Over the years, I’ve written to you about my son, Chance. Chance has Down Syndrome and has gone through some 14 medical operations, including open-heart surgery at just a few weeks old.
I’ve also told you about our many fights with the Boulder Valley School District administration as they robbed him of over a year of education with their lockdowns. The legal action I brought against them is still ongoing. Online learning was no learning at all for kids like mine. And they shouldn’t be victims of discrimination because of the way they were born.
I also told you about what a remarkable man Chance is: the fraternity brother I never had, the reincarnation of John Belushi, and a party on two feet. I’m just his catering company and cleanup crew.
It’s been one of the greatest honors of my life to be his entourage.
So, pardon me for this moment of annoying parental pride. Yesterday, Chance graduated from high school! (Technically, he won’t get a diploma for another few years as he goes through a transition program, but he doesn’t understand that.)
As a little baby, he wasn’t supposed to live more than a few months. Modern western medicine saved him. He was hospitalized for failure to thrive later. It took years to teach him how to simply eat food.
And yesterday, I watched him walk in a graduation ceremony. I am one proud papa.
I just wanted to share it with you since you’ve been part of the ups and downs of my kids’ challenges. And to make you jealous, my son graduated cum laude. No, seriously. He did. Like his old man, he can’t read or write. But unlike pops, he graduated with a near-perfect GPA.
For the first time ever, I love grade inflation!
UPCOMING EVENTS
Media Roundtable
Join us TOMORROW and be around actual human beings, like, in person! Don’t miss our Media Roundtable event!
Media Roundtable
Tuesday, May 24
6:30pm – 8:30pm
Independence Institute
727 E. 16th Ave., Denver, CO 80203
I’ll be hosting a conversation with Mike Krause (editor-in-chief of Complete Colorado), Wayne Laugesen (editorial editor of The Gazette newspapers), and media critic Christian Toto. Among other topics, we’ll discuss the impact Complete’s journalism has on local government. Hope to see you then. RSVP now for your FREE ticket.
Did I mention beer? There’ll be beer. I look better that way.
Independent Thinking Women
The last two years have shown just how rotten the education system can be. From denying special needs students like my son access to education, to filling my daughter’s head with woke nonsense even in her yoga class?! I don’t have to tell you that we NEED to fix this!
Join Independent Thinking Women for our event on June 7th. Hear from Deborah Flora about her groundbreaking documentary, “Whose Children Are They?”. Concerned parent Erin Lee will tell her story about her daughter’s school refusing to disclose what was being taught in “art club.” Our Education Policy Center Director Pam Benigno will discuss current policy proposals and how YOU can make a difference. RSVP for your FREE ticket NOW!
Wine. I hear chicks like wine, so I’m guessing there’ll be wine. I wouldn’t know. Because of all the restraining orders, I’m not allowed to go.
Earlier this month, FASTER Colorado Executive Director Laura Carno attended the 3rd-anniversary memorial service for the STEM shooting. We’re grateful for the heroes who acted to save lives, especially Kendrick Castillo, whose heroism should never be forgotten.
In a recent interview, Sherri Yockey shares her troubling story of being denied the right to view videos that are part of her daughter’s school’s curriculum.
I also sat down with Izabela Patriota, Director of Development for the Ladies of Liberty Alliance (LOLA), to talk about LOLA’s mission to educate and empower female leaders within the liberty movement.
Finally, I had an in-depth conversation with Paul Scudo, Executive Director of Step Denver, an organization that helps homeless men get off the streets through sobriety, work, accountability, and community.
Inflation in the U.S. reached 41-year highs in March, and thanks to Governor Polis, the cost of living has gone up even more in Colorado than in the rest of the country. This doesn’t bode well for Democrats—who have had unified control over state government for four years—as they face reelection this November. Hoping to make amends with voters for the carnage they inflicted upon them over the last three years, this year they vowed to make life in the Centennial State more affordable.
The 2022 legislative session wrapped up last week, and our Fiscal Policy Center Director Ben Murrey took a look at how they did. (Hint: Not well) Read his latest in The Gazette here.
On the final day of the legislative session, Colorado lawmakers decided to dedicate a portion of their limited time toward passing cost-raising energy code mandates on buildings and homes across the state. Policy Analyst Jake Fogleman did a deep dive analysis into what the final version of the bill includes, and what it will ultimately mean for Coloradans. Check it out here.
Rob Natelson, Senior Fellow of Constitutional Jurisprudence, was recently cited in a couple of federal district court cases and one Supreme Court case from the state of Washington. By the Supreme Court of Washington this year in Bangerter v. Hat Island Community Ass’n, 504 P.3d 813, 816 (Wash. 2022). The court cited a treatise he wrote for Little, Brown and Co. on property owners associations early in his academic career. He was cited by Chief Judge Tymkovich of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th circuit, in the TABOR case of Kerr v. Polis, 20 F. 4th 636, 710 (10th Cir. 2021). The judge cited his article on the Constitution’s phrase, “Republican Form of Government.” Finally, by the federal district court for the Eastern District of North Carolina in Sandoval v. Does 1-3, 2021 WL 5600622 (E.D. N.C. 2021). The court cited his article on donor anonymity under the First Amendment.
Think Freedom!
-Jon
