In this episode, Kim Monson navigates through Colorado’s tangled web of zoning laws and legislative challenges, revealing the ongoing battle for property rights and individual freedom. Discover how political decisions impact communities and small businesses, with insights from Karen Gorday on her journey from entrepreneurship to city council candidacy. Conclude with a critical analysis of the recent special legislative session and its ramifications for the state’s fiscal health.
SPEAKER 04 :
It’s the Kim Monson Show, analyzing the most important stories.
SPEAKER 28 :
I find that it takes work to get your brain around these ideas, and it takes work to engage in these conversations.
SPEAKER 04 :
The latest in politics and world affairs.
SPEAKER 28 :
With what is happening down at the Statehouse, I used to think that it was above my pay grade to read the legislation, and it’s not.
SPEAKER 04 :
Today’s current opinions and ideas.
SPEAKER 28 :
I see big danger in as much as we will be giving an unelected bureaucrat the power to make rules about what we inject into our bodies.
SPEAKER 04 :
Is it freedom or is it force? Let’s have a conversation.
SPEAKER 28 :
Indeed, let’s have a conversation, and welcome to the Kim Monson Show. Thank you so much for joining us. You each are treasured, you’re valued, you have purpose. Today, strive for excellence, take care of your heart, your soul, your mind, and your body. My friends, we were made for this moment in history. Thank you to the team, that’s Producer Joe, Luke, Rachel, Zach, Echo, Charlie, Mike, Teresa, Amanda, and all the people here at Crawford Broadcasting. Happy Thursday, Producer Joe. Happy Thursday, Kim. And I am so pleased to have in studio with me my friend Kathy Russell. She is the president of Liberty Toastmasters North. And we’ll be talking with our buddies here in the third and fourth segment. It’s great to have you here.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, it’s so great to be here, Kim. Thank you.
SPEAKER 28 :
This is fun, isn’t it? It is really fun. So we’re going to jump right in here, Kathy. And first thing we’re going to get to is our word of the day. And our word of the day is definitions. Thank you for your suggestion on that. And definitions is a precise explanation of the meaning of a word, concept, or object. And we’re going to be talking with our fellow Liberty Toastmasters about the definitions of several words. And so it should be pretty intriguing.
SPEAKER 03 :
I think so. Just definitions are the way that we communicate. And it’s so interesting that people have different definitions and you think you’re talking about the same thing and then you walk away and realize, oh, we were talking about completely different things.
SPEAKER 28 :
Because they have different definitions. Because they have different definitions. So this is going to be interesting because they’re going to be talking about five words. Liberal. libertarian, conservative, progressive and unaffiliated. Yes. So it’s going to be interesting. It will be. So our quote of the day, I went to Michelangelo and he was born in 1475, died in 1564. And he was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the high Renaissance. He was born in the Republic of Florence. His work was inspired by models from classical antiquity and had a lasting influence on Western art. And his creative abilities and mastery in a range of artistic arenas defined him as an art, I don’t know that word, so I won’t say it, Renaissance man, along with his rival and elder contemporary, but we’ll probably use it for word of the day. Just stay tuned on that. And Leonardo da Vinci. Given the sheer volume of surviving correspondence, sketches, and reminiscence, Michelangelo is one of the best documented artists of the 16th century. He was lauded by contemporary biographers as the most accomplished artist in his era. And, of course, he did the Sistine Chapel, right? Right. Yeah.
SPEAKER 03 :
Have you been there? I have not been there, but I’ve seen the painting with— Can you imagine? Yeah, no. Yeah, just being on your back. Okay. For days, painting.
SPEAKER 28 :
How would that work? But it’s fabulous.
SPEAKER 03 :
It’s just fabulous.
SPEAKER 28 :
Have you been there? I have. And I think what you were referencing is the finger of man and the finger of God. Yeah. Yeah, it’s pretty amazing.
SPEAKER 03 :
That is amazing. Yeah.
SPEAKER 28 :
But I chose Michelangelo because our sponsor, Karen Gorday, we’ll talk with her in just a few moments. But she has a painting company, which is Radiant Painting and Lighting. And I thought, well, who’s a famous painter? And I thought, ah, Michelangelo. I wonder if there’s any quotes. So this is what they have attributed to him. He says, do not be concerned that you might set a target too high and fail. Be concerned that you will set it too low and succeed.
SPEAKER 03 :
Beautiful. Love it.
SPEAKER 28 :
Yeah. Okay, a couple of things. I need to let you know regarding the French bakery up on Lookout Mountain Road that needs a variance so that the bakers can continue to live nearby where they work in the tiny homes that they have. And the Jefferson County Commissioners and Planning Department are saying no, no, no, no. And so Helen Raleigh, and we’re going to have her on next Tuesday, she immigrated from China. These bakers immigrated from France. All of them are, they’re now citizens. They all love America. And Helen writes, for national publications. And so yesterday, she published her piece in The Federalist. And it is great. Let me see. I have the title. I’ve got too many pieces of paper here, my friends. Let’s see. This is the title. She said… Oh, gosh, I thought I had it right here. Oh, Colorado zoning tyrants go to war against a Christian-owned bakery. I’d highly recommend that you check that out at The Federalist. And you can go to The Federalist and just put in Hill and Raleigh and you’ll find that. Now, Kathy, you’re an author as well. And so you’re writing a book. I am writing a book, yes. Yes. And then also you’ve got a website that you write.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, Evolutions Arc. And it’s about the story of the universe. And what’s that website again? It’s evolutionsarc.com.
SPEAKER 28 :
Okay. Yeah. And so I think you love that. And the fact that Helen has done this, Colorado zoning tyrants go to war against a Christian-owned bakery. Be sure and check that out. And we might want to re-email all of the county commissioners. Make sure that you are signed up for my weekly newsletter because we had those email addresses in the newsletter. that went out on sunday next thing uh yesterday in minneapolis probably saw this this is um the title the headline is church targeted by trans identifying shooter asked for prayer during an impossible situation apparently this shooter these kids were catholic school were in mass and the shooter attacked them two kids eight years and ten years old were killed Seventeen people, I think, were injured. And I think the left is going to say, hey, that’s why we have to have more gun control. I think actually it’s not the firearm that does the action. It’s the person. That’s what needs to be addressed. Right, Kathy?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah. Totally. And you hear of all these stories of people, when there is somebody that does have a gun and can protect, that people are safer with guns, and the children could have been saved.
SPEAKER 28 :
A good guy with a gun can stop a bad guy with a gun. Exactly. So why would you not have the good guys have a gun? Yeah, terrible. But here in Colorado, there is a direct assault upon our Second Amendment rights. That’s why we’re really pleased to have the Second Syndicate as a sponsor. But we’ve got on the line with us Karen Gorday. She is an entrepreneur. She’s the owner of Radiant Painting and Lighting, and she’s also running for Lakewood City Council. Karen Gorday, did you like the fact that I pulled a Michelangelo quote for you today? I do, yes. So let’s talk a little bit about painting. And, of course, Michelangelo did the ceiling at the Sistine Chapel. But for us everyday people, to make sure that we have things in our homes looking good, what’s the signs that people need to be watching for if it’s time to paint?
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, that’s a very good question, Kim. Let’s talk exteriors on that piece. typically when it’s time to paint you’ll get the warning signs like your paint typically is very even and it starts getting blotchy and you can almost see the wood underneath that’s a sign that you don’t have as much protection on that as you should and so you would really want to consider painting when it starts getting blotchy um but then If you didn’t paint, then the paint starts peeling. You obviously don’t have protection when it’s peeling, as well as the caulk starts cracking. Those are all signs of it’s time to do some maintenance. The paint protects it really well from, obviously, the weather elements, the sun, et cetera. And you don’t want to ignore those signs. You want to make sure you’ve got the best protection possible. and what if people have delayed a little too long what happens potentially it leads to wood rot some of the a lot of the siding in colorado is not true wood and it’s almost like pressed board and so what happens is that board then starts expanding and when it starts expanding there’s no way to um sand it, it’s basically going to start disintegrating. And so that’s the main reason to keep it protected. You don’t want to have to start replacing pieces of siding or wood because it gets super expensive.
SPEAKER 28 :
Okay. So if people wait too long, they’re looking at that as an additional expense then?
SPEAKER 15 :
Yes, 100%.
SPEAKER 28 :
Okay. Okay. So let’s get that, your website for your business. What is that, Karen Gorday?
SPEAKER 15 :
That is www.paintwithradiant.com.
SPEAKER 28 :
Okay, now one other thing. Labor Day is right around the corner, which means Christmas is right around the corner. As fast as time is going. And so you also do beautiful pictures on your website of outdoor lighting for the holidays. I would really recommend people start to think about that because Christmas is going to be here before we know it. And to people that want to really get that great look outside, they need to be thinking about that now, correct?
SPEAKER 15 :
That is correct, and we can provide quotes right now. You don’t have to have the lights installed right now. We can install them usually as early as October, and then we’ll put a timer on it and just leave it unplugged, and then you can plug it in when you’re ready to have a light flip. But now is the perfect time to start thinking about that.
SPEAKER 28 :
Absolutely. That’s great. And that website, again, is paintwithradiant.com, correct?
