The Deseret Spectacle

Grrr.. Video with subversive, altruistic themes shown to my children?? GRRR!

2009-09-07T08:07:00.004-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2008 - The Deseret Spectacle

Oh Utah. How you never fail to not surprise me. I haven't been super active politically for a while, but I stumbled across this article over at the Salt Lake Tribune about a video I'm sure you've all heard of by now. It was shown in a school to our impressionable youths, the Eagle Forum Became aware, freaked out, condemned it as "radical, leftist, propaganda" and watched as their hate-mob gathered in support.

Must be membership drive time at the Eagle Forum.

I read with interest some of the quotes from the Trib story:

"It's very inappropriate to show a radical, leftist propaganda piece that political to children," Ruzicka said. "If parents want their children to learn about those things and do them in the home, wonderful, fine, but it's not the place of the school to show a one-sided propaganda piece to children without parents knowing about it."

Ooohh.. Those sneaky leftists. Always trying to brainwash our children when we're not looking. Thank God Ruzicka - who looks like a Den Home Mother but has the demeanor of a person who spent some time in hell at a leadership forum with Satan - is on it.

Then Cieslewicz continued the thought..

"They shouldn't be troubling our youth with the woes of the world and making them feel like we're in slavery or they have to worry about how many times they flush the toilet or if they have a plastic water bottle," Cieslewicz said, referring to pledges in the video to "end slavery."

Exactly. Why trouble our youth with the realities of our world. Better to protect them until their eighteen, when they can then stumble out into the world, and be so blinded by the actualities of existence here on Earth, that they can do what their parents do: pretend it just ain't so, and bury their heads in Fox News to get the reassurance that yes, everything they've been taught is the way it is, and everything to the contrary are simply those evil subversives, socialists, and other assorted mad men who want to hurt their feelings and self-esteem.

Anyway, after getting to work and realizing it was a holiday, I thought I would spend a few minutes transcribing the damn thing. It wasn't until I was almost done that I realized it was probably already transcribed in full somewhere on the net. Alas, I'm a little slow this morning.

Video:

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of resolves to pitch in and work harder to look after

Yes, it starts out with a radical bang, doesn't it?

not only ourselves but each other

i pledge to help end hunger in America by supporting feeding America and our local food bank

huh.. okay.

i pledge to smile more
to laugh more
to love more

leftist bastards... this is America, where smiling, laughing and loving are values which should only be discussed in the home.

i pledge to volunteer more of my time to help children battling serious illnesses

everyone knows that sick children are one of the great bastions of the radical left.

i pledge to be a great mother
to be a great father

see, if you say this on the video, then all of the children will start expecting great parenting. Imagine the kind of pressure that puts on local parents?

to continue working with unicef to make this world a better place for all of our children

to be the voice for those who have no voice

to consider myself an american, not an african american

The right should love this, shouldn't they?

to always represent my country with pride, dignity and honesty

Pride, dignity and honesty. Okay, this I see. Obviously these are not qualities of the right and I understand why they wouldn't want their children instilled with such horrible leftists values.

i pledge to go to usaservice.org

to find a service project i am passionate about

i pledge allegiance to the funk, to the united funk of funkadelica

okay, this is just dumb. but leftist propaganda?

i pledge to never give someone the finger while driving again

to always find the humor in everything

i pledge to help find a cure for alzheimers

to care for America's elderly

to make sure senior citizens have access to health care

so our next generations memories will not be forgotten

i pledge to bring awareness to mental disease

maybe they're pissed 'cause all of this is leading up to THIS hot button issue...

to advance stem cell research

aghhh!!! murderers! child killers! look, you friggin' idiots. it was a person in a video talking about what they pledge to do. if you don't agree with stem cell research, try talking with your children about it. they're going to hear about other stuff sometimes when you're not around. it's one of the unfortunate consequences of living in a world where they have to occasionally leave your house.

to spread the awareness of autism

i pledge to show more love to strangers

but what if those strangers have a middle-eastern look to 'em? can't have no love being tossed around like it's candy, for heavens sake.

to meet my neighbors

whoa whoa whoa.. You mean, meet my neighbors who I know are of the same religion as I.. If they're not, then we need to continue the long tradition in Utah of ostracizing the adults and children of non-Mormon families as much as possible.

find out their names,

i'm going to give them a smile

and ask them how I can be of service to them

hey haters, maybe you can twist this into "prosyletize them".. does that help?

i pledge to be a better mentor to my younger sisters

to continue to be a mentor for big brothers, big sisters

i pledge to reduce my use of plastic

oh God.. is this really something they have a problem with? do you think plastic is good for the environment? have we really gotten to the point that just 'cause someone on the left says something, it must be an evil, false conspiracy which is somehow engineered to bring a socialist-style destruction to our fragile country?

by starting to use less bottled water

to plant 500 tree's this year to help our planet

to be more green

hey now.. everyone knows that to be aware of our envinronment is to be a radical leftist. easy.

to no longer use plastic bags at the grocery store

to consume less and cultivate more

so that we are on this planet forever

okay, Michelle.. (the actress who said this.. can't remember her last name..) we ain't gonna be on this planet forever, period. I'm all for shooting for the sky, but let's not get crazy.

for the environment, i pledge to flush only after a deuce, never a

okay.. did you really have to put this one in here? *shrug* I guess a little toilet humor really hooks the kids, eh?

i pledge to turn the lights off, 'cause I used to leave the lights on, but we want to conserve energy so I'm gonna turn the

lights off - you turn the lights off

i pledge to sell my obnoxious car and buy a hybrid

to consider one man's pledge to try to help the environment this way as leftist propaganda is insanity.

to drive slower and not use as much gas

i pledge to volunteer my time

to express the importance of arts education in our schools

isn't it sad that arts education has become a political issue?

to sell a culture of intelligence rather than ignorance

i pledge to help children understand that just because they come from a small place, doesn't mean they can't dream big

i pledge to help to make good the 200-year promise to end slavery

the abolition of 21st-century slavery

to free one million people from slavery in the next 5 years

I find it amazing that people really have a problem with talking about the reality of 21st century slavery in front of their children.

to fight,
to become aware,
to educate,
to not give up (ohh... heroe's chick - so hot.)
to defend,
..issues that I care about.

I pledge to be of service to Barrack *kisses one arm* Obama *kisses other arm*

rolls eyes

I pledge to change how I live

to be a better person

to never stop learning and growing each and every day
every day

i pledge to commit to my own change before I ask others to change

this sounds pretty reasonable to me.

to be the change

to be the change

to integrate into my heart what I already know in my head which is that we're all in this together

imagine what could happen next

what's your pledge?

what's your pledge?

I know you got a pledge! What's your pledge?!

Ya gotta pledge?

What's your pledge?

I pledge to be a servant to our president and all mankind..

Okay, I can understand this.. I don't like the idea of being servants to our government either. Our government does serve us.

Still. To suggest that this all rises to the level of "radical, leftist propaganda" is just one more reflection of the self-deluded belief that the right is being perpetually sieged.

..because together we can, together we are, and together we will be the change that we seek

Yeah, sorry celebrities. You're going to have to do without Utah on this. We're busy being besieged by radical leftist influences at the moment, and have to spend all of our focus there.

Oh, and just to get an idea of how the local public feels about whether or not the video should be shown in school:

I'm so proud.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Opinion - Rob Robinson - Mexican War reversed?

2009-07-17T16:54:00.003-06:00

Mexican War reversed?

It appears that Sonia Sotomayor will soon be confirmed justice of the Supreme Court. Look for her to promptly rally the court to rule that the military test known as the Mexican War, where the Mexican firefighters were outnumbered and overmatched, was fundamentally unfair.

Declaring Mexico the winner and further declaring the land between current Mexico and Canada to be the newest Mexican state will solve the immigration problem at the same time.

Rob Robinson

Salt Lake City

Oh Deseret News.

Really? This is where you're at? At least there is no shortage of fodder, I suppose.

No, but seriously: Thank you, letter writer - Rob Robinson. Hiiiiiilarious. Yes, I'm sure that if she is confirmed that she will single-handedly "rally" the court to take up an imaginary case which will effectively lop off a fourth of the United States of America and return it to Mexico. I mean, of course she will. Of course this will happen. It's naive to think it won't, really.

Republicans, I think this one belongs to you. Will you please do something with him? He's making you look bad.

Well, worse.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Mark, the Courageous Bigot Schools Me

2009-03-14T12:27:00.004-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2008 - The Deseret Spectacle

I've been largely inactive lately, but I still receive e-mail's with comments and such from people who stumble across old DS posts which just get them so worked up that they can't help but post a comment on a year old post. Here's one from this article which got commented yesterday, along with my response:

DS wouldn't even leave his name.

How is the Gay community inflicting their personal and gay beliefs on our religious community? Just look out your window. No they haven't prohibited traditional marriage. But, even after losing a vote on same sex unions, a large group cry, they protest, they sue, they threaten. They are mean and nasty. They are no better than two-year olds who don't get their way. Same-sex marriage is not a "right" that has been taken away. Someday they may get their life style legitimized. Let's hope if they do, it's not through the terrorism tactics currently used by some.

Mark

*looks out window* Yes! My God! There are homosexuals everywhere accosting traditional marriage! I can see them from the crack in the blinds which I've opened just barely enough so that gay people don't otherwise notice I'm here and try to convert me to homosexuality! (I live in constant fear of this) How did I not see this before??

*rolls eyes* Oh, and yes, your bravery posting under "anonymous" but signing it "Mark" is shameful to me and bloggers everywhere who use pen names. Here, as a gesture of respect, in light of your courageous signage, let me say for all to hear, that my name is "James." *shivers* It feels good. It feels damn good. Thank you for breaking those walls down and calling me out over it.

As far as your bizarre, inane comments: I see you follow in the loving footsteps of Sen. .. what's his name... You know, that bigot who hates people who aren't like him.. Oh yeah, Buttars.

Name me a terrorism tactic that the gay community is using. Name one with a straight face and then relate it to any actual act of terrorism that any person with even the slightest shred of rationality might consider to be an act of terrorism. The reason why you and others are trying to justify your hatred and bigotry by equating gay activism with terrorism and destruction, is because there is really no good argument to try and deny homosexuals the same rights that you, as a heterosexual, closeted as you may be, enjoy.

If religious unions were outlawed by some majority, you would be screaming and crying and ranting and protesting your heart out, so spare me your condescension and accusations towards the gay community that they would respond poorly to a vote which is inherently demeaning and prejudicial.

DS

er..

James

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Where was the GOP on these overpaid individuals?

2008-12-15T06:46:00.002-07:00

Layton, Utah - ©2008 - The Deseret Spectacle

Guess the GOP only filibusters bills that help working folks.

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

A tribute to Milton Friedman

2008-11-16T18:31:00.002-07:00

Layton, Utah - ©2008 - The Deseret Spectacle

The most celebrated wind bag of our time. Watch this interview, he is pretty much wrong on everything he says about where our economy was headed. If he can't the basics right why should we trust him on the ideas to educate our children.

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Video: Obama loses Election to McCain by One Vote

2008-10-29T11:47:00.003-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2008 - The Deseret Spectacle

Hilarious. This could be you, Your Name.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

It's Alive!!!!

2008-10-11T10:09:00.003-06:00

Layton, Utah - ©2008 - The Deseret Spectacle

Watching this clip today it appears that McCain is having second thoughts on what he has created.

This is what happens when Republicans appeal to lowest common denominator in society. I hope McCain continues to raise the level of civility in this election, not only because he is also an honorable man but because whoever is elected president will need all Americans working together to move this country forward. We need to be united again, I am going to support the person that looks most able to do that.

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Palin has national security experience because...

2008-09-21T20:04:00.003-06:00

Layton, Utah - ©2008 - The Deseret Spectacle

Drum roll please...Alaska is close to Russia. Wow, you seriously can not make this stuff up.

Oh and Palin stopped over at Ireland once too for refueling. Evidently that counts too as foreign relations in Republican fantasy land. Another McCain/Palin LIE! This is getting beyond stupid.

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Paul Krugman - another liberal that was right

2008-09-21T11:22:00.006-06:00

Layton, Utah - ©2008 - The Deseret Spectacle

I haven't bought Prof. Krugman's book yet watching him this week destroy Republican ideology that got us in this mess has been amazing.

Krugman also has a pretty good blog that I follow pretty closely - http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Thank you John McCain

2008-09-20T08:53:00.002-06:00

Layton, Utah - ©2008 - The Deseret Spectacle

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

McCain = Lies

2008-09-13T08:46:00.001-06:00

Layton, Utah - ©2008 - The Deseret Spectacle

Selling your soul for the presidency has its costs. Truth being one of them.

