Salt Lake Crawler

The LDS Church's historic direct support of Salt Lake City's anti-discrimination ordinances probably stunned no one more than Utah's moral crusaders. All this time, the gay rights opposition, including the Sutherland Institute and the Eagle Forum, smugly assumed they had the church in their corner. Sometimes, for all appearances, the sanctimonious right-wing seemed to speak for the LDS church. Today, it must feel like a punch in the gut.

Here's what the Mormon Church did say, through spokesman Michael Otterson:

"The church supports these ordinances because they are fair and reasonable and do not do violence to the institution of marriage."

Conservative state Rep. Carl Wimmer says he would support a repeal bill, but tellingly, he told The Tribune that he would not sponsor it.

Hardline anti-gay loon Jessica Rodrigues, whose family's America Forever group pickets with signs saying homosexuality is "anti-species" and buys newspaper ads that argue that allowing children to see gay couples is as damaging to them as seeing pornography, seemed to be at a loss.

"It is a moral wrong to pass this ordinance. It is awful that you get the support of the LDS Church on this."

The Sutherland Institute, protector of the family that held its last "Sacred Ground" rally in an LDS tabernacle, restated its opposition to the anti-discrimination laws.

"Each new inclusion in the law of such vague terms as 'sexual orientation' and 'gender identity' represents a mounting threat to the meaning of marriage."

Sutherland is calling for the Legislature to overturn Salt Lake's ordinance. Fat chance that will happen now.

Earning their MOM — Utah women lag behind the nation in pursuing higher education. Only 49 percent of Utah women go to college as compared to the 56 percent nationally. Utah Commissioner of Higher Education William Sederburg thinks it's a cultural thing (duh) — Utah women tend to marry and start families at younger ages, contributing to fewer female students in colleges and universities.

Idaho courting behavior — A leading figure in Idaho politics was fired from his job as a county attorney in the Idaho Falls area and ousted as a Republican National Committeeman, after he pleaded guilty to stalking a former girlfriend and throwing used condoms on her lawn. Blake Hall, a former school board member, dumped at least 19 condoms on the woman's lawn and stalked her into stores and movies. She said she was tired of being victimized. "It is unimaginable that a 56-year-old would be so deviant."

Give us the school bus, forget the magic — Remember those halcyon days of school when you boarded a bus and took field trips to a local museum or the old box factory? Sad to say but those nearly education-free outings are being replaced in Utah with virtual field trips to wonderful two-dimensional places like the Louvre and the Taj Mahal. Sounds almost as exciting as educational TV.

California-marriage discount — SkyWest is being challenged for workplace discrimination for not offering the same flying benefits to a gay couple that it does to hetero married couples. The gay couple was married in California before Prop 8 passed banning same-sex marriages, but St. Geoarge-based SkyWest did not offer the gay spouse its free-flight benefit – only a discount.

Apparently the Cash for Clunker program accomplished little beyond putting new gas guzzlers on the road and pumping up the short-sighted industry that produced them. And Utah, which is  an exaggerated version of America's heartland, proved to be little greener than the nation with its $24 million in federal help.

The less-than-green car buyers traded 15 mpg vehicles in for new 25 mpg cars and trucks. The Deseret News gives an example of a Utahn who traded in a 20-year-old Chevy pickup (13 mpg) for a Hummer (16 mpg). Take that global warming! (Unfortunately, no one accounted for the resources and energy it took to manufacture the Hummer.)

You know a situation is ridiculous when The Onion parodies it with a slob-on-the-street article:

"I thought about switching to a hybrid car, but then I heard those gruff baritone truck-commercial voice-overs in my head belittling and emasculating me."

 

 

 

"We Mormons are used to that. If a Mormon makes a mistake, you can always count on his religion being mentioned. I don't think all Islamic people in this country should be tarred by the fact that one guy goes off the rails."

By contrast, David Brooks of The New York Times, lamented the nation's rush to judgement in the other direction out of fear of looking bigoted. So far, he says, a "malevolent narrative" of a minority of muslims is being ignored.

This narrative is embraced by a small minority. But it has caused incredible amounts of suffering within the Muslim world, in Israel, in the U.S. and elsewhere.  . . . They are the ones who go into crowded rooms, shout “Allahu akbar,” or “God is great,” and then start murdering. . . .

A shroud of political correctness settled over the conversation. Hasan was portrayed as a victim of society, a poor soul who was pushed over the edge by prejudice and unhappiness.

There was a national rush to therapy.

Hatch's sensitivity could stem from the application of a similar narrative approach to understanding Mormon culture and violence resulted in Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer.

Who are those guys? — Etta! Warn Bob Redford—John Travolta wants to remake Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid with Scientologist buddy Tom Cruise. Travolta says, "Someone came up with a good idea - it was a remake of Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid and there was a rumor that we were gonna do that, and I said to Tom, 'It's not a terrible rumor, it's not a bad idea.'" Hey, instead of jumping off a cliff, the duo can jump off a couch.

Expect a casserole, FedEx — A most forlorn tweet from highly wired (all meanings of the word) Congressman Jason Chaffetz: "Had to stay in DC. Tonight's dinner was Pop-Tarts, popcorn & Oreos. I can't wait to get [home] and have a real meal."

Bending politics to science — Seventeen BYU scientists signed a letter rebuking the Utah Legislature for making it appear that the human impact on climate change is in dispute by bringing in a "fringe" expert to testify at a committee meeting. Said one BYU scientist: “We expected more from our politicians. We expect more objectivity.” A BYU scientist demanding objectivity from a Utah politician? There's got to be a punchline.

Plague central — Swine flu can spread quickly through people crowded together for a long time — particularly if you've got scores  of kids sneezing and coughing indiscriminately. Does that sound like the average Mormon ward on Sunday? Mormon blogs are discussing ways to get sick, but zealous, brethren and sisteren to stay home on Sundays. "Picture if you will sacrament trays being passed through hands of sick, coughing people, nurseries where children mingle, and meetings where binders are passed through rows of people holding Kleenex to elderly members." OK, now how do I get that picture out of my brain?

For similar reasons, H1N1 remains a major issue at the Missionary Training Center in Provo.

Poor folks, take a lawmaker golfing! — With the Legislature's session coming up, momentum increases to stick it to the poor by putting the full tax back on food. Lawmakers, who see little in the way of campaign contributions from poor people, figure the food tax would raise a significant chunk of the predicted $1 billionish budget shortfall.