SPEAKER 15 :
That is correct, yes.
SPEAKER 28 :
Okay. Jumping over, a quick minute on your run for city council.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yes. So zoning, obviously, and Lakewood is the biggest area. campaign talking points right now. Lakewood City Council met Monday. I was able to pull time and talk for 10 minutes about the assault on property rights in the sections they were reviewing i will tell you it’s absolutely unbelievable i saw city council do something i’ve never seen before they were actually all paying attention when i was speaking for my 10 minutes and and they ended up working on an amendment for two hours during public comment and actually One of the things I talked about was we needed a disaster clause for all the non-conforming properties in Lakewood. And they actually put a disaster clause in the current zoning that they passed. And that’s a win for property owners citywide.
SPEAKER 28 :
Oh, gosh, Karen, you’re making a difference. And thank you so much. What is that website? And I know right now is the time that is very helpful if people contribute. I think people say, oh, I’ll contribute as we get closer to November. By that time, it’s not too late. But now is when candidates really need the money. So you can get yard signs and all those things. So what’s that website, Karen Gorday?
SPEAKER 15 :
That website is karenforlakewood.com. Four is spelled out. So karenforlakewood.com.
SPEAKER 28 :
Okay. Karen Gorday, thank you. Good luck on your run for city council. We’re so pleased to have you as a partner of the Kim Monson Show. We’ll talk next week. That sounds great. Thanks, Kim. A couple of other thank yous I want to say is thank you to the Harris family for their gold sponsorship of the show. And Hooters Restaurants has been a sponsor of both the Kim Monson Show and America’s Veterans Stories for many, many years. How I got to know them is when I was on city council. And it’s a story of… freedom and free markets and capitalism and then pbis politicians bureaucrats and interested parties that want to control our lives and it was it just drilled right down to those two important things so hooters restaurants has locations in loveland westminster and aurora great specials monday through friday for lunch and for happy hour they do have great fish and chips check that out and then saw him yesterday he was in we did some recordings and that’s roger mangan and he has an amazing team at his state farm agency, and they want you to feel safe and well-served and to understand your insurance coverage, and their office will respond to your caller text 24 hours a day. So for that 24-hour peace of mind, call Roger Mangan at 303-795-8855. Like a good neighbor, Roger Mangan’s team is there.
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SPEAKER 24 :
There’s so much noise coming at us. Sometimes it is difficult to make sense of it all. How can you sift through the clamor for your attention and get to the truth? The Kim Monson Show is here to help. Kim searches for truth and clarity by examining issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. Tune in to The Kim Monson Show each weekday, 6 to 8 a.m., with encores 1 to 2 p.m. and 10 to 11 p.m. on KLZ 560 AM, KLZ 100.7 FM. The KLZ website, the KLZ app, and Alexa. Play KLZ. Shows can also be found at kimmonson.com, Spotify, and iTunes.
SPEAKER 28 :
And welcome back to the Kim Monson Show. And are you ready for your financial freedom? Call our friends at Mint Financial Strategies. As an independent firm and an accredited investment fiduciary, they always put your interests first. Mint means more than money. It stands for meaningful relationship, information sharing, a network of smart strategies, and a thoughtful advisor who puts you in control. No cookie cutter plans. Everything is tailored just for you. So call Mint Financial Strategies today at 303-285-3080 today. That’s 303-285-3080. Please stand on the line with me, Dave Evans. He is one of my fellow board members on the Colorado Union of Taxpayers Board, which is the CUT board. Dave, welcome to the show.
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, thank you, Kim. I appreciate your having me back. It’s a beautiful day in Colorado, but a dangerous one because the legislature is still in session.
SPEAKER 28 :
And even when they’re not, it’s still dangerous. And our amazing team, I want to say thank you to them. Steve Dorman, Greg Golianski, Russ Haas, Bill Hamill, Rob Knuth, John Nelson, Wendy Warner, Marty Nielsen, Ramey Johnson, Mary Jansen, you, Dave Evans, Corey Onizorg, Paula Beard, and Ray Beard. This is an amazing group of people that we get to work with on a volunteer basis, Dave Evans.
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, thank you. You know, speaking for myself, I find it a privilege to be able to be part of this. I hope we’re making a difference in alerting people to what’s going on down there under the Golden Dome.
SPEAKER 28 :
Well, that is one of the first things that has to be done, and that is for people to understand what’s going on. And so we’re doing a whole bunch of work on that. So, Dave, let’s jump in here on this special session. And one of the things that we’re concerned about was that the legislature would be giving up some of the power to the governor regarding budget cuts. And then I saw a headline says governor prepares to present budget cut proposals following the special session. The special session, they have not done what they were supposed to do. They were supposed to. We have nearly a billion dollar shortfall here in Colorado. They were supposed to address that. Instead, they it looked like they picked the pockets as actually I heard recently they picked the pockets of Colorado. So what’s what’s your thoughts on the special session?
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, you’re right. I looked at the 13 bills that we looked at, and I counted spending reductions proposed of $0. I found funding requests, increases of $222 million. And that leaves us with a net shortfall of somewhere between $578 and $978 million. So they’re not doing their job.
SPEAKER 28 :
And now I find it danger, danger then to also put the power of the purse basically over in with the governor. That’s not the way it’s supposed to be. The legislature is supposed to be responsible for that.
SPEAKER 17 :
That’s right. Yes. Senate Bill 001 addresses that. And I believe it was passed. That allows the governor to suspend or discontinue state departments and requires the governor to come up with a spending reduction plan. The Joint Budget Committee of the legislature is able to hear that and make comments to it, but has no power in that. So, as you said, we believe that this represents a violation of the separation of powers that’s built into our state constitution.
SPEAKER 28 :
And that, I think you’re right, I think that passed. And so that’s why we have created Cut Engaged, where people could go in and let their voices be heard. Now, granted, I think some of these have passed since we first did that, but I would still recommend that people go to coloradotaxpayer.org. First of all, join us. It’s only $25 a year. That way you’ll get all of our different emails. But that go out to the legislators and the governor. But also you can send a message to the major sponsors as well as your particular legislators. And I would really recommend that people weigh in on Senate Bill 25B001. So when you go to cut engaged, it is on the third row down. And you can certainly weigh in on the other ones, but it’s third row down, second from the left. And I recommend that people send a message on that, that this is a violation, as you say, Dave Evans, of our separation of powers.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, and most of the revenue increases that the state is trying to get in this session comes from small businesses, increasing taxes to businesses. persons with AGIs that are at the high end, you know, like $300,000 to $500,000, depending on the bill we’re talking about. But that strikes directly at small businesses who are already reeling from the governor’s shutdown during the pandemic and all the regulations that the legislature has been imposing on businesses.
SPEAKER 28 :
Yeah, it’s almost it’s kind of like our Second Amendment. It’s almost like death by a thousand cuts for our Second Amendment rights that we’ve seen, but also for small businesses here. And the article that I referenced that Helen Raleigh wrote. had written about the French bakery up on Lookout Mountain is it seems that this legislature and this governor continue to put more and more signs up that Colorado is closed for business, Dave Evans.
SPEAKER 17 :
I think that’s right. Yeah. Yeah. An interesting thing that came out of the session is their largest amount of revenue increase is is to borrow $100 million in an interest-free loan from the unclaimed property fund and give that to the Health Insurance Affordability Enterprise Cash Fund. And the purpose of these funds is to cover items that the federal government is cutting back on, like abortions and so-called gender-affirming care, the gender mutilation fund. procedures that are being done in hospitals and so forth. So the state is going to take on financing that garbage.
SPEAKER 28 :
Well, and the other thing, and we’re going to re-look at that, well, we pretty well have re-looked at it, was the Wolf introduction bill where they are taking money and putting that, that they’re taking it away from the state Department of Natural Resources and putting it over in the Health Insurance Enterprise Fund, which that also, to my understanding, Dave, is funding abortion and transgender mutilation of our kids and all. And then the other thing is is that There could be private money under that gifts, grants, and donations clause. There could be private money coming in, to my understanding, to support putting more wolves in Colorado. So we had initially supported that, but with all the amendments… I think we’re going to move to a no on that. I’m going to work on that this weekend with all of your comments. And, Dave, to you and the team, to be able to all volunteers basically within 24 hours turn around positions on 12 bills, my hat is off to you and the team, Dave.
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, thanks. And the challenge is when you’re reading these things, trying to figure out what in the world they’re doing, because it’s kind of challenging with all the gobbledygook that they put into those bills.
SPEAKER 28 :
You know, Dave, sometimes I think that’s by design.
SPEAKER 17 :
It could be.
SPEAKER 28 :
I think so. Dave Evans, I so appreciate the work that you’re doing. And how we found you is, I said, we would love to consider having some listeners join the Cut Board. And you reached out. And you have been such an amazing addition to the board. I know the whole team is so glad to have you on board.
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, thank you. I’m glad to be part of it. It’s an honor.
SPEAKER 28 :
And again, that’s Dave Evans with the Colorado Union of Taxpayers Board. And we would love to have you join us, coloradotaxpayer.org, where we’re working on our ratings report that will be coming out very, very soon regarding the legislature. Dave, have a great day.
