The Salt Lake Tribune
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Like Sundance and Butch
Thanks to the diligence of The Tribune's Washington, D.C., bureau, I can share the full lyrics of Sen. Orrin Hatch's musical ode to Democratic icon Sen. Ted Kennedy.

When Kennedy underwent a operation for a brain tumor, Hatch wrote the lyrics, saying:
During our time serving in the Senate, a grudging respect for each other has given way to a close personal friendship that transcends politics. For example, we've counseled and consoled each other during hard times.
It brings a tear to the eye that Hatch, a self-righteous conservative Republican and Kennedy, a much-hated liberal, can find a bond as career poltical hacks.

Headed home

Through the darkness We can find a pathway
That will take us half way To the stars.

(Plagarism alert! Isn't it San Francisco where "little cable cars
climb halfway to the stars?")

Through the rain and fog We can find a clear day
Shoo the shadows and doubts away
And touch the legacy that is ours.
Yours and mine
And our children’s For all time.
Just honor him
Honor him
And every fear Will be a thing of the past.
America, America We’re headed home
We’re headed home At last.
Just honor him Honor him
And on the reefs of despair
We shall not crash.
America America We’re sailing home
Sailing home America
America We’re headed home
Headed home
At last.

In case you're wondering, this was written before Hatch took a tumble and bumped his head on the pavement.
Utah's famous bridges
If you've been stuck in the traffic on I-80 east of Salt Lake City over the last several weeks, you'll be delighted to know it was caused by an innovative bridge replacement strategy that has transportation wonks around the country talking.

The Associated Press reports that Utah's scheme of building the bridges off site, then sliding them into place on skids made of African ironwood that has been lubed with soap, has drawn an audience of bridge builders from around the country and a film crew.

If you want to see what created your bumber-to-bumber commuting experience on I-80, you can watch it on the National Geographic Channel's ''World's Toughest Fixes'' series this fall.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Hatch mystery
UPDATED...

Comedy Central's Indecision 2008 blog
reports a strange mark on Sen. Orrin Hatch's head:
Beyond the most obvious question -- "Wait, Orrin Hatch is still alive?" -- you're probably wondering about the Senator's unusual fashion accessory: The giant red splotch on the side of his head!
CCI2008 asks readers to speculate on the origin of the red mark. Meanwhile, they offer their own suggestions:
Hatch is returning home from a Mikhail Gorbachev look-a-like contest (which he lost to Larry Craig).

He's trying to introduce bindis to the Mormon faith.

He stepped on a rake deftly planted by Senate prankster Russ Feingold, D-Wis.
My guess? An overdose of a synthetic monkey pituitary gland supplement manufactured at a secret lab in Spanish Fork.

Update and mystery solved (maybe): My colleague Tommy Burr tells me that the Trib's D.C. bureau already reported that Hatch was grappling with gravity while "walking" and bumped the ol' coconut. Frankly, that's got to be the least flattering excuse of all.
Feulner's gone
Public radio KPCW general manager and Park City radio icon Blair Feulner is history. The board that controls the National Public Radio affiliate released this statement:

The Board of Trustees of Community Wireless of Park City confirms that Blair Feulner resigned from the organization on July 15. Given his resignation, board members are not currently involved in negotiations regarding a sabbatical or other form of ongoing employment.

Following some questionable financial decisions involving KPCW's sibling KCPW in Salt Lake City, Community Wireless was forced to sell the Salt Lake frequencies. The Salt Lake station's troubles were complicated when the Tribune revealed that Feulner was earning a six-figure salary (plus a $895,000 one-time payment in 2004) for managing the operation.

The board reportedly had cut Feulner's salary and was unreceptive to his demand for regular sabbatical leaves.

Feulner's attorney had been in negotiations with a legal representative of the board through Tuesday. Board member Joe Wrona told the Trib's Paul Beebe that Feulner will receive no severance package:
It's fair to say that the board realizes this was an inevitable and a necessary part of the evolution of Community Wireless and KPCW.

Seconds on bulgar wheat?
The Daily News Online in Washington state is intrigued by a run on the Mormon food warehouse in Mukilteo.

Although the LDS tradition of hoarding food was inspired by predictions of Armageddon, reporter Krista Kapralos says the swell business at the food warehouse over the last three months is driven by high food prices.

