If you don't think you've been getting enough conservative dialogue on AM talk radio, Utah legislators are coming to the rescue, saving you from all that liberal, commie media you have to put up with here in Utah.

Starting tomorrow, the ultra-conservative branch of the Legislature will embark on a new venture: Several of them are playing host to their very own talk radio show on K-TALK radio, every Saturday from 8 to 10 a.m.

Their promo states that these brave conservative lawmakers will finally expose the "liberal media" and its erroneous claptrap.

The legislators modestly refer to their show as "Utah's most insightful political radio talk show."

It's entitled "Inside Utah Politics: Setting the Record Straight."

And let's face it, if you can't trust Utah's Republican politicians to give you straight, unbiased news about Utah politics, who can you trust?

Saturday's show will feature Senate President John Valentine, Sens. Howard Stephenson and Margaret Dayton, and Reps. Steve Urquhart, Greg Hughes, John Dougall "and others."

There is no word on whether Senate Majority Leader Curt Bramble will bring pizza.

The promo appeals to you radio listeners who "are tired of sissy garden shows on Saturday mornings.

Finally, we have brave Republicans ready and willing to throw the sissies out.

Regular features will include The Grammar Guru, Economics 101- From the Mouths of Babes (I'm not sure if that refers to young people or to Dayton), the Conservative Book Report, Political Bloopers and Little-known Personal Tales of Elected Officials.

Apparently, the Senate Site, which basically is the propaganda blog for the Republican Majority at the State Senate, isn't enough to beat back those liberals in the press.

Meanwhile, on Sean Hannity's radio program aired over KSL Thursday about 4:45 p.m., Hannity was talking to his regular buddy, fellow right-wing talk show host Mark Levin when Levin revealed over the air that he, Hannity and Rush Limbaugh were asked by GOP brass to give their suggestions about who John McCain should pick as his running mate. All three, according to Levin, put Sarah Palin as their number one choice.

So if McCain wins in November, the person who will be a heart-beat away from the presidency was vetted by Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and a radio talk guy that refers to himself as "the Great Levin."

Boy. I feel better.

Cheers,
Paul Rolly

Jenny Wilson got to know Mitt Romney pretty well when he was the head of the 2002 Winter Olympics committee in Salt Lake City and she was on the committee's staff. That was before he became an advocate for abortion and gay rights while running for governor of Massachusetts before he then opposed abortion and gay rights while running for the Republican presidential nomination, and before she became a Salt Lake County Council member and an unsuccessful candidate for Salt Lake City mayor.

But given Romney's assigned role at the Republican national convention last night to knife and slash those "liberal Democrats" and "elitists" in Washington, it's ironic that the only two times Wilson has had a meaningful conversation with Romney since they parted ways after the Olympics have been at Democratic national conventions.

Four years ago, Wilson was a delegate at the national convention that nominated John Kerry in Boston. After the convention, she was getting on a plane at Logan International Airport and ran into Romney, then the Massachusetts governor. They had a nice chat and he agreed to write an endorsement for her campaign brochure for the county council.

Wilson didn't see Romney again until the recently concluded Democratic National Convention in Denver. Wilson and fellow council member Jim Bradley were walking down a hallway at the convention when in front of them they noticed Romney, who was in Denver to provide commentary from the Republican perspective during the Democrats' big shin dig.

Wilson isn't sure if these chance encounters that occur only at Democratic conventions means she should become a Republican or Romney should become a Democrat.

But the irony gets even better considering Romney and his fellow Republicans have suddenly become born-again feminists, defending vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's decision to enter national politics while raising a young family, including a special-needs infant, while Wilson last year was a victim of sexist attitudes from Salt Lake City's liberal mayor at the time, Rocky Anderson, who opined that she shouldn't run for mayor because she was the mother of young children.

The Utah Republican delegation at the party's national convention couldn't be more pleased with vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and the courage she has displayed by accepting the V.P. role while caring for an infant with Down Syndrome and dealing with her teenage daughter's pregnancy.
It's a new-found feminism for Utah Republicans, apparently, who believe the problems she is dealing with make her a "real person" and they are sure she can balance her family responsibilities with the national exposure and time consumption that comes with being second-in-command of a super power.
That sure is different from what Utah Republican leaders and office holders have said in the past. I guess it depends on which circumstance best fits their political agenda.
Remember a few months ago when Republican State Chairman Stan Lockhart counseled Lisa Shepard that she should think twice about running for the Utah Legislature because she had a young family that she needed to put first?
Shepard was running for the state House of Representatives as a Republican, but against the Republican incumbent, Keith Grover, a member of the House's conservative caucus and a voucher supporter.
It seems to me that being a part-time legislator would be less time consuming and demanding on family than being vice president of the United States. But that apparently is not the case in the minds of Utah's Republican brass.

