February 13, 2017 11:21 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Monday (February 13)

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• by: Colorado Pols

No, you are not required to pony up something for “Valentine’s Day Eve.” It’s time to Get More Smarter with Colorado Pols. 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…

► Massive demonstrations and public protests continue to take place in Colorado in opposition to proposals from President Trump and/or constituent indifference from Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Yuma).

Local media outlets are covering the deluge of constituents trying to reach their members of Congress.

► Think your boss is bad? At least you don’t have to report directly to President Trump. As Chris Cillizza summarizes for “The Fix” today, Trump’s staff had better get used to regular votes of no confidence from the boss. Take these two recent example:

1.  A Politico piece headlined “Trump reviews top White House staff after tumultuous start” includes these two eye-opening paragraphs:

Yet Trump’s concern goes beyond his embattled national security adviser, according to conversations with more than a dozen people who have spoken to Trump or his top aides. He has mused aloud about press secretary Sean Spicer, asking specific questions to confidantes about how they think he’s doing behind the podium.

Others who’ve talked with the president have begun to wonder about the future of Chief of Staff Reince Priebus. Several Trump campaign aides have begun to draft lists of possible Priebus replacements, with senior White House aides Kellyanne Conway and Rick Dearborn and lobbyist David Urban among those mentioned. Gary Cohn, a Trump economic adviser, has also been the subject of chatter.

2. This Post piece on Trump’s conversation with Christopher Ruddy, a longtime friend of his, is incredible. Check out these quotes from Ruddy on Priebus:

“It’s my view that Reince is the problem. I think on paper Reince looked good as the chief of staff — and Donald trusted him — but it’s pretty clear the guy is in way over his head. He’s not knowledgeable of how federal agencies work, how the communications operations work. He botched this whole immigration rollout. This should’ve been a win for Donald, not two or three weeks of negative publicity.”

It’s hard to over-estimate how demoralizing that is to the people working day in and day out to make the Trump presidency succeed. [Pols emphasis]

Politico has more on potential staff changes at the White House.

► State Sen. Ray Scott (R-Grand Junction) has — rightly — earned the scorn of his hometown newspaper after calling a story in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel “fake news.” The owner and publisher of the Sentinel, Jay Seaton, appears to be threatening legal action against Scott.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► Nobody had a worse week last week than National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, who will be struggling to hold onto his job this week after misleading the White House about his conversations with Russia — which may turn out to be a violation of the “Logan Act.” From the Washington Post:

Let’s just say that “I didn’t see it” isn’t exactly a strong vote of confidence in Flynn. And, it’s not going to get better for him. The FBI continues to investigate his contacts with Kisylak. Democrats — led by California Rep Adam Schiff — are calling for further inquiries. And, Flynn’s I-didn’t-do-it-ok-maybe-I-did-a-little move badly erodes confidence in him among even his allies within the Trump administration.

Michael Flynn, for forgetting the coverup is always worse, you had the Worst Week in Washington.  Congrats, or something.

► The Denver Post continues its deep dive into the history of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. Here’s a separate look at how Gorsuch may rule on issues of religion.

► The City of Denver is among 20 major cities asking the Supreme Court to ease up on immigrant and refugee communities.

► Congressman Scott Tipton (R-Cortez) seems confident that Congress will get rid of the “individual mandate” piece of the Affordable Care Act. Here’s why this could be a bad idea.