Officially an Unaffiliated voter, a longer explanation

Friday, November 10, 2017 the Colorado Independent, an online Colorado political news magazine published my announcement that I registered as an Unaffiliated voter, there by no longer able to function as a member of the Democratic Party. http://www.coloradoindependent.com/167568/colorado-hamilton-elector-nemanich-democratic-party-unaffiliated

Below is the longer version of the original article that was submitted before editing and explains in greater detail the circumstances. 

Colorado 'Hamilton Elector': Why I'm leaving the Democratic Party

After 12 years of being a loyal registered member of the Democratic Party in Colorado, and a decade of working as a party functionary in various roles, I am, today, registering as an unaffiliated voter in and joining the ranks of the state’s largest voting population.

It is not because of a policy dispute, or a personal dispute, or because now even unaffiliated voters can vote in party primaries in Colorado.

Instead, it is because a year ago this week, as one of the 538 members of our nation’s Electoral College, I was suddenly thrust into an exceptionally historic and unprecedented circumstance.

The nature of that circumstance was that the presidential election, though over, was as the time engulfed by allegations that an apparent demagogue had partnered with a foreign enemy to gain the presidency. Previously, such circumstances might have been unimaginable beyond the pages of a Tom Clancy novel.

But in the current reality of American politics, that a corrupt and openly misogynistic, race-baiting demagogue might have allowed his campaign to conspire with a century-long adversary was unfortunately all too easy enough to believe.

This was perhaps the greatest fear of what our nation's founders, specifically Alexander Hamilton, had when they devised the process we now call the Electoral College. It is that process that still remains the official instrument that elects our country's president.
I was one of 538 American citizens with an actual official vote.  

Early on I knew these circumstances demanded a serious review of conscience, and, under the duties set forth in the U.S. Constitution's Amendment XII, I was, along with eight other electors from Colorado, to travel to the state Capitol in Denver and cast my official vote on December 19.

I sought counsel from esteemed presidential academics, constitutional lawyers, ordinary friends and neighbors— most importantly my family— and, ultimately, fellow electors from around the country. Electors in Colorado, and some from other states, both Democrat and Republican were also so moved by the emerging unprecedented circumstances that they, too, told me they were morally torn by their looming decision. Some believed a dissenting vote was in order. One: to try and stop the election of Donald Trump. Two: at the least to give a voice of dissent, holding that this election was corrupted.

Collectively, we were crossing over from being loyal party activists to non-partisan patriots attempting, in our own limited means, to try to protect our nation from a seriously corrupted election.

It was torturous.

But it was also a moving personal experience. At times I felt personal pressure from all fields of crazed partisans— even from my fellow Democratic Party officials with whom I had stood shoulder to shoulder in plenty of previous battles as a good Democrat, a precinct organizer, and elected member of executive and central committees. Veiled warnings were made that if I failed to vote for Hillary Clinton, I would be kicked out my official roles in the party.

Even more pressure came from Colorado's Secretary of State, Republican Wayne Williams who lives in my county and who openly rejected our conscience effort as electors. He said out plans were “odious” and “evil.” Along with the Republican Attorney General Cynthia Coffman, who is now running for governor, Williams rejected the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution as it pertained Colorado's state laws regarding presidential electors actually voting.

The two not only vigorously defended Colorado's state law, arguing that actual votes of conscience would ensue chaos, but they created new provisions in the law. Then they continued to pile on ever more. In a last-second closed court hearing just before we were to cast our official ballots for president they declared that our potential dissent warranted a state emergency. This allowed the Secretary of State to craft a new, special oath of office for us, the 2016 the Presidential Electors.

Their aim was to absolutely bind our votes with virtual handcuffs, regardless of conscience or circumstances. If we were to do otherwise we would face charges of felony perjury.

This is what George Washington specifically feared about partisan party politics gone to the extreme. Saying that “the very real capacity of political parties to destroy the fragile unity holding the nation together,” he warned of the possibility fearing they could distract the government from its required duty to the people and even lead to the “eradication of the freedoms established by the founding.”

We then witnessed in horror how the government stripped one of our elector's vote as he actually dissented.

Williams summarily removed and replaced him from his position, done without a process or a hearing by a government employee and executed through newly crafted emergency powers.

All this was done in open defiance of the Federal 10th Circuit Appellate Court's written warning on the matter. In the court’s order, the Appellate Court stated any attempt by Colorado’s Secretary of State to remove electors “after voting has begun” would be “unlikely in light of the text of the Twelfth Amendment.”

Today, we are back in Federal Court seeking the courts to answer the question about whether presidential electors have the ability to vote their conscience.

Back in December, both partisan sides accused us, the dissenting Hamilton Electors, and the Secretary of State, as acting for reasons that were partisan. We were accused of trying to find a way to get Hillary Clinton elected through some mechanism in the Electoral College where Republicans held an overwhelming advantage—while Wayne Williams was accused of hypocritically protecting the popular vote in Colorado while ensuring the process be done without dissent as to elect Donald Trump in the Electoral College.

I cannot speak authoritatively as to Williams' motives, but if viewed strictly through the prism that consumes today's politics, all actions by political players, government officials or citizens alike, can be and are defined by, others as expressing an overarching partisan motive.

Therefore, I have come to the conscientious decision, that as a litigant in our Federal lawsuit, as a believer in democracy over partisanship, as a patriot over any political party or ideology, I will be now registering as an Unaffiliated voter and therefore, resigning my official positions within the Democratic Party.

This is not a decision I take lightly.

Reactions from some of my fellow party friends and compatriots have not been welcoming. I had volunteered for important party chores, and elected officials and future candidates respect my campaign knowledge and abilities. But in my mind, the act of voting is far more important than a political initiative or participating in party activities.
If a state government official can intimidate and coerce presidential electors, even in the face of unprecedented historic circumstances, when the Constitution holds that electors indeed do vote, where even previous a Supreme Court decision; (Ray vs Blair)  states “we consider the argument that the Twelfth Amendment demands absolute freedom for the elector to vote his own choice, uninhibited by pledge,” than Washington was correct, predicting partisan politics would destroy the fragile freedoms binding our democracy. Where as, Hamilton also feared foreign and domestic enemies would seek to bring down its government in the corrupted election of the president where he sought an independent Electoral College.

In 1952, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an Alabama state law requiring electors to pledge how they would vote, but seemed to take care to leave open the question whether such pledges could be enforced, consistent with what the Court was willing to assume was the “constitutional freedom of the elector … to vote as he may choose in the electoral college. Requiring a pledge is one thing; controlling or punishing an elector’s actual vote is something altogether different?" Yet that is what we witnessed where state officials imposed that control and punishment onto voting electors.

