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Monday: Personal Political Pessimism

I feel entitled to be politically pessimistic today. While Joshua opines on President Bush as LBJ, Clay traffics in crass, baseless, ad hominem attacks ... against a fellow Republican. And these are my Rocky Mountain Alliance friends! I appreciate Joshua's attempt at discourse. The concerns he addresses demonstrate historical perspective and insight. And they raise at least one issue about Bush's low poll numbers I have not often heard discussed: that they represent disaffection among some conservatives more than a general Left-ward tilt of the voting populace. I will give more thought to Joshua's analogy before commenting directly on it. As for Clay, I'm left to believe that his reposting of the absurd, innuendo-laced cartoon without … [Read more...]

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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...]

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Bennish Update

Fox News reports a positive development in the controversial Colorado geography teacher case: Jay Bennish has decided to drop the lawsuit against Cherry Creek School District in exchange for the district dropping the media gag order. In my opinion, both sides chose wisely. We may start to hear from the embattled Marxist instructor in various outlets. Stay tuned. … [Read more...]

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Irony: Bennish Case Goes Federal

The Rocky Mountain News reports that Jay Bennish lawyer David Lane plans to file a lawsuit in federal court this morning to put the highly controversial teacher back in the classroom. Bennish is currently on paid administrative leave while the Cherry Creek School District conducts an investigation based on his 20-minute recorded left-wing political tirade. From the News story: "I know about 10 federal judges who are more than willing to teach the Cherry Creek School District what the First Amendment is all about," his attorney, David Lane, said Thursday. Lane said he expects to file a federal lawsuit as early as this morning, and that seeking a court order to return Bennish to the classroom is one option he might pursue. He … [Read more...]

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More Bennish…

Due to overwhelming popular demand, I thought I would respond to a couple commenters from my previous post on the gigantic Jay Bennish flap, and shed a little more light on the whole topic. When a story erupts and spreads through the media - old & new - as fast as this one has, the caution needs to be made that we don't make hasty judgments that outstrip the evidence we have. Furthermore, we should promote a healthy, moderate, and reasonable tone to the debate. No one I have seen is calling for violence to be done against any of the parties involved, and that should hold for both supporters of Bennish and for those like me who admire the smart and courageous 16-year-old Sean Allen. That being said, I think some judgments can be made in … [Read more...]

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Left-Wing Classroom Rant

Suffering from low blood pressure and need it raised? Want to hear one of the reasons why many people are disenchanted with public schools? There's nothing quite like indoctrinating young minds, whether from willful ignorance or whatever the cause may be. Mike Rosen, the preeminent radio talk show host in the Rocky Mountain West, has recorded classroom footage from Jay Bennish's geography class at Overland High School, featuring an unbalanced rant against President Bush, America, and capitalism. One of Bennish's students made the recording and will appear with his mother on the Mike Rosen Radio Show on 850 KOA tomorrow morning, Wednesday, March 1. I haven't heard if the host was able to get Bennish himself, the Overland principal, or … [Read more...]

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Hillary “Unhinged”

Compliments of Michelle Malkin, watch a brief video of Hillary Clinton stirring up fear and paranoia about school vouchers. Then ask yourself two questions: 1. Has giving no-strings money through the GI Bill sent millions of dollars to the creation of white supremacist universities? 2. What makes a K-12 education voucher different from the GI Bill, since both empower people to spend money on the education they see fit? Yup. Hillary is prostituting herself for every ounce of support she can get from the National Education Association. … [Read more...]

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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...]