Mount Virtus

Who says the Democrats can’t be the party of national security? The Dems’ congressional leadership is pitching a new plan to the American people. Finally being able to have a reasoned debate should be healthy for the republic.

Bobby Eberle’s blog is a worthwhile read today. Message? Grow a spine on immigration and spending. Maybe a new Gallup poll speaks more clearly to the known language of political leaders. Maybe this time they will take heed. Or maybe they’ll learn the hard way… again.

I also hear there’s a new book out on a similar topic … or is it about home decorating? a geography textbook? a primer on military conquest? Anyway, check it out.

Three questions:
1) Have you ever wondered about the real facts of Colorado’s education funding?
2) Have you ever wondered what this blogger’s voice sounds like?
3) Do you want to hear me talk about Colorado’s education funding anyway?

If you answered yes to 1 or more of the above questions, please check out my new Podcast interview (requires MP3 player) with Jon Caldara, compliments of the Independence Institute’s new IVoices Web site.

Former State Senate President John Andrews is leading the charge for state-level illegal immigration reform. Yesterday he cited an authoritative study that conservatively estimates the cost of illegal immigration to Colorado taxpayers exceeds a billion dollars a year. This issue will be at the forefront of the 2006 elections, and the bipartisan team of Andrews and former Governor Dick Lamm has brought forward a commonsense proposal called Defend Colorado Now: “to end non-emergency, non-federally-mandated taxpaid services to illegal aliens.”

Meanwhile, in a weak effort to vent their Left-wing displeasure with this commonsense reform idea, the clever propagandists over at ProgressNow are urging their supporters to sign an online petition. Never mind that they seem to have no answers or positive ideas on how to address the issue of immigration, or even to admit that a problem exists … very “mainstream.” Instead, they take the opportunity to set up Tancredo as the bogeyman for Defend Colorado Now and show a newfound interest in tort reform. Somehow, I think they might be disappointing their trial lawyer friends with this nonsense stance.

Update: Jonathan vividly highlights the big problem with the recent pro-illegal rallies (via Michelle Malkin). It’s more than nonsense… it’s dangerous, and if properly advertised, will expose the center of American political life to their agenda, one that will be roundly opposed.

Highlighting the true motivation of the pro-illegal marchers … Courtesy of Mangled Cat

I can’t do better on Caucus Night observations than Joshua - maybe NOT wearing a yarmulker helped me to blend in a bit. As far as not feeling like a fish out of water, I was pleased to see a few members of the 30-&-under crowd with me at the Arvada gathering of 5 precincts.

The caucus was a disappointingly small affair … enthusiasm at the GOP grassroots level is not exactly spilling over the brim. Hmm, go figure. There were 3 of us who showed up for my precinct (and a fourth by proxy). A couple of the other precincts had 6 to 8 people, and one other lady showed up to find out she was her precinct.

I was elected by acclamation, along with the other three in my precinct, as a delegate to the Jefferson County Assembly. Unfortunately, my competition to fill the lone delegate slot to the State Assembly was County Treasurer Mark Paschall, so yours truly will be going to Colorado Springs on May 20 but only as an alternate.

Clay (whose vote I would cancel out at this point) and Joshua also will be representing the RMA at the State Assembly.

Former Congressman Bob Schaffer departs Colorado today for the Ukraine as an official observer of the young democratic nation’s parliamentary elections. The Denver Post has set up a blog to record Schaffer’s observations, which will also be followed by students at several Colorado schools. As you may recall, Schaffer - who himself is of Ukrainian heritage - was on hand for “The Orange Revolution” of 2004, in which he sent dispatches via Blackberry covering the remarkable breaking events in Kiev.

As one who has watched history unfold in Eastern Europe, Schaffer again gets to connect his experiences directly with readers in Colorado … and across the globe. Ain’t technology wonderful?

What lesson ought we to take from the whole Jay Bennish fiasco? David Harsanyi hits a home run with his column today: “Teacher Fuss Shows Need for Choice.” Go and read it.

Colorado is one of the very best states for citizens to be active in the political process. If you live & are registered to vote in Colorado but haven’t participated in the caucus/assembly process before, there’s no time like 2006 to get started. The neighborhood caucuses are coming up next Tuesday, March 21 (most are at 7 PM). It’s a great chance to meet up with some of the neighbors, to learn more about the different candidates, to persuade and be persuaded about what issues are important, to choose who will represent you at the County Assembly (and often the State Assembly, too), and to vote on resolutions that will get discussed and refined at the county level, maybe even make it onto the state party platform.

So if you have a chance to go, don’t pass it up. If you are a registered Republican voter and want to know where your caucus is, go to the State Republican Party Web site and enter your last name, date of birth, house number, & ZIP code. You will find all you need to know right there. (The same information isn’t so easily accessible for the Colorado Democratic Party. All other parties are on your own….)