This leads me to ask: How far is this apparent abuse of power we experienced by the current partisan government officials from them imposing their control on ordinary voters in general elections?

Unthinkable you might say. But was it unthinkable before 2016 that a presidential campaign partnered with a foreign enemy to gain the presidency? Alexander Hamilton did, and that’s why he created the Electoral College.

This past year's experience has brought me to this new found perspective.

To fight for voting equality it must be a nonpartisan effort and I see now the only path to resurrecting our nation's democracy is through the protection of all aspects of voting. Being unaffiliated also precludes the accusation that our effort is somehow partisan, even as Williams seeks re-election. Williams will have to stand on his own defending his actions in 2016, but that is not our question. Our question is whether an elector possesses constitutional freedom in Colorado to vote their free will, and that cannot be muddied by partisan charges.  

The contemporary perspective of viewing all political activities under the prism of party partisanship is omnipresent. It mostly is means to sling mud at any or all opponents, including democracy movements.

It even is used to attack respected and accomplished neutral professionals, like judges, scientists, prosecutors who are practiced in non-partisan activities—including a special counsel who is a registered Republican, where his special office possesses a staff of esteemed prosecutors and investigators from all sides of the aisle. Yet, there are those who scream and holler that somehow there is some appearance of bias—because of nothing else, but the accuser's own unbridled partisanship.

Therefore, to remove any hint of that bias or partisanship, my continued participation in this democracy  I am now, a non-partisan— unaffiliated, and independent.

Game Theory; Trump will seek to fire not only Mueller but also Rosenstein & Buentes

'This', the orderly removal of Donald Trump was never going to go down easy or fast. For the faint of heart the Trump Presidency and its core support in Congress is nothing else but an ongoing coup d'etat. Remember what Bannon said: that their goal is "the deconstruction of the administrative state”, and this at CPAC:

"If they think they are going to give you your country back without a fight, you are mistaken. Every day, it is going to be a fight."

Outside of government the core base of Trump is primarily made up through a coalition of domestic "Conservatives Without Conscience",  (thank you @JohnWDean), which he identifies the conservative mindset:

• Viciousness towards anyone or any group with the gumption to challenge and disagree with them.
• Opaque deference to racial, gender and ethnic bigotry. 
• Policies favoring Big Business 
• Indifference or worse governing actions opposed to individual liberty and equality
• Using psychological warfare (psy-ops) seeking a false moral superiority yet fiscally corruption of the Republican Party 
• All conflated into an allegiance to domineering, demagoguery political personalities 

In his book, Dean back in 2006, feared that this Right Wing Authoritarianism was leading the USA toward an American version of fascism. Right Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) identified by Robert Altemeyer, Professor at the University of Manitoba, in his seminal political science research published in Right-wing Authoritarianism (1981) and his more recent follow up The Authoritarians (2006). What Altemeyer found was pegged at between where:

"20-25% of Adult Americans, are vulnerable to a demagogue who would incite hatred of minorities to gain power." (Link)

Now at Day 146 of the Trump Administration the AP reports  in its recent poll, 64% of Americans have a unfavorable view of President Trump, while 35% favorably like his presidency. One could interpret that in the favorable pool, 16% state they strongly approve which could project comprise mostly of the domestic fascists, while 18% somewhat. So don't hold your breath as the bottom is somewhere between 20% and 25% where deep partisan Republicans fuse with fascists who align or register as GOP, nice company. When Nixon resigned on August 8, 1974 he registered 22% in the Gallup Poll.

This is where we are  as we all face the threshold of American Fascism taking control. Fascism is not reserved just for foreign nations be it in Europe, (Italy, Germany, Spain, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Romania or RUSSIA) as in other continents of the world, Africa, South America and Asia. The only two continents that currently are without current of past fascist regimes is Australia and North America, for now. Fascism is a modern derivative of extreme nationalism, fueled by racism and is a national cultural and political revolution of the political Right with its own ideologies with the goal towards a forceful reordering of society seeking a projected utopia. And if you know your history fascism in the United States was a discussed subject even in 1944 when America was fighting the Axis Powers made up of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan. An article by then Vice-President Henry Wallace published an article in the NY Times:  “The Danger of American Fascism,” which

..."described a breed of super-nationalist who pursues political power by deceiving Americans and playing to their fears, but is really interested only in protecting his own wealth and privilege...warning about hucksters spouting populist themes but manipulating people and institutions to achieve the opposite. They pretend to be on the side of ordinary working people — “paying lip service to democracy and the common welfare,” he wrote. But at the same time, they “distrust democracy because it stands for equal opportunity... invariably put “money and power ahead of human beings. “They demand free enterprise, but are the spokesmen for monopoly and vested interest.” They also “claim to be super-patriots, but they would destroy every liberty guaranteed by the Constitution. They bloviate about putting America first, but it’s just a cover. “They use isolationism as a slogan to conceal their own selfish imperialism.”

"They need scapegoats and harbor “an intensity of intolerance toward those of other races, parties, classes, religions, cultures, regions or nations.” 

He, "acknowledged the great difference between American fascists and other countries’ murderous authoritarians. The American breed doesn’t need violence. Lying to the people is so much easier.

They “poison the channels of public information,” he wrote. Their “problem is never how best to present the truth to the public but how best to use the news to deceive the public” into giving them more money or power.

Sounds almost Nostradamus like.

Most insidious is that fascism in all modern societies consider itself a democracy movement while simultaneously rejecting representative forms of government. Fascism among all things needs a supreme, charismatic leader to give its revolutionary movement its sharp focus, a living symbol of the nation, its ideals and Utopian direction, in all cases Dystopia in reality. The result in all fascist regimes is that previous democracy institutions are co-opted by RWA forces where then a legal degeneration ensues in line for rule of the supreme leader and single party system. This concept of degeneration attacks the neo-liberal concepts of rule of law, with its decency and natural laws of tolerance and individual freedoms, but fascism changes the concepts of tolerance and freedom to fit their own worldviews. Tolerance and freedoms are only available within their communities of RWA revolution, and it must be intolerant of those who oppose them, there is no reciprocity. Therefore everything must be on their own terms. Enough of the political science lesson but I believe this is critical to understand what the future entails.

So throughout this week starting on Tuesday with NewsMax's CEO Christopher Ruddy, a close personal friend of Donald Trump, stating on PBS that the President is considering firing Robert Mueller, Special Counsel. This was a stunning development less than 30 days after his appointment, 38 days from the firing of Comey. On the following day, Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein stated that only he could legally fire Mueller and that would require 'cause'. Thursday, brought the press bombshell with Washington Post story stating of what I have been told privately for months, that Trump is under investigation, as well as, his entire entourage and team and Mueller's investigations were widening.

