Carlos Galindo in his Trump T-shirt has been a presence at recent local protests against President Trump and Elon Musk.

He has a right to attend and counterprotest, but using a bullhorn is not civil debate. At these events, I have heard him rant about how Democrats are fascists, that the U.S. is a constitutional republic, not a democracy and that Grand County is a red county.  

The online Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines fascism as “a populist political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and race above individuals, is associated with a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, and is characterized by severe economic and social regimentation and forcible suppression to opposition.”

To me this describes Trump, not Democrats. 

The same dictionary says the short answer for the difference between a democracy and republic is that these terms “are frequently used to mean the same thing: a government in which the people vote for their leaders.”  In the U.S. we citizens vote for our leaders so, to me, we are a democracy and a republic.

To me, Grand County is trending purple. The county election lead provided to me the that current voter registration was unaffiliated 6,920, Democrats 2,401 and Republicans 3,896 on April 24.

Another example is that in Grand County Kamala Harris lost to Trump by 79 votes in the presidential election in 2024, according to Grand County elections.

A common saying I have heard is that everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts.  Facts matter, more than ever, in our current political dialogue.

On April 3, Galindo launched his “Galindo for Grand” Facebook website, stating he is running for the East Grand school board. Is this person acceptable for the school board? It is not too early to oppose his candidacy.