Show up at your caucus, meet your neighbors, make your voice heard. And urge your friends & loved ones to get involved, too. See YOU at the caucus!

“The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.” - Plato

I feel entitled to be politically pessimistic today. While Joshua opines on President Bush as LBJ, Clay traffics in crass, baseless, ad hominem attacks … against a fellow Republican. And these are my Rocky Mountain Alliance friends!

I appreciate Joshua’s attempt at discourse. The concerns he addresses demonstrate historical perspective and insight. And they raise at least one issue about Bush’s low poll numbers I have not often heard discussed: that they represent disaffection among some conservatives more than a general Left-ward tilt of the voting populace. I will give more thought to Joshua’s analogy before commenting directly on it.

As for Clay, I’m left to believe that his reposting of the absurd, innuendo-laced cartoon without comment represents tacit approval, which disappoints me. Many readers know I am a Holtzman supporter but that I have repeatedly steered clear of “bashing” Bob Beauprez. Why? First, because I have not only met but also genuinely respect and admire both candidates; second, because whoever wins the primary will be the Republican candidate for governor and will be much preferred to the Democratic opposition. Perhaps Clay and his clever Sampson’s Ghost friend are afraid that Holtzman’s candidacy is more viable than anyone had anticipated.

Don’t let my personal political pessimism (say that five times fast!) be confused for distress about any particular candidate’s progress or success, but rather recognition of a general trendline that I feel doesn’t bode well for Republicans in Colorado or nationwide in 2006 or 2008. It hurts all the more, because it seems so within reach for the party’s leadership to get its act together. Let’s just hope I’m wrong.

Editor’s Note: I also sincerely hope I haven’t inadvertently raised the collective paranoia of the ProgressNow propagandists by confusing them with messages that on the surface indicate not only dissatisfaction with the current administration’s course but also internal discontents among the local band of center-right bloggers. WE all know this and other key RMA posts are part of Karl Rove’s latest designs, but good luck trying to decode their secrets in time…. Hee, hee, hee!

Kudos to the RMA’s own Joshua at View from a Height for winning the distinction of being Powerline’s first blog of the week. Quite an honor… and well-deserved for one of Colorado’s preeminent bloggers.

The Dead Governors appear to be the first on the story of alleged conflict of interest going on in the Republican primary. And there’s a LOT of disinformation floating around in the comment section, as usual. There is only one essential disagreement between the Holtzman campaign and the State Republican Party: is it proper for a professional political vendor to work for two clients with overlapping interests?

I hate airing dirty Republican laundry like this, but when you are close enough to the sources to know what’s going on, and the whole thing needs to be cleared up, well… the choice was easy.
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Employing his best attempt at writing a column with adolescent logic, the Denver Post’s Jim Spencer tells 16-year-old Sean Allen - the Overland High School student who recorded his “geography” teacher Jay Bennish make a diatribe off the deep end of fairness, balance, and reality - that he should have given into peer pressure, sucked it up, and taken his Left-wing indoctrination like a man:

What Allen did violates the unwritten “us-and-them” code of adolescence. You defy authority and adults when you’re a teenager. You don’t suck up to them.

When you’re 16, having middle-aged fogies like Bill Owens or Rush Limbaugh or yours truly sing your praises carries no “street cred” with the “dude, whatever” crowd.

Frankly, there’s a wimp factor in whining to authorities about anything as an adolescent….

For a better take on the story from a Post columnist, read what Al Knight has to say.

Meanwhile, the Rocky Mountain News reports not only that the case with the Cherry Creek School District won’t be wrapped up today (nor likely anytime soon) but also that Bennish’s predisposition to historical ignorance and political hyperbole may be genetically inherited:

“This has been totally lopsided and one-sided,” Bennish’s father said of the coverage of his son’s comments. He said the Fox News Channel’s coverage “reminds me of McCarthyism.”

Let’s see… the trump cards (Hitler, fascism) already have been played in this discussion, and even several “right-wing radio” cards, but this is the first time I’ve seen anyone deal a “McCarthyism” from the deck. I’m just waiting for the revelation that “fundamentalist Christians” are pulling the strings. Maybe it has, and I just missed it.

Editor’s Note: The Spencer column rightly decries any legitimate physical threats made against Allen. The News story mentions alleged death threats made at Bennish and his family members. Any and all such activity is an over-reaction at the least, and certainly disgusting, deplorable, and potentially criminal behavior. This blog will continue to do its tiny part in denouncing this sort of behavior, but also recognizes that such sensational stories often draw wackos out of the woodwork like vultures to carrion. All such incidents should be dealt with appropriately by law enforcement investigators, yet should be kept separate from the story about the classroom recording (which will continue to be discussed logically and civilly here at Mount Virtus).

