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2/7/2026 By Ben 2 Comments

What I’m Thankful for #19: Baseball and the Legendary Ernie Harwell

This is one in a series of daily posts I conceived of writing many weeks ago while the election still raged on, as I looked for something to write about of more lasting value. The weeks leading up to Thanksgiving seemed perfectly appropriate for it. Just in case you wondered, the topics introduced are not necessarily in any particular order. I hope the series is of some small encouragement to you, even as my site traffic takes a dive. America's pastime. Come November, the crack of the bat and the roar of the crowd seem distant memories. But hope springs eternal in the heart of the baseball fan. For the 19th and penultimate edition of this thankfulness series, I want to express my gratitude for a game - yes, but not just any game. And … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, General, My Life, Random and Miscellaneous, Sports and Leisure Tagged With: alma mater days, backyard, Baseball, baseball cards, baseball fan, baseball initiates, bat, board game, character, cheating, collecting, college, color, Colorado Rockies, column, creed, democracy, Detroit, diehard fans, disease, enjoyment, Ernie Harwell, excerpts, faith, family room, game, Game 3, gratitude, group outing, Hillsdale College, Hillsdale Daily News, hope springs eternal, local league, memorable, memories, nostalgia, November, organized, pennants, penultimate, race, radio, roar of the crowd, Rockpile, scoreboard, series, Sherco, special, special impressions, thankfulness, Thanksgiving, The Game for All America, Tiger Stadium, Tigers, top row, trading, World Series

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Thanksgiving is Upon Us: Let’s Forego the Ridiculous Political Correctness

Thanksgiving Day is here tomorrow: A time to count our blessings and reflect on the faith of our forefathers OR a time to engage in ridiculous, politically-correct posturing at the expense of schoolchildren (H/T Michelle Malkin)? I'll take the former, thank you very much. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, Cultural Conservatism, General Tagged With: count our blessings, faith, Michelle Malkin, political correctness, reflect, ridiculous, schoolchildren, Thanksgiving Day

2/7/2026 By Ben 2 Comments

What I’m Thankful for #20: Vision

This is the last in a series of daily posts I conceived of writing many weeks ago while the election still raged on, as I looked for something to write about of more lasting value. The weeks leading up to Thanksgiving seemed perfectly appropriate for it, and now Thanksgiving Day is here. Just in case you wondered, the topics introduced have not necessarily been in any particular order. I hope the series has been of some small encouragement to you, even as my site traffic has taken a swan dive. It just occurred to me now that there is a small irony to this 20th and final post in this series. The topic being Vision. 20/20. Get it? Eh? Anyhow... Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained.... I think a lot … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, Commemorative, General, My Life Tagged With: 20 things, 20/20, affected, battles, bestowed, blessed, blinding handicap, computer screen, condition, Creator, desperate, distance, economic crisis, eyes, For the beauty of the earth, genetic inheritance, genetic testing, God, grandfather, gratitude, half-brother, humbly, installment, Jack Hutchings, Krista Kafer, macular degeneration, moment, perspective, physical foibles, pride, printed page, Proverbs, reads, reflect, remarkable story, remarkable vision, rich blessings, Savior, savor, small glimpses, spiritual vision, thankfulness, Thanksgiving, trivial things, vision

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

Democrat Leader Tapdances Around His Party’s Push to Kill Secret Ballot

After their impressive electoral victories, the Democrats on Capitol Hill are feeling their oats. Can you blame them? It's payback time to the Big Labor leaders who have bankrolled the campaigns of many a Congressional Democrat. Top of the list therefore? The unpopular and poorly-named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which would take away workers' rights to a secret ballot in union elections. Watch how House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland), appearing on Fox News Sunday, tapdances around Chris Wallace's question contrasting the union bill with the House Democrats' own procedures for electing officers within the caucus: "Why is a secret ballot okay, and desirable, for Congress, but you want to take it away from workers?" (H/T … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor, National Politics Tagged With: administration, bankroll, Betsy Markey, Big Labor, bon voyage, campaigns, Capitol Hill, caucus, Chris Wallace, Christmas, Colorado, Congress, Democrats, EFCA, elder statesman, elections, electoral victories, Employee Free Choice Act, employees, feeling their oats, fighting chance, filibuster, Fox News Sunday, George McGovern, Georgia, high priority, House Majority Leader, John Salazar, Kaiser, Karen Mayhew, Ken Salazar, leaders, Left, lottery jackpot, Mark Udall, Maryland, materials handler, Mike Ivey, Minnesota, Nancy Pelosi, Norm Coleman, payback, poorly-named, question, real workers, recount, Saxby Chambliss, secret ballot, Senate, Steny Hoyer, Strike One, trial lawyers, union bill, union elections, unpopular, video, workers' rights, Workplace Fairness Institute, YouTube

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Terrance Carroll, Josh Penry: Good Choices for Statehouse Leadership

Colorado soon will have a black Speaker of the House to go along with a black Senate President (Peter Groff). The Denver Post reports today that the Democratic caucus in the state house has thrown its support behind Denver's Terrance Carroll to replace Andrew Romanoff in one of the state's highest political positions. Moving beyond race, Carroll is someone with whom I obviously have many political disagreements. However, on the issue of school choice that I care about deeply, he is as good as the Democratic caucus has to offer. I feel a little better about the hope for defending and advancing gains in educational freedom with him at the helm than with the alternatives. But we'll remain diligent at our post. In other news, Republicans … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General Tagged With: adversary, Amy Stephens, Andrew Romanoff, Bill Ritter, black, Colorado legislature, comeback, Cory Gardner, Democratic caucus, Denver, Denver Post, educational freedom, fiscally conservative, good hands, Josh Penry, Laura Bradford, leadership posts, Mesa County, Mike Kopp, Mike Saccone, minority leader, newfound popularity, on track, political disagreements, Politicker, Republicans, round, school choice, Senate President, Speaker of the House, standing ovation, state house, state senate, Terrance Carroll, Western Slope

