HUDSON | CRT tiff is hardly the first war over words – coloradopolitics.com

Words matter. Liberals agree. Conservatives agree. Churchill observed short words are better than long ones, old words better than new ones with old, short words best of all. "Blood, sweat and tears"? In American politics Republicans have proven far more adept than Democrats in their use of words. Much of the credit goes to political consultant Frank Luntz, the man who employed focus groups to craft "death tax" as a replacement for inheritance tax. His verbal successes are too numerous to recount.

George Lakoff has attempted to provide a counterbalance on the left, but he lacks the killer phrasing captured by political correctness and cancel culture. Colorado has witnessed its own history of vocabulary wars. Forty years ago, Gov. Dick Lamm launched his Human Settlements Policy. If that appellation strikes you as slightly Orwellian, you arent the first to think so. Legislative Republicans threw a conniption fit over the notion that state government might attempt to rein in Front Range growth.

Perhaps the most perceptive jest was that of the "last man syndrome." Once across the border to Colorful Colorado, these incoming immigrants would squeal, Throw up the gates, we dont need more pressure on our roads, schools and infrastructure! The goal of the Human Settlements Policy was to distribute growth throughout the state, reducing fiscal pressure on existing communities. Lamm was, of course, the man who killed the 1976 Olympics at the ballot box and promised to drive a stake through the heart of C-470. His successor, Roy Romer, would recast Lamms environmental concerns as "Smart Growth." Who opposes smart growth? Words matter.

But, before this occurred, the House Republican caucus energized by the self-anointed "House Crazies" established an interim study committee to determine precisely what the Governors Human Settlements staff was attempting. Their investigative panel was chaired by Anne Gorsuch, whose son Neil now serves on the U. S. Supreme Court. At the time, Anne was perceived as just the whip smart ringmaster required to turn these hearings into a circus. I was appointed as a Democratic foil. Anne, a staff attorney at Mountain Bell, gave Joe McCarthy a run for his money as an assailant. You would have thought state employees who were laboring to assure adequate water, roads and schools were plotting a Marxist takeover of Colorado.

Early in the process, Gorsuch requested testimony from mid-level bureaucrats in the state Department of Local Affairs. The thrust of her interrogations was: how much of your time is devoted to Human Settlements work, what are your work products, who receives your reports and what is their value? You catch the drift. One afternoon a young woman with just a few years of service began to crumble beneath this badgering. Finally, she asked, why is this important its just part of my job. Anne retorted by threatening her, We need to know how much we should slash your budget how much to shrink your staff.

I had watched enough of Annes bullying and interrupted, challenging the chair, I refuse to continue attending these hearings if they are going to be conducted as a witch hunt. Bingo! The following days headline was something like, "Democrat accuses Gorsuch probe of a witch hunt." The tenor of succeeding meetings changed dramatically. The discussion was no longer whether Marxists were burrowing their way into state government, but what were Colorados civil servants actually doing and why? Words mattered. Our previous president hasnt had as much luck with "witch hunt" as I did, but I suspect this is primarily a matter of overuse. It works better when the accused witches are third parties. I was also an employee of Mountain Bell, which prompted Gorsuch to suggest I be fired. This brings us to Critical Race Theory (CRT), the latest words alleged to matter.

I must confess I didnt have the slightest idea what CRT was when it suddenly received media attention. Are these theorists critical of systemic racism (apparently true) or do they view racism as a critical issue (also true)? And why has a half century of arcane academic debate alarmed conservatives? Previously confined to law school articles, why has CRT emerged as a threat to social peace even though it isnt actually taught in our public schools. Its always wise to be suspicious of newly uncovered, yet previously unnoticed threats. This is usually "bloody shirt" politics.

White Americans have many other things to feel embarrassed about, in addition to their ugly treatment of Black Americans. Take a closer look at the genocidal treatment of Native Americans. When Lt. Silas Soule, then Denvers town Marshall, testified before Congress to the horror of the Sand Creek Massacre, he was assassinated upon his return. Recognizing Lt. Soule for his courage is a history Colorado should teach, whatever it is called. Truth matters. Words matter.

Miller Hudson is a public affairs consultant and a former Colorado legislator.

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HUDSON | CRT tiff is hardly the first war over words - coloradopolitics.com