(John Andrews in the Denver Post, Jan. 15) You’ve heard of the Battle of Britain. The country most identified with Western civilization and human freedom through the centuries, our mother country, stood alone in 1940 against Hitler and the forces of darkness. Had Britain not narrowly prevailed, the world would be unrecognizable today. This column, aiming not to cheer but to arouse you, will argue that our country in 2006 is locked in a struggle every bit as grave, against an enemy every bit as dangerous. I call it the Battle of America. Unless the United States prevails, our world will be unrecognizable very soon.
TV, January: Bravo Bush for Al Qaeda surveillance
The “Head On” debate between former state Sen. John Andrews (R) and former Denver councilwoman Susan Barnes-Gelt (D), seen daily on Colorado Public Television since 1997, began its January series this week. Andrews praised President Bush for his aggressive monitoring of Al Qaeda, under what he called inherent constitutional powers of the executive. Other topics this month include the Abramoff lobbying scandal in Congress, the Colorado legislative outlook and governor's race, and a possible ballot issue decriminalizing marijuana possession.
New Year's in Backbone
(John Andrews in the Denver Post, Jan. 1) Times Square? Overrated. You haven’t really done New Year’s Eve until you’ve done it in Backbone, Colorado, my imaginary hometown. Up at the head of Cottonwood Creek in Chaffee County, close to timberline in the shadow of the divide, we don’t get TV or the Web and don’t miss them. Rockin’ Dick Clark can go fish, we say. In Backbone on the last night of the year, things start at sundown with a potluck at the church. Families from town and the nearby gulches all gather, and the unattached folks of whatever description are made to feel like family. Later there’s ice skating on the pond, with a bonfire for s’mores and hot cider, plus the appropriate adult beverages. Yarns from the Old Prospector are in demand at the fireside.
No frigate like a book
(John Andrews in the Denver Post, Dec. 18) It all started with a teenager giving birth in a stable, while soldiers searched for her baby to kill him. No, it really started long before that, with a couple in a garden throwing away paradise in one act of disobedience. It all ended, anyway, with three crosses atop a skull-shaped hill on a dark afternoon. But actually it hasn’t ended yet, and won’t end until the world itself does. I’m referring, obviously, to the greatest story ever told, the Christmas story. Christmas is not my subject, though. Books are. The two are closely joined, of course. It is only through a book, the most important book ever written, the Bible, that we know the story of Adam’s fall and Christ’s coming.
TV, December: Don't Dems Care?
The “Head On” debate between former state Sen. John Andrews (R) and former Denver councilwoman Susan Barnes-Gelt (D), seen daily on Colorado Public Television since 1997, began its December series this week. Topics include the defeatist Democrats, immigration, the 9/11 Commission, and a New Year's look back / look ahead.