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, thank you, Kim. I hope you and your listeners do as well.
SPEAKER 28 :
And again, that’s Dave Evans with the Colorado Union of Taxpayers. We keep you informed because we are on the air. We’re an independent voice on an independent station. And it’s because of your support and great sponsors like Karen Levine.
SPEAKER 01 :
Award-winning realtor Karen Levine with Remax Alliance understands the importance of home ownership. Karen Levine works diligently at the local, county, state, and national levels to protect your private property rights. With over 30 years experience as a Colorado realtor, Karen Levine will help you navigate the complicated metro real estate market, whether you are buying your home, selling your home, considering a new build, or exploring investment properties. Kim Monson highly recommends Karen Levine call Karen Levine at 303-877-7516 that’s 303-877-7516 for answers to all your real estate needs
SPEAKER 22 :
The Second Amendment was established to ensure that all individuals have the right to resist oppression, stand firm against government overreach, and protect our ability to defend ourselves, our families, and our freedoms. Today, that right is under relentless attack in Colorado. Colorado’s premier grassroots Second Amendment organization, the Second Syndicate, is on the front lines, fighting to preserve and protect your constitutional rights. We expose the most pressing threats to the Second Amendment and provide the education, resources, and tools to stay informed, empowered and prepared join the movement protect your rights visit thesecondsyndicate.com that’s thesecondsyndicate.com where the second is first
SPEAKER 25 :
When you’re looking for a premium quality painting experience or professional temporary outdoor lighting, call our friends at Radiant Painting and Lighting. The owner, Karen Gorday, spent over 20 years in the customer service industry. She and her experienced professionals will treat your home as if it were their own and take great pride in their work. They only deliver excellence. When giving your home a beautiful new paint job, they use premium caulk and paint and will always deliver what they say. They don’t just enhance your space, they transform it. When you want excellence, call Radiant Painting and Lighting at 720-940-3887.
SPEAKER 24 :
We’ll be right back. To learn more, reach out to Teresa at 520-631-9243. Teresa would love to talk with you. Again, that number is 520-631-9243.
SPEAKER 28 :
And welcome back to the Kim Monson Show. A couple of things I wanted to mention. This Saturday, August 30th, step into history at the commemorative Air Force Mile High Wings Summer Concert Series at Shelter BJC on the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport. in Broomfield. Rock out with the Petty Nicks experience and special guest Sons of Genesis as vintage warbirds and a golden hour runway set the stage. Doors open at 5 p.m., music at 6.30 p.m. Grab dinner from Blue Sky Bistro and bring your friends. And this will help support Tunnel to Towers. Tickets are $25, but you save five bucks with a promo code that says Kim. All ages are welcome. VIP parking available. Snag your spot now at 1943events.com. That’s 1943events.com. And then also the USMC Memorial is hosting a 5K up at Arvada’s Apex Center on September 20th to raise money to support the Marine Memorial event. You can get more information on that by going to usmcmemorialfoundation.org. In studio with me is my friend Kathy Russell. She is the president of Liberty Toastmasters North. Great to have you here. Oh, it’s so great to be here, Kim. And we’ve got quite a few of our fellow Toastmasters in the queue. So what are we going to talk about?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, yeah, today we are talking about the definitions of progressive, liberal, libertarian, conservative, and unaffiliated. And this is such an important conversation because so many people are talking past one another. So I think it’s really important that we all get on the same page about what these definitions are.
SPEAKER 28 :
Well, I love that. So who is our first guest?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, well, our first guest is Rick Rome, and he’s from Liberty Toastmasters in Denver. Rick.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, thank you, Kathy. Thank you, Kim. This topic got me thinking about the quality of the words that we use, and I was reminded of my Dirty Aunt Clara. And Dirty Aunt Clara had a mouth that could make a sailor blush. She also had a parrot in the house. And that parrot was, she was my favorite aunt to visit because we’d go over and visit that parrot and get that parrot to say all kinds of nasty things for us. And, of course, we’d still get our mouths washed out with soap. But it taught me that words matter and the words that we choose matter. A great place to identify where this is happening is in the public school system. I mean, we’ve had nearly two generations now. where the kids have been taking their minds full of mush and indoctrinated instead of taught how to think critically, they’re filled with these Marxist ideas that undermine the value of family, undermine the value of home, undermine the value of faith. and take away that capacity to think critically about what they’re doing and now that we have two generations of teachers cycling and it’s almost like a church of scientology model where they’re rising the clerics through a process of indoctrination and you get clear by being indoctrinated enough to be able to spout the word now as of the generation that was the last one raised by wolves We ate paint chips, played under the power lines, sucked the fumes off the short bus, and we learned the hard way that stupid hurts. There’s a lot of value in that lesson, and I think it was lost for the last two generations, but we have an opportunity now, and I’m hopeful for the first time in a long time, because I think these filthy communists finally overplayed their hands with the COVID lockdowns by forcing families into lockdowns they forced him to interact with one another against and the parents started to see the mindless dribble that their kids were being filled with and the system obviously fought back because why else would merrick garland declare parents acting at school boards as domestic terrorists And it’s still a fight. But like I said, for the first time, I’m hopeful that we have a generational opportunity to redefine the nature of the words that used to that have become so meaningless to us. Racist, homophobe, bigot, Democrat, Republican and independent. None of these words have meaning any longer because they’ve been so obscured with this mindless dribble and doctrine. But now we have an opportunity to bring new words to the table. And those words are truth. Those words are accountability. And those words are personal responsibility.
SPEAKER 28 :
Well done, Rick Rome. Thank you so much. Yeah, thank you, Rick.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay, Kathy. Okay, next is Greg Morrissey from Liberty Toastmasters North. Good morning, Greg. Good morning. How are we doing? Great. How are you doing?
SPEAKER 20 :
Well, the subject matter there, the list you’ve got. So what I did, I went through and found a, like a, for each one of them, what each individual word means. So… The first one is progressive, and that’s a left-leaning political philosophy and reform movement that seeks to advance the human condition through social reform. The next one is liberalism, which is a political and moral philosophy based on the individual liberty and consent of the governed and political equality. A libertarian, a libertarian is a political third party of the United States founded in 1971 by David Nolan, and it advocates minimal government intervention in your life. And then you have the unaffiliated voter, which where I live up in Boulder County, the vast majority of voters are unaffiliated. And they’ve got the unaffiliated here, meaning a lack of affiliation may refer to a lack of any politician affiliation, non-partisanism, or a lack of affiliation to a party. And the thing I’ve seen after speaking to some people, I see a lot of people are frustrated with the current political parties, and they’re going unaffiliated, and they’re voting for, they feel it’s the right person to do the job, regardless of the party. And then you’ve got the conservative… who is a cultural, social, political philosophy and ideology that seeks remote pressure at traditional institutions, customs, and values, which I find myself relating to most of all, which I think a lot of people should look it up. But the list you gave there, man, you could write a three-page essay on all of those and still not cover how it’s covered. It’s some big subjects that are covered. And Interesting how they seem to be the five main thought patterns, if you will, of society today. When you look at some of the parties, some of the things that are being represented and what people would like to see in their lives and change. And then the stuff you do, like I really love Kim’s show, because Kim goes in, she gets in there, she digs out the truth. And just when I heard about the state government and their… money troubles and then denver with their money troubles i’m just thinking you might want to get involved in something and if find something and i think it’s conservative to get that put back if you want to make a difference you have to get in there and make a difference it doesn’t happen overnight you’ve got to know how to communicate and learn and keep corrado where it should be
SPEAKER 28 :
Great. Well, and Greg, you really walk the talk. You go to city council meetings and you use the skills that you are perfecting at Liberty Toastmasters to communicate. So, Greg Morrissey, thank you so much.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, thank you, Greg. You’re welcome. Thank you. Yeah, next on our list is Ross Clough. Ross is from Liberty Toastmasters Denver. Ross, welcome. Thank you.
SPEAKER 11 :
Hi, good morning, liberty lovers. Today, this is a really complex topic, so I’m going to try to simplify it as much as I can. And we actually did, like a lot of people don’t know, is we actually did have an unaffiliated president in our history, and that was George Washington. And he actually warned us about the dangers of the political parties in his farewell address. And if you look at today, you can kind of see where he’s coming from. You have this out-of-control national debt. And you’ve got a bunch of anti-liberty laws being proposed, and some of them passing, unfortunately. And we’re seeing that at the state of Colorado. So we’re seeing lots of issues caused by these political parties. And I like to look at this a little bit differently um pro-freedom and anti-freedom so pro-freedom things are pro-freedom we want to get past things that are anti-freedom we want to not get past and get killed and unfortunately at our state we have extremely pro-freedom bills like the government transparency laws that got got creamed in committee last year um eight to three i think it was And then we’ve got a bunch of anti-freedom pieces of legislation. An example is when they tried to kill Tabor, luckily that one failed, but that got way closer than it should have. So that is a big problem. And what I’m doing about it is I created a blog to rate these bills on a tier list system, A being extremely pro-freedom, that being extremely anti-freedom and anti-constitution. And I’ve got artwork for each tier as well that goes with each tier ranking and each bill. The easiest way to get on that blog is go to Liberty Toastmasters-Denver, Colorado Facebook page, and there’s a link right to that Freedom Index tier list.
