Stories from the weeks of November 2 & 9, 2012

COP in Colorado

Stories from the weeks of November 2 & 9, 2012

Right place, right time:   Bob Wiley picked out a busy intersection near his home in Colorado Springs for our last effort there on Sunday.  The gods smiled on us with a gorgeous day and as a bonus, an off-duty reporter happened by.  She put together a first class 92 second report that first aired Sunday night.  On Monday, national Fox News picked up her piece and it was shown all over Colorado and the nation.  I had yet another shot from Bob’s bottle of Crown Royal whiskey.  What a way to end our effort!  URL here.

http://www.coloradoconnection.com/news/politics/story.aspx?id=821424#.UJvGD-RLVtk

Priorities:    The victory party for Amendment 64 started at 7 PM in Denver.  By then Misty and I were in Missouri.  Yup, we missed a great party.  My thoughts were with my long-suffering Karen in Maryland.  I learned that 64 passed with 55% of the vote, just as we turned into the motel in Indiana.  I gave Misty an extra pound of carrots to celebrate.  The next day we arrived home, our journey and effort done.

Epilogue:   Election night my thoughts drifted back to California and 2010.  So, I called Richard Lee who spent 1.6 million of his own money to pass legalization with his Prop 19….which did not pass.  I thanked Richard for his sacrifice of money and sweat and I declared him the father of the victories in Colorado and Washington.

Karen was happy the Cartels did not shoot me.  The gun you might see on some fotos was her request to have a fighting chance, if the violence of Mexico migrated up to Colorado.

Ode to Misty:   “Uh-ohh.  Howard has ridden me 3 times this week.  We are going someplace.”   That was in August.  And with that realization, Misty had to prepare herself, mentally and physically, for yet another long trailer ride and upon arrival, standing nearly motionless on one busy street corner after another.  She knew that foul-smelling diesel smoke would mix with gasoline fumes to make her day less than pleasant.  She knew she would be spending all night in her tight, little trailer while Howard slept at the motel.   Misery was spelled:  Howard-on-the-road-for- politics.

Indeed the first 16 days and nights in Colorado played out as described above.  Finally Misty caught a break n/o Denver at Bo & Betsy Shaffer’s farm,  when she shared a paddock w/ two llamas.  Then the last 10 days in Colorado Springs area Bob Wiley secured a stall for her.  She was able to sleep on the ground and really rest.

Misty has carried the anti-prohibition message on her back since 2001.  She carried my little butt across America twice, while I wore the COP T-shirt.  She spent two months in California for Prop 19; now one month for Amendment 64.  Thru it all she did not complain, act up or be anything other than my magnificent, Texas horse & partner.  Her good looks made her a TV star & our message to be seen my millions.  Her calm disposition kept me alive by NOT suddenly walking into the traffic.  She has done enough.  I will ask no more of my Misty.  She is retired from politics.  I let her know, as I turned her out into the paddock back in Maryland.

Media this last week in Colorado:

One Fox TV which went national:

http://www.coloradoconnection.com/news/politics/story.aspx?id=821424#.UJvGD-RLVtk

One magazine article/foto – Colorado Springs Business Journal:

http://csbj.com/2012/11/07/amendment-64-the-real-challenge-lies-ahead-for-legalized-marijuana/

URL from last week’s paper in Pueblo:  Howard Wooldridge
Howard Wooldridge. Photo by: John Jaques. Howard ‘Cannabis COP’ Wooldridge a former detective stumps for Amendment 64 on his horse Misty on the corner …
www.chieftain.com/…/image_c56139c2-c8d0-52ec-b7ac-fdfc…

Media this week:

1 Fox TV report +++ it went national on the Fox Network

2 major newspapers