"The special counsel overseeing the investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 election is interviewing senior intelligence officials as part of a widening probe that now includes an examination of whether President Trump attempted to obstruct justice, officials said.

The move by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III to investigate Trump’s conduct marks a major turning point in the nearly year-old FBI investigation, which until recently focused on Russian meddling during the presidential campaign and on whether there was any coordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. Investigators have also been looking for any evidence of possible financial crimes among Trump associates, officials said."

Then today, the adjacent tweet appeared on the transom Friday, President Trump tweets an official statement that only appears to telegraph another Saturday Night Massacre redux.







That statement quickly elicited a response from Senator Feinstein and Congressman Schiff both ranking members of congressional committee's investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election where collusion and corruption with Trump's campaign is alleged.

So this takes us to the eve of Saturday, June 17th. Rod Rosenstein it is reported that he might have to recuse himself due to the speculation that is a witness to a potential crime---meaning obstruction in the firing of James Comey (ABC NEWS).

It is now my opinion and judgment that Trump has no choice but employ a scorched earth effort to turn the Department of Justice on its ear in an effort in his mind to save his infantile and failing presidency, and possibly this family and entire team.

What would ensue is not unlike what Nixon did, demanding that Rosenstein fire Mueller, Rosenstein then refuses stating there is no cause, where then Trump orders Sessions to fire Rosenstein. Then the baton goes to Rachel Brand, the Associate Attorney General who has a number of political and statutory conflicts where her official duty is that she is charged with ongoing counterespionage investigations within the Justice Department. She could fire Mueller and face the onslaught of political and legal heat, or herself, recuse herself, resign or be fired, conceivably for insubordination and disloyalty [to Trump].

My guess is that she tries to recuse herself but Trump and Sessions would still fire her if she isn't lock step, leaving the last option in succession at DOJ being Dana Boentes, the current US Attorney of Eastern Virginia District Court and at one time the acting Deputy AG and then, acting AG when Sally Yates was fired for warning of Flynn's lying. This all before Session was confirmed. Boentes is rumored to be involved in the investigations of Trump Team. My guess is that Boentes again refuses or recuses himself and he too is fired where because of Trump's firing of 44 US Attorney's back in March where he was one of the few who survived as no acting US Attorney the line of succession stops because the next in line is the US Attorney of Northern Illinois.

But then what? Mueller is not fired, unless Sessions goes radical and un-recuse's himself where then Mueller is finally fired. I don't think Cable News could keep up with the successions. Here is where the Congress will need to get some spine and pass a law for an independent prosecutor where it reappoints Mueller. And this will determine if we are over the threshold of fascism since Congress will have to overturn a Presidential Veto. That would require a 2/3's vote in both houses, 288 in the House and 67 in the Senate, or 93 Republicans would have to join 194 Democrats in the House and 15 Republican Senators join Democrats in the Senate. You know it would have been better if the Electoral College had stopped Trump back in December

I studied Game Theory in college when I had a semester long seminar in MAD, Mutual Assured Destruction conducted during the Cold War period in my college days from actual DOD personnel. Game Theory explained, is the use of mathematics and logic regarding competing forces where one presumption is that the actors are intelligent and/or rational, rational in a sense that the actor believes so not whether their opposition thinks they are rational. Game Theory was often used in the fields of economics, psychology, and of course, political science and now is utilized in the fields of computer games, computer science including data mining as well as biological research. Naturally assigning Game Theory suggests that Donald Trump's upcoming decisions or reactions is all about closing all investigations because it all leads to impeachment proceedings, which information in RUMINT suggest he is guilty of multiple crimes both as a private citizen and now President. His pattern of behaviors are very consistent, honed over the last fifty years and his options here are limited.

Back to the fascist revolution. All the legislation proposed by Trump and the Republicans reflect what John Dean saw in 2006. The immigration Executive Order, is racist nationalism, healthcare repeal and replace, tax reform are not about his electoral base but about his political agenda favoring Big Business and corrupt enrichment. His comments regarding representative government from the senate rules to the ideas like filibuster, obstructionism, fictional executive privilege, emoluments, waivers, communications, etc, is all fascism in reality. The question is how many domestic fascists are in the Congress. And there in lies the coup d'etat. That said once another DOJ Massacre takes place Trump will never see approval ratings (outside Fox sponsored) above 30% again, where he could fall below 22% when this is finally over.

If in fact the RUMINT is correct about the partnership of the Trump Team and the Russians as it pertains to the hacking and election colluding there also had to be partners in the Congress and states. Now as for more Game Theory, the wild card are the four other Eyes in the intelligence community, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand, plus the other NATO allies. When or if Mueller is fired and in between Congress's reaction I am projecting that a series of stunning intelligence releases will find the media permanently wounding the Trump Administration and possibly the Congressional leadership, leaving little choice for members of Congress to demand a full and independent investigation. This general pathway of totally exposing our once open government is the only way out of this, non partisan and fully venting. As I said back in December this is going to be messy, very very messy.

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The Great 2016 Conspiracy, it is the week it will be begin to be revealed.what do my elders say?

I recently asked my elders'; "Is this emerging, "Great 2016 Conspiracy", that is surrounding Trump's Presidency, with its 'laundry' list of connections to Russia, is it now becoming analogous to the historical events from another era  namely, 'The Great Depression' and World War II?" (99 Coincidences of Trump-Russia Connections)

Still alive and lucid, my elders were born on or near the moment in history when everything changed twice, first came 1929's, Black Tuesday's Wall Street Crash. followed ten years later with World War II. They are living survivor's of that time, now in their late 80's or early to mid 90's, they grew up and lived through those events that stretched for over 16 years, challenging their ordinary lives each day. It was an unprecedented period of time with wholesale death and destruction, tearing at practically every social institution across Europe and America Through the succeeding years most remained silent about much of their personal ordeals, it is why they are labeled the 'Silent Generation'. But now they offer great wisdom if you ask. 

Today as I am reaching my own senior status, a member of the 'Boomer Generation', I inquired whether as a nation we are looking at a similar historical benchmark that compares to those events of the 1930's? They were both responsive and greatly concerned, their faces said much more than their words for they know the misery that comes with these historical upheavals. What I noticed is that their normal partisan perspective's seemed to be immediately shed, as they pointed to the simple comparison of the 1929 Crash to the recent 2008 Meltdown. The effects of each of those calamities brought about different real life affects as a matter of degree, but the reality, both brought on great hardships to the ordinary, hard working, moral citizens that make up most of America. They are the the ones that lost much of what they had worked hard cobbling together in a lifetime. Instead of a quarter of the population being destitute like in the 1930's, many Americans now simply hve become permanently wounded financially. This effect cannot be denied and had a deep effect on the psyche of the nation that was exploited in the last election. As one elder put it, it is not about assigning blame, only to know the reality that it had a deep political effect that now fascists took opportunity.