Jenny Webb, who feeds her husband and three children tasty meals based on a rotating stock of spaghetti, wheat, beans and other yummies processed to remain edible for 30 years, says:
When food prices rise, the cost of my food doesn’t.
Yum. Hey Jenny, pass the powdered eggs!

Reports Kapralos:
Webb, 37, said she has enough food in her pantry to feed her family for at least three months if her husband loses his job, an earthquake turns grocery stores to rubble, or market prices swell too much for the family to afford.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Is this the enders for Mitt?
It's the last thing Mitt Romney needed. A member of the home team is advising John McCain NOT to choose the Mitt as his vice presidential running mate.

Science fiction writer (and DNews Mormon Times columnist) Orson Scott Card writes an open letter to McCain, warning, "Don't do it":
What Mitt Romney would do, as your vice presidential candidate, is weaken you in areas that you absolutely must carry: The South and the Bible Belt.

You cannot afford to underestimate the number of people who will never vote for a ticket that includes a Mormon.

Card says McCain must win because Obama doesn't have the credentials to fight terrorism and would appoint "dictator-judges."
If it were not for those issues, I would be voting for Obama this year. Instead, I must vote for you. And you must, for the sake of this country's future as a free land, win.
Other hoped-for Mitt cheerleaders also have turned on him. The front page of The Washington Times warns picking Romney would alienate evangelicals.

The conservative editorial page of the Wall Street Journal rips Mitt's vaunted (by him) health insurance program. WSJ says that although 350,000 people have gotten covered under Mitt's plan, the program is a cost-overrun disaster.
BYU grad does bad
An investigation by the U.S. Inspector General found that Kyle Sampson, former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, "violated department policy and federal law, and committed misconduct," by making political or ideological philosophy a test in hiring immigration judges.

Sampson, a native Utahn, argued that immigration judges were political appointees, whose partisan allegiances could be considered. But the IG report says no:
Even if Sampson was confused or mistaken in his interpretation of the rules that applied to [immigration judges] hiring, we do not believe that would excuse his actions. His actions, which were carried out over a lengthy period of time and were not based on formal advice from anyone, systematically violated federal law and department policy and constituted misconduct.
Sampson resigned last year after a scandal broke involving the firing of several U.S. attorneys, allegedly for being politically out of step with the Bush administration.
The hammer falls

It didn't take long.

Randy Horiuchi warned a citizens' committee overseeing a probe into the safety of Kennecott's tailing pond that they would be "looked at under a microscope" by the Tribune.
The fact of the matter: We are the enemy that is going to be harpooned and hammered. If this thing comes out and exonerates Kennecott, The Tribune could very well take it out on us.
(Let's all take a second to savor the image of Horiuchi being harpooned.)

Even though the committee has yet to exonerate Kennecott, Randy gets big told-you-so points today. Rebecca Walsh lit into the committee for its boosterism:
Making lemonade, some committee members see an opportunity to use the media glare to burnish the mining town's reputation once and for all. "We should always be thinking, 'We're here to reframe, in a positive and accurate way, people's . . . image of the community,' " [Homebuilder Lex] Watterson said in the same meeting.

Forget toxic sludge. Let's sell some houses!

Simultaneously, the Trib editorial page leveled another blast at the committee:
It's not the Magna Chamber of Commerce, a cheerleading squad or a public relations firm. But it acts like it.
But the climax comes in a comment attached to the Trib editorial. Committee member Dave Nicponski, apologizes and vows redirect the commttee's course:
Unfortunately certain members have a tendency to pontificate and lose sight of our primary direction.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Why is Horiuchi so paranoid?
In a recording* of a meeting with a committee probing Kennecott's tailing-pile fiasco, Salt Lake County Councilman Randy Horiuchi sounds like he is telling spooky stories around a campfire.
It is going to be clear for the next while, this committee is going to be looked at under a microscope by The Tribune because they created the story. . .

The fact of the matter: We are the enemy that is going to be harpooned and hammered. If this thing comes out and exonerates Kennecott, The Tribune could very well take it out on us.
Randy, the developers' pal, is correct in saying The Tribune uncovered that Kennecott, with the help of state regulators, hid the tailings' danger from the public for decades. And, yes, the reporters involved probably will try to make sure it doesn't get swept under the rug again.

