Fritz: "To the banqueting house"

Marshall Fritz of the Alliance for the Separation of School and State is one of the most effective freedom advocates and brilliantly buoyant human beings I've ever known. Now 65, he's been been given only a matter of months to live with a cancer diagnosis, his second. Before founding the Alliance, Marshall was instrumental in the growth of the California Libertarian Party, created the still-vigorous Advocates for Self-Government, and birthed an experimental school, Pioneer Christian Academy, in his hometown of Fresno. Celebrations of his life, attended by friends, family, and associates from the political wars, have recently been held in Atlanta, Fresno, and Hollywood. I attended the latter on June 21 with about 60 other Fritz fans, and found it an amazingly joyous and lighthearted occasion. But that's Marshall for you. The father of four, grandfather of 12, and longtime husband of Joan has that effect on any group under any circumstances. Part of it is probably his glowing Catholic faith; the rest is simply innate. Unique and irreplaceable to be sure.

His getting-ready-to-die website is at MarshallFritz.com. On the close of that evening, I was moved to quote Song of Solomon 2:4..."He took me to the banqueting house, and His banner over me was love." Marshall Fritz's earthly life, however much longer it may last, has been a vivid enactment of love for God and man -- which is now being repaid with lavish testimonials of their love for him. The banners of that banquet, I won't soon forget.

Dare your graduate to read

(Denver Post, June 1) It was a graduation to remember. Our grandson and his classmates looked great in their blue mortarboard caps with gold tassels. Parents beamed and cameras flashed. The speaker was brief, taking his text from Psalms: “Children are a gift from God.” Ian’s dad caught the whole thing on video. Did I mention that Ian is five, and this was preschool commencement at Hosanna Lutheran? There was hardly a dry eye in the place as the graduates gave a fine choral rendition of “Kindergarten Here We Come.” Our little crown prince won’t recall much about that day as the years pass, but be honest: What do you recall of substance about the graduation days you or your children went through? If you remember who spoke or the advice they gave, you’re a savant. If you can name, let alone still have, the gifts you got, you’re a packrat. It all fades.

What I still have and still treasure from completing junior high, high school, and eventually college, is some books my parents and other adults gave me. I felt honored that they took me seriously enough at this educational milestone to present me with the tools of further learning, formally inscribed and signed.

We of the gray hair, rattled by things like texting and tattoos, grouch that schools are being dumbed down and youth are going to the dogs. Sure, that’s been the complaint of every generation since Plato, but this time (we fret) it’s really happening. Then why not push back and compliment your graduate with a gift that will last, a book?

I don’t mean just any book. Ixnay on the latest from Oprah or Starbucks. Go for something more timeless, serious but short, not heavily political or religious yet edgy enough to reward the reader. If you’ve read it yourself, the personal connection will flatter your young friend. A bridge of ideas between you will span the coming decades.

“The Abolition of Man” by C. S. Lewis is less than 100 pages, delphically silent on the author’s beloved Christian faith, and came out long before Obama was born. Yet its powerful treatment of what truth is, how the world works, and what it means to really think, is as fresh as tomorrow’s headlines. It has changed many lives. I recently sent it to Ben Steiger, graduating from Bentonville High in Arkansas.

Equally sparkling in their brevity are “The Law” by Frederic Bastiat, a French parliamentarian who wrote in 1850, and “Introduction to Citizenship for New Americans” by Thomas Krannawitter of the Claremont Institute. The graduate who’s soon to be a voter will find them thoughtful guides to understanding the free society, without a speck of partisanship.

Bastiat was that rarity, a reflective statesman. A father of the breed was Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor in the 2nd century, who penned his remarkable “Meditations” while on military campaign. “My Early Life” by Winston Churchill is another example, closer to our own time. Either makes a memorable gift at this season.

Character forged in the fire seems to be the theme of my recommendations here. That wasn’t planned; I just grabbed some favorites off the shelf. It’s fitting, though, for the Class of 2008 as they ask themselves, “What now?” Help set their moral compass with books like Elton Trueblood’s “Abraham Lincoln: Theologian of American Anguish” or Robert Bolt’s unforgettable play about Sir Thomas More, “A Man for All Seasons.”

Whatever book you give, inscribe it with three A’s. Jot your affection for the person he or she is, your admiration for the summit reached with this diploma, and your anticipation of higher peaks the graduate will climb. Then sign it, date it, and feel great about it. You’ve given a gift that will last.

