Tribune Blogs -- Out of Context: The Tribune's political writers' blog

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What was really spooky were the two turrets set up on the runway Wednesday night before the arrival of Air Force One at the Utah Air National Guard base.

It was hard to see clearly from the vantage of the press pool area, but it looked as if six soldiers or other munitions experts sat atop each turret with automatic weapons aimed at the crowd.

And the fourth black SUV in Thursday morning's motorcade was full of men brandishing the same fearsome weaponry while speeding on nearly empty city streets and a very empty Interstate 80.

So it was almost quaint when a Secret Service agent at the Grand America used his switchblade to punch a new hole in a photographer's press credential that had fallen off his lanyard.

-- Patty Henetz

Life during wartime

Ever since Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld loosed his attack on appeasers Tuesday at the American Legion convention, the nation has been treated to analyses of the Bush administration's evolving rhetoric and focus on ideological warfare.

Listening to three Bush speeches over about 15 hours, we heard several times about the specters of Nazism, communism and fascism. Legionnaires and Utahns cheered the president on when he announced enemies wished to harm us, that they want to attack us in our own streets, that to pull out of Iraq would be to hand over the nation to Saddam's henchmen, that the dark forces of tyranny have got us surrounded.

Just for fun, we counted up the president's repetition of emergent memes, those little units of cultural information transmitted repeatedly from one mind to another. The numbers are conservative estimates from the third speech, the one at the Hatch fundraiser.

Terror or terrorists: 7 times
Ideological: 4
Tyranny or tyrant: 7
Extremists or extremism: 2
Struggle: 3
Enemy: 5
Threat: 7
Democratic or democracy: 3
Sept. 11: 1

-- Patty Henetz

Did Fox buy KSL?

If you attended any of the pro-Bush, (AKA " Welcome and Appreciation for the President" and "Freedom Rally") gatherings, you can be forgiven if you came to the conclusion they were sponsored by KSL, Utah's dominant broadcast news outlet that is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

After all, popular KSL-Radio talk radio host Doug Wright brought his sanctimonious style to both rallies as their emcee and even broadcast on location from the pro-Bush, pro-Iraq War "Freedom Rally" at Liberty Park.

A Freedom Rally organizer, in fact, announced that KSL had "sponsored" the event to the cheers of Bush supporters and out-of-town American Legionnaires. Wright, who was sitting on stage basking in the applause, did not correct him.

We briefly pulled Wright off the stage to ask him if KSL, which bills itself as an unbiased news source, was indeed sponsoring rallies endorsing the president and his policies in the Middle East.

No, no, Wright assured us, "KSL is not sponsoring the rallies. I'm just serving as emcee at them."

-- Glen Warchol

Iraq War Invades County

In a break from form, Salt Lake County Council members engaged the politics of war Tuesday, arguing with one another and constituents over U.S. involvement in Iraq.

Democratic Councilman Joe Hatch led the charge, saying he was distressed with the war and a radio campaign by GOP leaders urging people to flood Salt Lake City Hall with complaints about Mayor Rocky Anderson's protest.

After all, Hatch said, Utahn's have a right to disagree with the war and President Bush and not be called a traitor.

"I would hope the Republican Party wouldn't make the same mistake they made 35 years ago," Hatch said, invoking Vietnam.

A Sandy man thought otherwise, interrupting Hatch and calling his speech a "diatribe."

GOP Councilman Michael Jensen was next.

"Nobody from this council is running those ads," he said.

"Your party is," Hatch countered.

Predictably, the debate over the war - and the week's much-ballyhooed protests - splintered along party lines before Council Chairman Cort Ashton ruled virtually everyone out of order.

"It is great to be part of such a healthy process," said visiting Rep. LaVar Christensen, R-Draper, missing the irony that the debate was cut short.

By that point, it was clear which rally - the Bush protest or the counter-protest - the partisans would attend.

For good measure, Jensen said he would be on hand to support the president.

"Good luck at your rally," he sneered. "I'll be at mine."

-- Derek P. Jensen

On a mission

It's always sad to see a wild thing caged.

And it broke our heart to see it happen at the rally welcoming President Bush organized by state Republicans at the City-County Building. Unless you've lived under a rock the last 15 years, you know Janalee Tobias, Utah's petite whirlwind for gun rights and open space.

The South Jordan activist was just hitting full throttle tonight when she was gagged by her own party.

It started when a group of young counter-demonstrators had the audacity to protest against Bush in the midst of what GOP party leader James Evans planned as a love fest.

The teens had raised cheeky signs in the middle of about 400 conservatively dressed Republicans proclaiming: "Trim the Bush" and "Get This Man An Intern."

"We tried to come up with something creative," explained Alex Postvanderburg.

Janalee, who had brought her kids along to the rally, saw the opposition signs as a teaching moment. Grinning, she started jumping up in front of the protesters, blocking their signs with one that she had made: "Guns, God, Guts -- G. Bush."
Janalee and the teens seem to be enjoying the mini-confrontation as a welcome distraction from a series of stultifying speeches by the likes of Lt. Governor Gary Herbert and Rep. LaVar Christensen.

But within seconds, a couple party types approached Janalee and whispered something that brought the bouncing blonde back to earth.

"I can't believe it. They told me not to engage the protesters," she said, stunned. "I see this as missionary work. How can you convert people to the gospel of George Bush if you don't engage people?"

After a moment, the gleam returned to her eye. "I think I'll take my sign to Pioneer Park [where a Rock Against Rumsfield rally was going on.]"

-- Glen Warchol

What's a good Democrat like you doing in a place like this?

While Rocky was leading the protest at the City County Building, at least one Democrat was in Liberty Park showing his support for the troops.

"This is more my kind of community gathering," says Jeff Bell, communications director of the Utah Democratic Party. "I'm from a military family and I feel comfortable here."

As speakers blast Mayor Rocky Anderson and Cindy Sheehan, Bell explains that the Bush Administration is on a "treadmill in Iraq."

"Their strategy never changes and more Iraqis and more troops are getting hurt," he says.

Bell is not handing out pamphlets or even wearing a campaign button.

"I'm more here today for me," Bell says. "My dad served, my granddad served and my great granddad served in the military. There's a wide separation between disagreeing with the administration's policies and supporting the troops."

-- Glen Warchol

Tiananmen it ain't

As we approached the 'Rock against Rumsfeld' rally in Pioneer Park this evening, we could smell trouble.

Parked on the corner were 22 police cars, 10 cops on bikes, a camo-clad SWAT team in a Suburban and a gaggle of motorcycle cops.

We wondered, "Was this to be a demonstration reporter's dream come true -- a clash between police and protesters?"

Then we arrived at the rally -- 350 Salt Lake folks sprawling on blankets and lawn chairs with their children and dogs, eating salads and listening to a young, insipid folk rock singer who was saying "I support the troops. I pray for all my brothers and sisters out there."

Not exactly Tiananmen Square.

"The police aren't here for us," said Crystal Young-Otterstrom, one of the organizers. "They're using the park as their base for the president's (motrocade) route. The rally is pretty mellow."

-- Glen Warchol

More to the left, Mr. President

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice often has to smooth over bad behavior of some in the administration.

But Tuesday, she had a hard time explaining President Bush's impromptu back rub for German Chancellor Angela Merkel during G8 meetings last month.

"I saw the picture," she said. "You know, I think probably what happened was this sort of momentary [thing] -- and they catch these pictures."

Rice says "It's just in his personality to be warm and to reach out. They have a lovely relationship -- a very nice, easy relationship.

"You know, he probably would have done it to Tony Blair, too. But they didn't catch that picture."

Chalk the international incident up to a close friendship.

--Rebecca Walsh

Protest logic

Protesters often make better signs than arguments.

Ed Betenson, a retired Air Force sergeant from Riverton, stands in full uniform in a sea of anti-war protesters at the City-County building. He patiently explains to anyone who will listen that Rocky Anderson and Cindy Sheehan are giving "aid and comfort to the enemy."

If Arab news service Al-Jazeera gets tapes of their words, it could undercut the security of American troops, he says. "They would have blood on their hands."

The demonstrators near him who jeer at giant papier-mache heads of Cheney and Rumsfield simply don't get it, Betenson says. "Freedom has a flavor that only people who have fought for it can completely understand."

An anti-war protester named Jim insinuates that Betenson and other military types blindly support the government.

"I support the right to bear arms so that we can go back there (to Washington, D.C.) and throw those bums out if we want to."

The mention of the Second Amendment brings another attack: "The right to bear arms? Who in Riverton do you want to have a nuclear weapon?"

Somehow, Betenson manages to give the protester a gentle look that says, "Idiot," without his actually having to say a word.

-- Glen Warchol

The devil's wages

One thing is undeniable today, Utahns are following these protests and rallies very closely. At the noon hour, a group of dusty construction workers are buying lunch at the 7-Eleven on Third West.

"I wonder what happened at that Death to Israel rally," says one. "What was that all about?"

When the hardhats learn that the organizer of the Death to Israel rally is offering $10 an hour to the homeless to be "surrogate protesters," they shake their heads.

"Better than minimum wage to sell your soul," says one.

--Glen Warchol

Who's from out of state?

Ron Conley, past commander of the American Legion, is fed up with traveling protesters. Conley sees that as the reason a couple of thousand anti-war protesters are at the City-County Building today while only a couple of hundred are at the support the troops "Freedom Rally" at Liberty Park.

"I'd like to know how many of these protesters are from Utah and how many are from out of state," he said.

Somehow Conley doesn't see a parallel with the support the troops rally where about a half are Legionnaires like himself from outside of Utah. They came to Liberty Park on three charter buses from their convention at the Salt Palace.

"We had a convention here, these anti-war demonstrators tried to turn it into a protest of the war. That's why we came here today," Conley says.

A supporter of the troops in Iraq walks past with a sign that reads, "Rocky is jackass."

Conley, who serviced B-52 bombers in Guam during the Vietnam War, doesn't want to see the United States "cut and run again."

