Straight from the reporter's mouth Lynn Bartels, political writer for Denver's Rocky Mountain News, gives some personal insights in a long Q & A she had yesterday over at The Dead Governors website. Bartels proves to be candid, often witty and self-deprecating, but above all fair-minded. She may lean a little left of center but she's by no means an agenda-driven journalist. That being said, it is interesting to point out what Clay has already highlighted: Bartels stated flat out that Bob Beauprez can win any office in Colorado he runs for. That must have been a real downer for the Dead Governors and their "Draft Hick" campaign to get the Denver mayor on the statewide ballot. Another interesting passage in the interview is the … [Read more...]
Archives for April 2005
An Insecure Agenda
The homosexual advocacy group Equality Forum is organizing a celebration event at Philadelphia's Independence Hall on the 4th of July that will include commemorations of "gay icons in U.S. history," a recent news report says. Among the "outed" figures? You guessed it... Abraham Lincoln. "[Former N.J.] Governor [James] McGreavey showed mainstream Americans that homophobia has kept those who seek elected office in the closet," said Malcolm Lazin, executive director of Equality Forum. "These public officials include Abraham Lincoln, who saved the nation, emancipated slaves and founded the modern Republican Party." Lazin said he has read The Intimate Life of Abraham Lincoln. "As a gay man and an amateur American historian, I find the … [Read more...]
The Year of the Tigers-Indians Duel?
Memo to Hugh and other Cleveland Indians fans: it looks like my Detroit Tigers are calling out your team for a little mano e mano: "Forget the other teams," [Tigers designated hitter Dmitri] Young said to the strains of "Cripple Creek," "it's going to come down to us and Cleveland. No disrespect to the Twins and White Sox, I just feel that club, the doggone Indians, is going to be the thorn in our side. "That's our rival," he said. "There are a lot of parallels between us. We've progressed the same." I'm not sure I'm ready yet to subscribe to Dmitri's assessment: the conventional wisdom has me leaning towards believing that the Minnesota Twins are the team to beat in the American League Central. But the long baseball season has … [Read more...]
Interview Under the Belt
Thanks to all those who listened to my first live on-air radio interview - and thanks once more to Senator John Andrews and the crew of Backbone Radio for having me on the air and spending more time discussing my blog than I had anticipated. But I appreciate that! Welcome to all those who are making their first visit here as a result of the on-air mention. Be sure also to visit the main page of the Rocky Mountain Alliance and follow the links to read the quality writings of my fine cohorts. To find out more about the work of the Independence Institute's Education Policy Center, including the paper mentioned on Backbone Radio, go here. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions or comments about either my blog here, or about … [Read more...]
Radio Interview Tonight
I have been invited to be interviewed tonight on Backbone Radio with Senator John Andrews. If you're in the Denver metro area, tune in to 710 KNUS AM at 7:30 p.m. to hear us talk about the costliness of teacher strikes. I know you won't be going out to practice your golf game this evening, so it's either me or the TV movie of the week. I'll let you decide. If you're not in the Denver metro area, you can listen online by going to the 710 KNUS website and clicking on the "Listen Live" icon in the upper-right corner. The radio invitation comes on the heels of my Monday Speakout column - "Don't pay teachers for days on strike" - in the Rocky Mountain News. That opinion piece stemmed from my research which led to the Independence … [Read more...]
Songs for Snowy International Reflections
A log from snowed-in metro Denver... Have Americans again lost interest in international events? Has too much time passed since 9/11 and the subsequent Afghanistan and Iraq wars so that people think we've achieved some sort of detente, normalcy, or new Pax Americana? Have we overcome the naivete - so typical of our nation - regarding threats from abroad and political developments a half a world away? Many of those who spend lots of time online know that there are dozens of excellent bloggers keeping us regularly attuned to events in Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Iran, Afghanistan, North and South Korea, China, and elsewhere. Their work is tremendously appreciated, as I must confess my own tendencies to get absorbed with national and even … [Read more...]
“Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche” (but do they blog?)
It's a Friday, and I couldn't resist highlighting this Washington Tims story from yesterday on a new Harris survey that gives some not-so-shocking insights into what women want in their men. Some of the findings (with my comments in italics): • 75 percent of women said their ideal man buys his grooming products at a grocery store or drugstore, not a salon. A salon... what's that? • 72 percent of women said their ideal man spends his free time doing home-improvement projects. My wife prefers that I try to fix things when possible but realistically just hopes that I don't break anything in the process. • 41 percent of women said their ideal man spends his time watching sports. Yes, but only once in awhile... • 47 percent of women … [Read more...]
A Renewed Plea for Help
A couple of fine gentlemen from Northern Colorado - who are doing courageous, stand-up work to help parents and taxpayers take back their schools from the corrupt unions and their ties to the bureaucratic educational monopoly - need your help. I've written about them before. If nothing else, please take time to read the following letter from one of the two crusaders: Dear Friends: My name is Wayne Rutt. Together with Paul Marrick, I have filed a complaint with the Colorado Secretary of State against the Poudre Education Association. This is the teachers union in the Fort Collins school district. The hearing is scheduled for 9:00 AM on May 2, 2005, at 1120 Lincoln Street in Denver. As outlined in our complaint we believe that the … [Read more...]
Facts on Job Growth
The Rocky Mountain News highlights a report today that brings tremendous news to those who are invested in and those who enjoy the fruits of Colorado's economy: Colorado has cracked America's Top 10 in job growth just a year after ranking near the bottom - a performance called "a remarkable turnaround" by federal bank regulators. As you may recall, the lefty snarks at ProgressNow made such a big fuss over Colorado's recession-period job struggles from 2001 to 2003 after Governor Owens' State of the State speech in January. Anyone want to posit a theory as to how ProgressNow will explain this latest news development? I'd love to hear your comments. Here are a few I came up with: "Employers were hiring more workers in … [Read more...]
Forsyth-Sandoval Spotlighted
One day after I reported on leftist CSU-Pueblo professor David Sandoval's e-mail assault against conservative colleague Dan Forsyth, Rocky Mountain News editor has taken both men to task in a piece titled, "Profs acting badly." Another case of a faculty member unrepentantly out of line (and maybe soon to enjoy the spotlight - do the news pages and TV cameras have room for both Churchill AND Sandoval?). Another case of university administrators hamstrung by tenure. Hat tip to Real Clear Politics. … [Read more...]