THE TALE OF TWO DEMS – THE DOUBLE STANDARD OF COLORADO DEMOCRATS

A Colorado state Democratic lawmaker was expelled on March 2, 2018 amid allegations by female colleagues about sexual harassment and abuse. Rep. Steve Lebsock was expelled by a 52-9 vote after five female state House members took their turns at the podium to come forward as victims of sexual harassment or abuse. His abuse was not physical – his was “hitting on them” and making unwanted advances even after he knew they were unwanted. I don’t believe there is any doubt that Lebsock is a creep. What must be made clear here is that Lebsock had NO DIRECT authority over any of the women who accused him of his lecherousness.  As a state representative he was “one of many” in his elected role and had NO singular authority.

Lebsock of course contested the claims, saying his accusers were lying and accusing an independent investigator of bias in concluding that the claims were credible. This case was 100% “he said-she said” and there was no documented proof against him; these were interactions that no one can prove.  He “lost” because there were five women who accused him and we must assume they were highly credible.

So to sum up Lebsock: There is no documented proof against him.  There has been no trial. No sworn testimony. No judge, no jury. Nothing.  BAM! He is gone by a vote of his peers.  Mr. Lebsock may or may not be a complete creep; I don’t know the man.  It is true that the Colorado Dems in office never really liked him.  He was one of those law makers who bucked his party from time to time and he wasn’t a “team player”. In fact 10 minutes before the vote to oust him he changed his party affiliation to Republican. Why? Because when someone leaves office prior to his term being up, that person’s party gets to appoint his replacement for the remainder of the term.  It was his last jab at his party.

NOW WE HAVE THE BELOVED DEMOCRATIC MAYOR OF DENVER…

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock is the Dem party’s darling.  He is liberal, he is smooth, he is “likeable”, he is black, he is young, he is handsome…  They simply love him to pieces!  He is ALSO accused of sexual harassment and intimidation.  The accusations against him came out at nearly the same time as those against Lebsock.  In this case however we have proof against the accused.  We have the text messages that he sent to his head of security – a stunningly, beautiful woman.  He was very clear about his feelings toward her in texts. After spotting her on TV while watching a Denver Nuggets game he texted: ‘You look sexy in all that black.’

Another time, he complimented her haircut and said: “You make it hard on a brotha [sic] to keep it correct every day.”

Another text asked her about pole-dancing classes: ‘So I just watched this story on women taking pole dancing classes. Have you ever taken one? Why do women take the course? If not have you ever considered taking one and why? Your thoughts?’

When she didn’t respond, the officer said, she received a follow-up text from Hancock: ‘Be careful, I’m curious. LOL!'”  So what is a direct-report to think when your boss says, “Be careful, I’m curious?”  Are you serious dude?  Be careful of what? 

She sought a transfer to be away from him.  She, at the time, feared retaliation so she just decided distance was her best solution; after being told to “be careful” I would have feared retaliation too. Considering that he had already proved to be a bit “Teflon” during the election (more on this later), her concerns were reasonable. Hancock and his team somehow got out in front of these allegations and went into a multi-day lock down to work out the PR plan to save Mayoral face.  And the smooth Mayor executed it perfectly.

In this case we have seen the texts; there is irrefutable proof of Hancock’s misdeeds. We have heard directly from her and she is highly regarded and credible. At the time of his advances, Mayor Hancock was her DIRECT boss, she was the head of his security detail -- oh and yes, he was married at the time. 

A Mayor has a great deal of SINGULAR power.  He is NOT one of many; he is THE boss. While he may not be able to fire everyone on his own, he has a great deal of power to influence the lives of City and County employees (Denver is a City-County). 

These allegations against Mayor Michael Hancock came out within DAYS of the Lebsock ordeal… and the Dems are doing nothing to force this Mayor out of office.  Because he got out in front with his ARMY of PR professionals coaching him – he is somehow being given a pass.  It might be important to note that prior to his election, while just a regular councilman and just the “mayor-elect”, his name and personal cell number were found in the appointment book of an escort service that was later busted as a prostitution ring.  So we have some sort of character inkling?  Maybe?  We also got a very clear message, early on, that Mr. Mayor was somewhat untouchable, that he would be protected. He went on to be sworn in as the Mayor of the largest City in the Rocky Mountain Region despite appearing to have been a married customer of a prostitution ring.  Not quite “Marion Berry” but still…

In closing, it is interesting to have these two events perfectly timed with one another and stunning to see how differently they are being handled by the Colorado Dems.  The double-standard is PROFOUND and can’t help but slap one in the face.  I have heard that local Democrats are feeling a bit disillusioned – they are not happy with the way their elected leaders are handling, or MIS-handling this issue. I don’t blame them.  The double standard is THAT glaring. In addition to all of this against the shining mayor is a 2012 cover up involving lawsuits, the same officer, settlements and the firing of a one-time good friend of the Mayor’s for his inappropriate behavior.  The shenanigans of that time certainly stimulate the notion of “cover up”, “smoke screen,” “diversion” and “fall guy.”  None of that debacle makes any sense.  But as it is a messy, convoluted story, I shall not go into it.  This simple story of double-standards doesn’t rely on it anyway.

The Colorado Fraternal Order of Police has demanded Mayor Hancock’s resignation and a rally was held at the Capitol, organized by Lisa Calderon, co-chair of the Colorado Latino Forum. Their rally cry was “"Time's up" in a direct message to Mayor Michael Hancock.  But still the only sound we hear are crickets from the party…