Forgive us our delay, but we had to fully digest what we saw at the anti-Betsy DeVos rally yesterday. Several hundred protesters gathered to protest…something about Betsy DeVos. We’re not really sure what.

Prior to the rally, the Colorado Education Association sent out a statement about DeVos that was grotesque and simply untrue. Here’s what Christina Medina, a DCTA member-teacher at Academia Sandoval, who also sits on the CEA Board of Directors as chair of CEA’s Equity Council on Race and Culture, said:

“The policies championed by DeVos have a negative impact on all students, but are especially harmful to students living in poverty and students of color.”

What is she talking about? What really harms students living in poverty and students of color is forcing them to attend a failing school simply because of their zip code. School choice has done incredible things to lift kids out of poverty. What she really means is that the policies championed by DeVos have a negative impact on unions.

Then, at the rally, some of the grossest signs we’ve ever seen at a rally – and a rally meant to be for kids, nonetheless. Here’s what one bystander wrote on Facebook about the event:

“The tenor was one of combativeness and conflict–and more generally of rage (I can’t think of a more appropriate word for what I saw) against Republicans and conservatives. They handed out nasty, sarcastic awards to Republican lawmakers I know personally and whom I greatly respect while holding their heads up on sticks. Sen. Merrifield doubled down on his comment that charter school supporters deserve a ‘special place in hell.’ People dressed up as conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices in order to mock them and accuse them of corruption. I’ve heard that someone in the crowd desecrated a flag, though I didn’t see it happen personally.”

Here are some of the photos from the event:

What are they even protesting? A question for PeakNation: Are these the people who we want teaching our kids…anything…?

U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner called out lawmakers for “spiking the football” after the Obamacare repeal failed in to gather enough votes for Senate passage.

He’s right, there is nothing here to celebrate except for a partisan political victory from special interest groups who want to keep the status quo that has failed Coloradans and the nation so that Democrats can get reelected.

Democrats have failed miserably in coming up with their own solutions, and now the media is snipping a quote from President Trump to “let Obamacare fail” and suggesting that he has some sinister trick up his sleeves to make that happen.

But the sad reality is that Obamacare has already failed miserably on its own. It’s caused insurance premiums to skyrocket and taxed those who can’t afford it so that they are paying huge sums for no insurance in return.

Just days ago we learned that Colorado premium costs will climb even higher next year by 27 percent.

Gardner’s right. This is not the time to celebrate, but to pick up the pieces and keep trying until we repeal and fix the Obamacare pyramid scheme.

In a hilarious interview between a tanner 9News’ Brandon Rittiman and Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, Bennet demonstrated that he has no new ideas to fix Obamacare or our healthcare system as a whole. At least, he has no ideas that Republicans haven’t already put on the table. Rittiman tries no fewer than five times to pull Democrats’ ideas out of Bennet. Each time, Bennet turns back to Republican talking points.

Oh, the irony.

Here’s a play by play:

Rittiman Attempt 1: Where is the Democratic Plan?

Bennet’s response: We need to stop talking about Obamacare and start talking about the healthcare system we have in this country. There are plenty of us with bills in the system to make our healthcare system better, more transparent, make it more affordable, create more competition in the system….

Peak Note: Those sound like the very things Republicans have been demanding for almost eight years and BUT HOW?

Rittiman Attempt 2: Are there any Republican ideas that could be in a bipartisan solution?

Bennet’s response: I don’t think so. I think we should start from scratch and we should start with what the American people have to say.

Peak Note: O…K…. But, does he realize that a bipartisan solution, by definition, kind of has to have Republican ideas. You know, so it’s bipartisan?

Rittiman Attempt 3: What’s it going go take to get a handle on the premium increases? (In other words, what is your solution?)

Bennet’s response: I think we are going to need much more competition in our health insurance than we presently have, far more transparency.

Peak Note: We stopped transcribing here because it was just too tedious and too similar to what he already had bored us with. Why did Bennet even agree to this interview if he had nothing – and we mean NOTHING – substantial to say about healthcare? After spending literally almost four minutes demonstrating that he has no ideas to improve healthcare, Bennet then went on to blame Republicans for having no ideas. The irony is rich.

Rittiman Attempt 4: How do you bring more competition? [Thank you, for the love of God]

Bennet’s response: At this point, who cares what his response was? He just started spouting Republican talking points like buying insurance across a bigger geographic and population area. Republicans have literally been demanding this for decades.

