On Columbus Day 2023, Kim Monson addressed the devastating Hamas attack on Israel that killed over 1,100 people, connecting the tragedy to broader concerns about American leadership and border security. The broadcast featured Estes Park school board candidates discussing parental rights, Dr. Brian Joondeph analyzing mask mandate resurgence, and historian Scott Powell illuminating the true legacy of Christopher Columbus.
Dr. Brian Joondeph, a physician and prolific writer for American Thinker, warns that mask mandates are attempting a comeback despite significant evidence that they do not prevent respiratory virus transmission. Schools and healthcare institutions are once again pushing masking requirements, creating deja vu for Americans who remember the failures of previous mandates.
Joondeph connects the push for masks to broader issues of control and fear. He notes that masked protesters can cause mayhem with impunity since law enforcement cannot identify them. On the medical front, he sees masking as a precursor to pushing additional boosters, despite concerning patterns where heavily boosted individuals seem to contract COVID more frequently.
“Masks seem to be trying to make a comeback. There are schools, institutions that are trying to push mask mandates, health care institutions, and it’s deja vu. It’s the same people pushing this despite significant evidence that masks in general are not helpful.”
Dr. Brian Joondeph, American Thinker Contributor
The conversation shifts to vaccine concerns, with Joondeph questioning the safety of repeated boosters on the immune system. He references the Tuskegee syphilis experiments as historical precedent for government medical deception and suggests the COVID vaccine rollout represents the largest clinical trial ever conducted on an unsuspecting population.
Joondeph also addresses the political landscape, arguing that Donald Trump is not the cause of Republican dysfunction but rather the response to decades of broken promises from establishment Republicans. From Bush 41’s tax pledge reversal to the Tea Party’s unfulfilled hopes, voters turned to Trump because he actually listened to their concerns about borders, spending, and endless foreign wars.
Scott Powell, senior fellow at the Discovery Institute and author of Rediscovering America, presents a compelling portrait of Christopher Columbus as a man of deep Christian faith and remarkable character. Born in Genoa in 1451, Columbus deliberately chose his name because Christopher means “Christ-bearer” and Columbus means “dove” in Latin.
Powell recounts Columbus’s near-death experience when his ship was sunk off the coast of Portugal. Swimming overnight in cold water to shore, Columbus providentially landed in the nation most advanced in celestial navigation. This hardship, Powell argues, was God working to prepare Columbus for his divine calling to find a western route to the Indies and spread Christianity to peoples who had never heard the Gospel.
“Columbus is a great hero for our times today, too, because he is, here he is now in his latter mid-30s, and he has this incredible childlike disposition of sharing the good news of the Savior to people who had never heard that story before.”
Scott Powell, Senior Fellow, Discovery Institute
After six years of rejection from maritime nations across Europe, Columbus finally received backing from Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain in 1492, the same year they drove the Moors from Southern Europe. Powell reveals Columbus’s shrewd navigation strategy, including keeping two logbooks and sailing south to catch favorable trade winds rather than fighting headwinds on a direct western route.
When the crew grew mutinous after two months at sea, Columbus prayed and felt called to ask for three more days. On the morning of the third day, the lookout spotted land, which Columbus named San Salvador, the Island of the Savior. Powell addresses modern criticism of Columbus as Marxist-Leninist propaganda aimed at destroying American heritage and tearing down the Christian foundations upon which the nation was built.
Kyri Cox, a credentialed K-8 teacher and mother of six, details her troubling experiences with the Estes Park School District. Cox pulled her daughter from public school to homeschool after discovering age-inappropriate content being taught under the guise of policy. Her repeated requests to view curriculum were deflected, and her offers to volunteer in classrooms met resistance from administrators.
Cox emphasizes that teachers should focus on academics, not social agendas. She has worked through the chain of command, meeting with principals and the superintendent, only to be told that concerning practices are simply policy. Her candidacy stems from a desire to examine those policies from the inside and restore parental involvement in education.
“Teachers teach social skills, not social agendas, and they’re supposed to be sticking to straight academics every day, all day, with some electives mixed in for fun, like art.”
Kyri Cox, Estes Park School Board Candidate
Kevin Morris, a retired geologist and former VP of HR, brings a different perspective to the race. With experience managing a $400-450 million annual budget in the oil and gas industry, Morris questions where the $17,000 per student in funding actually goes when curriculum materials are lacking and teachers are finding resources online themselves.
Morris points to chronic absenteeism and rising rates of student depression, anxiety, and suicide as symptoms of a system that has strayed from fundamentals. He argues that schools should support families in teaching academic rigor, not confuse children with content they cannot emotionally or intellectually process.
“Children are dependent on their mothers and their fathers, and we want them to be taught by their mothers and their fathers. We want them to be supported by the school system as they learn rigorous academics rather than having to deal with things that they’re not emotionally, morally, or intellectually able to handle.”
Kevin Morris, Estes Park School Board Candidate
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