Backbone Radio

Talk about pigs

Slated on Backbone Radio, Oct. 5 Listen every Sunday, 5-8pm on 710 KNUS, Denver... 1460 KZNT, Colorado Springs... and streaming live at 710knus.com.

The porcine pettiness of two weeks ago between Obama and McCain can now be forgotten, thankfully, as the biggest oinker of them all waddles and grunts its way onto the national stage. The $700 billion bailout bill -- not a buyout or a workout, a rescue or a stabilization plan, but a bailout -- has now cleared both the Senate and (in a reversal from earlier this week) the House. Bush signed it into law minutes later. I'm not among those who either fear this will sink the Republic or expect it will usher in a boom. I just believe there was a better way to solve the mortgage mess, with insurance and private capital as some House Republicans heroically insisted.

But with no compass from Bush or McCain, matters drifted the Dems' way. As legislation goes, this is one of the all-time ugly sows, especially after senators porked it up with tax-subsidy earmarks. Bring on the lipstick.

** Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO), one of the no votes when the bill initially failed Monday, will join me on the radio this Sunday evening for an update. Jim Pfaff of Americans for Prosperity will also give us his take.

** Floyd Brown will talk about his new book, "Obama Unmasked: Did Slick Hollywood Handlers Create the Perfect Candidate?" Ward Connerly will have the latest on Amendment 46, the civil rights ballot issue, opposed by an axis of bipartisan weenies.

** Plus a preview, as best we can without a screen, of the hot new movie "An American Carol," the ridicule bath Michael Moore has so long deserved. I'll talk with Myrna Sokoloff, who wrote the script along with director David Zucker ("Airplane," "Naked Gun").

The laughter will be good medicine. This is not an easy time for our beloved country, economically or politically. But as I've said before, be of good cheer. America is resilient!

Eye on the ball

Slated on Backbone Radio, Sept. 28 Listen every Sunday, 5-8pm on 710 KNUS, Denver... 1460 KZNT, Colorado Springs... and streaming live at 710knus.com.

The story out of Washington hour by hour today is big government attempting to clean up after itself. Hundreds of billions in bad mortgages, encouraged by Uncle Sam, have weakened and now frightened the major financial institutions to the point where Uncle has to step in with his -- make that yours and my -- checkbook. Bravo to the Republicans for fighting to keep the socialism to a minimum here. But let's not take our eye off the ball. The most important decision America will make this fall is not this bailout, momentous as it is. The most important decision before us is McCain & Palin versus Obama & Biden on Nov. 4. Who will be the next president? And what kind of Congress will he have to work with?

Our country's security and perhaps its very survival hinge on that in a dangerous world where sworn enemies seek our destruction. Not to mention taxes, judges, values, energy, and so many other key issues for the next four years. True, Barney Frank is fascinating in a repulsive way, but he's a sideshow. Eye on the ball, conservatives!

By Sunday the first McCain-Obama debate will have occurred, and the bailout melodrama may or may not have concluded. Join us for Backbone Radio to think it all through.

** David Freddoso of National Review will be with me for an hour to talk about his terrific new book, "The Case Against Barack Obama."

** We also hope to hear from Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO) about her skepticism of the bailout and her battle for reelection.

** Plus Randal O'Toole on the debacle of Denver's FasTracks transit plan... Peter Schweizer on his book "Makers and Takers"... and Roger Anghis of the new group Patriotic Pastors.

Liberty and justice for all, when you said it as a kid saluting the flag, sounded like a picnic. Turns out it's hard work, often discouraging, sometimes scary -- like right now. Guess that's why God gave each of us a backbone.

Yours for self-government, JOHN ANDREWS

BOOKS YOU WILL VALUE *  LANDMARKS IN THE STORM