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Home Archives for General

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

Getting the Whole Story Behind Ritter’s Climate Action Plan

The story behind Gov. Ritter's Climate Action Plan? A Face the State report today says there's more than meets the eye. Here's the heart of it:[Climate Strategies Watch director Paul] Chesser said his research has shown that a CCS-created template ends up pushing the same costly policy agenda in most or all the different states in which it has operated. Its prescriptions regularly include carbon taxes, cap-and-trade regulations, and renewable energy mandates.“The whole stakeholder process has been granted a credibility that it does not deserve,” he said. “It’s a fixed process created, controlled, and run by CCS, and funded by global warming alarmist advocates, which calls everything it does into question.” In addition to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Hysteria, Colorado Politics, General Tagged With: Center for Climate Strategies, Climate Action Plan, Climate Strategies Watch, Eco-Orthodoxy, Face the State, Gov. Bill Ritter, MSM, Paul Chesser

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Happy Leap Day Everyone, Especially to All Ye Leaplings

It's not often we get to wish one another Happy Leap Day - the only other time for this blog was in the very early days of its existence. So let's celebrate the opportunity to catch our calendars up to the earth's solar revolution schedule, and enjoy the irony of what this day means. One of my favorite February 29 memories comes from my freshman year in college, walking to the buildings on "the Hill" and seeing homemade signs posted urging us to wish fellow student Sam a happy 5th birthday. No, Sam - whom I later got to know and appreciate for his good nature and good humor, not to mention his artistic and literary gifts - wasn't some sort of amazing prodigy. He was what Wikipedia informs me is called a "leapling." Another "leapling" is … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Commemorative, General, My Life, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: Leap year, leaplings

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Presidents Day

Maybe some of you get a paid holiday from work to celebrate the likes of Martin Van Buren, Franklin Pierce, Benjamin Harrison, Warren G. Harding, and Gerald Ford, but not this think-tank scribbler. Yet even though it'll be like a normal day of work for me, that won't stop me from wishing you all a very low-key, lukewarm, and laid-back Presidents Day. Happy Monday to the rest of us. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Commemorative, General, My Life Tagged With: Presidents Day

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Good Reading Today from Corry and Kaminsky

Two of my prolific-writing Colorado friends have pieces published today that are well worth reading. Though I'm short on time to elaborate extensively, let me just point you in their direction: First, Jessica Corry highlights an underhanded liberal tactic to deceive voters about Ward Connerly's Colorado Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI) by placing a contradictory copycat on the ballot. Here's a clip:The CCRI reads: "Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution concerning a prohibition against discrimination by the state, and, in connection therewith, prohibiting the state from discriminating against or granting preferential treatment to any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, National Politics Tagged With: Colorado Civil Rights initiative, conservativces, Human Events, Jessica Corry, John McCain, Kevan McNaught, liberal deception, Mark Hillman, Ross Kaminsky, Ward Connerly

2/7/2026 By Ben 4 Comments

Fred Speaks, Voters Listen

Fred Thompson delivers a 17-minute video message to Iowa voters, indeed all Americans, on the eve of the caucus and the first ballots cast in the 2008 Presidential contest. Conservatives and independent-minded voters who are willing to give serious deliberation to the Presidential election, and all those who are undecided or uncertain in their support for a candidate (not the Hugh Hewitts of the world - whose fingers are perpetually lodged in their ears while they loudly mumble, "La la la la la, Mitt Romney, la la la la la ... I can't hear you ... Romney, Romney, Romney") need to view this message. If you haven't watched it yet, why not? … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, National Politics Tagged With: Fred Thompson, presidential primary

2/7/2026 By Ben 3 Comments

McCain Needs to Woo Conservatives

Since last night's results make it increasingly apparent that Sen. John McCain is not only the Republican front-runner but its putative nominee-to-be, here are some thoughts. Exit polls confirm the obvious - that McCain has a lot of work to do to woo conservatives. Mary Matalin (via KJ Lopez at the Corner) has some concrete ideas for what the McCain campaign can do to make it happen: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, National Politics Tagged With: Barack Obama, conservatives, CPAC, DNC Convention, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Mark Tapscott, Mary Matalin, National Review, punditocracy