Geddes picked to succeed Regent Schauer

Dr. Jim Geddes, a trauma surgeon from Sedalia, will carry the Republican banner for CU Regent from the 6th congressional district this November. Geddes was nominated by acclamation at Saturday's GOP assembly in Castle Rock after incumbent Paul Schauer quit the race Thursday night. "We're in a battle for the ideological soul of our university, our party, and our country," Geddes told the assembly. Schauer <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_told Allison Sherry of the Denver Post that his withdrawal had nothing to do with a storm of conservative anger, including a mailer that bracketed him with Ward Churchill as no fan of Western Civilization. Presumably he was also unruffled by a week of bruising criticism in print and on radio by Mike Rosen.

If you believe that, contact me about a special price on the deed to Pike's Peak, Mt. McKinley, or any national landmark of your choosing. More on target were the comments to Sherry by some of Schauer's liberal allies on the regents, Democrat Mike Carrigan who said he was swift-boated and Republican Pat Hayes who called the whole thing "frightening." For her crowd of lefties, yes. For real freedom of thought at the university, no.

Several party leaders told me they were disappointed Schauer didn't attend the 6th CD assembly, thank party workers for their support, and perhaps even offer the nomination of Geddes as his successor. It would have given more plausibility to his profession of not leaving under fire, but just wanting a change.

As it was, I gave the nomination for "Doc" Geddes, and was pleased to do so, having been a campaign strategist for him from the start. I expect Jim to win easily in the general election. It's a safe Republican district and he faces only token Democratic opposition. My nominating speech was as follows:

It’s a new day at the University of Colorado. CU has emerged from a difficult time and made a new start under the leadership of former president Hank Brown. The university now has an outstanding new president in Bruce Benson, a true Republican.

CU needs a true Republican majority on the board of regents to support Bruce Benson. All it takes is one more reliable vote, and Dr. Jim Geddes is exactly the man to provide it.

Jim Geddes is a fighting conservative and a gifted leader. We can trust him. Jim knows that the needed reforms in higher education will never be achieved by regents from our party who cater to the left wing faculty and repeatedly vote with the Democrats, as some have done in the past.

Paul Schauer is a good man. We should thank him as he departs. To replace him, and to take CU to the next level, I’m proud to nominate Jim Geddes for Regent.

Invaders seek Boulder beachhead

Slated on Backbone Radio, May 18 Listen every Sunday, 5-8pm on 710 KNUS, Denver... 1460 KZNT, Colorado Springs... and streaming live at 710knus.com.

"The right is coming, the right is coming." That's the cry at CU-Boulder after this week's announcement of plans to endow a chair in conservative thought and policy. The liberal faculty are scandalized. Heaven forbid there should be "a political test for any kind of hiring," said marketing professor Margaret Campbell to a reporter. As if the university isn't already in the grip of such a test. You can picture Campbell pedaling through the halls of ivy on her low-emission (or zero-emission if she doesn't breathe) bicycle, Paul Revere style, warning the local Marxists, Obamaniacs, and Ward-Churchillites that invasion is imminent. The armada consists of one -- count'em, one -- visiting professor of conservative studies, someone rabid like George Will or Condi Rice, saints preserve us.

Great fun, and I give the idea two cheers. Labeling the position "conservative" sends all the wrong messages, even though the talk of a political test is baseless paranoia; this is an academic post like any other, not a campaign school. But credit the CU administration for at least confronting the leftist brainlock that now dominates Boulder and most other campuses. It's a good debate to be having, even if the initial concept needs work.

Since 2004, Backbone Radio has pushed for true academic freedom and intellectual diversity in higher education, exactly as I did in the Colorado Senate. We're on top of this story for Sunday, May 18, and we'll stay on it when the dreaded invasion force hits the beaches -- or if it doesn't; you never know.

** Joining me on the show will be Regent Tom Lucero and the eminent Prof. Edward Rozek, who recently took a paid ad to alert Coloradans that CU's faculty is only 3% Republican. Plus the latest from Joseph C. Phillips, another scourge of the campus left.

** In the authors' corner, I'll talk with Joseph Smith about his new book on George Washington and the question of church and state, and with defense expert Kenneth Timmerman about his book "Untold Story of the Party of Surrender."

** And we'll take a close look at the suburban shootout over home rule in Centennial, an issue with implications for all Coloradans. Spokesmen for both sides in the 6/10 election will weigh in. For more on this, check our blog.

See you this weekend at the most principled, most patriotic, most faith-based, most Colorado-proud spot on your radio dial.

Yours for fewer polar bears, JOHN ANDREWS

Jim Geddes for CU Regent

CU president Bruce Benson needs reliable Republican backing on the Board of Regents. Mike Rosen's May 9 column makes the case why Dr. Jim Geddes, MD, the 6th District challenger, will provide that far better than incumbent Paul Schauer. Donations to the Doc's underdog campaign can go to Geddes for Regent, PO Box 565, Sedalia CO 80135.