As one peers into the forgotten history of the 1930's there were many great conspiracies that were afoot underneath the political veneer's in both in Europe and the U.S. Here in the U.S. soon after the revolutionary political victory of Franklin Roosevelt, there emerged a potential coup, known as the Business Plot. Even though General Butler who testified in Congress, alleging that wealthy businessmen had approached him were plotting to create a fascist government, many back then dismissed that notion. It even included Charles Lindbergh. Historians are unsure whether the coup was actually close to being executed, but a consensus has been established through research indicating some kind of "wild scheme was contemplated and discussed" to overthrow President Franklin Roosevelt; (The Corporate State and the Broker State). 

Another comparison that was made is that there was a real conspiracy between Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia, (Hitler and Stalin), as to the invasion of Poland. Officially known as the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, it assured Germany that the Soviet Union would not counterattack if the Nazi's invaded Poland. Details of the secret plan were:

"The nonaggression pact of August 23 contained a secret protocol that provided for the partition of Poland and the rest of eastern Europe into Soviet and German spheres of interest. In accordance with this plan, the Soviet army occupied and annexed eastern Poland in the autumn of 1939."

That event of September 1939 ushered in World War II, which involved more than 100 million people worldwide involving over thirty nations, an estimated 50 to 80 million persons perishing, most were non combatants, and it was simply described as the bloodiest and deadliest conflict in human history. Following that unprecedented human tragedy the world led by the United States, we established new social and societal institutions, founded on democracy and rule of law. It also established a hardened military alliance countering totalitarian nations in a long period that became known as the Cold War. Too many this history is as far away as TV Land's old reruns, but it worked, imperfect as humans are, the objective was always to prevent a third World War.

Now some 78 years later, there are growing accusations that a Great Global Conspiracy between Russia and Donald J. Trump elected the 45th President of the United States of America. Together with the Republican Party this partnership colluded to "steal" the 2016 election to benefit both Putin's Russia and Trump's cronies. Some are making a strong case that this conspiracy can be traced back into the 1990's, that we shall see. A Special Counsel has been appointed, led by former FBI Director, Robert Mueller, his legal forces within Justice and the FBI's counterintelligence section, plus the rest of the U.S. and its Five Eyes partners plus NATO and other intelligence forces are beginning its legal and constitutional assault on this Great 2016 Conspiracy, less than 150 days into Trump's Administration.

It will not be like a television version of Law and Order, where a complicated investigation and subsequent prosecution in less an hour, all for entertainment viewing. This might take another 12-24 months to unravel, possibly longer to conclude, longer than Watergate which took 22 months. And at least that will probably be the Trump-Russia segment, most likely include a series of impeachments or resignations, most likely leading to criminal proceedings entailing such allegations as RICO, espionage, money and data laundering, fraud, hacking, perjury, false report and obstruction. Accompanying this unparalleled, even bizarre American historical event, will be the trials concerning the private and foreign culprits and accessories to the Great 2016 Conspiracy within America's political parties, both major and minor, as well as those associated PAC's and private citizens. This will also include domestic infiltrators of Russian agents and then move on to foreign adversaries. If what I have been told by intelligence community actors, investigative reporters, lawyers, politicos, system and IT professionals and what not, this will emerge as the greatest political scandal of all time.

In its wake, we as a nation, plus the rest of world free governments, will have to build a better governing and social regulatory institutional apparatus to manage global Internet communications, intrusions, hacking, money laundering, data manipulation, privacy, individual sovereignty and information and secure the functions of democracy. What this Great 2016 Conspiracy is among all things, is a comprehensive global assault on the hearts and minds of citizens in Western democracies', their vulnerabilities to using sophisticated psychological warfare, psy ops measures, if you will, through a maize of Internet and communication tools, plus the added capability, of secret hacking and corrupting election and data machines. Unlike war planes attacking from the sky this invisible warfare went on veiled, unchecked, unregulated and all within the U.S., possibly for years, seemingly a partnership between a growing domestic fascist movement and the KGB-fascist Russians. Both who sought to radically reorder Western democracies into a new world order of corrupt oligarchies. This is not hyperbole but a clinical observation of facts that each day are being revealed.

When this was discussed, my elders, they did not immediately discount the seemingly fantastic or outlandish nature of a Great 2016 Conspiracy. They had experienced this once before, yes as children and high school students, part of  or just following America's "Greatest Generation", an era pegged Strauss and Howe, ( Fourth Turning), Those who followed World War II as young adults were labeled members of the "Silent Generation".  These elders nearing the final years of remarkable lives, witnessed and participated in a foundation of historical measures are now resigned that something is terribly wrong. That America will have to face its music with resolve and righteousness, and resurrect itself.

So this event, more than scandal:

The scandal that has no name is unspooling like a police procedural in congressional hearings and news stories...Politico

As a nation we about to embark with historic Congressional testimony continuing with Asst Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Wednesday, then followed by the much anticipated testimony of the former FBI Director, James Comey Thursday. Leading up to this are comments from our Congressional leaders starting with Senator Al Franken, ironically one of the most understated politicians, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who beforehand this year cornered his former colleague Jeff Sessions, the current Attorney General, of lying to the nation during Session's confirmation hearing, Sen. Franken said last week,

"everything points to collusion between President Donald Trump's campaign and the Russians...My feeling is that there was some cooperation between the Trump campaign and the Russians. I think everything points to that,"

Trump's Administration are acting very suspicious he said to CNN,

"My gut tells me they do, because they aren't acting like people that don't have anything to hide. We will see.". 

Senator Lindsay Graham, a Republican, was quoted in the NY Post

 "it’s clear that after Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein briefed the Senate on the investigation into Russian involvement in the presidential election that it has become a criminal probe.

'The shock to the body is that this is now a criminal investigation,' Graham (R-SC) told reporters moments after he exited the Senate chamber.

He said now that it has become a criminal investigation instead of an counterintelligence probe Congress may be impeded in carrying out its own examinations."

Congressman Elijah Cummings has stated on CNN said that, "at its core, the investigation is about "the soul of our democracy."

Congressman Adam Schiff has stated:

"There is more than circumstantial evidence now." Continuing; "But I will say there is evidence that is not circumstantial," Schiff said, "and it is very much worthy of investigation."

Schiff's comments echo a CNN report published Wednesday evening that cited unnamed US officials who told the network the FBI had information indicating people associated with Trump may have coordinated with suspected Russian operatives on the release of information damaging to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.

