slcspin

Test

2006-11-22T01:02:00.000-07:00

Test

The Constitution

2006-11-18T11:26:00.000-07:00

So what do we do about constitutional questions regarding the 4th seat? If you believe the Governor, it's up to D.C. to worry about The Constitution. Of course when the NCLB was passed down, Utah's dashing politicos were tripping over themselves to defend the integrity of The Constitution against the attack of the killer unconstitutional concept. What was that prophesy about Mormon politicians, The Constitution, and a thread? Oh yeah, I remember: "In the latter days, Utah's politicians will be raging hypocrites".

Crazy Pills

2006-11-18T11:15:00.000-07:00

Utah's leadership is taking crazy pills over this 4th seat. They need to listen to Senator Bennett. A perfect example of the craziness is LaVarr Webb's treatment of the topic in Friday's Utah Policy. After pointing out all the reasons this is a crap idea (he makes great points, by the way), he closes out his essay with an endorsement of the current actions. None of this makes any sense.

Reporting Soccer

2006-11-17T16:44:00.000-07:00

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that "Jason Kreis is gone" but I think the Internet is way out front on this one. Update: The Universe is back to normal

4th Seat Drama

2006-11-15T16:19:00.000-07:00

So Governor Huntsman wants to call a special session for around the first of December. If all goes well, Utah will go through the time and money to rush through a redistricting so it can be ignored. On the positive side, the rush to redistrict has opened up the Achilles Heel of our Bossy Little Big Man Speaker Curtis. Speaker Curtis will insist that any new map put his home in the new 4th district. Nothing is more frightening to ambitious Republicans than to be put in Matheson's district. Leverage.

Real Salt Lake: Confident?

2006-11-13T20:52:00.000-07:00

We talked about this on The Nightside Project tonight. Real Salt Lake is apparently working on a plan to make an end run around SLCo by appealing once again to the Utah Legislature. In the meantime, they have purchased materials and are scheduled to begin excavation next month.

Utah And Negative Campaigns

2006-11-12T09:12:00.000-07:00

I disagree with Paul Rolly this week. Many make the claim "negative campaigning does not generally work in Utah", but I don't believe that is true. Not all negative campaigns are enough to win an election, but that's a fact of life across the democratic world, and not evidence of some sort of special attitude in Utah. After all Jim Winder is the new SLCo Sherriff thanks to a negative campaign. Voters responded to his attacks against Sherrif Kennard. They were simple, compelling, and absolutely devastating. Well timed negative campaigns work, even in Utah.

Dead

2006-11-10T16:14:00.000-07:00

I'm busy writing Nightside Spin for tonight's show. I'm calling the fourth seat dead.

The 4th Seat

2006-11-10T11:55:00.000-07:00

Pres. Bush today in the AP: "It's the first I've heard of it,'' and ''Well, it may or may not come up. . . . But I'll take a look at it,'' Hmmm. So this is the urgent cause for which Governor Huntsman is preparing a special session? Well, we know the Tribune endorses this. But Governor Huntsman has other, better advisors. He should listen to them. Or he could read SLCSpin.

Just Walk Away

2006-11-08T23:36:00.000-07:00

House Speaker Greg Curtis almost lost his job yesterday. 46 votes is embarrassing. Word on the street is that Real Salt Lake is planning legislation to make an end run around the pesky rules set out by Mayor Corroon. This effort would no doubt include Speaker Curtis BUT Surely Speaker Curtis knows his humiliation is directly tied to the Sandy Stadium. He will not survive a showdown with SLCo's most popular politician, Mayor Peter Corroon.

Do Something

2006-11-07T12:19:00.000-07:00

To the literally dozens of Republicans who have said to me "I can't believe Hatch is my candidate" please realize, Senator Orrin Hatch is not the Republican's candidate. He is no one's candidate but his own and the few people who pay him millions of dollars for favors. Pete Ashdown is your candidate. Finally, a Senate candidate who represents more than just his own career.

Write- In

2006-11-07T09:54:00.000-07:00

So I just found out that two more people wrote me in as Salt Lake County Surveyor. I'm not actually a write- in candidate. I am a fake write- in candidate. On the Nightside Project I did a fake debate with Reid Demmon, the sole contender for SLCo Surveyor.

