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Mount Virtus?

Every day is seeking to rise to the challenge, 'neath the shadow of the mighty Rockies.

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Sometimes the choices are daunting or confusing, sometimes they're as clear as a Mile High view.

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If I had five more writers just like him, I think my job would be the easiest in journalism....

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Bob Schaffer-Mark Udall Debate Coverage Roundup

Here's a roundup of new media coverage of Monday's premier public debate between Colorado U.S. Senate candidates Bob Schaffer and Mark Udall. From Schaffer v Udall... - Schaffer v Udall Debate: Update, Quick First Impressions - Bob Schaffer's Clear Debate Victory over Mark Udall Sways Uncommitted Voter - Schaffer v Udall Debate Photos - Missing the Point of Bob Schaffer's Powerful Zing on Mark Udall's Iraq Record - Mark Udall Healthcare Quips From Rocky Mountain Right... - Pictures from the Schaffer-Udall Debate - Breaking News from the RMN: Udall Staffer Approves of Udall's Debate Performance! Also check out Face The State's slideshow of the debate. And, of course, though it's not new media, 9News has a report from the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, Colorado Politics, General, National Politics Tagged With: Bob Schaffer, debate, Face the State, Mark Udall, Rocky Mountain Right, Schaffer v Udall, U.S. Senate

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Phil Gramm’s Foot-in-Mouth Problem vs. Barack Obama’s Ongoing Elitism

Did you hear what Phil Gramm - former U.S. Senator, McCain for President economic adviser - said? If you're reading this blog, it's almost impossible to have missed it. (Hey - don't whine at me if you haven't heard what Gramm said!) It's become so bad that less than 24 hours into the story the big media is referencing the extent of its own coverage:Remarks by former Sen. Phil Gramm (R), a top economic advisor to Sen. John McCain, are drawing heavy negative attention for the candidate in the latest media cycle. 1996 was a long time ago - it was the first Presidential election in which I was eligible to vote. Yesterday helped to remind me why the Phil Gramm campaign never left the ground. The man is an economic whiz and one of the most … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics Tagged With: Barack Obama, Democrats, double standards, economic elitism, foot-in-mouth disease, John McCain, Phil Gramm, recession, U.S. News and World Report

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Democrat Gwyn Green, Poster Child for Economic Illiteracy, Strikes Again

Liberal Democrat Rep. Gwyn Green, whose state house district covers part of Denver's western suburbs, is a poster child for economic illiteracy. This fact has only been reconfirmed today by a Face The State report on her ill-informed but zealous refusal to attend a party sponsored by the Colorado Oil and Gas Association:"I see no point in attending the COGA Conference," she wrote. "Your announcement does not indicate any desire to moderate the ungodly profits the oil and gas companies are reaping at the costs for [sic] consumers." Of course, the report goes on to explain her fallacy:According to the American Petroleum Institute, statistics through the first quarter of 2008 show that, on average, only 7.4 percent of each dollar paid at … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Energy, Fiscal Policy, General Tagged With: American Petroleum Institute, Bill Owens, brain-gouging, COGA Conference, Colorado Oil and Gas Association, consumers, Democrat, economic illiteracy, Face the State, gasoline stations, Gwyn Green, House Bill 1251, price-gouging, Republicans, Rocky Mountain News, Vince Carroll

2/7/2026 By Ben 4 Comments

Lawsuit Against Bible Publishers New Milestone in Warped Leftist Lunacy

The warped, whiny, politically correct victim culture has reached a new milestone of insanity:A homosexual man who has a blog on Sen. Barack Obama's campaign website is suing two major Christian publishers for violating his constitutional rights and causing emotional pain, because the Bible versions they publish refer to homosexuality as a sin. Bradley LaShawn Fowler, 39, of Canton, Mich., is seeking $60 million from Zondervan and another $10 million from Thomas Nelson Publishing in lawsuits filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, the Grand Rapids Press reported. I'm sure if he goes judge-shopping long enough, Mr. Fowler the Barack Obama blogger may even find one who agrees with him that scholarly … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, General, National Politics Tagged With: Barack Obama, Bradley LaShawn Fowler, Christian publishers, Grand Rapids Press, insanity, Moonbattery, politically correct victim culture, religious freedom, Right Wing News, Thomas Nelson, World Net Daily, Zondervan

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Libby Szabo is a Legislative Candidate Worthy of Conservative Support

Face The State yesterday featured a campaign money breakdown for what figures to be Colorado's hottest state legislative race - and quite possibly a bellwether for others across the state - and that's Senate District 19:In Jefferson County's closely contested Senate District 19, Democrat Evie Hudak has started raking in union cash, while Republican Libby Szabo has seen her large-donor support come mostly from pro-business organizations and the state's energy providers. Libby Szabo is a personal friend and a common sense conservative with plenty of real-world experience in raising a family and running a business. Unfortunately, I live just outside her district and can't vote for Libby. But I'm glad to commend her to readers, especially … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, My Life Tagged With: campaign contributions, Colorado, conservative, Evie Hudak, Face the State, Jefferson County, Libby Szabo, limited government, Senate District 19

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Betsy Markey Out of Touch on Big Labor Bill: Boon for Marilyn Musgrave?

