Category: Democracy

Activism, City of Grand Junction, Crazy Republicans, Cronyism, Dangerous Republicans, Democracy, Democracy under threat, Extremism, Freedom under threat, Good things about Mesa County, Grassroots advocacy, Human rights, Local concerns, Republican incompetence, Republicans violating laws, Trump Insanity

Estimated 2,500 people turn out to protest Trump regime at Grand Junction Hands Off! demonstration

by Anne Landman • April 6, 2025 • 6 Comments

An estimated 2,500 people turned out to loudly protest convicted felon, sexual abuser and President Donald Trump and his co-president Elon Musk and their erratic governing style, economy-destroying tariffs, alienating of America’s allies, crony capitalism, ignoring people’s rights to due process, rolling back of civil and human rights, illegal dismantling of federal agencies and worse, at one of the biggest protests ever in town. The demonstration was one of about 1,400 similar protests taking place across the nation on April 5 as Americans, increasingly worried about Trump pushing the country into authoritarianism, rise in solidarity against Trump and Trumpism.

The April 5 Hands Off! demonstration is ON in Grand Junction!

by Anne Landman • March 29, 2025 • 31 Comments

On Saturday, April 5, 2025, from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m., Mesa County Democrats, Indivisible Grand Junction, Western Colorado Alliance, Mesa County Action Coalition, and others will host a Hands Off! protest on the lawn of the Historic Lowell School Building at 7th and Grand! The event coincides with nationwide action that day “to stand up against those who believe they can take whatever they want — our democracy, our future, our rights.”

The event will protest the drastic, illegal measures the Trump/Musk regime is taking against our federal government offices and services, the unprecedented attacks on our civil rights and seizure of millions of Americans’ personal information, like social security numbers and banking information, and the damage Trump and Musk are doing to vital sources of scientific research, as well as their attacks on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts, the rights of transgender Americans, immigrant rights and so much more.

Anti-fascism demonstration at CMU a success

by Anne Landman • March 28, 2025 • 7 Comments

Hundreds of people both young and older turned out at 4:00 p.m. yesterday at Colorado Mesa University Corner 12th St. and North Ave to support diversity and immigrants’ rights and protest CMU providing a platform for white supremacist Jared Taylor to speak on campus. It was a violence-free, albeit noisy demonstration with cheers, bullhorns, a vuvuzela, drums and other noisemakers. Many passing drivers honked in approval, encouraging a roar of support from the crowd and adding to the cacophony. Following are more scenes and protest signs from the demonstration:

Summary of Rep. Jeff Hurd’s 3/11/25 town hall meeting

by Anne Landman • March 12, 2025 • 7 Comments

Republican House Rep. Jeffrey S. Hurd. CD-3

Here is a summary of CD-3 House Rep. Jeff Hurd (R)’s town hall meeting held on 3/11/2025, with thanks to author Jim Marshall, who compiled the notes.

First, some observations by me: Hurd pulled last minute switches to both the time and the instructions for participating in the meeting, which made it difficult for constituents to join the call and probably reduced the number of participants. Many people who followed the last-minute changes and called in reported they were unable to hear the meeting. I personally dialed the updated (833) number on my cell phone at the appointed time and got 15 minutes of silence. After I heard voices, I put the phone on speaker but noted that the speaker phone did not work on this call. Unsure whether it was a setting on the other end, I tried hanging up and dialed in using my Google Voice number, and was able to hear the call on the computer speaker.

After about 20 minutes of introduction, softball questions were taken first and more serious questions about Ukraine, Russia, Trump & Musk’s attacks on the federal government and their efforts to erode democracy were addressed later.

Here is the summary of the meeting provided by Jim Marshall:

French Senator discusses global ramifications of the Trump regime

by Anne Landman • March 11, 2025 • 19 Comments

This is a video of French Senator Claude Malhuret posted on March 7 in which he discusses what is going on in the United States, and how Europe needs to react to it. Sen. Malhuret is a French physician and lawyer who has been in the French Senate since 2014. He is a center-right legislator. This video has been going viral and reflects what European countries think about the current state of affairs we are enduring here in the U.S. under Trump. The full video is about 8 minutes long.

It tells us much about what the rest of the world thinks of what the Trump regime is doing to the United States.

