Mount Virtus

"Happy to come back to Michigan, but I miss the mountains!"

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Home Archives for General

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Lt. Col (Rep.) Rice off to Iraq

Godspeed to Lt. Col. (and state representative) Joe Rice, who will be deployed to Baghdad for a three-month stint starting in October, as reported today in the Denver Post's Politics West: Rice, who has three young children, said he looks forward to getting the “feel of the street” in Baghdad. “Unless you are out there on the street, you just don’t get it,” he said. As an operations analyst, Rice will look for the best practices among reconstruction teams. He plans to spend a lot of time with the Iraqi police force. Rice, who has been in the Army for 23 years, said he didn’t think about asking for a special deployment exemption because he is a state lawmaker. I am honored to have met Rep. Rice in May 2006, before he … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, World Events

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Fleeting Influence

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. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, My Life, Random and Miscellaneous

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

Taking it to the Yankees

Though many on the team have been feeling under the weather, the Detroit Tigers came out on top of the New York Yankees last night, 8-5. Nothing like heading into the heart of the Evil Empire to win the first of a critical four-game set (unless it turns into a four-game sweep of the Bronx Bombers in their own backyard). And as the struggling bullpen is healing up and returning to normalcy (you can't come back soon enough, Zoom), let's go back out there, keep up the momentum, and beat the Yanks! … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, My Life, Sports and Leisure

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Ritter: Management or Labor?

I'm back (and feeling refreshed) from a weeklong blog vacation. My hope is that I have not lost my entire readership during that brief span. While I was gone, Rocky Mountain News editor Vince Carroll highlighted the illogic behind Democrat Gov. Bill Ritter's attempts to promote state employee unionization: Reminder to Gov. Bill Ritter: You’re in charge. No fooling. So if you want to “strengthen partnerships with snowplow drivers, prison guards and the other men and women who make up the state work force,” as your spokesman says, then by all means, do so. If they’re being overworked or mistreated, then put people in charge who’ll treat them right. If their suggestions and concerns are being ignored, find department heads … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General

2/7/2026 By Ben 3 Comments

Boulder Student Socialists Demand “God”-less Pledge

Update 2 (move to top): Michelle Malkin has picked up the story: Diversity worship? Check. Enviro-worship? Check. “Choice?” The kind that Planned Parenthood supports, no doubt, and not educational vouchers, I’m sure. File under: Reason number 10,000,000 to homeschool your children. Couldn't have said it better myself. Though we're left to wonder why the word "comrade" was omitted from the Student Worker pledge. Update: The latest version of the Rocky story contains a photo from this morning with the student club's banner showing a large red star - an unmistakable symbol. It's sad, these kids seem to have no idea what great evil was done and human misery caused in service to this symbol. You can also read their absurd … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Education, General

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Bullying Foes of “Free Choice”

This blog post and video from FreedomWorks are very revealing about the supporters of the so-called "Employee Free Choice Act" (H.R. 800). Then again, when is robbing workers of the secret ballot an act that favors "free choice"? Few bills debated by Congress have had such an Orwellian name. Amidst the intense interest in the immigration debate, the U.S. Senate votes tomorrow to close the debate on H.R. 800. While it appears highly unlikely that the threshold of 60 votes will be reached, it will be interesting to note who sides with common sense and worker privacy, and who sides to give privileges to special interest groups at the expense of an individual's power to choose. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, National Politics

2/7/2026 By Ben 4 Comments

Yankees Fan Dealing with Disappointment

It appears my last post has stirred up a little East Coast angst in my friend David Harsanyi, the genial libertarian and Denver Post columnist who for the most part is a very sensible, stand-up sort of guy. (Nobody's perfect.) Well, I may have dashed my chances at getting a free galley copy of his new book Nanny State to review - though there is no denying Harsanyi's ability to use clever and shameless self-promotion. I didn't realize that Harsanyi and I both shared a past as sportswriters - albeit he got to cover the World Series, and I was busy writing about high school track meets and Division II college football. The best part of this exchange is the sweet, sweet memories of last October and the Yanks' demise at the hands of the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, My Life, Random and Miscellaneous, Sports and Leisure

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

9/11

The last time our calendars turned to Tuesday, September 11, a day arrived that America will never forget. We reeled in shock and horror at the immense magnitude of human tragedy and the terrible spectacle of giant symbolic man-made structures toppled into dust. Soon, we would be moved by remarkable acts of heroism and sacrifice - firefighters racing into the stairwells of the Twin Towers, the nameless passengers and crew of United 93. Six years have passed. Except for those whose lives or loved ones were touched directly by the evil al-Qaeda attack, the sting has largely worn off. Our resolve to defend Western Civilization and the American ideal against the Islamofascist ideology of mass murder has waned (look at what is taught in so … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Commemorative, General, World Events

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Gang of Four: Spencer vs. Sharf

If you're a Colorado political junkie but not a regular reader of the Denver Post's Gang of Four group blog, you really should be. Head over there now and catch up on the debate stemming from MoveOn.org's attacks against General Petraeus, between guest bloggers Jim Spencer on the Left and our buddy Joshua Sharf on the Right. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, National Politics

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Col. (Sen.) Ward Bound for Iraq

Godspeed and Semper Fi to Marine Colonel (and state senator) Steve Ward, whom the Denver Post reports today is being deployed to Iraq for a short-term assignment: Ward expects to be in Iraq - probably Anbar province in the western part of the country - by late August or early September. "I'm assuming Anbar," Ward said when asked where he will be stationed. "I go where they send me." The short-term assignment to help Iraqis set up a democratic government is scheduled to end in time for Ward to fill his state Senate seat when the assembly reconvenes in January. Ward was appointed to the state Senate to replace Sen. Jim Dyer, who resigned after he was elected in November to the Arapahoe County Board of Commissioners. I met … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, World Events

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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

  • American Thinker
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Completing the Blogroll

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Christian Commentary et al.

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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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