So, my kindly and forgiving editors here at Colorado Politics have this odd obsession with Colorado politics. And they really like it when I eschew national political news and focus on things happening here in the Centennial State. And I will, therefore, write about Colorado politics.

In a minute…

But first, I return to an ongoing theme that will seem all too familiar to my regular reader (Hi Jeff!): hypocrisy. I really, really hate hypocrisy. I hate it in myself, and I most certainly hate it in our national leadership. When, for example, the GOP in Washington, D.C., during the debt ceiling debates, suddenly remember they are fiscal conservatives, even though during the previous four years of the Trump administration we saw that single president create a stunning 25% of our national debt – as well as the third largest deficit increase of any president in American history.

The Republicans voted to raise the debt ceiling no fewer than three times under Trump and his wild spending and crazy tax cuts for the wealthy, only to remember suddenly under Biden they opposed such things. And there is fault on the Dem’s side (though lots less) on issues like student loan forgiveness. But the GOP is far worse.

Which, of course, brings me to Donald Trump’s swimming pool.

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You will recall back in 2016, when Trump was running his campaign against Hillary Clinton, he was obsessed with her emails located on a private server. No person in her position should have such a server, Trump argued, and of course there were the emails that had been deleted as “personal” that Trump asked the Russians to help find (remember when Republicans were against Russia?).

So, all those that were outraged about Hillary and her server and what was on it will be consistent should, say, a Trump server suddenly be in the news, right?

Crickets.

As the special prosecutor narrows in on Trump and his various (likely illegal) actions around classified documents, we are getting more and more information about things like Trump’s own former chief of staff being a witness before the grand jury. Trump has now been formally told he is a target of an investigation, a thing smart lawyers say usually comes right before an indictment.

So isn’t it a remarkable coincidence that when one of Trump’s top aides, reportedly Walt Nauta, decided it was time last October to drain the Trump swimming pool for the season? Oh, and in a terrible “accident,” the pool water was routed through – can you guess? – the computer server room where Trump and his minions had previously stored unaccounted top-secret and other classified documents. And according to a variety of reports, Mr. Nauta was the guy who moved boxes of classified documents into and out of the server room, even as they were being sought by the National Archives and later the FBI.

I await the outrage of the GOPers who found Hillary’s use of a private server to be offensive. Surely, if Trump has exactly the same thing – his own server(s) – I can expect to hear condemnations pouring out of those far-right folks who found Hillary’s actions contemptible?

Right? Soon? Not so much…

Ok, let’s turn to Colorado (Editor: yay!). The two biggest cities in the state quite recently picked new mayors. As noted before, my town of Colorado Springs stunned the state and the nation by breaking with 50 years of tradition and elected a non-Republican. Independent Yemi Mobolade made history and last Tuesday he was sworn in, becoming the first person of color elected mayor, to say nothing of his remarkable story as an immigrant and former preacher. I am delighted and stunned by the turn my city has made, and not by a tiny margin either. Yemi won in a landslide, which will keep political talking heads (Editor: like you?) wondering whether this was a bellwether moment for Colorado Springs and perhaps more, or just a fluke that will be “corrected” in the next election.

I’m sure hoping it’s more.

And up in Denver they have a new mayor too. I am pretty happy, I think, with Mike Johnson’s win. A few years back, when he was finishing up his second term in the Senate, I happened to be seated next to him over dinner at a Democratic Party event. He made a huge and positive impression on me. When he learned of my military background, he asked a number of insightful and meaningful questions about military folks serving in Colorado, and how he and the legislature could make things better for military families. He asked about a wide range of issues and was clearly interested and not just phoning it in. Both my wife and I walked away thinking that young man really needs to be in elective office, as he has much to offer. I don’t know his opponent and I confess, as I was following my own town’s race, I didn’t pay too much attention to Denver. She seems to also be a remarkable person, and Denver would have been in good hands with either outcome. But personally, I’m happy Mike won.

Elections matter, and I look forward to seeing what happens in both cities. I used to teach my Air Force Academy students the elections that get the most attention – national ones – actually have the least impact on your daily lives. It is the local elections that most dramatically impact your life day to day, from potholes to law enforcement.

There are significant issues facing both mayors and yet also opportunities to move forward. So, huzzah for Yemi and Mike, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Hal Bidlack is a retired professor of political science and a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who taught more than 17 years at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.