SPEAKER 28 :
Is that on a website, Ross, or is the best way to get that through Facebook? Yep.
SPEAKER 11 :
That’s probably the easiest. The link to the website is kind of long right now. I’m working on that, but the Facebook link is super easy. And so, yeah, you can get on there, take a look at it. The way I’m using this tier list is I’m going to personally, first of all, I’m going to be informing the legislature members what tier ranking these bills are getting. And the second thing is I’m personally going to be testifying for the A tier bills and against the F tier bills. The Bs, Cs, and Ds, probably don’t have time to go to those unless it’s extremely, I’m extremely interested in the topic. But the As and the Fs I will be concentrating on because that’s where our liberty is going to be won and lost. So that is what I’m doing. And I think I’m the first one to put artwork with bill rankings. Great.
SPEAKER 28 :
Well, I love that, Ross. And so next month, hopefully, so people, again, go to Liberty. Tell us again how to get to that, and then hopefully next month you’ll have that website that we can give to people as well.
SPEAKER 11 :
Oh, yeah. Yeah, definitely. So go to Liberty Toastmasters, and that’s hyphen Denver, Colorado. Go to that Facebook page, and there’ll be a post with a link on it to the page. Okay.
SPEAKER 28 :
Great. Ross Clough, thank you so much. Greatly appreciate what you’re doing. And so awesome. Just super awesome. Did want to mention the Center for American Values located in Pueblo. Now that we’re getting into September, they’ve got some important events. They will be doing an event for 9-11 as well as they have a. Later in the month, a training for secondary educators. We’re focusing on these principles of honor, integrity, and patriotism. And so to get more information about that, go to AmericanValueCenter.org. That’s AmericanValueCenter.org. And you can get all that information there. Also, Drew Dix, co-founder of the center and Medal of Honor recipient, has his first season of his blog. podcast out there. And that is on that website as well. So these discussions are so important. They happen because of our sponsors. For everything mortgages, be sure and reach out to Lauren Levy.
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All of Kim’s sponsors are an inclusive partnership with Kim and are not affiliated with or in partnership with KLZ or Crawford Broadcasting. If you would like to support the work of the Kim Monson Show and grow your business, contact Kim at her website, KimMonson.com. That’s Kim Monson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com.
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SPEAKER 28 :
And welcome back to The Kim Monson Show. Check out our website. That’s KimMonson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. In studio with me is my good friend Kathy Russell, president of Liberty Toastmasters North.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes, it is great to be here. And we’re talking today about definitions, the definitions of progressive, liberal, libertarian, conservative, and unaffiliated. And Carol VanLandingham is one of our Toastmasters at Liberty Toastmasters North. Carol, are you there? Yes.
SPEAKER 14 :
I am. Hi, Kathy. Good morning.
SPEAKER 28 :
Well, good to have you, Carol. What’s what’s your thoughts on these definitions?
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, I think it’s important just the way democracy is set up to have different opinions, different goals. And all those different ones have different goals. they stand for something different. Conservatives obviously are trying to get a lot of their issues passed. Liberals tend to not, not want to agree. And just my personal opinion with, um, with the conservatives. However, I think having both sides of the aisle are very important. Um, and I think it’s great that we’ve had a lot of other things come up as libertarians and, um, Even the unaffiliated, it’s very important just for everybody to be able to have their opinion and their view and be able to state that. Sometimes I do think it’s difficult as we try to push things through as laws and through the government. There’s so many different opinions, but I do think it’s important just for everybody to be able to have their own opinion so that we can work together and
SPEAKER 28 :
get things done and and it i think it is interesting carol that again there’s so many different views out there and we see that playing out and so i appreciate your perspective you’re kind of your final thought on all that carol i think once you do have your opinion and you know what you stand for you need to stand behind that and you need to be involved and get involved and push forward to make things happen that you agree need to happen okay carol van landingham thank you so much Thank you, Carol.
SPEAKER 03 :
Bye-bye.
SPEAKER 28 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, and next up is Dave Walden from Liberty Toastmasters North. Good morning, Dave. How are you doing?
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, I’m doing well. Good morning, Kim, Kathy. Good to hear your cheery voices this morning. You know, I think Rick Rome probably came closest to my thoughts on the use of these terms. And I would start out by saying… I would urge all of us who are advocates of the freedoms bequeathed to us by our founders to not use these terms, to refuse to use them purposely. And I say that for a number of reasons, probably the first one being, like, take the word liberal itself. Its origins stem from what we term the Enlightenment. the Enlightenment being defined as the recent period of history in which the rights of man, all men, emerged as a high priority in what had been a subject totally ignored, not totally ignored, but largely ignored by the historical record. And with the rights of man and the term liberal that meant someone who advocated and supported the rights of man became popularized. I mean, Jefferson was a liberal. John Locke was a liberal. In science, Isaac Newton was a liberal. So when you think of the term liberal and its origins and its initial use, what it meant, You think of the revolution that occurred in human rights, the scientific revolution that occurred in response to that, then the industrial revolution that occurred in response to the scientific revolution, leading to the founding of America and what those of us that have come after it just largely take for granted in living our lives. So I would urge that we If we’re going to use these terms, the first thing we must do is demonstrate and require of whoever we’re talking with to demonstrate they understand the meaning of the term. And if you cannot come to an agreement on that, there’s really no point in discussing it. You’re just going to be talking past each other, as Kathy has so eloquently stated. And I guess that would be my summation on the use of these terms. You know, bottom line, Kim, Kathy… Whenever we generalize, we run the risk of being misunderstood.
SPEAKER 28 :
Dave, don’t you think that because language is so important, we’ve realized that. And I almost I do think that it’s by design that the definitions of these words have become clouded. And Kathy and I talked about it on the way in. And I think you’re alluding to that as well. is that if we can’t agree what that definition is, then we don’t really have a starting place in the conversation, Dave.
SPEAKER 19 :
No, we do not. And that’s my point entirely. The bottom line, again, the bottom line, Kim, I would agree with you. If you read books like 1984 or any of the dystopian novels, one of the things you find common woven through them is a clouding or disguising of what words actually mean. In the case of 1984, they come to mean the opposite of what they’re originally intended to mean. Now, I would argue, Kim, that that distortion that you mentioned is real, but it’s not by design necessarily. I would qualify it by saying it’s by logical design. If your values are antithetical, for example, to individual rights and the ideals upon which our country was founded, if your values are the opposite, then you will tend to want to capture words that will lead the listener to believe they’re in support of what you’re in support of. And they just term it a different thing, when in fact, it means something quite different than when you listen to that word and hear it. So I would say, yes, it may appear by design, but it’s only by logical design, motivated by values and politics. You know, it’s no accident, Kim, that the terms that are the subject of this morning’s discussion are all political terms i mean you can’t find the muddying of language in say astronomy or geology or physics chemistry those words have precise meanings it’s only when you get into the humanities that you get into this vague muddied interpretation of what words mean and that’s not an accident logic forces that on people whose values are actually different than yours
SPEAKER 28 :
Fascinating, Dave Walden. Thank you.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, thank you, Dave. That was great. And now I’m up.
SPEAKER 28 :
You’re up, Kathy and Russell.
SPEAKER 03 :
And Dave, you brought up another great point that in politics, words get muddied so much. And I can attest with my personal life experience. I had as my American history professor, Howard Zinn, who I didn’t know at the time, but he was a card carrying communist. And you were actually in his class. I was actually in his class and a dumb kid. You know, I didn’t study history. I was a science major. major and so he taught that conservatives meant people who wanted to go back to the past they wanted to go back to where there was slavery they wanted to go back to where women were obedient and in the home and it was only years later and so i kind of i vibed with that i just thought oh conservatives i believed that i can’t believe that i believe that but i you know You hear it over and over and over again, and I was in university for so long, piled higher and deeper. And so what I finally realized was Edmund Burke, the father of conservatism, he was a… liberal progressive. He believed in freedom. He also believed in progress, but he knew that the way to get to progress is by looking at the past and looking at what worked. And there’s an old Sufi saying that I think is so relevant that there is no new without the old. And I think my point is that I believe that the vast majority of Americans are on the same page. And it’s exactly as Dave mentioned, it’s due to politics that these definitions have become muddy. And so for many years, I didn’t know what a conservative was, that somebody who really wanted progress, they wanted to move forward. And the only way you can do that is by looking at the best of what came before. Yeah.
SPEAKER 28 :
Fascinating. Your journey, we’ve got a few minutes. I find your journey truly amazing, Kathy, because conservatives were demonized. I’ve defined the word conservative because the environmentalists have said, conserve water, conserve, conserve. And we need to conserve and preserve and be good stewards of our earth. We really need to. But don’t we need to conserve those ideas of our founding?
SPEAKER 03 :
Absolutely.
SPEAKER 28 :
All men are created equal with these rights from God of life, liberty, pursuit of happiness. Absolutely. And that’s what I think conservative… is to me, but to Dave’s point and everybody’s point, we need to come to an understanding of defining the terms. So I think we need to reclaim some of these words in this political landscape.
