A hate crimes bill has passed through the US House (H.R. 1913) and is now before the Senate (S. 909).  Basically, a hate crimes bill makes not only actions done against others criminal, but also the motives behind the actions.

The bill in question would make it an extra crime to commit crimes against people due to a hatred of their sexual orientation (includes homosexuality, pedophilia, being normally married, etc.), or a number of other things (such as race and religion).  I would like to suggest two basic problems with hate crimes legislation:

1. The hate crimes bill/concept breaks one of the fundamental principles of our country, equal intrinsic human value:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. (more…)

From 9News:

Sure, he stuttered on occasion. He said strange things from time to time. But Rick Duncan was passionate about veterans in the state of Colorado. He told anyone who wanted to listen that he had served in Iraq on three occasions. That gave him an unofficial license to talk to journalists, politicians, and civilians about the war.

So, many people simply ate it all up.

The only problem was that Duncan wasn’t actually a Marine, a Naval Academy graduate, or a wounded Iraq War Veteran, according to those who have looked into his background.

His name, according to the Denver Sheriff’s Department, isn’t even Rick Duncan. It’s Rick Strandlof, and as of Thursday afternoon, Strandlof remained inside a Denver County Jail cell.

He was arrested earlier in the week on an El Paso County traffic warrant. His bond has been set at $1,000.

(more…)

If there is anyone currently in the U.S. Senate of whom I would consider myself a fan, Jim DeMint of South Carolina would be on that short list. I understood where he was coming from but found it a little disconcerting when he said: “I would rather have 30 Republicans in the Senate who really believe in principles of limited government, free markets, free people, than to have 60 that don’t have a set of beliefs.”

What a great relief then to see Senator DeMint’s excellent column in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal — what I consider an opportunity to revise and extend his remark. His rhetoric is blunt, and his analysis is clear: (more…)

As promised in the closing moments of this week’s edition of Rocky Mountain Alliance Blog Talk Radio, here is information on this Saturday’s event “Conservatism Is Not a Dirty Word” (PDF), co-sponsored by the Denver University College Republicans and Denver Women’s Republican Club.

• When? Saturday, May 9, 10 AM to noon
• Where? Lindsay Auditorium, Sturm Hall, University of Denver
• What? Panel discussion, followed by Q & A
• Who? The panel features Republican National Committeeman and former state senator Mark Hillman, Aurora city councilman and likely U.S. Senate candidate Ryan Frazier, talk radio host and assertiveness trainer Karen Kataline, past chairman of the Colorado Republican Business Coalition Jim Noon, Step 13 founder Bob Cote, and yours truly

For more information, contact: Jan Bonnett, DWRC 303-815-8950 or jan@janbonnett.net; Kevin Poyner, DU College Republicans 719-337-3026 or kpoyner@du.edu. Hope to see you there!

I will not deny that the Republican Party (nationally and locally) has had its share of problems and dysfunctions in the recent past. My purpose here is not to write an in-depth treatise analyzing the causes, suffice it to say that a gross lack of fiscal responsibility and a glaring absence of fealty to other mainstream conservative ideas played major roles.

But let’s be honest: the Party deserves little if any of the blame for the Arlen Specter defection. The man is far less principled than the average member of Congress, and that’s saying a lot. Specter’s party switch (and his ham-handed, self-serving approach in doing so) showed a lack of respect to the voters of Pennsylvania, and to the intelligence of the average American.

That being said, the GOP does have its share of problems. (more…)

No day, week, or month passes that isn’t officially commemorated for some reason. Take April, the month we’re in for a few more days: What have you done the last 27 days to honor National Poetry Month, Stress Awareness Month, or even Fresh Florida Tomato Month? That’s what I thought …

In the meantime, there are important causes that definitely deserve greater awareness, like this one: Limited Government Week. If you can get down to Colorado Springs anytime in the next few days, you may find one or more valuable events to attend. The highlight is a Tuesday dinner with keynote speaker Amity Shlaes, author of The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression (an excellent book). For more details on the week’s activities, go here.

Why limited government? As James Madison succinctly wrote in Federalist #51:

But what is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.

An honest assessment and understanding of human nature makes the case. As much as the more devout elements of the hopey-changey crowd might believe otherwise, Barack Obama is not an angel. Since we are not governed by angels, we need limited government.

