Gonna be a good year

Slated on Backbone Radio, Jan. 4 Listen every Sunday, 5-8pm on 710 KNUS, Denver... 1460 KZNT, Colorado Springs... and streaming live at 710knus.com.

"Whew, glad to have that over with," is the reaction by many of us as 2008 passes into history. It's true that conservatives won few political victories, and the year gave us a cold shower economically, vindicating yet again Kipling's realism in "The Gods of the Copybook Headings." On the other hand, 12 months ago our goals included winning in Iraq, keeping the Clintons from reclaiming the presidency, and defending TABOR against Colorado's spending lobby. None looked easy, yet all were accomplished. We're not without things to be thankful for. As for 2009, I'm bullish. It will be as good a year as we decide to make it. We're Americans, remember. We've got backbone. We don't melt in the rain. My hunch is for both the recession and the Obama honeymoon to be shorter than expected. Republican loyal opposition will be as feisty as the Founders hoped. '09 is gonna be fine if you and I just do our part.

Talk radio topics abound as always. Ritter "schools" the Dem governors of IL, NY & DE on how to pick a class act and fresh face for US Senate. Israel says enough to the Hamas thugs and their patrons in Iran. The Broncos seek a new coach and the sky doesn't fall. Sarah Palin runs away with Woman of the Year honors from Backbone Americans across the country.

My guests on Sunday, Jan. 4, to help explore all this will include... Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN)... former Senate candidate Bob Schaffer (R-CO)... pundits Mike Littwin of the Rocky and Joseph C. Phillips of Hollywood... plus Tom Trento, producer of two powerful documentaries on radical Islam, "The Third Jihad" and "Obsession."

Who ever imagined that just turning on your radio could be deemed a subversive act? But liberals, after losing the open competition with conservatives for AM listeners, would now suggest it's so, with correction needed from Big Brother. Sen. Chuck Schumer has even likened our free expression on the airwaves to "pornography." Was that a compliment? For more of the naked truth, tune in this Sunday.

Yours with optimism, JOHN ANDREWS