Like most political columnists these days, when I sat down, I thought I’d write an insightful yet compelling column on seeing Trump become the first president in American history to refuse to commit to peacefully leaving office if he loses the upcoming election. Then I figured that my long-suffering editor likely already had a number of essays on that subject (Ed: oh my word, yes).

So, next I thought I would write a moving tribute to one of the greatest U.S. Supreme Court members ever, and how stunning it was to learn that Justice Ginsburg would be only the second woman in American history to lie in state in the U.S. Capitol (several news reports called her the first, but Rosa Parks had that honor back in 2005), but then I suspected that my aforementioned suffering editor likely had all the RBG stories he wanted (Ed: again, yes).

Which, of course, led me to the issue of mowing lawns.

Some time ago I wrote about the oft-overlooked fact that your local and state governments are usually more important to your daily lives than is the national government. That notion came to mind again as I read a story in Colorado Politics about our state’s very good Attorney General Phil Weiser. (Full disclosure: I don’t actually know him and have never met him, but I’m kind of in the habit of putting these “full disclosures” in my columns, so what can you do?)

In the story, we learn that Weiser took action against a lawn care company here in Colorado that was not operating in a particularly ethical manner. It seems they would call people (many of whom were on the “do not call” list) and would press them to sign up for lawn care. Months after the customer signed up for what they likely thought was a summer of service, a contract arrived with lots and lots of fine print. Buried in that tiny text was the statement that their contracts would automatically renew, resulting in new bills coming in for services many customers did not want. The firm used telemarketers to sell their services, and I know you are as shocked as I am that a telemarketer cheated the customer. I’d make a reference to the phrase, “I am shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on here,” but I worry that a reference to a 1942 black-and-white movie might not be the best literary tool (Ed: hey, I liked “Casablanca”).

Weiser’s actions again show the importance of the role of attorneys general (and that is the correct plural form, even though I know it feels weird), and contrasts Colorado’s hard-working and above-board AG with the disgraceful behavior of our national attorney general. Weiser pressured the lawn care company to reach a settlement, wherein that company agreed to a major fine ($125,000) and a fundamental shift in their business model toward transparency, clear consent for renewals, and improved written records, under court supervision.

Weiser clearly sees that his client is, well, all of us, the citizens of Colorado. He gets that his job is not to act as, say, the governor’s personal attorney. National AG William Barr, on the other hand, has apparently decided that he will protect President Trump at all costs. You may recall he recently tried to undo an already completed trial of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who had actually pleaded guilty to several charges, before deciding that he wasn’t guilty after all. Barr has sought to shield Trump from, well, lots of stuff, and does not appear to be too concerned with his job as the nation’s chief law enforcement officer, unless it’s about the president’s perceived “enemies.” This shameful behavior has led to calls for his removal from office and more.

It is understandable if you missed the Weiser story, as it came out on the same day Trump repeated his declaration that the only way he loses an election is if he is cheated out of it, as well as the new assertion that he didn’t really plan to leave office if he lost. But I do urge you to take a minute to read that article in CP and other stories about Colorado-level governance. We are lucky to have the quality of elected officials we have running things now, and all of whom seem to understand that they are an elected official for a certain period of time, and not an authoritarian potentate, as Trump seems to aspire to (Ed: I see what you did there, slipping in national-level stuff).

It has been a while since I first wrote on Colorado’s role as the true bellwether state in terms of electoral politics. It would seem that we may now also claim the prize of best AG, when contrasted with our nation’s version of that office. That is a good thing for us but is a pity for the rest of the nation.