver
Trying to leave the grid
Re: “Xcel executive responds,” Feb. 18 letter to the editor
Robert Kenney, president of Xcel Energy Colorado, says that very few of his gas customers “have submitted applications” to disconnect from Xcel’s grid. I’m one of them; I asked to be disconnected in August. In the past few years, I’ve canceled credit cards, disconnected my landline, disconnected cable and discontinued newspaper home delivery.
All of those started the same way: a call to customer service and some discussion, done on the same day. Xcel is the only company where someone told me Colorado law makes it illegal to disconnect service, among other incorrect responses. I am on my seventh call to what Xcel calls customer service.
Xcel can’t possibly claim that keeping an unused gas meter connected is reliable and safe — as we discovered in the January cold snap, the meters belch out a little gas all the time. Xcel has an interest in keeping customers connected to their grid for as long as possible, and coincidentally makes it extremely difficult to disconnect. Mr. Kenney can pretend that this doesn’t happen a lot, but a very large percentage of the very few disconnectors have had the same experience. I think he’s wrong.
David Stewart, Aurora
