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Home Archives for liberty

6/2/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

‘Noble Pride’ Lives On: A Principled Lesson for the ‘Hillsdale of the East’

Unbelievably, a few weeks ago I passed the 10th anniversary of my graduation from Hillsdale College with a bachelors degree. But the spirit of school pride lives on, and my heart smiled when today I read William McGurn's Wall Street Journal column "How Hillsdale Beats Harvard". After explaining how Hillsdale's principled stand of not accepting any federal funds fits right in with the school's warm welcome of military recruiters on campus, McGurn concludes:If Harvard believes that our Armed Forces are inconsistent with its values, surely the honest thing to do is to stand on principle and accept the funding consequences. The folks at Hillsdale would be glad to show the way. Back in the good old college days, there was a running quip … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Commemorative, Education, General, liberty, My Life, PPC Tagged With: accepting, alma mater, Armed Forces, bachelors degree, campus, column, consequences, East, federal funds, graduation, Harvard, heart, Hillsdale College, honest thing, inconsistent, lives on, Midwest, military recruiters, noble pride, principled stand, quip, right reasons, running, school pride, smiles, spirit, values, Wall Street Journal, warm welcome, William McGurn

6/2/2009 By Ben 2 Comments

Mystery Tidwell Volunter Steps Over the Line, Hopefully Astroturfing Stops

I am relieved to learn that U.S. Senate candidate Cleve Tidwell was not posting bizarre online comments himself. As Mr. Tidwell joins us for tonight's Blog Talk Radio show, I hope to hear what the campaign learned from this episode. I also hope today's revelation marks the end of the online astroturfing. Inquiring minds will be left to wonder who the campaign volunteer was who had access to Mr. Tidwell's private email address and "might have stepped over the line". … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, liberty, National Politics, PPC, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: astroturfing, bizarre, Blog Talk Radio, campaign, candidate, Cleve Tidwell, comments, episode, online, relieved, revelation, show, U.S. Senate

6/2/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Rossputin Takes On The Government General Motors Takeover Travesty

Last night I wrote about my personal connection to a General Motors plant closing. To put that into meaningful (and frightening) perspective, you simply have to read Rossputin's insightful account of the travesty that is the wildly unpopular government takeover of GM. It's the lead story at Human Events, and for good reason. Congratulations, Ross! … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Fiscal Policy, General, Journalism, liberty, PPC Tagged With: account, closing, Congratulations, connection, frightening, General Motors, good reason, government takeover, Human Events, insightful, meaningful, personal, perspective, plant, Rossputin, travesty, wildly unpopular

6/1/2009 By Ben 1 Comment

Denver Post Catches On to Anti-Bill Ritter Roadside Sign Phenomenon

Several weeks ago I brought your attention to a sign of Bill Ritter's sagging popularity. As the Denver Post's Tim Hoover reports today, it seems the handmade signs attacking Ritter and his tax hike policies are popping up all over the place in different parts of Colorado. The article raises the query of who is responsible for the homemade, roadside creations. All I can tell you is they aren't being paid for by taxpayer dollars -- which cannot be said about Bill Ritter's highway re-election signs. I cannot tell a lie. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, PPC, property rights Tagged With: article, attacking, attention, Bill Ritter, brought, Colorado, creations, Denver Post, dollars, handmade, homemade, policies, popping up, popularity, query, re-election, roadside, sagging, signs, tax hike, taxpayer, Tim Hoover

5/30/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Union LIAR Ready to Suck Money from Workers to Attack Bill Ritter?

Sound the alarm on Bill Ritter's re-election chances. Hard-core Democrats are swearing they're going to abandon ship, at least if you take the Dead Governors at their word. But really, Ritter's sagging popularity is not exactly newsworthy for those who have been paying attention the past couple months or so. The real reason I gave a link to Colorado Pols was the unintentional humor behind a new union political group aimed at challenging (or at least threatening) Colorado's incumbent Democratic governor:A group calling itself Labor Initiatives Against Ritter - or LIAR - has filed the paperwork needed with the Internal Revenue Service to begin raising money for political purposes. Mark Johnson, an International Brotherhood of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor, liberty, PPC Tagged With: abandon ship, agency fees, agent, alarm, area, Bill Ritter, certainty, challenging, chances, Colorado, Colorado Pols, Colorado Springs, Dead Governors, Democrats, filed, greater, hard-core, hard-earned money, Humor, Internal Revenue Service, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Labor Initiatives Against Ritter, LIAR, link, Mark Johnson, member, money, newsworthy, paperwork, paying attention, plans, political group, political purposes, popularity, portion, re-election, really, Reason, sagging, sound, swearing, Trust us, unintentional, union, union goons, union members, word, workers

5/29/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Ask Congressman Mike Coffman to Sign On to Federal Reserve Transparency

It won't be the first time I write it, nor likely the last. But Republican officials in Washington D.C. cannot hope to return to power simply by pointing out that they aren't as socialist as the Democrats. A vital piece of a successful 2010 and beyond involves the need to unite aggressively behind an affirmative platform of fiscally responsible government reform. Robert Romano on the Americans for Liberty blog brings our attention to a specific bill that represents a golden opportunity to do right by the taxpayer:Most of the financial bailouts have been conducted by the Federal Reserve, and on February 26th, Congressman Ron Paul introduced the legislation that would require an audit of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, liberty, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: 2010, 6th Congressional District, advance, affirmative, agenda, aggressively, Americans for Liberty, ask, attention, bill, blog, Board of Governors, bonds, buzzword, cause, Colorado, Congress, Congressman, consent, contact, Democrats, do right, Federal Reserve, financial bailouts, first time, fiscally responsible, fix, golden opportunity, government reform, growing, HR 1207, inordinate, insight, interest rates, issue, join, last time, ledgers, Mike Coffman, monetary policy, more closely, mortgage securities, necessity, officials, operations, oversight, platform, pointing out, power, representatives, Republican, Republicans, return to power, Robert Romano, Ron Paul, secret, shine the light, sign on, Socialist, successful, taxpayer, timeliness, Transparency, treasuries, U.S. House, unite, Wall Street Journal, Washington DC

5/29/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Obama DOJ Drops Black Panther Voter Intimidation Lawsuit… But Why?