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Go Vote

2008-09-11T18:54:00.001-06:00

Layton, Utah - ©2008 - The Deseret Spectacle

Seriously people!!!!!

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

FOX is WRONG!

2008-08-16T10:16:00.000-06:00

Layton, Utah - ©2008 - The Deseret Spectacle

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Rob Bishop running to be the Energy Solutions congressman

2008-07-23T21:49:00.001-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2008 - The Deseret Spectacle

What does 28 thousand dollars buy? Evidently a Congressman minus a soul. Morgan lays out who he will be working for.

Awesome job Morgan. Bishop has stopped working for us a long time ago.

ht - SideTrack

Marshall
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Video - Fox News and Push Polling

2008-07-21T08:59:00.003-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2008 - The Deseret Spectacle

Keith Olbermann discusses Fox News' increasing use of "push polls" to influence public opinion during polling. I'm shocked - Shocked! - that they would do such a thing.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Video - Olbermann: More on Illegal Signing Statements

2008-07-17T20:08:00.002-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2008 - The Deseret Spectacle

It is not the job of the President to interpret the law, and it is not within his authority to rewrite it based upon some insane notion of the Unitary Executive. He has one - and only one - Constitutional authority granted to him in this arena, which is a Presidential veto.

The sheer number of Constitutional infractions by President Bush is dizzying and the damage he has done to this Country and the principles it was founded upon will last for generations.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Video - Karl Rove gets Owned by Colmes?

2008-07-17T19:22:00.007-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2008 - The Deseret Spectacle

Karl Rove is usually a pretty cool character. This is one of the few times I've seen him get this flustered.

I'm not sure who this moron is who's sitting in for Hannity, but he is equally repulsive. "The Supreme Court has thrown an unholy mess onto the elapse of the administration with this - it's decision." It is stunning that upholding Habeas Corpus - a principle which predates the founding of this country and is considered pivotal to a free society - is being condemned by the right.

What is unprecedented here is the idea that the President is not bound by the law, the Constitution, treaties or tradition, and may detain anyone, for any reason, with them having no recourse, solely by declaring them an "enemy combatant." It may take a Democrat in office before Republicans rediscover the Constitution and get on board with upholding the law.

In theory, the President is supposed to be bound by the law, just like the rest of us. One is reminded of the Nixon scandal, when he famously stated that "When the President does it, it is not against the law." It can be argued that the whole idea of the Constitution is restrain and check power, so that nightmares like the Bush administration might be prevented. The sheer weight of Republican dishonesty, immorality and corruption is testing it to its breaking point.

Rove squirms under Colmes unusual backbone, pressing the point of whether or not war has been declared - a power granted exclusively to the Congress. Has war been declared? No. It hasn't. That is why Rove is floundering all over the place to rephrase a declaration of war as an "authorization of force," which Constitutionally, is not the same thing. Just as the "War on Drugs" is not a declared war, nor is the "War on Terror." This is an extremely important point. When war is declared, the Executive is granted extraordinary latitude for a finite period of time. This is precipitated upon the idea that the country is under a grave threat which will end.

The President and his cronies want to muddy this idea until we are in a perpetual state of war, with the Executive ruling by edict - the very definition of a dictatorship.

In any event, it's amusing to watch as Rove lapses into repeating talking points. They are, of course, typical, nauseating, Republican sophistry.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Glenn Beck: Che Guevara T-Shirts are the Real Problem

2008-07-17T17:20:00.004-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2008 - The Deseret Spectacle

Glenn Beck, in his on-going efforts to lay claim to the crown of right-wing idiocy, wrote a riveting opinion piece on one of the great threats of our time. What is this looming force of darkness which Mr. Beck has rooted out for our consideration? Che Guevara T-Shirts. That's right. America's crack team of far-right punditry has once again focused us on the really important issues that we never knew existed. From the CNN article:

That's right, the same T-shirts you see Hollywood celebrities, starving pseudo-artists and confused hipster teens wearing around local coffee shops. To all those who decide that you want to be coffee house communist-chic, remember this: When you are wearing a Che T-shirt, you're wearing the same shirt that makes terrorists believe you're just one of the gang. I hope that latte is tasty.

Oh Glenn! You and your butter-knife sharp wit! Thanks to your formulaic sarcasm I'm sure those latte-sipping liberals are all dropping their heads in collective shame. He continues..

"This is a history of a failure" is how he himself described his efforts in the Congo. He was killed in Bolivia, trying to fire up another failure of a war. Earlier, he even managed to drop his gun and shoot himself in the face.

Well, if there's one thing I hate, it's people who are complete failures at starting wars. I prefer those guys who successfully wage wars which result in hundreds of thousands or millions of civilian casualties. Who do we know that fits that description?

But more important than his incompetence is the fact that the man was a mass killer.

Thanks for steadying us all with that tidbit of sobering wisdom, Glenn.

With the exception of the fact that Che killed a lot more people, what's the difference? You shouldn't be wearing an "I heart abortion clinic bombers" T-shirt, and if you have any respect for humanity, you shouldn't be wearing a Che Guevara T-shirt, either.

Right. You should be circuitously defending the actions of abortion clinic bombers, not wearing non-existent T-shirts which leave no doubt as to your ideals. Obfuscation and moral/intellectual ambiguity is the motto of the modern-day conservative, after all.

sigh.

Glenn, you incompetent hack. Are you really equating respect for humanity with not wearing an article of clothing? Call me crazy, but I think you lost your moral authority when you equivocated over whether water boarding was torture or not. I mean, when did that even become a question? We've gone decades without what qualifies as "torture" being called into question. And then with the arrival of President Bush and his band of integrity-deficient Neocons, suddenly it's a big gray area?

Look, this isn't a defense of Che, this is a refocusing on genuine evils and real consequences. Consequences of the actions taken by our leaders, defended religiously by loons like Mr. Beck. I suspect that the families and friends of those hundreds of thousands of Iraqi's who have died in the war Mr. Bush waged - based entirely on "factual inaccuracies" (A nice way of saying 'lies') - hardly care what noble (and constantly changing) reasons precipitated it.

Try to stomach that. Hundreds of thousands dead. Millions displaced. Approaching a trillion dollars of debt stacked on the shoulders of an ailing economy and a dollar which has nose-dived almost since day-one of the Bush Presidency.. Was killing Saddam and replacing him with a largely ineffectual, whining government really worth it? I guess that's a question for history, but I doubt it's of any question to the millions of people in Iraq who have lost their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, children, etc, to a bloody war justified with lies and waged with criminal incompetence.

Now why were we discussing Che Guevara again?

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

McClellan vs O'Reilly

2008-06-11T19:12:00.002-06:00

More of the interview
DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Take this job and shove it.

2008-04-25T18:09:00.000-06:00

Layton, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Pay your damn people Hillary

2008-02-23T19:41:00.003-07:00

Layton, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

I always thought I would support Hillary in the general but this just pisses me off to no end.

My mom owns a cleaning business and hearing the guy that owned that cleaning business talk about getting the run around from the Hillary campaign cuts deep, real deep...too deep. I have had to do collections for my mom and it is no fun. This is down right disgraceful and pathetic.

Right now I feel like if Hillary wins the nomination I won't be lifting a finger for her and I might not even vote, I will stay home, got that Hillary, pay your damn people.

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Erick Erickson can kiss my ass

2008-02-15T22:12:00.006-07:00

Layton, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

The following is the reason that progressives are so much more organized on the internet according to Erick Erickson, a Republican blogger.

Erick Erickson... conceded that progressives currently enjoy an advantage over conservatives online—though he attributed it to an asymmetry in free time, since conservatives "have families because we don't abort our kids, and we have jobs because we believe in capitalism."

Here is a screen shot of my time card this week.

My wife worked similar hours this week, so between the two of us we have worked 100+ hours this week but this is what it takes to live comfortably in America. Republicans want to talk about the strain on the family, there it is but I digress.

Erick Erickson is the same idiot that runs a half baked Republican blog that is suppose to be the rights version of daily kos. He whined that the liberals that run daily kos wouldn't show him how to setup a load balancing server cluster so his site kept crashing. How is it that liberals can figure this stuff out? It must be because we are all lazy and don't have jobs...right or is it because our knuckles don't drag on the ground...either way Erick Erickson can kiss my ass.

ht - Zablanc

Lazy Liberal Blogger
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Homeless Veterans

2008-02-02T12:49:00.000-07:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

I am thinking about giving my tax "stimulus" to a homeless veterans charity. Wonder what O'Reilly is doing with his?

Of course the only media person on the case is Olbermann.

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Faux Noise caught using the same "focus group" to pump McCain.

2008-01-07T06:04:00.000-07:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

You will see the same people three months ago in this video at around 3:46.

And again yesterday in this video at around 1:44.

Creating the news since the mid 90s...that is Faux Noise

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Operation change for the better

2008-01-06T19:23:00.000-07:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Video - John McCain's Mom Loses Him The Mormon Vote - YW

2007-11-12T01:34:00.000-07:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

"Mom, all you had to do was sit there and look old so I looked young. But no. You couldn't do that, could you. You couldn't just say the others weren't as experienced as I was.. You had to go and friggin' piss off the whole Mormon population. You know, this is why I had to go into counseling, Ma."

"Oh shut up, ya pansy. Those Mormons up there are corrupt and everyone knows it."

"Damnit, Ma."

"Watch yer mouth!"

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

The "Your Side Sucks Too" Defense

2007-11-11T21:46:00.000-07:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

In the comment section of the last post, Political Spy Glass had this to say:

Do you really think the Democrats are any different. The liberal left whack jobs that now control the DCCC shows that polarization goes both ways.

Jason The broadened the question a bit for me by separating the base from the leadership:

This difference is the Republican BASE is polarized (i.e. there is no longer a republican base)

That's why we'll be winning the elections, while the Republicans flounder like 13 year olds going through a puberty induced identity crisis.

The most interesting thing about this is PolySpy's argument is that it had nothing to do with my post. I hear it frequently though. A Republican or a Democrat is blasted for something they've done, and the strange defense of "Well, your side is just as bad" springs up. It's an interesting phenomenon to assume that criticism of a Republican makes you a die-hard Democrat, or vice-versa.

I have no hesitance criticizing Democrats.

This particular comment caught me at a strange time, actually. At the moment, I'm furious with the Democrats. If they did nothing else, I would have been thrilled they were voted into office if they would have restored some of the checks and balances of the Constitution, and affirmed the supremacy of the Constitution over the tenuous assertions by Executive that its powers were limitless during this, their interminable "war on terror." A few things I've seen them do have given me hope. More things have demoralized me greatly.

Their confirmation of Michael Mukasey as Attorney General wreaks of political cowardice and failure of duty. In Attorney General Mukasey we had a man - a sitting judge for over a decade - who refused to make a moral judgment on whether water boarding was torture, and openly contended the President wielded plenary power on a "battlefield" which he claimed may very well cover the entire earth. After all we've been through, rejecting this nominee should have been a no-brainer.

Before the last break, they expanded Executive authority while eliminating any meaningful oversight. Now they're making noises that they will cave in and provide retroactive immunity for telecommunication giants who violated the law.

Oh, and they'd also like to turn the justice department into an enforcement arm of intellectual property holders, suing file-sharers, seizing property, and turning over proceeds to members of the RIAA, MPAA and other such organizations. Which is good, because, you know it's not like the DoJ has anything else to do.

There are good ones on both sides of the aisle. The rest? Let's throw them all out.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Experiment with Short Post explaining Republican Slime

2007-11-10T02:40:00.000-07:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

I think I write too much sometimes. I look at other blogs, and they often consist of just two or three paragraphs, so here's a shot:

-----------------------

Ever wonder why you see all of these Republican candidates like John McCain, Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani, (all front-runners) who used to be at least quasi-respected moderates, abandon all principle and integrity to flip-flop in whatever direction their hateful, radically religious conservative base demands them to.

The Republican Leadership doomed the credibility of their party when they, along with neoconservatives and PNAC loyalists deliberately fused Christianity and Political ideology in order to secure a rabid, unflinching base which they could build into a blank check and blind eye while these people pursued their radical agendas.

They succeeded, but now they find themselves left with a polarized religious base where uncontested, incontrovertible proof is summarily dismissed by bizarre, simplistic rationalizations if the proof it inconvenient to their religiously-entangled political beliefs.