"Are those anti-Vietnam War protesters celebrating that Vietnam is a Communist country today? A similar kind of repressive regime will fill the vacuum in Iraq," he says.

--Glen Warchol

Anti-Rocky rover

A shiny new Land Rover circles the City-County Building. Spouting from the open sun roof is a sign that says: "Rocky lies/ Impeach Rocky."

An anti-war protestor in a long flowing white dress first looks shocked, then raises a middle finger salute.

Ah, free speech.

-- Glen Warchol

Anti-war vet

From this morning's anti-Bush protest at Washington Square:

Andy Girouard remembers a chapter of American history ignored yesterday by Donald Rumsfeld and Condoleezza Rice -- Viet Nam.

Girouard served two years a draftee in the 9th Infantry Division in Nam -- "and Cambodia," he says.

"I've got a lot of problems with this war, with wars in general. Nobody wins and the biggest losers are the people who live there."

Don't confuse Girouard with a placid peacenik, he has a bone to pick with Rumsfeld, Cheney and others. "When Rumsfeld says 'You are with us or you are a coward,' it gets my hackles up. I did my thing. I saw it. They didn't."

-- Glen Warchol

Draft the Greatest Generation

The first thing that strikes you when you enter the American Legion convention going on this week in Salt Lake City is: These people are really old!

No offense to the Legionnaires and their female auxiliary, many of whom also are veterans, but besides a couple vendors, few are under retirement age and their hair color covers the spectrum from gray to blue to none.

After hearing a few rousing speeches about patriotism, honor and, of course, "stay the course in Iraq," we got a brilliant idea.

Draft 'em.

You heard us, Rummy. Raise the draft age to 65 and above and fill the ranks with seniors.

It makes perfect sense. These Legionnaires support the president's war, they are just rarin' to kick some ass, they got about a million years combined combat experience and they seem to delight in wearing
uniforms and marching.

Imagine the panic and confusion that would be sown among the Iranian Army as human waves of geezers charged on walkers and scooters, kvetching the whole way.

And President Bush, an added bonus of our Geriatric Draft is that it would solve the Social Security crisis.

--Glen Warchol

Gutsy in a goofy way

You may not support his cause, but Robert Breeze is probably the gutsiest protester in Salt Lake City today.

Breeze is leading a "Death to Israel" rally at the City-County Building's Washington Square. He makes one thing perfectly clear: he is not an anti-Semite.

"Do I look like a member of the Aryan nation?" he asks.

Dressed in shorts, suspenders, and a straw hat, Breeze looks, well, just goofy. Breeze's message is simple: Israel has subjugated and brutalized the Palestinian people for decades under the cover of America's "corporate media."

He has only one person with him at 10 a.m.. But Breeze freely acknowledges he has sent someone else to hire what he called "surrogate protestors" at $10 an hour.

"A lot of wealthy people don't have the time to stand out here, but they are more than happy to pay someone," Breeze says.

Meanwhile, across the street, a dozen pro-Israel demonstrators have gathered with Israeli flags. They seem to be more baffled by Breeze than intimidated.

Michael Pack is a Salt Lake City Jew who felt compelled to carry the blue and white Israeli flag today.

"I lost a lot of family in the holocaust," he said. "To sit around and do nothing was something I couldn't do."

When asked if he was bothered that he has offended many area Jews, Breeze says: "Too bad for them, it's a free country. Tell them to have a 'Death to Wales' rally and see if I give a shit."

-- Glen Warchol

Glen Warchol is blogging today from the various demonstrations planned around the visit of President Bush to Salt Lake City.

Blog lab

Today, we're trying something new for us at Out of Context: sending a reporter out in the field with a specific assignment to blog throughout the day on some of the anti-Bush protests and pro-administration rallies.

Glen Warchol, who was born to blog, will be Out of Context's guinea pig and protest tour guide.

So if you're wondering why we seem to be single-mindedly focused (fixated) on Salt Lake City's Day of Demonstrations, know it is part of a grand experiment. Consider yourself warned.

--Dan Harrie

Fit for another five terms

Utah's Sen. Orrin Hatch may be one of the most fit members of the Senate, according to a Washington Post story today.

The Post asked all 100 senators for their body-mass index and only eight senators responded to the inquiry, including Hatch. His office says he has a BMI of 22.2, right smack in the middle of "normal weight."

A Hatch spokesman says that's because he exercises regularly in the exclusive Senate gym, mainly on the elliptical machine and sometimes on the treadmill. And because he loves -- loves! -- his dietary supplements.

Hatch's body mass index is better than Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry (BMI: 22.5) and even tops President Bush (BMI: 27.0).

To calculate your BMI click here

-- Thomas Burr (BMI: 25.1)

Command performance

Rather than showing off his prowess at table tennis or tickling his keyboard, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. trotted out his daughter to impress Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Before a breakfast of fruit-and-yogurt parfaits, sweet breads and scrambled eggs and bacon, first daughter MaryAnne Huntsman, 21, along with her coach serenaded the nation's top diplomat (and concert pianist) with a rendition of Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto. MaryAnne Huntsman has just been accepted to the Manhattan School of Music.

Ever gracious, Rice called the performance "spectacular."

One-on-one, Utah's governor and the Secretary of State talked about Asia, China and Utah's future.

She declined to prognosticate about Huntsman's job prospects in a future White House. The governor has signed on with Arizona Sen. John McCain's campaign, raising speculation that he hopes for another job in Washington.

"Jon can do just about anything he wants to. He's enormously talented," Rice said. But, "everything suggests to me that he's totally, thoroughly devoted to Utah. He seems to love it here. And he seems to love his work as governor."

Like breakfasting with the secretary of state.

-- Rebecca Walsh

Mr. Secretary? Sigmund Freud is on the line

During his speech Tuesday before the American Legion, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld sought to make a point by quoting a dead French statesman.

"You know from experience that in every war -- personally -- there have been mistakes and setbacks and casualties," Rumsfeld said in a speech in which he vilified news media coverage of the war in Iraq. "War is, as Clemenceau said, 'A series of catastrophes that results in victory."

If Rumsfeld actually knows anything about Clemenceau's history, the above statement is fraught with portent. If not -- if some speechwriter or Rumsfeld himself used the timeworn college freshman shortcut and looked up "war" or "victory" in Bartlett's for a weighty quote to shore up a weak point -- it's dang droll, considering the secretary's professed interest in history.

That's because Georges Clemenceau (1841-1929) was a French radical, and we mean radical. He and his compatriots were champions of the free press and enemies of wealth, anti-clericals who sought redistribution of property and laid the ground for Europe's brand of progressive liberal ideology.

He was an early supporter of the Paris Commune, the socialist government that held Paris in spring of 1871, just after the siege of the city that Leon Trotsky embraced as emblematic of communist struggle. After a political defeat in 1893, Clemenceau turned to journalism for his activist needs. His newspaper, La Justice, was the main organ of Parisian radicals.

As a supporter of the writer Emile Zola and an opponent of anti-Semitism and nationalism, on Jan. 13, 1898, Clemenceau put Zola's wrathful "J'accuse" essay on the paper's front page. Its publication set off what historian Barbara Tuchman dubbed "one of the great commotions of history," the political and judicial scandal known as the Dreyfus Affair. The wrongful conviction and subsequent exoneration of Jewish military officer Alfred Dreyfus for treason discredited royalists, conservatives and the Catholic Church -- the original "right wing" -- and prompted the rise of the intellectuals who forced the far right to the fringes of French politics.

In 1902, Clemenceau was elected to the French senate, where he sat with the Socialist Radicals, agitated relentlessly for the separation of church and state and led the extreme left -- and we mean extreme -- in the chamber.

Clemenceau was the French premier from 1914-1918 and a major contributor to the Allied victory in World War I. A framer of the Treaty of Versailles, he sought to punish Germany after the war, a tactic considered ultimately responsible for the immense destruction of World War II and the Holocaust. Clemenceau was an unsuccessful candidate for the presidency of the Third French Republic, a parliamentary democracy which was dismantled by the Nazi collaborators of the Vichy regime in 1940. The defeat left him so bitter that he declared the presidency "as superfluous as a prostate gland."

(The above history was extracted from Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Clemenceau.)

--Patty Henetz

Peoples' Republic of Utah

We were shocked and saddened to learn recently that a place still exists in America where "unions and liberal special interest groups disproportionately influence elections with their deep pockets."

Where in this sea of red states, we wondered, is this repugnant renegade republic where, according to the Utah Taxpayers Association: "The spending lobby and their well-funded political action committees are busy giving money to candidates who will tax and spend?"

We nearly lost our water when the the association told us that benighted land is Utah.

Yes, according to the Taxpayers Association, Utahns live under the thumb of semi-Bolsheviks who, among other misdeeds, pilfer taxpayer money to woo soccer teams (a last place team, no less) in the name of economic development.

"Are you tired of state and local elected officials claiming to be fiscally conservative at election time, while the rest of the time the last thing on their mind is the taxpayer?" the Taxpayers Association asks. "So are we!"

Wait a minute. . . aren't the vast majority of these "tax-and-spenders" in Utah right-wing Republicans?

And if the Liquor Control Board isn't a "tax exempt government enterprise" we've never seen one.

Come to think of it, wasn't one of the foremost fellow travellers throwing public money at professional soccer none other than House Speaker Greg Curtis? All this time, we thought he was a conservative Republican.

Boy, are we dupes.

If you're mad as heck, the Taxpayers Association, which represents mainly large business interests (Hint: One of its members decorated the Oquirrh Mountains with that two and a half-mile wide hole),asks you to give whatever money you have left after the spending lobby is done with you to its PAC.

TAXPAC, the Taxpayers Association says, will get candidates elected who "say no to special interests."

-- Glen Warchol

Flag forgiveness

Ten years ago, the American Legion had a litmus test for who they invited to their convention -- and Utah Sen. Bob Bennett didn't pass.

