August 1 was Colorado’s birthday, which I had totally forgotten about, until I was got a reminder from the folks at The Colorado Sun, one of the state’s more ambitious online news websites.
‘Colorado Day’ is an annual state holiday commemorating a significant moment in history… when Colorado was officially admitted to the Union as the 38th state on August 1, 1876.
From an email sent by Lauren Whynott, Director of Membership, Marketing & Audience Engagement at The Colorado Sun:
Happy Birthday, Colorado!
On the 147th anniversary of our official statehood, I am feeling grateful for all that Colorado has to offer. I am thankful to live somewhere with an abundance of natural beauty, a rich history and vibrant culture. So on our birthday, I was faced with the age-old question — what to get for the state that seems to have everything?
But of course, as is frequently the case with birthday gift conundrums, the perfect present is often practical. What does Colorado need? For me and my colleagues at The Colorado Sun, the answer is clear: Colorado needs a robust, free press that shines a light on important stories and holds the government and the powerful accountable.
I have to agree with Ms. Whynott about the importance of a robust, free press. And one way to support the existence of a robust, free press is to subscribe to The Colorado Sun. Which you can do for as little as $11.99 a month, by clicking here.
Like the Pagosa Daily Post, The Colorado Sun has no paywall, just like the Pagosa Daily Post. Anyone can read the articles, at no cost. The main difference is, The Colorado Sun pays its journalists a decent wage. Which is why they need subscribers.
Where I have to disagree with Ms. Whynott, however, is on the question, what birthday gift do you get for a state that seems to have everything. Especially a state that is 147 years old. Does anyone else notice that people are harder to buy gifts for, the older they get? For one thing, by the time they’re 147, they do in fact seem to have almost everything, by the time they’re 147. What do you need, when you’re that old? A large screen TV and a subscription to Amazon Prime Video. And a microwave oven with a ‘popcorn’ button.
I have never been 147 years old, but I can imagine — for people that old — a robust, free press isn’t actually very important. You’re probably going to be watching Fox News, which is pretty much the opposite of a robust, free press.
Of course, we aren’t talking about a person. We’re talking about the ‘State of Colorado’… which is very different from the ‘state of Colorado’. The ‘State of Colorado’ is a government bureaucracy… while the ‘state of Colorado’ is 5 million people, a lot of roads in poor condition, cows, elk, deer, trout, butterflies, and mosquitos. And a bunch of other things. Rocks. Moss. Some over-allocated rivers. And so on.
Maybe some dinosaurs.
The entity that actually celebrated its birthday yesterday was the ‘State of Colorado’.
And what does a government bureaucracy need? Taxes. Lots of taxes. They don’t need a robust, free press. In fact, they probably find a robust, free press to be mildly irritating.
The rest of us — who are the ‘state of Colorado’ — we’re the ones who might want a robust, free press, unless we would rather watch Fox News.
But what we really need is someone to fix the goddamn roads.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t our birthday.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all.