REASONS TO Love DENVER

1 Because there’s nothing more American than baseball—except maybe democracy.

On July 13, the Midsummer Classic will, for the second time, be played at Coors Field. Baseball fans who were prepared to catch the game from seats in Atlanta’s Truist Park learned on April 2 that they’d need to change their travel plans when MLB decided it wasn’t down with the restrictive voting laws—which President Joe Biden called “Jim Crow in the 21st century”—the state of Georgia passed in late March. Although MLB commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. didn’t go as far as to say Colorado’s record on voting rights had something to do with the decision, we have our suspicions. Senator Michael Bennet certainly believed it should’ve been factored into the equation, tweeting “Colorado votes by mail (thanks @Hickenlooper!) and had the 2nd highest voter turnout in the country in the last election. @MLB, might I suggest Denver?” Yes, Senator, yes, you may. Batter up!

—Lindsey B. King

2 Because so long as El Taco de México exists, we’re going to be all right.

How do I love thee, El Taco de México? Let me count the ways.

I love the excitement I feel approaching your fluorescent pueblo-style walls, the rush that comes over my taste buds when I open the door to the exquisite soundtrack of asada, carnitas, and pastor hissing on the griddle

Your familiar aromas of lemony fresh cilantro and pungent onions.

I love thee freely, as one loves air and water and tamales. I love thee purely, as what could be so pure as long-simmered chiles or posole?

I love your maize counter, bright like the sun, and the goddesses who work behind it.

Crafting the cabeza tacos I hold so dear, pouring gastronomic mystique into giant bowls of menudo

How I long to feel your chilaquiles and enchiladas yield to my gentle bite.

I love thy breakfast burritos most of all; layers of rice, beans, and eggs swaddled in warm, chewy tortillas and baptized in the late Maria Luisa Zanabria’s masterful green chile.

You remind me, El Taco, that good things still remain. That so long as I can buy comfort in the form of burritos and rellenos and chilaquiles, all will be OK.

I love thee because I know that time and tortas heal all wounds, and that I, El Taco, am ready to be healed.

—Allyson Reedy

3 Because Joe Neguse artfully defended our democracy.

This past February, 37-year-old Joe Neguse, who represents Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District, delivered two sets of remarks on the U.S. Senate floor as a House impeachment manager. The first was an overture to convince senators that the U.S. Constitution allowed them to try, convict, and disqualify a president, even if he were no longer in office. Neguse explained that, with regard to this question, “the framers didn’t mince words.” Neither did Neguse. Eschewing theatrics, Neguse—the youngest presidential impeachment manager in U.S. history—laid out the case for why former President Donald Trump should face trial. Neguse’s speech was effective: 56 senators agreed with him.

Although the verdict was not in his favor, Neguse’s closing statement was also mesmerizing. With earnestness and sincerity, the first African American member of Congress from Colorado did what great public speakers do: He made you feel something. “I am the youngest member of our manager team…,” he said, “so perhaps I am a bit naive, but I know what this body is capable of…. I’ve read about it in the history books…. The history of this country has been defined right here