Fools' Gold

Yes, the State Legislature is in session. Every winter, the crazies gather in the state capitol building and allow their brains to putrefy on the poisonous air of the inversion or maybe they just came that way.

I really try to stay out of the turmoil of states' rights declarations against the Union, hiding liquor behind the curtain, polygamy vs. orgies, and lobbying/legislating for their own business interests. And then I see Ken Ivory's mug in the news again.

State Rep. Ken Ivory wants the state to invest in gold to prepare for world economic collapse. What in Holy Heck's name does he think the value of gold will be in a complete financial collapse? What exactly will it buy if civilization is over? Something tells me he must have a few bars socked away in the closet that he wants to unload now that his public-lands grab got in trouble in some other western states where they don't take so kindly to filthy lucre/lecturing/lobbying/legislating.

BERNIE TAKES UTAH!

Please note the line going clear out to the pines in the background, and even more kept coming!

Yes, it's a premature headline. And it's based on very amateurish "entrance/exit-polling." But also the fact that I have never seen a crowd at the Democratic Caucuses in Utah like the amazing crowds tonight. And It's all over my Facebook feed! If so many hundreds, no, thousands, are going to the Democratic Caucuses, it must be a big crowd for Bernie Sanders. The few people I saw with Hillary buttons looked a little worried. And I did have a friend from the neighborhood go with me to vote for Bernie. We met my daughter there along with some friends from our precinct.

Faithfully attending Democratic caucuses in Utah for several years, I have never had to wait in line! For some reason they sent our State Representative District to the far north of the district to caucus on the Kaysville/Layton boundary. And we didn't actually caucus with our precinct as it was all we could do to patiently wade through the crowd with the volunteers changing the line formations three times before I got up to have my ID checked and authenticate my presidential preference ballot.

Utah Can Save a Lot of Money Letting the Bundy Trials Test Ownership of Public Lands

Yes! Governor Gary Herbert and especially, legislator/lobbyist Ken Ivory take note! The State of Utah is seriously considering a lawsuit to challenge United States ownership of the federal public lands within the state of Utah based on some tricky readings of the U.S. Constitution, the Utah Enabling Act, and the Utah State Constitution - basically the same theories that the Bundy Bunch have used to claim the feds have no authority in Oregon and Nevada!

But wait! Please! A major part of the charges filed today against accused co-conspirator Cliven Bundy in armed confrontation with federal officials performing federal activities on federal public lands is that those lands were obtained by the United States under the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo with Mexico and never relinquished!

From the Criminal Complaint filed today against Cliven Bundy

Communi-phobia

As I continue to walk my own fine line not fighting for or against same-sex marriage. Most of the criticism I have received is from those on the "against" side who seem to use the teachings of the Prophets to condemn me for "not hating gays enough." I don't think that's the message of the Prophets at all.

Anyhoo, I thought I would like to note that there are a lot of messages popping up on the internets linking Gay Marriage to Communism. Even on claimed LDS affiliated sites. Yep, more evidence of the paranoid style in American politics.

My 31st Anniversary with the Feds

Only today did I realize that my bureaucratically formulated service computation date falls on the same day as Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address! March 4! Lincoln's address was 150 years ago today! Glad to be working for the same government of, by, and for the people. (My actual first day was May 31, 1983).

We've got a long way to go, Mr. Lincoln. The peoples' power of self-government has been vastly eroded by corporate financial power that tends to write its own rules, regulations, and laws. There are many perverse philosophies abroad in the land to tear at the fabric of the Constitution. (Many funded by the corporate financial power). But you know all about that in your tight-rope walk at the most dangerous hour of our Constitutional survival. Your actions weren't perfect, but they accomplished great good in destroying the cancer of America and its Constitution - the right of property to own humans in bondage. Thank heavens that's gone!

Association by Guilt

Today's Mug Shots: Shurtleff, on right, looks like a deer in the headlights. Swallow, on left, looks like a smart a**.

It was a shocking day for the State of Utah when the last two State Attorneys General were arrested at their homes with an 8 a.m. knock on each door. We tried to watch the news conference to explain the charges from the Salt Lake County Attorney. Our antiquated government computers couldn't quite handle the live-stream.

Tenth Circuit Upholds Religious Marriage But Not Polygamy!