Gee, Randy, you might even say that when it comes to cozy government-industry intrigues, the Tribune's "got game."

*Also on the tape, one of the committee members says Trib reporters "are not smart enough." In the immortal words of Curly Howard: "I resemble that remark!"
Rep. Jim Matheson, ?-Utah

NAACP president Jeanetta Williams finds Congressman Jim Matheson's decision to avoid the nomination of the first U.S. black presidential candidate "unfortunate."

If 200,000 Germans will show up to see American history being made, she tells KSL, Matheson should too.
So [Europeans] are wanting to see him, wanting to hear him. They realize that this is history. We would just like to see the top Democratic person, Congressman Matheson, take more of a leadership role and be a Democrat. Stand up. Be counted. Let the cameras see you at the national Democratic convention.
Semi-Dem Matheson says he can't make the convention in Denver because his son will begin the fourth grade that week.

The obvious solution, I think, is for Matheson to aid and abet his son in playing hooky — so they can experience the historic moment together.

The best part of this delicious dust up over Matheson's don't-ask-don't-tell policy on being a Democrat, is the way Democratic Party leaders twist themselves into pretzels, not to criticize the highest-ranking member of their party.

State Sen. Gene Davis told KSL:

He claims he's a Democrat. He is a Democrat. I believe he's a Democrat also. So it comes as a little bit of a disappointment.

How does Matheson respond? He refused to be interviewed by KSL.

A knowledge of spelling is helpful too...
This employment ad ran in the Ogden Standard-Examiner:


A hat tip to Regret the Error.
His Loathsomeness
In the annoying speculations on semi-Utahn Mitt Romney as John McCain's vice presidential running mate, finally something fresh . . .

Michael Yglesias at Atlantic.com reminds McCain that despite Romney's conservative credentials and lots and lots (and lots) of money, Republicans still dumped Mitt in the primaries because "basically, people find him loathesome."

Some find him loathesome because of his religion, some because of his flip-flopping, and others just because he's loathesome. But whatever the reason, people just really don't like Mitt Romney
Nevertheless, Yglesias admits (and I agree) that a McCain-Romney ticket would fill an important national need.

Putting him on the ticket seems like an obvious recipe for disaster, but a potential boon to progressive bloggers who are really in need of a mockable choice.

Somebody didn't get the message
The LDS Church isn't the only Utah heavyweight trying to affect the outcome of California's proposition to ban same-sex marriages.

Utah County millionaire and gay rights activist Bruce Bastian stood up at a San Francisco dinner in opposition to Proposition 8 that would define marriage as only between a man and a woman. Bastian wrote a $1 million check to the campaign against the constitutional amendment.

Out-of-state money pouring into California on the issue, for and against, has been neck and neck. Brad Luna, a spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign, sponsor of the fundraising dinner at which Bastian opened his wallet, says the issue is not California's alone:
This is a campaign that's important to the entire country, not just California. The result will have effects across the United States.
The LDS Church's has called for members to donate their "means and time" to pass the California constitutional amendment. Meanwhile, church leaders have indefinitely postponed what would have been a historic meeting with the gay-Mormon support group Affirmation.
Who ya gonna call?

The Daughters of the Utah Pioneers museum on Capitol Hill suddenly got a lot more interesting. Lurking amid its musty exhibits is a ghost.

The yarn: Motion detectors in the museum were set off several times, and the image above appeared on security monitors. Security officers investigated each time and found no evidence of a break in.

The ghost was first reported in the DUP newsletter last year, but is gaining fame on websites dedicated to the paranormal. At least one DUP member thinks the ghost is that of a girl who embroidered a sampler featured at the museum. The sampler, stolen 20 years ago, was returned about the time of the visitations.

I'll go one further. I think it's the ghost, let's call her LaDawn, who regulary puts those construction cones on the head of the lady pioneer statue in front of the museum.
Ka-ching!
A story in the Tribune finds that our congressional delegation isn't like us. They're rich.
On average, members of Congress saw their net worth rise 84 percent from 2004 to 2006. More than 60 of the 100 senators are now estimated to be millionaires, including Utah Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett. The median income in the Senate is $1.7 million.
The median income for Americans is about $43,000, which is about the same as Bishop's net worth. Bishop, left, ranked 430 of 435 in wealth in the House, is an exception to the millionaires' club.

