It's what didn't happen
Final Night: Reporting from the Legislature
If you set aside the incidents of ignorance (Sen. Margie Dayton), racial insensitivity and homophobia (Sen. Chris Buttars), ethical haziness (Buttars, Senate President John Valentine and Speaker Greg Curtis), boorishness (Rep. Greg Hughes) and plain old cussedness (Rep. Mike Noel), it was an uneventful session of the Utah Legislature. Thorny problems like healthcare and ethics reform didn't get addressed, of course, but hard lemonade will be banned from grocery stores and Sen. Bill Hickman will get to legally drive his Covertte 80 mph on I-15. It's all a matter of priorities.
Eagle Forum President Gayle Ruzicka is content tonight. She tells me that she and her minions have accomplished just about everything they set out to do, including immigration enforcement measures and getting a bill through that prevents cities, SLC in particular, from setting up "domestic partner" registries that would undermine marriage.
I've been accused of being mean to Ruzicka. On the last night of the Legislature, I have to acknowledge that I have great respect for her* — the kind of respect you have for a very large pit bull. I'd argue she's possibly the most powerful political animal in this patriarchal state — she can scare the crap out of most lawmakers — and she's a Mormon woman. (Gayle and me, right, at the Lege.)
"That's a good year," mused Ruzicka, who has seen quite a few, "When you stop a lot of bad bills and pass only a few."
*Gayle merely tolerates me.
If you set aside the incidents of ignorance (Sen. Margie Dayton), racial insensitivity and homophobia (Sen. Chris Buttars), ethical haziness (Buttars, Senate President John Valentine and Speaker Greg Curtis), boorishness (Rep. Greg Hughes) and plain old cussedness (Rep. Mike Noel), it was an uneventful session of the Utah Legislature. Thorny problems like healthcare and ethics reform didn't get addressed, of course, but hard lemonade will be banned from grocery stores and Sen. Bill Hickman will get to legally drive his Covertte 80 mph on I-15. It's all a matter of priorities.
Eagle Forum President Gayle Ruzicka is content tonight. She tells me that she and her minions have accomplished just about everything they set out to do, including immigration enforcement measures and getting a bill through that prevents cities, SLC in particular, from setting up "domestic partner" registries that would undermine marriage.
I've been accused of being mean to Ruzicka. On the last night of the Legislature, I have to acknowledge that I have great respect for her* — the kind of respect you have for a very large pit bull. I'd argue she's possibly the most powerful political animal in this patriarchal state — she can scare the crap out of most lawmakers — and she's a Mormon woman. (Gayle and me, right, at the Lege.)
"That's a good year," mused Ruzicka, who has seen quite a few, "When you stop a lot of bad bills and pass only a few."
*Gayle merely tolerates me.
1 Comments:
Gayle; the Eva Braun of Utah. Or maybe it's the Evita Peron? Whatever; to me she is the face of unmitigated evil. I wrote a letter to the editor once a long time ago, long before 9/11, comparing her to the Taliban. The only good thing about the Taliban, I said, was that people like her--and her sister soulmate, Madame LaDayton--would be shut up.
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