In 1996, when Bennett was the only member of the state's delegation to vote against the flag-burning amendment, the veterans snubbed him. He was noticeably absent from the convention. And his name was not mentioned. Hatch, the flag amendment's sponsor, was a featured speaker.

National Commander Daniel Ludwig said at the time it would be "illogical" to invite Bennett.

But William Christoffersen, a local organizer of the convention, disputed that Bennett was snubbed, insisting that the senator's staff said he would be unable to attend.

This year, the legion apparently decided to avoid the "flag flap." Hatch still sponsored the amendment. And Bennett again voted against it. But this year he was joined by Congressman Jim Matheson in opposition.

Both Bennett and Matheson have been invited to speak to Legion members Tuesday.

"I'm surprised they invited me, given my vote," Bennett said Monday.

The debate over amending the Constitution to protect the flag won't be glossed over, however.

After Bennett and Matheson speak, Hatch is to be given a special commendation (for the amendment.) And later, the veterans will get a special report on the flag amendment.

--Rebecca Walsh

GOP to Rocky: Shut the H-E-double hockey sticks up!

Joe Cannon, GOP chairman and congressman Chris's brother, is calling on loyal Utahns to get on the blower with Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson.

Rocky, the GOP says in radio ads, is sending the world a negative, disrespectful image of our reddest of red states.

What to do? "Call Rocky and tell him to stop embarrassing Utah," the GOP says.

Produced by good Republicans, the "Call Rocky" campaign manages to confuse protests of what some see as a botched occupation of Iraq with being soft on terrorism: "Do we do whatever it takes to win the war on terror? Or do we embolden the terrorists with a cut-and-run strategy?"

Offered that choice, who wouldn't suspend the Constitution and whatever else it takes?

Cannon's ad warns Utahns that Rocky has "invited professional protester Cindy Sheehan to convince you that America should retreat."

Apparently due to the restrictions of a 30-second spot, nowhere does the GOP acknowledge that Sheehan's soldier son, Casey, was killed in Iraq. (Apparently, that posthumous Bronze Star didn't impress mom.)

But before you Democratic candidates start slagging the Republicans for choking off debate on the war you might want to check the Tribune's recent survey.

We asked Utahns if anti-war protestors like Rocky and Sheehan played an important role in the national debate on Iraq or simply aided America's enemies. Only 45 percent of Utah's Democrats said they had a legitimate role in the debate. A full 13 percent, said they aid U.S. enemies.

And if you are wondering whether these were true-blue Utah Democrats: 42 percent responded they were "not sure."

-- Glen Warchol

Eating well

Sen. Bob Bennett apparently loves great meals, at least according to a new disclosure of expenses at a recent meeting in Aspen, Colo.

Bennett, according to his own "good faith estimate," accepted $2,295 for a trip to the elite ski town by the Aspen Institute think tank. Of the gift, $930 was for airfare and $615 was for lodging. That leaves $750 for meals -- for three days.

Filet mignon, senator?

--Thomas Burr

Free agent draft

The Libertarian Party is scouting the ranks of football fans for recruits.

In a full-page ad today in The Trib and D-News special college and pro-football preview section, the underdog party makes a play for new members.

"The two-party system is to politics what steroids are to athletics," says the headline. "Both cheat us out of fair play."

It depicts the Republican elephant and Democratic donkey as oversized criminals (bandits? Outlaw athletes?) in masks, holding drug addled taxpayers/voters in their clutches. Three syringe-wielding menacers in the foreground are labeled "mainstream media," "special interests" and "war."

Apparently, no one told Libertarian Party organizers about the rule against mixing religion and politics: in this case the Church of the NFL.

On the other hand, ignoring that rule has worked out pretty well for the Utah GOP.

-- Dan Harrie

That'll cost 'em four or five votes

We're sure it's going to be a huge disappointment to Utah congressmen Chris Cannon and Rob Bishop to hear environmentalists don't think much of them.

Because it's unlikely either reads "Sierra," the official magazine of the Sierra Club, we'll pass the bad news along. Cannon and Bishop have been inducted into the League of Conservation Voters' Zero Percent Club: "Members of congress that got every important environmental vote in 2005 absolutely wrong."

The league is composed of representatives of 20 green groups who say they track anti-environmental extremism in Washington.

Even worse, the two congressmen, who face re-election this fall, can't even say being in the Zero Percent Club is something special -- 85 other Republicans also made it.

"In a crowd like that," Sierra says, "it's tough to stand out."

-- Glen Warchol

Nostalgia

Unlike Congressman Jim Matheson -- who seems to run away from his party and its politicians in election years -- state Rep. LaVar Christensen is hitching his campaign to a dead Republican president.

Skipping over the last two GOP presidents, Christensen apparently is a card-carrying member of the cult of personality surrounding Ronald Reagan. He is launching a new series of television ads and a mailing featuring the Republican icon.

The "Know LaVar" ads, which were produced by a Washington D.C. firm, focus on Christensen's sponsorship of the state's gay marriage ban and legislation requiring civic and character education in public schools. Christensen's camp has purchased newshour air time this week and next. The ads started running last night.

His slogan, "A Bright Dawn Ahead," is eerily familiar. Turns out it's a quote from the letter released by Reagan's family to acknowledge his Alzheimer's disease. It's strikingly similar to Reagan's own presidential campaign slogan. Remember: "It's Morning in America?"

Christensen is unabashed.

"We are today's stewards of Reagan's legacy," he writes in the mailing. "Together, we can usher in a new dawn of leadership in this country."

--Rebecca Walsh

Flip a coin or something, guv

Utah Rep. Pat Jones' experiment in dual identity as both a Democratic House member and a registered Republican (see previous post) is sowing confusion in GOP ranks.

In a chat with Tribune reporters recently, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., for instance, learned that endorsing candidates is no longer as simple as it used to be.

Huntsman: "I am supporting Republicans. That's what I do as Republican governor."

Wisenheimer reporter: "So you'll be supporting Pat Jones?"

Huntsman, taken aback: "You're trying to get me in trouble."

(Pause)

Huntsman, ever the diplomat: "May the best person win!"

-- Glen Warchol

On notice

Recent reports that Utah Republican Party Chairman Joe Cannon has lobbied his younger brother, Congressman Chris Cannon, on behalf of several clients caused nary a ripple in Republican ranks.

But Utah's top Republican questions the elder Cannon's judgment.

"If I were in that position, I would not have been lobbying a family member," Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said Wednesday.

Although the nominal head of Utah's Grand Old Party, Huntsman said it's up to delegates to decide what behavior they're willing to accept from their leaders. "If delegates don't like what the party chair is doing, they have the right to elect someone else," he added.

The relationship between the governor and the party chair has historically been chilly -- dating from the 2004 gubernatorial campaign. But the two have since made up.

Still, Cannon probably should take note:

"The party is bigger than people, an individual," Huntsman said.

--Rebecca Walsh

W does Utah

Here are a few tidbits to count on for President Bush's visit next week:

-- Sen. Orrin Hatch won't be flying in Air Force One like he did last year when the president dropped into Salt Lake City.

-- Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson will be greeting the president after he alights, and so will the other members of the delegation and Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.

-- The president will likely miss all of the protests and counter-protests scheduled for Wednesday morning and afternoon since he's doing two events in two different states and won't be touching down in Utah until late.

-- GOP congressional candidate LaVar Christensen, as much as he'd like to, won't be greeting the president at the airport in front of the news media.

That's mainly because the president's visit is a state visit and not a political one, therefore the taxpayers are footing most of the bill for Air Force One and candidates can't be part of the ceremony. Hatch, however, is paying part of the freight because of the planned fundraiser featuring Bush.

--Thomas Burr

Some news isn't fit to print

The New York Times and International Herald Tribune ran a story this week about Arizona Sen. John McCain's efforts to pull in conservative policy wonks, donors and strategists for his expected 2008 presidential campaign.

Along with those experts, reporter John Broder wrote, McCain is "reaching out to Christian conservatives," including Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats, "both of whom have strong evangelical followings."

I can't speak for Coats. But Broder should have paused at including Huntsman in that analysis. Many Americans know of the doctrinal schism between The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which Huntsman is a member, and many evangelical church leaders, who do not consider Mormons to be Christian. Huntsman's supposedly "strong evangelical following" is doubtful.

This may seem like a parochially fine point. But it seems to me a reporter for the nation's paper of record should know more about the nuances of religion and politics.

--Rebecca Walsh

Who knew?

Pat Jones has been outed.

The assistant minority whip in the Utah House is a registered Republican!

Gasp.

Republican Rep. John Dougall did the outing on his blog, Dynamic Range, http://www.dynamicrange.org, poking fun at a Democratic leader with Republican ties.

"Let's hear it for covering all your bases!" he wrote.

Jones, on the other hand, doesn't think it's very funny. Actually, she's pretty sensitive about it.
"Rep. Dougall probably ought to be out listening to his constituents and learning about what their needs are rather than worrying what political party I am registered with," she said.

Ouch.

Jones said she registered as a Republican some time ago so she could vote in one of the closed Republican primaries. Democratic primaries are open.

"Like most people, I vote for the person," Jones said. "There are some Republicans that I have supported in the past."

But Jones insists she is still a good "Utah Democrat, because somebody has to represent the opinions of the majority of Utahns."

And as for her party affiliation on the Salt Lake County voter rolls? Don't expect it to change any time soon.

"I don't think it is even a concern," she said. "I haven't changed it back, frankly there may be some Republicans in the future I might want to support."

OK. So in some states, with a more active two-party system, Jones would probably be denounced publicly if not tarred and feathered. But in red-as-red-can-be Utah, even state Democratic party leaders seem to think it is no big deal that a Democrat office holder and current Senate candidate is registered with the other party.

"We are actually wondering what the big deal is," said Democratic spokesman Jeff Bell. "All sorts of people do this."

-- Matt Canham

Ashdown's own fundraiser

Democratic Senate candidate Pete Ashdown is not about to let President Bush steal the show.
Bush is attending a fundraiser for Hatch on Aug. 31, which is expected to raise $350,000 or more for Ashdown's "cash strapped opponent."

