You maniacs just keep showing up, swinging opinions like folding chairs at a family reunion—and I love it. This ain’t a polite debate club, it’s the Arena of Ideas: loud, messy, and way more productive than yelling at cable news while your dog stares in judgment. You’ve blown up the inbox, so now your comments get their own playground. But the real fun? Scroll down, find that Comment Box, and unleash hell—no filters, no algorithms, no tech overlords. Just us, and whatever truth you’ve got locked and loaded.
Here’s what you’ve got…
Finally, someone said it. Parents aren’t extremists, we’re just done being sidelined. Thank you for putting a voice to what so many of us feel but are afraid to say out loud.
Stacey in Monument
From Me in Johnstown: Hell yes, Stacey. If wanting a say in your kid’s life makes you an extremist, then slap the label on me, too. I’ll wear it with pride, and probably some dad jeans and white New Balances.
You’re stoking division and paranoia. Schools aren’t stealing kids, and most teachers are doing their best. This felt reckless.
Lindsey
From Me: Lindsey, bless your trust in the system – it’s adorable. But when “doing their best” includes hiding info from parents, we’ve crossed from education into indoctrination. No paranoia, just receipt
Polis wants to patch his budget mess with my wallet again? You nailed it, “extraordinary session” just means “extraordinary shakedown.”
Ralph in Loveland
From Me, in the Loveland Suburb of Johnstown (meh): Exactly, Ralph. It’s like watching a magician pick your pocket and then hand you a pamphlet about climate justice. No thanks, I’ll keep my cash and my common sense.
It’s about time someone stood up to this state-level tyranny. Thank you for shining a light on what Western Colorado’s been yelling into the wind for years.
Donna in Grand Junction
Me on the other side of the hill, in Johnstown: Donna, your commissioners and my friends in Mesa County finally brought the lawsuit, and I brought the popcorn. If the state wants to micromanage us from Denver, they better be ready to lawyer up. I have a few ideas on how Weld can flex its Home Rule Charter and push back. I’ll share those ideas over the next couple of days.
This one made me laugh and rage in equal measure. Hypocrisy in the legislature isn’t new, but you’ve got a hell of a way of making it hit harder.
Tom in Timnath
From Me, south of Timnath, in Johnstown: Appreciate that, Tom. Colorado’s Capitol is starting to feel like a satire sketch with better parking (if you pay $20 in a lot right across Sherman and then step over a couple of homeless guys to get there). Someone’s gotta call it like it is, I’ll bring the bat signal and the blowtorch.
These laws exist for a reason. You sound like you just want chaos. Red tape protects people, too, you know.
Kendra
From Me: Kendra, I love safety. I also love not needing a government permit to breathe, build a shed, or buy a lightbulb. Paper cuts add up, and Colorado’s bleeding out in bureaucracy.
Reading this felt like therapy with a side of bourbon. The “600 paper cuts” metaphor? Chef’s kiss. You captured what it feels like to live here now.
James in Fort Lupton
From Me, where I want to be, in Johnstown: James, pour another. Cheers! We’re all just trying to stay sane while the state slips new regulations under our doors like a passive-aggressive roommate. Glad you felt seen.
Enjoying the heck out of your newsletter. I am not offended by your language. Are we older 4th-generation kids tougher? I think so. How about running for Governor?
Janet, somewhere in Greeley
From Me, somewhere in Johnstown: Janet, you just made my damn day. You are tougher, built from barbed wire and common sense. As for running for Governor… well, I’d have to clean up my language, drug my wife into submission, and convince the Denver/Boulder crowd that the “R” behind my name is not a disease (although I wish it were contagious). So probably not. But I’ll keep raising hell from this keyboard; no donors, no filter, and no apologies.
Retirement in CO struck a chord with us… like a big punch in the gut kind.
My husband and I both work hard, tuck money away, talk about the golden years on the not so distant horizon while our adult children (two still living at home) try to save enough to move out. They’ll deplete all their savings and after a year, head back home due to being out of money. Its discouraging to watch. This scenario is repeated and retold by nearly every friend of ours. Those not telling the story, their kids have already left Colorado for a more affordable way of life elsewhere.
Keep talking about it – I don’t see it becoming more affordable or changing anytime soon.
Cherie
From Me: Oof, yeah, that gut punch is all too familiar. You work your whole life picturing some golden-years freedom, only to find yourself sharing the house with adult kids who are just as trapped in this economic clown show as you are. And they’re not lazy, they’re doing everything right and still getting wrecked by housing costs, taxes and fees, and the “Colorado premium.”
This isn’t just your story, it’s the story now. And the fact that so many of our kids are being priced out of their own damn home state? That ought to be a five-alarm policy fire. I’ll keep talking about it, because someone needs to scream while the political class keeps fiddling.
I said it in the post and I’ll say it again here: What does it say about a state when its young people can’t afford to start their life here and its old people can’t afford to finish their life in the state they busted their ass to make better?!
That’s what over 20 years of democrats in charge has brought us. That’s the truth, and it breaks my heart.
Is that all you got?!
Apparently, it is for now. That’s the latest round from the Arena of Ideas, bloody, bruised, and still standing. Now it’s your turn. Scroll down to the end of each post, find that comment box, and don’t hold back. Whether you’ve got a full-blown rant, a thoughtful take, or just need to vent into the void before throwing your phone at a campaign ad, this is the place. No filters, no shadowbans, no Zuckerbots—just real people saying real things in the state we all love and occasionally want to throttle. Let it rip.
What a breath of fresh air your Sheet is to read! Heard you on Mandy’s show and I am hooked!
My kids are 5th generation natives on their dad’s side and 2nd on mine and their kids were born here as well. Your views and opinions so closely echo mine and my husbands. My family hails from Greeley though we live in the Metro now. Sadly my son and his family live with us as they cannot afford Colorado now. Retirement seems a mirage…
Well damn, welcome to the Sheet Show – I’m thrilled Mandy suckered you into this mess. You’re not alone. “Can’t afford Colorado” is practically the state motto now, right next to “Retirement? LOL.” Sounds like your family helped build this state and now can’t afford to live in it, which is the kind of backwards heartbreak too many folks are living right now.
But I’ll keep writing, screaming, and swinging at the madness with a keyboard and a coffee mug. We may not fix it overnight, but at least we’ll call it what it is while we’re still here. Glad to have you in the Arena.