Rittiman Attempt 5: Where is your party’s leadership on this?

Bennet’s response: We passed Obamacare. (shorter version)

Peak Note: Oh FFS. We stopped watching after this. We gave up – kudos to Rittiman for soldiering on.

How many times do fractivists have to lose before they realize that attempting to recall politicians with whom they disagree is a losing strategy? Last night, radical environmentalists tried to recall Greg Stokes, Broomfield Mayor Pro Tem, because he refused to vote for a five-year moratorium on fracking. Stokes handily survived the attempt 64-36 percent.

This recall effort was monumentally stupid. First, Stokes is term limited come November, so fractivists just wasted likely thousands of taxpayer dollars on a special election. Second, Stokes was right to vote no on the moratorium. Such moratoria have been struck down by courts – and even going to court, which would have been a sure thing, would have cost the city and/or county thousands and thousands of dollars. What a boondoggle. Third, the electoral process was not meant to recall folks with whom we disagree. The idea is that you wait until the next election and elect someone you like better. Fourth, his “no” vote was one among the majority of no votes.

Stokes was right to call this recall “irrational” in the Washington Times. Then again, we’d expect nothing less from such a radical group.

Several years ago, we published a devastating overview of the taxes that Obamacare levied on America. And it was awful. We thought we would just remind Coloradans how devastating Obamacare has been to families and businesses. Just check out the chart below. It’s appalling.

Mt. Bierstadt in the Mount Evans Wilderness Area has become so popular with hikers, that federal land managers are taking it upon themselves to find a way to keep folks off the public lands.

CBS4 reports that a new user fee is in the works, and that other options are to limit entry during peak periods and restrict parking.

We’re scratching our heads over the math on this one.

There are as many as 400 vehicles in the parking lot during peak times, but the average number of people on the summit at one time during weekends is 28.

That’s a lot of slackers.

We’re willing to bet that keeping people off the summit will cost taxpayers more money than letting folks climb the fourteener.

This is what nature lovers fail to understand every time they support a liberal politician’s legislation to create more designated wilderness areas. It sounds good in theory, but in reality it means they don’t get to enjoy it anytime they want.

If we elect U.S. Rep. Jared Polis as our next governor, he will save the unicorn from extinction, pass health care to ensure no one ever dies, and cut our energy bills by taking away our heat and power.

At least that’s how we figure the latter plan will work.

That bold promise by Polis is to completely eliminate the fossil fuels that power our part of the planet 100 percent with renewable energy in only 23 years.

In keeping with his campaign spirit to promise things that won’t happen, we made up the stuff about unicorns and never dying. We figure all have an equal chance of actually happening.

It’s a ridiculous promise, and Polis knows this, writes Vincent Carroll at the Denver Post.

Check out his take-down of Polis’s pledge, it’s worth the read.

Why isn’t the media coming to the defense of Michael Sandoval?

A Lafayette man who wrote that letter to the Boulder Daily Camera expressing his thoughts on fracking and violence against energy workers is now on a lawsuit frenzy in another incident, claiming of all things, invasion of privacy, defamation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Andrew O’Connor claims his privacy was invaded because he made public comments at a June 13 Broomfield City Council meeting and it was reported by Western Wire.
It’s a bizarre set of claims that defies reasoning.

O’Connor’s targets are Western Wire editor Michael Sandoval, who did his job and reported the incident, and Broomfield resident Camille Cave, who spoke out against O’Connor during the public comment period.

Cave said O’Connor was a “fringe environmentalist” who wanted o

il and gas development eliminated. O’Connor calls this slander and defamation.

We remind PeakNation of Exhibit A, O’Connor’s letter that set things into motion.

In this lawsuit, O’Connor claims Western Wire “violated (his) privacy” and “illegally obtained” his emails through the Colorado Open Records Act and published several articles based on his communication with Broomfield and Boulder city council members.

We don’t know whether to laugh or cry. The emails were not illegally obtained, if legally obtained through a state open records law.

O’Connor is asking for financial damages for the defamation and emotional distress.

It’s too soon to tell if a court will take this lawsuit seriously, but in the meantime, the media should be taking a strong interest in this case. It could lead to a very chilling effect on all media and their ability to cover public meetings, and use the open record law to hold public and private folks accountable.