Not to be outdone, Ashdown is personally paying for the dinners of 150 people at the Alta Club on Aug. 29. The Catch: each person must make a "sizable donation" to any charity that helps the hungry in America, according to Ashdown's blog, http://www.peteashdown.org.

None of the money will go to Ashdown's campaign.

And in the post, he also included this invite: "Senator Hatch, President Bush, Secretary Rice and anyone else are welcome to attend this dinner."

Interested donors must RSVP by Friday.

--Matt Canham

Newspaper politics

The Mitt Romney polygamous ancestors story has generated a lot of chatter online and in emails, some of which we sampled here recently.

But here's a different kind of discussion generated by the story -- a look at the politics and political coverage of Utah's two largest newspapers.

See it here.

Reader feedback would be appreciated.

-- Thomas Burr

To remind him who the boss is

In pulling together a recent story on the State Developmental Center, we interviewed Rodney Houseal, a developmentally disabled Utahn who lives semi-independently in his own apartment with his cat Princess. Rodney is proud of his two part-time jobs, one as the "fry sauce manager" at a fast food restaurant.

As the Tribune photographer was busy shooting the story, Rodney asked several times, "Will my picture be in the newspaper?"

We assured him it would be. (Front page, as it turned out.)

Then Rodney hit us with an out-of-left field request: "Will you give my picture to the governor?"

"Well, sure," I said, then had a terrific idea, figuring a way to give Rodney the thrill of a lifetime. "In fact, I'll ask Gov. Huntsman to autograph a picture of himself for you!"

Rodney paused, then explained -- slowly, so I would understand: "I don't want a picture of the governor. I want him to have a picture of me."

Will do, Rodney.

-- Glen Warchol

Cruise control?

I wrote earlier about how national House race handicappers are making Rep. Jim Matheson a favorite to keep his seat, but suggested it might be a little too early for him to let up.

Well, Matheson is just back from a family vacation, the first time he has skipped town in an even-numbered election year since he first won his seat in Congress in 2000. It appears Mr. Matheson might be feeling a little more comfortable with his incumbency than in elections past.

-- Robert Gehrke

Another "Wilson for Mayor"?

Jenny Wilson is "getting close" but is not yet ready to announce her candidacy for Salt Lake City mayor.

"I've made it clear to a lot of people that I'm likely to run, but I'm not personally ready to declare," the Salt Lake County councilwoman said Monday, Aug. 21, while on a family retreat at Snowbird.

She says she still must work through some questions with her family before committing to the 2007 race.

But the daughter of former Mayor Ted Wilson confirmed that she has spoken to veteran political consultant Carter Livingston about handling the campaign.

"I said, basically, 'Don't take another job,' " Wilson added.

Another signal: Wilson has filed her fundraising paperwork with the city.

-- Derek P. Jensen

Polygamy feedback

The reactions to my story today on the polygamist roots of Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney have been a real mix. Some people apparently want my head for even bringing it up, while others are chastising me for not telling the world that the LDS Church still condones polygamy in the afterlife.

A sampling:

"Tell the truth about Mormon polygamy . . . and the truth is that the church has only temporarily suspended the practice of polygamy. It is still doctrinal (D&C 132) and a man can be sealed again and again to different women (after a living wife’s death), but a woman cannot do the same. This 'eternal' principle WAS NOT abolished by the Mormon church, just 'cleaned up.'" -- MD

"'Romney, of course, didn't mention that about the time The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints renounced polygamy in 1890, his great-grandfather was among those Mormons who fled to Mexico to start their own community where plural marriage continued to be practiced.' So we should be judged by the actions of our grandparents?

Should we put children of criminals in jail too?" -- ML

"As you probably know but failed to mention, the LDS church still condones polygamy. A man can be married to more than one woman at a time in the temple -- the civil divorce must be voided prior to that time -- but after all the only marriage that counts is for time and all eternity in the temple." -- DB

"I'll bet that one of his ancestors took a swig of whiskey before turning legal age, also. What a waste of an article -- what was your point?" -- Unsigned

-- Thomas Burr

Entrenched

Is Jim Matheson getting some breathing room in his Utah 2nd District race against LaVar Christensen? That's the case made in a new Congressional Quarterly article.

The author, Michael Teitelbaum, writes: "And while it would be hard for Matheson to ever score an early knockout in a district that has such a strong Republican base, he looks at this point as well on his way to an easy decision over this year's GOP nominee, state Rep. LaVar Christensen."

The article goes on to note Matheson's fundraising edge, sizable advantage in a recent Dan Jones & Associates poll, and the tight-rope act Matheson has walked voting in Congress.

Others have also have already moved Matheson's race off the list of contested races, including the Cook Political Report.

However, it's expected that Christensen will be stepping up his campaign effort in the next few weeks. And given the Republican bent of his district -- the CQ article notes that 72 percent of voters backed President Bush in 2004 -- Matheson would be foolish to hit the cruise control switch this early.

-- Robert Gehrke

Rampton vs. Leavitt

One decent site for political profiles is newsalerts.com.

Among the profiles are most Cabinet members, including Utah native and current U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt.

The profile is pretty accurate, with one notable exception. It says:

"Leavitt was elected governor of Utah for three terms and was the longest-serving governor in Utah's history."

That is flat-out wrong.

The truth is that Leavitt, in winning a third term for governor, tied Democrat Cal Rampton for the record number of times elected. But, because Leavitt stepped down early to join the Bush administration, Rampton still holds the undisputed title of "longest serving governor" in Utah. He served the full 12 years.

-- Dan Harrie

Impeach Bush!

A guest columnist in The Spectrum, Southern Utah's largest daily paper, has a sky-is-falling theory for Republican voters in Utah's 2nd Congressional District to consider. If they vote for Democrat Jim Matheson, the U.S. House could try to impeach the president.

Cedar City's Joe Baker figures a vote for Matheson could tip the House over to Democratic control. And then, apparently, all hell could break loose.

Besides that guilt-trip defying most logic, the Southern Utah University economics professor proceeds to misrepresent Matheson's views on the issues, calling his pro-life record "dismal," his fiscal restraint questionable and his conservative voting record "weak" -- all based on interest group assessments.

That may be news to Matheson -- and his conservative and liberal constituents alike.

Perhaps Baker has forgotten the fact that Matheson is one of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats. And he failed to note Matheson's much-criticized decision to switch his vote on a failed partial birth abortion ban bill -- from against to in favor -- a few years ago. His Republican challengers always make a point of mentioning that one. And it outraged Matheson's Democratic constituents.

But adding those details apparently would make writing such a column too complicated.

--Rebecca Walsh

Stolen sign posse

Whether it's politically motivated dirty tricks or mischievous high schoolers out for a thrill, candidates have always had problems keeping their lawn signs from vanishing.

Now Democratic Senate candidate Pete Ashdown is ready to fight back after his signs disappeared from the Foothills area.

Ashdown is offering a $500 reward to anyone who can catch video of the a sign bandit on video.

Other supporters have kicked in another $550 so far to the reward fund. And Ashdown challenges his supporters to replace the signs when they disappear and persuade two neighbors to put up signs of their own.

One thing for sure, the disappearing lawn signs are not a result of terrorist attacks, because, as Orrin Hatch will tell you, terrorists support Democrats.

-- Robert Gehrke

Second fiddle

For a change of pace, Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson invited a modern anti-war symbol to upstage him at his Aug. 30 protest of President Bush and his policies.

Anderson left messages for Iraq war critic Cindy Sheehan -- twice -- to invite her to Salt Lake City later this month. Sheehan accepted. Conservatives have showered Anderson with vitriol for his role in bringing Sheehan to town.
But Anderson is unapologetic.

"Her message is an important one. It helps put a face on the tragedy of this unconscionable, illegal war," Anderson said Friday.

"Also -- I knew she would help garner even more national and international attention," he added. "This is all about communicating a message. If people don't hear it, you're not communicating. It's important for people around the country and around the world to recognize that even in a place like Utah, there are a vast number of people who have strong disagreements with the direction in which this president and Congress have taken our country."

--Rebecca Walsh

Fundraiser bitterness

President Bush's approval rating is slipping, at least with Utah Republicans who are stewing over the fact Bush will be headlining a fundraiser for Sen. Orrin Hatch when the Commander in Chief drops into Salt Lake City later this month.

The grumbling usually go like this: Why would Bush help a Senate incumbent soaring in the polls with $2.5 million in the bank and a low-level, campaign-cash-strapped Democratic opponent instead of lending a hand to the GOP's 2nd District contender who needs all the cash he can get?

Wrote state Rep. Craig Frank on his blog (http://underthedome.org/): "I just hafta' ask the question, why would our Republican President spend more than thirty seconds with an entrenched, better-darn-well-beat the pants off Pete, $2.5M war chest bulgin', twenty-nine year incumbent Senator, instead of workin' the floor for the pachyderm party's Second Congressional District candidate--LaVAR CHRISTENSEN? Sounds like W's priorities might be a tad bit mislaid. Check the polls . . . Orrin's in, Mr. President!"

Not yet, counters Dave Hansen, who is helping Hatch eek out a victory for a sixth term in the Senate. Hansen apparently really believed his mother's advice about not counting his chicks before the eggs have hatched.

"You never know what you're going to need because things in campaigns change," Hansen told me. "We're raising as much money as we can."

Besides, Hansen says, Hatch is and has been "very generous in helping state candidates, the state party, county parties and other candidates."

After the Bush fundraiser, Hatch will have a little more cash to spread around then. The luncheon at a downtown Salt Lake City hotel is $500 a plate or $4,000 for a table of eight. Hansen says the campaign asked the White House for a fundraising opportunity, and the president agreed.

That's on top of an earlier fundraiser Vice President Dick Cheney held for Hatch at an undisclosed location.

Hansen is unsure W. would have appeared at a fundraiser for anyone else on the ticket, but promises in the end it will help all Republicans. And don't worry, he adds, there is no drought of campaign donors.

