Yglesias thinks it’s time to trash the Monday holiday tradition and switch to three-day weekends that start on a Friday. “I think it’s the difference between a weekend that psychologically feels like it has two Saturdays and a weekend that psychologically feels like it has two Sundays,” he writes. Early Bird Special tends to agree.
Nonetheless, returning from what feels like — even better! — a four-day weekend, these Colorado stories caught our attention:
• Former Colorado Senate president and Independence Institute founder John Andrews had a “somber Independence Day” this year because of the “grave danger Obama and his personality cult and his socialist agenda pose to this land we love,” according to an e-mail the Denver Post columnist sent to some Facebook friends and followers. “With this bad man in power,” Andrews continues, “Americans face a new and deadly challenge to our ideals. Let us rise to the occasion.”
“Where does this stop being flowery prose and become … incitement?” blogger JeffcoBlue asks at Colorado Pols, which posts the entire e-mail. Including this assessment of the president: “Our country has had the occasional president who did not believe in the truths of the Declaration or the restraints of the Constitution. But we have never had one who did not believe in the essential goodness of America itself. In Barack Obama, sadly, we now have a president who is an unbeliever of all three.”
Not to be outdone by himself, Andrews’ regular Sunday column in the Post takes a lengthy tour of “Colorado place names echoing with inspiration from something new and special for human freedom” — including some inspired by the James Michener bestseller Centennial — before concluding, rather abruptly: “Our past is present and our past is good. It elevates and nourishes us. Barack Obama talks about remaking America, transforming America, laying a new foundation. He’s welcome to try, but a lot of us will resist fiercely for the reasons indicated here.”
Not that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin — the “Quitta from Wasilla” — escapes the wrath of Andrews this holiday weekend either. Palin’s “abrupt exit as Alaska governor fails the backbone test,” he writes in his Backbone America blog Monday. “Whether as a family move or a political gambit, it was poorly prepared and poorly presented. The seriousness, steadiness, toughness, and clarity we expect from national leaders were not evident.” Even though the former point guard formerly known as Barracuda “seems suddenly cavalier,” Andrews isn’t ready to write her off just yet. “2012 and 2016 are a long time away. Backbone Americans will watch with keen interest to see where Sarah goes from here.”
• And the already crowded race for the GOP nomination to take on U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet could be getting more crowded, Denver Post reporter Jessica Fender writes at Politics West. Citing the “dire” economic situation, 34-year-old Crested Butte attorney Luke Korkowski has launched a campaign site to help explore the possibility he might run next year. If he jumps in, he’ll join Aurora City Councilman Ryan Frazier, Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck and Denver businessman Cleve Tidwell on the hustings.
Former state Sen. Tom Wiens of Castle Rock is also considering a run, notes Face the State, which first reported Korkowski’s interest. Another potential candidate tabbed by the conservative news site, however, has changed his mind. “Mark Van Wyk dipped his toe into the Senate primary pool when he filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission to raise cash,” Fender reports. “But he said Monday he’s no longer running in 2010.”
