By Todd Watkins
January 9, 2023 shall be known as The Big Reveal in the Colorado House of Representatives. To everyone in HD64, HD56, HD21, HD58, HD48, HD44, HD65, HD14, HD54, HD55, and HD20 who thought you elected a Republican to the statehouse: Surprise! You actually voted for Democrats.
On the very first day of the 74th Colorado Legislative Session, our House representatives gathered to elect a Speaker. This was the very first thing they did this session. One Democrat and one Republican were nominated to fill this requirement. With a population of 46 Democrats to 19 Republicans, the outcome was a fait accompli along party lines, which is typical of party politics. So, even if the Republican nominee was not the favorite among the Republican caucus, there’s no harm in standing united as a party: The outcome is going to be the same either way. Even if the Republican nominee was so repulsive to the Republican Caucus, they could have simply not cast a vote rather than side with the Democrats. Because in congress, a vote is demonstrative of the values of the representative, especially when in such a lopsided minority. All the Republicans can do is broadcast their principles, because they will not influence any outcomes. And broadcast their principles they did: 11 voted for the Democrat Speaker.
So, was this Republican nominee repulsive? To the Democrats, certainly. Scott Bottoms is a Christian, conservative pastor from Colorado Springs. He believes in things like inalienable rights, not killing babies, two genders, the Constitution, and the Republican Party Platform. Shouldn’t this describe all 19 Republicans we elected to represent us? Evidently not. (We could hold out hope that the Democrats would espouse such American ideals, but they stopped being actual Americans somewhere around the Clinton era.) Unfortunately, this isn’t terribly shocking as this particular species of Republican isn’t actually Republican. These 11 Republicans represent a mutation called RINO, and they have plagued our party for many years. Their key characteristics are greed, self-aggrandizement, lust for power and privilege, and selling out to anyone who can provide them with those things. Like a tiger’s stripes, these characteristics are clearly visible and immutable, but I shouldn’t insult tigers by comparing them with RINOs. The Democrats control the levers of power in Colorado, so that is with whom the RINOs will align.
Adding insult to injury, Mike Lynch, the newly appointed Republican Minority Leader in the House, not only voted for the Democrat Speaker, he seconded her nomination. So unwilling was he to support an actual Republican, he openly and publicly insisted that a radical, leftist Democrat, who engenders everything the Republican Party Platform is against, become the Speaker rather than a real Republican. But, as we can clearly see now, Scott Bottoms and the other seven Republicans who voted for him, are not among Mike Lynch’s RINOs, and, undoubtedly, are glad to be counted apart from the 11 turncoats who have joined with the radical left. It’s better to be an outsider because of principle than a prostitute for personal benefit.
What we learned on January 9, is that Mike Lynch, Ryan Armagost, Rod Bockenfeld, Mary Bradfield, Marc Catlin, Gabe Evans, Anthony Hartsook, Rose Pugliese, Matthew Soper, Rick Taggart, and Don Wilson are actually Democrats; part of the expanding Borg of the Uniparty. They used the Republican moniker to garner support from their districts for the sole purpose of attaining office and will now serve the Democrat masters of that chamber in the hopes for some table scraps of power and privilege as a reward for their betrayal. But we should be thankful to the Treacherous 11 for revealing themselves early, lest we languish, foolishly hoping for them to be principled. They unmasked themselves on day one: It was The Big Reveal.
