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leahbobia108 - 2013-01-05 20:16:56
The silence is deafening
by Johnny Boyd, Aspen Daily News Columnist
Monday, December 17, 2012

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The sale of the Snowmass Lodge and Club to the Toll Brothers creates more questions than answers in Snowmass. The lack of developable land would disqualify this venture from the definition of an extreme money-maker. The only true benefit that I can see is that it gives maverick artist Lee Mulcahy one more place he can visit without fear of arrest. Money can’t buy the lack of headlines.

Lee Mulcahy’s ongoing drama is exposing Aspen for what it is — a town with an amazing lack of balls. The idea that Aspen could sit back complacently and allow one person to be persecuted by the most powerful interests in town is reprehensible. Aspen used to rebel against the company town image, now it defines it.

The silence from the community appears to condone the loss of rights by one of its members. Does this mean the loss of rights by anyone the company deems unfit is acceptable? The SkiCo has attempted this crap before with Dan Dunn and the chick formerly known as The Princess. In both of those instances it had the power to pull the offender’s ski pass and fire them. What’s next?

Nothing justifies a total ban from public lands of any taxpaying American. SkiCo can keep Mulcahy from riding its lifts, but hiking on national forest land? I’d love to see the lease that says a taxpayer can’t use his own land because the corporation that leases it says so. If such a lease exists, as a taxpayer I want that clause removed the next time America renews it. It appears that the Forest Service is as ball-less in the face of billionaires as the company town.

Perhaps Mulcahy has used the wrong rhetoric to describe his fight against the SkiCo. On his Facebook page he urged everyone to attend his recent hearing by likening it to the “gunfight at the OK Corral.” Anyone who read the report on that court appearance would never compare it to the infamous Tombstone shoot out.

It was SkiCo executives who engaged in histrionics about how scared they are of Lee Mulcahy. It was Mulcahy making impassioned speeches to tolerate his protest in the name of free speech and protecting his rights. It was a judge showing amazing common sense in shooting down (sorry SkiCo, hope that didn’t scare you) the restraining order the SkiCo was seeking. Mulcahy’s fight with the SkiCo was nothing like the battle between the Clantons and the Earps, although “Earp” might describe the noise SkiCo executives squeaked when Mulcahy showed up with his Alamo trailer.

Mulcahy may well become an Aspen legend. He is suing a billionaire for a dollar. Do I need to repeat that? He is suing a billionaire for a dollar! That’s the best punch line to the stupidest joke I’ve ever heard and the billionaire is taking it seriously and sending out an armada of high-priced attorneys to fight him. The entertainment value from this lawsuit alone will keep this column stoked with subject matter for years.

In a civilized society the ability to criticize our masters is the last bastion of freedom. It’s obvious that the SkiCo’s intent is to silence any dissent in its ranks and the community by culling one poor sap from the herd and destroying his rights completely. The complete silence by the other lambs headed for slaughter is deafening. Even if you think Mulcahy is an ass, you should stand up for his right to be one without being stripped of basic freedoms.

I have to give Lee Mulcahy credit. He has protested for his rights instead of slinking away after the corporation exiled him. The restraining order against him at the Aspen Institute proves that he isn’t about to stop. He has fought valiantly against overwhelming odds with little backing from anyone except a few friends. The lack of support for such a brave individual illustrates how few brave individuals there are. When they come for you, don’t whine because you didn’t speak out.

Don’t be part of the herd. Speak up. The SkiCo can’t be allowed to single out citizens for punishment. It’s petty. It’s cowardly. It’s unconstitutional. It’s embarrassing. It’s going to make a great movie after I’m done writing the screenplay. Working title: “Aspen: The Quiet Fears.”

Grow a pair, Aspen.


Email Johnny at snomasokist@msn.com.

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