Remember the story of the Black Panthers intimidating Philadelphia voters on our most recent Election Day? Well, there's an interesting update at The Next Right that strongly suggests the Obama Department of Justice (DOJ) is happy to let the issue drop. Author Mike Roman makes some cogent points in his conclusion:These actions raise a number of troubling questions. For example, why did the Civil Rights Division voluntarily dismiss a lawsuit that they had effectively already won, against defendants who were physically threatening voters? Is the Division concerned that this dismissal will encourage the New Black Panther Party, or other groups, to intimidate voters? Why did the Division seek such limited relief against a defendant who … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Education, General, Journalism, liberty, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: author, Barack Obama, Black Panthers, broadcast, Civil Rights Division, cogent, conclusion, defendants, Department of Justice, dismiss, drop, Election Day, front page, happy, interesting, issue, lawsuit, Mike Roman, network news, New York Times, points, story, The Next Right, threatening, update, voter intimidation

5/29/2009 By Ben 1 Comment

Strange Twists and Turns Following Obama’s Sonia Sotomayor Nomination

The other day I highlighted Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's indefensible statement and the need for repudiation. But more serious than a statement at Berkeley is Sotomayor's actual judicial record. It certainly is interesting to see serious criticism directed at Barack Obama's nominee from outside the center-right political spectrum -- and not because she is insufficiently liberal. Take the Denver Post's Chuck Plunkett, for example:You’re supposed to say out-there stuff at Berkeley. Otherwise everyone thinks you’re dull and boorish. But while wearing the robes of justice you’re supposed to be fair. And the Ricci v. New Haven decision Sotomayor was involved in looks just terrible – even to some prominent Democrats. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, Cultural Conservatism, General, Judiciary, liberty, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: abortion rights, arguments, Barack Obama, Berkeley, boorish, Catholic, center-right, Chuck Plunkett, concerning, confirmation, conservative, Democrats, Denver Post, doubts, dull, expect, groups, highlighted, indefensible, insufficiently, Jonathan Turley, judicial record, justice, lack of depth, law professor, leader, leading, liberal, nominee, oppose, out-there stuff, political, President, pro-abortion, pro-life, prominent, reports, repudiation, Ricci v New Haven, rooting for, Rossputin, seated, serious, serious criticism, Sonia Sotomayor, spectrum, statement, supreme court, terrible, uncertain, unexpected, video, virtual certainty, Washington Times, wild turns, William Donohoe

5/28/2009 By Ben 2 Comments

San Diego Petty Tyrants: Pay Out the Nose for Permit to Host Bible Study

From Fox News, a reminder that the federal government has nowhere near cornered the market on petty tyranny: Pastor David Jones and his wife Mary have been told that they cannot invite friends to their San Diego, Calif. home for a Bible study — unless they are willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars to San Diego County. "On Good Friday we had an employee from San Diego County come to our house, and inform us that the Bible study that we were having was a religious assembly, and in violation of the code in the county." David Jones told FOX News. Wow ... simply wow. Just a friendly reminder that we need fellow liberty-loving citizens representing us at all levels of government. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, General, liberty, PPC, property rights Tagged With: Bible study, citizens, code, cornered, David Jones, federal government, Fox News, government, levels, liberty-loving, market, pastor, petty tyranny, religious assembly, reminder, San Diego County, violation, wow

5/27/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Carroll: Sonia Sotomayor “Expression of Bigotry” Calls for Full Repudiation

Great piece by Vince Carroll in today's Denver Post on Barack Obama's Supreme Court appointment:If racial and gender bigotry truly have no place in American public life today, then Judge Sonia Sotomayor, during her confirmation hearing for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, needs to utterly repudiate her 2001 assertion that "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life." Putting that statement "in context" or explaining what she "really meant" will not do. Nor can Judge Sotomayor credibly argue that her assertion was an ill-considered mistake, since it was part of a prepared speech at the Berkeley school of law. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cultural Conservatism, General, liberty, My Life, National Politics, PPC, property rights, Second Amendment Tagged With: absurd, affirmative action, American, analysis, appointment, assertion, Barack Obama, Berkeley, better, bigoted remark, biological, blind justice, city council, conclusion, cultural, Damon Root, Declaration of Independence, Denver Post, determinism, early roundup, elected, experiences, expression, groupthink, gun rights, ill-considered, individual liberty, Joshua Sharf, judge, Left, limited government, loco, mistake, nomination, personal responsibility, political correctness, positions, principles, pronouncement, public life, Q and O, racial identity politics, reaction, Reason Online, Republican, repudiate, repudiation, response, richness, rule of law, school board, school of law, Sonia Sotomayor, speech, supreme court, undergirded, Vince Carroll, weighing in, white male, wise Latina woman

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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.

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