Ari Armstrong's Web Log (Main) | Archives | Terms of Use
Colorado News Miner 139
Tina Peters, DSA, redistricting, Little Saigon, TABOR, crime, housing, AI, and more.
by Ari Armstrong, Copyright © 2025
Ari's Recent Columns
• Chair Signals Return to Roots for Colorado's Libertarian Party (Complete)
• Censorship Claim Against History Colorado Fails Smell Test (Complete)
• A Tax-Funded Religious School in Colorado Would Undermine Reality-Based Education (Times Recorder)
• Homeschool Flexibility Optimizes Deep, Adaptive learning (Complete)
• Romanticized Lessons in Democracy a Disservice to Colorado Kids (Complete)
• History Colorado Exhibit Highlights Moments that Made US (Complete)
• Jason Crow Was Right to Warn Against Illegal Orders (Times Recorder)
• Tina Peters Deserved Her Conviction (Complete)
Notes on Peters: Complete Colorado published my article, "Tina Peters Deserved Her Conviction, Just Not a Prison Cell." Here is a line cut from the piece: "Let me say this as clearly as I can: If you are a Republican leader in Colorado, particularly one with past ties to Oltmann, and you do not now publicly and unambiguously condemn Oltmann's antisemitism and pro-violence rhetoric, then you are a coward and an enemy of the rule of just law." Kyle Clark, whom I mention in the piece, graciously says, "As usual, [Ari Armstrong] has a thoughtful take on Colorado's headlines. The libertarian columnist argues that Tina Peters' allies calling for vengeance & mass killings obscures what could be a compelling case for her to leave prison for home detention." I don't explicitly make that argument but it's implicit in what I say. Interestingly, the push-back I got on Bluesky was over calling for lighter punishment for Peters (specifically in-home detention). But, as I replied, I'd argue for the same treatment for any defendant similar to Peters. In-home detention is a severe punishment, and it's a lot cheaper than prison. No defendant, including Peters, should get harsher treatment because of the views of the defendant's allies. That said, Peters's relationship with the likes of Oltmann and Ticktin does bear on the question of whether she'd obey the rules of in-home detention, so I'm not saying in-home detention is a slam-dunk. I have a long history of criticizing inappropriate punishment (as in the case of drug possession "crimes"), over-punishment, and overly severe punishment, and I'm not about to make an exception for Peters just because she and her supporters are horrible people. (Also, I usually don't call myself a "libertarian" anymore because much of the libertarian movement and party have become so corrupted.) Recent news: A federal judge has denied Peters's release while her attorneys work on appealing, and Peters's attorney claims Peters was repeatedly attacked in prison.
Ex-DSA Gonzales: Kyle Clark: "Progressive State Sen. Julie Gonzales is dropping her Democratic Socialist affiliation as she challenges Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO). Gonzales told me she is no longer a member of the DSA." John Frank: "Up and down the ballot, progressives are challenging the Democratic centrist establishment." I doubt this gets very far. Dems didn't win here by being crazy.
Redistricting: Both Michael Bennet and Phil Weiser call for Dem-friendly Congressional redistricting to counter Republican-friendly redistricting elsewhere. I support this. You can't let one party abuse the rules with impunity. Of course it's stupid that we're in this position; we should have solved the gerrymandering problem long ago.
Little Saigon: Congratulations to History Colorado for making the New York Times over its decision to reject a politically charged painting for its Little Saigon exhibit. Read my take. Joia Ha of Colorado Asian Pacific United wrote in, "CAPU that commissioned the pieces, not History Colorado." Jasmine Chu of CAPU wrote in, "After a public RFP process, we selected, commissioned, and paid for Madalyn Drewno's artworks for the 'Big Dreams in Denver's Little Saigon' exhibition; one of the final pieces was removed by History Colorado due to its political content which was not included in Madalyn's original proposal. CAPU did not have a role in the decision to remove the artwork, and we did push to have the piece included or to find a compromise. . . . Since its removal, we have remained committed to opening dialogue, opportunities for repair, and solutions that are mission aligned. . . . We would also like to note that CAPU was not included in the decision to request assistance from NCAC [National Coalition Against Censorship]. . . . The images of the artwork feature community members that did not consent to their image and stories being used for NCAC’s campaign."
Rare TABOR Victory: Rob Natelson: "Metropcs California, LLC v. City of Lakewood should have been a slam-dunk for the taxpayers. In 1969, the City of Lakewood enacted a tax on certain telecommunication businesses. In 1996, the city expanded the services and businesses subject to the tax. In 2015, it did so again. Both expansions were clearly 'new taxes' as TABOR uses that phrase. But Lakewood ignored TABOR and never sent the new taxes to the voters. The only reason the Lakewood case actually was not a slam dunk was that [it] was to be decided by the Colorado Supreme Court, which almost always rules against TABOR. But—mirabile dictu!—the justices finally did the right thing: They ruled unanimously that Lakewood’s 1996 and 2015 measures were new taxes and should have been reviewed by the voters. Pro-TABOR plaintiffs had accomplished an almost unheard feat: They actually had won in the Colorado Supreme Court!"
