Election results prove illiteracy on many levels
Editor:
Jerry Fabyanic said, “The simple truth is that Randy Wheelock and George Clark would be our new commissioners if it weren’t for a number of Democrats jumping ship. … In every other contest, Democrats romped.”
Robert Houdesell said, “Obviously the Republican ‘brand’ is damaged; that much I know.”
Say what? There appears to be excessive emphasis on political parties by these two columnists. Reality check: Ideological partisanship is public enemy No. 1. It is the reason we have the “fiscal cliff,” $1.2 trillion federal budget deficits, and the apparent inability to face and solve mega-problems.
Democrats jumping ship. So what? We should celebrate that there are some authentic independent thinkers in Clear Creek County. Every U.S. citizen who votes a straight ticket (all Democrat or all Republican) without understanding the issues and the candidates is part of the problem, both nationally and in Colorado.
Jerry also said, “The biggest winner was not a person but personal freedom. Amendment 64, legalizing marijuana, garnered 64 percent.” There may be some legitimate reasons to legalize marijuana on a national basis, but legalizing it on a state-by-state basis will severely disrupt the early adopters, e.g., Colorado and Washington. These states will become havens for the drug culture — dealers, addicts, suppliers, growers, drug-related crimes, etc.
Go back and review Gov. John Hickenlooper’s economic development plan, “Blueprint Colorado,” developed in 2011. The types of high-quality, high-value-creating people and companies that the plan aims to attract are repelled by the drug-culture environment.
That’s why Hickenlooper and Clear Creek Sheriff Don Krueger forcefully spoke out against Amendment 64. From the election results, it appears that the marijuana supporters and Obama supporters are the same people — a very disturbing reality for the U.S. and Colorado. We have educated/raised more than a generation of science-illiterate, economics-illiterate, business-illiterate and independent-thinking-illiterate citizens. The 2012 election results again prove that.
Jim Leonard
Evergreen