After this week’s taping of Colorado Inside Out, Patty leaned over to me and said, “you don’t get to talk through things all week and it’s great we can come here and get to do all of this.” That’s so true!

There is so much happening every day that gets encapsulated in brief online articles or in a minute-and-half video on television or an interview on talk radio that is also restricted by time. Colorado Inside Out is a place where we can let the topics of our day breathe with context and perspective.

Also, for our December 6th show, the Insider Panel was put to the task of coming up with what the Colorado Word of 2024 should be….

• “Trumped” Patty Calhoun, Founder and Editor of Westword
• “Island” by Eric Sondermann, Columnist with Colorado Politics and the Denver & Colorado Springs Gazette
• “Mediocre” by Sage Naumann, Conservative Columnist, Commentator, Strategist and Owner of Anthem Communications
• “Purplish” by Adam Burg, Senior Policy Advisor at Foster Graham Law Firm

We also discussed:

1. Biden’s Pardon and the “Moral High Ground”

• The panel unanimously criticized Biden’s decision, viewing it as a loss of moral high ground for the Democrats.
• Eric Sondermann: “The Democrats just sacrificed all their moral high ground. And that is the only ground they’re going to be able to hold if they want to oppose a lot of what Trump is doing.”
• Adam Burg: “The use of the presidential pardon goes back to the Constitution. George Washington used presidential pardons during the Whiskey Rebellion. When it comes to pardoning family, Bill Clinton granted a pardon to his half-brother, Roger Clinton, who been convicted of cocaine possession.”

2. Allegations of misuse of taxpayer fund by Caring for Denver

• Concerns were raised about the nonprofit’s alleged financial mismanagement and lack accountability, as thoroughly investigated by Colorado Public Radio reporter Ben Marquez.
• Adam Burg cited how 600 people died of overdoses in the last year in Denver. The suicide rate in Denver is the second highest it has been in the last two decades.
• Sage Naumann: “When it comes to mental health, addiction, homelessness, there’s going to have to be a level of experimentation and trying new things, but you don’t have the systems in place for accountability, and people’s lives are on the line.”
• Patty Calhoun: “The city auditor alone can’t do it. The board should be doing it. The managers should be doing it. Denver likes to support people who need help, but people are going to be much more skeptical in the future if they think their money is not going to help.”

3. Flavored Tobacco Ban: A Debate on Choice vs. Public Health

• The proposed ban before the Denver City Council sparked a conversation about personal freedom, the effectiveness of prohibition, and the potential unintended consequences like a thriving black market.
• Sage Naumann: “In a state where we pride ourselves on personal liberty, this is the one product we can’t have on the shelves because the kids, the kids might use it? Why are we driving this to a black market?”
• Patty Calhoun countered: “If the city council passes this ban, we won’t be driving people to the black market. We will be driving them to Aurora or Lakewood or [wherever] doesn’t have a ban on the products.”
• Adam Burg: “I recognize the data is complex, but I would not be shocked if in, early next year, Denver has a ban on these products.”

4. Transgender Rights: A Call for Dialogue and Understanding

This was a multi-tiered conversation starting with how Colorado State University’s Volleyball team won the Mountain West Conference over San Jose State, which has a transgender athlete on the team, sparking discussions on transgender rights and their participation in sports. That match preceded this week’s Supreme Court hearing regarding health care for transgender youth, specifically the prohibition of gender-affirming care for minors in Tennessee. The outcome of this case is anticipated to have significant consequences for transgender rights across the country.

• Eric Sondermann: “Trans people deserve dignity, respect, compassion, equal rights. But this conversation is crying out for some common sense as opposed to just waving the placard and running to your corner and taking an extreme position on one side or the other.”
• Sage Naumann: “Those at the top of the political food chain tend to take the extreme positions because… it’s a big fundraiser… it’s a big motivator for their bases.”

Other Events:

• Dick Kreck, long-time columnist for the Denver Post, died.
• The Chriskindl Market in Denver’s Civic Center Park, running until December 23rd.
• Political commentator Gabe Fleisher’s article on the decline of older politicians and the rise of a younger generation in American politics.
• Denver meteorologist Mike Nelson retires after a 48-year broadcasting career.