Murderous Burglar: Denver Post: "Lakewood woman killed in home during suspected burglary, police say." The potential for escalation is one reason why it is crucially important for government to take property crimes seriously! Sun: "Of the 351,283 burglary and theft from building cases [in Colorado from 2014 to 2024], 15% have been cleared." Seems bad!
Government Stupidity: But I repeat myself. Denver Post: "Aurora nudges restaurants to quit automatically serving water as part of effort to count 'every single drop.'"
Polis on Social Media: Westword criticizes Jared Polis for promoting "Richard Hanania and Nicholas Decker on social media." Hanania, at least, has apologized or recanted, however much one might doubt his sincerity. Regardless, I don't see any upside to Polis's remarks.
Housing: KOAA: "Colorado Springs is facing massive housing crisis." Affordability also is rough in rural Colorado. But I certainly don't think the state should be subsidizing housing.
HOAs and ADUs: An HOA in Aurora says a resident may not rent out the basement. I'm conflicted about this. On one hand, I think people have the right to join HOAs. On the other hand, a rule against renting out the basement is obviously stupid. The state should not push people into HOAs in a way that does not involve genuine consent. The people within an HOA (collectively) should be able to escape the HOA if it no longer serves their interests. Obviously existing HOAs can and should eliminate stupid rules. And local governments certainly should not restrict the development and use of housing. The key problem is local governments have place severe restrictions on most aspects of the housing market.
Literacy Is Justice: Jenny Brundin: The Rocky Mountain Prep charter network is paying parents to serve as literacy tutors. "Trained parent tutors were just as effective as classroom teachers in helping students make literacy gains."
Bennet on Cap-and-Spend: CPR: Michael Bennet wants to establish "a declining cap on climate-warming emissions," then "issue or sell a limited number of [emission] permits each year." Apparently he wants to direct the revenues raised toward private and corporate welfare projects. Bad idea.
Hemp: CBS: "Colorado hemp producers and sellers stunned by new federal limits on THC products." So stupid.
Greystar Settlement: Greystar settled with the AG over claims that the housing company misled people about fees. Assuming the facts are as Phil Weiser states, offhand this seems reasonable.
Wage Controls: Even Boulder is worried about the harmful effects of minimum wage hikes.
Drug Busts: "Record breaking" drug busts in Colorado don't do much in terms of street availability, CPR points out. The main effect of government action is to stir the criminal pot, which often leads to more turf-war violence. But I guess we're going to keep fighting the drug war, regardless of how ineffective it is and how much violence it generates.
AI Regs: NYT: "Trump Promises Executive Order to Block State A.I. Regulations." This probably will affect Colorado. I'll maintain the standard libertarian skepticism about new regulations while noting that I have not deeply studied the relevant issues. I do think carefully designed regulations that protect people's (actual) rights can be a good idea, but those are not usually the sorts of rules that regulators come up with! Axios reviews the approach of the Colorado legislature. Some Colorado parents are advocating for harsher restrictions, but, I reply, parents have the responsibility to monitor their childrens' use of social media, and other things, to ensure safety. Government isn't supposed to be the parent.
Digital Threats: Andrea Dukakis: "Jefferson County Sheriff Reggie Marinelli . . . wants a new Colorado law that requires social media companies to respond more quickly when authorities want digital information on users posting violent or threatening content."
Sean Beedle: You will see a new name at the progressive Colorado Times Recorder (where I write a column): Sean Beedle. But the reporter is the same Beedle, formerly known as Heidi. Beedle announced the name change at the end of a recent CTR podcast (44:59 minute marker). "I am, once again, identifying with my birth sex. I am a man," Beedle said.
School Boards: Ann Schimke: Progressives won a lot.
Tax-Funded Christian School: A Christian school in Pueblo may not become the test case its supporters hoped given the school is struggling with health and safety regs.
JeffCo Schools: The district is shrinking. So of course district leaders want a tax hike.
International Students: CPR: Colorado is losing some of them.
Dam Uranium: So there's some uranium in the rocks planned for a dam in northern Colorado. Okay, there's trace uranium all over Colorado. How much is in the rocks at the dam? Unknown. Is this a problem, at all? Unknown.
Leave It to Beavers: Colorado wildlife has a plan.
Denver Community-Led Safety: In a November 4 email, the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition reported, "The Denver City Council voted 13–0 to approve $3.1 million for a new Community-Led Safety Grant Program."
Hate Speech in Broomfield: After someone spray-painted a swastika on the sign for Beautiful Savior Church in Broomfield, "city officials and church leaders" issued a "joint message titled 'Hate has no place in Broomfield,'" 9News reported. (It's not clear to me whether the vandal meant to promote Nazi ideas or to criticize the church somehow; either way vandalism is bad and this particular tag was especially ugly.)
Stay Classy Boebert: For Halloween Rep. Lauren Boebert dressed up as an Hispanic woman worried about ICE. For good measure Boebert mocked the "Mexican" accent. To state the obvious, she is not a good person.