August 13, 2010 03:39 AM UTC

Dan Maes...and the Flat Earth Society?

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• by: Colorado Pols

When GOP gubernatorial nominee Dan Maes called shared bicycle initiatives in Denver a “UN plot,” you probably thought that he had shot the proverbial curl of crazy. But folks, we may have it beat. Here’s what’s displayed on Maes’ Google events calendar:

We confess that we aren’t experts on matters as obscure as the Flat Earth Society, but it rang a bell, so we consulted Wikipedia, just like you would:

The Flat Earth Society (also known as the International Flat Earth Society or the International Flat Earth Research Society) is an organization that seeks to further the belief that the Earth is flat [Pols emphasis] rather than a sphere or a geoid. The modern organization was founded by Englishman Samuel Shenton in 1956, and later led by Charles K. Johnson, who based the organization in his home in Lancaster, California. The formal society was inactive after Johnson’s death in 2001, but was recently resurrected by its new president Daniel Shenton.

Now look, folks. There are at least a couple of perfectly reasonable explanations, like a really rich Republican who dared him to go to the nuttiest event he could think of in exchange for a check. Hell, maybe it’s not the real “Flat Earth Society” at all, but people making fun of them. Who knows?

But we are talking about Dan Maes here. So you kind of can’t rule it out.

UPDATE: Not to worry, there is in fact a monthly meeting at the Jefferson County Men’s Club “affectionately known” to fellow Republicans as the, um, “Flat Earth Society.” Meaning they’re at least partly kidding–a possibility we did allow for. Obviously, the fact that the Jefferson County Republicans have a “Flat Earth Breakfast” for yucks is not something you can make jokes about.

Well, okay, maybe a couple of jokes.