Today marks the 138th anniversary of Colorado's first day of statehood–on August 1st, 1876 Colorado was officially admitted to the United States as the 38th state. Politicians across Colorado are looking for creative ways to publicly observe today's holiday, if anything trying extra hard because it's an election year. GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez posted a Buzzfeed style "10 things I love about Colorado" list today:
First problem: Beauprez is using an image of his beloved "family farm"…from Google Street View? We might have expected a more, you know, personal photo? Or at least sent a staffer over to the beloved family barn to snap one? No points for effort here.
Back in March, we had a little fun with a statement that Beauprez made in a radio interview about having "lived off the land my whole life." Beauprez's family did once own a dairy farm in Lafayette, but as we explained, Bob Beauprez sold the farm to develop the golf course and high-end residential subdivision known today as Indian Peaks. The barn depicted above is located on Beauprez Ave. in the Indian Peaks golf course, and Beauprez owns a large home in this development. So it may be technically correct that Beauprez still lives on land that "was" the "family farm." But so there's no confusion, here's where Beauprez's McMansion sits today in the Indian Peaks development relative to the Beauprez barn:
Something about this view spoils the authenticity of Beauprez's nostalgia for the family farm. Of course, though it's not what Beauprez was intending, the story of Colorado family farms being sold off and developed into tract homes and golf courses is very much a part of our state's history.
Just not so much the part we celebrate on Colorado Day.
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There's fake, and then there's Bob Beauprez.
Really? I celebrate prosperity on Colorado Day. This state has been good to me, and good to Bob Beauprez. I'm not hateful to Beauprez for selling the farm and getting rich, I applaud him. Indians Peaks is a really nice golf course too.
Maybe if you liberals could figure out that rich people like Bob fund all of your precious social programs, you'd stop running them down all the time.
Try to answer this honestly, Moddy . . .
. . . did you have the slightest clue you were "celebrat[ing] prosperity on Colorado Day" before you saw this diary's headline???
. . . and if you lie, and say, "yes," does that mean that you owe some of your thanks for your Colorado prosperity today to the Dems that have been governing this state the past few cycles?
You really must have pulled a muscle trying to reach down for that. Do you need some ice?
BWB sends out a picture of the barn from his family farm, trying to look downhome and salt-of-the-earth. Pols rightly points out there is now a freaking golf course and upscale subdivision between where he now lives and said barn.
Your retort is then that Pols is simply attacking the rich. Are you for real?
There are a lot of people who live in that subdivision. Should they all apologize for buying homes on Beauprez's farm?
My point is that Pols is attacking Beauprez because he is rich. Why else would any of this make sense? The only way Pols would be happy is if Beauprez was still farming. And even then they'd find a problem because this is about partisanship, not reality.
Holy hell, you really are that thick.
You want a nice dose of reality? A candidate for governor, Bob Beauprez, blatantly missrepresenting his lifestyle to the people of Colorado.
Duh. He's a Colorado Republican state-wide candidate that wants to get elected. Duplicity is in the job description. See: Gardner
Such a clueless program.
For Moddy, it's always about the poor, persecuted rich people in this country who have been victimized by the masses. That's why he spends each Colorado Day — in fact, I would guess each calendar day — thinking about them and their dire plight.
Do you suppose that while one of our resident WIF acts as a proxy for those 'celebrating prosperity' today, he might be surprised by a recent report showing income inequality in Colorado growing?
Between the years of 2009 and 2011:
Nothing wrong with being rich. Just don't talk to me about growing up and still living on the land when you sold the familly plot to develop a golf course!
+lol
I posit that there's still a lot of room for a fracking operation on the property, Many farmers, hard hit by these economic times, are allowing them on their land, so they won't have to sell the family homestead.
Didn't they ban fracking in Lafayette? Beauprez should sue.
Because he so badly wants fracking in his subdivision?
Maybe he voted for it!
I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that Beauprez Avenue is a thoroughfare that runs in both directions.
No way. Focused this time. Its One Way Bob this year!
As a semi-native Coloradoan (38 years), I do miss Colorado Day.
We used to celebrate byI usually had to work the day, unless it fell on a weekend day that I was not working.Beauprez shows profound lack of judgment in owning a house right by what looks like a par-four green on the 17th hole. He probably gets lots of hooked balls in his backyard.
We can't afford failed ideas like that at our statehouse.