But that probably won't last long, if nothing else, he gets a congressional salary of $169,300, plus his $27,000 a year pension. It'll be interesting to follow Bishop's net worth over his time in office.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Take my veep. . .please.
John McCain proved this week he would be a laff-a-minute president by perpetrating a curious hoax to steal media attention from globe-trotting Barack Obama.

McCain's staff lied (fibbed, if you prefer) to news media, including influential columnist Robert Novak, that the GOP candidate would choose his running mate by the end of the week.

Novak, the chump who was probably a little fuzzy after running over a pedestrian, finally realized it was "a dodge":
I got a suggestion from a very senior McCain aide . . . that he was going to announce it this week [and] suggested I put it out.They were trying to get a little publicity to rain on Obama's campaign. That's pretty reprehensible if it's true.
Some guys just don't like getting pranked.

Later on the Straight Talk Express campaign plane, McCain responded to questions about the bogus story with a twinkle in his rheumy eye. He blew off reporters, quipping:
What do you want, you little jerks?
I wonder if Mitt Romney was in on the joke?
Could we pay our own way?
The Los Angeles-based Broad Foundation, which annually spends millions to improve U.S. education, is holding a retreat in Park City as part of a two-year program to train school board members to make better policy decisions.

The program, called Reform Governance in Action:
. . . trains he nation’s most promising reform-minded school boards and superintendents to become effective, high-performing teams . . . to establish a wide range of efficient and effective policies and processes that will improve board operations, strengthen management oversight and directly improve learning opportunities for students.
The foundation paid the way to Park City for attendees from Antioch Unified School District, Calif.; Elizabeth Public Schools, N.J.; Houston Independent School District; Memphis City Schools and School District of Philadelphia.

Unfortuantely, no districts from Utah, which ranks last on a few educational scales and is wrestling with ideas like school vouchers and merit pay, was not invited to attend the innovative Park City gathering.
G-men fight polyg Mob
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says polygamous groups are a "sophisticated, wealthy and vast criminal organization." Reid, a Mormon, called a hearing on polygamy before the Judiciary Committee on Pioneer Day. Reid took the opportunity to call on the federal government to investigate, pursue and prosecute polygamists.
The lawless conduct of polygamous communities in the United States deserves national attention and federal action.
Reid, who is pushing for a federal anti-polygamy task force, did not give any polygamists, who argue they are practicing their religion under the protection of the First Amendment, an opportunity to defend themselves at the hearing.

Jim Bradshaw, a spokesman for the FLDS church, pointed out Reid's fair-play omission:
You don't take an entire group of people and go after them, target them, profile them, without any evidence and that's exactly what you heard here today.
The meeting was an effort by Mormon U.S. senators Reid and Orrin Hatch, Bradshaw said, to carry out the LDS church's recent image campaign to separate itself from the polygamous splinter groups.
You couldn't listen to that hearing and come away with any conclusion other than these senators who are LDS are very concerned about being tied to the FLDS and this hearing in large respect is about trying to distinguish or run away from the issues.
In an amazing display of oral dexterity, Hatch managed to make a statement to the committee without once uttering the word "polygamy."
Bob vs. God
A federal investigation into the Crandall Canyon Mine disaster is surprising only in how blatant the company was in putting coal production over miner safety.

A year ago next month, six miners and three would-be rescuers were killed in a series of catastrophic collapses in the coal mine in Huntington Canyon. The mine's co-owner Bob Murray quickly became infamous for claiming the disaster was caused by an earthquake—blaming it on God, who, the last I heard, can't be sued.

When some safety experts, geologists, journalists and even families of the victims had the temerity to question if the mine had been safe, Murray lashed out in press conferences and threatened lawsuits.

Now, we have two reports:
• The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration found that the mine was poorly designed. Even then, the operator violated the approved mine plan and withheld from inspectors crucial information that showed how dangerous conditions were.

• A U.S. Labor Department review supported MSHA's findings, but went further —blasting MSHA itself for dereliction of duty in inspecting the mine.
No one who attended the endless impromtu press conference that Murray held around the clock outside the mine last August (I attended several) should be surprised by the findings. Bob was obviously a man with a guilty conscience. Going without sleep and donning miner's overalls to personally go into the death-trap with rescuers, it often seemed he were trying to do public penance for the sins of greed and pride.