There. That's all I'm going to write. And let me tell you. It's hard. But I'm trying.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Attempting to Attach Ron Paul's Integrity to the Smoldering Remains of "Republican Credibility"

2007-11-10T02:22:00.000-07:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

I found some random blog which had a whole slew of bizarre posts to respond to. The first one I read concerned Ron Paul. "Ron Paul Fights for Liberty-oriented Republican Party" From the article:

"Ron Paul is one angry Republican. Get him started on America's skyrocketing debt, illegal immigration, secret wiretapping or border security and he wags his finger, his voice rising as the words come out in furious bursts."

Well, all of those things make me angry, but whenever I've seen Ron Paul, he seems like a well-tempered, reasonable, articulate man. He seems like a statesman. In fact, it is the rest of that sad Republican crew of Presidential hopefuls who consistently stink of mock outrage and righteous indignation and "Look at how war-hungry a Jesus-Loving, Uzi-Packing Bad Ass I am???".

Ron Paul likes to make one thing perfectly clear: he is a Republican.

He does? You'd think him showing up at the Republican debates would have cleared that up. And frankly, outside of the Republican debates, where they're all trying to out-crazy each other to appeal to their chicken-killer religious-nut-job base, I don't see a whole lot of Republicans wearing their Republicanism proudly at all.

Yes, he abandoned the Republican Party and ran as the Presidential Candidate of the Libertarian Party twenty years ago in 1988, but who hasn't had a few youthful transgressions? He quickly saw the folly of 3rd party politics and returned to the party nurtured by the spirit of Ronald Reagan and Thomas Jefferson.

No subject is seemingly unrelated enough that a Republican can't somehow invoke the exploited corpse of former President Ronald Reagan. *suppresses gag reflex*

Folly? No, there is no folly in 3rd party politics. There is a travesty in regards to 3rd party politics, as we are reminded of the death-grip the two party system has on us all.

Of course Ron Paul is an angry Republican. The Republican Party hasn't left him. The Republican Party has turned left ... and Ron Paul doesn't like it.

*sigh* There it is. One more Republican who is literally incapable of accepting responsibility for the failings of their party. The Republicans didn't turn left, they turned corrupt. It has never been a Democratic principle to endow the Executive with plenary, unchecked, interminable "wartime" powers. It has never been a Democratic principle to suspend Habeas Corpus in direct and obvious violation of clearly state language in the Constitution of the United States of America. Is has not been a principle of Democrats to established massive programs approving warrantless domestic surveillance, including who knows what else. Under the last Democratic administration, we lowered the national debt and established a surplus.

I encourage you to go read the whole, awful, thing and then review the questions I would ask the author:

Dear Republican in Denial,

Have you considered the possibility that Republican corruption, betrayal of the Constitution and astounding incompetence in managing civil and military affairs is their failure alone?

The elaborate acrobatics weaving dubious, barely plausible explanations which blame others for their mistakes are increasingly nauseating, pathetic, and ineffective.

Republicans still seem utterly incapable of taking responsibility for their moral failures and shocking incompetence, both home and abroad. They, and their die-hard supporters, still - still cannot help but instinctively point the finger at the Democrats, the secularists, immigrants and of course, the favorite and most often used Republican bogyman, the mythical "liberal media." Booga booga!

When I saw Ron Paul in the Republican debates, he struck me by his honesty, sincerity, and integrity.

It was these things which separated him from the other Republican candidates, and sadly, most of the Democratic candidates as well.

You think it's good for the Republicans that people are registering Republican to vote for Ron Paul?

Unless you think they're all inexplicably straight-party-ticket-voting types, who will stay loyal to the Republican party even without Ron Paul on the ticket, I wouldn't bank on it. Ron Paul is an anomaly within the Republican party, not a representative attraction.

In fact, the people who registered Republican to vote for Ron Paul will likely further induce the confusion, resentment and disarray which is already infecting the base of the Republican party.

People like Ron Paul invoke enthusiasm and loyalty because he is a man of integrity, not because he is a Republican. In fact, he enjoys support despite his association with the Republican party.

During the last seven years, the Republican "brand" has been sullied by the ceaseless parade of scandal and corruption wreaking of hypocrisy and astonishing deceit. Throw in their general incompetence and being Republican isn't something too many are proud of these days.

Ironically, it is his integrity which virtually ensures he will not be chosen as the candidate of the Republican party.

Until Republicans truly return to the principles they once claimed, and elect politicians with the integrity to sustain them, they will continue to rely upon deceit and other slanderous propaganda for their political victories.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Overstock.com CEO Byrne Thinks Utahns are Idiots for Rejecting Vouchers

2007-11-07T04:04:00.000-07:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

Caught this little gem on TV last night. Strangely, as much as I've read about Byrne, I can't recall seeing him on video. In any event, I took an instant disliking to him, and had to suppress my gag reflex when he chortled and quoted Beowulf:

"Yes, we are with overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne, Uh, Patrick, you've put your money where your mouth was in this campaign - two million bucks worth - umm - how are you feeling tonight?"

*crowd cheers*

"*laughs* Well, *chortles* you know, the..*laughs again* there's a line in Beowulf that goes, 'Fate often saves the undoomed warrior if his courage endures.' This fight ain't over. There's a couple of percent in, there's the vouch.. er.. the absentee ballot; the fights not over, I'm very anxious to see how the night turns out."

Alright, I suppose that's all fine and good. Maybe he's just one of those pompous, psuedo-intellectual asses. You know, the kind that thinks quoting an ancient text on a 30-second news spot will really reach out to potential voters and rally the troops at HQ. But the next exchange was much more interesting:

"Win or lose, do you feel like you've accomplished something, do you think you've sent a message."

"Not enough, actually. I think that this is basically a state-wide IQ test, and I'm very interested to see whether Utah passes or fails the IQ test."

"And you're not done with the fight then.."

*Chortles* "No, no this is just the beginning."

Well, as of almost midnight, it looks like 67% of us morons are rejecting vouchers and thus failing the all-knowing Byrne's IQ test. At least he can take comfort in knowing that at least 33% of us aren't total idiots, and I'm sure he'll find some comfort in the band of sycophants which have elevated him to minor deity status.

Did I pass? Sadly, no. But at least I exist within the same hellish ignorance and stupidity that so many of my fellow citizens must struggle to function within.

In closing, My Byrne's: You're a condescending schmuck and I'm glad you lost. However, in an attempt to meet you half way, here's a final passage from the much more enjoyable book "Grendel," a contemporary retelling of Beowulf from the perspective of the monster. My ode to you, sir:

"A little poetic, I would readily admit. His manner of speaking was infecting me, making me pompous. "Nevertheless," I whispered crossly-..but I couldn't go on, to conscious all at once of my whispering, my eternal posturing, always transforming the world with words, changing nothing ..... Spinning a web of words, pale walls of dreams, between myself and all I see."

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Voting Day - It's Here

2007-11-06T03:53:00.000-07:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

If you're unsure where you're registered to vote, go here for information on your polling location and your ballot. Just for the record, this thing will not recognize you if your address is even one character off, so if doesn't recognize you once or twice, keep trying a few different combinations.

Happy Voting! I hope you're making an informed decision. The two big ones for me are, of course, Vouchers and SLC Mayor. I will be voting against Referendum Number 1 and the spineless, lying cowards who have been running their ads painting us local residents who support stronger schools instead of fractured, religious, indoctrination centers as "east coast liberal unions trying to make parental decisions for Utah children. Being born and raised a Utahn, without ever belonging to a union, I take a little offense at that.

Considering their egregious lack of integrity when campaigning for their position and the inescapable conclusions of what vouchers will wind up costing us (to you who insist it will save us money, grow the hell up. We'll spend millions of dollars defending it on multiple Constitutional fronts. And to the rest of you who pretend like it's about parental choice: give me a break. This is about using taxpayer money to indoctrinate the less fortunate of our society into an ideologically corrupted, unholy pseudo-religious Christian/Republican voting block.

So I will be voting Against on Citizens' State Referendum Number 1.

In the race between Ralph Becker and Dave Buhler, I have wound up determined to support Ralph Becker. This wasn't really that hard, actually, particularly after I heard on NPR SL City Councilman VanTurner back Buhler with reasons which seemed to segue into an admission that he owed him political favors and Buhler had called them in.

I think that Becker will have the best luck in balancing what is sure to be increasing tension between the west and east side, and frankly, that is much more important than trying to bridge the gap between the Salt Lake Democrats and the Republicans in the rest of the state that throw tantrums that they don't have absolute control over a portion of the state, which frankly, has never quite managed to engender my sympathy. Ah well.

Finally, the fact that Buhler seems to be a buddy of the cable industry, as Part of the Plan pointed out, pretty much seals his fate to me.

Finally, on City Proposition Number 1, I will be voting FOR the issuance of special bonds to fund the acquisition of property and construction of facilities for police and firefighters. I do this somewhat grudgingly, with the nagging question always picking at me, asking myself "Where has all the money gone that this President has demanded our country mortgage our future for in the name of national defense. Where the hell did all the money go which was supposed to support our first responders? This bond is for just short of $200 million. In the next couple of years, we will be approaching a trillion dollars spent in Iraq in Afghanistan, a decent chunk of which we simply have not accounted for - and enough that it could have funded these facilities for every state in the union.

If you own property at about the 300k mark, you'll wind up paying somewhere around another $175 a year. And although no one is overly fond of taxes, and even though I find myself occasionally irritated or concerned by the actions of police, (particularly if I'm receiving a ticket,) I am always reminded that whenever I have called on the fire department or the police - and I have had to do both more than once - they were there. Give them what they need. Hell. Give them what they want.

That is a brief summary of my reasoning. I hope you find your own and participate in the Democratic process of our great Republic! Have a fantastic election day!

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Colbert makes a mockery of the political process? Uhh...

2007-10-31T15:28:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

CNN is running a story on Stephen Colbert filing with the S.C. Democratic party for a mock run at the Presidency. This line caught my attention:

"Opponents such as Howe argue that Colbert makes a mockery of the political process."

Yes, because up until now, the political process has exemplified sincerity of purpose and fair play.

Excuse me while I throw up in my wastebasket. At least if Colbert participated in the debates we'd have a few laughs. Plus, people might just have some truly important revelations, such as seeing the absurdity of the system for what it is and lynching the parade of clowns which own it.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Mukasey is thoroughly Bad and will Betray the Constitution

2007-10-18T00:02:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

I have been watching the confirmation hearings for Attorney General-designate Michael Mukasey. CNN has an article entitled "Attorney general nominee pledges independence" which paints a rather rosy pictures of Mukasey. It's not rosy. Mukasey fails to meet key standards which we must demand in an Attorney General.

He was asked several times whether or not torture is illegal and whether or not he would stand for it.

It is illegal, and he wouldn't stand for it, he responded.

Are. You. Kidding. Me?

President Bush constantly answers this question (indignantly, I might add) saying we do not torture, as if he's offended that we would even question him. The problem is that he and his evil henchman Dick Cheney consider things like water boarding, which until this Presidency has never been considered to be anything but torture, to be merely an uncomfortable dunk in the water.

As long as it is subjective, he doesn't ever have to worry about being lampooned for "lying" or breaking the law. When something is that open to interpretation, it's worse than worthless. It's an active diversion.

Of course torture is wrong and illegal. But that is no longer a substantive question. Indeed, the Bush administration has rendered this seemingly straightforward question meaningless with its incessant campaign of propaganda and disinformation. So now, we must always read between the lines and assume our "leaders" are dealing in sophistry.

So what is the question? The question is "Here is a list of 'interrogation techniques.' Could you please mark the ones you consider to be torture with a big red ex?" It's a tragedy, but to my great sadness, that's where we are.

Otherwise, a year down the line it might be revealed that we are "aggressively interrogating" American citizens who have been indefinitely detained by cutting their ears off and sewing them back on, or burning cigarette lighters into their sides. Suddenly, these things aren't torture, they're just aggressive interrogation techniques and no one stands responsible - once again.

Another key question he was asked concerned the Presidents abilities to indefinitely detain private citizens. He enthusiastically agreed. It was pointed out that as a judge, he even ruled that President Bush could do this (even though his decision was overturned.) In summary, he stated that yes, the President can detain American citizens indefinitely without charge on the battlefield. The Senator was onto his next question, and it would be easy to miss what he muttered next..

"...although how the 'battlefield' is defined has not been settled."

Translation? In this ever-vague, interminable "War on Terror," the battlefield could be considered to cover America, Americans, and anything an American might do in any way, and consequently, the President can detain anyone, for any reason or no reason, forever, without question, without judicial review, without anything which resembles the protections afforded by the Constitution of the United States of America.