This does not include recent reports in the main stream media outlets about investigations regarding Trump's son-in-law,  Eric Kushner, along with the likes of almost the entire Trump Team; Manafort, Cohen, Flynn, Stone, Giuliani, Epshteyn, Sessions, Nunes, even Speaker Ryan and Senator McConnell. There seems to be a feeding frenzy of journalistic sharks where Breaking News practically comes across the transom every evening. The details that already have seen the light of day by citizen journalists like Louise Mensch in her Patribotics Blog, where among many others states; That Donald Trump is already under a sealed indictment which is in front of the House Judiciary Committee under investigation for Impeachment.

John Schindler in his column in the on line magazine, The Observer (recently owned by Kushner), reports that Admiral Rogers of the NSA told his entire NSA employee base that:

“There is no question that we have evidence of election involvement and questionable contacts with the Russians.” 

Where he further reports that:

"...now that the Justice Department has appointed Robert Mueller special counsel charged with running the Russia investigation, NSA is apparently pulling out all the stops to track down any additional evidence which might be relevant to the expanded inquiry into KremlinGate."

 Many people I talk to willing to engage about this Great 2016 Conspiracy, initially would reject the notion this is a grand conspiracy, now seeing it unfold in front of their eyes, voice wonderment how could this be happening? My elders offer a guide post of this reaction. One said, most if not all except for the few, don't want to pay attention when this kind of life disruption fostered by fantastic evil designs, suddenly emerges, affecting their own, self-important ordinary lives. The younger generations will have to learn that evil effects all of us. One recalled the initial disbelief of Germany attacking France, after they didn't care about Poland, where then the German's almost annihilated the British Army in 1940. They recall the cries that we cannot enter that war, it is for Europe to work out. Then a year later the Japanese attacked many still were remained in disbelief, while others acted. Like my uncle who enlisted in December 1941. He went to fight the Japanese in the Aleutians, fighting to keep volcanic outcroppings near the Bering Strait. Shock and dismay are common when extraordinary events take place challenging one's failure to imagine the designs of evil fostered by unfettered greed.

Unfortunately as this Great 2016 Conspiracy goes forward, we as a nation must allow the full measure of knowing what happened and who is responsible so we can save the soul of our democracy. In 1974 we failed when Nixon was pardoned before his torturous trials that should have been. My sage family friend, Justice Prentice Marshall expressed that a pre-pardon would lead to a slippery slope where the nation would revisit another scandal far worse than Watergate, there can be no man above the law in a democracy. So pay attention this week. Understand that for America to be America once again, we must go through this difficult, wrenching period rooting out traitors and our domestic fascists as criminals they are. And only then can we go about rebuilding our democracy institutions while addressing the Russian-Putin international problem.

Where is "this" going? Is America still INDEPENDENT?

This quote was slipped in at the end of an article that headlined that British spies originally spotted Trump campaign team's communications with the Kremlin which many in the press considered a bombshell article going back into 2015; The Guardian, April 13, 2017: British spies were first to spot Trump team's links with Russia

One source suggested the official investigation was making progress. “They now have specific concrete and corroborative evidence of collusion,” the source said. “This is between people in the Trump campaign and agents of [Russian] influence relating to the use of hacked material.”

That final paragraph lifted precisely directly states that the Trump Team is facing law enforcement proceedings, sooner rather than later. Then in the following days late last week the following news began to surface: Mike Flynn’s Treason Tour: Global Russian Propaganda Coordinated With Trump

"According to several sources within the intelligence community, Michael Flynn was coordinating, with and for Russian agents, the drafting of messages that Vladimir Putin was using to attack democracy in not only the United States, but across Europe. Furthermore, Flynn was doing this with the full knowledge of the Trump campaign, including Donald Trump himself." 

Then another: Carter Page Went to Moscow With a Tape of Donald Trump Offering Treason For Hacking

"Sources with links to the intelligence community say it is believed that Carter Page went to Moscow in early July carrying with him a pre-recorded tape of Donald Trump offering to change American policy if he were to be elected, to make it more favorable to Putin. In exchange, Page was authorized directly by Trump to request the help of the Russian government in hacking the election.

And finally this pertaining to the Congress: Intel source: FBI discovers Kremlin is blackmailing Jason Chaffetz over Donald Trump and Russia

"For months, onlookers have wondered why House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz has done his best to protect Donald Trump from his Russian collusion scandal. Has it been merely partisan hackery, or has Chaffetz had a more specific reason? According to an intel community source, the FBI has learned that Russia has “kompromat” blackmail material on Chaffetz and has been using it to keep him in line with regard to Trump’s Russia scandal."

There are other tweet reports regarding Rudy Guiliani being offered or seeking an immunity/testimony deal with the FBI and/or NY State Attorney General, other intel reports have it that multiple allied Intel agencies have recordings of Trumps quid pro quo offer, Trump children recordings of criminal activities, McConnell and Ryan implicated in Russian money laundering to funnel into Super PACs for the GOP Congressional races, and there is even more.

I am neither a soothsayer nor am I clairvoyant, and yet on November 26, 2016 where I said the following about Trump-Russia as we approached the Electoral College: Colorado Independent:  

During the meeting, the four agreed there has been enough influence on the 2016 election by Russians, either directly or indirectly, to bolster their potential role as faithless electors. The U.S. government in October officially blamed Russia for hacking emails from the Democratic National Committee, among other institutions and individuals, saying the hacks and subsequent leaks were “intended to interfere with the U.S. election process.”

Bob Nemanich, the math teacher, says he believes Russian influence from cyber attacks and the hacking of email accounts had an impact on the election results.

“This is an attack on our representative form of government,” he said, adding that the question is: "Who benefited?

“We don’t have time to prosecute and investigate this,” Nemanich said. “We have to start making our own decisions [as electors].”

Based on the emerging news my interview back in the day is now being validated. Ironically I personally experienced attempts by Kremlin surrogates in the roles of Russian Television (RT) with purported producers/reporters out of New York City and Moscow, one a promoted lieutenant of Putin as she promotes her status on her own Facebook page. Here is the screenshot of the second private message effort.




Yet someone who is famously known as a soothsayer throughout the centuries of history, Nostradamus wrote coincidentally about what some are saying alludes to this moment we all are living through in real time: Century III Quantrain #81:

“The great speechmaker, shameless and bold, will be elected governor of the army: The boldness of his contention. the bridge broken, the city faint from fear.”

You can interpret this cloudy ancient poem for yourself. Whether it possesses meaning or is simply gibberish, but Trump and his Trumpists are establishing a new benchmark for shameless deceit and bold assertions without a scintilla of evidence or substantiation. Can we agree on this?

