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Home Archives for General

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

MSM’s Eerie Silence over Political Progress in Iraq

Ed Morrissey at Captain's Quarters tackles the MSM's eerie silence over a major development of political progress in Iraq: Let's say we're at war, and we're waiting for some specific action to take place to show us that our efforts are succeeding. Add in that the war itself would be rather controversial and that our political class is split as to whether we will ever see that specific action take place. Imagine that Congress and the White House have scheduled a showdown in the next couple of weeks to determine how much longer we will wait for that development. Now imagine that the specific action for which we've waited actually occurs. Where would you think that story appear in Washington's biggest newspaper? Read the whole piece at … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, National Politics, World Events

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

For Rent to DNC Delegates?

Today the Rocky Mountain News runs a story about metro-Denver area residents advertising their apartments or homes for rent during next year's Democratic National Convention, and the outrageous prices they're demanding: Toby was one of 61 people in the Denver area with ads posted on Craigslist as of Wednesday, offering up their homes or apartments for rent during the week of the convention. Prices ranged from $1,200 for a one-bedroom Capitol Hill apartment, up to $50,000 for a two-bedroom historic loft in LoDo. Sure, you could try to stay in one of the 17,000 rooms the Democratic National Convention Committee has blocked off for the 35,000 people expected to flock to the convention. But wouldn't you prefer a little more room to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, My Life, National Politics

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Waiting Too Long for Thompson?

With news of the GOP presidential primary non-candidate Fred Thompson's hiring of a trusted campaign manager comes this insight (maybe it's appeared elsewhere previously, but I haven't seen it): Thompson is expected to officially enter the race Labor Day week... Having watched previous rumors of entries in May and July gone by, I am truly in a "wait and see" stance. This Republican primary voter and activist remains firmly undecided. Politico's Jonathan Martin reports the former U.S. Senator and erstwhile "Law and Order" TV star is planning his first campaign-related visit to Iowa on August 17. As Martin suggests, this might signal a shift from earlier talk that he was planning to bypass the January caucuses. I'm guessing Mitt Romney's … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, National Politics

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

Cartoon Double Standards

In a story reminiscent of the Danish Mohammed cartoon protests, numerous American newspapers (at least 25, according to reports collected by Michelle Malkin) have refused to print this week's edition of "Opus" because it's potentially offensive to Muslims: [Writers Group comics editor Amy] Lago said she flagged some of the syndicate's newspaper clients for two reasons: because of the possibility that the jokes about Islam would be misconstrued and because of the sexual innuendo in the punchline. "The strip came in and I knew we would have to send out an alert to all the newspapers," Lago said. "I do that fairly regularly with materials that might pose issues for local areas. ... We knew that because it was a sex joke, it could raise … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, General, World Events

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Rocky Mtn News: Thumbs Up to Ask First and Good Government

For your edification, in case you missed it, a great lead editorial from the Rocky today: Somewhat surprisingly, "paycheck protection" is back. And it's encouraging to see that even with a union-friendly governor and a Democratic legislature, this time the campaign could have lasting consequences. Attempts to end the automatic deduction of union dues from paychecks without the prior consent of individual employees have generally gone nowhere. Legislation has failed. So have proposed ballot initiatives. The only paycheck protection measure that had any impact on automatic dues deductions - a 2001 executive order from Gov. Bill Owens that covered state employees - was rescinded by Gov. Bill Ritter this year. The latest foray, however, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Dubious Anti-Right-to-Work Poll Fits Strategic Labor Agenda

Yesterday the Dead Governors touted the coincidentally-timed release of an April survey of Colorado voters showing alleged opposition to a right-to-work initiative at 56 percent to 36 percent support. Not surprisingly, Jason Bane and company appear to be carrying water for leaders in the union coalition, who are worried about having to spend money to defeat right-to-work and thus are trumping the dubious results of the RBI Strategies poll: Without including the words “Right to Work” in the ballot title or language, there is little support among Colorado voters for this potential initiative. Predictably, the opposition to the initiative is strong among Democrats (65% are against). However, even a majority of unaffiliated voters oppose … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General

2/7/2026 By Ben 4 Comments

“We’re All 49th”: Colorado TABOR-Bashing, Northwest Style

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 … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, Random and Miscellaneous

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Colorado Democrat Partisanship

Michael at Best Destiny made a great catch today, courtesy of Captain Ed, about the more pronounced partisanship of Colorado's Democrat Congressional delegation. Almost 96 percent of the time, the quartet of Diana DeGette, Mark Udall, Ed Perlmutter, and John Salazar vote along with Nancy Pelosi. As Michael points out, Bob Schaffer needs to trumpet the notable statistic that Boulder liberal Udall has earned his moniker by voting party line 95.1 percent of the time. Put precisely, Udall is 95.1 percent Pelosi pure. Of course, liberal elite orthodoxy has tried to teach us that only Republicans can be "partisan." Voting with the Democrat agenda makes them "bipartisan." This implied double standard in the world of politics has been around … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, National Politics

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Be Gracious to the Left: Let Them Know the Weekend is Here

Readers of my blog, you may consider sending a sympathy card (or e-card) to SquareState's Luis and his Lefty friends. As he tells us, they've had a rough week. The immigration amnesty bill died (and still he blames Bush!), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against racial discrimination, and a Colorado court refused to overrule the parental consent requirement for minor abortions. Hey, look, in the rough-and-tumble world of politics and public policy, any of us can have a bad week from time to time. Last November was particularly unpleasant for those of us of a more conservative persuasion. So please consider, in the spirit of graciousness and magnanimity, letting a liberal near you know that the weekend is here and that next week is certain … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, Colorado Politics, General, National Politics

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Denver Post: Udall out of Step with “Western Values”

A scathing editorial in yesterday's Denver Post calls out Colorado Democrats for bowing to Big Labor with their support of HR 800, the poorly-named Employee Free Choice Act (read here, here and here). Though all Democrats in the state's delegation voted for the bad legislation, the Post specifically singled out bill co-sponsor Boulder liberal Mark Udall - the man who would be U.S. Senator- first for his anti-business agenda: The proposal, which passed the House with support from Rep. Mark Udall, contained an offensive and little-known provision that would have allowed a government arbitrator to impose a two-year contract on businesses and workers that actually specified wages and working conditions. Neither the employer nor the workers … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, National Politics

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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
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  • Tips to Teach Kids to Set and Achieve Goals
  • The Christmas Music Countdown You’ve Been Looking For: 2022 Edition

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