Radio, July 2: The deal that wasn't

Join us on radio every Sunday, 5-8pm on 710 KNUS, DenverTo listen online from anywhere, click 710knus.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "It will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival... commemorated as the day of deliverance... solemnized with pomp and parade, bonfires and illuminations, from this time forward forever more." -- John Adams, July 2, 1776 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ SHOW PREVIEW... Immigration reform in Colorado, the imperial judiciary, facts and myths of global warming, and the meaning of Independence Day -- all are on the agenda for this Sunday's edition of "Backbone Radio with John Andrews." You're invited to be with us for the show.

My state's push to end tax-paid services to illegal aliens hit a double roadblock with Democrats in recent days. On the air we'll talk about how it happened and what's next.

First a blatantly political court decision halted the Defend Colorado Now ballot issue (DCN). Then an alleged "deal" by and for Dems, no Republicans invited, largely ended the hope of reviving that ballot issue in a special legislative session.

Co-chairing DCN with Dick Lamm, I was okay with him doing shuttle diplomacy between Gov. Owens and Speaker Romanoff, but not with his sudden left turn to exclude Owens and do a group hug with Romanoff, Pena, and Hart -- tossing our constitutional amendment overboard.

I myself went overboard hours later, quitting the DCN leadership. Lamm and I and our other two co-chairs had no authority to break faith with 50,000 petition signers who wanted a statewide November vote on the illegal alien crisis. So this was, as far as I'm concerned, the deal that wasn't.

But with the special legislative session kicking off July 6 regardless, conservatives must regroup and make the best of it. State Sen. Tom Wiens and State Rep. Ted Harvey, both Republicans from Douglas County and both leaders on immigration reform, will join me on the July 2 show for a preview.

** Prof. Charles Kesler will also be my guest for a conversation about the timeless relevance of the Declaration of Independence and July 4. He's a political scientist and editor of the Claremont Review of Books.

** Also featured will be Mark W. Smith, whose new book "Disrobed" maps a plan for the right to reclaim the courts, and Marlo Lewis, a Competitive Enterprise Institute researcher who has the goods on Al Gore's global warming scare.

** And we'll continue tracking the 7th Congressional District race, that battle for a successor to Bob Beauprez, as Democrat dark horse Herb Rubenstein checks in. His better-known rivals, Peggy Lamm and Ed Perlmutter, keep turning down my invitation -- but apparently Herb's got game. It'll be an interesting chat.

Tune in from 5-8pm this Sunday, July 2, on 710 KNUS in Denver and 710knus.com around the world. Call in with your two-cents at 303-696-1971. Or comment by email, during the show or right now, at backboneradio@aol.com.

There's nothing else quite like Backbone Radio, the most principled, most patriotic, most faith-based, most Colorado-proud spot on the dial. Tune in for another lively Sunday evening of fact, opinion, and insight.

Yours for self-government, JOHN ANDREWS