Broken Heart Bolsters Resolve

by Jamie Porta, Co-Chair

My heart broke a bit recently. Two incidents in the last month have moved me deeply. I want to share with this community so that you know all these feelings we are going through are justified and you are not alone.

At the State central committee meeting, we voted to censure Governor Polis from speaking at any of the Colorado Democratic Party’s events. One of our Mesa County folks – a dependable team leader, veteran, donor, and a friend to many of us – was moved to share a comment. He became emotional on the zoom meeting, describing how he felt so betrayed by Polis' decision to commute Tina Peters' sentence. We all worked hard to campaign for Jared, which is not easy or always safe to do in this area. The veterans and union members really pushed hard and gave our time and treasure to a man who promised to represent our Democratic platform values. However, in the last few months, he has betrayed our trust, insulted our judicial system, and risked empowering the far right even more. Then on May 29, Polis vetoed a pro-union bill for the second time. Again, we have been betrayed. It makes me sad, frustrated, and furious.

I also received word that another long-time, dedicated volunteer was adamant that we should skip attending all Fourth of July events. He wanted this as a protest of the mockery that the current administration is making of the 250 celebrations. Not only is the East Wing of the White House demolished, but now they've built a “Thunderdome” arena for a UFC Freedom 250 fight on the South Lawn.

The never-ending chaos and buffoonery has all of our heads spinning. None of these actions should be possible. We are supposed to have rules and respect for processes developed over the years and centuries. To realize that much of this functioned primarily on decorum, good faith, and honor proves that we really have very few real protections from an out-of-control executive branch that, for many purposes, has allowed this President to act as a king.

To be honest, no one I know is currently feeling patriotic. Our country is wasting billions of taxpayer dollars on short-sighted, narcissistic wars, destroying the lives of regular civilians all over the world. Our country continues to support a genocide in Gaza. We are doing the same with an increased embargo against Cuba, a small neighbor island with a 99.8% adult literacy rate (we are at 46%), whose largest exports are doctors and medical innovations. There is blatant piracy of South American resources and interference with their governments. All while average people here struggle and fail to have our human rights and dignity respected. The money given to ICE and DOGE and $100B for the Iran war so far, and on and on. . . it is such corrupt, cruel waste!

That money, our tax money, the interest we will pay long into the future, could've been spent on infrastructure, universal healthcare for everyone, housing, education, or anything to improve quality of life for the majority of American people.

I agree with these two men's sentiments. The disillusionment hurts. But I have to believe that even the most stubborn eyes have to be opening. I believe that we have to keep working towards a better world by doing what we can locally, educating ourselves, and calling out our own political representatives.

We will continue being visible here in Mesa County so we can help support our friends and neighbors. We still have a long way to go, but the only way we get through this is together and with grim determination to build the support and organizational structures now so that we can make it better when we come out the other side of this.

In solidarity.