The picture is the man I am running against. His name is Chris Holbert, the Republican Senate Majority Leader in Colorado. He heard Dr. Ford’s statements about Kavanaugh. He doesn’t question her memory. He just compared Kavanaugh’s actions to cheating at little league baseball. Specifically, he compared it to not touching one of the bases as the player passed it. No big deal. Probably didn’t matter in the long run. Just a little, harmless cheat. Attempted rape. Like failing to touch a base in little league. This is who I am running against. He does not believe that no means no. Yes, this reflects his attitudes toward women. But there is more to it.
I am running for the Colorado State Senate in District 30. I am running because good government starts at home. Home is the community, and good government protects the members of the community. And the person representing our community in the state senate thinks that attempted rape is about as bad as a minor cheat in little league baseball. That is not protecting the members of our community, men or women. Because men get raped too. And their no should also mean no. This is not the only way that he is disrespectful of our choices. He also wants to prevent women from having access to birth control or abortions for any reason. He wants to control our rights to our own bodies. And it goes further.
Not only does no not mean no in cases of attempted rape. He sees the word “no” as simply another obstacle to overcome. If no does not mean no, it means simply coming up with a way to get what he wants. If she says no, he merely has to overcome her no, whether by drugging her or just plain forcing her. Whenever he comes up against a “no,” he simply finds a way around it and make the one saying no helpless to stop him. Our former school board was giving money away to private entities by way of voucher. First, the community took that giveaway to court — and won. But he encouraged the old board to take the case to the Supreme Court. While it was awaiting a decision from this court, our community spoke a very loud no by voting out that school board and voting in a new, very good school board. That board cancelled the giveaway. But that was not enough to convince Senator Holbert that no means no. He is introducing new legislation that would go around the school board, and through the power of the senate, would give tax breaks to families sending their children to private schools. That money would come from the school budgets. The community would be helpless to enforce their no.
It isn’t just Senator Holbert, it is the whole GOP. Several communities in North Metro Denver voted to ban fracking from their neighborhoods. It was a loud no. But GOP Attorney General challenged their ban in the courts, saying communities had no right to ban fracking in their neighborhoods. They won. Now these communities watch helplessly as fracking happens as close as 500 feet from the doors of schools. In many cases, that means right outside the perimeter of the playground. The parents who sent their children to those schools had no say about whether their children should breathe methane gas at recess, or concentrate through the noise of establishing and running those fracking sites. Because, the GOP do not believe that no means no, whether it refers to attempted rape or poisoning their children.
But believing that no does not mean no also means yes does not mean yes. House Bill 18-1436, the Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO) bill, also known as the “Red Flag” law, was worked on by the local Republican Sheriff as a way to protect his citizens and his officers (not all Republicans are bad). The bill temporarily removes access to firearms from individuals who are perceived by law enforcement, family members or roommates to be a danger to themselves or others. After seven days, the individual had the right to petition the courts to get his or her firearms back. It was strongly favored in Holbert’s district, and, as mentioned earlier, the sheriff of Douglas County helped write the bill and testified on its behalf. It passed the Colorado House of Representatives and was sent to the Senate. As Senate Majority Leader, it was Senator Holbert’s job to assign that bill to a committee before it would come to the floor. First, he waited until the session was nearly over to assign the bill. Then he assigned it to a committee he knew was made up of members who would kill it. The community had said yes. But to Senator Holbert, yes did not mean yes just as so often no does not, in his mind, mean no.
The mindset of Senator Holbert and the GOP to excuse Kavenaugh’s behavior is the same mindset that they bring to other legislation: nobody’s wishes matter except their own. This is not how good government works in a representative democracy. Good government protects the citizens. Good government listens to the constituents and acts on their behalf. I understand that no means no. I also understand that yes means yes. Good government starts at home. And the first requirement for good government is representing and protecting the constituency.
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