The Crandall operators have been slapped with the biggest fine in MSHA history: $1.6 million. And the U.S. Attorney for Utah will look into criminal charges.

And Murray apparently has succumbed to the cardinal sins again. His company blew off the MSHA findings:
This report . . . appears to have been tainted in part by 10 months of relentless political clamoring to lay blame for these tragic events.
It's time for Bob to have his people talk to God's people.
Out, out, blue stain
Congressman Jim Matheson continues one of the biggest hoaxes ever perpetrated on Utah voters.

The immensely popular Second District representative has managed to convince unsuspecting conservative marks that he belongs to the Not-a-Democrat political party.

Investigative reporters have discovered that Matheson is not only a Democrat, but son of storied Democratic governor Scott M. Matheson!

Matheson pulls off his Not-a Democrat dodge by avoiding all association with Dems and their liberal ways. He never puts a tell-tale donkey on his campaign literature, votes with President George Bush every chance he gets and above all, he stays far, far away from Democratic national conventions. Jim missed the last two because he was so darn busy campaigning to stomp his Republican opponents.

In a weak moment, however, Matheson admitted his true party affiliation to the Tribune:
It is what it is. I'm a Democrat.
The upcoming Demcratic convention way out in Denver will be historic. The first black candidate ever will be nominated for president. Unfortunately, Jim again can't make. His son is going to begin fourth grade. Says the Not-a-Democrat:
It is kind of an important week to be around.
Photo above: A good con is in the details — Matheson's subtle, yet ever present, red tie.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
More change at KCPW
Lara Jones, KCPW's news director and host mid-morning "Public Square," community affairs show, is leaving.

Jones, who was deeply involved in the successful effort to keep the station a National Public Radio affiliate, next month will begin a public information job with Salt Lake Police.

Chief Chris Burbank "asked me to help out in communication," she says, but no specific job title has been created.

Jones says she is "whistful," about the timing of the job offer that will mean leaving the station before it gets full FCC approval, expected this fall.

"There's nothing to read into it whatsoever. The offer came when it came, there was nothing to do about that," she says of her departure from the station, which along with its sibling KPCW in Park City has weathered its share of controversy. Listeners rallied to buy the station from Park City Wireless rather than see it sold to a Christian broadcasting network.

Now, KCPW needs a replacement host on "Public Square." Fortunately, Blair Feulner, formerly the mid-morning host at KPCW, is available!
Jumping the gun
Last we heard John McCain hasn't picked Mitt Romney as his running mate. But Michigan Dems already are gunning for the former Michigan governor's son.

Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer tells the Chicago Tribune, why wait? He scores Mitt an F on economic savvy.

We've noticed 'Mitt' and 'Michigan' showing up in the same sentence a lot lately, so we thought it was time to take a hard look at Romney's record on the issue that matters most to Michigan voters--jobs.

Conventional wisdom in Washington might be that Romney's business experience means he's good on the economy, but even the slightest glance at his record indicates otherwise.

You would think Mitt would catch a break because he was born in Michigan. But the Dems there point out that as a venture capitalist his financial machinations sometimes resulted in factories being shut down and workers losing jobs.


Rocky, the sequel
And you thought after Ralph Becker was elected, the news would be Rocky-free.

Ha.

Former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson has long had a bone to pick with the Bush administration's near-dictatorial power grabbing, wiretapping and torture. Finally, he's going to get to spout off to some folks who can actually, maybe, do something about it.

Anderson will testify at a
House Judiciary Committee hearing on presidential abuse of power. In his usual silver-tongued way, he explains:
I'll be addressing some of the more egregious abuses such as the complete disregard of Congress' statutory laws, the Constitution and treaty obligations by engaging in such outrageous and in many instances unprecedented practices. I'll also be addressing the president's assertion of completely unrestrained power and his theory that during the so-called War on Terror neither Congress nor the courts can restrict what the president does.
Got that?

It says something about both Rocky and Utah that probably half the thoughtful people in the state, including the far right — would agree with him. But Rocky insists on delivering his message in away that terminally annoys just about everyone.
Was it worth it?
The test of whether the raid on the FLDS polygamous ranch in Eldorado, Tex., was a flat-out fiasco or actually might accomplish something has begun.

