If there is one thing my long-suffering editor really likes (Ed: uh-oh…) it is when I (Ed: please be careful…) offer seemingly random thoughts on various political matters related to Colorado (Ed: um…). 

And so, I’d like to propound on a few things that crossed my desk recently.

If you are like me (Ed: long odds on that one…), you are at least partly reveling in the tediousness and the calm vibrations radiating out from the White House. In the before time, from 2016 to 2020, I’d awake wondering what 3 a.m. tweet was taunting whom, and what terrible world leader (cough…Putin…cough) our then-president would be snuggling up to. But now, with that old guy in office, things are, well, just calmer. I will admit that Biden was not my first choice in the Democratic field (my old boss Sen. Bennet gets that nod), but I am absolutely delighted with what a wonderful job Biden is doing so far. He’s gotten twice the vaccine in arms as he promised and he’s got an actual infrastructure package heading for Congress (at last report, Trump’s proposal was almost done, sigh). 

And this last week, Biden did something that should have been done long ago. He formally stated that the mass murder of Armenians, over a century ago was, obviously, genocide. This has been a tricky issue for far too long, as previous presidents of both parties have not wanted to tick off Turkey, the nation guilty of said war crime back in 1915. Now, nobody is left alive that was actually involved in the crime, but Turkey has made it clear that they will not be happy if a U.S. president states the, well, palpable truth. Had any previous president bit the bullet and declared the genocide years or decades ago, Turkey would have gotten over the hurt and we would have moved on. Future presidents (Bennet? Just say’n…) will be grateful to Biden for ripping off that nagging band aid.

And speaking of Bennet, my regular reader will recall my recent column on fundraising, and how Senate candidates need to raise roughly $10,000 per day to fund their next campaign. The absurdity of our current election funding system was again highlighted by a recent CP article, which noted the breathtaking amounts of money some candidates have already raised in the year’s first quarter. And if I’m honest (Ed: I prefer that, please), I’ve got to say that while I’m outraged that our little state’s contribution to national political embarrassment, Lauren Boebert, has already raised over $800,000 — just four months into her first term in Congress — I’m also outraged (and a bit relieved) that many Democrats are also raking in massive campaign chests. My old buddy Jason Crow raised just under a half million, compared to my total fundraising of less than half that back in 2008. As I’ve written before, we truly need to reform our elections, overturn Citizens United, and publicly fund these elections.

And with all that unpleasantness behind us, let’s finish up with some good news. I’ve written before about how we, as a nation, have all too often decided to name things after, well, the wrong people. While such histories must be remembered and preserved (in museums and not on the public square) we should also be more mindful of what we do actually name in someone’s honor. 

And so I’m pleased to note a recent CP story about a very smart thing the U.S. Air Force Academy (where I taught for a number of years) has done. The Academy has decided to rename a building after a very distinguished alumnus, Frederick D. Gregory. Now retired, Colonel Gregory had an amazing career. He graduated from the Academy back in 1964, flew helicopters in Vietnam, became a test pilot, and then a NASA astronaut. He flew the Space Shuttle three times, the last two as spacecraft commander, becoming the first person of color to command a mission. So, basically, if you look up the word “awesome” in the dictionary, it comes with a picture of Colonel Gregory. Oh, and he ended his NASA career as the deputy administrator and then acting administrator.

Back when I was still a captain teaching at the Academy, a new building was constructed for the engineering and sciences departments, with new labs and lots of cool stuff. It was called the “Consolidated Education and Training Facility” or CTEF, but we all called it the “Civil Engineers Toy Factory,” which somehow felt more spot on. But that convoluted and uninspired name will soon be replaced when the facility is formally renamed as Gregory Hall. A shorter and far more impactful name, to be sure. So sometimes, we get the name thing right.

And so, a few seemingly random thoughts (Ed: seemingly?) but thanks for reading all the way to the end. 

And I can’t wait to walk through Gregory Hall.