SPEAKER 03 :
Absolutely.
SPEAKER 28 :
And so that’s why we do what we’re doing on the show on a regular basis.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, and I am a proud… I proudly call myself a progressive and a liberal and a conservative and an independent thinker and a libertarian. I think all of these words… really fit who i am when you look at the origin of the words and not as they’ve been twisted and turned into progressive people who call themselves progressives tend to want to regress back to no oil no well they want to regress back to uh that agenda to uh control Oh, and to control and to big state.
SPEAKER 28 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 03 :
And that’s slavery.
SPEAKER 28 :
Exactly. Well, one of the things, which is a great takeaway, is Kathy, after we have conversations, I always am thinking about it. But I love the fact that you’ve taken those five words and you’ve said, I’m all of the above. I’ve never heard anybody say that. I love it.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah. Well, and to go back to what Carol said, I think we need all of these things. We need we need progressive people who are pushing the envelope. You know, we’re going to try these all crazy things. And we need the conservatives, the traditional conservatives say, hey, you know, maybe that’s not going to work. And then as a. My son talks about this a lot. We talk a lot about evolutionary theory and how evolution works is you have variations. And so that’s the job of the liberal progressives, people on the left who are just pushing the envelope. We’re going to try all these crazy things. And then the conservatives, we absolutely need them to say, hey, we tried that before. That didn’t work. We tried that before. That didn’t work. So you need all these ideas.
SPEAKER 28 :
But that’s why we need to be informed. Kathy, we are out of time. It’s so awesome to have you here.
SPEAKER 03 :
So awesome to be here. Thank you, Kim.
SPEAKER 28 :
And our quote for the end of the show is from Michelangelo. He said, Do not fret, for God did not create us to abandon us. Again, do not fret, for God did not create us to abandon us. Beautiful. So today, be grateful, read great books, think good thoughts, listen to beautiful music, communicate and listen well, live honestly and authentically, strive for high ideals, and like Superman, stand for truth, justice, and the American way. My friends, you are not alone. God bless you. God bless America. Stay tuned for hour number two.
SPEAKER 13 :
The views and opinions expressed on KLZ 560 are those of the speaker, commentators, hosts, their guests, and callers. They are not necessarily the views and opinions of Crawford Broadcasting or KLZ management, employees, associates, or advertisers. KLZ 560 is a Crawford Broadcasting God and country station.
SPEAKER 04 :
It’s the Kim Monson Show. Analyzing the most important stories.
SPEAKER 28 :
I find that it takes work to get your brain around these ideas, and it takes work to engage in these conversations.
SPEAKER 04 :
The latest in politics and world affairs.
SPEAKER 28 :
With what is happening down at the Statehouse, I used to think that it was above my pay grade to read the legislation, and it’s not.
SPEAKER 04 :
Today’s current opinions and ideas.
SPEAKER 28 :
I see big danger in as much as we will be giving an unelected bureaucrat the power to make rules about what we inject into our bodies.
SPEAKER 04 :
Is it freedom or is it force? Let’s have a conversation.
SPEAKER 28 :
Indeed. Let’s have a conversation. And welcome to the Kim Monson Show. Thank you so much for joining us. You’re each treasured. You’re valued. You have purpose. Today, strive for excellence. Take care of your heart, your soul, your mind, and your body. My friends, we were made for this moment in history. And thank you to the team that I get to work with. That is Producer Joe, Luke, Rachel, Zach, Echo, Charlie, Mike, Teresa, Amanda, and all the people here at Crawford Broadcasting. Happy Thursday, Producer Joe. Happy Thursday, Kim. And congratulations. I love Liberty Toastmasters Day, but it is fun. It’s fun to watch you make sure all that happens, Producer Joe.
SPEAKER 23 :
You mean it feels like my hair is on fire, so it’s fun to look at me while my hair is on fire?
SPEAKER 28 :
Yeah, we like that. We like that. And so good job on that. Kathy Russell is in studio with me. She is my good friend. She is the president of Liberty Toastmasters North. Fun stuff, huh?
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, it’s just great. Yeah, I love Liberty Toastmasters.
SPEAKER 28 :
It’s the best deal in town. And we have to learn how to communicate with each other.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER 28 :
And Liberty Toastmasters is so great about that. Liberty Toastmasters North meets the second and fourth Saturdays in Longmont. And Liberty Toastmasters Denver, the first and third Saturdays in Denver at the Independence Institute. And we love to have guests.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes, we do. And guests love us. They love to come and see what’s happening. We have so much fun and we laugh a lot. We do, but we don’t always agree on things, which I love. Well, in our group, we have libertarians, we have Democrats, we have Republicans, we have unaffiliated. We just have a whole mishmash, which is awesome. It just creates really great discussions.
SPEAKER 28 :
And we’ve got to communicate with each other. I talk about the Democrat Party. The Democrat Party has been taken over by radical activists. It’s no longer the party. When people say I’m Democrat and they think that they’re talking about the Democrats of their grandpa and their grandma or JFK, that’s not the case. That’s not the case. It’s Howard Zinn that I mentioned before.
SPEAKER 03 :
You talked about that in the first hour. Yes. He had the number one bestselling textbook ever. Ever. I mean, it is… Everybody’s reading the People’s History of the United States, which is just pure propaganda. I didn’t know it. He was a card-carrying communist. And now people are just using his ideas. The 1619 Project, which talks about how horrible Americans are. They just wanted to keep slavery. This country was founded on the idea that we wanted to perpetuate slavery forever. All that garbage came from Howard Zinn. The guy was just unbelievably prolific. And in fact, that movie, Good Will Hunting, the book that was talked about, like, oh, this is the greatest book ever, was the People’s History of the United States. It’s had so much damage on people. And it’s just crazy. I wanted to make another comment, too. We were talking about liberal, where that comes from. And it used to be that the ancient Greeks and Romans would use liberal arts education, which was… had at the top of the list the most important thing was rhetoric that people would learn to communicate with one another and i find it interesting that in our education system today k through 12 that art is not taught we’re taught to write but we’re not taught well we’re not even taught to write that much now with these kids on like chromebooks and all and i really think
SPEAKER 28 :
We need to get back or reclaim being able to write cursive, to be able to write, to think those those methods of communicating.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes. And I got there’s an organization called Braver Angels that puts together liberals and conservatives. And I was so excited because, oh, great. I’m going to talk to some liberals. And this woman, she is she’s terrified to talk. I mean, she really she’s a liberal or she’s a liberal. OK, yeah, she’s a liberal. And I think that’s what’s the difference now.
SPEAKER 28 :
I’m terrified to talk.
SPEAKER 03 :
Because she’s just terrified that Donald Trump is Hitler. He’s a dictator. And she can’t hear anything other than that. She doesn’t know how to communicate, so she can send sound bites of her favorite politicians, who are clearly politicians. They’re not there to advance anything. Ideas, they don’t have anything to say other than Donald Trump is a dictator. And they never steel man his position. And I find that a lot of conservatives and a lot of people who are good at talking, good at communicating, can say, hey, I can understand why people voted for Joe Biden. I disagree with his policies, but… And here’s why I disagree with this policy, this policy, this policy. I have found that so many so-called liberal, or I don’t know what, Democrats, don’t have that capacity. They cannot articulate the policy. All they can say is Trump is evil. He’s a racist. He’s…
SPEAKER 28 :
Just the stuff that you hear all the time.
SPEAKER 03 :
That ugly politicians, the name-calling that avoids authentic communication.
SPEAKER 28 :
So, Kathy, this is super interesting. I’m thinking clockwise here. A couple of things. Well, this is interesting because I think what I hear you saying is there’s this group that wants to facilitate communication. And you’re not the only person that’s mentioned this. The people that watch the left-wing mainstream media, all they can regurgitate is Trump bad, Trump bad. You ask why? Fascist, dictator, da-da-da-da. But then when you say… Look at these policies. He’s working towards more freedom for individuals to go back to what Ross had said in the first hour. Is it more freedom or less freedom? And maybe that’s how we couch it. But what I’m finding is there’s it’s like sticking fingers in the ears and not even wanting to communicate and listen.
SPEAKER 03 :
And I think it’s terror. They are terrorized. It’s amazing. There’s a book called The Psychology of Totalitarianism that I think everybody should read, at least the first part of the book. And he talks about how… authoritarian governments, it’s not the authoritarian. It is the terrified people. And when you have these stories that are going out that the climate, we’ve only got 12 years or we’re all going to burn up. You’ve got Trump. He’s a Hitler and he’s going to, you know, enslave all the women and Just be basically Hitler. And when you have this fear, fear, fear, 24-7, fear, fear, fear, then you have all these people who are afraid. They don’t believe in a higher power. They don’t believe in benevolence of the goodness of God or the universe or whatever. And so… They need something. And so if a politician comes along and says, I’m going to save you. I’m going to give you your health care. I’m going to give you your food. I’m going to provide for this. I’m going to solve climate change. That’s when you get authoritarian governments. So it’s really the people who are authoritarians that they enable authoritarians by their fear. Right. And that’s why I think things like the Christian religion is so important. And you don’t have to be a Christian to just know that the message, the number one message is fear not, fear not, fear not, fear not, fear not. You have a loving, benevolent creator. Fear not. And that message, we need to hear more today than ever. And there are atheists sounding alarm, like, don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. There are Christians saying, there’s people of all religions saying, don’t be afraid. And we need to listen to them because if we are afraid, we can’t hear anymore.