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

More Iowa Caucus Predictions

After yesterday's foray into forecasting the results of today's first presidential balloting of 2008, you can find more Iowa caucus prediction contests over at Election Projection. Interesting stuff - check it out. If you're a political junkie but don't check in with Scott Elliott ("The Blogging Caesar") from time to time, you're really missing out. Also, you can toss your hat into Patrick Ruffini's Townhall Iowa Caucus Pool. Most contests, including the one hosted by the Rocky Mountain News, stop taking entries after 6 PM Eastern or 4 PM Mountain. Then we can watch the real results roll in, and find out which pundits earn bragging rights and which will eat humble pie. Go, Fred, Go! … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, National Politics Tagged With: presidential primary

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

Mount Virtus Turns Four

I launched Mount Virtus four years ago today. On February 6, 2004, I was a complete neophyte in the world of blogging. Today, I am practically a blogging grandfather, but far from the bigtime. A lot has changed in four years. My how heady those early days were - ready to change the world, waiting for the 1,000th visitor, thrilled to receive a link or comment from anyone. (Someone noticed what I wrote?) Over the years, I've taken occasional breaks (never too long) from putting up posts here, and once or twice even contemplated letting it go. But here we are, two election cycles later, still hovered over my laptop, wearing my pajamas, typing away, trying to share a serious thought here and there. Okay, time to ditch the sentimentality … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Commemorative, General, My Life Tagged With: 4th birthday, Mount Virtus

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Brief Iowa Postmortem

Update: Other members of the Rocky Mountain Alliance have weighed in: The Daily Blogster Best Destiny Exvigilare Thinking Right And one from another great conservative Colorado blogger: Slapstick Politics I have neither the time nor the inclination to weigh in on all the vast amounts of political analysis following yesterday's Iowa caucuses (or as Red State colorfully put it, the Hawkeye Caucii). But I will observe how troublesome it is for our nation and its two great political parties that (a little more than 6+ years after 9/11) last night's winners - Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee - are the respective Democrat and Republican candidates most unqualified in matters of foreign policy and most unserious about national security … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, National Politics Tagged With: Barack Obama, Fred Thompson, Iowa caucuses, John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, presidential primary

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

Second Chance for McCain?

Yesterday, immediately following his successful Super Tuesday showing, I wrote that McCain needs to woo conservatives. A few hours later, we got this:Republican John McCain, buoyed by Super Tuesday wins that pushed him closer to the nomination, told his conservative critics Wednesday to dial back the animosity and focus on issues where they agree. ''I do hope that at some point we would just calm down a little bit and see if there's areas we can agree on,'' McCain said at a news conference in a Phoenix airport hangar. [emphasis added] Not exactly a great start. In fact, it sounds a lot like the same old patronizing bit conservatives are used to hearing from Sen. McCain. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, National Politics Tagged With: calm down, CPAC, John McCain, Republican Party

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About Me

Ben DeGrow
Grateful and growing Christian, devoted husband and father of 3, public policy analyst, returned to Michigan by way of Colorado, conservative writer, lifelong learner, Detroit Tigers fan.

Recent Posts

  • AI-Enhanced Cyberbullying: The Dark Side of Teen Innovation
  • My Baker’s Dozen of Top 2023 Reads
  • Common Learning Disabilities in Children
  • Tips to Teach Kids to Set and Achieve Goals
  • The Christmas Music Countdown You’ve Been Looking For: 2022 Edition

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Blogs Extraordinaire

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Completing the Blogroll

  • Alarming News
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Christian Commentary et al.

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Other Sites

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Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0

  • Reclaim the Blue
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To Contact Me:
bendegrow-at-gmail.com

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