'Sedition panda' gets his freedom

It’s Wednesday, so let’s talk about the panda.

Lecanto’s very own “sedition panda,” Jesse Rumson, was among the 1,500 Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol rioters who now taste freedom thanks to our new recycled president.

Jesse technically didn’t receive a pardon because he wasn't sentenced. While a federal judge declared him guilty of various charges, including assault, he’s not considered “convicted” until after sentencing. Whatever.

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I spoke with Jesse on Tuesday for a Florida Politics story (you can read it here). He was happy, of course. Says he might run for County Commission again, though he’s still sore about Elections Supervisor Maureen “Mo” Baird tossing him from the ballot over a clerical error.
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I have zero opinion on Jesse’s case being commuted. In my interactions with Jesse this last year I found him easy-going and friendly. We have some troublemakers in our county who are real jerks. Jesse is not one of them.

Some friends will be aghast at me defending a J6 rioter. I’m not defending what he did. I’m only saying that, as an individual, he seems like an OK guy who got caught up in something that, upon reflection, maybe he should have left the panda head at home that day.

But I can’t let the Jesse Rumson story end without heartfelt thanks.

It was his arrest by federal authorities that led to the first significant public outcry over our former sheriff. When the politician, supposedly a Trumper through and through, went on social media and crowed about helping the feds arrest a Jan. 6 participant, our residents when bonkers.

That was nearly two years ago. The former incumbent was sailing toward a third term. Yeah, there were decent opponents out there, but they would find no traction unless the incumbent committed political suicide.

While he was poking groups here and there, none of it mattered until Jesse’s arrest. Practically overnight, thousands of Citrus Countians who considered the then-sheriff one of them now considered him a traitor.

And they weren’t quiet about it.

When we look back at Sheriff Dave Vincent’s landslide victory in August, we need to give credit where it’s due. The former incumbent’s slide started with Jesse Rumson.

Thanks for that, panda man.

— I used to write about the government. Readers think I do that now, but it’s much different.

My Chronicle days included long, laborious, and heavily worded tomes on the deepest recesses of government. Stories where the only real people are the office bureaucrats who provide dazzling government quotes.

(I have no examples.)

I say all that to mention that I had actually written nearly 400 words on what happened with the City of Inverness and the County Commission over the city’s plan for an RV campground at Whispering Pines Park.

The city wants the county’s backing when it asks the state for $2 million for the RV campground. Commissioners, on a 3-2 vote, said no. Commissioners Jeff Kinnard and Holly Davis were for it, the other three said simply they didn’t think RV camping and Whispering Pines Park are a good fit.

The city is still going to ask the state for the money. Why the Legislature would fund a city-operated RV campground in Inverness is a mystery, but there you go.

I’d be writing this one to death in the old days. Tell readers What It All Means. Get into the finite details. 

Instead, it’s getting late, and we’ve had a long day. I’ll save the deep dive for another time, or never.

It’s a very cold Wednesday. Please stay safe, friends.

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