"I don't think the well ever gets dry," Hansen said.

And if it does, the Hatch Irrigation Co. is only a phone call away.

--Thomas Burr

A Soccer Sermon

Joe Hatch takes exception to labeling politics a dirty word. After all, it is part of his livelihood.

Moments before his Salt Lake County Council delivered a hotly debated soccer stadium, Hatch chastised those who would blame politics over an issue that saw its share of sinister slide tackles.

"My response is, 'Duh! That's who we are. That's what we do,'" Hatch told a smattering of politicians, reporters and soccer supporters this week.

He compared the complaint -- uttered often by residents and elected officials during the stadium saga -- to criticizing a sermon for including too much religion.

"That's what you get when you go to church," Hatch huffed. "If the public is upset about this being politics ... This is the good kind of politics."

Hatch said he nearly apologized for calling Real Salt Lake executives "chowderheads" earlier this summer, but reconsidered.

"It was mean. It was tough," he added. "In the end, it was still a bipartisan venture."

-- Derek P. Jensen

All Puffed Up

Jim Bradley knows how to deflate a politician's pomp.

Slouching with a sour look on his face Tuesday (Aug. 15) evening, the Salt Lake County councilman listened as speech after speech "lauded" soccer's circle of insiders, who ultimately won a major league stadium in Sandy by a 5-4 vote.

Council members took turns praising each other, legislators, sitting mayors and the owner of Real Salt Lake.

When it was Bradley's turn to speak, the mic petered out. "It's a conspiracy," he grumbled.

With power restored -- as power brokers peered in from the front row -- Bradley's classic comic relief began.

"While everybody is lauding every living organism in this room, let me laud the cushions for being soft so you guys can sit through this," he quipped.

When the laughter simmered, Bradley had a serious message.

"It's not government's responsibility to see that Real Salt Lake is successful," he said before voting against the stadium funding package.

Turns out, plenty of Bradley's constituents don't care for the hot air either.

Out of 61 e-mails sent to the councilman, 58 support his stance.

-- Derek P. Jensen

Calling out 'Carrroon;' Suddenly, Peter 'Corroon' can't get no respect.

For a week now, the Salt Lake County mayor has been blitzed by caustic e-mails and phone calls, calling him out for endorsing the Major League Soccer stadium deal.

He's been compared to John Kerry, the "flip-flopper," bullied to "grow some balls," and told his stadium support could cost him re-election.

What's worse, Corroon spent his wife's birthday Tuesday slumped in a chair as the County Council slogged through soccer speeches.

Tough week. At least Corroon was tapped to be the balm before this month's Bush protest, replacing Rocky as host for the American Legion.

But according to one blogger, Corroon has distinguished himself among Democrats.

"If Jim Matheson were ever to lose an election, I thought back in 2002 and 2004, Utah Democrats would be screwed. He was our last best hope," reads a post on "The Third Avenue." "But now, I think we got another waiting in the wings, thanks in part to Howard Dean."

The "squeaky clean" county mayor -- Corroon is Dean's cousin -- is one of the most popular politicians in the state's most populous county, the post opines, with appeal beyond the Avenues and 9th and 9th crowd. Despite Corroon's role in the revamped stadium deal, it continues, the mayor showed he is no pushover by initially standing up to the state's GOP elite.

The Third Avenue goes on to suggest Corroon could one day run for governor or the Senate.

High praise — with one glaring glitch. The blog butchers the mayor's name -- it is spelled "Carroon" then "Carrroon" -- twice.

Maybe by that election, Utah will have phonetic voting machines.

-- Derek P. Jensen

Hurts so good

Legislative Rule No. 562: Blame the media at every opportunity.

Sen. Chris Buttars has found the perfect excuse for his own media thrill-seeking ways: reporters themselves.

In an "Oh, my goodness" blog on senatesite.com, Buttars figuratively throws up his hands and scratches his head about the
"media frenzy" that ensued from his plans for two pieces of legislation that legal scholars say are patently unconstitutional.

Buttars says he simply made an "offhand comment" to a reporter. And suddenly, he was inundated by press calls.

The day I called, he told me: "I'm thrilled that it's got the attention it has."

--Rebecca Walsh

Talk show sleuthing

At the frenzied urging of his callers, KSL Radio host Doug Wright today determined to get to the bottom of who had invited Iraq war protester Cindy Sheehan to red-white-and-blue through-and-through Utah to protest President Bush's speech laster this month.

Aha! Sheehan revealed it was Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson -- along with the organizers of the scheduled protest.

"He's an amazingly progressive and outspoken critic of George Bush's policies," Sheehan told Wright.

That bit of on-air sleuthing gave Wright's mostly-conservative listeners the red meat they needed to despise the capital city's liberal mayor with renewed venom.

It might also explain an email Wednesday sent by Anderson spokesman Patrick Thronson 10 minutes after an on-line story was posted. Thronson questioned Tribune reporters' use of the word "divisive" to describe the protest.

Ever sensitive about his image as the schism in Utah's culture wars, Salt Lake City's mayor apparently wants to make everyone believe the protest will be cordial and polite.

Where have all the flowers gone?

-- Rebecca Walsh

Spin cycle

In today's edition of The Tribune, I wrote a story about a quote from Sen. Orrin Hatch equating Democratic victories in the general election with future terrorist attacks.

According to the Tooele Transcript Bulletin, Hatch said terrorists "are waiting for Democrats here to take control, let things cool off and then strike again."

Obviously, Democrats were not pleased.

But in the Utah Policy Daily, a news aggregator Web site led by Republican consultant LaVar Webb, a capsulization of the story in its News Highlights appears to try to make it as positive for Hatch as possible.

Here are three questionable ways, a straight news story was turned into mush.

1. The blurb started with "In a disputed newspaper quote. . ."
The reality: Hatch says he does not recall saying the quote but does not deny saying it. The quote is not disputed.

2. The blurb says the quote "seems to imply" that Democratic victories mean future terrorist attacks. The quote does imply that Democratic victories mean future terrorist attacks.

And my personal favorite, No. 3: The blurb doesn't use the quote in question, rather it includes Hatch's clarifying quote: "I don't believe terrorists favor Democrats or Republicans. What they are waiting for is the United States to prematurely pull out of Iraq. There are appeasers in both parties but most are leading liberal Democrats."

In a "disputed" blurb on a Web site, Utah Policy "seems to imply" that it doesn't want to avoid a story in a newspaper, but would like to soften the blow for a senator that the site is fond of.

-- Matt Canham

Mower on the move

Turning 40 can be a painful experience, if memory of that somewhat distant event serves me correctly.

Mike Mower, deputy chief of staff and spokesman for Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., is trying to make the best of his turn.

His goal is to have visited all 50 states by the time he hits the big 4-0 Sunday. This morning he leaves on a flight for Raleigh, N.C., to plant the final push-pin in his map.

The less than-24 hour trip has a less-than ambitious intinerary: snarfing some Carolina barbeque and visiting the State Capitol.

Mower admits the thrill level isn't likely to be anywhere near the heights reached when he knocked off his penultimate state (North Dakota) earlier this month and along the way took his 73-year-old mom to Sturgis, S.D., for the annual motorcycle rally and flashing festival. He insists Mother Mower and he didn't engage in or witness any of the latter.

Nor is the North Carolina jaunt likely to compare to his trip last June to Plains, Ga., where he attended a Sunday School class taught by former President Jimmy Carter. Mower says that memory was among the fondest of his quest, although it comes with a twinge of guilt.

Not because Carter is a Democrat (Mower's politics and credentials are strictly Republican.) It's because he made his 8-year-old daughter Abby wait three hours for the class, part of it standing in the rain outside the Maranatha Baptist Church. By the time Carter gave his lesson, the exhausted girl was curled up asleep on the pew beside him.

But Mower says the slim prospect for high adventure in Raleigh is beside the point, which is setting a goal and reaching it.

Barring unforeseen problems he'll make it easily with a couple of days to spare.

Next goal for the single father? Getting his four kids settled back into school next week after summer vacation.

After that he may turn his full attention to a more career-oriented objective, like fending off the rumored recruitment of the Jazz Bear as his replacement in the governor's office.

-- Dan Harrie

Hatch arrives

Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch has finally made it on the short (or Shortz) list of notable people.

How can you tell? He was the answer to Tuesday's New York Times crossword puzzle by Will Shortz.

The Number 55 down clue is simply Sen. Hatch. The answer: Orrin.

When was the last time anyone asked you a question to which the answer was Orrin?

Hard to say if Hatch feels grateful for the recognition. He was quoted in The Tooele Transcript Bulletin today trashing the NYT as a liberal Bush basher.

By the way, other notables who shared the crossword grid with Hatch ranged from George Washington to Andy Warhol to Shaquille O'Neal.

-- Dan Harrie

Texas road trip

Two Utah political hopefuls say they'll go to Crawford, Texas, this week to join the anti-war protests led by Cindy Sheehan near President Bush's ranch.

Desert Green candidates Deanna Taylor (running for the Salt Lake County Council) and Tom King (running for the Legislature) announced the trip in a press release.

But Bush won't be anywhere in the neighborhood. He cut his annual summer vacation in Crawford short Sunday and returned to Washington. Protest organizers at "Camp Casey," named after Cindy Sheehan's son killed in Iraq in 2004, say they hope the president's absence won't shrink attendance at the anti-war demonstrations there.

The Associated Press reported that only about 100 protesters were staying at the camp last weekend, but organizers hope hundreds, even thousands more show up in coming days. Sheehan plans to attend rallies next weekend at the camp, about seven miles from the president's ranch.

Taylor and King indicated in their statements their trip is less about Bush than Sheehan. King called her "one of America's most courageous and dedicated contemporary figures." Taylor called her "an inspiration to women everywhere."

--Dan Harrie

Tangled ties

Deseret Morning News columnist LaVarr Webb today once again spends part of his space singing the praises of an accelerated transit funding program -- this time specifically hailing a proposed legislative special session to raise sales taxes.