Here is an excerpt of the talk from the beginning of the video:

CD3 Representative Jeff Hurd to hold telephonic town hall meeting Tuesday, March 11 @ 6:00 p.m. – people must call today to participate

by Anne Landman • March 7, 2025 • 18 Comments

Republican House Rep. Jeffrey S. Hurd, CD-3

House Rep. Jeff Hurd plans to hold a telephone town hall meeting on Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at 6:00 p.m.

To participate, people must call his office at (719) 696-6968 and give them your name and phone number before 4:00 p.m. TODAY, Friday, March 7. They will then call you at the appointed meeting time and give you a code to use to ask the Congressman a question.

Abortion, Activism, Democracy, Elections, Extremism, Freedom under threat, Health, Health care, Women

Help keep Colorado a free state

by Anne Landman • March 20, 2024 • 10 Comments

Get up, get out and sign the petition to preserve reproductive freedom in Colorado! If you can’t get out, petition circulators will come to you. Get trained as a circulator at the office of Mesa County Democrats and get your friends, family and neighbors to sign! Do it soon. The deadline for signature gathering is the middle of next month.

Coloradans for Protecting Reproductive Freedom (CPRF) made an appearance last weekend in Grand Junction to boost the signature-gathering effort to get Initiative 89 on the ballot, the measure that would amend the state constitution to protect abortion from government interference.

D-51 School Board candidate Barbara Evanson says she wants to ban “a ton” of material from school libraries

by Anne Landman • October 25, 2023 • 13 Comments

In this excerpt from an interview with “Ruth” and “Lisa” (who do not provide their last names) posted on a YouTube account named “MesaCountyCompass” on October 8, 2023, “District 51 School Board candidate Barbara Evanson says she would ban “a ton of material” from school libraries that she feels is inappropriate.

Democracy, Education, Elections, politics

AnneLandmanBlog Voter guide, November 7, 2023 election

by Anne Landman • October 11, 2023 • 18 Comments

Are you wondering how to vote in the Tuesday, November 7, 2023 Coordinated Election? Are you sweating about where you’re going to find the time to research all the candidates and ballot measures?

Relax.

AnneLandmanBlog has done all the work for you.

Mesa County Democrats seek help with literature drop Sept. 23

by Anne Landman • September 6, 2023 • 1 Comment

If you value personal freedom, a decent living wage, affordable health care and housing and if you want your elected officials to have sanity and integrity and work on real issues that matter instead of manufacturing culture wars, elect Democrats locally and nationally.

Mesa County Democrats are seeking help to rock the vote in 2024.

Don’t wake up on November 6, 2024 asking yourself, “Could I have done more?”

September 23 is the Mesa County Dems’ kick-off to get the 2024 voting party started. They are asking for help to deliver volunteer recruitment material to the homes of registered Democrats in the Lincoln and Sherwood Park areas:

–> When: Saturday, September 23, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon
–> Where: Meet at Lincoln Park, Ash Shelter. (The Ash Shelter is

MC Dems are encouraging registered Democrats, unaffiliated voters and anyone else who supports Democratic candidates to volunteer for this literature drop. They also seek young adults over the age of 18 to engage in the democratic process and join the effort.

Participants can expect:

–good company and socializing over coffee and donuts,

–a brief training session, and

–lists of homes organized by neighborhoods (called “turfs”) where volunteers will drop literature.

“Talking to residents is great, but knocking on doors is not necessary,” says Charley Allan, Precinct Organizing Committee Chair for the Mesa County Democrats, and the organizer of the event.

Why participate in this event?

Had it with the circus? Vote blue.

Because:

— Over 12,000 (2,500 in Mesa County alone) registered Democrats in Colorado’s Congressional District #3 did NOT vote in the 2022 election. This just can’t happen again.
— Defeating Lauren Boebert in 2024 could be the key to securing a Democratic majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
— Republicans were stunned by how close the last election was and are working hard to hold their lead.

There will be additional events like this around Mesa County in the coming months. Please contact Charley Allan to volunteer for September 23 or for future opportunities to fight for American democracy. Contact Charley if you have any questions.

