RtB News & Opinion

By MAX STITES Published in the Daily Sentinel on 6/24/26. The current president of the United States certainly has his loyalists, some of who disparage his critics by saying they suffer from “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” This phrase, along with the word “activist” is often used to describe federal and state judges who rule against his policies, even though he appointed some of these federal judges. Any Republican in Congress who speaks or votes in opposition to his policies i

Mount Sopris, CO Dear Restore the Balance Community, Tomorrow is June 30, primary day in Colorado. If you haven't returned your ballot yet, tonight and tomorrow are your last chances. To ensure that your vote will count, it is best at this late date not to put your ballot in the U.S. mail. Either vote in person or hand-deliver your completed ballot to a ballot collection location by 7:00 PM tomorrow. Voter information and drop box locations for Colorado. ⚠️ Unaffiliated vote

CO Nat'l Monument Dear Restore the Balance Community, If you're a typical Western Colorado citizen, it's a good bet you like having freedom and choices. Freedom to do your own thing, whether it's river rafting or target shooting, and choices between a nice upscale eatery or just hot dogs and beer around a campfire. It's also likely that if you vote, you like having the freedom to either send in your ballot or drop it off. And you probably wouldn't mind having a few more optio

Stocker Stadium, GJ, CO Dear Restore the Balance Community, Read the full candidate responses published last week here. Topic of the Week: Stop the Steal — of Your Power Someone is trying to steal your vote. Someone is trying to take away your power. They are not robbing a ballot box or manipulating a vote count. They are not foreign governments infiltrating voting machines via WiFi. They are robbing you of power by sowing doubt and mistrust in our elections and our democra

Telluride Ski Mt, CO Dear Restore the Balance Community, The June 30 primary is three weeks away. Ballots are in the mail as of today. And this week, we're giving you one more tool to make an informed decision. Full responses from the candidates are linked at the top of each section. A Reminder for Unaffiliated Voters If you are registered as unaffiliated, you will receive two ballots in the mail, one for each party. You must return only ONE. Returning both will disqualify

Easter Hill, Grand Junction, CO Dear Restore the Balance Community, June is here, and so are the primaries. If you've been meaning to get more involved in the democratic process, this is your moment. Topic of the Week: Get Out the Vote — Why June Primaries Matter We talk a lot about elections in November. But the decisions made in June often matter just as much, and far fewer people show up. Primary elections determine who appears on the general election ballot. When turnou

RTB Spring Gathering '26 Dear Restore the Balance Community, We may be wrong about each other…and we can fix it. David French drew a sold-out crowd of over 500 at the RTB Spring Gathering held at CMU last Thursday, with watch parties in La Plata and Delta Counties. The full recording is available on the RTB YouTube Channel. Watch the full recording here. Topic of the Week: French Impressions Why such interest? French offered insights into why we are breaking apart as friends,

Green River, UT Dear Restore the Balance Community, It's hard to believe that this Thursday we'll be at CMU for our fifth annual Spring Gathering! We wouldn't be here without your support, and we thank you. In recent weeks, we have been looking at various aspects of David French's career. This week, we want to share a bit of the remarkable personal journey that has helped shape his voice. Without doubt, his family paid a steep personal price for his willingness to speak hard

Gates Pass, Tucson, AZ Dear Restore the Balance Community, In CD3, where more than 50% of registered voters are unaffiliated, we often find ourselves presented with only two realistic choices: Republican or Democratic party loyalists. Many of us end up voting against, rather than for, a candidate for public office. We may view the candidate we're against as extreme or downright dangerous. And perhaps what is even more damaging to our republic is that we reflexively dislike

Telluride Ski Resort, CO Dear Restore the Balance Community, Remember this guy? This week, we shine a light on another of the underwriters for our Spring Gathering and one of the pillars of the Mesa County community, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. We'll also look at David French's journalistic career and his views on the First Amendment. P.S. May the Fourth be with you. Topic of the Week: The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel & David French, Journalist The Grand Junction Da

