Opinion | Morgan Liddick: Jared Polis appropriates 9/11 for political gain | SummitDaily.com


Morgan Liddick
On your right

I was minding my own business when my email alarm chimed. I looked and noted an arrival from Colorado’s own Jared Polis, which I opened, despite knowing better. Good thing I have a healthy heart and a strong stomach.

“Dear Morgan,” it began, and a paean to American unity following the 9/11 attacks poured forth. It praised first responders; it called for vigilance. The hypocrisy was nauseating and not just because the congressman doesn’t know me well enough to call me by my first name.

“…we must hold close our shared goals and hopes, and acknowledge that despite our differences, we are all Americans,” the message gushed. A pretty sentiment from the man who, on Aug. 30, said “If Walker Stapleton was elected, mortality for women would likely go up…” That sort of red meat is great for a Planned Parenthood audience. And it does bolster one’s standing with the National Abortion Rights League. But for those who are dubious about protecting the right of women to kill their unborn children anywhere, at any time, for any reason, calling one’s opponent an accomplice to murder for embracing their doubt flies in the face of Polis’ claptrap about “unity.”

Polis has embraced the “impeach Trump” movement, which sets him at odds with many of his fellow Coloradans. Perhaps he is a modern Democrat in the Cory Booker/Ocampo-Cortez school, who believe that being a loud minority of a 46 percent plurality means they can do exactly as they please and the rest of us be damned. Although why he would surrender his house seat if impeachment is truly his goal is a bit unclear; perhaps this is another example of the congressman contradicting himself because he has forgotten which audience he is addressing.

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Polis’ email message invokes the spirit of 9/11, calling attention to the 9/11 Commission Report. Perhaps hoping to burnish his security credentials, he noted: “the world changed on 9/11, and even 17 years later, we find ourselves needing to redouble our resolve to keep the homeland safe.” An unfortunate sentiment for him to bring up: although the commission suggested strengthening border and immigration security, Polis voted against bills authorizing biometric security measures; against enhanced border surveillance and interdiction measures; and has called enforcement at the border “extortion” and worse. He demands “fixing our broken immigration system to align with American values” which, based on other of his statements apparently means open borders with little or no vetting for anyone. He has frequently referred to efforts by President Trump on immigration “vile,” which speaks volumes about his vision on love, unity and “transcending divides.”

Congressman Polis is neither unifying nor charitable nor correct when he says “President Trump is at best extremely weak and gullible on the international stage.” Remember, he’s describing the man who put an end to ISIS as an existential threat; who got our NATO partners to begin to live up to their commitments to increase defense spending; who wrested economic concessions from Mexico and, apparently, from Canada; who got North Korea to commit publicly to elimination of their nuclear weapons; and who provided Ukraine with lethal military aid in their fight against crypto-Russian separatist forces. Polis’ hero Barack Obama provided MREs. To be fair, the congressman was consistent in criticizing Trump’s move of the US embassy to Jerusalem: Polis has ever been a tool of the anti-Israel J-Street lobby and other foes of the Jewish state, for which he has a curious animus.

His frequent complaint that President Trump violated the emoluments clause of the Constitution 25 times marks Polis as either a charlatan or a fool. As proof of wrongdoing he offers commercial transactions, but fails to note that this argument was rejected in December 2017 by Manhattan U.S. District Court judge George Daniels, whose decision should be required reading for the Congressman and his cronies.

Congressman Polis seeks no comity or compromise on environmental concerns; in June he demanded that the EPA reject considerations of cost, economic impact or social implications of tightening air quality standards further, stating “health is the only consideration…” based on an inaccurate reading of section 109 of the Clean Air Act. In Polisworld, people might be impoverished, but they would breathe pristine air.

In short Jared Polis, the man who would be governor, is the quintessential politician. He will tell any audience what they wish to hear, before doing what he had always intended: increasing the size and scope of the state, and his own power and purse thereby. As a congressman, the scope of his actions was limited by the contrary interests of his colleagues. As Governor, he will have no such brake to his mischief.

Is Colorado willing to risk him? Forty-nine days will tell the tale.

Morgan Liddick writes a weekly column for the Summit Daily News.

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