Welcome to the new era of Bush supremacy, where he's got a do-whatever-he-wants badge and you've got nothing not even the Constitutional protections you thought you did.

On these issues and many more, the Constitutionality didn't seem to play much of a role in his consideration of divisive issues. In fact, to my great sadness, his greatest concerns when it came to, for instance, Guantanamo, were not the indefinite detentions and allegations of torture, but rather how these things appeared to Americans and the world at large.

The guy who's been imprisoned without charge for 5 years will no doubt be relieved to hear that the real problem is a public relationships one.

He'll be confirmed. He'll be confirmed because this administration is filled with extraordinarily corrupt, power-mad, egomaniacal and frankly, evil men, and because the Democratic leadership is either too foolish, cowardly or corrupt to stop it.

Mukasey is a man with a thoroughly corrupted ideology who will not sustain the Constitution nor the balance of powers. Forget what you think you can assume about the honesty of these men and women and read between the lines.

He is a Bush nominee for a reason.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Video - Olbermann - Fred Thompson Thinks Bloggers are "Fringe Element" (YW)

2007-10-16T14:54:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

I hate it when I learn more about movie stars. Now whenever I see Fred Thompson on TV, I have to remember that despite is folksy charm, he's just one more spinning, lying, waffling Republican wingnut who is desperately dancing to whatever song he thinks the fringe right wants him to.

Anyway, I'm cleaning up the cellars, so this is another old one. In fact, this is old to the tune of about 4 months. Never got posted for some reason.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Video - If you F**k things up, you don't get to be called "Expert" - YW

2007-10-16T00:01:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

UPDATED: Some people were having trouble with the video. It should be working for everyone now.

This is from back in late August, but I hadn't seen it, so maybe you haven't either. It's from a Bill Maher panel. There are a couple of classic lines in this, but the mystifying part of this video is how the whole issue over "mistake" vs. "lie" comes up again. Or in this case, more perversely, it's "mistake" vs. "lie" vs. "What? We didn't lie OR make a mistake! There ARE WMD's in Iraq and Saddam WAS connected to 9/11!" Now before any visiting conservative throws a fit, no, this guy does not say that Saddam was directly connected to 911. He just wrote a book which implied it and defends his own ass by desperately clinging to semantic arguments. What he did was write a book about the connection between Saddam and Al-Qaeda, and here, reads a quote suggesting there was a connection. (Like, an Al-Qaeda agent once tripped over an Iraqi dog.)

Can't we close the chapter on this one? Seriously, let's get real: Conservatives did everything they could to make people believe Saddam was involved in 9/11. They were highly successful. Even after President Bush admitted it wasn't true, relatively high double digit polls continued to show millions of Americans believed it. (An unusually high number of Fox Viewers believed it, interestingly enough...)

It wasn't. The 9/11 report concluded this, no matter what any of their members said elsewhere. President Bush said there wasn't (and that he had never claimed otherwise, of course. Duh. - This was back when they were still pretending to have credibility.) In fact, except for people like Dick Cheney, die-hard neoconservatives and wanker authors trading on the whole bloody affair, (and even they did it only when pressed by interviewers or when giving pep talks to their ever-more-disillusioned wingnut core,) nobody claims there was a connection which was contextually relevant.

If there are some quotes at odds with each other, then isn't it reasonable we fall on the side of the billion expert opinions which claim there was no link instead of the handful of *cough* expert opinions (who are heavily invested in it being so) who still cling to this thoroughly debunked, highly spun, and ultimately abandoned contention? Top this off with the complete lack of the most visible spokesman (President Bush) arguing this point to the American people? After all, if it was at all a viable line, then wouldn't they keep brandishing it as an effective tool of persuasion?

This whole travesty is one of the more glaring examples of how the Bush administration has made intellectual honesty and scientific rigor into a brand of moral relativism which conservatives have bemoaned for so long. How's the for irony?

Anyway, without further delay, here's the video. Oh, and there is a variety of colorful language, so if you're at work, you may want to wait until home or slip the headphones on. (In other words, it's probably NSFW)

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

The SideTrack

2007-10-15T09:37:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

I don't add blogs to my "blog roll" lightly. I get requests to trade links all of the time, but just can't bring myself to do it.

However, sometimes you just have to point to where the gold is: The SideTrack is an exceptional blog. It offers unique commentary and is engaging and fun to read. For instance, today they posted an entry called "Chris Cannon does us a Solid." This is the type of post that I wish I had written. It's clever, insightful and interesting. This qualities are typical of posts over at the SideTrack. I highly recommend them for anyone interested in Utah/National commentary. Their feed is here. I suggest adding them to your reader if you use one or bookmarking them the old-fashioned way. You can also find a new link to them on the sidebar of the Deseret Spectacle.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Blackwater Pulled Weapons on US Forces?

2007-10-14T03:22:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

A growing private army of MERCENARIES (yeah, that's right guys, you're friggin' mercenaries - sorry you're not chummy with that label), who are outside Iraqi and US law, founded by an ex-special forces guy who inherited a billion-dollar fortune, and are earning billions of dollars from our incursions into Afghanistan and Iraq, seems like a pretty good idea normally, right?

But listen to this: Apparently in 2006, they pulled their guns on U.S. Soldiers, disarmed them, and made them lay on the ground until they could get their vehicle out to leave. From the MSNBC story:

"Can you believe it? They actually drew their weapons on U.S. soldiers." He was describing a 2006 car accident, in which an SUV full of Blackwater operatives had crashed into a U.S. Army Humvee on a street in Baghdad's Green Zone. The colonel, who was involved in a follow-up investigation and spoke on the condition he not be named, said the Blackwater guards disarmed the U.S. Army soldiers and made them lie on the ground at gunpoint until they could disentangle the SUV. His account was confirmed by the head of another private security company.

Are you friggin' kidding me? What the hell is happening to this country? What the hell are we doing in Iraq? Where the hell have my representatives gone?? Hatch, Bennett, Cannon, Bishop - all the rest of you: If you don't want to go down in history as treasonous, servile, cowardly laptops, or self-serving plutocrats trying to secure your space in the world, then here's what you have to do: save the Republic, and get a handle on the Executive!!

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Video - AmeriCuscan Border and toms Patrol! F**K YEAH! YW

2007-10-10T16:02:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

This is the type of video I would expect to see on "The Family Guy" or "The Simpsons." Actually, what it really reminds me of this Video (nsfw) from "Team America: World Police" but note that video is probably NSFW (Not Safe For Work.)

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Supreme Court Splits on Special Education Case

2007-10-10T14:43:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

The Supreme Court split on a case which is tangentially related to our ongoing voucher war here in Utah, leaving a lower court ruling to stand (pdf). Justice Kennedy did not participate in consideration of this case, for reasons I've not yet seen.

From the Jurist:

Tom F. was awarded continued tuition reimbursement under IDEA after his disabled child spent two years attending private school following Tom F's successful challenge to the New York public school district's Individualized Education Plan for his son as inadequate.

The SCOTUS Blog has more on this case, and is a good resource for Supreme Court-related news.

And of course, for the time being, Google has more.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Video - Olbermann - Worst Person in the World: Novak, Limbaugh, O'Reilly (YW)

2007-10-10T13:43:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

Robert Novak gets 3rd place for yet another lie, claiming that Valerie Plame's husband, Joseph C. Wilson, reportedly had no problem about him outing his wife's classified work when he called him for a quote on Novak's CIA-Agent-Outing Story (Why his treasonous butt isn't behind bars is still a mystery to me)

Rush Limbaugh comes in second for citing a bunch of borderline psychotics who published the names and addresses of SCHIP recipients who worked for this new bill, supposedly to encourage their harassment, to attack these same children who had benefited from SCHIP, claiming they were fat cats because they attended private schools. As it turns out, they did so because they were on scholarships.

But the award once again goes to the ever-mentally-deteriorating Bill O'Reilly for his bizarre and despicable comments about Shawn Hornbeck. You may have read in the news about how Michael Devlin, psychotic pedophile, was sentenced to 74 Life Prison Terms. Shawn Hornbeck was kidnapped by Devlin when the boy was 11.

O'Reilly, with his infamous sensitivity and intense reasoning skills, had this to say at the time:

"there was an element here that this kid liked about this circumstances" ... "The situation here for this kid looks to me to be a lot more fun than what he had under his old parents. He didn't have to go to school. He could run around and do whatever he wanted."

As it turned out, Devlin confessed that a few days after kidnapping Hornbeck, he decided it was time to "kill him," and took him out to the woods to do just that. Hornbeck somehow talked him out of it, convincing him instead to keep him around.

Pan back to O'Reilly. When talking with Greta Van Susteren back in January, O'Reilly said that if the facts turned out differently, that he would run that clip and apologize. Well, the facts have turned out differently, once again emerging against one-man travesty O'Reilly is becoming. He has yet to play that clip or apologize, and I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it. Fox News isn't a big "Mea Culpa" sort of place.

Now that you have the background, here's the video:

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Video - Daily Show: President Moving From Nixon to Mr. Burns (YW)

2007-10-09T13:10:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

Whenever I post a video which is hosted on a private server, thus being accessible to those of you whose stupid boss decided to block youtube, I'll post a "YW" for "Youtube Workaround" in the tags on post title.

I hurried and ripped this from youtube before the Nazis over at Virgin/Comedy Central have that used banned for life. It's hilarious. When President Bush vetoed this bill, I was like "Are you kidding me, dude? This is a gimme! Don't be that guy!"

But alas.. He did veto it. And Jon Stewart does a great break down of it in this clip.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Satan Just Keeps Trying to Make Christian Leaders Look Stupid

2007-10-09T12:25:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

You know, I'm really tired of Satan. I swear, if he's not organizing Publish Post massive fronts of illegal immigrants to invade America, he's trying to frame random Bishops for beating their wives. Take Bishop Weeks. After his wife accused him of a vicious assault, Weeks went before his congregation and courageously copped to the truth: That Satan was behind these accusations. One frequent visitor had this to say about the whole ugly mess:

"There are three sides to every story," said Clarkston's Shannon Mayers, a frequent visitor. "Nobody has the right to judge anybody. God is in the midst of that and will work it out."

That's right! 'cause if there's one thing that modern Christianity accentuates is a reluctance to judge other people! You go, girl! Or how about this one:

"We all make mistakes. He deserves another opportunity," Adams said. "I'm hurt, but I do respect him for being man enough to show his face today."

Here it is again! It's that famous Christian forgiveness!

You know, if the Christian people really feel this way, they do a lousy job choosing and supporting their spokespeople. Coming from an outside perspective, let me tell you what I see: a bunch of perpetually outraged, self-righteous finger shakers who complain about everything even if they have everything already. (Utah is a great example of this, where many LDS have the remarkable ability of feeling continually besieged despite the fact they are the clear majority and control almost everything.)

I see a steady stream of corruption and an unusually high percentage of Christian leaders being exposed as Homosexuals and Pedophiles. I can only imagine how many more corrupt or hypocritical Christian and Conservative leaders are out there who are still in power.

Can you Christians understand why some of us may be a little weary to get on board with ya'll?

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Top Ten Headlines - Schizophrenic Greenspan and Japanese Super Teachers

2007-10-09T11:44:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

If you just read the headlines, former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan would seem to be a little schizophrenic. As #9 here points out, Greenspan worries Recession risks are up. But #6? Don't worry, we're not headed towards recession. Earlier in that week, Greenspan had, in surprisingly frank language, revealed that the war in Iraq is, in fact, about oil. #2 on this list clarifies that link, which is, to say, that the Bush administration didn't get us into the war because of oil, but now, you know.. that we're there... well.. now it's about oil. Uh.. Yeah.

Fox News, their various ultra-conservative Nimrod pundits, flip-flopping on the man they once praised when he was a loyal Republican, quickly launched attacks on the venerable Greenspan, along with a spirited defenses of the Iraq war and how silly it is to suggest oil as a motivating factor. Faithful Neoconservative shill Neil Cavuto showed a particularly disjointed and moronic spirit in his ironically named op-ed, "Common Sense." In an article entitled "What Do Alan Greenspan and MoveOn.org Have in Common?" (which right there lets you know he's a straight shooter, intent on reasoned analysis of the issue at hand) he states the following:

If we were so interested in confiscating Iraq's substantial oil reserves, why didn't we just plow through there, and deputize the place then?