SPEAKER 28 :
Well, and I think that’s by design with all of the media. Although I think that’s changing when you see many of those fear mongers that have been hosting these shows are losing their jobs.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes!
SPEAKER 28 :
Yay! We are in a generational, was it Dave that said it? Generational opportunity. So a couple of things. First of all, we want to hear from you. We’re not going to be able to take calls today because we’re jammed up in this hour as well with great guests. But the text line is 720-605-0647. And I will be watching that. Let’s see. Our word of the day is definition. And it is a precise explanation of the meaning of a word concept or object. And our quote of the day is from Michelangelo. And he was born in 1475, died in 1564, a famous painter in the spirit of Karen Gorday with radiant painting and lighting. And he says, do not be concerned that you might set a target too high and fail. Be concerned that you will set it too low and succeed. Love that, huh?
SPEAKER 03 :
I love that. That’s a great one.
SPEAKER 28 :
And we are an independent voice on an independent station. That means I purchase my airtime and all that goes on here. But that means that nobody tells me what we have to put on the show, which is freedom. But being an entrepreneur is tricky as well. And so I appreciate all our sponsors, all of your support. And the Roger Mangan State Farm Insurance team is great sponsors of the show. And they can create personalized insurance plans to cover all your needs from protection for your cars to your home, condo, boat, motorcycle business, and renter’s coverage. Contact the Roger Mangan team now at 303-795-8855 for a complimentary appointment. It is time for my renewals on everything. And so I am making that appointment to go with over everything. And so greatly appreciate them. And also want to say thank you to the Harris family for their gold sponsorship of the show. I really appreciate that. Kathy, we’re going to go to break. And another great sponsor of the show, as I mentioned, is the Roger Megan State Farm Insurance team.
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SPEAKER 28 :
And welcome back to the Kim Monson Show. And just wanted to mention, from Parker to Golden, Little Richie’s Pizza and Pasta is your go-to for real New York-style pizza, hearty pastas, and that unbeatable local vibe. Little Richie’s is serving up daily specials, quick and tasty weekday lunch deals, and a happy hour the locals actually build their plans around. So whether you’re bringing the crew, catching up with friends, or flying solo for a hot slice, Little Richie’s is your neighborhood hangout. And again, that’s in Parker.com. And in golden, Kathy Russell is in studio with me, my good friend, president of Liberty Toastmasters North. You’re having a great time.
SPEAKER 03 :
I’m having a great time.
SPEAKER 28 :
I know you’re excited about this next guest, and that is Steve Gorham. He’s the executive director of the Climate Science Coalition of America, an author of four books on energy, climate change, and sustainable development, with over 100,000 copies in print. His latest book is Green Breakdown, The Coming Renewable Energy Failure. Steve Gorham, welcome to the show.
SPEAKER 18 :
Good morning, Kim. Good morning, Kathy. Great to join you this morning.
SPEAKER 28 :
Well, it is good to have you. And I need to describe your book, The Mad, Mad, Mad World of Climatism. The cover of that book is pretty funny, I think. Just describe that for us, Steve.
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah, it was my second book, The Mad, Mad, Mad World of Climatism. It is a color paperback. And it shows three polar bears in a, I think it’s a Mazda Miata. You know, never believe a picture. I went to a designer, and he was able to put the polar bears in right behind the windshield. It looks like they’re right in the car, so polar bear images. But, you know, the book pokes fun at people’s fears about man-made climate change and talks about energy and a lot of other things. But it’s a fun book for reading. It’s also great for… Your kids that might be in high school or even college are getting a very one-sided view about the climate, which the evidence, in my opinion, shows is dominated by nature, not human emissions.
SPEAKER 28 :
But if you understand that about this whole climate change narrative, what happens then is I call them PBIs, Steve, politicians, bureaucrats, and interested parties that really want to control things. They lose their control.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, they do. Many people use the fear of man-made warming to push all sorts of objectives. The United Nations, for example, has been pushing it for about 30 years. They’ve had three big objectives behind it. One is to become an environmental leader, and the vehicle of man-made warming is a great way to do that. Another is to redistribute wealth from the United States and Europe to developing nations. And so they have these conferences every year, and they’re asking for hundreds of billions of dollars to be transferred. And then the third is one world government. President of France Jacques Chirac said a couple decades ago that the first United Nations climate conferences were an example of world government. But we have, it’s not only United Nations, it’s many other groups, wind, solar, and biofuels, and thousands of consultants that inform companies about man-made warming. So we do have A lot of people that have a big stake in this.
SPEAKER 28 :
Well, and that’s a great point to mention the documentary, A Climate Conversation, which is the project of Walt Johnson. He and his wife, Rami, financed it because Walt has been a geophysicist for over 50 years, and he just wanted to have a conversation about climate, do some Socratic questioning about that. I had the great honor to… moderate that film he’s preparing for the sequel which we’re excited about but people can watch that for free by going to a climate conversation.com and then we did a great podcast series with excellent guests you were one of those guests steve gorman
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay, great.
SPEAKER 28 :
Okay, let’s get over here. First thing, you have been referencing that Colorado has a greenhouse gas pollution roadmap. And you said if Colorado somehow achieves net zero emissions, will this make a difference to the climate? So talk to us a little bit about that.
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah, I think your roadmap was laid out in January 2021, and your governor, Paulus, is a big fan of that. And it lays out climate targets in reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that are 26% by 2025, 50% by 2030, 90% by 2050. And it has all sorts of different things in it about power plants and vehicles and methane and all sorts of different things. But, you know, we have a number of states doing this. My own state, Illinois, California as well. The ironic thing, though, is that these measures are not going to have any effect on global temperatures. But the only effect that’s going to be measurable is that they’re going to raise the cost of energy for citizens. And today, Colorado, for example, is, I think about last year, you were the sixth biggest wind state in the country, and that’ll probably be higher in 2025. But you got about 31% of your electricity from natural gas, 30% from wind, 28% from coal, solar about 5%. But across the world now, we have 6,500 coal-fired power plants that are operating and another 1,000 in planning. And these coal plants provide 35% of world electricity. They are the biggest source of electricity worldwide. Yet we have about 700 million people that don’t have access to electricity. And there’s another 2 billion people that have blackouts or brownouts every day or every other day. So if you have an air conditioner in Colorado, that one appliance is using more electricity than a third of the world’s people get to use on any average day. So the world is going to push.
SPEAKER 28 :
So, Steve, let me just interject here. So is the answer to say that the people in Colorado can’t use their air conditioner, or is the answer that we go to work to, as Chris Wright, Department of Energy Secretary, has said, do we want to lift people out of energy poverty? I think that’s the question. Don’t you agree?
SPEAKER 18 :
You’re right, and Secretary Wright has said that. He says that we do have a little bit of global warming, but the big tragedy in the world is the lack of electricity around the world, and that’s what we really need to drive for. But again, the point is that what we do in Colorado or Illinois or even California is not going to have any measurable effect on global emissions. People are going to continue to build coal plants. We have… In developing nations, there’s only one vehicle for every 20 people. In the United States, we have just about one vehicle per person. All of these nations are going to get more and more vehicles as they grow. And so the only visible effect of Colorado’s climate plan is going to be to raise prices for energy for Coloradans. It’s not going to have any effect on global emissions.
SPEAKER 28 :
Goodness. Kathy, what do you think about all this?
SPEAKER 03 :
I think I am so excited to see so many people rising up and giving out the truth. And I’m glad to see Chris Wright, who is just amazing. And the humanitarian aspect, I think, is so beautiful.
SPEAKER 28 :
Well, and I think she’s so right. So, Steve, again, connecting that dot. With all of this control over people’s lives, and you also mentioned vehicles, that there’s so many people in the world that do not have vehicles, and the freedom of mobility helps people be able to get to maybe a different job opportunity, and that… Third world countries, developing countries, people want that freedom of a vehicle, yet from a public policy standpoint, particularly here in Colorado, they are doing so many things at the local, the county, and the state level to try to limit the freedom of mobility for everyday people, Steve.
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah, it’s a shame. And Colorado is one of the states, I think, that’s still trying to force everybody to get to electric vehicles, which doesn’t really make sense. And those are kind of breaking down around around the country now but again the renewables are more expensive there’s no doubt about it if you look at europe for example and you take the uh you look at all the nations in europe and you you uh i have a little chart where i plot the wind and solar capacity of a nation on one axis versus the uh electricity price on the other axis and you find that the countries that use the most wind and solar end up with the highest electricity prices wind and solar are not cheaper Denmark and Germany, which have the highest density of wind in the world, have three times the price of the United States. So Colorado is headed down the track to raise their electricity prices. By the way, over the last 16 years, Colorado’s prices have risen faster than the national average, not much faster, but a little bit. And that’s just a path to hurt citizens, and it’s not going to do anything for global temperatures.
