Radio, Mar. 25: 'Because They Hate'

Update after 3/25 show: We were pleased to welcome as a surprise guest this evening, in addition to the strong lineup below, GOP presidential candidate Duncan Hunter. The California congressman, campaigning on defense, immigration, and trade, recently topped straw polls in AZ and SC. Matt Dunn, Karen Kataline, and I were pretty impressed with what he had to say. Read more about him at www.goHunter08.com.

---------------------------------------------------------------------- Join us on radio every Sunday, 5-8pm on 710 KNUS, Denver To listen online from anywhere, click 710knus.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "As an Arab Christian, and victim of radical Islam during the Lebanese civil war, I refuse to stand by and let the same thing happen to my adopted country, the United States. Even after 9/11, there are those who say that we must 'engage' our terrorist enemies, that we must 'address their grievances.'

"Their grievance is our freedom of religion. Their grievance is our democratic process. Islamic religious authorities and terrorist leaders repeatedly state that they will destroy the United States and Western civilization. Unless we take them at their word, and defend ourselves, they will succeed."

** Those are the words of Brigitte Gabriel, one of my guests on this week's edition of Backbone Radio. You may have seen her on Fox News recently. Her book is "Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America." You won't want to miss this interview. Also on Sunday the 25th...

** Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), boasting the most conservative voting record in the US Senate, reports on the battle with Dems over the war and the budget.

** Brian Kennedy, President of the Claremont Institute, will outline the missile threat America faces - a growing danger against which we're largely undefended.

** Linda Gorman brings word from inside the socialist-leaning Colorado Health Care Commission where she's a lone free-market voice amidst the stampede toward legislative recommendations on the Canada model.

** And film producer Chris Burgard talks about "Border," his powerful new documentary on the illegal immigration crisis.

Join us for your weekend conservative update. Now that Backbone Radio is on the hit list just about every Sunday for Colorado Media Matters, the lefty whine group, we are more than ever... the place to be.

Yours for self-government, JOHN ANDREWS

Radio, Mar. 18: What are civil rights?

Join us on radio every Sunday, 5-8pm on 710 KNUS, DenverTo listen online from anywhere, click 710knus.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Air America was abuzz on Thursday with flippant calls about assorted misdeeds we can now blame on Khalid Sheikh Muhammad - killing Anna Nicole, shaving Britney's head, formulating New Coke, etc. Randy Rhodes, the acid-mouthed host, was having a little contest to ridicule Khalid's confession of planning 9/11 and 30 other terrorist attacks. Ha ha.

Smug denial is some people's response to the Islamofascist design for destroying the United States, Israel, and the free world. But we at Backbone Radio respond with defiance and determination to repel this threat and defeat this enemy at all costs.

What's now known about KSM's crimes and intentions, by the way, became public only because our country values individuals and their rights so highly -- leading to one branch of government checking another even in wartime and even where enemy combatants are concerned.

The meaning of "rights" in this land of liberty will be a theme of our March 18 show. Discussion will range from the confessed Al Qaeda mastermind to the furor of Democrats about the CIA leak case and the fired US attorneys. In addition...

** Young activist Jennifer Gratz will talk about last year's upset victory for the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative. Bob Beltz, who helped make the new Wilberforce movie, will tell how a lone hero shamed Britain into banning slavery.

** We'll also dig into these issues with black conservative columnist Joseph C. Phillips.

** Colorado political consultant Christine Burtt will report on the Muslim mind from her recent Mideast trip. Former New Mexico Republican chairman John Dendahl will explain why NM's leftism finally relocated him here.

Spin the dial, surf the net, troll through the weekdays -- you just won't find anything else like Backbone Radio. Please be part of our show this weekend by tuning in at 5pm Sunday.

Yours for self-government, JOHN ANDREWS

Radio, Mar. 11: Own worst enemy?

Join us on radio every Sunday, 5-8pm on 710 KNUS, DenverTo listen online from anywhere, click 710knus.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was quite a week. Since Sunday I've been targeted with venom and rage from the left for saying in my column that it's okay to embrace "America without apologies," and that our fellow citizens who see only America's imperfections are like spoiled children.

Tuesday I was the guest of Bellevue University in Omaha for a speech on conservatism in the 21st century. We talked about the sad irony of many of our country's most affluent and educated people being its shrillest detractors. John Muller, Bellevue's president, remarked that "success can be its own worst enemy," whether for a person, an institution, or a whole nation like ours.

Such forces of decline and defeat are what you and I as conservatives must fight with all the backbone we can muster. We at "Backbone Radio with John Andrews" try to do our part in that struggle week by week. This Sunday my able mike partners - Joshua Sharf, Krista Kafer, and Matt Dunn - will carry the show while I take some downtime with family. But I'll be listening, and I hope you will too.

** Congressman David Dreier of California, a leading House Republican, reports on life in the Pelosi era since Dems took over two months ago.

