Imagine if the people of Garfield County considered themselves an ethnic group — Garfielders, let’s say — that was somehow different from everyone else in Colorado. That would seem pretty silly, don’t you think?

Next, imagine that Garfielders were so insistent on their differentness that they would do battle for two decades with the rest of Colorado in an attempt to secede and establish Garfield County as its own sovereign nation. That would be downright laughable if people weren’t getting killed as a result. Continue reading »