If you can’t make any of the Colorado Springs events, I at least hope your awareness of Limited Government has been raised — as well as your desire to stand up for this important principle.

A quick-hit double-link in the form of two recent essays I recommend as timely and relevant reading for thoughtful lovers of liberty:

• “The Welfare State and the Meaning of Life” by Greg Forster, whose work I have come to know through his excellent research and analysis of school choice issues, but in this case makes a strong moral case against socialism
• “Ron Paul’s Secession Lies on Video” by libertarian lawyer and thinker Tim Sandefur, a college classmate of mine who delivers a remedial lesson in United States history and the Constitution to the Congressman and former presidential candidate … It’s one thing to speak up loudly against federal overreaches and for a renewed respect of the 10th Amendment, it’s quite another to call for unilateral secession from the Union (There is one sentence in Sandefur’s essay that I must disparage: Find it, and earn yourself a few bonus points)

Lovers of liberty need to be articulate and discerning, especially in these critical times.

I couldn’t resist commenting on this one – from the Wall Street Journal‘s Best of the Web:

“What if it was ‘Oh, the gay one,’ or ‘Oh, the Asian kid?’ ” asks Maggie Kwok, head of the Penn State Veterans Organization in an interview with the Daily Collegian, PSU’s student newspaper. She is referring to a “training video,” prepared by the university’s Counseling and Psychological Services office, depicting “worrisome student behavior.”

The office swiftly removed the video when it prompted a kerfuffle, but the PSU College Republicans preserved it on YouTube. It’s a fascinating documentation of academic prejudice.

Why bring this one up? I find the video not only bizarrely condescending in the generic sense, and for all the cogent reasons James Taranto elaborates on if you read the whole piece.

But there’s also the personal connection. For two years I worked as a teaching assistant at none other than (you guessed it) Penn State. (more…)

Blogging for the Heritage Foundation, Conn Carroll points readers to a clear litmus test between the Left and the Right.

If you followed that link and said, “Hey, that’s not a bad idea, why didn’t I think of that?” — it’s pretty safe to say you’re on the Left. On the other hand, if you laughed out loud and/or your stomach turned upon reading it, you must be on the Right.

But here’s my thought: If we’re going to be showing our gratitude for painful certainties that show no sign of abating, why not a campaign to get people to say Thanks for this?

Over at RedState, Erick Erickson makes a great point about rebuilding the conservative movement that can be applied to Colorado:

In the past few years, SEIU, AFL-CIO, NEA, DCCC, and a host of other left-wing organizations have been buying ads on left of center blogs keeping those blogs going — allowing the bloggers on the left some financial incentive to keep blogging for the left….

In addition to all of that, you’ve got the Soros gang and SEIU engaging in a host of left-wing activities online that recruit and fund online writers — bloggers, journalists, etc….

Every day in Washington, there is some right-wing group somewhere bemoaning the efforts of the right online. Sadly, for them and the rest of the right, their first thought is “let’s do it ourselves”, instead of “let’s invest in the existing talent.” Until the second becomes the first, the right will keep meeting in private to bemoan its (in)effectiveness online.

Conservative business owners and operators in Colorado, take heed. Sure, I’m always glad to take on advertisers (at a modest rate), but if you aren’t necessarily keen on my site there are other members of the Rocky Mountain Alliance and People’s Press Collective.

Just a thought … Now back to your regularly scheduled blogging.

My name is Ryan Morgan and, at the kind request of Ben, I will be guest posting from time to time on this blog. 

A 21-year-old resident of Arvada, I was home educated and have a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (focus in general management) from Thomas Edison State College.  I am a developer at a small software firm.

I am a Bible-believing Christian, not associated with any particular denomination, but with an experiential belief in forgiveness of sin solely through faith in Jesus Christ’s blood atonement at Calvary and His resurrection from the dead.

I am a conservative first and a Republican second.  I believe in limited, effective government; adequate (strong) national defense; and laws based on Biblically moral principles.

Through my participation in this blog and the discussion that grows from it, I hope both your and my understanding of the truth will be increased.  As Winston Churchill said:

“Truth is incontrovertible; malice may attack it and ignorance may deride it; but, in the end; there it is.”

