Trump fanatics and ‘Darkness at Noon’

“Darkness at Noon” by Alex Koestler is a classic in political science. Written in 1940, this book depicts life during Stalin’s purges in the Soviet Union in the 1930s. I read it in undergraduate school and have referred to it several times when I spot autocracy run amok. The title is the punchline. Briefly, a lower level Soviet military officer is brainwashed to such a degree that he will believe anything his handlers tell him, including that there is really darkness at noon.

I’ve tried to convince Trump fanatics that No. 47 did actually break laws. I am repeatedly told that all indictments are merely the weaponization of the law by the Department of Justice. Or, in plain English, those indictments were “made up”.

I conclude that Donald Trump has told himself that his lies are really the truth. And his followers believe anything he says.

— Bill Ellis, Longmont

Reasons to defer the Quail Road property annexation

I oppose the annexation of the Quail Road property that is the subject of the council meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 28. The City Council is not legally required to approve this annexation. Neither this annexation nor any other along Airport Road is in danger of annexation by some other city, so a deferral does not rob the city of the opportunity to reconsider an annexation in the future. There is no reason to give up a future option to do so by acting hastily now.

The deferral should last until at least both of the following conditions are met: 1) A transparent public review of the cumulative impacts of all of the development projects completed or are in progress that are located west of Hover Street in the last five years is completed; 2) the optional fee paid by developers under the affordable housing rules in lieu of providing actual affordable units should be set at the median price of the proposed units for ownership in that particular project, and for rental units the fee should be set at 120 times the projected median monthly rental rate for units in the proposed development. This latter requirement will ensure that projects with higher price points will pay more for the in-lieu option than projects with lower price points.

— Brian Jeffries, Longmont