BackboneAmerica

(John Andrews in the Denver Post, Nov. 5) “Make your election sure.” So urged a mass letter I saw recently. It was not a voter turnout pitch for this campaign. It was the Apostle Peter writing to believers about heaven. The ancients put our instant-gratification culture to shame when it came to foresight.

But for a middle view between biblical eternity and the political present, consider the sweep of two centuries. That’s how long it has been since the Zebulon Pike expedition, America’s first look at the mountains and plains we now call Colorado. And as we conservatives brace for unheavenly results on Tuesday, I believe the longer perspective can offer us encouragement.

Autumn 1806 in these parts was not kind to Pike and his men. Weather kept them from the summit of the peak that would later bear his name. Their exploration up the Arkansas River and then briefly down the Rio Grande (where Spanish authorities arrested them) never gained the same glory as Lewis and Clark’s voyage up the Missouri. Zebulon Pike died a hero in the War of 1812. A descendant and namesake, age 84, still lives in Salida.

It’s worth asking what President Thomas Jefferson, who bought this vast territory from France, would make of the civilization that has arisen here 200 years later. “We are acting for all mankind,” Jefferson wrote. Upon Washington, Adams, Madison, himself and the other founders rested “the duty of proving what is the degree of freedom and self-government in which a society may venture to leave its individual members.” Has their proving stood the test? How does Colorado measure up? (more…)

Join us on radio every Sunday, 5-8pm on 710 KNUS, Denver
and now also on 1460 KZNT, Colorado Springs
To listen online from anywhere, click 710knus.com
———————————————————————–
SAVE THE DATE, SUNDAY, NOV. 12… Backbone birthday party
and post-election bash, Lodo’s in Highlands Ranch, 5-8pm.
Come out and help us celebrate two years of the show.
————————————————————————
SHOW PREVIEW FOR NOV. 5… The final GOTV push is on, poll numbers are bouncing unreliably, and wild cards like the Kerry slur on our military are putting earlier sure bets in doubt. Sunday’s edition of “Backbone Radio with John Andrews” will be the night before the night before the votes are counted.

We’ve got one of our strongest lineups since going on the air two years ago. This is appointment radio. Please plan to listen in and call in. Topics and guests will include:

** How will the conservative new media offset the liberal old media in key races across the country? We’ll ask Scott Johnson, one of the founders of PowerlineBlog.com.

** Why must we keep a Republican Congress and elect Rick O’Donnell as part of it? Rick’s fireball campaign manager, K.C. Jones, will bring her never-bashful answer.

** What’s at stake issue by issue in trusting the Governor’s office to conservative Bob Beauprez instead of liberal Bill Ritter? Former candidate Marc Holtzman joins me. (more…)

By Krista Kafer (krista555@msn.com)

Anyone who grew up with a sibling knows how to make a non-apology. Mom or Dad demanded you apologize for making little sister cry. Though without any genuine remorse you had to say sorry or risk punishment. The non-apology worked like a charm.

There are several varieties of the faux apology:

Attack Non-Apology: “I’m sorry but she hit me first” says it’s her fault and I’ll do it again if need be.

Blame Non-Apology: “I’m sorry but she made me do it.” Similar to the Attack Non-Apology, this technique allows the speaker to take others down on the way.

Denial Non-Apology: “I didn’t do it but I’m sorry anyway.” Again, not sorry. Most likely guilty but not at all contrite.

Imitation Non-Apology: “I’m sorry you feel that way.” It looks like an apology but it really means I’m sorry I got caught or I’m sorry you’re making a big deal out of it. (more…)

Not only does Judge Jose Marquez of the Colorado Court of Appeals have what amounts to an F grade on his official performance report for retention (but with a strange recommendation to be retained anyway on a 6-4 vote of the commission).

Not only did he rank dead last (37% out of a possible 100) among the appeals court judges in our 1997-2005 scorecard of cases relating to Colorado’s economic growth, prosperity, and job creation.

Not only did he trample constitutional gun rights in the Trinen case, 2002.

Judge Marquez has also ruled that our First Amendment freedoms of press and speech are trumped by the supposed “privacy right” of a convicted felon not to have her crime and punishment described in a newsletter. That was his opinion in Ditmarr (1999), which fortunately was overruled by the Colorado Supreme Court. Here’s the summary we obtained from a Washington DC-based expert on appellate jurisprudence: (more…)