The notable Rocky Mountain News center-left political columnist Mike Littwin has joined the chorus of those calling for disgraced Democrat State Senator (and alleged extortion artist) Deanna Hanna to resign from her Lakewood seat:

She can resign now. Or she can resign later.

But, one way or the other, she has to go. The typewriting is on the wall - and it’s as clear as an extortion note written in bright red crayon.

It’s one thing to survive a political embarrassment. I mean, it could have been worse: She could have shot someone.

But it’s another to survive when you’ve become a major political liability for your party.

The Senate Democrats I’ve talked to are more than prepared to dump her. The question is whether Hanna is ready to be the dumpee.

According to the logic of some, Hanna’s resignation could be considered a “big public relations hit,” as if the damage hasn’t already been done. Yet while insiders have whispered to their favorites in the media surrounding the controversy, not much has been heard from the public - especially Hanna’s Jefferson County constituents.

I think I may agree with Mike Littwin on this one.

Update: Senator Hanna has announced she is resigning from her seat… in about two weeks. How eerie the ways of the universe when I not only find myself on the same side as Littwin and Progress Now, but that we all end up being right. Hanna - like Stengel - has chosen to do the right thing after getting caught doing the wrong thing.

The other night I lay in bed with my wife and weeks-old daughter. We snuggled up with a copy of Katharine DeBrecht’s Help, Mom! Hollywood’s in My Hamper, and I read aloud. My wife and I shared a few giggles throughout the story and dozed off (as best we could under the circumstances) with a warm feeling.

The baby? Well, I’m pretty certain she’ll appreciate the Help, Mom! series some day. I can picture her a few years from now tugging at my pant leg, pleading for me to read one of the sequels. And I can tell you right now - my whole family hopes for DeBrecht to publish some more that meet the quality of the first two.
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Fox News reports a positive development in the controversial Colorado geography teacher case: Jay Bennish has decided to drop the lawsuit against Cherry Creek School District in exchange for the district dropping the media gag order. In my opinion, both sides chose wisely. We may start to hear from the embattled Marxist instructor in various outlets. Stay tuned.

To all the readers finding my site via Google or another search, I thought it useful to the debate to link to an industrious blogger putting together a factual response to many of Colorado geography teacher Jay Bennish’s claims in his 20-minute tirade. (HT: Hugh Hewitt)

This advances the debate even farther than I summarized it last night.

The Rocky Mountain News reports that Jay Bennish lawyer David Lane plans to file a lawsuit in federal court this morning to put the highly controversial teacher back in the classroom. Bennish is currently on paid administrative leave while the Cherry Creek School District conducts an investigation based on his 20-minute recorded left-wing political tirade. From the News story:

“I know about 10 federal judges who are more than willing to teach the Cherry Creek School District what the First Amendment is all about,” his attorney, David Lane, said Thursday.

Lane said he expects to file a federal lawsuit as early as this morning, and that seeking a court order to return Bennish to the classroom is one option he might pursue.

He called district administrators “scared little rabbits” who bowed to pressure from parents when they suspended Bennish.

A public school district takes heed of some of its customers and its own policies, and out of the rhetorical bag comes the “scared little rabbits” description? Puh-lease. It’s cute and clever rhetoric by David Lane. But who is there to stand up and call school district officials “scared little rabbits” for agreeing to collective bargaining provisions that subsidize the union at taxpayers’ expense or provisions that mandate the deduction of political funds from union member paychecks? Who does the public education system serve, anyway - parents & taxpayers, or employee interest groups?

The ability to say whatever you want on the job - including as a teacher in the classroom - without employment sanctions is not protected by the First Amendment. How ironic, therefore, that this story should come hard on the heels of a study released showing that only one in four Americans can name more than one of the freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment. And how many of those Americans learned about civics, or U.S. history, or geography in a classroom taught by someone like Jay Bennish? What a vicious, and frightening, cycle.

Rather than let the investigation play out, Bennish and Lane have chosen to make a federal case out of this, virtually ensuring that it will stay hot in the media spotlight for quite awhile - which also means that if the case interests you, you should bookmark Mount Virtus to find ongoing analysis of developments in this case.

Other good reads:

Due to overwhelming popular demand, I thought I would respond to a couple commenters from my previous post on the gigantic Jay Bennish flap, and shed a little more light on the whole topic. When a story erupts and spreads through the media - old & new - as fast as this one has, the caution needs to be made that we don’t make hasty judgments that outstrip the evidence we have. Furthermore, we should promote a healthy, moderate, and reasonable tone to the debate. No one I have seen is calling for violence to be done against any of the parties involved, and that should hold for both supporters of Bennish and for those like me who admire the smart and courageous 16-year-old Sean Allen.

That being said, I think some judgments can be made in light of the extended and unedited nature of the recording (which has been played on every conservative radio talk show I observed today). Specifically, the following can be stated:
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