The Denver Post has done some probing into the Ritter administration and revealed an odd series of exchanges surrounding the resignation of David Skaggs:

The state's higher education chief edited his resignation letter at the request of the governor's office, toning down language referring to "a principled disagreement" and dropping mention of a controversial "strategic plan" altogether, records show.

Both the first draft of David Skaggs' resignation letter and his correspondence with Gov. Bill Ritter's aides refer to tensions surrounding the upcoming revamp of the state's strategy for its beleaguered higher education system. But the exact nature of the disagreement remains unclear.

"I am grateful to have had the opportunity to help lead . . . the development of a new strategic plan for state higher education," Skaggs, the former director of the Department of Higher Education, wrote in his first draft, dated Aug. 27. "I deeply regret that we have encountered an area of principled disagreement regarding the management of the Department and the work of the Commission."

Following a meeting with Ritter Chief of Staff Jim Carpenter, those comments were changed for the draft of Skaggs' resignation letter that was released to the media Aug. 28

This entire incident is rather indicative as a whole of the Ritter administration. Here we have a Governor so afraid of taking any sort of stand or potentially stirring anyone up that his staff panicked over a reference to a "principled disagreement."