Let me first say hello to all of the GCB readers. Some of you know me as I grew up, for the most part in Silver City, graduated from WNMU and returned home with my wife and family 14 years ago. Others may know me as the 'voice of the Mustangs' having been the radio play by play announcer for Mustang football and basketball for almost 14 years. A few may also know that I have a weekly radio show on KSCQ 92.9, Saturday mornings at 9:00, during which we discuss everything from political and social issues to the dumb criminals, Darwin Award nominees and stupid parents that inhabit our planet.

Those of you that know me are fully aware that I have a lot of very strong opinions. You will also know that I don't always fit into a category when it comes to my opinions but know that I definitely lean to the right side of the aisle on most issues. For those of you that haven't heard me speak or have only heard me a few times, you need to listen or in this case read for a while to begin to get a picture of my belief system. At times I may not lean right but I'm certain of one thing, I believe what I say and believe I am right. Thus, the title of my column, Undeniably Right. Take it as you will, that I'm a conservative or I have a huge ego and believe I am always correct. Sometimes those things overlap, sometimes not.

My goal has always been to stimulate thought and conversation, maybe not always with me, but within your peer group. To get people to open up their minds and listen to someone with whom they might think they don't agree. I just might convince you that what you hear from politicians or the media is not always right and what you think you know about issues or others is not always right, either.

On my radio show, I have tended to stay away from local issues, unless the local issue is common to many cities or towns. The show is heard throughout Southwest NM and Southeast AZ so what happens in Silver City and Grant County doesn't always interest the audience. But in this column, I'm going to delve more closely into local and regional issues.

One of my undeniable truths is that our Founding Fathers believed that the individual was the giver of power to all forms of government. We have over the decades slowly ceded that power to our elected officials and unelected bureaucrats. Now the individual is the weakest entity in our system. What should be true is that the federal government should be the weakest of the governmental bodies with very limited authority, few responsibilities and very little power. States should follow with county and municipal governments more powerful than state governments. In that way, the citizens retains more power and control over their lives as they can have more of an effect upon local politicians, policies and laws than we can over Santa Fe or Washington D.C.

So there is a little introduction to me. Each week I'll try and entertain, inform and stimulate you. (No, I won't stimulate you in that way, get your mind out of the gutter.) If you have an idea, a concern or an opinion you are always free to email me, mike@silvercityradio.com is my address. Thanks to Mary Alice for allowing me to take up space. I look forward to starting this journey and a long association.