My beautiful town of Jackson Hole is quite famous right now. We have made it to national news with an extended story on ToddStarnes.com. This all happened after the Town of Jackson Mayor, Pete Muldoon, took it upon himself to remove the pictures of the President and Vice President of the United States from Jackson Town Hall. I am unclear as to how long the pictures of current president and vice president have held their places in Town Hall. Some have said 20 years, but I have not confirmed that. What I do know for sure is that I have never heard of any of the other photos being removed since I moved here almost 20 years ago. Personally, I would not have had an issue with Pete wanting to change things up a bit if he had done it in a transparent manner that suggested he did care about what his constituents might think. What came out of that public discussion would then have been a fair action made based on a majority of the community’s consent. What he did instead seems indicative that either he truly does not care what his constituents think, he really did think that nobody would care, or he did want to stir the pot. Well, he certainly stirred the pot.
After the news spread around town there has been quite a frenzy of discourse, unfortunately most of it has not been civil. When the mayor wrote an article defending and explaining his choice to remove the pictures, I shared my opinion that I did not believe that he would have made the same choice to remove Obama’s photos as he had stated in his article. I was respectful in my post. I did not call anyone names or use profanity.
The responses I received as the minority with this viewpoint on the mayor’s Facebook page ranged from “why so bitchy”, “have a beer, glass of wine, or get baked”, “seems uptight…,maybe you need yoga”, “I don’t argue with crazy right wing conservatives”. I was also asked if “I killed for the thrill of it” after a user ascertained I was a hunter that provided wild game for my family.
Over and over, the mayor’s defenders became more and more impassioned and less civil in their opposition to my opinion that the mayor was not being entirely truthful about his motives and true emotions. Mayor Muldoon did eventually say “probably not” when another Facebook user suggested that he wouldn’t have taken Obama’s photos down.
I did not vote for Trump. There is much that I hear about and read about and see in Trump’s demeanor that I find cringe worthy. BUT, I believe that he was legally voted in through the electoral college. AND, I believe that the electoral college was established precisely to protect against what has happened in Jackson Hole. Densely populated cities and towns that develop a watered down but majority point of view would control the whole country if we elected presidents by popular vote. Therefore, Trump was elected by a fair representation of the whole country and not just residents of the high density population centers.
This leads me to the point of my post, bullying is bullying…no matter what. I was in the local grocery store parking lot last week and I saw a young mother pulling a beautiful little toddler out of her car. As I watched her carry her daughter towards the store I saw a bumper sticker on her car with a very unattractive caricature of Trump and the word UNFIT under his face. I literally stopped my truck and just stared at it for a moment and I felt so….sad.
I thought about the message that this bumper sticker sends to that beautiful little girl. The message it sends is that it is okay to bully. The message it sends is that it is okay to pick a person out, grossly exaggerate their flaws, put up images all over that ridicules them and dehumanizes them. It tells that little girl that when we feel hurt we should hurt back. And that is a sad story with no happy ending for a mother to tell her little girl.
No, I did not vote for Trump. No, I do not condone or respect many of the things I have heard about him. But, I believe there is something to learn from everybody…even those we might find distasteful. I was taught as a young girl that I might learn as much from a bad teacher as a good one and I still needed to show up for class. I also believe in calling people up rather than calling them out. So, I am praying for our President. I am praying that somehow he will become a better version of himself through this process. I am on his side in the sense that I want him to do a good job for us. I don’t want him to fail because if he fails we all suffer. Therefore, I will continue to support the fact that Donald Trump is our president and I will continue to actively participate with civility even if I am bullied for doing so.
The Huntress Poet 
It’s interesting that only the mayors supporters were mentioned in this post as the mayors detractors have been equally verbose and bullying. This post is very one sided and does not represent the actual response to the Mayor in various social media. The most disheartening aspect of the posts I saw was the idea that Jackson residents should not have voice or are lesser than if they are not “from” Jackson. Our community should support all of our residents.
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You are absolutely right regarding the degrading comments coming from both sides on the various social media posts. As far as the perspective of this blog post it is from my personal perspective at the time I wrote it and regarding a specific social media thread in which I was the minority viewpoint. I was ganged up on to such a point that even a supporter of the removal of Trump’s photos spoke up in my defense.
But, yes, the arrows are flying from all directions and it is so sad. I have been deleting or requesting comments to be more civil when they are on my personal page.
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GAP PUCCI WAS AHEAD OF HIS TIME, AS IT TURNS-OUT
There is very little civility left in today’s politically and balkanized (sic “diversity”) America. Like Rome, we have largely become an Oligarchy. Two sets of rules, one for the elites and those politically connected (cronies) and the other set for all the rest of us. Plato suggested the next step in the political cycle after rule by Oligarchy is Dictatorship or Emperorship. Rule by one political party ( popular majority ) would be closely following in the footsteps of Rome.
Just take a hard look at (Old) Mexico when only one Party (PRI) ran the show for over 60 years. This may be our collective fate as a nation. Another major influence in the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire was widespread official corruption, as has been the case in America for some time. If you want some more parallels in History, sent me an e-mail. The closer you investigate, the more your uncover in the sands of time. Suddenly, it just stands-out.
Remember, Julius Caesar was a reformer, not a dictator. Oligarchs had been taking advantage of their growing concentration of wealth and political influence in the Roman Senate, so when Julius Caesar “crossed the Rubicon” with his troops, the common people opened-up their city gates and welcomed him with open arms as a man of the people (Liberator). However, the wealthy Romans “had it in for him” (seethed) and eventually assassinated Julius Caesar in the Roman Senate. After that, it was one emperor after another but never again a Republic. Rome began a 300 year decline. We won’t have nearly that much time (left). Maybe 20-25 more years or so if current trends continue, according to some ( Phil Robertson of “Duck Dynasty”).
The United States has not been a true Republic for over 85 years as a matter of fact. In my opinion, the old (traditional) America died the same day that the late President John F. Kennedy died in Dallas, TX. Thus, as it turns-out, we have been living on “borrowed time” all these decades since that day and now the bill is due and finally catching-up on all of us. There is no escape, as with Rome: ” Its fatal to fight and futile to flee”. The coming one world government and digital currency (monetary) system is an indicator of the future, however dark. Like the eternal city of Rome, many will flee to the countryside in America. Safe Places like Gap Pucci’s home in Hoback Canyon will be in high demand as our nation further destabilizes and disintegrates, first in the large cities, then elsewhere. Gap was just 50 years ahead of his time, as it turns-out.
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