He says in part, "It's a terrific deal for everyone, and legislative and business leaders, plus the governor's office, deserve praise for pulling it together."

Nothing wrong with zeal, but there's something important missing from the column: a clear disclosure of Webb's conflicts of interest.

I like Webb, think he's a smart and capable guy. I regularly read his column in the News and his utahpolicy.com website, which provides a real service to time-crunched political news junkies. And I give credit to the News for at least including a conflict disclosure at the end of the column.

But does it cover it to simply say, as that disclosure does, that he is a lobbyist and "does consulting work in the transportation industry?"

Let's flesh that out.

He is on the policy committee of the 2015 Transportation Alliance, which was formed to push the accelerated transit plan using a sales tax increase and has lobbied for a special session of the Legislature. Webb's membership is listed as a representative of transportation consulting firm HNTB, which was hired to do the study used as the basis for the Alliance's arguments.

Webb also is a paid lobbyist for HNTB, and the company sponsors a regular paid feature on his utahpolicy.com site.

The Alliance also regularly pays for utahpolicy.com articles and Webb is registered as a lobbyist for the "Transportation Management Association," which has the same address, down to the suite number, as the 2015 Transportation Alliance.

Yet another of Webb's lobby clients, and a regular sponsor of paid articles on utahpolicy.com, is Zions Bank. Zions Bank CEO Scott Anderson is on the 2015 Alliance executive committee.

At least a concise summary of that tangled Webb of financial ties to the columnist would certainly be of interest to some readers of the newspaper column. Count me among those.

Could it be that Jim Wall, News publisher and also a member of the 2015 Alliance executive committee, thinks it's irrelevant?

-- Dan Harrie

Free speech gatekeeper

Here's a youtube clip of a Utah Highway Patrol officer at the Capitol chasing off an animal rights activist passing out leaflets. The caption, "Corrupt cop plays political lackey" is more than a bit over the top. Notice a cameo by Rep. Curt Oda.

Here

This little confrontation and other ones like it led to a federal lawsuit settlement in which the state paid civil-rights attorney Brian Barnard $16,000 in legal fees.

The state is now in the process of revising its leafletting rules.

-- Thomas Burr

Bear plot

One of the highly crucial duties of Utah's governor -- besides riding a hog at Sturgis and hangin' with Johnny Depp -- is proclaiming what we like to call unholidays.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s latest addition to your calendar is Jazz Bear Day. It seems Bear is being inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame in Philadelphia.

It would be pretty lame -- except we've stumbled upon a rumored plot that Huntsman's declaration is part of a campaign to woo Bear from the Jazz!

Preparing for his new role, the Jazz Bear already has allegedly mastered the phrase: "The governor is optimistic his plan will be accepted by lawmakers."

If Bear now can add to his repertoire: "Governor Huntsman is pleased to lead out on this important initiative," current spokesman Mike Mower is history.

Pundits predict Huntsman's influence on the Legislature will improve vastly, considering Mower was never able to do a decent cartwheel into a full split.

And the media certainly will be pleased with the switch. Being sprayed with Silly String beats the heck out of listening to Mower's information-free quotes.

If the Jazz Bear works out, Huntsman plans to include the Jazz Dancers at veto ceremonies. The highly distractable Legislature won't even consider an override.

-- Glen Warchol

Depphead

Perhaps meeting with the cast and crew of "Pirates of the Caribbean" last week made Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. mistakenly believe he works in Hollywood -- magical land of secrecy, prevarication and strategic media manipulation.

Nearly a week after Huntsman had lunch on the Bonneville Salt Flats with the movie's moguls and stars, his spokeswoman finally confirmed the meal.

"This was a great opportunity for the governor to meet some of the most influential people in moviemaking," Spokeswoman Lisa Roskelley says. "We want them to do more business in Utah."

A few days after Utah's governor drove out to the west desert to star-gaze, Roskelley told The Tooele Transcript Bulletin she couldn't comment on the meeting, calling it a "private economic development meeting."

But apparently, once the crew packed up, the secret could be broken.

Or perhaps the governor's office remembered a few things that might not reflect well on their actions:

-- The movie's producers had talked to the Utah Film Commission about public subsidies -- none were granted. Public funds no doubt were used to provide security for Huntsman's road trip.

-- Officials silenced police scanners on the day of the lunch: The Bulletin reported that after their reporter called the governor's office and county sheriff, dispatchers said, "We just got word that the news media is picking up on this," and warned no more details should be shared.

-- Finally, the event listed on the governor's schedule? A meeting with his chief of staff.

Roskelley says it all came up so fast -- not enough time to change the governor's schedule. Besides, the movie producers asked the state's chief executive to stay mum. They didn't want Johnny Depp to be hounded while in town. The Bureau of Land Management was equally evasive.

"They had asked us not to divulge any information," Roskelley says. "It was simply out of respect for the organization doing business in Utah."

Because, of course, we all expect a fourth Pirates movie to be filmed on the Great Salt Lake.

Aargh.

-- Rebecca Walsh

Ashdown on Lieberman

Liberal bloggers, who have dubbed themselves the Netroots, are taking loads of credit for Sen. Joe Lieberman's primary defeat in Connecticut this week.

But from his office in Salt Lake City, Utah's Internet king and Democratic Senate candidate Pete Ashdown is left with mixed feelings.

The good -- the Connecticut race, which saw unknown Ned Lamont beat a three-term incumbent with an anti-Iraq war message, showed how the Internet's ability to gather people can impact politics.

The bad -- the uber-rich Lamont spent $4 million of his own cash in the highly-publicized race.

"The attention given to the race by the Internet was positive," said Ashdown, who owns the Internet service provider XMission. "But I want to see representatives elected on their merit not on their money."

Ashdown, who is campaigning to limit the financial advantage of incumbents, expects a strong online presence but not the same level of support that Lamont received.

He believes the big liberal blogs like DailyKos.com are trying to "redefine the Democratic Party, it wasn't a David and Goliath race like mine."

For those who don't know, Ashdown is the David to Sen. Orrin Hatch's Goliath.

-- Matt Canham

Breaking rules

One of the more interesting turnabouts in this week's deal to call a special legislative session on taxes came in the House.

Many House members, who all face re-election, have been agitating for a special session to pass the $70 million income tax cut they had promised -- but failed to deliver -- in the regular session.

They, of course, were following Rule of Utah Politics No. 36: Giving a tax cut before an election is not exactly buying votes, but voters do feel warm toward incumbents who give them money -- even if it already belongs to them.

Nevertheless, the drive for a special session earlier this summer was blocked by a counter-intuitive decision by House leaders who decided a special session before the election was a dangerous idea.

They, of course were invoking Rule of Utah Politics No. 43: Put a group of Utah lawmakers together to promote their own interests and they'll screw it up.

As Speaker Greg Curtis later explained, any special session has a risk of controversy. What he didn't dwell on is that lawmakers are always capable of doing something politically suicidal -- like, say, refuse to give dental care to the poor. The public has yet to forget that smooth move, even in Curtis' district.

"Some members were leery of a special session," Curtis said. "Even in a tax cut, anytime you do something that involves controversy -- it could come back on you. We figured, just kind of let the waters calm [from the dental-care fiasco] rather than keep churning it."

So why the change of heart on a September special session on taxes?

Rule No. 44: If you're desperate to advance your agenda, forget you ever heard of Rule No. 43.

If the September special session is held, House members will get their tax cut. Curtis and business leaders will get their sales tax for mass transit. And Huntsman and his allies will get something they can call income tax reform.

Will they screw it up? Probably (see Rule No. 43.)

But of course, there's Rule No. 1: never admit you blew it.

-- Glen Warchol

Leading out

When the deal on a special session on taxes advanced from golf-course talk to serious meetings early this week, the agreement between House, Senate and governor briefly hung up on one issue.

Similar attempts to address taxes since the general session last March had seen a cadre of lawmakers herding their colleagues toward consensus, while Huntsman stood back, hands clean, in a passive role.

The governor, of course, alone holds the power to call lawmakers into session.

Fresh in legislators' memory was the May special session supposedly to handle some legislative housekeeping where Republicans wound up looking like rampaging Visigoths.

Huntsman had put on the agenda a request for $2 million in dental care for the poor and lawmakers refused to consider it. They chose, instead, to pump $15 million into a Capitol parking garage.

Not a great image-improving move. Meanwhile, Huntsman rode out the hero.

So as this week's special session deal began to gel during their field trip to Vernal, the gun shy lawmakers made it clear they would not move forward unless the governor publicly took a leading role.

Said one key lawmaker: "The House and Senators agreed that this time we wanted to see the governor step out in front and use some of his popularity."

Less than a day later, when the story of the deal was being reported, Huntsman spokesman Mike Mower called in some quotes to the Tribune from Wyoming. (He was visiting Mt. Rushmore, where we understand he had gone to reserve space for Huntsman's mug.)

When asked if the governor was on board with the deal, Mower first offered his usual cure-for-insomnia quote: We'll spare you the details, but he basically said the governor was on board. . . . yadda-yadda. . . .

But within five minutes, Mower called back with an emphatic clarification.

"The governor is pleased to be leading out in this effort . . . yadda-yadda . . . ."

Apparently, message received.

-- Glen Warchol

Family laundry day

State Rep. Karen Morgan is on the defensive over her recently adopted get-tough-on-illegal-immigrants stance. House Democratic Caucus spokesman Lee Martinez is apologetic. And Democratic Leader Ralph Becker just hope everyone calms down and pretends the minority party is one small, happy family again.

It's going to take some bit of acting.

It started when the Trib's Jennifer W. Sanchez wrote a story chronicling Morgan's sudden (and surprising} interest in legislation that would deny public services to undocumented immigrants -- and her 180 on in-state college tuition for undocumented students who had graduated from a Utah High School. After previously voting for it, Morgan now wants to repeal it

In a follow-up story by the Deseret Morning News, long-time community activist Martinez was quoted as saying "With friends like Karen Morgan in the Democratic Party, who needs enemies?"

