The lighter side of the state Capitol, usually.

May the Fourth is traditionally a celebration of all things Star Wars (tied to the pun “May the force be with you,” a line from the original movie). The state Capitol this week was no exception.

A colorful assortment of Star Wars-themed ties – all tied to the original Star Wars movies, not those abominations known as the prequels – were seen around the Capitol.

However, Capitol M’s favorite Star Wars-themed item was the mask worn by Rep. Meg Froelich, D-Greenwood Village, a mix of feminism and Princess Leia-love.

Then there was Eric Bergman, the policy guy for Colorado Counties Inc.

Capitol M has always looked to her cousin, Derrick, as the most Star Wars-obsessed person ever. His son, now known as the Teen Wonder, was properly raised to learn about the ways of the force; Ian even hosts a blog that ranks the movies from 11th to first. Empire Strikes Back was No. 1 although Capitol M has to quibble with ranking the “New Hope” movie fifth. Really?

Derrick, you got some work to do.

Back to Eric, who puts my cousins to shame, and his partner-in-crime, the Denver Gazette’s own Dennis Huspeni.

Apparently the two of them tore up the town the evening of May the Fourth, with Bergman in a Darth Vader mask.

Not to be outdone, Huspeni posted a picture of someone in a Darth Vader costume. Bergman says it was Huspeni on his honeymoon, for which he is still in counseling. Huspeni went strangely silent after that for a day or so.

However, he later admitted the picture was from 2015 in his public relations days. The picture was taken at an office in the Masonic Temple in Denver and on a day when the Alpine Brewery was having a Star Wars costume contest for free beer. Huspeni said he walked all the way down Colfax in that costume. “GR8 day,” he added.

Capitol M would have paid money to see the reaction of anyone to someone walking down Colfax in a Darth Vader costume. There’s a joke in there somewhere about the Dark Side of the Force, which is something else you see on Colfax, usually around the 200 East block.

House Approps Joke of the week…

Officially went to Speaker Pro Tem Adrienne Benavidez for this, er, gem: “What do you call cheese that doesn’t belong to you. Nacho cheese!”

OK then.

Frankly, one of the jokes from Rep. Matt Soper of Delta was better. “What do you call two surgeons operating on each other? A paradox!”

Saving the best for last

It’s been a serious week in the House, with breaches of protocol and some inappropriate remarks.

Thursday, however, during debate on the public option, there was a welcome moment of levity and a revival of a long-ago tradition: sewing coat sleeves shut. 

The target: Rep. Matt Gray of Broomfield. Gray was behind a practical joke just a few weeks ago, when he kidnapped Goliath, the beloved elephant mascot of the House Republicans, and held it for ransom. 

Now Capitol M would like to congratulate the conspirators on this, but can’t since I have NO idea who did it.

For those of you newer to the Lege than about 10 years: it was a tradition some 20 years ago for a certain member of the House (cough, cough, Shawn Mitchell) to sew the coat sleeves shut of the House Majority Leader Doug Dean. This happened fairly regularly with a good time had by all. 

Rep. Matt Gray videoBy MARIANNE GOODLAND
marianne.goodland@coloradopolitics.comMarianneGoodland, Colorado Politics
marianne.goodland@coloradopolitics.com
https://www.coloradopolitics.com/content/tncms/avatars/e/f4/1f4/ef41f4f8-e85e-11e8-80e7-d3245243371d.444a4dcb020417f72fef69ff9eb8cf03.png