How the Rockies did it

Slated on Backbone Radio, October 21 Listen every Sunday, 5-8pm on 710 KNUS, Denver.. 1460 KZNT, Colorado Springs... and streaming live at 710knus.com.

Yes, we're a political show and proud of it. But we wouldn't miss the chance to talk baseball, the supreme subject of the hour here in Colorado, on the eve of the dazzling Rockies' first trip to the World Series. It will be my honor, and your treat, to have sports legend Bob Howsam on the show this Sunday. Howsam has been in the middle of baseball (and football) locally since he ran the old Denver Bears in 1948. After helping found the Broncos and their league, the AFL, Bob became St. Louis Cardinals GM in midseason 1964 as they pulled a pennant upset, then a Series win over the Yankees. He later led Cincinnati's Big Red Machine to four pennants and two World Series wins in 1970-76.

Though now an Arizona resident, the Denver native says he was for the Rockies all the way as they swept the Diamondbacks for the NL crown. (The Rox are the first team to go 7-0 in post-season play since his Reds did it in 1976.) Bob Howsam was in Rockies management for the club's first three years. We'll ask him about how 2007 happened and what to expect in the Series. Don't miss this interview!

** And there's more. Israel's Mark Prowisor joins me in studio to talk about our two countries' war with Islamofascism. He's the former army security chief in the Nablus-Ramadi sector of the West Bank.

** Joseph C. Phillips, our man in Hollywood, and Robert Woodson, head of the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise and a leader for black empowerment, will also check in.

** Plus we'll talk about graduation standards and Democrat denial with state Sen. Josh Penry and state Rep. Rob Witwer, point men for the Republican push on Colorado education reform.

Conservative talk radio is a force. Media Matters, those phony nonpartisans, and their comrades in the Democratic Party want to neuter it by any means necessary. Their national arm and Harry Reid are out to paint Rush Limbaugh as unpatriotic (right), while Henry Waxman stalks Limbaugh, Hannity, and Levin. Their local watchdogs regularly bark and whine at my show. Which only proves our medium's importance as a defender of freedom. And we're not going away.

Yours for self-government, JOHN ANDREWS

Chipping away our freedom

Slated on Backbone Radio, October 14 Listen every Sunday, 5-8pm on 710 KNUS, Denver.. 1460 KZNT, Colorado Springs... and streaming live at 710knus.com.

In a mini-debate spot now running on Colorado Public Television, I said this about the S-CHIP battle between Bush and Congress: "The President’s veto prevented a tax increase targeted on low-income people. It prevented illegal aliens from gaining easier access to government benefits. It prevented America from taking another step toward the kind of socialized medicine that’s failing in Britain and Canada. Thank you, Mr. President." On Backbone Radio this Sunday we'll talk about the CHIP kids' health program and the larger issue of health care policy in a free society. (America still is one, aren't we?) My guest will be Grace Marie Turner of the Galen Institute. I hope you'll be listening.

** We'll also talk with civil rights leader Ward Connerly about Clarence Thomas's powerful new book, "My Grandfather's Son," and about the near-death of Connerly's upcoming 2008 ballot issue at the hands of an activist Colorado Supreme Court.

** Continuing our local government focus as mail balloting begins in many communities, we'll hear from Douglas County school board candidate Ryan Stuart. Education reformer Armand Fusco will check in as well.

** And a special feature, second time around if you missed it earlier, in the 7pm hour we will replay my gripping interview with Gold Star Father Kris Hager of Pueblo West, whose son Josh, a heroic Army Ranger, was killed in Iraq earlier this year.

Media Matters, those phony nonpartisans, and their blood brothers in the Democratic Party want to neuter conservative talk radio by any means necessary. My comments last Sunday about Columbus horrified their local watchdogs, while the national arm is out to paint Rush as unpatriotic (right) and Rep. Waxman is stalking him, Hannity, and Levin. All this validates our medium's importance as a defender of freedom. And we're not going away.

Yours for self-government, JOHN ANDREWS

All politics is local

Slated on Backbone Radio, October 7 Listen every Sunday, 5-8pm on 710 KNUS, Denver.. 1460 KZNT, Colorado Springs... and streaming live at 710knus.com.

Was it Speaker Tip O'Neill who said all politics is local? Here at Backbone, being 1776 fans, we think it might have been Poor Richard's Almanac or the Federalist Papers. Heck, with baseball fever gripping Denver, we'd even believe it was Yogi Berra. The truism is true regardless, and it's the keynote -- along with the superlative Colorado Rockies and our national pastime -- for this week's edition of Backbone Radio. Please join us on the diamond of dialogue for a little pitch and catch on issues and ideas that matter.

** Ryan Frazier of Aurora and Betty Ann Habig of Centennial will head up a parade of city council and school board candidates visiting me in studio as mail-in voting in local elections begins Oct. 12.

** We'll also do some Rockies talk with Mike Littwin of the Rocky Mountain News, still a sportswriter at heart, and with Michael Novak of the American Enterprise Institute, author of a book about sports and the American spirit.

