Columns

By Mike Coffman
The film “Waiting for Superman,” directed by Davis Guggenheim and produced by Lesley Chilcott, is a documentary that analyzes the failures of American public education by following several students through the system. The documentary is a clear indictment of many of our nation’s urban public schools, which are labeled in the film as “dropout factories” because, on average, 40 percent of their students fail to graduate.

Democrats took control of the Colorado Senate by a narrow 18-17 margin after the 2000 election. Republicans maintained control of the House and the governor’s office. When incoming Senate President Stan Matsunaka spoke at the annual pre-legislative forum sponsored by the Colorado Press Association that year, he announced that because he didn’t believe a split legislature could agree on a plan, the Senate wouldn’t try to pass a bill to establish congressional districts for the next 10 years and the issue would be passed onto the courts.

“This is a quarter of a billion dollars in stimulus we can’t pass up,” exalted County Commissioner Kevin McCasky in a story last week. “It’s going to be a great Christmas.”
Commissioner McCasky clearly has caught the holiday spirit and envisions a joyous Noel at the Taj Mahal. In fact, he’s even provided the snow job.

In the classic cartoon “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” Charlie Brown writes a letter to Santa as his sister, Sally, dictates. “Please note the size and color of each item,” she says, “and send as many as possible. If it seems too complicated, make it easy on yourself: Just send money. How about tens and twenties?” Rolling his eyes in disgust, Charlie Brown laments the commercialism that has crept into Christmas.