Just plow through there.. and.. deputize the place then? Cavuto.. What the hell does that even mean? "why didn't we just plow through there, and deputize the place then?" Neil... *takes deep breath* Okay, listen Neil. I realize you're a friggin' idiot. I realized this when I watched you summarize reports of illegal surveillance by saying "While it's not comforting to know the government is collecting details of our private lives, it's better than them collecting out body parts."

So it's not like I'm expecting a lot. But if you're gonna try to blast others for either idiocy or ignorance, you need to start with something a little more coherent than this. But you know what? Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe this is all your demographic really requires. Maybe they think that "plowing through the place" and deputizing the, ... oil fields, I guess, is as far as their brains can really go. Thinking about what might happen after that, like constant attacks on the oil fields from the army of a sovereign nation as well as terrorist and insurgent attacks, all while trying to keep the oil fields, transportation, refineries, etc, functional... Isn't really a viable idea, and is friggin' stupid to suggest.

But Neil just blows right past that, as if what he just said wasn't embarrassingly stupid:

We could have. We didn't.

Well damn. Aren't we just the nicest sons of bitches, eh?

And why has the vast and overwhelming expense in Iraq now grown to stabilizing areas far from oil centers, not near them?

Killer point there, Neil. 'cause after all, if there's one thing we know that people cannot do, is travel from one place to another. Therefore, if a place a hundred miles away from an oil pipeline is blowing up with fire fights, bombs, etc, we know that it is absolutely impossible for anyone there to travel to the oil fields. Keep it going, Cavuto. Lead us to freedom!

I guess if you keep reporting a falsity often enough, it becomes a truth.

If you ever listen to Neil Cavuto on one thing, listen to him on this. He and the rest of his Fox News cronies know this better than anyone.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

The Myth of Parental Choice & Vouchers

2007-10-09T11:37:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

I don't know if it's the official slogan for the pro-voucher crowd, but it's definitely a popular one. "Let's do what we can for Parental Choice!" screams one excited woman. "Return Parental Choice to the schools!" wails another.

Please - grow the hell up and stop lying to yourselves and everyone else.

This has virtually nothing to do with parental choice. Parents have choice already, and to what extent they don't won't be changed a whole hell of a lot by this law. Parents are free to send their children wherever they want or educate them in the home, as long as at least a few core academic requirements are met.

Indeed, many parents do just that. In fact, many private schools are packed full, with multiple-year waiting lists. So what's the real issue?

This is about using taxpayer money to subsidize school choice outside the public school system. Mind you, it isn't about letting parents send their children anywhere they want to go, this is about allowing parents to send their children to whatever school they could afford if they had an additional $500-$3000 in their pockets. For parents who are unable to afford private schools right now, that $3000 will not make much of a difference. The only thing you can be sure of, in fact, is that the people who would be sending their children to private schools anyway, (You know, rich people) will get a nice little $500 tax break. Which is good, 'cause ya know, they can never have too much.

At this point voucher proponents would start fawning over rare anecdotes where a parent takes up a second job to earn that extra $1300 a year that would get their child into a private school which costs more than $3000 a year.

They also might start off on a tangent about how those darn liberals hate seeing poor people picking themselves up by their bootstraps, and how this proves the it's really the liberals who are racist.

Uh, yeah.

How painfully ironic it is that conservatives are now the ones ignoring statistics and reason by focusing on carefully chosen, and sometimes manufactured, anecdotes which don't reflect the broader reality. It takes a certain kind of crazy to pull off the kind of ideological acrobatics they're engaging in.

Anyway, the anecdotes can't be argued with. Mainly because, you know, they're friggin' anecdotes! And anecdotes, moving as they may be, are utterly useless when contemplating policy changes which will affect millions of students for decades to come.

As far as the private schools which cost less than $3000... Well, I'm actually working on another post right now about that, compiling statistics on every private school I can find in Utah. Suffice to say, so far it seems that parochial schools outnumber secular schools nearly 2 to 1 and it is those schools which tend to be affordable.

So are we trying to provide choice for parents, or provide a program in which religions can indoctrinate our children on the public dime?

I don't know, but before you think that's too good an idea, maybe you should consider sending your child to Bob Roberts University. You know, that's the university that Bob Roberts told everyone he had to get $15 million to build otherwise God was going to "call him home." (kill him). That place is turning out beautifully.

Saying this is about choice is becoming increasingly nauseating. And frankly, it's simplicity and inaccuracy is insulting and disrespectful to every parent out there who is doing their best to raise and educate their children.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Tidbits - The Speaking of Ridiculousness

2007-09-27T03:26:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

Reuters has an article entitled "Bush thought Saddam was prepared to flee" in which this interesting passage can be found:

"The Egyptians are speaking to Saddam Hussein. It seems he's indicated he would be prepared to go into exile if he's allowed to take $1 billion and all the information he wants about weapons of mass destruction," Bush was quoted as saying at the meeting one month before the U.S.-led invasion.

And all the information he wants about weapons of mass destruction? Seriously? Hussein is going to bundle up a billion dollars in small bills, and the only thing else he wants in exile is unlimited information "about weapons of mass destruction"? What, as a friggin' hobby? He wants to study "weapons of mass destruction" in his spare time?

See, it's this kind of BS which just blows me away. I mean, what kind of sense does this make? How is he going to go into exile, and how could a condition of that possibly be "and all the information he wants about weapons of mass destruction," - I mean, are we really all this stupid?

I wonder where he would have went. Just him, his HUGE suitcase stuff with thousands of hundred dollar bills and reams and reams of all the "information he wants about weapons of mass destruction."

*sigh*

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

The Eloquence of a Federal Justice

2007-09-27T00:50:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

The bold intensity of the Bush administration in their multitudinous, varied assaults of Constitutional principle can sometimes have a muting effect on the seriousness of their consequences. When inundated with stories that in the past, individually, would have each caused a national uproar, it's easy to just not think about it. Fully accepting and processing it can almost overwhelm one with outrage and grief. President Bush has truly brought new meaning to the term "outrage fatigue."

Today the Judicial branch affirmed what most of us already knew: That key provisions of the Patriot Act are unconstitutional. I've posted the decision on-line here (PDF) I would wager that other laws will be judged similarly, like the habeas-corpus-suspending Military Commissions Act of 2006 (wiki) (Whitehouse Spin) (.GOV pdf) Speaking of which, one of the statements the Whitehouse Spin page makes on the Military Commissions Act is this:

Were It Not For This Program, Our Intelligence Community Believes Al-Qaeda And Its Allies Would Have Succeeded In Attacking The American Homeland Again.

Sorry to say, but the Intelligence Community hasn't established a terrific track record, in either competency, integrity or honesty to the people it is employed by - American Citizens. It also doesn't help when your spy chief (Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell) is lying to congress, talking about how expanded spying powers have played significant rolls in preventing attacks when they have not. But really, just one more lie; one more betrayal.

Getting back to my original point, consider this: When looking for a couple of links for this post, I copied almost 4 pages of news clips, links and other references which could each form the basis of a post - or a Congressional inquiry. The "fatigue" can be very real and overwhelming.

In any event, in the courts decision, U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken put it quite beautifully:

"...the FISCR holds that the Constitution need not control the conduct of criminal surveillance in the United States. In place of the Fourth Amendment, the people are expected to defer to the Executive Branch and its representation that it will authorize such surveillance only when appropriate. The defendant here is asking this court to, in essence, amend the Bill of Rights, by giving it an interpretation that would deprive it of any real meaning. This court declines to do so.

...For over 200 years, this Nation has adhered to the rule of law -- with unparalleled success ... A shift to a Nation based on extra-constitutional authority is prohibited, as well as ill-advised."

"This court declines to do so."

I love that line.

It's kind of like saying "You want us to do what? Yeah, I don't think so, bitches."

And how will the President respond? I'm sorry to say, he will likely respond in an obscenely typical fashion, with swaggering disregard - or perhaps a tragic lack of understanding - of the Constitution of the United States of America. He will rattle of something ridiculous and completely removed from the issue at hand. He will say something like "Well, it seems to me, that the Patriot Act helps us stop Terrorists (or "islamo-fascists" perhaps), and stopping Terrorists from attacking America is a good thing."

Sigh. Yeah, Mr. President. Stopping terrorist attacks is a good thing. Giving you vast, unchecked surveillance powers while gutting the Constitution with no reason other than your vague scare tactics, demonstrably false contentions, and frightening lack of competence, is not.

The courts, for today at least, reminded us that the Constitution trumps the President, and principles should not be abandoned at the first sign of trouble. I believe that only tyrants will contend freedom must be abandoned to be be protected, and that only fools and cowards will agree. I believe our greatness comes from our ability to insist upon freedom in any light, whether in the warmth of relative peace or the shadow of terrorist threat. Americans insist on being free.

I'm glad that at least one Federal Judge agrees.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Editorial on sexual orientation in Davis County Clipper

2007-09-26T21:45:00.000-06:00

Layton, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

Maybe I haven't lived in Utah long enough to understand how things work around here but I was absolutely blown away when I read this article today in the Davis County Clipper.

Here is my letter to the editor.
__________________________________________________________________________

Shame on the Clipper for running this despicable article. Our local newspaper is better than to be the mouth piece for a bunch of right wing “theories” on human sexuality.

Here is something for JoAnn to think about - Why did Jesus not preach once about homosexuality the whole time while He was here on earth? You would think if it was such a big issue for God that He would have had His only begotten Son speak about the issue while He was here on earth.

Don’t you think?

But Jesus did preach about how we treat others and tolerance and love…maybe JoAnn should try being a follower of Christ instead of pretending she is holier than thou.

Marshall Collins
Layton, UT
_________________________________________________________________________

I figure if questioning other people’s sexuality is now fair game then so is questioning JoAnn’s faith.

Give the editor and admin a ring and let them know this is not acceptable content for our local newspaper (or any newspaper for that matter).

-----------------------------------------
Main telephone: 295-2251

ADMINISTRATION
R. Gail Stahle: Publisher/ext 114
gstahle@davisclipper.com

EDITORS
Rolf Koecher: Executive Editor/ext. 126
rkoecher@davisclipper.com
-----------------------------------------

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Bridging the Bush/Christian/Iran Gap

2007-09-26T17:18:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

Finally something the Bush administration and the Christian "right" can get in bed with Iran on. (So to speak)

CNN Video: "Gay sex can bring execution in Iran"

You can hear the crowd laughing as Ahmadinejad asserts there are no gay people in Iran in response to a question about gays being murdered.

From the article:

Iran's leader denies there's homosexuality in his nation. CNN's Brian Todd looks at attitudes about homosexuality there.

Also, here's a headline you just don't see very often:

• Ahmadinejad speaks; outrage and controversy follow - CNN.com

I keep waiting for an article to be entitled,

"Ahmadinejad speaks; foreign applause and placidity follow."

Anyway, I've always thought that if there was really one way to bridge the gap between radical religion and sharply contrasting ideologies, it's the hatred of gay people. President Bush may not be able to understand the subtle intricacies of an foreign politics and influence, but he's quite comfortable with the unabashed hatred of gay people.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

In case anybody else missed it....

2007-09-17T18:36:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

I totally missed it, but at the end of August we quietly snuck across the NINE TRILLION DOLLARS OF DEBT mark. Then we briefly dipped back under it before shooting past once again. In the 17 days since, we've gone further into the hole by about 17/24 billion dollars, by differing accounts.

Spend a few minutes thinking about where that money is going. Then spend a few minutes thinking about where it could be going.

Thanks Mr. President! Huckuva job!

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Video - Mitt Romney Convulses in Another Fit of Hypocritical Flip-Flopping

2007-09-17T12:06:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

Yeah, I'm sure Gen. Petraeus is in constant, mortal danger. Give me a break. Petraeus is in about as much danger of bodily harm in Iraq as Mitt Romney is.

When was the last time you "repudiated" one of the extremist nut-jobs from the religious right when they said or did something stupid, eh Mitt? Have they "purchased" the Republican party?

No, but you certainly have compromised every single one of your values to pander to them, you flip-flopping sell-out.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Opinion - Lamonte John - What happened to a Democratic Utah? Let me fill ya in.

2007-09-10T04:55:00.000-06:00

Did Demos fall down on job?
Published: Sept. 10, 2007 12:08 a.m. MDT

Richard Stauffer makes an excellent point in his letter (Forum, Sept. 7) asking what happened to the Utah Democratic Party between the time he left Utah in the late 1950s and now. All this time I've been assuming that it was the people of Utah just blindly following one party, but I think Mr. Stauffer has a point.

I lived in Utah and a neighboring state up until the late 1980s. In my life, Utah had a Democratic governor for five consecutive terms (Cal Rampton and Scott Matheson), a well-respected Democratic senator (Frank Moss) and an excellent Democratic congressman (Wayne Owens) recognized as a leader in Utah, the United States and other parts of the world.