That was mild compared to what he said in a private e-mail to Morgan, which brought the following response from the lawmaker:

"I'm sorry that you chose to make negative assumptions before discussing your concerns with me personally. I am not an 'immigrant attacker' as you accuse me of being. I simply oppose illegal immigration, as the vast majority of my constituents do. In fact, I have Latino constituents who support my position, and I believe it is wrong to equate 'Latino' issues with 'illegal immigration' issues. Also, I have supported 'Latino' and other minority issues many times.

"I do not believe the Democratic Party has ever taken a position in favor of illegal immigration, and I believe it's wrong for you to assume such. As you have recently been hired as our Democratic Caucus press liaison, I hope you will not misrepresent your personal views as our Caucus position. Also, I am extremely disappointed in your mischaracterization of the members of our Caucus as 'overall timid democrats.'

"For your information, I attended Democratic Leadership Council meetings in Colorado a couple of weeks ago and attended a meeting on immigration reform. The meeting was led by the Democratic Speaker of the House, Andrew Romanoff. The Colorado Legislature held a special session in July to address this issue, and passed several bills with strong bipartisan support. I've simply asked attorneys in legislative research to look into whether or not we should do something similar here in Utah.

"I am not sponsoring a bill to repeal in-state tuition. I was interviewed yesterday by a Tribune reporter about the Colorado bills. At the end of a lengthy interview, she asked my position on in-state tuition for illegals. I truthfully answered, and she turned it into a front-page story. I would be happy to discuss the reasons surrounding my position on this issue with anyone who is interested.

Representative Karen Morgan"

Martinez, who described himself to me as a "connoisseur of crow," replied yesterday with the following email to Morgan:

"I'm writing to apologize for the unprofessional manner in which I reacted -- in email and as quoted in the Des News -- to your positions and efforts to address the issues of undocumented immigrants. I will call you later today to further clarify, but know that I fully understand your role as an elected official attempting to respond to the desires and wishes of your constituents. I make myself and others available to you, however, to better inform you on specifics around which you seem to be a bit misinformed, and likewise, remain open to be better informed myself.

"That aside, I do recognize that's it's your role to represent your constituents and that I have none.

"To explain further, I wanted to apologize immediately upon receiving your email but decided to await Deborah Bulkeley's Des News article. Upon commenting to Deborah as a 'community activist', she asked about my role with the House Democrats. At that point, I realized my mistake in neglecting my role as more than just a non-aligned 'community activist'. It was unprofessional and regretful, and won't happen again.

"I will call you later today to further clarify between us.

Lee Martinez"

Martinez informs me that he attempted to call, but Morgan is apparently busy with a son who just returned from a church mission.

He added, jokingly: "I hope it's from a Spanish-speaking mission."

-- Dan Harrie

Must Be Present To Win?

The National Governors Association sent out a press release announcing Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s selection as chairman of the NGA's Natural Resources Committee, which helps formulate the governors' policies on energy and lands issues.

Huntsman, however, wasn't at the NGA's summer conference this year. He was getting in touch with his inner badass, rumbling around the annual motorcycle rally at Sturgis, S.D., while those other suckers were in South Carolina fretting about health care and National Guard deployments.

Some governors are born to be wild. But honestly, would you rather spend the weekend with a bunch of governors, or several thousand bikers?

--Robert Gehrke

Mitt's history of the civil war

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, likely Utah's preferred presidential candidate, made a boo-boo during a reception in South Carolina this past weekend when he said the Civil War was one of "Northern aggression," the Boston Globe reported today.

So either Romney got his directions confused (Massachusetts is north, sir), or he might have been joking with a southern crowd the way politicians do when they're angling for the White House.

Romney's office says the governor was clearly joking, but so was the John Kerry impersonator during the infamous Saturday Night Live debate with look-alike President Bush:

"When I denounced the war in Iraq, I was speaking to an anti-war group, and when I endorsed the war, I was addressing a pro-war delegation. . . . The fact of the matter is, I have consistently supported the war in front of pro-war audiences and condemned it in front of groups that oppose it. That is not flip-flopping, that is pandering."

Watch the video on YouTube

-- Thomas Burr

MySpace cadet

U.S. Senate candidate Pete Ashdown is turning to MySpace -- the same networking tool used by flighty teen-agers and freaky child predators -- to try to bring down Sen. Orrin Hatch. Meet him now and find out his favorite movies, music, and book, or leave him a shout-out in the comment section.

We're not sure how many Utahns of legal voting age actually use MySpace, but it's worth a shot.

MySpace legend and possible cult leader "Tom" has 98,499,075 friends. Ashdown only would need about a million to beat Hatch, although it's probably just a matter of time before the senator gets his own little MySpace spot.

-- Robert Gehrke

Mel Brown scandal revisited

Former Utah House Speaker Mel Brown's attempted return to the Legislature eight years after the scandal that dethroned him is turning ugly.

It's not his opponent, Laura Bonham, who's lobbing mudballs at Brown -- but Summit County Democratic Chairman Rob Weyher.

Weyher currently faces a misdemeanor election-tampering charge on allegations he offered to pay a candidate to back out of another race. That hasn't stopped him from kicking Brown below the belt and throwing elbows.

In the Park Record recently, Weyher was quoted as saying Brown was caught taking a "bribe" from U.S. West and "got censured by the House while he was speaker for having an affair with his administrative aide." He also claimed Brown was severely disciplined by the Mormon Church for his transgressions.

As one of the three Tribune reporters who broke the Brown story in 1998 (the others were Judy Fahys and John Heilprin,) I've got to blow the whistle on Weyher.

Brown, in fact, never was accused of taking a bribe. The allegation, substantiated by witnesses and confirmed by a U.S. West lobbyist, was that he discussed a future lobbying job with the telephone company. At the same time important telecommunications legislation was being planned on Utah's Capitol Hill and Brown was a crucial behind-the-scenes player.

The context of the conversation between the lobbyist and Brown was his marital problems (which did, indeed, involve, an aide half his age) and whether the situation -- if it became public during the age of the Clinton intern scandal -- might jeopardize his post-legislative job prospects with U.S. West.

Brown was cleared of wrongdoing by an ethics committee (made up of colleagues, who often take a circle-the-wagons approach when there is no clear evidence of lawbreaking). The bipartisan panel concluded the speaker-lobbyist discussion was a "personal conversation" that did not violate the Legislature's official code of conduct.

But the scandal was enough to derail Brown's attempted election to a third term as speaker and, two years later, he gave up his seat.

As for the rest of the story, Brown did end up getting a divorce from his wife of decades and marrying the aide. Church discipline matters are not public record, so it's impossible to say whether that part of Weyher's allegations are as funky as the others.

-- Dan Harrie

Now That's Pricey Property

It's tax time.

Cities officials across Salt Lake County -- and probably much of Utah -- are gearing up to debate whether to raise the property taxes levied on homes and businesses.

What's interesting are the published notices. No, we're not talking about the actual tax rate shown in notices with numbers such as 0.001616. The cities are required to tell residents the percent change proposed and what it would do to the average home.

Here's a list of average home values around the Salt Lake Valley:

Bluffdale: $250,000.

South Salt Lake: $150,000.

Murray: $200,000

Salt Lake City: $227,000.

Add up all those, and they still don't reach the median home value in Alta.

The tiny -- and tony -- resort community (population 380) at the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon has homes that average $881,000 in value.

Jacob Santini

Rocky's Swede success

Rocky Anderson was in Sweden in June to convince Rotarians attending their international convention there that they should visit Salt Lake City when it hosts the 2007 gathering.

His speech worked on at least one Swede.

Anderson met Sophia Paxlind on that trip; she visited Salt Lake City last week. She was the woman at his side during the July 24th parade and at the Main Library when he announced he wouldn't seek a third term.

Paxlind described herself as Anderson's friend.

No word on whether Anderson will be making his third trip to Sweden this year. (He also was there in May to to attend an environmental conference.)

Heather May

More dirt on Rocky's illegal yard? Not really

One our our blog readers was partly right when he or she made the connection between city staff and Mayor Rocky Anderson's out-of-compliance-xeriscaped lawn.

First, some background: Anderson's drought-tolerant lawn made news recently because it's illegal. The city requires turf or other ground cover on front and side yards. Anderson has drought tolerant perennials and red-bark mulch.

Stephanie Duer, the city's water-conservation director, knows the lawn is illegal. In fact, she had approved the plant list for his yard.

But, according to The Tribune's past accounts, it was volunteers from Utah State University Extension Service and the Utah Botanical Center in Kaysville that did the work. Anderson paid for the plants himself.

The mayor could be cited, but city inspectors had better be quick about it. The city is looking at changing the ordinance to legalize xeriscaping.

Heather May

Dolan: He's a travelin' man

Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson's travel record may be the most famous of Utah politicians. But, of late, Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan is spending his share of time out of the office.

Immediately after the Salt Lake County Council rejected a funding plan for a Sandy soccer stadium, Dolan announced he was "going fishing."

He was out of the office the rest of that week.

Now, he is in Hawaii.

He still is answering his cell phone, though.

Asked whether there were any new funding schemes for a Real Salt Lake stadium, Dolan responded: "I don't know anything about soccer. I'm in Hawaii."

Jacob Santini

Rocky a (Dem) party pooper -- still

If you needed more proof that Rocky Anderson has little loyalty to the Utah Democratic Party -- besides his endorsement of a Republican for Salt Lake City mayor, of course -- look no further than comments he made Thursday on KCPW.

One gem: He said Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson "votes like a right-wing Republican," referring to the congressman's support of the Iraq war and tax cuts.

Maybe the Democratic mayor feels scorned. Even though Anderson represented the party in his failed 1996 congressional race against Merrill Cook, he found little party support. And, last year, the leader of Salt Lake County's Democratic Party agreed with her Republican counterpart that Anderson's goodwill trip to Italy should be investigated by the district attorney. Back then Anderson said: "Democrats have a long history of screwing up just about everything they touch."

