Photo by Sara Wilson / Colorado Newsline
I see in the news that Colorado’s Republican candidate for Governor, Heidi Ganahl, has a plan to fix our damn roads.
And I am using the word ‘damn’ quite intentionally. It’s a fine word that’s been sadly neglected during the 21st century, as other four-letter words have increased in popularity, especially among comedians and rap artists.
I suspect Ms. Ganahl was also intentional when she used the word “damn” at a recent press conference. Here’s how she was quoted in a news article I found about that event:
“In May of 2021, Governor Polis promised that we are finally going to fix the damn roads. Well, that has not happened. In fact, things are worse, and that is why we’re here today,” Ganahl said during a Thursday press conference with the Colorado Department of Public Transportation headquarters as a backdrop…
Ms. Ganahl thinks our damn roads need a budget of $10 billion, over the next ten years. That’s a damn lot of money, but remember we are talking about damn roads.
Turns out, Governor Polis actually did promise to fix the damn roads, and he also used the word, “damn”. Which is pretty strong language for a Democrat, I think. A lot of Democrats would never say the word “damn”. They might say, “darn” or maybe, “doggone”.
But on June 17, 2021, Governor used the pertinent word, in reference to SB21-260, and I quote:
“We have now passed a bill, I will now sign, that will finally fix the damn roads in Colorado…”
That was a year ago, and to be truthful, I haven’t seen a damn lot of progress. In fact, there’s an annoying culvert replacement project, here in the middle of downtown Pagosa, that seems like it’s taking a damn long time.
I used to enjoy driving down South 6th Street occasionally, but who knows when I will ever be able to do that again?
I guess it would be only fair to admit that, yes, the old culverts under the highway near South 6th Street were collapsing, and it was probably wise to replace them, before the damn road caved in. I don’t know if the money to make the repairs came from SB21-260. But I’ve heard that SB21-260 allocated only $5.3 billion in taxes to road projects. Ms. Ganahl is proposing to use $10 billion in taxes, which is a damn sight more money than what Governor Polis seemed so excited about last year.
But we have to wonder about politicians, and the things they say, even if they’re using the correct words.
Like, when Governor Polis said, “”We have now passed a bill, I will now sign, that will finally fix the damn roads in Colorado…”
Last I looked, you can never “finally fix” the damn roads. There’s nothing “finally” about it. Roads always fall apart. That’s what they do. Let’s get real, folks: the only way we can stop the damn roads from constantly extracting money out of our pockets, is to stop building them, and make everyone ride horses.
Or walk. Has anyone ever heard of walking? Walking is good exercise, and it’s pretty much free.
$5.3 billion… or $10 billion… Ha, ha, ha. What a joke. No amount of money is going to “finally fix the damn roads”.
Which is why I like that word. Because it means, “going to hell”.