Weaponized Words

I am an “early adopter.” Years ago, I began playing with websites and HTML. I thought it was cool because I am a communicator at heart. Relatively early on – around 2001 – I purchased this domain. ScottJames.com was taken – he’s a dentist in Pittsburgh. I often use my middle initial – “K” is for Kent, my grandfather. ScottKJames.com was available, so I bought it.

I have kept, rather loosely, this blog since that time. I have made thousands of posts. Some just a few words. Some 45-minute reads. Some baring my stupidity. Others baring my soul. From accounts I had to make as a Johnstown Mayor and Councilman to statements about me running for Weld GOP Chair. From reflections on being a father to tearful accounts of me pursuing the heart of Jesus, I have written and shared so much.

I had a personal podcast – “The ScottCast” – I started while at iHeart and moved to personal hosting on this website. Some of my writings and recordings received engagement numbering in the tens of thousands. Most received just a handful of reads. The number mattered not to me. I find writing cathartic, and the fact that my words may have inspired, invoked thought or provoked action was a bonus for me.

Then, after the elections of 2022, I started to consider running for the United States House of Representatives. I began conversations with political consultants and eventually hired one. Two, actually. They came as a package and are awesome guys. Political consultants are made uneasy by the fact that I spent over 40 years behind a radio microphone and for over 20 years shared my thoughts on the pages of this personal website.

Wanting to minimize risk, I took it all down. After over 20 years online, ScottKJames.com disappeared in the blink of an eye. You see, politics is a nasty game. It doesn’t have to be, but it is. Rather than a candidate running on their own merits, character, experience, and accomplishments, it’s easier to throw mud at your opponent. I have never “gone negative” in a campaign. I never will (and yes, there are likely a few more campaigns ahead of me).

My consultants, however, felt it prudent to pull down my podcasts and blogs to “minimize the target.” When I entered the race, it didn’t take long for Twitter to start trashing me. In an analysis of my rather publically lived life on radio and online, one shill gleefully Tweeted that I was “an opposition researcher’s wet dream.” Pardon the crudity, but that’s how they speak.

If you know me, you know I have a rather tender heart. So once I entered the race, I disengaged in public discourse. I couldn’t read the crap they threw at me online, so I pulled away from social media. I retired from the radio business – I’ll tell that story one day.

I am a man who has lived his life out loud. On the air. Online. Very public. I have nothing to hide. I like relating to people. And one day, I just disappeared. People close to me said that Colorado missed my voice. That somehow you needed to hear from me. I don’t know about that, but I know I do miss talking with you.

I worked hard at pursuing the US House of Representatives, but just a few weeks ago, decided to end that pursuit. In time, I’ll use these pages to tell the story of why I decided to STOP running for Congress. I still serve as a Weld County Commissioner and have a strong desire to begin my public conversations again. Via this blog. Via a podcast. Maybe even a radio show, if I can find a company that might want an old warhorse like me.

In classic “me” fashion, I have written 600 words and haven’t gotten to my point. I have two:

Thought One: Obviously, ScottKJames.com is live again. When I took it down a year ago, I used an archive tool to save the two decades of writing. I am trying to recover the thousands of posts, but I am having trouble getting that archive tool to “unarchive” my work. It’s very disheartening. That’s a gentle word. It pisses me off that I can’t get the thing to work. As I do, I’ll post a lot of my stuff from the past. As I write this, I have just one or two posts that are recovered. I know it looks weird and seems odd, but I’ll get it to work. Pardon the mess.

Thought Two: I beg for your forgiveness. I feared them weaponizing my words against me. My words of the past. My words of the present. So I took it all down. I hid. That’s wrong. Weld County. Colorado. The United States. We need bold, pragmatic, common-sense voices. Frankly, voices like mine. Voices like yours. I am not here to yell, but I am here to counter that crazy that seems to predominate every news cycle and public square.

Think about this – is a person who is afraid to voice their opinions, concerns, and aspirations truly free? Those who want to silence you will come at you with labels and with hate. They’ll try to “cancel” you. Many of us see the injustices of the present but still choose to keep our mouths closed and our heads down just to avoid the utter hell we’ll be forced to endure if we dare speak some truth. Are we truly free?

We must calmly, respectfully, with caring and love, be involved in public discourse. We must. If we remain silent. The crazy – the spirit of the age – wins. I can’t have that. They’ll try to weaponize your words. Don’t let them.

I’m back. I hope you’re well. I miss you. Thanks for reading.