May 02, 2019 09:32 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Thursday (May 2)

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• by: Colorado Pols

May Day! Oh, wait, that was yesterday. It’s time “Get More Smarter.” If you think we missed something important, please include the link in the comments below (here’s a good example). If you are more of a visual learner, check out The Get More Smarter Show.

TOP OF MIND TODAY…

► The editorial board of the Washington Post pulls no punches in blasting Attorney General William Barr over his embarrassing testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

Mr. Barr has lit his reputation on fire, and he just added more fuel during his Wednesday testimony before a Senate panel.

Much of the hearing centered on the attorney general’s decision to release a highly misleading representationof the findings of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s Russia investigation. In particular, Mr. Barr failed to acknowledge the alarming nature of Mr. Mueller’s analysis on whether President Trump obstructed justice, and he did not explain why the special counsel declined to say whether Mr. Trump was guilty of the charge. This really matters: Given the damning account in Mr. Mueller’s report, what appeared to be keeping the special counsel from accusing the president of criminal acts was not the lack of evidence but the fact that the president cannot be charged under Justice Department rules…

…Mr. Barr’s long history in Washington belies his argument: He should have known how his pre-spinning of the Mueller report would distort the truth of the special counsel’s damning findings to the president’s benefit. He did it anyway.

Several prominent Democrats called on Barr to resign as Attorney General following his horrible day of testimony on Wednesday; CNN takes a detailed look at whether or not Barr lied to Congress.

Barr was supposed to testify today in front of the House Judiciary Committee but didn’t show up. As the New York Times explains:

The House Judiciary Committee convened at 9 a.m. despite the fact that the witness chair — where Attorney General William P. Barr was supposed to sit — was empty. After opening statements from the chairman and ranking Republican, it adjourned.

Representative Jerrold Nadler, the committee’s chairman, gave opening remarks castigating the attorney general and what Democrats are increasingly labeling wholesale obstruction of their inquiries by the Trump administration.

Following the hearing, Nadler indicated that Democrats may proceed with a formal process of holding Barr in contempt for refusing to testify.

► With two days left in the 2019 legislative session, Colorado Democrats are working feverishly to finish off several important bills as Republican talking points on obstructionism  implode. A proposal from Gov. Jared Polis to ask voters to increase nicotine taxes took some big steps toward passage on Wednesday. A separate bill designed to improve vaccination rates in Colorado also continues to move forward.

The Colorado School Finance Act is close to receiving final approval, as is legislation to protect Coloradans from surprise medical bills. Another Climate Change bill also passed Wednesday; HB-1261, which seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Colorado now awaits the Governor’s signature.

► Senator Michael Bennet (D-Denver) officially announced his candidacy for President this morning. Bennet is the 21st Democrat to join the race for the 2020 Democratic nomination.

► University of Colorado Regents are expected to vote today on whether to officially name dumpster fire Mark Kennedy as the new President of the university system. Kennedy’s candidacy continues to generate poor reviews from lawmakers, former elected officials, and even the editorial board of the Denver Post.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► Leaders of a planned recall effort targeting Gov. Jared Polis say that Republicans George Brauchler and Darryl Glenn have agreed to be official candidates to replace Polis should the long-shot recall effort move forward. You can make a strong argument that Glenn was the worst statewide candidate in Colorado history when he was the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate in 2016. Brauchler, meanwhile, didn’t even last a full year as a candidate for Governor in 2017 before he switched races to Attorney General…where he was handily defeated by Democrat Phil Weiser.

So much momentum.

► Colorado is looking like a good bet to be home to a new U.S. Space Force. According to a memo obtained by CNN, there are 4 Colorado locations on the list of 6 potential homes for a U.S. Space Command.

The six finalists are: Buckley Air Force Base (Colorado); Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Base (Colorado); Peterson Air Force Base (Colorado); Shriever Air Force Base (Colorado); Vandenberg Air Force Base (California); and Redstone Arsenal (Alabama).

► The Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA) says that it is NOT supporting any recall efforts in Colorado.

► 9News reminds Denver voters that there is an actual election on Tuesday:

There is an election in Denver on Tuesday, but based on ballot returns, Denver voters either don’t know or don’t care.

As of Tuesday night, just 12.7% of Denver voters had returned their ballot. That’s 53,000 people.

How many haven’t voted yet? Enough to fill Mile High Stadium nearly five times: 365,000.

► The first openly gay commandant in the history of the Air Force Academy has been removed as part of an “ongoing investigation.”

► President Trump is ignoring pleas from advisers to stop talking about Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden. As Chris Cillizza writes for CNN, Trump’s own actions indicate how nervous he is about Biden:

Before 6:30 a.m. on the East Coast Wednesday morning, President Donald Trump had retweeted 58(!) comments mostly from accounts claiming to be firefighters — or family members of firefighters — praising him and attacking the International Association of Fire Fighters and their recently endorsed candidate for president Joe Biden…

…if Trump wanted to show people he wasn’t at all worried about the threat Biden poses to him if the former VP emerges as the Democratic nominee for president, this was a crap way of going about it. Especially when you consider that earlier this week, Trump fired off five tweets in a 24-hour period attacking “Sleepy Joe” Biden as a weak and ineffective candidate.

 

► The president of the Cherry Creek school board is apologizing for making a racial slur at a teacher’s banquet on Tuesday. David Willman initially doubled-down in defense of his “tar baby joke.”

► An analysis from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) suggests that transitioning to a single-payer health care system in the United States could be very messy.

► Congressional Republicans are exasperated with President Trump’s negotiating skills on infrastructure after the big orange guy made a $2 trillion deal with Democrats.

► Congressman Steve Cohen (D-Tennessee) expressed his thoughts following Attorney General William Barr’s refusal to testify in front of the House Judiciary Committee:

Your Daily Dose Of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

► A Republican State Representative in Washington state has been urging supporters to stockpile assault rifle ammunition in preparation for civil war. From The Guardian:

Matt Shea and several associates regaled an audience with conspiracy theories, separatist visions and exhortations for listeners to arm themselves ahead of a looming civil war, at a gathering at a remote religious compound in the north-east of the state last year.

In recordings obtained by the Guardian, Shea and Jack Robertson, also known as radio personality John Jacob Schmidt, invoked their visions and fears of a violent leftist revolt in speeches at the 2018 God and Country event in Marble.

The Guardian last week published leaked chat records in which Shea and Robertson were revealed to have discussed the use of surveillance, “psyops” and violence against liberal and leftist activists.

Robertson – who aired fantasies of extreme violence against liberal activists in the leaked chats – told the audience at the 2018 event that they should be prepared for civil war.

► President Trump’s re-election campaign is out with a new campaign ad blaming President Obama for Russian election meddling in 2016.

ICYMI

► Chris Wallace of Fox News is calling out babbling talking heads on his own network for their persistent refusal to talk about facts in discussing Attorney General William Barr.

Check out the latest episode of The Get More Smarter Show, featuring an in-depth interview with Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser. You can also Get More Smarter by liking Colorado Pols on Facebook!