So what has changed? What has the Utah Democratic Party done (or not done) to allow Utah to become recognized as one of the most Republican states in the nation? My apologies to Congressman Jim Matheson in that statement.

Lamonte John
Burke, Va.

Looks like you've been away for a while. I understand, and you pose a good question.. What has happened is the ultimate manifestation of a plan which began roughly 20, 25 years ago, when Jerry Falwell and suite of assorted, conservative "true believers" determined that to establish a long-lasting Republican majority, they would need to galvanize and politicize the religious right into a reliable voting block.

Strategically, this was genius. Mobilizing this voting block didn't cost anything except a few "noble lies" and the characterization of the Democrats as evil and the Republicans as good. You rarely see a contested voting region which doesn't have some sort of "moral" issue like gay marriage, abortion, (flag-burning to a lesser extent) whatever on the ballot.

*Poof* A formerly non-political set of religious groups, who occupied themselves with doing the will of God, suddenly became rabidly partisan Republicans, certain that "Democrats bore the stamp of Satan," as one frequent letter-writer put it.

So why is Utah such a bastion of Republicanism? Because it is concentrated Mormonism; the population tends to be ideologically amendable to authoritarian polarization (being the only true church gives you a sort of besieged mentality, even when you're the majority.) It is also hip to snarky Republican dismissals of silly "environmental" issues, 'cause after all, the rapture is just around the corner anyway. Why worry about the environment? I could go on.

It's the greatest ruse in American history - the fusing of politics with Christianity into an unholy monster where Jesus is pro-war, scoffs at the poor, and is wholly concerned with whether gay people marry each other or not. Quite the triumph. Quite the tragedy.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

The Utah Amicus and Systemic Health Care Roots or "Why Can't Republicans Even Pretend not to be Evil?"

2007-08-31T10:03:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

There was an interesting comment by Jesse Harris over on the Utah Amicus on a short post that Steve Olsen put up. I wound up rewriting my response about 4 times. I started with a flippant one-liner, turned it into a serious one paragraph, then went to a sarcastic two-paragrapher, graduated to a 3 paragraph argument and segued nicely into an obnoxious, barely lucid 4 1/2 paragrapher drenched in sarcasm and evidence of my insomnia. And my friends, when it gets to that point, it's ready to be published on the Deseret Spectacle. So with apologies to my friends at the Utah Amicus, I've moved my response here and quoted the person I was responding to:

Jesse said the following in response to the Utah Amicus post. As he usually does, he made a lucid, reasonable contention, completely undeserving of my bratty reply.

You still failed to indicate how exactly you would bring down the cost of medical care for everyone instead of simply subsidizing its high cost. Failing to address the root cause of insufficient medical care is treating a symptom rather than a cause.

And from that was born this rambling, tangential rant:

Yeah, the health care industry should stay away from treating... symptoms..... Wait. What?

No, that's right. I mean, I can tell you that when *I* get a really bad headache or am experiencing some other kind of intense discomfort, I want a Doctor who leaves me to writhe in pain and pray for my own death. I don't want one of these nut job doctors who devotes time and energy to relieving the immediate, acute symptoms I'm experiencing. That's for short-sighted socialist commies!

What we really need are people who have the intellectual courage and honesty to spend days, weeks, months, years or even decades getting down to the root causes - tracking down those root causes by organizing conferences, creating committees, commissioning reports, reacting to media circuses and movies, wading through the ebb and flow of the different political parties as they come to power and fade away, as well as gripping tight to the economic ups and downs which help muddy the water even further.. And finally, and this is my favorite, getting "unfettered" advice from expert panels riddled beyond salvation by competing money interests, political agendas, and government organizations, defending their turf and the status quo.

After all, I think we can all agree that the primary concern of said interests is cheap, accessible, quality health care where the patients are healthy and happy, and profit margins relative and appropriate.

I'm positive that out of such noble, selfless groups of people will come a clarity of thought and a practical definition of the elusive "root causes" which eventually will help us provide affordable health coverage to each and every one of us. ... some day... maybe not in time to help little Timmy get his toe sewn back on from his lawnmower accident. (Which is really just a symptom of poor lawn-mower-handling skills anyway, so...)

... Right?

Right?

In all seriousness though, I'm very much a fan of making systemic changes and ferreting out systemic problems, but the inescapable reality of the situation is that we have a lot of people who are suffering now.

"No man is an island."

I used to hate that saying.

And truth be told, I still do.

But really, isn't it true? It seems as though when we are pooling together our money to help out the poor or the middle class, Republicans convulse into fits, sputtering accusations like "socialism," "class warfare," and "redistribution of wealth" out of their spittle-laden faces as they cook to a bright red color.

But yet again, we're all getting ready to put whatever our share of another 120 billion dollars to support yet another year of war. We're all throwing in to support a war that the vast majority of us don't approve of, want to end, and that frankly, a war we're all still a little pissed about being duped into. But that? The redistribution of wealth from all of us into the pockets of the military industrial complex? The Halliburton's? The Black water's? The 's? But that? That's just doing our patriotic duty and defending our nation.

I stumbled across a post from some "PR Strategist" or something last night - it was from early in the year, right after the Democrats had taken office. This guy is from Utah, so when I dig up his name, I'm sure some of you will recognized him.

Anyway, he was talking about how they had fulfilled their promise to raise the minimum aThey fulfilled their promised to increase the minimum wage. And what was the headline? "Democrats raise minimum wage!"? "Democrats endanger small businesses by making them pay more for labor!"?

No. To this yahoo, the Democrats raising the minimum wage represented proof positive that the sole aim of the Democratic party is to turn America into a Socialist state.

*Sigh*

Stupidity. So. Much. Stupidity.

The Democrats haven't been immune either, but I'll get to them later. Let's get back to this allergic reaction that Republicans seem to have when faced with the opportunity to be decent human beings and have government do something actually "good."

I mean, don't get me wrong.. I don't think Republicans go out of their way to appear (be?) evil.. But Holy Mother, guys! You really do! Like this latest push for an increase in funding for low-income children.. It comes up again and even our own vapid, bone-headed Senator Hatch is behind it - but you President Bush?

You can't bring yourself to just say "Aw shucks. Why not. Sure, let's throw in an extra 20 or 30 extra million dollars for uninsured poor kids to get medical treatment they need"? You can spend 500 times that on a ludicrous, destined-to-fail military wet dream that your daddy's old, senile boss fantasized about, but ya can't just suck up enough compassion or goodwill to say "Okay, sure, let's help out the poor kids."?

I mean come on guys. You're wiling to pay friggin' FOUR HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS a **DAY** for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but when it comes to paying a fraction of that for years worth of various types of domestic aid you're frugal all the sudden?

*sigh*

Okay. I can see myself getting way off the track here. Let's go back to the original theme of this post..

Causes and conditions. I'm down with exploring, debating and illuminating the roots of the problems we have in our country when it comes to health care. But let's get our friggin' priorities in order and get our people covered while we're figuring it out. We don't have to wait or have a totally solid grasp on what's amiss.

And also, as we do get down to root causes, we can't flinch no matter what; I'm sure there will be things there that I don't like - things that are humbling to acknowledge - but that aside, I think we're going to be going up against roving bands of fire-breathing pharmaceutical lobbyists and grotesquely deformed insurance leviathans, any number of which would happily sacrifice every last one of us if it made them an extra half a percent profit "next" quarter.

Let's shorten the length and power of patents, especially business method patents, on drugs. Let's make the patenting of genes illegal, and make intellectual property protection on adjunct technologies and methods much, much weaker. And don't worry or let them fool you into thinking that they won't do the research if we weaken the intellectual property protection. There are mountains of money to be made in the field, and they're not going to sit on the sidelines pouting because they didn't get an extra government-insured %4000 return on their R&D investments.

If a company or educational institution gets grant money from the government for medical research - make that research public domain - available to every American company and citizen at no cost.

Let's retrieve our collective balls from the trophy shelves of the insurance companies and aggressively take them to task for their unconscionable, yet impressively creative and dramatic interpretations of just how little your insurance coverage actually covers.

There are a lot of things we can do.

The Democrats aren't angels by any means - this last betrayal by them on President Bush's last-minute push for changes to surveillance laws which completely absolved himself and his agents of their blatantly illegal behavior while simultaneously granting them a new system by which even the paltry oversight which did exist has been dismantled - and all of this by a group of Democrats who have railed on against the President and his illegal, warrantless, surveillance? The hypocrisy.. The disappointment.. Well, frankly, it was incredibly demoralizing for me. However, just recently, I regained a tiny sliver of hope, as the Democrats seem to be responding to their constituents, who are pissed and screaming "What the hell are you doing?? Get in there and do the job we elected you to do!!" They have taken actions which suggest they may have realized their screw up, and are going back to review correct it, hopefully long before the current 6-month expiration date nears.

But with the Republicans? I mean.. Good Lord. Over the last six years.. The sheer volume of give-a-ways of public resources; the unprecedented deregulation of dangerous, greedy industries; the sculpting of laws to further provide unaccountable, ultra-wealthy corporations and individuals maximum market protection while simultaneously absolving them of civic responsibility or liability.. All of it is easily ten times worse than my worst fears. There betrayal of the American people has been simply astounding.

As an ideological movement, as a political party, even as a group of men who I can only assume was well-intentioned and honorable at some point.. But all of that is gone now. They have traded away their integrity and principles in their mad, arrogant, self-righteous grappling of power.

They are a party which has lost their soul, and I don't see it returning any time soon. They sold out the people they swore to represent, and I'm just not sure how you recover from that. I'm not sure if you do recover from that. It's really quite tragic, when you think about it.

Okay, I could literally rant for another 30 minutes, but I'm already a little concerned that this post is being driven more by my total lack of sleep last night, so I'm just going to let go. :-) But I'd like to hear any of your opinions on... whatever it was I was talking about.

Actually, if you could tell me what I was talking about, that would be great.

Thanks.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Worst Threat to America: Al Qaeda or Miss Teen South Carolina?

2007-08-29T16:44:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

When I started watching this, I thought it was hysterical. By the end of it, I wasn't laughing. And it's not that long a clip.

It got me to thinking: Which is a greater threat to America: Al Qaeda (wiki), or the underlying failures of our education system and shared values that this clip of the South Carolina "Miss Teen USA" (wiki) contestant reflects?

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Welcome to the comcastic tiered internet!

2007-08-22T05:22:00.000-06:00

Layton, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

Remember the issues DS was having with comcast?

Well other people are noticing that comcast is cutting off whole protocols.

Sunday afternoon I finished setting up a dedicated rtorrent server for seeding Ubuntu .iso images. I do my best to hand out all the CDs I can, but I also figured I could make use of the bandwidth I have to do the same. Once I got on that idea I realized I had access to two Comcast connections (family) where I could drop in two more of these “rtorrent appliances”. So, I got to work setting a second one up and dropped it on the network at my Dad’s house.

Wasn’t I surprised to find that my seeds weren’t taking off. After some quick Google searching I found that Comcast is cutting torrent connections nearly across the board. All across the internet people are complaining about Comcast not letting them seed anymore–and many of these for completely legal material!

I know bittorrent is associated with a lot of pirating. Hell, so was ftp and whatever other protocol you want to drop in here. This doesn’t mean that it is *only* used for pirating. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t legit reasons to use the efficient protocol. Apparently Comcast doesn’t see it this way.

The way I see it this is the first step toward a Tiered Internet, whether or not any such thing is approved in Legislation or by the consumers. Comcast doesn’t care. They are simply cutting off access to part of the Internet, plain and simple.

And it begins...still don't think we need net neutrality? Visit Save The Internet and let your voice be heard!

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Video - Bill Moyers On Karl Rove

2007-08-19T14:39:00.000-06:00

Layton, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

I wrote a small editorial last week about the intersection of Rove with Utah and his legacy for our nation.

Bill Moyers as always takes it to another level in tonights closing commentary on his PBS Journal.

In this excerpt, Moyers applies his unique insight to fellow Texan, Karl Rove:

“Karl Rove figured out a long time ago that the way to take an intellectually incurious draft-averse naughty playboy in a flight jacket with chewing tobacco in his back pocket and make him governor of Texas, was to sell him as God’s anointed in a state where preachers and televangelists outnumber even oil derricks and jack rabbits.”

Watch the video because, once again, Moyers nails it.

HT - News Corpse

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Video - Who is John “Bradshaw” Layfield from Bulls and Bears on Fox Noise.

