VOL. 01 NO. 207 | DECEMBER 16, 2016 | COLORADOSTATESMAN.COM/THE-HOT-SHEET | © 2016

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Oops! – Apparently, we’ve been hacked by Russia!

Of course, we jest … right? Or do we? You might want to download that most recent virus patch right about now.

Moving right along … Here’s hoping that you have weekend plans filled with friends, family and as few holiday shoppers as possible … unless you enjoy self-flagellation, of course. For those counting there are only 8 days until Christmas and the first day of Hanukkah, and just 25 until the Colorado Legislature kicks off the first session of the 71st General Assembly …

Our favorite story of the morning came out of the left-leaning Colorado Independent. Check it out when you get the chance … Nothing like hearing a signature gatherer lament the legalities of “Raise(ing) the Bar.”

The First Shot

“What things did he (Donald Trump) say he’s going to roll back on and what things is he going to push forward? That uncertainty, I think, causes anxiety.”

– Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper

Some Western governors wringing hands over Trump

It’s not just the press that’s speculating what a President Donald Trump will look and govern like … Western governors – both Democrat and Republican – are attempting to read the tealeaves as well. Several guvs, in states with high stakes in energy, health care and education funding might have moved from tealeaf reading to deploying crystal balls and the prophetic witches from MACBETH.

Ahead of the Western Governors Association meeting this week in California, several of the nine governors in attendance – according to the Hartford Courant – expressed their uneasiness about the unpredictability of the incoming administration. Many insisted that states’ rights must be upheld.

Hickenlooper waded into the partisan water, joining other states in expressing ‘anxiety’ over the incoming Trump administration … “What positions is he going to take back? What things did he say he’s going to roll back on and what things is he going to push forward? That uncertainty, I think, causes anxiety.”

Electors take their fight upstairs

No, the Hamilton Electors aren’t taking their 2-and-0 court loss to heaven … Although, a little bit of prayer certainly couldn’t hurt their case at this point. The ‘faithless’ now putting their faith for their stunt in the justices of Colorado’s Supreme Court.

The legal justification for the move down the street and up the judicial food chain – as presented by the rogue electors –  is that the state district court had no jurisdiction to tell federal electors how to vote, because the Electoral College is ruled by federal law.

You can read (or attempt to read) the actual filing by the twosome’s attorney, Jesse Witt over at the Denver Post website.

Meanwhile – as pointed out by Colorado Independent reporter Corey Hutchins – Colorado Republican Secretary of State Wayne Williams has suggested that electors who do go rogue could face perjury charges. Since he was named as a defendant in their lawsuit, he has had harsh words for the electors, calling their effort “evil,” “odious,” “arrogant” and part of an “illegal conspiracy.”

Monday should be a fun day … At least for political reporters!

NEW U.S. citizens try to make sense out of #Election2016

As most of us attempt to extrapolate a larger meaning following the outcomes of the recent elections, can you imagine what a newly sworn-in citizen might be wondering following the bitter presidential race?

Colorado Public Radio watched recently as 45 new Americans took the oath of citizenship, discovering that – like the rest of us – they have different takeaways and hopes for the future of our country.

In case you had any doubt … the numbers of legal immigrants voting in Colorado has had a yuuuuge political impact. In 2013, about one out of 10 Coloradans were born somewhere other than the U.S. according to the Census Bureau. That’s a two-fold increase from the rate in 1990.

According to CPR, don’t assume that former immigrants are all anti-Trump. Not so. Newly minted U.S. citizen Ronald Shaw, 76, said he supports president-elect Donald Trump.

“He’s a leader,” Shaw said. “His election has been a very clear message to all that what was happening in the U.S. over the last few years has to change.”

Jeffco students taught ‘guilt’ over climate change

Outside of a science class … An English teacher at the Jefferson County Open School is teaching the ‘guilt’ of climate change to his students. Teacher Benjamin Dancer apparently focusing on the text – “The Sixth Extinction – An Unnatural History.”

Dancer – according to Colorado Public Radio – suspected his students might react to “The Sixth Extinction” with a sense of guilt. The Pulitzer Prize winning “Sixth Extinction” tells the story of climate change, rapid population growth and the sudden and dramatic extinction of species all over the Earth.

Just for Laughs

Calendar

12/16             CRBA Monthly Meeting

12/19            ACDP Executive Board Regular Meeting

1/19               ACDP Executive Board Regular Meeting

Today in History

1989 – U.S. Appeals Court Judge Robert Smith Vance is assassinated by a mail bomb sent by Walter Leroy Moody, Jr.

1978 – Cleveland, Ohio becomes the first major American city to default on its financial obligations since the Great Depression.

1950 – Korean War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman declares a state of emergency after Chinese troops enter the fight in support of communist North Korea.

1937 – Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe attempt to escape from the American federal prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay; neither is ever seen again.

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