By Sean Pond | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice
Something is happening in Colorado. You can feel it.
Not on the surface, but beneath it. Beneath the silence. Beneath the carefully packaged language of equity, sustainability, and progress. We are being conditioned. Slowly, quietly, and deliberately.
Conditioned to comply. Conditioned to accept change without question. Conditioned to believe that liberty is negotiable, that tradition is outdated, and that resistance is somehow wrong.
But here’s the truth they don’t want you to hear.
The Constitution doesn’t need to evolve. It needs to be defended.
Freedom isn’t something you bargain with. It’s something you protect.
And this get-along-with-everybody mentality? That’s the problem. That’s the trap.
In my first 100 days as a Montrose County Commissioner, I’ve seen this pattern unfold. It’s not loud. It’s not violent. It’s quiet, comfortable, and dangerous. And it’s how we’re losing everything.
They tell us we’re divisive if we draw a line. They say we’re extreme if we stand our ground. They call it progress, but it’s erosion. It’s a slow bleed.
And the greatest threat isn’t just the radical left. It’s not even the policies coming out of Denver. It’s the silence in the middle—from moderates and unaffiliated voters who don’t realize they’re standing on a fault line, where the foundation of liberty is cracking beneath them, ready to give way.
They don’t storm the gates. But sometimes, unknowingly, they hold the door open.
Because they’ve been convinced that freedom is flexible. That compromise is noble. That going along to get along is virtuous.
It isn’t. It’s how freedom dies.
The Constitution is not a suggestion. It’s not a starting point for discussion. It’s a line in the sand.
That’s why I’m done being quiet.
I’m only one vote on a three-member board. I don’t control Montrose County. But I will use my voice, and I will use it loudly. This isn’t about politics anymore. It’s about survival. Survival of liberty, of land, and of the values that made Colorado what it once was.
Montrose County is the front line. A stronghold. A place where a constitutional renewal can begin.
Because here’s the strategy: Outside agendas are moving into our communities. They show up on school boards, planning commissions, tourism boards, energy co-ops, and chambers of commerce. They blend in. They gain influence. Then they start making decisions that reshape your life.
They don’t always need to win elections. They just need a seat at the table.
And when the state says let the locals decide, they don’t mean you. They mean the ones they’ve backed.
This isn’t local leadership. It’s coordinated political infiltration.
And now they’re pushing harder than ever.
They want cattle off the land. They want roads closed. They want grazing rights gone. They want hunting phased out. They want firearms irrelevant. They want wolves roaming, wilderness locked up, and Western Colorado turned into a buffer zone for urban control centers.
They call it rewilding. I call it erasing.
They want to erase us.
Whether by design or consequence, their vision eliminates the rural way of life. They push centralized control through regulation, land designations, and green energy policies that hurt the very communities they claim to help.
You are not imagining this. Rural Coloradans are being pushed aside.
Colorado is shutting down all coal-fired power plants and mines by 2030. They’re replacing reliable energy with unstable alternatives that scar our land and provide little benefit to local economies. They’re killing jobs, gutting communities, and taxing working families into the ground.
We should be expanding coal. Opening more mines. Extracting critical minerals. Powering our grid. Driving down costs. Putting America and Colorado first.
Instead, we’re being driven into dependence and debt by green fantasies and government overreach.
And it’s all enabled by those who believe standing in the middle is the right place to be.
As regulations and restrictions grow, liberty dies.
It is the duty of every Coloradan right now to protect our state from the government that’s trying to take it from us.
We need to elect true conservatives to the Colorado House and Senate. We need bold leadership in the governor’s office. We need to end the bad bill machine, protect our land and livelihoods, and give power back to the people.
Keep our ranchers ranching. Keep our farmers farming. Keep our mines mining. Keep our power plants running. And keep Colorado free.
No more 30 by 30 land grabs. No more national monument declarations without input. No more alternative energy pipe dreams. No more globalist strings attached to local decisions.
This is the line. This is the moment.
That’s why I’m calling for a Freedom Rally in Montrose County around Independence Day 2026. Not just a celebration. A declaration.
If you’re tired of being pushed to the sidelines, if you feel like your voice doesn’t matter anymore, if you still believe in liberty, in the Constitution, and in the future of this great state, then now is the time to rise.
Freedom doesn’t defend itself. Join your neighbors. Join the fight. Montrose County was the first in Colorado to formally call for federal intervention—reaching out to the U.S. Department of Justice, President Trump, and Pam Bondi over state overreach and Senate Bill 3.
Now we’re asking you to stand with us. Take up the banner. Help lead the fight for Colorado’s future.
I’m not here to play politics. I’m here to sound the alarm.
Montrose County can lead the way.
Will you join me?
If you believe it’s time to defend our freedom and take Colorado back, I’d be honored to hear from you.
Sean M. Pond
Montrose County Commissioner, District 3
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 970-650-0981
The views expressed here are my own and do not represent an official position of the Montrose County Board of County Commissioners.
Sean Pond serves as Montrose County Commissioner for District 3. Appointed in February 2025 after the passing of Commissioner Rick Dunlap, Pond is the first West End resident to hold the seat in over 20 years. A Nucla native and leader of the ‘Halt the Dolores’ initiative, he brings a strong focus on local collaboration, economic resilience, and protecting the region’s way of life. He and his wife are proud parents of five and grandparents of seven. When he’s not working, you’ll likely find him outdoors—hiking, fishing, or hunting.
Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.