As both of my regular readers know, my kindly editor here at Colorado Politics publishes my thoughts twice weekly, with a missive posted every Tuesday and Friday. Over the course of some 325 columns, I have tried to offer a few thoughts on Colorado politics with a few wild side excursions to Trumpy land. And with the duty to write the final column of the remarkable year 2020 now before me, I look back across a truly memorable yet forgettable year and seek to find that core of an idea worthy of year-end commentary. My kindly editor asks only that I be both profound and elegant (Ed: actually, I asked that you be clear and readable, for once). 

My first thought about a year-end epistle was to review the really terrific article on Colorado Politics by Joey Bunch, in which he explores the increasing “blue-ness” of Colorado’s voters. The article reviews the old days, around 2002, when the GOP dominated state politics, and then notes that those days appear to be over, at least for a good while to come, as Colorado has become a truly blue state. As a Dem myself, I rather like that idea, but when I put my old retired political science professor’s hat on, it becomes an even more interesting story. The “Colorado” plan may well be the blueprint for Democratic success nationally, or at least in the west. I recommend you read the article and think about the implications for Colorado’s future, which are profound in my view. 

But I am not going to write about that…

My second thought was to comment on another terrific CP article that explores the timeline of Colorado politics for the past 12 months. Go read it now, and I will wait here… See what I mean? Did you remember that U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet (my old boss and a really superior senator) ran for president for a while? Way back in January he kicked off a quixotic run for the White House. I really thought that he would be more successful, because he is, in my totally unbiased view, just great and would make a superb president. But the voters of New Hampshire felt otherwise, and as we know, the voters of New Hampshire are the most important…grumble…grumble… Oh, and former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper also ran for president, and also fell short. I lost track of him after that, not sure what he is doing now. Back then, I wrote that either Bennet or Hick would make a great VP nominee, but given the fact that nothing turned out like I predicted, there is no reason to revisit that rather embarrassing column (Ed: heck, always happy to help our readers, here it is…). 

And recall also that in April, when President Trump visited Colorado Springs (and really messed up traffic for a certain high school football referee trying to get to a game), he put his arm around Sen. Cory Gardner and declared, “And you’re going to help us get Cory Gardner across that line because he’s been with us 100% … There was no waver. He’s been with us. There was no waver with Cory.” The Colorado Dems had their DVRs running, and that Trump embrace likely hurt the soon-to-be-former senator more than it helped. Overall, the article is a great summary of the past year, but I’m not going to talk about that either…

Perhaps I should comment on the Colorado Springs Gazette’s recently published and deeply troubling story regarding the retail and restaurant closings in my fair city. The pandemic and the associated economic hardships have been devastating to big chain stores and to mom-and-pop operations alike. While I am sure our excellent governor, Jared Polis, did the right thing in restricting business operations, as lives are more important than money, I still ache for the good people that were and are being hurt, be they the owners of a business that was their dream or be they the person who waited tables back when people ate indoors. But smarter people than me have written about this issue, and so I’ll point you to the Gazette story and move on.

And so, in this final column of the palindrome that is 2020, I want to turn to a news story I suspect will be largely ignored by Colorado Politics and other news organizations. Perhaps only I am brave enough to talk with you about an issue of such grave importance. I want to talk with you about…

Jennifer Aniston’s Christmas ornament.

It seems that the lovely and talented Ms. Aniston, whom I do not know, and given the restraining order, likely never will, posted, without comment or caption, a simple picture on her Instagram account. The picture was of a simple tree ornament, engraved “Our first pandemic 2020.” OMG, as the kids say. She was immediately pilloried as being insensitive to those who suffered in 2020, and those who pilloried her were then, in turn, re-pilloried themselves for attacking a woman who was simply acknowledging the obvious, and OMG, won’t someone think of the children? And yes, this story somehow became national news, sigh.

And so, as we close out 2020, I ask that you remember the important lessons of this anno horribilis. We lost far too many: too many jobs, too many businesses, and most assuredly too many people. We are fortunate to live in Colorado, even in difficult times, but that doesn’t mean living here is without challenges and pain. I look forward to seeing 2020 recede into history. I will talk with you again on New Year’s Day, which I hope will begin a much, much better year. At least it isn’t another palindrome.