CHAPTER 1 - Douglas County Radical-Right Cabal

What is a Cabal? 

People unite in some close design to promote their private or political views or self-interests in an ideological, economic, or power-based collusion.  This term usually carries negative connotations of political purpose, conspiracy, and secrecy.  It can also refer to a secret plot or a clique, by intrigue and usually without explicit knowledge of those outside their group.  Cabals can operate on a small or a massive scale and typically apply to political intrigue involving the public and enabling persons of some wealth or power.  But more often, cabals exist in the realm of paranoia. They’re usually the subject of conspiracy theories, with people imagining a secret cabal plotting to take over the world.   Asked if they believe there is “a single group of people who secretly control events and rule the world together,” thirty-seven percent of Americans replied that this is “definitely or probably true."

Longstanding Conservative Collusion is the Underlayment Douglas County's Economic and Politcal Power Structure.

Douglas County is similar to many communities subjected to a longstanding narrow ideological path without a clear impetus for change. The status quo—the people, local government, and institutions—evolves into a domineering governance and economic presence. This cabalistic presence assumes a hierarchical advantage in governance, social, and cultural constructs.  

Douglas County's Cabal openly works to “keep a right-wing thumb” on the community, seeking to control Douglas County governance/policies, economy, and culture in ways that serve the self-interests of the few as they remain aligning with national players and ideologies. 

A deep reservoir of published history proves that Douglas County has been an ongoing laboratory for Reactionary Conservatism since the early 1960s, possibly before.  Few in the community are aware of this constant pressure and mechanisms.

JSNE seeks to educate the public and uncover the Douglas County Cabal.

The hallmarks of Douglas County's evolution into a centerpiece for reactionary conservatism are well documented.  

1957 - 1968 The Modern Era Started in 1964, When the Koch Family First Underwrote the Freedom School in Larkspur. 

Charles and David Koch (the Koch Brothers) are infamous for their financial and political influence in American politics. They take a right-libertarian stance. In fact, the Kochs are considered to be the 'first family" of American billionaire libertarianism. The Kochs have spent over a billion dollars of their own money to push America to the right. A less-known local fact is Charles Koch’s extensive involvement in The Freedom School in the 1960s. Located in nearby Larkspur, The Freedom School was a libertarian enclave founded in 1957 by Robert LeFevre, an under-the-radar libertarian anarchist who supported the abolition of the federal government.  After a falling out with the John Birch Society, Charles Koch was introduced to the Freedom School and immediately adopted the revisionist version of American history being taught. Kock made significant investments over the next ten years and sat as a trustee. The Freedom School emerged from the shadows to become a significant center of reactionary libertarianism.  

(For more on Charles Koch and the Freedom School, See: “Political Dark Money Traced Back to Charles Koch – Freedom School.” Boston University Digification. https://bu.digication.com/charleskochdarkmoney/freedom-school).

Milton Freidman, an economist destined to win a Nobel Prize, joined the teaching staff at the Freedom School. He argued that the government should stay out of matters that do not need it and should only involve itself when absolutely necessary for the survival of its people and the country. He recounts how a country's best abilities come from its free markets while its failures come from government intervention.  

1973 - 1985  Highlands Ranch Buildout Started as an Old-Fashioned Hometown Modeled after Orange County California. 

In 1976, Marvin Davis, a billionaire California oilman, bought the rural property that would become Highlands Ranch. The Mission Viejo Corporation (primary developer of the Californian conservative mecca, Orange County) became the owner of the Highlands Ranch lands in 1979. 

In the early 1970s, the billionaire Koch Brothers began teaming up with like-minded wealthy libertarians to halt the spread of the regulatory era. Jane Mayer's 2016 book "Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right" reveals these wealthy families and corporatists.  Many of these billionaires call Colorado home—Koch, Coors, Anschutz, Walton, Schwab, Daniels, and others known as the Aspen Billionaires.  

After backing Ronald Reagan’s Presidential bid in 1968, beer magnate Joseph Coors concluded that an intellectual infrastructure for shaping public policies was just as important as good candidates. Liberals already had a policy infrastructure in universities and organizations like the Brookings Institution. Coors decided that conservatives needed think tanks of their own—so in 1972 he wrote a $250,000 check to begin the Heritage Foundation. Other philanthropists like the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation and Richard Mellon Scaife joined the cause, but the Coors cash was catalytic, and also consistent. Coors continued to invest in the Heritage Foundation over many years, including a $300,000 gift in 1980 that allowed it to move to improved offices.  (https://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/almanac/joe-coors-brews-up-the-heritage-foundation/)

For decades, the Koch network has invested heavily in Douglas County as a proving ground for advancing reactionary ideas and programs. In many respects, Douglas County is the Rocky Mountain equivalent of Orange County, CA (Orange County-based Mission Viejo Company developed Highlands Ranch)

2016 till Today. MAGA Ideologies. As MAGA  evolved, reactionary activism in Douglas County has taken a darker turn, reflecting the broader American culture war and associated ideological factions. Now, local reactionaries participate in the range of the devoted MAGA milieu, including anti-government, nativist Christian movement, homegrown militias, and grifting.