Mixing R&D

2006-11-05T21:56:00.000-07:00

Many have defended Mr. Mac's double duty as President of The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and paid "campaign advisor" of Senator Orrin Hatch. It's absolutely reasonable (and smart) for the LDS Church to set policies against that kind of relationship. And I believe they will soon. Let's face it, The Boston Globe did The Church a favor last month. It brought out extremely serious behavior into the open where it could be dealt with early. Think about what would have happened had that article come out late next year. Disaster.

Dyslexia

2006-11-05T17:36:00.000-07:00

Congressman Chris Cannon: "I think [President Bush] is probably dyslexic" Congressman Cannon always delivers.

Religion And Politics 2

2006-10-31T09:24:00.000-07:00

The LDS Church has always maintained its political neutrality. The problem doesn't really lie with The Church. I believe The Church is victimized by opportunistic politicians and also employees who do not understand the consequences of their actions. For example: Craig Foster who organized the Davis Co. GOP golf tourney by using his email address fostercl@ldschurch.org or Those at BYU who used their positions to rally for Governor Romney. I think it's absolutely appropriate for The Church to say to Mr. Mac, "look, you can be Pres. of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, or you can be on Senator Orrin Hatch's campaign payroll, but you can't do both". It's clear that The Chuch cannot rely on the scruples of politicians or the judgement of its employees. They need hard policy to put distance between themselves and politicians.

Religion And Politics

2006-10-31T00:42:00.000-07:00

The LDS Church has always claimed political neutrality. But that doesn't stop ambitious politicians from standing as close as possible to The Church. Hopefully The Church will make some meaningful changes to discourage this practice. That is the only way The Church will survive its members reaching the top of the political game. For example, it's absolutely inappropriate for the President of The Mormon Tabernacle Choir to be on Senator Orrin Hatch's buddy payroll. If The Church is to survive the onslaught of Gov's Romney and Huntsman, they need to shed the small time bullshit games of disrespectful small ponders like Senator Hatch and Kem Gardner and get serious. Because what happened with the Boston Globe is only the tip of the public scrutiny iceberg that will dig through every email, schedule, and phone list available. The Church needs to get smart and push politicians to arms length.

The Utah Ledger

2006-10-30T18:07:00.000-07:00

A new newspaper?

"Zing", Continued

2006-10-27T09:01:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I'm misunderstood. I always blame myself, as I always know what I'm thinking but don't always know how to translate it. For the record, I posted Senator McCoy's comments because I thought they were 1) funny 2) a great response to the disturbing idea that everyone needs to be of the same party My education background is in East European Contemporary History, so ideas like that are big red flags for me.

Zing!

2006-10-26T23:32:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of Senator Scott McCoy in response to the allegation that he can't get anything done on The Hill if he isn't a GOPer. "You have given me an idea. I will start co-sponsoring all the bills I don't like so that the House will kill them."

Complicity? Cowardice?

2006-10-26T23:16:00.000-07:00

SLCo D.A. David Yocom and Utah A.G. Mark Shurtleff together decided NOT to investigate the illegal donation scheme of Dell Loy Hansen of Wasatch Property Management. Know why? Because Yocom is already up to his neck in an election eve sabotage investigation and another might backfire and Shurtleff is currently running ads for Lohra Miller.

Negative V. Personal

2006-10-23T10:30:00.000-07:00

Congressman Chris Cannon blew up at Christian Burridge during a Daily Herald debate. He accused Burridge of making personal attacks. Attacking the Congressman's decisions is certainly a negative attack. But it is in no way personal. Congressman Cannon labels them "personal" because they question his "integrity". Clever. So don't criticize the Congressman, lest you offend his integrity. Apparently, that's against the rules.

Street Cred

2006-10-19T22:48:00.000-07:00

Rebecca Walsh is in China with Governor Huntsman. As the Tribune explained, she earned her spot on the delegation. It was awesome to see the Tribune brag that Mayor Rocky Anderson "became so enraged with Walsh's reporting on him that he kept a dossier and tried to get her removed from the beat".

?????!!!!!

2006-10-19T10:34:00.000-07:00

Romney camp consulted with Mormon leaders, Eyes nationwide network to aid White House bid- Boston Globe

Slavish Redux

2006-10-18T23:16:00.000-07:00

Remember when Mayor Rocky Anderson used the word "slavish"? He was pushed for an apology. He never gave one. It was in the papers, but I guess House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland missed the article.

Funny

2006-10-18T20:22:00.000-07:00

Tee Hee Tee Hee Hee