SPEAKER 28 :
Well, I think that pretty well nails it. It hurts citizens, and it doesn’t do anything to address this narrative out there. So, again, I’d recommend people check out climateconversation.com. And we’re going to come back and talk with Steve Gorham. But what is your website, Steve?
SPEAKER 18 :
Steve Gorham, G-O-R-E-H-A-M dot com. If they go and buy a book or two, I’ll send them signed copies online. And The Green Breakdown and The Mad, Mad, Mad World of Climatism are also available on Amazon, of course, and e-books as well.
SPEAKER 28 :
Okay. But ordering them through your website, they could get signed copies. Yes, ma’am. Okay. We’ll be right back with Steve Gorin. But I did want to mention something that’s very fun that’s going to be happening this weekend. This Saturday, August 30th, step into history at the Commemorative Air Force Mile High Wings Summer Concert Series at Shelter BJC. on the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Broomfield. Rock out with the Petty Nicks experience and experience Sons of Genesis as vintage warbirds in a golden hour runway. Set the stage doors open at 5 p.m., music 630. You can grab dinner from the Blue Sky Bistro, bring your friends, support Tunnel to Towers. Tickets are just $25, and you can save $5 with the promo code KIM. All ages are welcome. VIP parking available. Snag your spot now at 1943events.com. That’s 1943events.com. And then also very pleased to be working with the Second Syndicate, which they are bringing all these different voices together to protect our Second Amendment rights.
SPEAKER 22 :
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SPEAKER 24 :
There’s so much noise coming at us. Sometimes it is difficult to make sense of it all. How can you sift through the clamor for your attention and get to the truth? The Kim Monson Show is here to help. Kim searches for truth and clarity by examining issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. Tune in to the Kim Monson Show each weekday, 6 to 8 a.m. with encores 1 to 2 p.m. and 10 to 11 p.m. on KLZ 560 AM, KLZ 100.7 FM. The KLZ website, the KLZ app, and Alexa. Play KLZ. Shows can also be found at KimMonson.com, Spotify, and iTunes.
SPEAKER 28 :
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SPEAKER 03 :
Great to be here, Kim.
SPEAKER 28 :
And I just showed you these books by Steve Gorham, The Mad, Mad, Mad World of Climatism. Every time I look at the cover of that, it just cracks me up. That That is awesome. It’s great. And we have Steve Gorham on the line. And Steve, next subject. You recently published an article where you point out that artificial intelligence and that revolution is now driving electrical power in the United States. So what’s the impact on this?
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah, this is the other thing that’s changing the climate narrative. We have a whole bunch of people that say, well, we’re going to do wind and solar and And for several decades, U.S. energy consumption was flat, electricity consumption. But now it’s exploding. It’s amazing what is going on. What happened was we had ChatGPT in November of 2022 released their conversational artificial intelligence chatbot that could learn the complexities of human language and interaction. And now we have a generational artificial intelligence that is creating text and images and music and videos. Well, the downside to all this is that this requires vast amounts of electricity. At the start of 2024, we had about 2,700 data centers in the United States, and they were handling the Internet and cloud storage. Now we have over 4,000 data centers. That’s about a 50% increase in just a year and a half. And not only that, the old ones are being upgraded. And the companies that are doing this are the big guys, Amazon and Google and Meta and Microsoft. And so they’re upgrading these data centers to run artificial intelligence. And at the start of 2024, data centers used about 4% of U.S. electricity. But now it’s estimated that within a decade, they’re going to consume 20% of U.S. electricity. And so we have these states all over that are building these huge data centers. Texas, for example, has under in planning has more than 100 gas fire power plants in planning. And they’re going to be online within four or five years. And these are all to pretty much all to drive data centers. And now Texas is the biggest wind state in the country, 15,000 gas turbines. But when these data centers turn on, I’m sorry, when these new gas fire power plants turn on for the data centers, they’re going to produce three times the electricity of all the wind in Texas that was put in over 20 years. So just huge, huge things going to support AI. And the states that are putting in wind and solar and thinking that’s going to make a difference, that’s another example where it’s just being overwhelmed by what’s going on.
SPEAKER 28 :
So why isn’t Greta Thunberg, the young Swedish person that has been saying that so concerned about that the world’s going to burn up and that we are passing on to young people, you know, a planet that’s going to burn up. Where is she? Is she out there bringing any attention to this narrative?
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, I’ve heard she’s working on Israel lately. She’s taking trips to Gaza and Israel and trying to get that stopped and all that. But just to give you some other things.
SPEAKER 28 :
She’s not in Texas against these industrial plants.
SPEAKER 18 :
No, she’s not in Texas.
SPEAKER 28 :
Huh.
SPEAKER 18 :
So what else is going on is the utilities now realize that, hey, you know, we can’t we can’t support all this growth. So there’s a lot of things happening. The first thing is that the restarting old power plants are restarting nuclear plants. That’s happening in Iowa and in Pennsylvania and in Michigan. They’re extending coal plants. Coal plants are being extended in a number of states. that they were scheduled to be closed. And then the latest thing is BYOP, bring your own power. What we have going on is that companies building data centers are also building new gas plants right on site to power these things because there’s not enough power on the grid. And that’s what a lot of these Texas plants are for. Another example is Tesla. Tesla is one of the biggest solar and battery producers in the country. But they built a new what they call Colossus XAI supercomputer near Memphis, Tennessee. And they didn’t use solar or wind or grid scale batteries. They put in 35 gas turbines to power this supercomputer facility in Memphis. They built it in less than six months with 200,000 graphics processing units. These are the high-power AI processors. But this is an example of bring your own power. This is what’s going on around the country. So, you know, in Colorado, trying to put in a little solar is just, you know, it’s small in comparison.
SPEAKER 28 :
So, Kathy, do you have any questions on this right now? You’re just shaking your head. I’m just amazed, yeah.
SPEAKER 03 :
I guess one question I have is, what about global greening? Are you hearing much about that, or is there much of a conversation about that?
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, I do have an image in Green Breakdown from researchers in Australia saying, And these are satellite images, and they point out that the Earth has been greening over the last 20 or 30 years. And they believe that’s because we have higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Unfortunately, we have people calling carbon dioxide a pollutant, but it is the thing that makes plants grow. And sometimes when I speak to audiences, I ask them the question, What do cannabis growers know that a lot of our political leaders don’t understand? And the answer is that CO2 is green. Any marijuana grower worth his or her salt is pumping carbon dioxide into the greenhouse to make their crop grow bigger and faster. It is literally the best compound we could put in the environment for the biosphere that there is. So, you know, we’ve got it all wrong here. We’re calling carbon dioxide a pollutant. It’s great for plants. And this whole ideology of climatism is going to come down in the next decade or two.
SPEAKER 28 :
So, Steve, we have just a few minutes left, and Kathy and I were talking during break, and she said that she had seen a figure of, what, $9 trillion?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, $9.3 trillion at the World Economic Forum suggested that we needed to spend every year to mitigate climate change.
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah, well, it’s very, very foolish. The world did spend $2 trillion last year on this. These are really foolish. The whole word mitigate is very, very foolish. It says basically we can control the climate. We can stop the oceans from rising. We can make storms less severe. That is nonsense. The only rational, sound policy for the climate is to adapt to it, as nations have been doing for all of history. An example is Netherlands, for example. It’s been building sea walls and artificial islands for centuries now as the oceans have been rising. If you want to protect people in the Caribbean from hurricanes, you boost their incomes and you have them build very strong concrete buildings. In Central Africa, where 40% of people don’t have electricity and it gets up to 95 degrees every day in the summer, They don’t have a fan. They don’t have power. We need to get them power so they can have an electric fan and so they can put in air conditioning, that sort of thing. But adaptation is the only sensible policy.
SPEAKER 28 :
Well, sensible is the key word there. But instead, we are uncovering in this conversation what this is really about. And that is instead of lifting people out of energy poverty, for example, air conditioning, energy, power for people in third world countries. These politicians and bureaucrats and interested parties, these PBIs, are doing everything to make it more expensive for everyday Americans to be able to partake of the blessings of reliable, efficient, affordable, and abundant energy sources, Steve. Your final thoughts, Steve Gorham? It’s always fascinating when you’re on the show.
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah, I get my green book, The Coming Renewable Energy Failure. It’s a color paperback. It’s a lot of fun. In addition to the science and economics, I have about 150 color sidebars, which are real headlines of what’s the crazy things going around around the world for energy and climate. And one of those was a Utah school where a it was a middle school and a teacher actually brought in insects for the kids to eat. And and the lesson that the headline was Utah school gives kids disgusting insects to eat in class for climate assignment on cows killing the earth. But these are some of the things that are going on. So I would encourage people to pick up my book at Steve Gorham, G-O-R-E-H-A-M dot com or Amazon and learn the real story.
SPEAKER 28 :
Great work, Steve Gorham. We’ll talk again very soon. Thank you, Kim and Kathy. And did you learn anything different?
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, yes. You know a lot about this. I know I’ve been fascinated by this whole topic. Yeah, it’s just amazing. And I think it’s so particularly important to me because I live in Boulder, and so many kids are not having children because they are terrified that it would be irresponsible, they believe. Oh. For bringing kids into a world that’s just on fire and burning. And they hate capitalism because they believe that capitalism is causing it.