2007-08-04T11:51:00.000-06:00

Layton, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

David Sirota posted this clip from Fox Noise "Bulls and Bears" with him discussing the governments role in ending poverty.

I take issue with the basic premise of the question. I don't think that is what anyone is suggesting. But within context of these shows nothing constructive will ever be discussed. I hate these Saturday morning "business" shows because they have nothing to do with business or analysis of the "bulls and bears". How many of these idiots called the latest wall street down turn? I have heard liberal wall street analysts like bonddad talk about the mess we are in right now with bear stearns and runaway credit for going on six months. I have a business degree and I take nothing away from these shows in the way of good business analysis. These show only exist to just feed right wing talking points.

Take note of John “Bradshaw” Layfield and his off the wall comments, he appears at the beginning at 55 seconds and then toward the end at 5:27. Who is John “Bradshaw” Layfield? Well it was pointed out that Mr. Boot Straps was in the WWF (thus the nickname bradshaw) and how did he become known as "North East Securities Senior Vice President" as he is described on these "business" shows? Well Mr. I-worked-my-way-up-by-my-bootstraps married Imperial Bank of Canada executive director Meredith Whitney who is also a Fox Noise contributor and now Bradshaw has decided he is qualified to give investment advice. You mean I have taken more economics classes than Mr. Economics 101 himself. So basically his most important business decision was saying "I DO".

One of things he said that really bothered me is the concept that he pulled himself up by his boot straps, investments from previous generations have helped all of us succeed. They gave us those boot straps and this country didn't magically get this way...and it won't magically stay this way. Investing in public education is the key to ending poverty, spend money on our people, empower them and teach the skills they need to succeed. Republicans have starved public education for years now, they bitch about every dime that goes to public schools and universities. Republicans don't want us to get too smart because then we might figure out how we are being screwed in this country.

In another kicker O'Reilly has comedian Dennis Miller on to discuss something he has no clue about.

This is how Fox noise operates, the only qualifications someone needs to be an "expert" on a subject is being willing to tow the right wing line.

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Video - Everything relates back to Harry Potter

2007-08-03T20:41:00.000-06:00

Layton, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Sen. Orrin Hatch: Lone defender of disgraced Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. I'm so proud. (Video)

2007-08-02T03:39:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

While almost everyone in Washington, even staunch Republican supporters, are jumping the rotting, disgraced, sinking ship of doom which is Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, we here in Utah can once again stand tall and proud as our very own Sen. Orrin Hatch stands up to take up the beleaguered Attorney General's cause.

When you have Arlen Specter, senior Republican, asking the AG "Do you really expect us to believe that?" along with a growing chorus of voices pointing out lies and inconsistencies in the good AG's testimony and public statements, it takes a real man's man to imply that all of that is the result of a "witch hunt" by Democrats.

Either that, or it takes a Senator who is either so delusional that he can't grasp simple facts and situations, or a politician so secure in the fact that he represents a constituency which has fallen to an unholy amalgam of their religion (Mormonism) and Republicanism, so that he knows he can do or say almost anything, and will still be reelected.

And actually, it's not really an either/or sort of deal. I'm sure Sen. Hatch is capable of both remarkable self-delusion and soulless politicking.

In any event, this video is a mash-up of a bunch of statements by various politicians on the matter. It was posted by "Veracifier" (youtube) (from "Talking Points Memo?") and led with this snippet:

TPMtv: Sunday Show Roundup: No Takers

We scoured the Sunday morning talk show landscape for someone, anyone, willing to defend Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. And we came up mighty nigh empty... except for Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT).

Makes ya proud, don't it? Does anybody else wonder why Sen. Hatch never seems to grow older or wiser? I'm getting a little concerned that he has been replaced by a cyborg or something. And let me tell you, Cyborgs aren't down with term limits, and that's really the only way we're ever getting rid of this guy.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Democratic Betrayals and Liberal Lunacy - Part 1 of 3

2007-08-02T03:12:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

First of all, a big thanks to Marshall for rallying together a handful of posts during my extended absence. Life sometimes brings unexpected challenges, and although I've very much missed posting to the Deseret Spectacle as frequently as I have in the past, it has simply been unavoidable. However, as life begins to regain some 'semblance of normalcy, posting on the Deseret Spectacle should as well.

With that out of the way, you may be asking "What's up with the title?" Well, my dear reader, that's a very good question. It's not exactly the tone I wanted to make my return on, but what can I say, it's what's on my mind right at the moment.

Now, don't get me wrong: There are literally dozens of recent incidents revealing yet more high-profile Republican scandals, idiocy, hypocrisy, arrogance, etc. And we'll be getting to them soon. But I just read an article which made me cringe a bit, and as such I thought I'd do a quick post which aims to look at our side of the street a bit so that we might avoid going down the same road that the Republicans did.

There have been a few things which would be worth considering, but here are two cases which I think stand out and that we should all be extremely critical of, and one issue in which we are currently in the thick of, and should be extremely wary of.

I'll be going over each of these in separate posts. This is the first of three.

First up is what I consider to be the first major betrayal by the Democratic Congress of the American people:

In May, the Democratic Congress, pressured by the frighteningly powerful Pharmaceutical lobby, removed a loophole which allowed Americans to import cheaper drugs from Canada and other sources:

Updated: 5:35 p.m. MT May 7, 2007

WASHINGTON - In a triumph for the pharmaceutical industry, the Senate on Monday killed a drive to allow consumers to buy prescription drugs from abroad at a significant savings over domestic prices.

On a 49-40 vote, the Senate required the administration to certify the safety and effectiveness of imported drugs before they can be imported, a requirement that officials have said they cannot meet.

“Well, once again the big drug companies have proved that they are the most powerful and best financed lobby in Washington,” said Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican.

Perhaps coincidentally, perhaps not, Sen. Vitter was recently outed as one of the "D.C. Madam's" clients. Whatever hypocrisy Sen. Vitter may be guilty of, and he most certainly is, he has been a tireless advocate for allowing Americans to import cheap medication from abroad.

Advocates for closing the loophole include our own Senator Hatch, who has even written op-ed pieces in the Deseret News to convince Utahns how dangerous it is for us to import cheap drugs.

The argument against importing cheap drugs goes something like this:

Sen. Mike Enzi, a Wyoming Republican, said the requirement for a safety certification was essential to protect the public.

“Under both Democratic and Republican administrations, secretaries of Health and Human services have declined to certify that foreign drugs — like those allowed under the Dorgan Foreign Drug Act — are safe for American consumers. They realized, as I do, that close enough isn’t good enough,” Enzi said.

In other words, it's better for our seniors to go without needed medications than risk unsafe medications - a theory which has never been supported by reality. Even more shameful, others have claimed it opens us up to terrorist attacks:

Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., said the proposal was an attempt to push the FDA into reversing itself while "creating a massive hole on our capacity to secure our borders and protect ourselves."

"If I were a creative terrorist, I would say to myself, 'Hey, listen, all I've got to do is produce a can here that says 'Lipitor' on it, make it look like the original Lipitor bottle, which isn't too hard to do, fill it with anthrax," Gregg said.

Lipitor is a cholesterol-lowering drug.

What a terrible lie. If a terrorist wanted to go this route, they would have an almost limitless number of imported products to "fill with anthrax." Indeed, why not choose something like, say, toothpaste?

Not only did the Democratic Congress cave and give the Pharmaceutical industry, which may be the single most powerful, scary lobby in Washington, they did it in the shadow of hypocritical ad campaign criticizing the Bush administration for just this sort of thing:

What started as a trickle of humble bus trips across the Canadian border by senior citizens looking for cheaper medication is picking up national momentum.

Democratic strategists have seized on the issue of importing low-cost prescription drugs and are launching a multimillion-dollar airwave assault on President Bush in 17 presidential election swing states, including Florida and Michigan, where imports are popular.

...

A narrator in its spots, which depict an elderly couple at a kitchen table, says Bush "sided with drug companies, blocking Medicare from negotiating lower prices and banning Americans from importing low-cost drugs from Canada. For President Bush drug company profits come first."

I fully realize that the pharmaceutical lobby is an almost unstoppable juggernaut in American politics. But I cannot and will not excuse them for this. My hopes for the Democrats would be that they would stand up against such forces in spite of their influence.

I have been pleased with the Democrats on other fronts, namely their push for oversight and accountability of a runaway Executive branch, yielding to the drug lobby was a demoralizing slap in the face. I can only hope they endeavor to make it right - and I do have hope, for I think that many in the Congress are fed up being bullied by the Pharmaceutical lobby.

They are our representatives. It seems most members of Congress forget this fact. Our Republican representatives here in Utah most certainly have forgotten this. But just to put this in perspective, take a look at this informal poll on this issue:

While this is not a controlled scientific poll, one would be hard pressed to argue the American people don't want to be able to import medication from abroad.

It is doubly baffling considering how this will anger the "old-people voting block." I've often commented that you can count on this block to do four things: not die, eat, take drugs, and vote. Why would you alienate this group? In a latter post I'll explain some of the methods the Drug industry and Congress are taking to ameliorate this danger.

Also in a later post, I'll be returning to this issue to expand on the corruption and money interests which permeate the Pharmaceutical lobby and their interactions with the Congress. I'll also be including a video of what may be the most poignant television segment "60 Minutes" ever ran.

But next up is a critique of the liberal response to Don Imus' (wiki) foolish and insensitive characterization of Rutgers University female basketball team.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Understanding the greenhouse effect

2007-07-25T20:04:00.000-06:00

Layton, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

Sometimes I wonder if I learned the same thing that everyone else learned in school about how our planet operates.

Global warming is political
When we have cloud cover, the Earth below gets 10-15 degrees cooler. Physicists have told me that whether it be CO2 or H2O, the Earth gets cooler, not warmer, when these gases increase in the atmosphere. Why? Because the Earth isn't a greenhouse. A greenhouse has glass walls. It's the glass that traps the heat, not the CO2.
Global warming, if it occurs at all, is a political condition, not a meteorological condition.

Kelly Jarvis
Heber City

Wow I am not even sure where to start with this. First off cloud cover is water droplets. The water droplets are absorbing the light and provide shade thus cooling down the area below. And actually if you have enough humidity (more H20) in the atmosphere it will get warmer - been to Florida recently?

But the basic premise of this letter just pisses me off more from how scientifically incorrect it is. I would be curious exactly which physicists this guy is talking to. The reason certain gases cause the greenhouse effect is due to how elements interact with different light frequencies. Since Mr. Jarvis and physicists friends seem to have all the answers then why don't they tell me why the sky is blue? HMMMM?

The earth atmosphere absolutely does act like a greenhouse, if there wasn't some type of greenhouse effect then nothing could live here and our planet would be cold like the moon. But even with the absence of glass walls the gases in our atmosphere does create a greenhouse effect by not allowing the thermal energy of the sun to escape back into space.

The concern now is that we are adding considerably more gases to the atmosphere thus increasing the greenhouse effect. From a political standpoint I think it is impossible to have this discussion with people that align themselves with a party that has had a long standing war against science. I find it way more effective to talk about the political ramifications of continuing to allow our country to be dependent on countries that hate us for our energy needs. That seems to get through the thickest of Republican heads, even Rep. Urquhart!

Did I mention these people scare me?

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Video - 130 degrees in Iraq

2007-07-17T22:19:00.000-06:00

Layton, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

Evidently it is a 130 degrees for the Iraqi government but not for our troops? Beyond stupid. Enjoy that nice sip of water Tony Snow, I am sure our military would like a swig also.

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Video - Republicans object to giving our troops an up or down vote

2007-07-17T21:47:00.000-06:00

Layton, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Video - Bill O attacks Daily Kos

2007-07-16T21:47:00.000-06:00

Layton, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

The thing that I don't understand about Bill O to this day is that I used to like him, I read all his books, remember the looking out for you books and then 2002 rolled around and he kept just sliding more and more to the right. My politics never changed but he has kept moving more and more to the right which now I guess makes me, a Daily Kos reader, the far left...well at least in respect to him, go figure.

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Video - Wackjobo Talibangelists

2007-07-13T23:54:00.000-06:00

Layton, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

Hat Tip - Part of the Plan

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

A vote for Mitt Romney is a vote for Satan...

2007-07-12T00:43:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

...or so said Florida Televangelist Bill Keller in his "Daily Devotionals" back in May. With an audience purportedly in the millions, he had this to say about Mormons:

"If you vote for Mitt Romney, you are voting for Satan! This message today is not about Mitt Romney. Romney is an unashamed and proud member of the Mormon cult founded by a murdering polygamist pedophile named Joseph Smith nearly 200 years ago. The teachings of the Mormon cult are doctrinally and theologically in complete opposition to the Absolute Truth of God's Word. There is no common ground."