However when taken in retrospect it is almost as if Nostradamus was fast forwarded in a Doctor Who time machine where he witnessed Trump's stump speeches of 2016. Again can we agree on this as well in that Trump is a bold and shameless speechmaker, be it on stage or in tweets.

Now as for the second reference; elected Governor of the Army coincidentally is specifically is what the President of the U.S. actually is----an elected Commander in Chief. In fact, no other democratically elected nation on this earth possesses the institution that their top elected official as both Head of State (i.e., the Queen of England, who is in a ministerial role), as well as the Head of the Government as chief executive, the President is also the Commander-in-Chief of all U.S. Armed Forces. One more time, I think we can agree this is more than a coincidental or ironic reference, especially for someone who lived in the 16th Century France, it just is a strange anomaly.

Michel de Notre Dame, AKA, Nostradamus, is considered by many as one of the more accurate seer's in history. His well known and enduring book ‘The Prophecies’, expresses over a thousand four-line poetic verses called “quatrains,” verses that maddening appear to predict the future. Among his numerous prophecies, Nostradamus predicted the Moon Landing, Hitler’s rise to power, and the Death of Henry II, Princes Diana, Napoleon and both assassinations of JFK and his brother, RFK

With that brief substantiation whether Nostradamus holds any predictive value in the retrospect let me look more deeply into the mysterious references of: "The bridge broken, the city faint from fear.", which gives us a clue, possibly where all this is going. Is your head exploding yet, mine has since Trump was nominated. 

What could be this literary symbolism, "the bridge broken" mean or insinuate? Symbolism as some of you may know is defined as using a concrete object figuratively, as a representation of an idea. Symbols allow the writer to compress complicated ideas into word, so the 'bridge' alludes to a concept in this modern moment. It could mean a bridge to Great Britain and/or Europe regards to NATO, but that is concrete as well, and Nostradamus probably would have used a term that symbolizes compact or contract.

The term 'bridge' is as an imagery towards a connection to some past. If Nostradamus is referring to the "governor of the army" as in America, then the 'bridge broken' probably alludes to America's connection to its past, meaning its beginning as in its values and beliefs in the Declaration of Independence and USA's constitutional form of government. Is Nostradamus suggesting that America is no longer INDEPENDENT? Whoa, now that is a stop in your tracks moment. Is the USA independent. Well here is a screenshot of John Schindler, a blogger/\writer, former NSA manager and someone who has been warning about Russia since the beginning of 2016 election season.

But if the chatter over the Internet and in and among News outlets are correct, that Trump's campaign colluded with the Russians in hacking and using the most modern sophisticated psychological ops to steal this presidential election, it is a bona fide cyber, Russian aided coup d'etat. Then America is no longer INDEPENDENT and therefore, "the bridge is broken". So now where is this going?

So now we move to the last phrase in the Quantrain, "...the city faint from fear". If we are talking about the U.S. there are only two cities that Nostradamus would refer to as "the city", New York City and Washington DC. Well the Governor of the Army only resides in one of those two cities, Washington DC so what would entail a city be faint with fear? He also could be alluding to Ronald Reagan's imagery of America being the Shining City on the hill.

An outside threat like terrorism, or state threat like a nuclear wart or something more sublime like the discovery that treason by a political class aided or directed by the Russians using this cyber, Russian psy ops and their hacking capability that brought about this silent coup d'etat has been realized by the general public. The faint fear could be the initial response by the Democrats or even implicated Republicans or even some of America's citizens and businesses, it could be those who would be swept up in this enormous event as being passively or inadvertently complicit.

As we see above the informed general public and patriots are beginning to learn there are the active conspirators, a list that seems to be growing each day as it includes most if not all of the ruling persons in Trump's government. They are the willing and then there will be those who were duped knowingly or unwittingly, followed by those who accomplices. Be they merely political and greedy opportunists, or those who looked away aiding the domestic and foreign enemies of our Constitution where they were knowing or should have known. This will undoubtedly include corporate and business types, state politicians and private citizens who aided and abetted this foreign take over of our nation's INDEPENDENCE.

So where is this heading? Years of investigation, probably many forms of obstruction, then eventually impeachment after impeachment. There will be prosecution maybe even assassinations, civil strife, possibly forms of civil and foreign wars, but what is certain is this will cause great strife, breaking down of failing institutions and the demand to rebuild. We will again learn about those purported to be American heroes our elected or appointed leaders, who abused power, broke our trust and it could include much of the entire elite class of politicos and titans of industry brought to justice.

As we stand here today closing in on Trump's first 100 days (April 29th), it quite plain that parts of the U.S. Government, many in the press and corresponding roughly 60% in the general public are aware that the election of Donald Trump was corrupted and possibly manipulated by some form of partnership with secret foreign and domestic forces.  Substantiating this historic conspiracy as to who, what, where, when and how is for the investigative bodies in the U.S. Government to fully vent and detail but it should send a shivers down the backs of all those who idealistically believed America was different and INDEPENDENT. The line by John Oliver the British comedian:

"John Oliver kicked off Sunday's Last Week Tonight with updates on the scandal he calls "Stupid Watergate," because, he explained, it has all the potential consequences of Watergate, but everyone involved is really stupid.'"

 But the reality is this was not stupid other than those who participated thought they could get away with it, 

As Representative Quigley a member of the House Intelligence Committee who recently spent two days in Cypress investigating Russian banking of suspected money laundering stated this episode is far bigger and more sinister than Watergate ever was, and eventually we know where Watergate headed. Ultimately there are only two options, one America reasserts itself and its two century plus cause of democracy and self government, or America and its independence is fo the foregone past. That said Nostradamus has a few Quatrains that some have attributed to the current moment in history. Century III: # 50

La republique de la grande cité,                 The republic of the great city
A grand rigueur ne voudra consentir:        Will not want to consent to the great severity:
Roy sortir hors par trompette cité,              King summoned by trumpet to go out
L'eschelle au mur la cité repentir.              The ladder at the wall, the city will repent.

There are some now interpreting this Quatrain as relating to Trump and the present moment in the US. What appears is that Nostradamus is referring to a republic that will not consent to some great hardship or challenge but it is unclear who is this King? Is it Putin?  Kim Jong-un ? Bashar al-Assad? King Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia,  Or is the King a symbolic use of the name Prince as in Erik Prince who already acted as a private envoy of Trump to go out. This is not known, but what appears is this is connected to the city (Washington DC) with the mortal threat of conquest from a modern siege repents for possibly bringing the world to the brink of nuclear war. 

Finally there is another Quatrain that Nostradamus researchers are now attributing this time of Trump, Century X #76. 

