BackboneAmerica

It’s either pathetic or funny to see Sen. Michael Bennet desperately embracing President Obama for a Feb. 18 campaign event (more…)

(Denver Post, Feb. 7) “Both ends of the political spectrum are disgusting,” said reader Bill Hoppe in an email after my Jan. 24 column on bipartisan irresponsibility. “It becomes increasingly difficult to believe in our legislature at any level.” Deborah Kelly’s letter to the editor, published here on Jan. 31, was equally despairing: “I can’t afford health insurance, and after the Supreme Court decision regarding campaign financing, now I can’t afford to vote either.” As we watch the messy process of self-government in a free society, disgust and discouragement may tempt us all. While the reaction is only human, the answer is not to drop out. Rather the American way is to pick an entry point and plunge into the process (more…)

“Avatar” with its leftist plotline, where capitalism and America are villains, is amusingly debunked by Mike Rosen (more…)

Massachusetts voters sent Democrats a severe warning with Scott Brown’s win for US Senator, says John Andrews in the January round of Head On TV debates. But Susan Barnes-Gelt chalks up the outcome to a poor campaign on the other side and generalized disgust with the in-crowd. John on the right, Susan on the left, also go at it this month over Hickenlooper for Governor, (more…)

(Denver Post, Jan. 24) Why did Gov. Bill Ritter fold his reelection campaign? Why is Sen. Michael Bennet so far behind in the polls? Why did Scott Brown win in Massachusetts? Why is Barack Obama struggling to save his presidency, one year after taking office in triumph? Because Americans have completely lost patience with irresponsibility. For years this column has talked of the need for a responsibility movement to challenge both political parties. “We’ll call it Element R and launch it today, right here in Colorado,” I wrote in 2007. What the country has seen in recent months (more…)

You have to read closely to see it, so elegant are the euphemisms, but the company that owns the company that owns (more…)

David Petteys of Act for America, Denver chapter, and Michael Del Rosso of the Claremont Institute recently compared notes (more…)

This could be a big comeback year for conservatives. I say “could.” Clearly Republicans will benefit politically from Democrats in disarray, here in Colorado where Gov. Ritter is the first casualty, as well as in Washington where Obama, Pelosi, and Reid have wildly overreached. But GOP electoral gains don’t necessary mean the return of right-minded principle in Americans’ approach to self-government. That will take a lot more soul-searching (more…)

While others play the personality game of who succeeds Bill Ritter, let’s talk policy. Imagine Colorado making itself so attractive to employers that we lead all 50 states in creating new jobs, instead of lagging in 20th place as we did in the decade past (our second-worst showing since 1890). Imagine Colorado becoming a mecca for affordable health care by letting insurers from across the country compete on price and quality in our state marketplace. Imagine forging out as the nation’s futuristic energy leader, the state that builds safe nuclear plants for clean electricity (more…)

Kid-glove treatment by the Denver Post on Gov. Bill Ritter’s decision not to run again, makes me miss the Rocky Mountain News (more…)

(Denver Post, Dec. 27) Remember those times when we thought the world had changed, but it hadn’t? Eight years ago after jihadists attacked the US homeland, and again last year after America elected its first black president, the talk of “forever different” was soon quieted by life’s old patterns. The world does not change, because human nature does not. But an event that did change the world occurred 2000 years ago in the stable at Bethlehem. Religious differences aside, the earthquake of Jesus’ coming is historical fact. The idea of all persons created equal, (more…)

Slated on Backbone Radio, Dec. 20

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

Conservative politics and policy, our mainstay on Backbone Radio every week since 2004, will share the spotlight today with Christmas and the turn toward 2010. Join us for an overview of all the issues from health care, Copenhagen, and Afghanistan to the Colorado budget, Zhu Zhu hamsters, and the coming campaign year. Plus our holiday special including a theologian’s perspective on how Jesus’ birth changed the world and a columnist’s wrapup of the old year (more…)

Tune in tonight, Thursday, Dec. 17 at 7pm on 710 KNUS in Denver and streaming at 710knus.com, when Centennial Institute presents (more…)

The emails from two US Senate candidates arrived the same day. First it was Republican Tom Wiens boasting of a new poll (more…)

Slated on Backbone Radio, Dec. 13

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

Don’t miss our governor’s race preview show this evening. Republicans are on offense and Dems on defense as the 2010 election year is soon to dawn. With Gov. Bill Ritter weaker than any incumbent in half a century, his party was counting on opposition infighting to keep their chances alive. The GOP unity movement of recent weeks has changed all that. I’ll talk with Republican challenger Scott McInnis about his game plan for the months ahead, with Josh Penry about why he closed ranks behind Mighty Mac, and with underdog Dan Maes (more…)