Mount Virtus

It seems like whenever another state proposes a taxpayer-friendly ballot measure, the big government crowd turns up the scare factor by looking at Colorado and dredging up the same discredited and refuted statistics [PDF - full disclosure: I am the author of the linked Independence Institute publication].

The latest round comes from Washington State, where proponents are pushing Initiative 960 to require lawmakers to reach a supermajority or receive voter consent in order to raise taxes. Admittedly, I don’t know a lot about the measure itself, though it sounds like a fine idea on its face.

What has me convinced that Washington State likely would benefit from the proposal is the fact that leading opponents have dug into the well of misleading arguments, using Colorado as their trumped up case study. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer appears to be carrying the water for opponents. Writes lawyer and guest columnist Knoll Lowney:

I-960 is loosely patterned after a 1992 constitutional amendment enacted in Colorado. After its passage there, Colorado fell to 49th in education funding and dead last in the number of children who received their full vaccinations from disease. Ultimately, Colorado had to pull the plug on the failed experiment to start recovering its economy. That’s not what we want for Washington.

In the Post-Intelligencer blog, writer Chris McGann uncritically quotes a spokesperson for the Washington Education Association (WEA) (recently slapped down hard by a unanimous decision of the U.S. Supreme Court):

“When Colorado passed a measure with similar supermajority requirements, their education funding dropped to 49th in the nation,” said Mary Lindquist, President of the Washington Education Association. “It isn’t idle speculation, it’s fact: when you tie the hands of the legislature on their number one constitutional requirement, education funding, there will be effects in the classroom.”

(more…)

A fitting night for the Detroit Tigers to beat the Bo Sox in dramatic fashion – 3-2 in 13 innings. On 7/7/07, the game-winning hit came courtesy of #7, Pudge Rodriguez, off Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon.

Comerica Park sold 44,193 tickets to the game – standing room only and a near record for the 7-year-old stadium. Sellouts have become the norm in the Motor City, where just four seasons ago the Tigers flirted with record futility.

Now reigning American League champs, the team closes in on the All Star break in a first-place tie with Cleveland, despite having a decimated bullpen. Detroit’s manager captured the city’s love affair with the game, echoing statements I used to make regularly back when the team wandered in the wilderness of bad management and mediocre to sub-par talent (do you believe me now?):

“I know that this is one of the best baseball cities in the nation, there’s no doubt about that,” [Jim] Leyland said.

The crowds are great for Leyland; he admitted he gets goosebumps anytime a capacity crowd gives the team a standing ovation in the ninth inning, but he is most proud of the fact that the Tigers have appeared to lay a foundation that will make them a successful franchise for the long term.

Following last night’s 9-2 thumping of Boston, Detroit News sports columnists Bob Wojnowski and Lynn Henning penned words that are beautiful to read for this displaced Michigander:

Baseball dominates in Detroit, and you should take a moment to ponder that, before you resume fretting about the bullpen. The Red Wings and Pistons struggled to sell out playoff games. The Lions struggle to recall what a playoff game is. The Tigers sell out regular-season games with regularity.

People are attracted to a winner, naturally. But this goes a little deeper. The Tigers are winning with a healthy combination of stars and youth and even some style. They’re still somewhat new, but this is what separates them from their Detroit sports brethren: The Tigers have the potential to be dominant in every area.

OK, we’ll temper the superlatives. But if you watched lean, lanky lefty [22-year-old phenom Andrew] Miller stymie the Bosox on three hits, and you watched Boston starter Julian Tavarez get so flustered, he was warned after hitting Gary Sheffield with a pitch, you know the Tigers can rattle anyone. [emphasis mine]

What’s more, five Detroit players headed to the All-Star Game to represent the American League? My friends, I was 8 years old the last time that happened. And I’m a little ways past “spring chicken”hood now.

It’s so much fun to be a Detroit Tigers fan again. A dozen (or more) long years of faithful anticipation are now being rewarded. May it be a dozen (or more) seasons of competitive success (a World Series title or two along the way would be sweet) for the Olde English D.

Sure, there are more important things in life than baseball. But not as many as you may think.

Only a handful of political insiders have even noticed – especially three Colorado blogs (leave a comment or send an email if you want to know which ones) bent on bringing down all GOP presidential candidates except the obscure also-ran Jim Gilmore – but there are some weird things being said at a site styled as an official Sam Brownback for President campaign blog. And news being slow as it is around a holiday, the Denver Post‘s Karen Crummy had a full-length story published on it today.