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

What I’m Thankful For #6: A Great God Who Gives (Many) Second Chances

This is one in a series of daily posts I conceived of writing many weeks ago while the election still raged on, as I looked for something to write about of more lasting value. The weeks leading up to Thanksgiving seemed perfectly appropriate for it. Just in case you wondered, the topics introduced are not necessarily in any particular order. I hope the series is of some small encouragement to you, even as my site traffic takes a dive. As a fallen creature bent on sinning, I deserve to be punished. God has every just right in the universe to count my sins and failures against me. The psalmist of thousands of years ago understood this well: Psalm 130:3-4 "If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, General, My Life Tagged With: Bible, characterized, divine attributes, earth, fallen creature, God, God's forgiveness, God's mercy, grateful, just right, license, meditation, presumptuous living, provided, Psalm 130:3-4, psalmist, punishment, second chances, sin, thankfulness, theological depths, universe

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

A Promising Step to Test the Bounds of Colorado Teachers Union Power?

My post-election commentary on the impact for teachers unions and education reform was published today in the Denver Post. A key section to whet your appetite:Peter Groff's Democratic peers voted to re-elect him as state Senate president, and Rep. Terrance Carroll was selected to become the new speaker of the House. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Education, General, Labor, My Life Tagged With: anti-teacher, associations, Bernie Buescher, bipartisan issue, bold choice, boundaries, charter schools, citizens, coercion, Colorado, Colorado Education Association, criticisms, Democrats, Denver Post, education reform, fear, honest, honest look, House Education Committee, Laura Bradford, leadership, legislative attacks, leverage, monopoly model, outside observers, outside the box, parents, Peter Groff, post-election commentary, practitioner, profession, professional guilds, promising step, public school choice, question, Republican, scholars, seminar, source, Speaker of the House, state legislature, state senate president, status quo, students, teacher organization, teacher unionism, teachers unions, Terrance Carroll, union power

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Great Resource: Election Neutrality Now

At Founders' Night I briefly met former Denver elections official Jan Tyler. She introduced me to her website Election Neutrality Now, a great resource on conducting clean and fair elections, as well as issues related to voter fraud. Jan had a Speakout in the Rocky Mountain News published a few days ago. It's also worth a read. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, My Life Tagged With: clean elections, Denver elections official, Election Neutrality Now, Founders Night, Jan Tyler, resource, Rocky Mountain News, Speakout, voter fraud

2/7/2026 By Ben 5 Comments

Whimsical Case for a “Progressive” Third Party to Replace the GOP

Are you up for a little distracting whimsy? A former elected official, Boulder attorney and self-proclaimed "former Republican" (one of the more popular descriptors being bandied about these days) offers this (over) dose of elitist smugness, painful self-indulgence, overwrought rhetoric, and selective historical knowledge:I was a Republican for 28 years. Like so many others who now vote Democratic, I didn’t leave the party — it left me. Based on the analyses of this month’s election, it also left college graduates, suburbanites and Hispanics in the red-state dust. The sad fact is that a map of the few counties that voted more Republican than they did in 2004 neatly overlays maps showing the nation’s highest rates of obesity, poverty … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Cultural Conservatism, Fiscal Policy, General, History, National Politics Tagged With: aging former politicians, bad earmark habit, Bill Kaufman, Bill O'Reilly, Bob Greenlee, Boulder attorney, buyers' remorse, Congress, credibility, daily dose, distracting whimsy, Don Ament, Dottie Wham, elected official, emergence, fiscal conservatism, former Republican, gays, God, GOP, guns, Hank Brown, healthy chuckle, historical knowledge, humorous, inversion of reality, John Buechner, liberty, Nancy Spence, Norma Anderson, Pat Hayes, Paul Schauer, permanent tax increase, platform, profligate spending, Progressive Party, quixotic crusade, reasonable people, reasonable voters, rebuilding, Referendum C, Republican Party, rhetoric, Rush Limbaugh, Scott McInnis, Sean Hannity, self-indulgence, self-inflicted wound, sell-out, smugness, third party, Tom Norton

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

What I’m Thankful for #9: Even the Surprises God Sends My Way

This is one in a series of daily posts I conceived of writing many weeks ago while the election still raged on, as I looked for something to write about of more lasting value. The weeks leading up to Thanksgiving seemed perfectly appropriate for it. Just in case you wondered, the topics introduced are not necessarily in any particular order. I hope the series is of some small encouragement to you, even as my site traffic takes a dive. It's only fitting that I wasn't planning to write this one at all, much less for this weekend. But then, Friday afternoon I wasn't planning for a failed fuel pump and fuel gauge to bring my car to a halt on the way home from work yesterday, nor for the mechanic's tab that followed. Not easy to be thankful … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, General, My Life Tagged With: Bible, car, chastise, Christ-like character, circumstances, Denver Post, difficult, dire, faithfulness, fuel gauge, fuel pump, impatient attitude, Job, matter of faith, mechanic, nice treat, op-ed, our good, promises, publication, repairs, selfishness, surprises, thankfulness, tow truck, weekend, wife

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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
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