Rabbit Ears Pass, CO Topic of the Week: The Courage to Listen Restoring balance to our political process does not mean taking the mathematical average of two extremes and making policy around that. It does not mean filling a quota with an equal number of conservatives and liberals. It does mean having the courage to listen respectfully to those with whom you disagree. It may mean tolerating those whom you view as intolerant, at least enough not to censor them or infringe upon

Colorado National Monument Dear Restore the Balance Community, We talk a lot about adherence to the Rule of Law being paramount to maintaining a civil society and preserving our democracy. In fact, the Rule of Law is an esoteric concept with origins dating to Ancient Greece, Rome, and English Common Law. In the US, the law appears more like a web of interconnected, hierarchical documents and decisions that change over time. The U.S. Constitution, written in 1787, is the threa

Loire Valley, France Dear Restore the Balance Community, As you are aware, we recently announced that David French is the keynote speaker at our Spring Gathering. Consistent with our nonpartisan goals to inform voters, encourage civil dialogue, support principled politics and government, and defend the U.S. Constitution and rule of law, we are proud to host Mr. French, who has a message of great importance during this election year and time of political division. We invite al

Hinman Lake, Colorado Before we dive in, this Guinness ad sends a powerful message of unity, just what we need right now. Watch here. Topic of the Week: The Executive Order on Elections & What It Means for Your Vote Dear Restore the Balance Community, In previous weekly emails, we addressed the Trump administration's attempts to interfere with elections. We also examined the SAVE Act, which is currently under discussion in the Senate, but is stalled by Democratic opposition,

Topic of the Week: The Two-Party System: America's Political Duopoly Dear Restore the Balance Community, The two-party system in American politics often leaves us with a choice between two "bad" choices. It leaves many of us voting "against" someone rather than "for" someone. So why do we belong to parties in the first place? Perhaps nearly everyone you know is a member of the same party. Humans do tend to self-sort into tribes. And it is a phenomenon that plays well into the

We're kicking off this week with a little inspiration. As we explore the right to protest and peaceful assembly, who better to turn to than one of history's greatest champions of both, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Take a moment to watch these 7 Inspiring Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes to Live By and let his words set the tone for this week's conversation. Topic of the Week: The Right to Protest Dear Restore the Balance Community, Last week, we focused on finding some common gr

Before we dive in, take 4 minutes to watch this. Heineken's "Open Your World" ad is a brilliant reminder that what we have in common is almost always greater than what divides us. Watch here! Dear Restore the Balance Community, This week, we're taking a step back from the headlines to look at something worth celebrating: a nationwide surge in civic engagement, and what it means for communities like ours right here in Western Colorado. Topic of the Week: The Rise of Civic E

Rocky Mountain Columbines Dear Restore the Balance Community, Last week, we focused on the caucus and how to get involved in the party process. This week, we're looking at a piece of federal legislation that could affect whether millions of Americans are able to vote at all: the SAVE America Act. Topic of the Week: The SAVE Act & Your Right to Vote First, a baseline fact: there is no credible evidence of widespread voter fraud in U.S. elections, including the 2020 presidentia

Topic of the Week: The 2026 Caucus — Your 24 Hours to Shape Democracy "We do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate." — Thomas Jefferson A Word from RTB Board Member Ivan Geer "I believe that most Americans are independent at their core. Yet the political process will always involve parties by its nature; parties ultimately present our choices, which results in independents voting for candidates presented by parties. Many of us

Sunrise in Palisade Topic of the Week: Efforts to Interfere with the Midterm Elections Unfortunately, this may be the first in an ongoing series, but for this week, we want to lay out the facts we know so far in the multiple attempts to interfere with the 2026 midterms. Aside from the ever-repeated narrative that the 2020 elections were stolen, there has been a constant stream of behavior that should cause concern. In the summer of 2025, Jeff Small, former Chief of Staff to L