Episode 209: The Great Quick Hits Experiment

This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast we tried something a little different, by trying to tackle 15 topics in 30 minutes we proved that A) Ian talks too much, B) There’s A LOT going on in Colorado Politics at the moment and C) 2 minutes-per-topic was a bad idea to begin with.

Here are the topics we tried to cover that quickly, and you can probably see why we failed:

1. The ongoing drama in the Colorado GOP may actually have finally come to some sort of conclusion as a judge ruled in favor of Dave “Let’s Go Bankrupt” Williams as the ONE TRUE RIGHTFUL CHAIRMAN of the Colorado GOP, cementing their irrelevance and lack of competitiveness for the foreseeable future.

2. With the throne secured, Williams went right back to alienating anyone who isn’t a redpilled MAGA freak by letting his “Director of Special Initiatives” go bonkers on a dangerous lie.

3. Friend of the Pod, 9News’ Kyle Clark has an explanation about how hard it is to be a local government and touches on the Fair Campaign Practices Act

4. We dug into the VP debate and decided it….didn’t really matter.

5. Gabe-ish Evans sure had some strong feelings about gay marriage when he was 17 years old, strong enough to write to the local paper about it all the way back in 2004, comparing gay marriage to “incest, pederasty and bestiality.” But now he wants you to know he was just a kid when he wrote that, despite skipping the vote to refer the repeal of the ban on same sex marriage in the state constitution just last session, being a graduate of Patrick Henry College which lists opposition to the “practice of homosexual conduct” as one of its “Distinctive and Nonnegotiable Principles” for students, and being vocally opposed to gay marriage when he first ran for State House in 2022. But sure. Go ahead and take his word for it 20-ish days before an election that determines if he’s in Congress or not.

6. Speaking of our squeakiest congressional district, the Speaker Mike Johnson-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund is up with a pretty aggressive ad in Colorado’s 8th District blaming Dr. Caraveo for something she obviously, demonstrably is not responsible for. Turning the accusation down from an 11 to a 6 may have made this a more effective hit, but the over-the-top-ness of the whole thing makes us wonder who this ad is really aimed at.

7. Sliding over to the West Slope and in Southern Colorado Eastern Plains and South-Metro Suburbs, we find our 8th Favorite Member of Congress from Colorado frankly getting weirder and weirder. Boebert goes on Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast to talk to former law clerk and one-time Colorado guy Mike Davis filling in for Bannon because he is in prison on contempt of Congress charges. Boebert says some pretty wild stuff in this interview, but what stuck with us is her insistence that “God will stand up a mighty army” to help Republicans win in Colorado in November. We’ll keep you updated in the unlikely event this eschatological prediction comes true.

8. We also hopped on over to Grand Junction to hear State Representative Elizabeth Velasco give a masterclass in how to help your opponent lose a debate with one simple question. We won’t ruin the fun, but a bit of a spoiler, when your Republican opponent begins to answer a question with “I believe in freedom,” you know you probably have them cooked.

9. The Big Orange Guy skipped Springfield Ohio to come terrorize Aurora, Colorado (well, sort of) and has expanded his big lie about Venezuelan gangs outside the borders of 2008’s All America City Winner to include the entire state of Colorado because when a lie is just big enough to create doubt, you gotta make it even bigger.

10. Jimmy Carter turned 100 years old and got a birthday greeting from a guy not too far away from the big century himself!

11. In case you thought ALL Republicans were lying or reality-distorting lunatics, we can prove at least Texas Congressman Keith Self still has a truthful bone in his body after telling Fox News’s Maria Baritomolo that the party to blame for the lack of movement on legislation to secure the border in Congress is very obviously the Republican Party.

12. In case Hurricane Helene wasn’t enough of a disaster for North Carolina, Current Lieutenant Governor and Future Not Governor Mark Robinson has endured a campaign catastrophe unlike anything we’ve ever seen, and with the Presidential race potentially hanging on North Carolina’s results, are pretty grateful for the lack of self-oppo in that particular race.

13. Another story from the Tar Heel State, our guest in a few weeks Kate Barr is running for State Senate in a district she claims she cannot possibly win in order to draw attention to gerrymandering. However, she may be the podcast’s favorite candidate of 2024 that neither of us is currently married to. Go to www.katebarrcantwin.com to see what all the fuss is about.

14. We also bid farewell to Denver Nuggets Legend, Dikembe Mutombo and his infamous finger-wag. May his memory be a blessing and may he rest in peace.

15. Finally, it appears as if the Former President would like to see a real-life version of the film series The Purge, which we, you know, do not!