*Terminology

• Reactionary Conservatism favors a return to the status quo ante - the previous political state of society- which the person believes possesses positive characteristics absent from contemporary culture. The reactionary stance opposes policies for the social transformation of society, whereas conservatives seek to preserve the socio-economic structure and order that exists in the present. Reactionary refers to a strong traditionalist conservative political perspective of a person opposed to social, political, and economic change. Reactionary ideologies can be radical in the sense of political extremism in service to re-establishing past conditions.
• Right-libertarianism asserts libertarianism's core beliefs, that is, maximum liberty in both personal and economic matters. It advocates a much smaller government limited to protecting individuals from coercion and violence. Libertarians tend to embrace individual responsibility, oppose government bureaucracy and taxes, promote private charity, tolerate diverse lifestyles, support the free market, and defend civil liberties.
• During a worsening economy, Ronald Reagan initially used MAGA as a campaign slogan in his 1980 presidential campaign (Let's Make America Great Again). Using the country's distress as a springboard for his campaign, Reagan used the slogan to stir a sense of patriotism among the electorate. In 2011, the MAGA milieu was captured by Donald Trump and now alludes to a platform of authoritarian nationalism, cult-like devotion to Trump, and outright authoritarianism. Trump’s leadership has pushed a narrowly focused context of international isolationism, social and cultural division, and memes that mirror historic fascist regimes.What's a product or service you'd like to show.

Douglas County has long been a top testbed for the sophisticated complex of right-wing ideology, culture and politics.  Back to the early 1960s, the days of Larkspur's Freedom School funded by Charles Koch , Douglas County politics and institutions have been directly influenced by Radical Libertarian Billionaires aka America's Oligarchs.    

 "Douglas County has long burnishing the reputation for keeping the region as hotbed of conservative extremism.So what makes Douglas such a sinkhole of political inanity?   It’s not that complicated. Douglas is the richest county in the state. It’s bereft of diversity. It’s an exurb with little cultural connection to nearby metro Denver. These characteristics have allowed a privileged faction of white, entitled, conservative loudmouths, unworthy of the freedoms they so abuse, to elbow their way onto public platforms and shout down experienced professionals and honest public servants."  (2023, Quentin Young, Colorado Newsline)  

To truly understand contemporary DougCo ...power, culture and politics...requires knowledge of these billionaires and their long term investments in keeping taxes low and eliminating regulation of the oligarchies.  Truly, there is much to the full DougCo story of radical right extremism.   

• 1964 - Freedom School and the Koch Brothers
• Koch Network in Colorado 
• Colorado's Dark Money Billionaires
• American Legislative Exchange Committee / State Policy Network 
• Colorado Think Tanks - Leadership Program of the Rockies
• Owned Media - Path to Propaganda
• Astroturfing - Networking Extremists in False Front Organizations 

“It’s a political prize”: Douglas County school boards have a history of high-profile education battles

The district has faced highly divisive clashes since reformers first took control in 2009.

Douglas County School District was on the “leading edge of the school board elections becoming pretty politicized,” said Paul Teske, dean of the School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado Denver.  The county has become a barometer for national politicians on how wealthy, suburban Republicans are leaning on different issues, he said.

“It’s a political prize for donors who would like to see a more radical set of policies come out of the school board,” added Kevin Welner, director of the University of Colorado’s National Education Policy Center in Boulder, noting that Douglas County School District is a large school district in an affluent and largely conservative community.

The district — which recently saw two protests involving hundreds of teachers and students, allegations of violating state open meeting laws, and the firing of its superintendent all in a span of eight days — faced highly divisive clashes since reformers first took control in 2009.

• Joe Oltmann - Election Denier, Conspiracist and Militant 
• Douglas County and Colorado GOP
• Brandi Bradley, CO House District 39
• White Christianity & Government
• Lauren Boebert
• FAIR (Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism)
• CPAN (Colorado Parent Advocacy Network)
• America First Policy Institute
• Turning Point
• Three Percenters
• Churchesmedia captions, I know how to tell your brand's story.

County Commission from Hell

Direct Ties to Violent Extremists & Other Thugs

Infighting - Accusations & Lawsuits

Conflicted Interests - Follow the Money

Hate and Bigotry On Display

DougCo Public Health Department - Fake Science

 Douglas County Water Commission 

DougCo Sheriff - Public Protection or Extremists at the Gate? 

  three percentersAble SheaprdsConsititutional sheriiffs  

 5.8 DougCo Clerk and Recorder - Can We Trust Our Elections to a  Clerk Elected by Deniers? 

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