On Thursday, Anderson added: "This party has never supported me."

It certainly isn't supporting his choice for successor. Anderson endorsed Keith Christensen, a registered Republican, in the nonpartisan mayoral chase.

Heather May

Cops cars or cop SUVs?

Sedans or sport utility vehicles.

The Draper Police Department is trying to decide whether to replace part of its fleet with Chevy Impalas or Ford Explorers.

In the end, costs are about the same, police officials told their City Council this week. Sure, sticker prices for Explorers are higher and mileage is worse, but the four-door SUVs need less maintenance and resale for more.

Police seem to be leaning toward the SUVs because they can hold more equipment and can access undeveloped benches.

But Councilman Bill Colbert added another factor for the chief to consider: Public perception.

Jacob Santini

Rocky upstages -- himself?

Rocky Anderson's decision not to seek a third term was, perhaps, predictable. But the way he announced it came as a surprise to one person who helped plan the event: his outgoing environmental adviser Lisa Romney.

The occasion was labeled a town-hall meeting on climate change. The event notices also said Anderson would make an announcement. That announcement was supposed to be that the city had surpassed its goal of reducing greenhouse gases.

Of course, that news -- and Anderson's presentation on what the city has done to reduce emissions -- was upstaged by his subsequent speech revealing he wouldn't seek a third term.

Heather May

LaVar soft on Satan?

When John Jacob's primary election run against Chris Cannon went from credible threat to smoking crater, his spokeswoman Hayden Hill found herself unemployed.

If you remember, Jacob started off strong, hammering Cannon on his soft stand on illegal immigration. "We had an advantage handed to us on a platter," Hill remembers. "It was a natural wave. All we had to do was ride it."

Unfortunately, John was no surfer dude. He suffered one of Utah's gnarliest political wipeouts when he told Tribune reporters and editors -- on tape, no less -- that he believed Satan was messing with his campaign finances.

"I don't know who else it would be if it wasn't him," Jacob told a not completely sympathetic Tribune editorial board.

Hayden, who was sitting loyally by her candidate's side, somehow kept her head from spinning a full 360 degrees, a la The Exorcist.

Aside from a dilation of the pupils, Hill didn't flinch. She confides now that, "My jaw hit the table."

Hill took the predictable collapse of Jacob's campaign philosophically. She planned on attending George Washington University in the fall to pursue a formal education in media spinning. (We can guess the subject of her thesis.)

But apparently Hill still has her own demons to purge. She has signed on as campaign manager for LaVar Christensen in his underdog fight for Jim Matheson's House seat.
"Call me a masochist," she says.

No strangers to evil, ourselves, we had to ask Hill: What is LaVar's stand on the Prince of Darkness?

"That's funny you ask that," Hill said. "When we were discussing whether this was something I would want to do, I told LaVar, 'You have to promise that no such statements will be made.' He seems OK with that."

And if Christensen's campaign goes to Hell in a handcart?

"I only deferred going to school until January," Hill says.

-- Glen Warchol

Double parking

Seems House Speaker Greg Curtis is publicly airing his second thoughts about a $15 million Capitol Hill parking garage -- with the help of his favorite newspaper.

At a meeting Wednesday of the Capitol Preservation Board, Curtis suggested stopping construction of the underground parking structure.

He said he was concerned that new House members may balk next year at replenishing the money their predecessors shifted from the Capitol restoration budget.

Worth a reminder: Curtis is the Capitol Preservation Board member who insisted the entire Legislature needed to vote on the parking garage, setting up the embarrassing situation where lawmakers meeting in special session voted for the parking garage, but refused to set aside $2 million for dental coverage for Utah's poor.

After voting for the garage himself, Curtis apparently is facing some disgruntled voters in his district.

"A lot of people are upset about it," says Jay Seegmiller, Curtis' Democratic opponent.

The Deseret Morning News let Curtis vent his spleen, even while noting that Curtis knows his idea of stopping the project is D.O.A. Senators don't support it. And the work has already started.

But Curtis got his front-of-the-local-section story.

-- Rebecca Walsh

Geographically challenged

Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist is one of the most connected conservatives in Washington and he's saying that Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is a great contender for the GOP presidential nomination in 2008.

Norquist says other presidential candidates are always talking about Romney because he's the "smartest, toughest guy in the race," according to a story in the Washington Examiner.

"But Norquist cautioned that Romney could be hampered by the fact that he grew up in the western, conservative state of Utah and then moved to the eastern, liberal state of Massachusetts. Americans who live in the vast middle regions -- both geographically and ideologically -- might find it hard to relate to the governor, Norquist said."

Fact check, Mr. Norquist: Romney grew up in Michigan where his daddy was governor. (Hat tip to Hotline.)

Attention pundits: Not all Mormons live in Utah.

-- Thomas Burr

Clerk Perk

Democrats know their ABCs -- and even control them in Salt Lake County.

While debating items for November's billion-dollar ballot, County Council members ribbed one another over the order.

Should TRAX go first? How about open space? Or a bond for Zoo, Arts and Parks recreation projects?

"Do we get to do that in terms of party affiliation," Republican Councilman David Wilde, whose party enjoys a one-seat council edge, asked about picking the order.

Not exactly, admonished Democrat Joe Hatch, who explained Democratic County Clerk Sherrie Swensen gets that privilege.

"Yeah," countered Hatch, a former party boss. "Win that seat and you will."

Later, Hatch selected the order as follows: ZAP as proposition A, followed by open space, then TRAX.

Derek P. Jensen

District work period

If you think you just saw Rob Bishop at your local deli or movie store, don't fret, he's supposed to be in Utah.

Your elected leaders are taking a month-long break from making new laws and spending your money to catch up with real life beyond the Beltway. It has absolutely nothing to do with escaping the sauna-like weather of 101 degree heat and 80 percent humidity that's suffocating Washington.

Some commentators, however, don't think highly of what members of Congress call a "district work period." CNN's Lou Dobbs:

"This Republican-led, do-nothing Congress is on its way home for a five-week vacation. I'm sure while there, they'll be glad to explain to their constituents why they need so much rest in a year in which they will work fewer than 80 days."

Read the rest here

-- Thomas Burr

Democratic strategery

The Washington Post reports today that Democrats are implementing their plan to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in the 2006 election.

How are they going to beat the odds this time? Infighting and bickering apparently.

According to the Post, Democratic House leaders are still upset about the way Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean is spending the national party's resources. This goes back to a dispute earlier this year between Dean and Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, over how much money the DNC is spending on consultants, fundraising and staffing in places like Utah.

The DNC has pumped money into typically Red States like Utah to hire grassroots organizers and other state party staff.

Now, the Post reports, Dean and Emanuel are not speaking to each other because of their disagreement over strategy and Emanuel is starting his own drive to get Democratic voters to the polls in November.

Hard to believe these guys can't win.

-- Robert Gehrke

Friends in high places

Quite a few lobbyists boast privately that they have the governor's ear, but few would ever dare to say so publicly.

We found one.

Doug Foxley has a catchy Web site that includes not only a bio but a resume. Under the heading "Community and Political Involvement," he lists "Advisor, Jon Huntsman Jr. for Governor -- Present."

I guess that may explain why Foxley recently had success getting Huntsman to put a meaty financial bill on the special session call for client Overstock.com. The bill, which imposes fines for brokers who have too many unsettled trades, passed and is now embroiled in legal battles.

Or maybe, Foxley, one of the state's most veteran lobbyists, just forgot to update his resume after Huntsman won the election two years ago.

. . . Nah, the first explanation is much more fun.

-- Matt Canham

Remembering fight clubs

It's a time the Leavitt family wishes to forget, but apparently the fight club from five years ago is still permanently attached to its legacy.

USA Today has a feature this morning on teen fight clubs, which apparently, even seven years after the Brad Pitt movie, are making resurgence.

Six paragraphs into the story, Chase Leavitt, son of Health and Human Services secretary and former Utah governor Mike Leavitt, is noted for being part of a fight club at an LDS ward chapel in December 2001. Apparently, to make a point about a resurgence, you must dredge up old news.

From the story

"Many fight-club brawlers are suburban high school kids, not gang members or juvenile criminals. Chase Leavitt, son of U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, was arrested for participating in a fight club at a Mormon church gym in Salt Lake City in December 2001, when his father was Utah's governor.

"The younger Leavitt, then 18, pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace and trespassing in September 2002 and was sentenced to 40 hours of community service, says Sim Gill, the chief prosecutor of Salt Lake City who handled the case.

"According to Gill, Chase Leavitt laced up boxing gloves and punched it out with a 17-year-old opponent at the church, which is in an affluent neighborhood. Organizers handed out fliers advertising the fight. About 100 students from Leavitt's East High School paid admission before cops raided the premises. As the teens fled, they dropped a video camera with footage of several bouts that night.

"This is not something that just happens in poor neighborhoods," Gill says. "This crosses all socioeconomic bounds. It's happening in middle-class and upper-middle-class environments."

Secretary Leavitt and Chase Leavitt declined to comment, referring calls to attorney Loren Weiss. He says Chase Leavitt was "prosecuted for who he was, not what he did."

-- Thomas Burr

Confessions of a rebel gardener

I reported last week about a Salt Lake City ordinance that forbids homeowners from xeriscaping their front lawns, even while they're allowed to cover their parking strips with drought-tolerant plants. I noted Mayor Rocky Anderson is breaking the law. So is the water conservation director, Stephanie Duer.

And, yes, dear readers, so am I.

I xeriscaped my parking strip last summer and this spring tore out every shred of grass on the rest of my tiny lot. I haven't received a citation -- yet -- but I do hear many compliments. Turns out, passers-by prefer my bee balm, sweet william, Echinacea and blue fescue plants over turf.

I know Duer won't turn me in. When I confessed during the interview, she was happy. "You're out of compliance. Right on!"

Heather May

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