A Texas grand jury handed down indictments, including a sexual assault of a child charge for FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, who also is awaiting trial in Arizona. A handful of his followers were indicted for charges that include sexually assaulting girls under the age of 17. Authorites aren't naming them until they are rounded up.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who personally participated in the grand jury hearing, says it is not over yet:
The indictments issued today are part of an ongoing and continuing criminal investigation.
He better hope it isn't, considering the mess Texas created in placing more than 400 FLDS kids in foster care before the Texas Supreme Court ruled child welfare authorities over-reacted.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Open season on kids
You've got to wonder if some primeval population-control instinct is kicking in as Utahns get crowded tighter and tighter between the Wasatch mountains and the Great Lake. Like lemmings swarming off cliffs or eskimos putting their elderly on ice floes to float on into oblivion.

Seems like children, who apparently are in surplus around here, are being left in cars to die on a weekly basis.
• Certifiable knucklehead David Farnham leaves his son in a parked car while he attends a midnight showing of Dark Knight. Farnham tells officers he left the child in the car with the windows rolled up "so the child could not be taken out." (It sounds like one of the Joker's psychotic gags). Two-year-old Justin survives.

• A week ago, a couple leaves their child asleep in a car parked outside the Sears in Salt Lake. The kid is treated at a hospital for dehydration. Police report that neither parent ''seemed upset at the circumstances."

• In May, multi-level marketer Kamilyn Kartchner Hadley kills her infant son by leaving him outside in an ovenlike car while she makes a business call. She gets probation.

• In April, 18-month-old Myles Gailey's mom left him in the back of her car after a shopping trip. Three hours later, she remembers him. He is dead. No charges are filed against mom, Jana Gailey.
Thank our Heavenly Father that society has grown beyond the eye-for-eye concept of justice. Otherwise, somebody would suggest the parents in these cases be sentenced to being locked in a car in sun-blasted Sears parking lot, with the windows rolled up so they couldn't "be taken out."
Mitt's bucketful
Utah adoptee Mitt Romney's opportunity to be a bucket of warm piss* may be fast approaching.

The Evans-Novak Report says "sources close to John McCain's presidential campaign" are hinting he will reveal the name of his running mate this week. It reportedly would be a way to steal headlines from Barack Obama who is getting saturation coverage during his Middle Eastern trip.

ENR says the name of McCain's running mate has not been mentioned:
But Mitt Romney has led the speculation recently.
McCain told CBS News:
It’s pretty easy to heal the wounds, if there are any — and they were minor — when you have someone who’s very generous and wants to work with you for the good of the country.
*John Nance Garner, F.D.R.’s first vice presidents, supposedly compared the job to, “a bucket of warm spit.” He actually said "warm piss," but newspapers back then cleaned up his quote.
Wonderful day in the 'Gayborhood'
Although redevelopment projects in Salt Lake City's Marmalade/West Capitol Hill neighborhood appear stalled, a new gay nightclub on far north 300 West is rolling toward its opening.

The new smoke-free club, the only gay bar in the area, finally gives some credence to a QSaltLake story last winter that annointed the Marmalade: "Salt Lake's gayborhood." Some developers and real estate agents were annoyed when Channel 2's Rod Decker spread word of the appellation in a mayoral debate, asking candidates if they would support a Marmalade gayborhood.

The club, called Jam in the Marmalade, a play on the historic district's street names that include quince, apricot and almond, is expected to open mid- to late-August on the former site of the Cedar Lounge, a watering hole for truckers and railroad employees.

Part owner Robert McCarthy says the club is a milestone in the rejuvenation of Warm Springs Park area (which some residents insist on calling the "historic Refinery District"):
This is how small businesses get started, getting into this area and doing something beautiful that will also attract people to buy in the neighborhood.
Civics lesson for the kids

The Deseret News, citing unnamed sources, is reporting that any probe by the Legislature into ethical lapses, including allegations of bribery and sexual harassment, won't happen.

Appropriately, the negotiations between conservative and moderate Republicans and their Dem allies to kill an investigation — like the issues it sought to uncover — happened behind closed doors, out of sight and hearing of the public.

