Way up in the northeast corner of Colorado, folks have just about had it with the rest of the state. The Colorado legislature has come back under Democratic control, leading to new laws about transportation, farming and renewable energy, plus gun reform. What's a dispossessed conservative to do?
Secede. The Denver Post reports that a new plan would have eight counties in the northeast corner of Colorado form a breakaway state of their own, North Colorado. The counties' frustration is understandable, a local member of Congress tells the paper.
"The people of rural Colorado are mad, and they have every right to be," said U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner, a Republican from Yuma. "The governor and his Democrat colleagues in the statehouse have assaulted our way of life, and I don't blame these people one bit for feeling attacked and unrepresented by the leaders of our state."
North Colorado would include about 333,000 people, hiving off six percent of old Colorado's population.
The estimable Colorado Pols notes that leaders of the counties have all said they're at least interested in the notion of leaving. "Call us quaint," Colorado Pols writes, "but we're shocked to see elected county commissioners seriously talking about such a patently ridiculous idea." A spokeswoman for Weld County tells the Post the idea could go to voters in November.