For those who have gotten a lot of mileage out of disparaging Senator Brownback based on the outlandish absurdity posted on the site in question – in other words, for those who have chosen to disbelieve the obvious – this may come as a startling revelation:

The operators of the two Brownback sites, which are hosted on a popular blogging site, have not publicly identified themselves. A posting allegedly from the site’s administrator appeared one day asking visitors not to forward “any comments with regard to racist language, personal abuse or civil- action suits” because it is not responsible for the content. The “Blogs 4 Brownback” site is a parody, the administrator said.

Of course, it’s a parody. An author continuing to treat its contents seriously risks the loss of any remaining credibility.

(Yes, it’s a slow day in this corner of Colorado’s blogosphere.)

Read William Bennett’s impassioned plea to teach kids the soul of American history once more, published today in National Review Online. I share Dr. Bennett’s passion: So many young Americans today are truly deprived in this respect.

Bennett explains:

Many of our history books are either too tendentious — disseminating a one-sided, politically correct view of the history of the greatest nation that ever existed; or, worse, they are boring — providing a watered down, anemic version of a people who have fought wars at home and abroad for the purposes of liberty and equality, conquered deadly diseases, and placed men on the moon.

And later:

In his farewell address to the nation, the large-minded amateur historian President Ronald Reagan warned of what we see in our nation’s report card today, saying “If we forget what we did, we won’t know who we are. I’m warning of an eradication of the American memory that could result, ultimately, in an erosion of the American spirit.” How much more dangerous is this now, as we fight a war for our very existence and expect young Americans to sign up and fight for a country and way of life worthy of their own lives? In the long run, why will future Americans want to stand up and fight for a country they do not even know — a country in which they are born aliens? How do we ask them to fight, and perhaps die, for a country they do not know?

Our history is full of controversy, suffering, struggling, overcoming, and winning. There is no reason to elevate its failings at the expense of its successes, nor is there reason to ignore its failings or, worse, turn it into a snooze-fest. The task is to tell the truth — but can we not do so in an interesting, lively, and glorious way — the way I know and have seen some teachers do?

There’s so much to discuss and explore in the themes Bennett raises in this article, but textbooks and teachers seem to be one great place to start. Let’s promote and reward the truly good ones.

Is this merely a pipe dream of mine that the Republic can yet be saved by educated young men and women who are inspired to really learn and understand our nation’s past, and write the next bold chapter in American history? Sigh. I hope not.

Interesting fact for the day: according to a newly-released study from the Reason Foundation, Colorado ranks 29th in the nation for the quality of its state highways – but still considerably higher than the only other two states I’ve lived in for any length of time (Michigan and Pennsylvania). Follow the link to find more information.

Lefty Cara DeGette at Colorado Confidential needs to read more carefully. Her recent diary on GOP State Chair Dick Wadhams’ recent visit to Montana painfully stretches to draw a contrast between his remarks to a Republican group in Big Sky Country with those quoted Monday in the Denver Post.

To make her “gotcha” point, she conflates two issues. In both venues, Wadhams made confident predictions for the Republican candidate to win Colorado’s electoral votes and for Bob Schaffer to win Colorado’s U.S. Senate race. The pessimism highlighted by the Post‘s Karen Crummy was that the GOP didn’t expect to take back the Colorado state legislature until 2010, a topic he didn’t address to the Montana audience.

No hard feelings, just a quick correction. It’s a forgivable mistake for amateur “independent” journalists like us.

The new rankings are out, and I’m shocked to say that somehow Mount Virtus has climbed the rankings to #1 in Blog Net News most influential Colorado political blogs. Frankly, I’m humbled. Of course, fame and influence are both fleeting. So I don’t expect it to last. But I’ll savor it for one week, at least. Also encouraging, my friend Michael at Best Destiny creeped up the ladder a bit to #9.

Update: The grill is SOLD! But you’re still welcome to stop by tomorrow (Saturday) during the day.

It’s garage sale time today and tomorrow at Mount Virtus. Not a ton of stuff to offer, but plenty of the usual books, clothes, and odds & ends.