** Former Congressman Bob Schaffer, now on the Colorado Board of Education and a potential US Senate candidate next year, discusses school issues and the 2008 political outlook.

** Herb London, president of the Hudson Institute, talks about the global war with radical Islam.

Spin the dial, surf the net, troll through the weekdays -- you just won't find anything else like Backbone Radio. Please be part of our show this weekend by tuning in at 5pm Sunday.

Yours for self-government, JOHN ANDREWS

Radio, Mar. 4: Cheney lives!

Update after 3/4 show: Go to DivestTerror dot org, part of Frank Gaffney's national security effort, for more about the push to cut off US investment in companies that do business with our enemy in Iran -- as I discussed on air with California Assemblyman Joel Anderson. Economist Richard Vedder has out a terrific book on Wal-Mart, another great one on the higher education funding racket, and this devasting expose' of self-promotion by public universities. Former State Rep. Brad Young is weak on what to put in TABOR's place if we don't want government to grow, but his thoughtfully skeptical book on TABOR will make you think.

Join us on radio every Sunday, 5-8pm on 710 KNUS, Denver To listen online from anywhere, click 710knus.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Vice President Dick Cheney is okay, thank God, after what was probably an Al Qaeda attempt on his life (costing a score of other lives) in Afghanistan this week. I heard the news while in Washington with Claremont for a series of national security meetings with senators and congressmen.

What if the assassins had gotten Cheney, we asked each other in one meeting. Would it have rallied America and stiffened our national will to win? Or would it only have deepened the defeatism that is already so strong among our political and media elites? The question must be asked. The bombing itself is a reminder this war is real and the enemy is relentless.

On Capitol Hill, we talked with Reps. Mike Pence (R-IN), John Culberson (R-TX), Trent Franks (R-AZ), and Jeff Flake (R-AZ), as well as House freshmen Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Doug Lamborn (R-CO). Sens. Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Jim DeMint (R-SC) inspired us with their backbone. But it's a tough time for Republicans - and conservatives especially - with Democrats now running things.

Colorado issues matter a lot to me, and "Backbone Radio with John Andrews" will fully air them this Sunday as usual. But the imperative of defending ourselves in a dangerous world, highlighted for me by this Washington trip, will figure in our show as well. I hope you'll tune in.

** Dick Wadhams, newly confirmed as state Republican chairman, will bring his perspective on state and national issues as we approach 2008. Mike Littwin, Rocky Mountain News columnist, adds his contrasting view.

** Joel Anderson, a state legislator in California, report on his drive to withdraw all US investments from nations that tolerate terrorism. Brad Young, a former state legislator here, will try to persuade me that TABOR disserves his and my fiscal conservative beliefs (good luck). And Ohio University economist Richard Vedder will explain the fiscal insanity of higher education policy.

Spin the dial, surf the net, troll through the weekdays -- you just won't find anything else like Backbone Radio. Please be part of our show this weekend by tuning in at 5pm Sunday.

Yours for self-government, JOHN ANDREWS

Radio, Feb. 25: Sacred fire of liberty

Update after 2/25 show: For more about Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, founder of American Islamic Forum for Democracy, click here. He will be on CNN with Paula Zahn, Tuesday 2/27 at 6pm MST. Heather MonDee's self-defense class at Denver Academy of Martial Arts is called Stay Alive Personal Protection. Here's the link. Bob Beltz of Walden Media, discussing the "Amazing Grace" movie, was rescheduled for an upcoming show.

Join us on radio every Sunday, 5-8pm on 710 KNUS, Denver To listen online from anywhere, click 710knus.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Did you see any sort of tribute to George Washington this week on the 275th anniversary of his birth? Me neither, and what a shame. The Father of our Country, one of the greatest men of the millennium, deserves undying homage. Presidents' Day, this week's generic non-holiday, is no substitute.

On last week's show we quoted from Washington's first inaugural address: "The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the republican model of government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the American people."

Those two duties, preserving liberty and sustaining republican government, sum up our challenge as conservatives. Lincoln echoed Washington in calling America "the last best hope of earth." Yet political urgency of the moment often distracts us from the big picture as those heroes saw it. Our goal on Backbone Radio is to cut the clutter and keep eyes on the prize. Please join us!

** This Sunday my guests include Bob Beltz, one of those behind the new movie "Amazing Grace" about William Wilberforce, and State Rep. Cory Gardner, a leading conservative in Colorado's liberal-dominated legislature.

** We'll also talk with Joseph C. Phillips, our man in Hollywood, about the Oscars and the Obama boom... with a Muslim former naval officer about his love for America... and with a women's self-defense expert about the Second Amendment.

If you think it's hoky to talk about "the sacred fire of liberty" and other high ideals, skip our Feb. 25 show. Spend the evening with People magazine or the Weather Channel. Can't hurt my feelings. But if you care as I do about vindicating "the experiment entrusted to the American people," tune in and call in. Together we can make a difference.

Yours for self-government, JOHN ANDREWS