Probably not the headline you were expecting today. While this blogger supports the Family Proclamation, I wish to note some interesting aspects of the decision in the Federal Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit upholding the Federal District Court in Utah in ruling that Utah's Amendment to its State Constitution on Marriage is invalid under the U.S. Constitution.

As I had predicted, this ruling has no effect on anyone's religious beliefs or practices regarding marriage. The Court seemed to go out of its way to so state:

One Bad Apple

State Senator Osmond of the famous family

And I thought State Senator Aaron Osmond was going to be a breath of fresh air in the Utah Republican Party, at least as opposed to the anti-federal, states-righter Ken Ivory. Today, a friend's blog linked me to one of those news items that left me speechless - dumbfounded - but at least I had the "founded" part to go on.

The good Senator from South Jordan is proposing that Utah do away with compulsory public education as parents are the ones who should know best but have abdicated their parental educational duties to the "state." Oh my heck! I mean, how do you possibly respond to that? I have no problem with parents in the primary role for the education of their children. Go ahead. Send your kids to private school! Home school! It's all legal now, but please do not do away with public schools as the foundation of an educated electorate of a free and civil society!

I am the product of public schools with the exception of my undergraduate degree at BYU. Law School was the University of Maryland. Yet I have been to hearings in the New Mexico State Capitol in support of friends who home-schooled their children. I even made a presentation at a home school conference on Founding Mothers, emphasizing the role of Abigail Adams as I weaved in my Constitutional heresies about "We the People" and the Fourteenth Amendment and all.

Uchtdorf-Obama: Winning Ticket on Immigration

I've been checking the White House website daily to see if they would publish a photo of President Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints First Presidency, meeting with President Obama. Finally, one came out in the Church News today.

White House Photo by Pete Souza (Public Domain)

It's great that our People's White House freely shares its photos into the public domain, but this is the first one I've seen released on the meeting with religious leaders on Immigration Reform. It would appear that the LDS Church or at least the Church News had some opportunity to select this particular photo as it appears that President Uchtdorf is dominating the room at this moment with the President in rapt attention. Go, Dieter!! (I guess I should give a more respectful, "Congratulations, President Uchtdorf.")

Governing without Government

That is the basic cognitive dissonance I have been sensing among many Republican politicians for the last couple of decades. How do you expect to govern if you think government is the problem? I blame President Reagan for separating the people from their government with his crass "government is the problem" mantra. (Well, we did have Nixon and Johnson attempting to separate the government from the people with unnecessary wars and criminal conspiracies).

There are some few Democrats in the Utah Legislature. Three of them, Jim Dabakis (SLC), Susan Duckworth ( Magna), and Larry Wiley (West Valley), just made my hero list for calling the bluff on Republican grandstanding by Republican Representatives on the Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environmental Quality Appropriations Subcommittee in the Utah House. I was particularly pleased that they got ol' Roger Barrus, my own Representative - (even if I never voted for him and likely never will). You can read the article here at Utah Political Capitol.

One More Turned from the Dark Side

It's good to give credit where credit is due. KSL reported today that former Utah State Representative, Stephen Sandstrom, has had a "change of heart" with regard to the anti-immigrant law he sponsored and based on the Arizona law now essentially struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Davis County Democrats: No Longer in Hiding

We had a great time at the Convention yesterday afternoon. We filled the room at Farmington Jr. High. There were 363 delegates sent from precinct caucuses. The speakers commented that it was more than they had seen in 30 years. It was by multitudes more than two years ago when I thought a couple of dozen people could easily stage a coup and run away with the county convention sparsely seated throughout the auditorium at Layton High.

We opened yesterday with some cute, little, Girl Scouts doing the flag ceremony and we joined them in singing "America the Beautiful." A woman with a big silver cross gave a nice, Protestant invocation. The MC rambled and brought enough bad jokes of the Mormon High Councilor variety to make all us LDS Dems as uncomfortable as in any Third-Sunday Sacrament meeting.

Ken Ivory's Public Lands Luau

The Utah State Legislature is still in session for a few more days. I've been trying to avert my eyes but I slipped today and read an article from a few weeks back about Utah State Representative Ken Ivory's bill for Utah to "take back" the public lands (Hint No. 1: you can't "take back" what you never had).

And I admit I was already aware of another odd Ivory bill from my blogger friend at Utah Political Summary. That blogger is a perfectly rational moderate Republican, a vanishing breed. I don't exactly see Rep. Ivory that way.

But back to the Luau.

Utah Legislature Pizza Special: Hold the Pepperoni!