Le grand Senat discernera la pompe,     The great Senate will ordain the triumph
A l'vn qu'apres sera vaincu chassé:        For one who afterwards will be vanquished driven out:
Ses adherans seront à son de trompe     At the sound of the trumpet of his adherents there will be
Biens publiez, ennemis dechassez.         Put up for sale their possessions, enemies expelled.

Nostradamus if he tells us anything is that humans and our history is a continuum between era's and lives and lends at least the suspicion that para normal dimensions could exist. Are we living in this reality where historical events of great significance and consequence are taking place. But upon reflection it was the U.S. Senate that ordained Trump's improbable victory over objections that arose in the House of Representatives regarding Elector votes amounting to less than 269 votes. I was directly involved in this final chapter of the Electoral College personally lobbying Senators to object to no avail. What appears to be a trivia footnote of the 2016 election where the Democratic Coalition found a minimum of 50 Republican Presidential Electors possessing challenge-able credentials, either as duo-elected officials, and/or, not residing in the district they were representing. Yet in the same line Nostradamus refers to the winner as being driven out later. The next line he describes that his supporters remain to end only to lose their possessions, or what happens when one goes to jail, and finally enemies of the nation are expelled. It could mean that all of Trump's possessions are put up for sale while all Russian enemies are expelled.

This cyber war is a fight for our freedom, our liberty and our nation's independence as a nation. The fight will have be long but will have to be lawful, as peaceful as possible and will include ordinary citizens. What we are hoping is battalions of reluctant average Suzy's and Joe's to step forward and not only resist but reclaim their own self governing democracy. The consequence is abominable for it is the absence of liberty, freedom and our independence. The war the Russians are employing  is best described by the grandmaster Sun Tzu in the "Art of War - Chapter III: Offensive Strategy

"The best strategy in warfare is to capture an enemy country whole and intact without having to resort to arms. To conquer it by force is the second best way...Therefore, supreme excellence does not lie in winning one hundred victories in one hundred battles but in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.

Accordingly, the best way in directing military operations is to defeat the enemy through strategic superiority, the second best way is to defeat the enemy through diplomatic means; the next best method is resorting to arms to conquer the enemy army, and it is always the least desirable method to besiege a fortified city."

Understanding ancient text of social masters in human nature is no different than masters in any science or knowledge, Nature is nature, humans within a generation are no more unique than their predecessors except in technology that they develop to assist their lives. Sun Tzu is expertly saying that to capture an enemy it is better to do so without resorting to arms. This is the grand strategy the Russians led by Putin's Kremlin. Russian expertise among all the world's cultures is spying and espionage. So well practiced in the art of deception and subterfuge as described by John Schindler a former NSA senior official wrote here:The 9 Russian Words That Explain KremlinGate

Ultimately democracy is a system where each member possesses an equal share and therefore an equal measure of voice and opinion regarding decisions by their group or society This then leads to majority rules. Each voter consciously and emotionally takes a sense of personal responsibility in their decision as how to vote, despite the reality that it could be 1/130 millionth of a direct representation. Nine years ago we learned that my daughter's vote was stricken because of a systematic data entry manipulation where birthdates did not match identification, she felt betrayed and stolen. Yet when the votes are tabulated and a decision rendered the social compact in a democracy becomes the consent of the govern---UNLESS there becomes known that the vote was contaminated. Corrupted as it is not a majority, therefore a broken compact and no consent. Where this is going is that this cyber, Russian aided coup d'etat cannot and will not be tolerated in the slightest. It is why we are headed for a long period of investigation, impeachment and prosecution.

Because often democracy's have resulted into other forms of rule; monarchies, tyrannies, aristocracies and oligarchies, all rule of an elite who co-opted democracy, either by way of an outright coup d'etat or over a period of dismantling democracy into a shell of its previous self. Fundamental is that all non-democracies are in their hearts diametrically opposed to democracy states in that it leads to their nation seeking democracy where it takes root. Democracy must be treasured and cared for, but at the same time it can't be secured away in some vault, on the other hand exercised faithfully by all of society's members, revered like a wedding ring worn day and night, as important as life itself. But the moment those entrusted in leading a society, and correspondingly its ordinary citizens begin to take democracy for granted, either finding it troublesome because of some immediate partisan pursuit, where the use of scare tactics and now sophisticated modern psychological ops are employed to corrupt the hearts and minds of the voters, then no longer democracy exists. Democracy then becomes a charade, co-opted as its previous mechanisms seem apparent but something else ensues, often cronyism leading to a worse state----totalitarianism.

“America does not at the moment have a functioning democracy,”  President. Jimmy Carter 2013

So be informed and be ready to resist and fight for your democracy because no one else can do it for you.

How ministerial voting the key element of an Oligarchy of this American Plutonomy

The legal question whether Colorado's (and 28 other state's) Presidential Electors were either ministerial or an actual voting position was and remains the key question in initial court proceedings the week prior to the Electoral College in Denver. Here is some background detailing the legal outline. The salient issue lies in the inherent conflict between the act of voting,  defined as: 

"a usually formal expression of opinion or will in response to a proposed decision; especially : one given as an indication of approval or disapproval of a proposal, motion, or candidate for office and the act of performing a government duty."

Conceivably within any realm of common sense logic that the expression of either an approval or disapproval of a [presidential] candidate, as the act of performing the duty of an Elector.  If one reads the Constitution:

THE CONSTITUTION 

Article II

Section 1. The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows 

Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector. 

Twelfth Amendment 

The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, ...

That's it, Electors vote by ballot, so what is defined as the  very act of vote by ballot. Merriam Webster defines the term  vote as: 

Definition of vote

1a : a usually formal expression of opinion or will in response to a proposed decision; especially : one given as an indication of approval or disapproval of a proposal, motion, or candidate for office 

So the Constitution allows the legislature to appoint Electors in a manner they choose and Colorado allows each Party appoint their electors through this law: Colorado Revised Statutes Title 1. Elections § 1-4-302. Party nominations to be made by convention

1) Any convention of delegates of a political party or any committee authorized by resolution of the convention may nominate presidential electors.

(2) All nominations for vacancies for presidential electors made by the convention or a committee authorized by the convention shall be certified by affidavit of the presiding officer and secretary of the convention or committee.

It is not spelled out as how does Colorado then appoint Electors in the winner-take-all votes without a law stipulating it and that is inferred as part of the succeeding law: Colorado Revised Statutes Title 1. Elections § 1-4-304. Presidential electors -

(5) Each presidential elector shall vote for the presidential candidate and, by separate ballot, vice-presidential candidate who received the highest number of votes at the preceding general election in this state.