Here’s his contact info:

Charley Allan, Mesa County Democratic Party
pocgotv@gmail.com
Cell: 970-623-3179

Activism, Andrea Haitz, Democracy, Education

Andrea Haitz Recall Committee calls off signature-gathering effort

by Anne Landman • June 29, 2023 • 6 Comments

Meme D-51 School Board President Andrea Haitz posted on social media c. May 9, 2022, widely seen as transphobic and a dig at public school teachers

The committee to recall District 51 School Board President Andrea Haitz has stopped gathering signatures for the recall.

The Committee issued a statement at 7:52 p.m. on June 29:

Sometimes we win. Sometimes we win, regardless.

The Recall Andrea Haitz Committee has decided to suspend collecting signatures. We are close to our goal, but the D51 board’s decision to include Marillac Clinic in Grand Junction High School was a major factor for starting the Recall. We celebrate the board’s decision to give our D51 students accessible and needed health care. We believe our Recall effort is a success by acting as a “6th member of the board” and keeping community attention on the actions of the board while important decisions are being made.

Recalls rarely succeed. But we have shown that non-violent, democratic action can positively move the needle, and galvanize voters before the election of two new board members in November 2023.

Folks have spoken clearly – No more political agendas in our schools. No more charter schools that siphon off public school students. No more secret committees deciding how many additional neighborhood schools will be closed.

We hope that Recall supporters know that while the Recall committee is turning a page, community attention remains squarely on board decisions. Our students are worth the time and energy of a 100-strong coalition of signature collectors has devoted to the attempt to peacefully and constitutionally effect change. We continue to Sign for D51 Kids.

Sarah Lester, Eric Rechel, Ricki Howie
The Recall Andrea Haitz Committee and D51 Stakeholders

Trump & his associates have repeatedly fleeced those who trusted him most. Tina Peters is following his lead.

by Anne Landman • June 17, 2022 • 4 Comments

Tina Peters appears on Steve Bannon’s Internet TV show, “War Room,” Dec. 31, 2021

First, former Trump advisor Steve Bannon raised hundreds of millions of dollars from Trump supporters using his private fundraising campaign, “We Build the Wall,” that promised to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. Bannon promised gullible MAGA-heads that “100% of the funds raised …[would] be used in the execution of our mission and purpose.” But Bannon and his associates diverted hundreds of thousands of dollars from the campaign to pay their own personal expenses and credit card debt, buy expensive luxury items like jewelry, home renovations, high-end SUVs, plastic surgery and golf carts. Law enforcement agents arrested Bannon in August of 2020 on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud while he was off the coast of Connecticut, lounging on a 150-foot long super-yacht owned by a Chinese billionaire.

Trump pardoned Bannon of these crimes before leaving office in 2021, which is why Bannon was never prosecuted for them.

When and where to watch the Jan. 6 Select Committee hearings locally — will keep this page updated

by Anne Landman • June 12, 2022 • 40 Comments

Update July 8, 2022 – The next hearing of the Jan. 6 Select Committee will be on July 12, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, 8:00 a.m. Mountain (local) Time. A summary of what previous hearings have revealed is here.

Update – Wed., June 22, 2022 –The next January 6 Committee hearing will be Thursday, June 23 at 1:00 p.m. local time (3:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time). After posting a tipline with its last hearings, the Committee has received additional video footage and is also talking to Ginni Thomas about her cooperation, and because of all the new information, following hearings will be held in July.

Update – Tuesday, Jan. 21- The Jan 6 Select Committee examining the assault on the U.S. Capitol convenes today for its fourth public hearing this month. This session will focus on Trump’s efforts to pressure state officials into falsifying election results to make it appear as though he had won, as part of his broader campaign to cling to office for a second term after he was informed by his White House attorneys, aides and family that he had lost the election. Today’s hearing starts at 11:00 a.m. local time and will be broadcast live on CBS (KREX, Ch. 5) ABC (KJCT Ch. 8) and NBC (KKCO Ch. 11) television stations starting at 11:00 a.m. Mountain Daylight (local) Time, (1:00 p.m. Eastern). You can also watch the hearings live on the website of the PBS News Hour and the Jan. 6 Committee’s YouTube channel.