Cheers,
Paul Rolly

With all the news lately about a Republican state senator and a pizza delivery girl, it's a little amusing that a Republican fund-raising event at 6:30 p.m. at the Gale Center is titled: "Pizza and Politics with Sen. (Chris) Buttars."

The Utah Legislature likes to point out the number of times Utah is given top or near-the-top honors from national organizations on things like "best managed state," "best state to do business" "best lifestyle," healthiest state," etc.

Here's a national recognition the legislative leaders might not brag about.

" The Utah Senate Majority Leader vs. Pizza Deliver Girl" story has reached national proportions.

This, of course, is the story that has not died ever since a college co-ed who has a part-time job delivering pizzas in Provo wrote on her personal blog about her encounter with Senate Majority Leader Curt Bramble when she told him her company does not accept personal checks while delivering pizzas to his home.

She described Bramble as smug, rude, accusatory, overly self-righteous and indignant. The blog started making the rounds and soon was picked up by local news outlets.

Now, two national blogs of radically diverse political positions Daily Kos and Mormon Mentality have linked to the pizza girl's blog (www.cartoonbrickwall.blogspot.com.)

Also, CNN has included a link on its Web site to a Salt Lake City television's station's story about Pizza Girl and Bramble. And Wikipedia now has an entire section titled "Pizzagate" in its profile of Sen. Bramble.

Cheers,
Paul Rolly

Some Utah Republicans were a little aghast by a fund-raising letter they received from John McCain's presidential campaign.

It seems the McCain campaign has broken a cardinal rule of Karl Rove's political handbook: It drew attention to what could be McCain's most vulnerable issue - his age.

Those on the Republican mailing list received a friendly letter from wannabe First Lady Cindy McCain, writing as though they were all part of McCain's big happy family (but don't expect an invitation to any of the McCain mansions anytime soon).

The letter said McCain will be celebrating his birthday Aug. 29 and Cindy would like everybody to remember it.

He's turning 72 and, lest some Republicans forget, most party insiders don't think it's smart to hammer that little fact into the heads of voters. In fact, most GOP strategists seem to think it's a good idea to keep the focus away from the fact that McCain, if elected, will be the oldest man elected to a first term as president in the history of the United States.

So let's remind everybody he is old and getting older. In fact, let's remind everybody that he is turning 72 next Friday.

Perhaps Cindy and the campaign can be forgiven a bit, since the motive here is the thing that turns rich politicians into beggars: Money, Money, Money, Money.

Cindy thinks it would be a good idea for all good Republicans to give her hubby a birthday present. How sweet. And the bigger the birthday present, the better Republican you are. In fact you are given a choice as to how big of a birthday present this 72-year-old ought to get. You can send $1,000, $1,500 or $2,000 as a campaign contribution inserted in a birthday card.

So while most birthday notices for people that age usually say: "No gifts please," the McCains would love your money as a way to show John how much you love him. And, maybe the gift will help him get elected.

That would be the best birthday gift of all.

Cheers,
Paul Rolly

Conservative stalwarts of the Utah House of Representatives have sniffed at fellow Republican Rep. Steve Mascaro for years, not believing he is a true-blood Republican, in fact claiming in the hallowed halls of the Capitol that he is the vilest of those vile things: RINOs (Republicans in Name Only).

Well, the caper is up. Now the conservatives have proof that Mascaro, R-West Jordan, who had the audacity to sign an ethics complaint against fellow Republican Rep. Mark Walker, is a scam Republican. If he was a real Republican he would know how to spell Orrin Hatch's name, don't ya think?

Macaro recently sent out a fundraising letter to loyal Republicans for his quest for re-election this year. The letter contains a flier with a picture of Mascaro and Sen. Hatch, the dean of Republican office holders in Utah.

But the caption underneath the picture says the legislator is posing with "Orren" Hatch."

Now any Republican worth his or her salt knows that any Utah senator with a name like that would spell it like Orrin Porter Rockwell, and not similar to Orenthal (as in O.J.) Simpson.

Maybe he was trying to rhyme Hatch's name with Orem, that bastion of Utah Republican values.

Cheers,
Paul Rolly