Freedom Unaffiliated

Obviously, the outcome of the war with Iran remains to be seen. The best outcome is a US military victory followed by regime change freeing Iranians from the tyranny of their government. With that may come a more peaceful and stable Middle East removing the existential danger of nuclear weapons in the hands of religious fanatics who have plagued the region for the last 47 years. In 1979, a revolut...

Years ago, I interviewed a Canadian health-care broker whose job was helping his countrymen escape their own failing system. When their “free” health care turned into “free to wait until you die,” he’d save his clients by routing them to doctors in the U.S. who’d accept cash and rescue their lives. I asked him what advice he had for Americans. His answer terrified me. “I hope the U.S. won’t do wha...

I’ve lived in Colorado since 1970. And you know what Colorado had back in 1970? High winds blowing down the Front Range. I moved to Boulder in 1984 and have been there ever since. And you know what Boulder has had all that time? A freakin’ lot of high winds. I remember as a college kid walking around the CU campus after windstorms, stepping around uprooted trees and massive broken branches that ma...

The governor and progressive Democrats that dominate the state legislature and every statewide office in Colorado have been masterful ― if not ethical and honest ― in devising devious schemes to circumvent the TABOR amendment in the Colorado Constitution. That’s the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights , passed by a 1992 voter-initiated ballot measure that bypassed the legislature. It limited government spen...

At this point, if you hear beeping downtown, it’s not a construction crew. It’s a company backing out. And look, I get it. Businesses relocate for all sorts of reasons: taxes, regulations, labor costs, office space, crime, commute times, the haunting feeling your chief executive is one city council meeting away from being declared a single-use plastic. But Colorado’s political class has been turni...

This part will disappoint angry people on Twitter: Relax. Put the pitchforks down. I am not relitigating the 2020 election or mail ballots or even Tina Peters. But I am saying people don’t trust elections like they used to. And here in Colorado we can do a rather simple thing to reverse that. And progressives should want it most. Saving democracy is all the rage now, and as far as political slogan...

It’s worrisome enough that we have to live with the ever-present threat of nuclear war hanging over our head, the fiery extermination of humanity from global warming, a worldwide depression triggered by the U.S. defaulting on its $39 trillion national debt on its way to $50 trillion, to say nothing of an uptick in falls from Denver rent-a-scooters. On top of all that, yet another crisis has descen...

Something strange is happening in Colorado — strange enough that the political class should notice. People are leaving Colorado . After years of being one of the fastest-growing states in the nation, net in-migration has stopped and may be reversing. According to Federal Reserve Bank data, the last time Colorado’s population took a dip was 1945. Congrats to our policy makers, who finally achieved...

A tautology is a needless repetition of an idea using different wording. For example: “Sooner or later the inevitable is bound to happen.” In this case, Bari Weiss is under fire from the stable of leftist, so-called journalists at CBS’s “60 Minutes” program. The rebellion is over a story (in fact, a hit piece), recently scheduled to run, about the Trump administration’s deportation of illegal immi...

Bicycle lanes in Denver are much more than just a nuisance for motorists, they’re a small but glaring symptom of the radical progressive mentality of Democrats that have grossly mismanaged Denver government in recent years. This is a sad reflection on Denver voters, who have brought this on themselves. Worse than useless and ridiculously underused, they obstruct traffic and pose a safety hazard fo...

I suggest we get used to saying the words, “Governor Weiser.” The election for Colorado’s next governor does not take place in November. It’s in fewer than five months, on June 30. That’s the state’s primary election. Whoever wins the Democratic primary is the next governor (with all apologies to the seeming 328 Republicans running for the seat). So, out of a state of 6 million people, we must cho...

Should police wear masks? Denver’s city council thinks no — and is even trying to outlaw it for federal agents operating in the city (because if there’s one thing municipal governments do well, it’s bossing around Washington, DC). Like so many issues where people quickly polarize to one extreme or the other, this issue is nuanced. “Nuanced” in today’s vocabulary means “background noise” — somethin...

The border skirmishes are increasing, and we could be looking at full-blown combat. The simmering civil unrest inside Colorado’s Democratic ranks is heating up, and during this legislative session it might boil over into all-out civil war. If it does, Colorado news media might actually have to interrupt their regularly scheduled Republican-bashing to report on it. Airing dirty laundry Inner-party...