***WARNING – the hearing may contain video of violence and foul language***

How to register as an Unaffiliated voter so you can vote against awful Republican candidates in the June primary

by Anne Landman • May 28, 2022 • 19 Comments

Lauren Boebert is the extremist candidate running for re-election as House Rep. from CD-3. If you’ve had enough of her, follow the instructions below to vote against her in the primary election on June 28th. Her opponent is former CO State Senator Don Coram, who, while still a Republican, is a far better choice.

While many had hoped redistricting would make Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District more competitive, it ended up doing the opposite. It increased Republicans’ advantage by an additional nine points.

This result is not lost on beleaguered CD-3 voters who, over the last two years, have been deeply embarrassed by extremist Republican elected officials like rabidly-right wing House Rep. Lauren Boebert and election-denier-to-the-point-of-insanity Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, both of whom, in addition to behaving terribly and in some cases denying voters their honest services, have also been exploiting their offices to rake in millions of dollars from like-minded, loony far-right wingers across the country who think they’re terrific.

To combat western Colorado trend of electing obviously unqualified, crass, shallow-thinking, extremist, far right Q-Anon conspiracists who exploit their positions to cash in personally, many CD-3 electors have re-registered as unaffiliated voters so they can vote the Republican ballot in the June primary and have at least some say who will run for office in the November general election. In effect, they are becoming Republicans for the primary election so they can vote for the least obnoxious, offensive Republicans, to try and push the worst of them off the ballot completely before the fall general election.

“Stand for The Constitution” is little more than Constitution theater

by Anne Landman • December 4, 2021 • 6 Comments

Comments under a video Stand for the Constitution posted of the Tina Peters Rally Dec. 1. The group blocks speech they don’t like from their Facebook page, showing they oppose the spirit of free speech enshrined in the U.S. Constitution

“Stand for the Constitution,” (SFTC) a Mesa County group that claims to defend the rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and the integrity of local elections, has started blocking critics and deleting comments it doesn’t like from its public Facebook page while defending the only person in Mesa County who has ever publicly refused to count hundreds of legitimately-cast ballots: Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters.

The First Amendment of the Constitution makes it illegal for government to enact laws restricting freedom of speech and expression. Stand for the Constitution is a private group, not a government entity, so it has every right to block people from its social media pages. But despite claims that it exists to promote freedoms enshrined in the Constitution, SFTC blocks speech they do not want to acknowledge.

Tina Peters scandal gets 9 minute segment on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show

by Anne Landman • November 18, 2021 • 0 Comments

The antics of crazy Republican Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters and her loony-tune election conspiracy scandal earned a 9 minute-long segment on MSNBC’s nationally-broadcast cable TV program The Rachel Maddow Show yesterday, November 17, 2021.

The Rachel Maddow Show is the most-watched cable news show in the country.

Maddow discusses Peters’ relationship with Mike Lindell, the “My Pillow Guy,” House Rep. Lauren Boebert’s former campaign manager, the FBI raid of her and others’ homes on 11/16, and more.

Maddow said the story of the Mesa County Clerk, which began as a very small and awkward story, has “metastasized and become very serious” and even “riveting” in how it has unfolded.

Commissioner Scott McInnis: Upcoming election will cost County $1 million

by Anne Landman • October 26, 2021 • 9 Comments

Election conspiracy theorists are an expensive bunch to lend any credence to, and humoring them is about to cost Mesa County taxpayers dearly.

At the County Commissioners’ meeting yesterday, Monday, October 25, 2021, Commissioner Scott McInnis let it spill how much County Clerk Tina Peters’ election conspiracy antics are going to cost County taxpayers in the upcoming election.

Hold onto your hats.

McInnis says the tab is going to be about $1 million.

ROLLING STONE: House Rep. Lauren Boebert participated in multiple planning meetings with organizers of Jan. 6 insurrection

by Anne Landman • October 25, 2021 • 3 Comments

Oct. 24 Rolling Stone article says Boebert participated in planning Jan. 6th events at the U.S. Capitol

According to an exclusive article published in Rolling Stone magazine October 24, 2021, two people who helped plan and organize the violent January 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, and who have already spoken to the House Select Committee investigating the insurrection, have named members of Congress involved in planning the attack.

One of them was CD-3 House Representative Lauren Boebert, who represents Colorado’s western slope.

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