And therein lies the crux; the state of Colorado has pre-determined the Electoral College vote by prescribing the act of whom to vote as an official act of the position, therefore deeming it a ministerial duty. The definition of ministerial from Merrian Webster; 

2a : being or having the characteristics of an act or duty prescribed by law as part of the duties of an administrative office 

b : relating to or being an act done after ascertaining the existence of a specified state of facts in obedience to a legal order without exercise of personal judgment or discretion. 

Therein lies the point, the State of Colorado in a legal order without exercise of personal judgment or discretion to vote, therefore stripping the formal expression of opinion or will to indicate an approval or disapproval for a presidential candidate. Can states write laws where not provided jurisdiction from the Constitution. The Supremacy Clause in the Constitution and subsequent long string of Supreme Court decisions outline this hierarchy of law: Article VI Clause 2: 

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing [sic] in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding. 

So is there any Supreme Court precedence regarding Presidential Electors that challenge state laws binding votes as ministerial?  In 1952, the US Supreme Court Case No. 649 Ray vs Blair the court ruled that Elector’s indeed possess the right and duty of expressing free will where the Supreme Court upheld a pledge requirement for candidates running for the position of elector.  

A state’s or a political party’s exclusion of candidates from a party primary because they will not pledge to support the party’s nominees is a method of securing party candidates in the general election, pledged to the philosophy and leadership of that party. It is an exercise of the state’s right to appoint electors in such manner, subject to possible constitutional limitations as it may choose...

However it held that the ruling applied only to an elector’s name being placed on a ballot for a primary election. Justice Reed wrote just a few paragraphs later that even if such pledges could not be constitutionally enforced regarding the elector’s actual Electoral College vote after the general election, though it did not imply eliciting the pledge as a condition for a party selecting an elector was also unconstitutional.

No one faithful to our history can deny that the plan originally contemplated, what is implicit in its text, that electors would be free agents, to exercise an independent and nonpartisan judgment as to the best men qualified to the Nation’s highest offices.* (Citing Federalist Paper #68.) Certainly under that plan no state law can control the elector in the performance of his Federal duty, say more than it could a United States Senator chosen by and represents its State.

This appears to be reaffirmed when our case was appealing for an Emergency Restraining Order in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals Politico,com:

In a footnote appended to an order issued late Friday in a Colorado lawsuit, a three-judge panel of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals suggested state officials may be constitutionally barred from removing electors once they've started voting. In their order, the judges said any attempt by Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams to remove electors "after voting has begun" would be "unlikely in light of the text of the Twelfth Amendment." 

That interpretation could significantly undercut state laws across the country that demand immediate removal of electors who vote against the popular vote winner in their state. It's a silver lining for a handful of Democratic electors urging their colleagues to cast votes against Donald Trump when the Electoral College meets on Monday.

You got that? The 10th Circuit alluded the Friday before the Electoral College that once voting began it was actual voting not a ministerial function, but the Republican Secretary of State challenged that and still called the state law and removed Micheal Baca, Colorado's faithless elector, so now the court battles will ensue. Polly Baca and I will pursue the constitutionality of Colorado Revised Statute 1-4-304 which binds the Electors. And Micheal Baca will pursue both the state law and charge the Secretary of State with criminal violation to U.S. Code › Title 18 › Part I › Chapter 29 › § 594 Intimidation of voters

"Whoever intimidates, threatens, coerces, or attempts to intimidate, threaten, or coerce, any other person for the purpose of interfering with the right of such other person to vote or to vote as he may choose, or of causing such other person to vote for, or not to vote for, any candidate for the office of President, Vice President,..."

It all comes back to the act of voting, the "formal expression of opinion or will". Voter suppression in any form be it restricting one's access to the ballots and casting a vote, having their vote actually counted then recorded, insuring that an accurate count is made and certified but also allowing the act without intimidation, threats or coercion---NATURALLY---because otherwise it is not a vote. 

Voter suppression is this era's civil rights issue as it unveils the obvious; we live in a plutonomy where oligarchies exist. Without voter suppression, overt or covert, coerced or intimidated, restricted, minimized or ministerial, voter suppression is the only way a plutonomy can keep its oligarchies in place when their is an appearance of a democracy as a facade for the consent of the governed. Our cause is merely a piece of the puzzle, reaffirming the selected Elector's  "formal expression of opinion or will" in the act of the Electoral College. But the underlying strategy is to lay the groundwork for the court and the nation's representative government to seek the national popular vote as the only method to elect the President of the United States. 

Until you personally experience the power of the state, its heavy handed intimidation using lawyers or high level state government authorities mandating that you must be obedient by legal order without exercising personal judgment or discretion, you don't understand how precious your vote is as it was taken away or forced upon you. It opens your eyes immediately as to the charade of inconsequential choices presented to you by way of ceremonial positions from what once was serious deliberative bodies of representative bodies, be they government or political party's. Once stripped or their deliberative powers to decide of positions such as delegates, committee assignments, representatives become part of a veiled larger voter suppression strategy and therefore confirming an oligarchy exists. 

This has become clear to me and what is now even clearer is for the ordinary citizenry to reaffirm their individual sovereignty and self determination----meaning your freedom and liberty,  reconstituting the old ways of representative government all the way down through  the entire governing process. It may be inconvenient, it may be tiresome, possibly long winded, obstructive, but it is freedom, messy and human. 

Colorado tried. In July at the Republican National Convention Kendal Unruh a delegate from Colorado tried to as reported by the Colorado Independent:

Free The Delegates was an effort by some Colorado GOP delegates to unbind other delegates from states Colorado won so they wouldn’t have to vote for him if they didn’t want to. Colorado’s own delegates were not bound to anyone, (though they supported Texas Sen. Ted Cruz) because of state party rules. The parliamentary battle came down to a vote on the Republican National Committee’s rules committee and failed, but it garnered national media coverage and fit into a broader narrative of the #NeverTrump movement.

Colorado then started the Elector's revolt that became known as the Hamilton Electors and finally Congressman Polis looked at a rebellion in the Congress at the certification of the election. 

Reps. Ed Perlmutter of Colorado, Bobby Scott of Virginia, Rep. John Conyers of Michigan and Jamie Raskin of Maryland are among a group of Democrats eyeing challenges. Members have the right to lodge those protests when Congress officially counts the electoral votes on Friday. But for the protests to have any effect on the proceedings, they’ll need to secure the backing of at least one senator, and it’s unclear whether any Senate Democrats are weighing a similar challenge.

Except for the procedural threat in Congress at each stage, the RNC or Electoral College, the threats were killed because of the ministerial nature of the roles had evolved into. Certainly Senators, all one hundred of them decided not to participate and sign an objection to certifications, essentially a vote of conscious. But again these procedures were meant to be deliberative not ceremonial. 

It is the same for the ballot box.