Republican Don Coram estimated he got more than 100 phone calls leading up to the day Congress was scheduled to reaffirm Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election.

A few urged the Montrose lawmaker to ratify the results of the Electoral College, which in December affirmed Biden had defeated Republican Donald Trump. Most callers argued the election had been stolen from President Trump and Coram had a responsibility to reject the results from Arizona, Pennsylvania and other states

A few callers, Coram said, used his wife’s Diana’s “favorite term of endearment.” 

 “They called me a @#!$*@ idiot,” he said.

Colorado legislators are having to explain to their constituents that they are state lawmakers with no authority to certify or reject the results of the Electoral College. And after the mayhem that occurred before the ratification on Jan. 6, state lawmakers found themselves telling fellow Coloradans that they play no role in whether Trump should be impeached for inciting the Capitol riot that led to five deaths.  

Rep. Barbara McLachlan, a Durango Democrat, is among those being urged to impeach or not to impeach. She explains that that’s Congress’s role, but the calls keep coming.  

Apparently those civic lessons of long ago didn’t take hold.

Newly elected House Speaker Alec Garnett, a Denver Democrat, said he thinks the disconnect is stronger in the West. Maybe it’s because Colorado has strong municipalities and county commissions, he said.

“I’ve learned not to be surprised that people don’t know what we do or they don’t know we exist,” he said of the 100-member Colorado General Assembly.

His office recently received a request that he expel Rep. Lauren Boebert, a strident Trump supporter. His staff had to explain that Boebert is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and not the Colorado House of Representatives. 

Boebert for weeks has been repeating Trump’s erroneous claims that he won in a landslide, and that the election was stolen.

Did you see her speech before Congress on Jan. 6 where the Rifle Repubican talked about fraudulent voters and her constituents standing outside the building? And they said Howard Dean screamed. 

But it wasn’t just Boebert’s voice; it was the weird and wild way her arms kept moving. I swear she chugged a bottle of Honey Boo Boo juice just before speaking. Either that or someone was pulling her arms with invisible wire. 

Boebert, who is facing growing criticism, on Jan. 11 issued a statement ripping the Democrats. 

“They act as if Republicans created objections to the Electoral College certification out of thin air, when in (sic) was Democrats who objected in 2001, 2005 and 2017,” she wrote.

Rep. Boebert, let’s review what happened in 2017. Some Democrats cited Russian hacking, voter suppression and more in objecting to Trump’s victory. They were gaveled down by the vice president, none other than Joe Biden. 

Biden received a standing ovation from Republicans when he said, “It is over.”

I predict it will be over for Boebert in 2022, if not before. The Republicans who blistered former House Speaker Russell George, a Rifle Republican, for endorsing Boebert’s opponent, Democrat Diane Mitsch-Bush, look pretty silly these days. 

Russ George understands civics and, perhaps more importantly, civility.  

Coram said he plans to introduce a bill that would strengthen civics education in Colorado. He worked on the idea last year, but halted the effort when lawmakers adjourned because of coronavirus. The proposal, which doesn’t have a House sponsor yet, “specifies information and issues that public schools must teach in providing courses on civil government.”

“Everyone quotes the Constitution but they don’t know what’s in it,” Coram said. “They think it’s a buffet where you get to pick and choose what you like.”

A bill the legislature did pass last year eliminated the statewide high school social studies exam. It hadn’t been given since 2014 because educators realized the structure wasn’t set up properly. 

Then-state Rep. Jim Wilson, who worked as an educator for four decades, voted for the bill, but the Salida Republican described an “overwhelming cloud” about the decision, Chalkbeat Colorado reported. 

“What are we doing to make sure our students understand what makes America, America?” Wilson said.

Former state Sen. Mark Hillman clearly understands what makes America, America. From the Burlington Republican’s Facebook page three days before Congress was set to ratify the Electoral College: 

“Not a single member of the House, nor any member of the Senate protesting, are disputing their own election victory, only that of president-elect Biden. This despite each of their ballots sharing the same voting procedures and protocols as the presidential election,” he wrote.

Plenty of Colorado Republicans bought into Trump’s fantasy about a stolen election, despite not a shred of evidence. Then-Rep. Lori Saine, who was chairwoman of the Audit Committee, convened a special investigatory hearing in December to look at the issue.

“You’ve got certain states with election integrity issues. But did it happen here in Colorado? It’s really kind of on us to help answer that question. Did it happen here? Did we have widespread fraud?” the Firestone Republican told the Colorado Sun. 

No, nein, nyet. As I’ve said before, if you could commit election fraud how did Secretary of State Wayne Williams and Arapahoe County Clerk Matt Crane, both Republicans, lose in 2018? Colorado has numerous checks in place to ensure accurate elections.

Talk of impeachment is dominating the news these days.

Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota has some advice for the federal lawmakers who will make that decision: Don’t do it. The Democrat told the Sioux Falls Argus Leader that removing Trump from power fewer than two weeks before his tenure in the White House ends will only further divide the country and galvanize what’s left of Trump’s base.

Meanwhile, the calls and contacts to state lawmakers keep coming. Coram shared some of his e-mails:  

• What will you do with the ongoing censorship of free speech, including Apple/Google blocking Parler? What will you do with the mainstream media’s activism, not journalism? What will you do with the Biden family connection with China? What will you do to make sure only every legal-only vote is countered?

• I know you’re a Democrat, but are you honest? Don’t impeach Trump for the people’s choices, they are NOT sheep! (Coram is a Republican.) 

• Why should the country go down the toilet because the Dems and Socialists don’t get what they want? … Jesus sure sees this. When his second coming comes you better pray for forgiveness.  For you have a RESPONSIBILITY to YOUR constituents to act in their interests.

• I am requesting that you do anything and everything in your power to remove Donald Trump from office as soon as possible. He is an unstable person and needs mental health help.

Apparently there are plenty of adults who need a civics lesson.