Tribune columnist Paul Rolly thinks our uppity Gov. Jon Huntsman has got another slap down coming from the Legislature. Huntsman can't seem to get his judicial appointments right.

There is enough rumbling behind the scenes at the Utah Legislature and public comments made by one of the most stridently partisan senators on Capitol Hill to suggest another Senate ambush of Gov. Jon Huntsman's judicial nominee is in the works.

You'll remember that Judge Robert Hilder, the Guv's nominee for the Utah Court of Appeals got bounced by the Senate because he made the strategic error of upholding a ban on weapons at the University of Utah. Or was it because he had a messy divorce? Or because he didn't show enough deference to Republican senators? Probably all the above.

Now Huntsman has picked Weber County Attorney Mark DeCaria for a vacancy on the 2nd District Court. But DeCaria must to survive the Senate Judicial Confirmation Inquisition, headed by Sen. Chris Buttars.

Last session, then-Senate President John Valentine removed Buttars as chairman because he had tried to use his position to intimidate a judge who ruled against a Buttars' buddy. But new Senate President Mike Waddoups quickly dumped straight-shooter Sen. Greg Bell and returned the power and majesty to Buttars — apparently to assure voters that Republican senators don't give a rat's patootie about ethics.

Rolly thinks DeCaria is way screwed because he was a special investigator into allegations that a former GOP legislator tried to bribe an election rival with a job. That isn't what legislative leaders consider to be making good choices.