Published in The Flume – December 16, 2022
“Once you start pandering, it’s a long list.”
The December 6, Park County Commissioner’s Work Session included an agenda item that addressed the 2023 holiday schedule for county employees. So, the commissioners spent some time meandering through the litany of national and state holidays. They appeared to believe some established holidays were ill-conceived or, at least, excessive in toto.
But it was left to Commissioner Amy Mitchell to encapsulate her ideological stance, not only about holidays but, to my ear, about other things too. “Once you start pandering, it’s a long list,” Mitchell said. The comment was made as a revealing aside as the discussion about the holiday schedule was ratcheting down.
Pandering does have a statutory definition in Colorado relating to prostitution. Mitchell, of course, didn’t have that in mind when she said it. Not to put words in her mouth, but I’m sure what Mitchell reflected on was the general definition: gratifying or indulging another’s desires to obtain some benefit for yourself or your cause.
Did politicians pander to Colorado’s Indigenous population by renaming Columbus Day to Frances Xavier Cabrini Day? What about Martin Luther King Jr. Day? Or Juneteenth?
Politicians pander to their base. That’s no surprise to anyone, least of all Amy Mitchell and Commissioner-elect Dave Wissel. Or, perhaps better said, politicians like Mitchell and Wissel know their base (doesn’t every politician?), and hell or high water won’t keep them from exploiting that.
Wissel won his seat on the commission by only 440 votes, a margin of 4% of the vote total. Not a very respectable margin, given Ray Douglas’s margins in the 2018 race. But he did win, and, no doubt, his base is expecting him to perform for them.
Incidentally, a telling characterization of Wissel’s base was provided in the December 9 edition of this newspaper by Truman Esmond, who was a poll watcher during the last election. He specifically noted the South Park Outsiders, Wissel’s most fervent supporters, as those who disrupted the ballot counting process and intimidated volunteers and staff.
Mitchell’s base, hardly distinguishable from Wissel’s, will be expecting some key pandering when Wissel is eventually and officially seated. I’ll call this shared base The Reds. They’ll appreciate that.
When Wissel takes his seat, I suspect Amy Mitchell will become the Commission Chair. (Not a certainty, but if she does…) That said, what do we have to look forward to? We don’t need a crystal ball to figure it out.
Probably first up will be the abortion proclamation. Or, as The Reds would have it, the pro-life declaration. The one that doesn’t mention abortion and has no enforcement powers attached to it. It is essentially a feel-good ditty designed to once again allow The Reds to thumb their noses at The Blues in state government.
The feel-good about life proclamation will stand next to the 2nd Amendment one of a couple years ago. In effect, that one told the world there was no way Park County would utilize Red Flag laws to avoid suicides, mass shootings, or other weapons-enabled mayhem.
No, it doesn’t matter that many in Park County don’t support these feel-good proclamations or agree with their premises. Many would prefer the commission concentrate on potholes rather than the culture war. But what matters is the base. Mitchell’s and Wissel’s base. The Reds.
Is feel-good just another term for self-righteousness?
What will come up next? Maybe Mitchell will resurrect her defunct feel-good proclamation of 2021, which would have effectively declared Park County a sanctuary for body integrity. In other words, a pronouncement that public health mandates related to COVID—vaccines, masks, social distancing, etc.—were optional or even verboten in Park County. Unfortunately, the draft resolution isn’t available, but was it a play to her base? She said she believed in unalienable rights and Natural Law during the discussion. She posited those lofty concepts superseded any mandate to do anything to your body for any reason. (Being forced by state law to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term comes to mind, but that’s for another day.)
At that time, I suggested Mitchell should study the Founders’ views on Natural Law and inalienable rights. The Founders believed natural or inalienable rights were significantly limited when the common good was at stake.
Or, looking forward, when Wissel takes his seat, will he soon dishonor his oath of office? He’s done it before as Assessor. The oath requires public office holders to support the US and Colorado constitutions and the laws of the state of Colorado. So when the state legislature passes a law, and he doesn’t like it and refuses to honor his oath to enforce it, will The Reds giddily raise a collective fist in support? Will they give him a big hug when he refuses to “…support, abide by or enforce any law that [he perceives] disregards the Constitutional Rights of the People?”
How will Mitchell handle that? She and Wissel share a base. So what on earth would she do?
Since 90% of The Reds believe the Big Lie, when will Mitchell and Wissel start messing with the county’s elections processes? Wissel says he wants to: “There is enough evidence to justify people’s concerns of election fraud and general lack of integrity. I will work with the County Clerk to help secure our elections.” “People’s concerns?” Did he mean The Reds’ concerns? The Big Lie believers? His base?
Or maybe he’ll ignore 65% of the electorate up here who, in 2018, voted to expand the use of Land and Water Trust Fund monies to support open space, wildlife, and outdoor recreation resources. He said he will.
“Once you start pandering, it’s a long list.” Indeed. Yes, indeed.
