Kole is two-faced

Dear Editor:

I decided more than five years ago I was going to leave Andrew Kole alone, mainly because I thought he was harmless, small-minded, and insignificant. Unfortunately, though small-minded and insignificant, he is not harmless: The time has come to say that virtually everyone in Aspen agrees that Kole is an annoyance, a pest, and (much worse) a back-stabber. The number of people who can’t stand him could win him an Aspen election twice over.

Totally by coincidence, twice in the past week two people came up to me in Parallel 15 and started to rant, with both whistling the same old tune: He acts nice to your face and then he stabs you in the back and then he acts like he can’t understand why you don’t like him.

I will add a third example to this mix. Kole went up to one of my most important advertisers on my “Con Games” show (KNFO 106.1 FM) not long ago and asked: “Why are you advertising on that show? Nobody listens to ‘Con Games’ in Aspen.”

“That’s funny,” said my advertiser. “Tons of people in town say they heard me on the show.”

You get the picture: Kole, for whatever perverted reason, tries to hurt people, and he’s just enough of a pain in the ass to do it. I’ve ignored him successfully for years but this week, in a letter to the editor, he went after me:

“Secrets of Aspen and The Con Man. It’s a TV show – a bad TV show. The fact Michael Conniff expounded on it with the ‘best audience in talk radio,’ and nobody called in, says something. By the way, I’m curious, Michael, ‘what makes your audience the best in talk radio?’ Did they take some sort of ‘best’ test? Or, is it just because they tune in?”

(1) People did call in to talk about “The Secrets of Aspen,” so that’s a flat-out lie.

(2) Kole is (was) a member of “the best audience in talk radio,” and he’s called in more than a dozen times.

(3) If he doesn’t like the show, how come he not only listens to it but regularly beseeches me to put him on the show for every possible reason, including (ludicrously) as a sports expert.

(4) The only time he was on the show as a guest was when he ran for Aspen City Council, and I could not avoid it. He got creamed because nobody likes him.

One final word to Mr. Kole: if you have problems with “Con Games” why have you tried and tried again to get on the show, and why have you kept calling all these years?

Oh, that’s right: I forgot: You always say one thing to a person’s face and then stab them in the back. The best audience in talk radio has no time for that kind of deceit. They’re too good for that.

Michael Conniff

El Jebel