Did you miss me? (Editor: might be best not to ask…) I’ve been on the road for much of the last month or so, visiting family and performing my one-man show as Alexander Hamilton for groups of lawyers and regular folks. So, no columns from me lately.

Did I miss anything?

Oh, right, the primary.

Full disclosure: I have been, as a former proud member of his staff, a supporter of U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet. But Democrats in Colorado had a wonderful “problem” in the governor’s race, in that two terrific candidates were running for the party’s nomination for governor. Attorney General Phil Weiser won, and will be an excellent general-election candidate, and I’m pretty sure, will win in November. I heard quite a few people say that they liked both Weiser and Bennet, and that they’d like to get Weiser as governor and have Bennet stay in the Senate, where he continues to excel. I guess I agree with that.

And, as reported in Colorado Politics, Victor Marx looks like he is hanging on to his lead and hopefully (for the Dems) will be the GOP gubernatorial nominee. If you don’t know about Marx, well, you may want to take a look at a remarkable (for so many reasons) interview Marx had with an outstanding Denver journalist.  Really, just wow.

The greatest surprise for me was, as also reported in CoPo, the outcome of the Democratic primary in congressional District 1, where U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette was beaten by a Democratic Socialist.

And thought I know it won’t actually change anyone on the right’s mind, the word “socialist” there doesn’t mean what they want it to mean, and what a certain orange president insists it means, but that is for another essay, or perhaps a review of one of my columns from eight years ago.

I think Melat Kiros’ win over DeGette is a good thing, frankly. There are far too many old folks holding office in, well, both parties, actually. DeGette has been in Congress for 30 years, and though there are things to say in support of long service, the future success of any current political party depends on engaging young folks. I don’t have any particular objection to DeGette herself, but 30 years is enough.

It’s time, I think, for the torch to be passed. In fact, JFK’s inaugural address, way back in 1961, talked about the torch (of leadership) had been passed to a new generation, born in the new century, then the 20th (JFK was born in 1917).

Though we are still a bit too early in the 21st century for too many leaders from that time to be available (Kiros is 29, born in 1997, on the cusp of the new century), the future success of the Democratic Party, in my view, must include a dramatic rise of younger leaders. Heck, I was 50 when I ran for Congress back in 2008, and back then, I was considered a younger candidate, and that needs to change. Indeed, it appears to already be changing, and that’s a good thing.

Also happening while I was traveling was the decision by Air Force Major Jason Watson to appear on the Capitol steps, to call for the impeachment of President Donald Trump, in uniform. That last part is the most critical. I know I will irritate some of my friends by saying this, but Watson was 100% wrong in choosing to be seen, then arrested, in unform. During my 25 years of active-duty service, I served under presidents I respected and presidents I did not. But as a military officer, my role, my fundamental duty, was to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. I could hold any opinion I wanted to, and to a large degree, could participate in politics, but only when I was not in uniform. If an officer or enlisted member appears at a partisan event in uniform, they are implying that they represent, at least to a degree, the military service of which they are a member, and that’s wrong, regardless of whichever political view they are trying to express.

I’m deeply offended when Trump, for example, in his campaigns would try to appear with military troops, cops, firefighters and others in uniform behind him on the stage. I cannot condemn that politization of the military and then be OK with Watson’s actions. For example, I started doing my one-man shows as Alexander Hamilton while I was still on active duty. At one show, during the deeply unpopular Iraq war, I was directly asked as myself, not Hamilton, what I thought about President George W. Bush. Even though I was not in uniform (indeed, a costume!) I simply replied I would always obey the lawful orders of those above me. The moment I could not follow an order is the day that honor demands I resign my commission, if I felt deeply that that order was unlawful or immoral.

If Watson wanted to do it right, he would have appeared on the steps the day after he resigned from the Air Force, and not in uniform. I know that wouldn’t garner the press attention he got by appearing in uniform, but honor is a big deal for us military folks.

OK, I think that covers everything that happened in the past month or so (Ed: not quite).

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.