January 17, 2017 01:16 PM UTC

Jared Polis Attending Trump's Inauguration and The Protest, Too

• 3 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

As the Fort Collins Coloradoan’s Nick Coltrain reports:

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and Rep. Jared Polis still plan to attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration Friday, even as almost 50 of their Democratic congressional colleagues plan to boycott the event…

Polis and Bennet both stumped for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in the fall. Polis has vowed to fight many of Trump’s proposals and said he would register as a Muslim in protest if Trump followed through with plans for a religion-based registry.

Polis will attend the inauguration “out of a respect for our democracy and the peaceful transition of power,” spokesperson Jessica Bralish told the Coloradoan. He will also join the Women’s March on Washington the day after “to display the importance of holding the Trump Administration accountable,” she said.

This seems like a good way to split the difference. The fact is that peaceful transfers of power to and from opposing political factions is a time-honored and very important component of the American political system. Even with a candidate as controversial and divisive as Donald Trump, there’s an understandable pull on lawmakers to honor the system if not, you know, the man. Your mileage may vary, but we can’t bring ourselves to disparage Democrats who make the choice to follow protocol on Friday.

On the other hand, we wouldn’t want to miss the fun on Saturday.