As I often do, and as my editors’ love (Editor: actually, not so much), I’d like to begin my column by talking about what I am not going to write about: Donald Trump’s claim he could end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours. Yup, I’m not going to talk about that.

I’m not going to talk about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky mocking the notion as nonsense. But if I did, in fact, intend to write about Trump’s assertion, I’d point out the profound moral failure he is demonstrating. Each and every day in Ukraine people – soldiers and civilians alike – are killed by Russian attacks. If Trump truly has a solution to the war, I would argue he has a moral imperative to announce his solution and to allow the Biden administration to implement it at once. To withhold a solution to a war for partisan political gain is deeply immoral.

There are children in Ukraine alive today that will be dead by this time tomorrow. That is a horrible and tragic fact of the war. If Trump has a solution but declines to release it in hopes of winning a return to the White House, the blood of those dead children is on his hands.

So, come on Donald, and let the world hear your 24-hour solution. If it works, you will quite likely win the Nobel Peace Prize, to say nothing of cementing your lock for the Republican presidential nomination and likely a win in the general election. So, put up or shut up.

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Unless, of course, you don’t actually have a secret 24-hour solution to the war. Perhaps you haven’t really thought this through, and don’t realize there are no easy solutions to ending the war? Oh, and please don’t claim you’d like to release the information, but it is classified, as your past and recent cavalier and likely criminal handling of classified documents and information belies any claim of competence regarding our nation’s secrets.

So, I’m not going to write about any of that.

Instead, I’d like to draw your attention, dear readers, to a recent Colorado Politics story that reports on the state GOP leaders calling for a special session of the legislature to address two issues: property taxes and criminal bail bonds, and Governor Jared Polis’s decision to try to kick these issues to the 2024 general election.

Let me just say, both of these approaches are wrong.

Now, I know it is incredibly easy for me to sit here in my comfy office chair at my desk in my home office and wax philosophic. But I’ve taught the American founding period so many times at the Air Force Academy I really do think we in Colorado need to rethink the notions of republic and democracy.

Recall please, from your civics classes, that we live in a republic, wherein we elect representatives to work on our behalf. We do not live in a democracy, wherein every citizen would, in theory, vote on every issue. Such direct democracy has both logistical problems (how the heck would we run a government with daily or perhaps weekly elections?) and also problems from a protecting liberty perspective: how would we fight against a potential demagogue sweeping into power by charming the voters with fancy rhetoric? No, we need republics, where elected officials can study issues and act on our behalf and where liberty is protected by placing roadblocks in front of those who would seize power.

You may find this odd coming from me, but on this issue, the Republicans are accidentally closer to what is right than are the Dems. The desire by the GOP for a special session at least acknowledges it is the elected representatives of the people that should face and seek to solve society’s problems.

They are wrong, however, about the special session, in that Colorado should rethink the mini January-through-May legislative session. With a budget of a bit more than $40 billion and a population of nearly six million folks, we need – and frankly deserve – a full-time legislature. Employing the electeds and their staff all year round would recognize we, as a state, need experts that are fully engaged in their legislative duties for all 12 months of the year.

And I don’t often say this, but I think Governor Polis is wrong in wanting to kick any issue to a referendum in a general election. A full-time legislature could certainly address the property tax issue, as well as the recent state Supreme Court decision that required all those accused of crimes to be allowed bail (albeit, for the worst offenders, that “bail” likely will be set at an astronomically high number, essentially making getting out on bail impossible).

So, in sum, both the GOP and the Dems are partly wrong on this one, and I am right (Ed: pretty sure of yourself, eh?).

A full-time Colorado state legislature is the way to go, as republics are the best protectors of liberty while ensuring security. I’ll suggest you all reread Federalist Paper No. 10 for a far better explanation than mine, but at the end of the day, we deserve full and proper representation.

Hal Bidlack is a retired professor of political science and a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who taught more than 17 years at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.