An important strategic decision and the decisive foreign policy issue before our leaders today: Do we listen to John Kerry and John Murtha, who follow the political winds, set an artificial timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. armed forces from Iraq? Or do we listen to the new, freely-elected Iraqi government, which in conjunction with coalition forces on the ground, has set a series of achievable benchmarks to determine the timing for foreign troop withdrawal and greater internal control? Read the essay in today's Washington Post by Iraq's national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie (HT: Austin Bay). Question for the Party of Retreat and Defeat ... why now? … [Read more...]
I’m Back
I've had a wonderful, week-long hiatus from blogging. Even as I resume, posts likely will be more sparse for awhile. After all, there's a new Little Virtus who has stolen Daddy's heart and needs more of his time. To get back into the spirit of things, an interesting Monday read comes from across the Pond: William Rees-Mogg of The Times of London writes about the impending downfall of General Motors. (HT: Real Clear Politics) Amazing stuff to contemplate - my family earned its living from GM - including the premiere health benefits that yours truly benefited from - and my dad still draws a pension from them. But globalization moves on to benefit more and more consumers, and GM appears unable to adapt. So be it. The world continues to … [Read more...]
Book Review: Tasty Red Meat for Red State Republican Families
The other night I lay in bed with my wife and weeks-old daughter. We snuggled up with a copy of Katharine DeBrecht's Help, Mom! Hollywood's in My Hamper, and I read aloud. My wife and I shared a few giggles throughout the story and dozed off (as best we could under the circumstances) with a warm feeling. The baby? Well, I'm pretty certain she'll appreciate the Help, Mom! series some day. I can picture her a few years from now tugging at my pant leg, pleading for me to read one of the sequels. And I can tell you right now - my whole family hopes for DeBrecht to publish some more that meet the quality of the first two. … [Read more...]
Truly Flattered
I'm amazed how much this Web site has become a curiosity. Jason Bane, the face of the Dead Governors' site, has included Mount Virtus in his inquiry into why the right side of Colorado's blogosphere seems less active for 5280 Magazine: Of all of the conservative, politically-active blogs out there in Colorado, Blog It Right and Mt. Virtus spend the most time talking politics on a local level. Mt. Virtus, run by a guy who works at the conservative Independence Institute, probably does the best job of keeping focused on local politics, but he sometimes goes weeks without posting something new.... It’s also interesting to compare the traffic to some of these blogs. On the conservative side, Blog it Right only averages about 28 visitors … [Read more...]
Next Time, Just Answer: “The Republicans”
From an April 2006 online forum to publicize his new book Painting the Map Red: Cleveland, Ohio: Who has a better chance of winning in 2006, the Republicans or the Cleveland Indians? Hugh Hewitt: I am not even sure why we are playing the 2006 season given the Tribe's overwhelming talent. Perhaps it is just for the joy of embarrassing the Yankees and Red Sox. Mr. Hewitt's baseball braggadocio certainly has abated in the past two months, both on air and on the blog. While I have no love lost for the AL East powerhouses, perhaps it's time to compare how the Indians are faring thus far with their division rivals, the Detroit Tigers. Tiger fans like myself have long awaited a season such as the way this one has unfolded so far, coming … [Read more...]
Tuesday Roundup in Colorado
President Bush is in town to speak at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden this morning. In fact, he will be down the street from my workplace. I have to run a work-related errand on my way in - I'll report later if there is anything to be seen. Yesterday Governor Bill Owens made his signature the 100,000th on the petition drive for First Class Education, which would make school districts spend 65 percent of their operating budgets in the classroom. This issue looks to be a big winner, especially for the GOP, and the interest groups (including teacher and administrator unions) are in a tizzy. Finally, in the latest textbook example of why a Democrat statehouse majority is bad for Colorado business, SB066 passed the … [Read more...]
Littwin Joins “Dump Hanna” Chorus
The notable Rocky Mountain News center-left political columnist Mike Littwin has joined the chorus of those calling for disgraced Democrat State Senator (and alleged extortion artist) Deanna Hanna to resign from her Lakewood seat: She can resign now. Or she can resign later. But, one way or the other, she has to go. The typewriting is on the wall - and it's as clear as an extortion note written in bright red crayon. It's one thing to survive a political embarrassment. I mean, it could have been worse: She could have shot someone. But it's another to survive when you've become a major political liability for your party. The Senate Democrats I've talked to are more than prepared to dump her. The question is whether Hanna is … [Read more...]
A Campaign of Ideas
Update, 4:53 PM: I just received a recorded phone call from Lola Spradley calling on Republicans to denounce a nasty attack ad the Beauprez campaign apparently has aired against Marc Holtzman on KOA today. I haven't been tuned into KOA today ... anyone who has heard said ad, please comment or send me an email. What timing that I should publish this post this morning! My statement regarding "how few of us there are actually paying attention" may be moot at this point. Leaving aside the nature of the attacks (though judging from recent output, it could be as bad as the recorded message made it sound), does anyone want to offer their insights why Beauprez is pulling out heavy artillery against Holtzman so early ... more than two weeks … [Read more...]
Ambition “On Steroids”
Once in awhile I read Rocky Mountain News editor Vince Carroll's "On Point" column and just have to say "Ditto." Today is such a day: No one who runs for governor is unambitious, and everyone who runs is a risk-taker willing to throw the dice. But in Holtzman's case, ambition and risk-taking seem to have been on steroids the past few months. They've propelled him into scorched-earth tactics that now conclude with a clever legal argument for why the high court should ignore the plain language of the law. Ronald Reagan, Holtzman's hero, believed "it was the role of the judge to interpret the law, not to pre-empt the rights of the people and their legislatures by making the law" (October 1987). Holtzman no doubt believed this, too - … [Read more...]
Illegal Immigration: The Democrats’ Millstone?
More analysis later, but this story from the Rocky Mountain News speaks for itself: yesterday, statehouse Democrats voted party-line in committee to kill seven bills that tackled the issue of illegal immigration head-on. Examples? - One bill prohibited giving public contracts to businesses that knowingly hire illegals - One bill authorized training of local law enforcement in the recognition and detention of illegals - One bill required employers to learn how to verify worker eligibility and fire those found ineligible It will be important to remember come November which party blocked these and other important immigration reforms at the State Capitol: the Democrats. … [Read more...]
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