BUT … if you or someone you know in the Denver area would like to be the owner of a mildly-used, Brinkman charcoal grill/smoker (needs replacement grates) for a VERY reasonable price, drop me a comment or an email. If one of our non-virtual customers hasn’t swept it up first, we’ll be ready to make a deal!

That’s all the blogging here for now.

FYI – in case you might be interested and able to attend:

Dr. Malik and Seeme Hasan are hosting an afternoon reception for Newt Gingrich and his American Solutions for Winning the Future this Thursday, June 21st, to be held at the Denver Center for Performing Arts from 4:00 pm to 6:15 pm.

If you’re interested in listening to Newt and learning more about American Solutions, please RSVP directly to Seeme at rsvpseeme@aol.com or 970.620.0391. Reservations are required for security purposes.

BlogNetNews has launched its rankings of the most influential Colorado political blogs, and Mount Virtus has been ranked number four. Heh. I’ll keep aiming higher. Most intriguing to me is that 3 of the top 5 and 5 of the top 10 are right-leaning blogs. It’s trade secrets, of course, but I’m curious what the BlogNetNews methodology is.

All that being said, I will continue to wield my (great? hmm…) influence wisely and carefully.

Spelling geeks of the world, re-unite: The finals of the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee appears on network television tonight for the 2nd consecutive year. The 2006 edition must have been enough of a ratings success to bring back an event once confined to the popular shadows.

Returning for his fifth and final year of bee eligibility, 13-year-old Samir Patel of Fort Worth, Texas, occupies most of the spotlight with the expectations that this might finally be his year. By the same token, there are several top-notch spellers from the United States and Canada with a legitimate chance to win the 80th annual Scripps Howard event. For its part, the Rocky Mountain News focuses our attention on 14-year-old Maithreyi Gopalakrishnan, the Superior girl who represents Colorado’s hopes going into today.

Be sure to check out the official Bee Blog from a journalist stationed to cover today’s semifinal action and tonight’s final round. He has handicapped some of his favorites and has his eye on the latest happenings on the stage and behind the scenes. (Who would have ever imagined a day of live-blogging spelling bees? Great stuff.)

My big brother the police officer has been recognized for his heroism above and beyond the call of duty (please read the whole article):

A Jefferson County police officer is being hailed as a hero for going beyond the call of duty and saving the life of a woman trapped inside a sinking car.

Brad Degrow become a police officer for the excitement, but never expected a March call that brought an experience he never imagined.

“One of the things that drew me to this job,” Degrow said, “you never know what’s going to happen today or tomorrow.”

My brother is mostly embarrassed at all the attention, which is why it’s my job to shine a little more light on his heroic deed. The Colorado branch of the DeGrow clan are all proud of you, Brad!

Last week was National Police Week – let’s not take for granted the important work the good men and women in blue perform to help keep us safe.

Can you imagine a world without America? Some of our English-speaking friends across the pond invite the world to do so, and the result won’t be pleasing to tyrants, self-loathers, or most university professors. Check out this quick, must-see video.

Whatever your opinion about climate change, you have to find this pairing of headlines in today’s Denver Post to be ironic:

“Report: Global warming man-made, unstoppable”

The world’s leading climate scientists said global warming has begun, is “very likely” caused by man, and will be unstoppable for centuries, according to a report by a group of hundreds of scientists.

“Powerful cold grips Front Range” -

If seven weeks of snow haven’t been enough, Denver set a new record this morning for cold when the mercury dropped to 18 degrees below zero.

If global warming is “man-made,” then we denizens of the Rocky Mountain region must really be slacking off to lead us to such frigid temperatures.

If global warming is “unstoppable,” then I guess Colorado is the place to be.

Oh, come on, my Lefty friends. Loosen up a bit and laugh at the obvious irony.

The Mighty Blizzard of ’06 came and went, wreaking havoc on the eastern half of Colorado. Official tallies say Arvada got 22 inches, but the Virtus ranch netted 24.5 inches. And it stopped just in time for winter to officially arrive. All right, then.

For those of us who have yet to invest in a gas-powered snow blower, there was plenty of opportunity for regrets today. But the arms are a bit stronger for doing this sort of work:

Before

After

My friends, this storm didn’t kill us (no reported fatalities that I’ve heard of), but many Coloradans have been made stronger from it.Tomorrow it’s an attempted return to “normalcy” – or the best semblance of it that can be made with a rear-wheel drive vehicle.

El Presidente has more pics from his blizzard vantagepoint.