The Utah State Legislature is in special session! Oh, no! Actually, I hate being the eternal optimist, but I just don't think it's as bad as all that. People, especially Congressman Matheson, are pretty upset that they just sliced him out of the Congress with their pizza knife to form a new Congressional District. And that is a shame. Yet he's used to a difficult election every two years. Now he will have his option to go after a state-wide office, maybe Governor, maybe Senator to replace Orrin Hatch. And there's a chance he could even make it.

The gerrymandering charge may be valid. Yet the Republicans seem to have a fool-proof defense in articulating four districts with a mix of rural and urban without having to articulate a Salt Lake/Park City only district that could be a Democratic stronghold. With no extensive racial minority neighborhoods anywhere in the state, except for small, urban pockets of Hispanics and Polynesians in West Valley City, and a real scattering of Indian Tribes throughout the state, there is no clear manipulation that would dilute the vote of suspect classes. For good or ill, mildly progressive, Democratic neighborhoods on the east side of Salt Lake County and up to Park City, don't count as a protected class.

Why the Jell-O Salad (with Carrots) is Green!

If you didn't already know, green Jell-O brand gellatin with grated carrots is one of the icons of Mormon culture left over from the 50's and 60's along with those big, plastic grapes and weird politics. And fusing two of those three, the Utah State Legislature has designated Jello-O as the official state snack. And I finally figured it out! This is from  my own personal observation, but it just might be the explanation why the famous Jell-O is green!

The strawberries would help a lot!!

Osmonds Save Utah!

OK. Probably over the top and rather late as I wasn't paying attention and I missed this one. But for the record, I will take whatever victories I can get, however incremental, that move us away from extreme conservatism. This is in the right direction. The good people of South Jordan in Republican convention elected Aaron Osmond to fill the State Senate seat vacated by everybody's favorite anti-gay, old grouch, Chris Buttars.

Rope-a-Dope Hope? or Nope?

Some analysts are saying that the President's release of the original, long-form birth certificate isn't really part of his plan to marginalize the Republicans and their candidates who play into the birther delusions. But even Karl Rove concedes the President was playing a little rope-a-dope. This is likely to help the President politically with the moderate independents who think the birther movement is the craziest thing since Nixon claimed he wasn't a crook. (I will admit that I actually fell for that one at the time. I've been suspicious of sanctimonious conservatives ever since.)

Sutherland Institute Calls It Like It Is

This is an amazing piece that I highly recommend from the Sutherland Institute, a conservative think tank from right here in Utah. The part I like the best is how the extremists end up at odds with the LDS Church because of their nativist, anti-Hispanic positions on immigration.

This is the message (for the most part) that I have been trying to convey for some time here. It is so encouraging to see it come from a reputable conservative source. I'm almost convinced to be a rational conservative again.

Moderates of the World, UNITE!

I saw my fist letter to the editor in the D-News this morning from a Republican fed up with the arrogance of the Republican super-dominated Utah State Legislature. He said he is going to vote straight-ticket Democratic.

That's it! Utah moderates need to recognize the extremism of the Glenn-Beckian, tea-partyist Utah Republican Party and bring your moderation over to the Democrats! It's not like we're a bunch of wild-eyed leftist radicals. I mean, look at Congressman "Blue-Dog" Matheson, for heaven's sake!

Utah State Legislature- Probably a Pretty Nice Bunch of Guys and Gals

Whew! The Session is almost over! I haven't fought on the limiting-public-access-to-government-information bill (HB477 amending GRAMA) or even said much on the immigration bills because there are so many others fighting on those issues. Oddly, the Governor refused to veto HB477 in spite of strong public protest because he was afraid of an override from the Republican super-majority in the Legislature. He may (one can hope) still veto any omnibus immigrant bill because nobody likes it. The Utah Compact supporters still don't like it and the tea-partiers are threatening political defeat for those who approved it because of the so-called "amnesty." Usually, when both sides aren't happy that's a sign it might be a good compromise. But in this case, it will be expensively litigated one way or another. And who needs an unclear message law with endless lawsuits? (and it's unconstitutional!)


I shouldn't be so hard on them. I just hope they or the public listen to me and the other moderates a little to get a better balance going in this state. I don't want everybody to agree with me or be Democrats. I just want a little respect for views other than the extreme conservatism that has taken over the Republican Party, worse here in Utah than even nationally.