I live about ten miles away from the theater where the shootings happened in Aurora, and spent much of yesterday talking to people who were directly affected. One woman's friend died. Another friend lost a coworker. Another friend was in the theatre next door when the shootings happened, and made...

A Facebook friend of mine, who happens to also be a Latino activist, posted the following great analysis of recent political attempts to win him over:

It's fascinating how white Republicans seem to think Latinos are monolithic. Marco Rubio is Cuban and most Latinos simply don't identify with him....

Supporting Women's Exclusive Right To Make Own Decisions

On April 28th, 2012, at 9:30 a.m., thousands of Colorado women and their family members will gather at Civic Center Park's Greek Amphitheater for a rally to protect women's access to health care, and for the right of each woman to make...

Republicans have declared a war on women, attempting to take away their right to make their own health care decisions, including the use of contraception for family planning and medical reasons. They've also introduced hundreds of bills into state legislatures across the country which attempt to introduce "personhood clauses," which...

When the GOP decided to create a fictitious "war on religion" to smear President Obama, and chose contraception coverage for employees of religiously-based hospitals and universities as their battle-ground, they had no idea what they were starting. Women across America realized it could potentially be a two-fer for Republicans --...

Colorado State Representative Judy Solano recently introduced CO HB 12-1049, giving parents the authority to decide if their child should take the TCAP (formerly CSAP) exams, or allow them to be exempt for personal reasons, without negative consequences for the student, the teachers, the school, or the district....

My close friend Ben killed himself when we were college kids. Like all very young adults, he was dealing with identity issues -- who he was, where he belonged, where he was going, who he could trust. He was also struggling with issues of his own sexuality, knowing his church,...

Denver may have one of the most heated school board races in the nation. Faction fighters on both sides of the political debate at Denver Public Schools would have you believe their opponents do not care about children in Denver. Battle lines have been drawn pitting friend against friend, former...

How did the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party manage to convince so many Americans that the debt ceiling should not be raised? Voting to increase the debt ceiling had usually been a routine endeavor under previous presidents, Republican and Democrat alike. A rubber stamp, business as usual. Reagan...

Fourth of July festivities were plentiful in Colorado this weekend, and many legislators practiced their retail politicking at parades, marches, firework displays and other photo opportunities. One event was not on Congressman Cory Gardner's itinerary, however: "Slutwalk 2011."

Hundreds of women and men in Colorado came together Saturday, July 2nd,...

Protecting the people from corporate greed and abuse is a non-stop effort for progressive community organizers and political activists. In the organizer's toolbox are a number of tools: community groups, neighborhood associations, blogging, the telephone, facebook, direct mail, email, and now... Twitter ?

The effectiveness of Twitter as an organizing...

Recently, one of my facebook friends acknowledged me for helping her realize she could be religious and also be politically on the left. I was floored. Has the Republican Party co-opted religion so completely that generations of Americans believe you can either by spiritual, or be...

Dear Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker,

Thank you for your assistance in bringing together workers from every walk of life: teachers, firefighters, police officers, government employees, nurses, union members, people of faith, civil rights activists, environmentalists and many others. Thank you for giving us a reason, and a renewed commitment,...

Something magical happened yesterday.

Parking at the Colorado Convention Center involves driving up a narrow, tight, concrete spiral at a very low speed -- again and again and again, until one reaches the first level of the parking structure. While cranking the wheel to the right, one can see the...

Rallies were held at state capitols in all fifty states on Saturday, bringing out more than 100,000 Americans to stand in solidarity with workers in Wisconsin. The rallies were a joint effort of MoveOn.org, labor unions, and progressive organizations, and were planned in less than a week. The protests, which...

There is a bill in the CO State Senate that brings back a flood of emotion for me. Senate Bill 088 re-authorizes midwives to practice a profession that has been in existence since time began -- assisting others in the natural process of becoming parents. The bill would also allow...

"If not me, who? If not now, when?" ~ Rabbi Hillel

For politicos like us, there are many times we find ourselves sitting in a room full of intelligent, thoughtful, passionate people arguing about politics. We rant, we rave, we get exasperated, and we bemoan. We complain, we beseech, we...

Supporters of Ken Buck love to say he is the moderate choice for the US Senate from Colorado. They have tried to distance themselves from the Tea Party, and quote him as "softening" on all kinds of issues. Progressives have another name for it -- "Buckpedaling."

But is Buck...

Republican Senate candidate Ken Buck's flip-flopping (known on the blogs as "buckpedaling") is well known in Colorado. Now, the story's gone national. Rachel Maddow showed a clip of Thursday's Senate debate in Pueblo where US...

In a recent interview by Colorado Pols blogger David Thielen, CO Senate Republican candidate Ken Buck reiterates his statement that he does not believe in abortion, even in cases of rape or incest.

Thielen's interview quotes Buck as saying:

Ken then talked about the effort he...