Two alleged bombshells the lawmakers avoided:
  • Former Rep. Mark Walker offered a job to his opponent Richard Ellis if Ellis dropped out of the state Treasurer race.
  • Rep. Steve Mascaro sexually harassed an intern during the last session.
An unnamed conservative Republican lawmaker told the DNews' Bob Bernick:
I don't see anything happening with Mascaro, unless something more from either side (in his case) comes up. And I don't think we'll see any (complaints against GOP leaders) from the other side, either.

What is obvious from the agreement is that both sides had enough dynamite—particularly in the realm of sexual impropriety — to blow each other sky high.

Still Walker, House Speaker Greg Curtis, the happy guy above, and the rest of the GOP cabal (not even Mascaro) are not out of the woods yet. Two county prosecutors looking into criminal charges related to the bribery charges have subpoenaed local television stations for tapes of interviews with the Treasurer candidates and Curtis.

Looks like it's time for Curtis to call an intergovernmental meeting... behind closed doors, of course.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Will KPCW flinch?
Blair Feulner has challenged the board of Park City public radio KPCW to a game of chicken.

Feulner, "voice" of KPCW who has been in salary negotiations, startled the board last week by giving himself a "sabbatical" leave. The Park City Record quotes Feulner from an email:
I am hopeful that an agreement will be reached that will mean I'll be behind the microphone and back on the air doing news six months from now.
The board reportedly had cut Feulner's unusually high general manager's salary and was unreceptive to his requests that regular sabbatical leaves be part of his contract.

Feulner, founded the station, but his decisions in the last couple years have brought financial reversals to its Salt Lake City sibling KCPW, which the board was forced to put on the block.

Joe Wrona, a Community Wireless executive committee member, told the Record that as "an employee of Community Wireless, [Feulner] does not have the authority to write his own ticket."

In a comment that should trouble KPCW supporters, Wrona added that the board "consists of people who were handpicked by Blair Feulner because of their friendship and loyalty to Mr. Feulner." Normally, non-profit boards recruit and select their own members, keeping the station manager's involvement to a minimum for obvious reasons.
We have obviously been placed in a very difficult dilemma by Mr. Feulner's statements and actions, and we are struggling to try to make decisions that are in the best interest of Community Wireless, and that do not constitute a betrayal of the trust that Community Wireless listeners, donors and employees have placed in the board of trustees."
In 2004, the handpicked board gave Feulner and his wife Susan an additional $895,000 one-time payment for handling the buying and selling of a Coalville radio license.

Photo above: Listeners rallied in the spring to separate Feulner from troubled SLC public station KCPW.
Bogeygirl
In Orrin's increasingly desperate attempts to scare up GOP cash, Hatch is proposing the ultimate nightmare scenario: Hillary Clinton in a long black robe.

Yes, Utah Sen. Hatch, as co-chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, actually sent out a call for cash saying an Obama presidency would mean Supreme Court Justice Hillary Rodham — presumably taking the seat that Orrin always coveted.
Already, whispers have started about who Barack Obama will appoint to the Supreme Court.
(Cue eerie organ music.)
His alleged first choice is Sen. Hillary Clinton.Who better to remake the courts into a political arm of the Democratic Party?

Because, as president, Barack Obama could appoint just about anybody to the the Supremes, it also is plausible that he would put Orrin's best buddy and early Obama supporter Sen. Ted Kennedy on the court.

I can hear songsmith Orrin's lyrics now:

Teddy, True of Heart, rode in on a white thoroughbred...

to save our God-kissed Constitution when it hung by a thread."*
I'm sure Rush Limbaugh and company would far prefer a Justice Chucky.

*To the tune of Battle Hymn of the Republic.

Reflecting on ethics
Rep. Dave Litvack, a member of the House Ethics Committee, writes a column in the Tribune, calling for continuing the attention on the ethics controversy at the Lege.
There could be no more harmful end to the issue of legislative ethics than to let it quietly go away.
Here it comes, you say, another House Dem taking a swing at the GOP.

Oh no, Litvack is quick to say:
Let me be very clear: I am not advocating for a criminal investigation of former Rep. Mark Walker; I am not asking for an ethics investigation into an "unnamed legislator"; nor, for that matter, am I speaking of any particular legislator or incident. (Like allegations of sexual harassment against a certain Dem?)
Litvack, House Democratic Whip, is so pious in rising above partisan politics that it he's good for a chuckle:

There are those who might be asking, "Why are you complaining? Since you are a Democrat, the Republican infighting and divisiveness are giving you the perfect campaign issue." People have actually said this to me.