In Colorado, TDS doesn’t stand for “ Trump Derangement Syndrome . ” It stands for “TABOR Derangement Syndrome.” You can spot its sufferers easily. They break into hives at the mere mention of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights . In fact, they can’t even utter its full name, Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, only “TABOR,” as if it’s a slur. They blame it for everything from potholes to pimples. And they insist...

Historian Will Durant observed that peace is an unstable equilibrium which can be preserved only by acknowledged supremacy or equal power. War is a constant of human history and human nature and always will be. That’s not cynicism or defeatism, it’s practicality. If you believe otherwise you needn’t read any further, we have an irreconcilable premise. Operation Absolute Resolve, a masterful, tacti...

Hang onto your wallet, it’s a Colorado legislative session. And the loneliest person under the Gold Dome is Jared Polis, a governor without a nation. This will be the last regular session of his limited two terms, and he has managed to become disliked by just about everyone. Of course, no matter how often he claims to be libertarian or business friendly, those on his right are just plain pissed at...

Remember during COVID, when the people screaming the loudest for government-mandated jabs were the very same people chanting “my body, my choice” when it came to abortion — I mean, “women’s health care”? They’re also the folks who insist a 12-year-old is far too young to get a tattoo, but perfectly mature enough to make irreversible “gender-affirming” medical decisions. The technical term for this...

“Minnesota and its two largest cities sued the Trump administration on Monday to try to stop an immigration enforcement surge that has led to the fatal shooting of a Minnesota woman by a federal officer and evoked outrage and protests across the country.” That was the first paragraph in a recent Associated Press article which paved the way for yet another biased editorial masquerading as a balance...

Hopefully by the time you're listening to this, the strike of a Telluride ski resort is over, ski patrollers are again joyfully sliding down mountains and getting paid for it, and tourists are once again being overcharged for, well, everything. But there are some lessons buried in this story of ski bums going all Norma Ray on big skis backside. Forget big pharma, big ski runs mountains. And that's...

If you’re a fan of limited government, Tuesday’s election results were a downer. By Jon Caldara If you’re a fan of limited government, personal liberty, or educational choice, Tuesday night’s election results were a downer, just another one in a long line of depressing elections that has made Colorado more California than California. However, if you prefer a controlling elite deciding your fate, d...

The Generation Z guide to gainful employment By Mike Rosen Although people that fall within the age boundaries of a generation may have many characteristics and beliefs in common, a sweeping generalization that stereotypes all of them is presumptuous, ignoring the individuality of many others. Since I was born during World War II, I’m two years short of being technically a Baby Boomer. H...

New insider report shows Democrats detached from reality By Jon Caldara Outside of Colorado, Democrats are still panicked about President Donald Trump’s victory, trying to figure out how Americans can be so stupid as to reject their elitist-driven, woke socialism. But inside Colorado, Democrats see no need to worry. Unchecked power tends to do that. A new report from a centrist Democrat group call...

The worst of the questions voters face on Colorado’s ballot By Mike Rosen On the Colorado ballot are two statewide measures that are interwoven:  Propositions LL and MM . Both are legacies of Proposition FF, referred to voters by the Democrat-controlled state legislature and passed in 2022, creating the Healthy School Meals for All Program (HSMA). Prior to HSMA, the state covered th...

Colorado’s policy laboratory now staffed by mad scientists By Jon Caldara For decades, Colorado has served as the nation’s favorite guinea pig — a testing ground for policies so bold, so idealistic and so occasionally boneheaded other states quietly thanked us for jumping in the pool first. What Silicon Valley is for apps, Colorado is for policy experiments. Sadly, when our “beta test” crashes, th...

Jimmy Kimmel can’t hide behind freedom of speech By Mike Rosen Jimmy Kimmel’s recent “firing” (actually, a mere one-week suspension) as host of ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” for his false, tasteless, and asinine remarks about Charlie Kirk’s assassination kicked off a firestorm of political controversy between the left and right about freedom of speech. Let’s set the record straight. The Decl...