Colorado's mega-rich liberals Tim Gill and Pat Stryker have it in for conservative Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, who has represented northeastern Colorado since 2003. They have spent countless amounts of money trying to unseat her in the past two election cycles, and are committed to doing it again. This time they believe they have a winning candidate in Democrat Betsy Markey, someone to fulfill their obsession. But this video clip of Betsy Markey trying to explain her position on the poorly-named Employee Free Choice Act shows that Tim Gill and Pat Stryker still have some work to do with their out-of-touch candidate: As the Labor Pains blog points out, this is the same Betsy Markey who has sought to woo small businesses but struggles to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, National Politics Tagged With: Betsy Markey, Big Labor, Congress, Employee Free Choice Act, Labor Pains, Marilyn Musgrave, Pat Stryker, secret ballots, small business, Tim Gill

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Denver Gives Democrat Officials Tax Exemption, Risks Public Resentment

A few days ago I had a conversation with some non-political family members about the pains of hosting a national political convention. One of them lives in the Twin Cities. The rest of us live in and around Denver. Doubtless this means some inconveniences and annoyances for denizens, regardless of whether it's the Republicans or Democrats coming to your town. But the Denver Post today reports a small outrage I hadn't even considered before (H/T Slapstick Politics):Several Denver City Council members are questioning why the Democratic National Convention Committee has a contract with the city to fill up their fleet of vehicles with tax-free fuel. The $466,000 contract, only $9,700 of which has been paid so far by the DNCC officials, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Energy, General, Labor, My Life, National Politics, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: Democrat National Convention, Democratic National Convention Committee, Denver, Denver City Council, Denver Post, DNCC officials, gasoline, John Hickenlooper, Minneapolis, Republican National Convention, tax-exempt

2/7/2026 By Ben 2 Comments

Bill Ritter Hobnobs on Arctic Cruise while Scientists Cast Doubt on Climate Theory

After his recent Arctic show cruise with numerous liberal elites, Gov. Bill Ritter said he "improved his knowledge of climate change and reinforced his belief that his environmental policies at home are the right ones." Our governor picked some miserably bad timing that only makes him look sillier. As Joshua Sharf points out, the widely reputed American Physics Society has shined a growing light of credibility on dissent from the climate hysteria of man-made global warming. Joshua also points to a piece highlighting how Australia is starting to come to terms with the largely bogus nature of the alleged threat. Meanwhile, Bill Ritter is awed by the visual evidence of Arctic ice caps melting in July - with both Ritter and the Denver … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Hysteria, Colorado Politics, Energy, General Tagged With: American Physics Society, Arctic cruise, Australia, Bill Ritter, Civil Sense, Climate change hysteria, Colorado, Denver Post, environmental policies, global warming, Jimmy Carter, Joshua Sharf, Madeleine Albright, scientific debate, sea-ice levels

2/7/2026 By Ben Leave a Comment

Denver Teachers Union Moves One Step Closer to Possible DNC Strike

Another landmark yesterday in the fallout between Denver Public Schools and the Denver Classroom Teachers Association, reports the Post's Jeremy Meyer:Representatives of Denver's teachers union and school administrators — embroiled in a contract dispute — met with a professional arbiter Wednesday to discuss next month's mediation. The two sides are at odds over compensation and time issues, particularly in regard to proposed changes to ProComp — the voter-approved performance pay system for teachers. The story continues:With mediation the week before the Democratic National Convention in Denver, there is concern of picketing during the event to bring national attention to the contract dispute. The DCTA newsletter has declared … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Education, General, Labor, National Politics Tagged With: arbitration, Democratic National Convention, Denver Classroom Teachers Association, Denver Post, Denver Public Schools, Jeremy Meyer, Kim Ursetta, ProComp, teacher strike, teachers union

2/7/2026 By Ben 1 Comment

Protect Colorado’s Future Fails 9News Truth Test, Brands Itself as Deceptive

It's still early in the campaign cycle, but the political group known as Protect Colorado's Future has already hung the banner of "Liar" around its neck. It's hard to see how much more credibility the group will have as the election season heats up. Protect Colorado's Future is overwhelmingly funded by a coalition of labor unions. The commercial it aired is designed to attack Right to Work (Amendment 47) and two initiatives that have yet to be certified on the ballot. In the interest of full disclosure, one initiative (#53), aka Ethical Standards - designed to "prevent public payroll systems from collecting and bundling money to special interest groups that hire lobbyists and make campaign contributions" - has been supported by research … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor Tagged With: 9News, background checks, Bill Ritter, deception, Denver Daily News, Denver Post, Ethical Standards initiative, fraud, government contracting reform, hypocrisy, Initiative 59, Jon Caldara, lying, minimum wage amendment, Nancy Spence, Protect Colorado's Future, right-to-work, Rocky Mountain News, television ad, The Colorado Index, Tom Lucero, Truth Test, union thuggery

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    The Rise & Fall of Al Gansee
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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
  • Common Learning Disabilities in Children
  • Tips to Teach Kids to Set and Achieve Goals
  • The Christmas Music Countdown You’ve Been Looking For: 2022 Edition

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Completing the Blogroll

  • Alarming News
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Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0

  • Reclaim the Blue
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To Contact Me:
bendegrow-at-gmail.com

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