Then, what are we supposed to do, Dave?


Why follow the advice of Republican Dave Clark, of course, and demand
". . . elected officials at all levels [reflect] on the important role we play and the way in which we conduct ourselves in that role."

But I ask that we take it a step further and call upon all Utah legislators to lead by action and make restoring the public's trust and confidence a top priority.
Sounds good. Everyone together now:
Hey you legislators, start reflecting and make ethics a top priority!
Let us know when things change up the Hill, Dave.

Meanwhile, in the Deseret News, John Florez also calls for ethics reform, noting:
Most disturbing is that some in the minority party, once known as the "friendly opposition," have now become the "silent minority" and just get along so they can keep their seats.
Rethinking roads
Will the fuel crunch finally bring about a dramatic change in the way Utahns and their lawmakers view transportation? It better have, says a new study, or economic development on the Wasatch Front will be hamstringed.

The Brookings Institute Mountain Megas study, which calls for a shift of thinking from simply building highways to more innovative transportation solutions, is mainly aimed at federal policy, but it could just as well be applied to state and local decisions. The Tribune's Brandon Loomis reports:
If Congress continues to shrink from infrastructure spending and to insist its money go mostly to roads, Brookings scholars predict Utah could sprawl in ways that choke productivity. The Salt Lake region must keep up with 1.5 million newcomers over 30 years.
Study author Mark Muro is impressed with how Wasatch Front cities have cooperated on transportation, but says the stakes remain high:
The region has more to lose or gain than any other.
Flippin' Mitt
Kathryn Jean Lopez of the National Review Online mounts a persuasive defense of Mitt Romney against a political accusation that has dogged him during his presidential run: flip-flopping.

Some have applied the old weather joke to Romney: Don't like his position on something? Wait five minutes, it'll change.

Yes, Lopez argues, Romney changed his positions on abortion and gay marriage, but it was a result of discussion with experts and deep thought, not political expediency.
... and, as a result, he changed his mind about abortion, cloning, and other destruction of innocent human life. Ditto on gay marriage: Once he was forced to confront the issue, once he realized the lengths to which activists will go to make it law, once the supreme court of Massachusetts instituted same-sex marriage there, he changed his mind.

Good for him. They say it’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks. Well, it’s even harder for a grown man in public life to say, “I was wrong.” Romney has. Good for him.
Of course, a cynic might argue that this is case of a conservative pundit flip-flopping on Mitt's flip-flopping. The column comes amid growing evidence that John McCain, who once said Mitt made his "skin crawl," may flip-flop on Mitt as a running mate.
Friday, July 18, 2008
A Mitt resource
Dickapedia, "a wiki of dicks," has added an entry for Utah's native-like son Mitt Romney.

Highlights of the entry include:
  • Romney’s great-grandparents fled to Mexico so they could practice [polygamy]. The family returned to the United States after Mitt’s father was born. In summation: Mitt Romney’s ancestors were sex addicts, and his father was a Mexican immigrant.
  • Romney left Bain Capital in 1998 to head the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games . . . . Romney’s Games made $100 million in profit, which is really what the Greeks had in mind all along.
  • He began his term [as Massachusetts' governor] as a proponent of domestic partnerships for same-sex couples, and ended it urging the U.S. Senate to pass a constitutional ban on gay marriage.
  • Romney is currently against the conservative trifecta of abortion, gay marriage and stem cell research, despite the fact that the latter may hold a cure for his wife Ann’s multiple sclerosis. He supports the Iraq war, the death penalty and withholding constitutional rights from suspected terrorists. All positions, of course, are subject to change.



Wringing oil out of Utah
A major political, economic and environmental decision ahead for Utahns is whether to exploit the state's oil shale.

On one side of the debate are conservatives, including Third Congressional District candidate Jason Chaffetz, who say squeezing the pre-oil goop out of western shale is the answer to America's energy problems.

On the other side, environmentalists argue oil shale development would be environmentally catastrophic, even if it were possible—which, they quickly add, it is