The true goal of our discussion must be to learn and teach it.

It seems Colorado’s own David Harsanyi is getting some national attention for his column-writing talents. Witness “The 30 Best Conservative Columnists for 2009″ list compiled by John Hawkins of Right Wing News. David breaks in at number 22.

Yes, David is a native New Yorker and not really from Colorado. (Then again, few of us really are from Colorado.) But he’s certainly made a name for himself while on the editorial board of the surviving Denver Post. Some of us even can say we knew him “when”. You can find his columns here and his blog contributions here.

Of course, Michelle Malkin – who regularly graces the lists of top conservative columnists and comes in at number 7 on the latest – is officially a Coloradan as of last summer.

I’d say that, all in all, Colorado is well represented on the list of today’s top conservative writers.

Too much good stuff out there, too little time. Here’s a quick Wednesday morning roundup of the best from the Colorado blogs (in no particular order):

• Rocky Mountain Right brings attention to Governor Bill Ritter’s lavish overseas business trip on Colorado taxpayers’ dime during a very tight budget situation
• Now your 10 dollars (or more) can go a lot further in helping the Independence Institute promote transparent government in Colorado
• Rossputin points to a hilarious Scott Ott spoof on embryonic stem cell research and global warming (did he read yesterday’s post?)
• Michael at Best Destiny observes some irony from Al Gore concerning global warming and moon landings
• Rossputin also points to Gateway Pundit’s detailed litany of the abomination that was the first 50 days of the Obama presidential administration … It can’t get worse, right?
• Getting more specific, Joshua bids an unflattering adieu to another failed Obama nomination: Chas Freeman
• Julian Dunraven details the Obama administration’s ongoing diplomatic faux pas
• Both Slapstick Politics and The Drunkablog are keeping tabs on the Ward Churchill trial so you don’t have to
• Sean Paige (aka The American Contrarian) offers a tongue-in-cheek idea for another mandate our Democratic state legislature could propose
• At The Colorado Index, Civil Sense lauds the ongoing alternative work of recently displaced Rocky Mountain News writers

The Colorado blogosphere is certainly on a roll… and then some. I’m sure I’ve missed other good entries, but this is probably more than enough to keep you busy for awhile.

This morning you can read the Denver Post‘s glowing “DeGette relishes stem-cell research triumph” by Michael Riley – in which the only dilemma is not the ethics of harvesting cells from dead unborn babies (or now, thanks to President Obama, spending taxpayer money to do so) but to what extent Denver’s liberal Congresswoman will have a successful political career now that her pet issue has been passed into law.

Or, if you actually want a thoughtful and critical approach to the issue, you can go back and refresh yourself with Yuval Levin’s masterful deconstruction of Diana DeGette’s book Sex, Science, and Stem Cells (H/T David Harsanyi).

I hope that the Post isn’t trying to imply from Riley’s article today that the ethical debate concerning embryonic stem-cell research is over (especially given the breakthroughs with adult stem cells), any more than many among the media, political and cultural elite are trying to tell us that the debate over anthropogenic global warming is over.

The observations made by the Denver’s archbishop are hardly anything new or unreasonable, but the Rocky Mountain News reports that his words are stirring up the blogs (which ones? not clear):

Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput told a Canadian audience this week that some Catholics are treating President Barack Obama with a “spirit of adulation bordering on servility.”

“In democracies, we elect public servants, not messiahs,” he said. [link added]

And:

“Americans, including many Catholics, elected a gifted man to fix an economic crisis. That’s the mandate. They gave nobody a mandate to retool American culture on the issues of marriage and the family, sexuality, bioethics, religion in public life and abortion,” he said. [emphasis added]

As Rossputin ably points out this morning, Barack Obama is far from doing the job we apparently elected him to do. The economy isn’t being “fixed”; instead, investor confidence and consumer confidence have tanked at the inept and overwrought statist intervention in the economy.

If electoral success is to be in their near future, Republicans need to do a better job of offering some commonsense, freedom-based solutions and reforms. Saying “No” to the bailouts and Obama’s other economic plans — or tossing tea into the harbor near 14th and Grant (aka the “Denver Tea Party”) — is only the start.