SPEAKER 28 :
That’s why they should, well, you said, you know, I think I’ll order some of his books and pass those out.
SPEAKER 03 :
And put them into the schools, yeah.
SPEAKER 28 :
What a great idea.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, I was at a school board meeting. It was just crazy that there were 10 kids that got up and talked about how terrified they were of climate change. And they were going to do this great thing of stopping having their parents quit idling when they drove them to school.
SPEAKER 28 :
Well, maybe quit driving him to school. How’s that? That would solve that problem. Yeah. Okay, we’re going to continue another great discussion. I’ll just let you know that you do not want to turn that dial. And this all happens because of our sponsors. If you’ve been injured, reach out to John Bozen at Bozen Law.
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SPEAKER 28 :
Welcome back to The Kim Monson Show. Check out our website. That’s kimmonson.com and sign up for our weekly email newsletter. That way you will get our newsletter that goes out on Sundays. We do not send a whole bunch of emails out, typically just one per week. And so be sure you sign up there. I want to hear from you. Text line is 720-605-0647. A couple of things to get on your radar. First, at the Center for American Values on 9-11, they will have Patriot Day, a very important event. to remember 9-11. Back in October, the 21st, there will be an On Value speaker series that you will not want to miss. And secondary educator training will occur on September 23rd. And so you can get all that information by going to AmericanValueCenter.org. The center is located in Pueblo. They’re non-political, non-partisan, just focused on these principles of honor, integrity, and patriotism. And then also wanted to mention the USMC Memorial Foundation is hosting a 5K run. That’s at Arvada’s Apex Center on September 20th. And go to usmcmemorialfoundation.org to register. My friend Kathy Russell is in studio. Great having you here. Great to be here, Kim. And you’re the president of Liberty Toastmasters North. And on the line with me is a citizen in Fort Collins. And you live in Boulder. And you say the word Boulder and people, I think a lot of people think Crazyville and a lot of stuff that’s going on.
SPEAKER 03 :
It is Crazyville.
SPEAKER 28 :
But Fort Collins is trying to out-Boulder Boulder. I know. It’s amazing. And so Phoebe McWilliams lives in Fort Collins. And Fort Collins is trying to force people to use a specific trash hauler. And if they don’t, if you don’t want their service or you’re going to haul your own trash, you still have to pay them. It’s crazyville, Phoebe McWilliams. Welcome to the show.
SPEAKER 12 :
Hi. Thanks, Kim, for having me on. Now, there’s a lot of us that are really, really frustrated with our city council. So, please, ask me any questions and I’ll do the best I can. I’m not used to doing this, but… to give you some history um we got noticed that all of the residents in fort collins got noticed well about a year ago that we had the opportunity to opt out and so a lot of just going well okay i’m going to opt out because i already have um you know, some other provider providing, you know, picking up my trash for me or, well, why? I just have land or, you know, what’s going on? What is all this? And so we met together and we now are calling ourselves the colorado coalition for honest governance nice well uh we feel that our rights have been violated um our right to choose who we do business with um we just it’s it’s just it’s unbelievable what our city has done unbeknownst to the voters This started back in 2018 with a court case that started out with the city of Aspen wanting to charge their residents fees for grocery bags. And that case ended up including trash services. And our Colorado Supreme Court decided that it was okay for the city councils to do this opt-out. And we did have one judge that dissented that decision, that did not agree with the other justices because he knew that this was a violation of Tabor. And Tabor is our – where the government, before they can charge taxes or whatever or increase taxes, they have to come before the people. And –
SPEAKER 28 :
Well, and how they get around that, Phoebe McWilliams, these PBIs get around that, they decided to change the definition in a way, Kathy. Instead of calling it a tax, they call it a fee. But regardless, you look in your pocket, the money’s still gone. But if they call it a tax, they have to get the approval of we the citizens. If they call it a fee, the PBIs can just do it. But what is happening in Fort Collins is Fort Collins does this deal with a trash hauler. and says everybody has to use this trash hauler you can opt out of using this trash hauler but maybe what people didn’t know is you still had to pay the fee and that’s what you’re really concerned about right
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, and not only that, it’s $11.33 a month, and we’re billed on, like me, I have a different trash hauler, so I have to pay my trash hauler and then Republic Services, Republic Trash Services, their fee, which is $33 on a quarterly basis, which isn’t, you know, people would say, well, that’s not too bad, but it’s the idea of the thing, of being charged for fees under threat of being fined or sent to collections. We have the city of Fort Collins, as well as Republic Trust Services, billing us calling us, wanting us to pay these fees. And a lot of people that we’ve talked to, too, pay because they felt they didn’t have any choice, but they’re paying under protest. And we’d like people to know that we are working. We have two choices. We can fight and redo, do a petition and do away with that ordinance that the city council did by themselves without voter approval. And we can also go, you know, we’ll eventually probably have to go to court because this was a Colorado Supreme Court decision. And apparently our Colorado legislature, which, you know, along with your other people that you’ve interviewed this morning, There’s a lot of stuff going on at the state level. But right now, at the local level, we have other cities in Colorado that are being treated the same way, that are looking at doing the same thing that the city of Fort Collins has done. Republic Services is nationwide. You know, Ohio, Kentucky… It’s just outrageous. Arizona, it’s just outrageous that this one company can go through, you know, and our big question is, why all of a sudden Fort Collins? What’s going on? Why pick Fort Collins? Well, we have a mayor that was raised in Mozambique and has traveled using taxpayer dollars to go to Dubai. And all of this, also Republic Trash Services is heavily involved with the World Economic Forum. Yes, Bill Gates has ownership in Republic Services. So it’s all about this Green New Deal. But what people don’t understand, Republic says, well, you know, we’re going to have electric trucks, electric trucks. Right. Well, what people don’t understand is the batteries on those trucks is going to increase the weight of those trucks. And so the city, you know, kind of pretty much didn’t really be truthful to the public about the damage to the roads. And that was what they were basing this on, you know, well, clean air and we won’t damage the roads if we use electric trucks. And they didn’t realize they’re not being truthful in stating that those trucks are going to
SPEAKER 28 :
Well, and that is one of the things that they’ve said about forcing people into one trash hauler is that, oh, we’ll have fewer trucks on the streets, and then that way, there’ll be less wear and tear on the streets, so less people will be in the streets. road maintenance, but bear in mind, you’ve got delivery trucks from Amazon and FedEx and UPS driving up and down the streets all the time. It’s really about control. And Phoebe, what I’ve learned is big business and big government like each other. So if you had a trash company and you could go to government and say, Hey, force everybody to use, uh, Us as their trash hauler. And if they don’t, let us go ahead and collect fees from the people that don’t. This is all about force. Going back to Ross Cloth in our first hour, he said he looks at things. Is this more freedom or is this less freedom? This is as plain as the broad side of a barn. This is about less freedom. So, Phoebe, I did see the headline that they want to send people that don’t pay this fee to collections. We’ve got a couple of minutes left. So what’s your final thought on all this?
SPEAKER 12 :
We’re going to work to set up a legal fund. We’re having our next meeting Wednesday, September 3rd at the Harmony Foothills Front Range Community College at the Harmony Library there, 4616 South Shield Street, 6 p.m., September 3rd. So we know there’s more people out there. You know, we’re a small group, 60-plus people that are standing our ground and refusing to pay. And mind you, the city has some power and some, you know, holds over us. But we have to stand our ground. We have to stop this intimidation and threats. It’s unconscionable and it’s against our rights. They’re also violating the antitrust laws. The trash haulers that have decided to stay with us, you know, in the city have reduced their rates. So that they want to keep their customers, they reduce their rates so that we can pay the opt-out fees. And it’s just unbelievable what’s happening in my city, let alone the state and the country. I mean, everything has been turned upside down. You know, we find ourselves, instead of being innocent until proven guilty, we’re guilty until we prove we’re innocent. This is unconscionable, what’s been happening here locally. And I would encourage everybody, just because you’re older, the fight isn’t over. You’ve got to get in, get involved, sit in on the city council meetings, sit in on the county commissioner’s meetings. They’re the ones that are, you know, making these decisions, and sometimes they’re behind our back. They’re not being truthful. They’re not being open. You know, it’s really sad. And sometimes our city council, in fact, makes decisions against what the city’s citizens want. You have to understand, this opt-out fee is going to 100% of the residents in Fort Collins.
SPEAKER 28 :
Right. Well, Phoebe McWilliams, we are out of time, but we want to stay in touch. Kathy Russell, it’s been great having you here.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thank you. It’s been great being here.
SPEAKER 28 :
Our quote for the end of the show is Michelangelo. He says, do not fret, for God did not create us to abandon us. My friends, we will do this again tomorrow. Have a great day.
SPEAKER 13 :
The views and opinions expressed on KLZ 560 are those of the speaker, commentators, hosts, their guests, and callers. They are not necessarily the views and opinions of Crawford Broadcasting or KLZ management, employees, associates, or advertisers. KLZ 560 is a Crawford Broadcasting God and country station.
