Slated on Backbone Radio, January 27 Listen every Sunday, 5-8pm on 710 KNUS, Denver.. 1460 KZNT, Colorado Springs... and streaming live at 710knus.com.
What if Colorado's governor were a conservative Republican, someone like former Congressman Bob Beauprez, instead of a liberal Democrat like Bill Ritter? Energy, jobs, education, health care, transportation, labor policy, and the values debate would all be on a different track if 2006 had gone the other way. Imagine the contrast. But you can't say "woulda, shoulda, coulda" in politics. You just pick yourself up, get your bearings, and battle on. That's what Bob Beauprez is doing. He's running a conservative website, heading a new foundation, and helping the Romney campaign. Plus subbing for radio talkers such as Rosen, Caplis, and now me.
Bob will host Backbone Radio this Sunday while I'm away on a secret mission. Matt Dunn and Kathleen LeCrone will be there as his amen chorus. He has some great guests and topics lined up. I hope you will plan to listen in and call in.
** Washington mailing us money, with a bipartisan blessing: too good to be true? It might be. We'll find out from economist David Jones, a seasoned observer of Wall Street and the Federal Reserve.
** As the President enters his final year, can he expect kinder verdict from history than from current polls and pundits? Robert Kaufman of Pepperdine University thinks so, according to his new book, "In Defense of the Bush Doctrine." Find out why.
** Plus Rick Cables of the US Forest Service on renewable energy and the pine beetle plague, along with columnist Jim Spencer on state issues and the presidential race.
It keeps happening. This week someone asked me again: where is Backbone Colorado USA on the map? I told him our little town exists only in the heart, but that's good, because it can be wherever you are. If you love America enough to do battle in her cause, you're there. Beauprez is a great example: tune in and see.
Yours for self-government, JOHN ANDREWS