** Plus Daveed Gartenstein-Ross with an update on Iraq and Iran. You've seen him on Fox News and heard of his dramatic book, "My Year Inside Radical Islam."

Our show isn't Rush or Sean or Laura, not yet at least, but listeners in Colorado and (via Internet) across the nation have recently called it "indispensable" and "uniquely valuable." One even said we "do wonders." Flattering indeed; I'll be blushing at the praise this Sunday as we fire up another edition.

Yours for liberty & victory, JOHN ANDREWS

Dixville Notch

Slated on Backbone Radio, September 30 Listen every Sunday, 5-8pm on 710 KNUS, Denver.. 1460 KZNT, Colorado Springs... and streaming live at 710knus.com.

It's true, I did spend the past few days in New Hampshire, including a visit to little Dixville Notch, famed for casting and counting its ballots before anyone else in the nation, minutes after midnight on primary and general election day in presidential years. But this doesn't mean I'm running for anything.

Stop those rumors. I came to New Hampshire, in fact, from South Carolina, where General Sherman is famed if unloved. So in his style I'll say flatly that in 2008 -- whatever the office -- if nominated I won't campaign and if elected I won't serve.

That should be a relief to liberals, other than David Sirota of PoliticsWest.com, who unaccountably seems to like me. Being mayor-for-life of Backbone Colorado USA is the job I love best anyway, and I'm tickled to be back in the high country and returning to the KNUS microphone this Sunday. Please be listening.

** We'll talk about how liberals first took over America with Amity Schlaes, author of "The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression." And with Frank Gaffney of the Center for Security Policy we'll zero in on the "tranzies," transnational progressives who want to take over the world.

** We'll spotlight Colorado issues with Weld County DA Ken Buck, a courageous voice on the wave of illegal-alien crime, and with former state Rep. Penn Pfiffner, a taxpayer advocate whose "F" report card on the Democratic legislature came out this week.

** Plus the return of Gentleman Jim Spencer, the former Denver Post columnist and Backbone contrarian regular, whose left-side views now appear at SpencerSpeaks.com as well as Colorado Confidential and Politics West.

Our show isn't Rush or Sean or Laura, not yet at least, but listeners in Colorado and (via Internet) across the nation have recently called it "indispensable" and "uniquely valuable." One even said we "do wonders." Flattering indeed; I'll be blushing at the praise this Sunday as we fire up another edition.

Yours for liberty & victory, JOHN ANDREWS

Keyes in, Newt next?

Slated on Backbone Radio, September 23 Listen every Sunday, 5-8pm on 710 KNUS, Denver.. 1460 KZNT, Colorado Springs... and streaming live at 710knus.com.

Declaring himself "unmoved" by the current field of Republican candidates, among whom "there isn't a standout," Alan Keyes launched a third long-shot bid for President this week. Newt Gingrich has also been talking down the GOP contenders, saying a Dem victory is 80% likely. After holding his "American solutions" national town meeting next week, the former speaker may also jump into the race. What a year it's going to be.

I've been vacationing in Charleston, SC, the past few days, and the air down here is full of political energy as South Carolinians soak up the attentions of Giuliani, Romney, McCain, Thompson, and other Republicans courting their vote in the state's important early primary.

Charleston's atmosphere is also alive with Civil War history, with Fort Sumter's gray silhouette out in the harbor as a constant reminder. You can't visit here without reflecting on the huge struggles and sacrifices of our forebears in making real the promises of liberty and union as voiced in the Declaration of Independence.

Does wartime for our own generation have its divisions and its price? Yes, but it's nothing compared to what Americans endured in 1861-65. They kept the faith; will we? What it now means to keep the faith is one of the topics for Backbone Radio this Sunday, as Joshua Sharf, Matt Dunn, and Karen Kataline host the show for me. Please be listening.

** Bob Schaffer checks in with a report on his Republican candidacy for US Senate in 2008, and Mary Smith of the Giuliani campaign talks about how her front-running candidate for the White House is doing in Colorado.

** Ibrahim Kazerooni, a leader in Denver's Muslim community, tentative accepted Joshua's invitation to come on the air; we'll hope for a conversation with him on the 23rd.

** Plus my recorded interview with Raphael Shore, producer of the shocking movie "Obsession," a look at radical Islam's plan for world conquest.

In closing, more proof of my frequent reminder that talk radio is changing the world -- and we're part of it. Yesterday a man in Africa (name withheld for reasons you'll see in a moment) sent me word through a church in Texas:

"John, thanks for having me on the show last year and writing about it afterward. But now my conversion to Christ and my work to relieve poverty are prompting threats on my life, inflamed by lies about me based on web searches. Your notes about my US visit must come down from the Internet."

As I said above, you and I just think we face challenges. Amazing heroes, now and in the past, overshadow any of that and set us a high example. Let's keep doing all we can!

Yours for self-government, JOHN ANDREWS