Wow! Tell us what you really think, Mr. Keller, you preacher of love and tolerance, you!

Showing a little more rhetorical restraint, Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr. published an article on "belief.net" entitled, simply, "Mormonism is not Christianity."

He opens with a simple question/answer:

Are Mormons “Christians” as defined by traditional Christian orthodoxy? The answer to that question is easy and straightforward, and it is “no.”

This will, I'm sure, come as somewhat of a shock to Mormons. Going on with the bizarre logic of Christian reasoning he writes:

We are not talking here about the postmodern conception of Christianity that minimizes truth. We are not talking about Christianity as a mood or as a sociological movement. We are not talking about liberal Christianity that minimizes doctrine nor about sectarian Christianity which defines the faith in terms of eccentric doctrines. We are talking about historic, traditional, Christian orthodoxy.

Once that is made clear, the answer is inevitable. Furthermore, the answer is made easy, not only by the structure of Christian orthodoxy (a structure Mormonism denies) but by the central argument of Mormonism itself – that the true faith was restored through Joseph Smith in the nineteenth century in America and that the entire structure of Christian orthodoxy as affirmed by the post-apostolic church is corrupt and false.

It's interesting. The unholy amalgam of evangelicals and neoconservatism, or neoconservagelicals (I keep trying to coin some clever combination, and nothing quite sounds right) - anyway, this unholy union has being tremendously successful over the last 30 years or so.

However, lately it's been having some problems. Some people internal to the various organizations recognize this and have fretted over the "unraveling" of this successful political force. Externally, of course, they're doing all they can to keep this schism under wraps and pretend it is the secular liberals who are biased against Romney's religion. This is, of course, ridiculous. If a secular liberal holds religion in contempt, they probably wouldn't distinguish between one nutjob group and another. The bottom line is that most secularists simply don't care.

The evangelicals though. They do care.

After a token nod to Mormonism, (after all, they are a reliable voting block) he concludes:

Nevertheless, Mormonism is not Christianity by definition or description.

Finally, last week, when I was having trouble sleeping, I stumbled across some late night Christ-o-mercials. One guy was pitching holy water for a "donation." Another preacher, before pitching a series of products, the top-tier being an i-pod which contained sacred music "guaranteed to ward off evil spirits" for a small donation of $1000.00 or more, contemptuously mentioned the Mormons as believing this or that, when they should be believing this or that.

After all of these years, how sad it is that Mormons believe they are embraced by other Christian sects in America. They seem to be quite reviled. As I've said before, they are considered at best misled, at worst, agents of Satan.

It's weird even trying to follow all of this logic. One religion slandering another religion to me is kind of like criticizing Snow White for not being as authentic as Sleeping Beauty. However, it is the world we live in. And we here in Utah, get to see it center stage over the next year. Yay.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Whitehouse Response to Surgeon General Nauseating

2007-07-12T00:08:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

After Former Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona testified to a Congressional panel (Full Text of his Remarks - PDF) that the Bush administration tried to weaken, amplify or otherwise modify public health reports according to their political agenda, Whitehouse spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore had this to say:

“It’s disappointing to us if he failed to use this position to the fullest extent in advocating for policies he thought were in the best interests of the nation.”

Really.

It's disappointing to you. You know what I find disappointing? An administration with a history littered with documented evidence and open testimony proving top Whitehouse officials actively alter, suppress and exaggerate scientific reports to fit its political agenda and then, when called out by its former Surgeon General, sinking to new depths of moral and intellectual dishonesty by blaming him for crimes they know they're guilty of.

Ms. Lawrimore, you haggard shill, tell me this: Why in the world would the Surgeon General not do his duty to the American people and wait to speak up about them now if what he was not being pressured by administration officials?

Are you really going to go with the "he's incompetent" theme? Better to go with old reliables, like "He's got an axe to grind," or "He has ties to the Ex-owner of a dog whose sisters nephew is a registered Democrat," or really get back to basics and say something like "Suggesting this administration has suppressed scientific research because of its political agenda only emboldens the terrorists and creates the perception that we as a country are not unified in our fight against terror."

Here's an excerpt of his testimony, which I'm hosting locally for you youtube-challenged users out there:

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Video - Chris Cannon why don't you go get a real job

2007-07-10T19:16:00.000-06:00

Layton, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

Utah Amicus puts together an excellent post full of videos about the pathetic Chris Cannon. Here is a quick sample but go over and check out them all.

Edit: Video Updated to be Youtube-Blocked Friendly (DS)

You know what I am sick of paying for is Chris' health insurance and pension which is paid for by our tax dollars. I don't get a pension and health insurance...he doesn't get health insurance and a pension, cut everyone in congress off until they understand.

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Video - Chris Cannon makes worst person list

2007-07-10T05:29:00.000-06:00

Layton, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

Edit: Updated for Youtube-Blocked Readers (DS)

What an embarr-ass-ment to our state.

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Clinton derangement syndrome

2007-07-09T20:17:00.000-06:00

Layton Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

Cross posted to Wasatch Watcher

Who is President RIGHT NOW? Please someone help me out with this. Evidently Congressman Cannon needs a little help with this also, he can barely stay on topic and he is desperately spinning into Clinton derangement syndrome zone.

You know what Cannon...when you get your DAV rating above zero then we can talk, until then STFU.

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

President Bush Official Grant of Clemency

2007-07-02T16:35:00.001-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

You can find the bottom line, without all of the sickening, ridiculous spinning, at the whitehouse.gov website.

Grant of Executive Clemency
A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America

WHEREAS Lewis Libby was convicted in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in the case United States v. Libby, Crim. No. 05-394 (RBW), for which a sentence of 30 months' imprisonment, 2 years' supervised release, a fine of $250,000, and a special assessment of $400 was imposed on June 22, 2007;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, pursuant to my powers under Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, do hereby commute the prison terms imposed by the sentence upon the said Lewis Libby to expire immediately, leaving intact and in effect the two-year term of supervised release, with all its conditions, and all other components of the sentence.

IN WITNESS THEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this second day of July, in the year of our Lord two thousand and seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-first.

GEORGE W. BUSH

"..in the year of our Lord two thousand and seven.." President Bush abandoned yet another principle, his tattered promises of integrity weighing on a weary nation, further cementing his shameful legacy and the darkening of American morality.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

President Bush commutes jail sentence of Scooter Libby

2007-07-02T15:56:00.000-06:00

"President Bush commutes the jail sentence of I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, The Associated Press reports."

The Bush administration continues to amaze me with just how low it can sink. It reminds me of his pledge in 2000:

"I will restore integrity to the White House."

Bang up job so far, Mr. President.

Just did a search on Google News and turned up zero hits. If CNN got their news alert right, I suspect that will be changing pretty quickly. Reuters just barely got this up. (via Yahoo)

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Video - Free market Republicans aren't going to take it any longer.

2007-06-28T21:51:00.000-06:00

Layton, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

"Free market Republicans that don't like how the free market shook out on the internet aren't going to take it any longer.

Marshall
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Videos - Elizabeth Edwards vs. Ann Coulter

2007-06-26T20:07:00.000-06:00

Layton, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

I am just waiting for Ann to get invited to speak at the next sanctioned singles function because she is an important political figure like Glenn Beck was. (gag!).

Meet your prospective wife while listening to someone tell you how the 9/11 widows just did it all for the money. But hey it would actually make more sense and maybe she could find someone that is looking for a soulless mate - "Look deep into her eyes and see the emptiness that is Ann" - ok getting a little carried away there.

So if you missed the love in with tweety bird and Ann Coulter it was a classic. Complete with Elizabeth Edwards calling in and sticking it to Ann.

It is the middle of the day and this woman is wearing a black cocktail dress. Does she seriously own any other clothes? Oh how I hate this woman...let me count the ways.

But Ann isn't ready for the working over that Elizabeth hands her. Elizabeth is great...I honestly probably care more for her than her husband. She is the type of smart, level headed women that every man should be so luckily to be with.

I am including this clip with Kathy Griffin because I love how Kathy lays into Ann.

It should also be noted that Kathy has been over to entertain our troops - something to think about ANN!

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

So-Called "Kidnapped Bride" Mystifies and Sickens

2007-06-25T11:51:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

More news from the psycho Utah news front. Every time I hear more about the Utah "Kidnapped Bride" Julianna Myers I wind up liking her even less than before. This little development is no different, and this is on top of a woman I already find detestable:

Here's Julianna with her husband, Perry Myers, clearly all broken up about
the destruction of her family and the prospect of her parents in prison.

God. The whole thing makes me sick to my stomach. My skepticism of the whole thing started the first time I even heard about this story. However, my dislike of the couple began with this video, showing a couple of people who seemed just kind of hollow, uncaring and... strange.

I mean, really, aren't they kind of strange? Go watch the video again. Tell me they're not strange. And tell me if she isn't one of the most distinctly unlikeable people you've ever seen. She and her husband are making inane jokes while her family is disintegrating. Revolting.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Congressman Cannon tells us about a secret website.

2007-06-24T20:36:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

Sigh! Every time DAV zero Congressman Cannon opens his pie hole it just becomes more apparent why he needs to keep his foot in it. Congressman Cannon sent out this press release on Thursday about a SECRET WEBSITE (in scary bold text just like that too)...

Political influence neither began nor will it end with the Bush Administration. The creation of a secret website to collect gossip and rumors only accessible by the majority party, and only about the Bush Administration, is blatant partisanship. If tens of thousand of pages of documents, dozens of interviews, and witness testimony under oath has not uncovered corruption or interference in ongoing investigations, then it is time for the committee to move on.”

Boo fucking woo! First off, this website was so secret that you could find it on Google and Chris even provided a link to this SECRET website. And this website is only about one investigation that is only about one justice department under our current president which happens to be Bush.

This might be getting a little too complicated for Chris right about now.

See we can only have one president at a time, and that president has supervision over the justice department. Let me know if I have lost you Chris. Chris really is the dimmest bulb in the package, I am simply amazed time and time again.

And if our (yes ours, the American people) justice department would not have been politicized in the first place then we wouldn't need a website to facilitate whistle blowers. These are the same justice department officials that were intimidated into making our justice system into another arm of the RNC campaign operation. Some were fired or resigned when pressured to influence cases for political gain, which they felt was unethical (good to know some Republicans still have a working conscience). With such a healthy work environment like that it makes you wonder why such a website would be necessary.

But Chris continues...

Taxpayers are ponying up $250,000 for a DC lawyer to investigate this matter. Again, we ask, what are taxpayers getting? Does the lack of progress in this investigation indicate that the Democrats are trying to get their money’s worth by having a $250,000 lawyer spend his day reading gossip emails?”

Did you hear that potential whistle blower? Think you are doing the right thing by reporting that intimidation to use our justice system for political gain - guess again - you are just a pathetic gossiper, might as well setup a tent next to Joan Rivers on the red carpet.

And what are the taxpayers getting? How about the piece of mind of knowing that if you happen to find yourself in court it isn't because a campaign strategist like Karl Rove picked your name out of a hat.

And about the cost, I actually agree, it is a shame we have to spend our tax dollars to protect the integrity of our justice system. It is a shame Bush decided to once again waste our money by deciding to make our justice department into another arm of the RNC campaign operation.

I am sure Chris has a pork project somewhere that he feels should have this money's name written all over it.

I commend Congressman Conyers for getting to the bottom of this and making sure that our justice system is never used as another political tool by ANY party. Thank God some are still worried about the rule of law. Poor Chris is still trying to get his mind wrapped around the idea of a secret website on the WORLD FUCKING WIDE WEB, idiot!

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Bloggers Beware: Possible Trends to Curtail Speech?

2007-06-22T04:57:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

Something all bloggers should be aware of.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Video - More on Signing Statements

2007-06-22T04:43:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

More on signing statements. This is from January, when Specter was questioning Gonzales about signing statements. Essentially, Gonzales is saying that President Bush is interpreting the Constitution in a manner which allows him to disregard any law - even a law that he signs - if he, and he alone, determines it infringes upon the powers granted to the Executive Branch by the Constitution. Gonzales is his usual smug self, of course.

To say that some of these "interpretations" are a reach is a profound understatement. It is ironic that yet again, the people who promised to restore integrity to the White House, has brought to it a moral and intellectual relativism absolutely unprecedented in its scope and application.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Cheney Enjoys both Legislative and Executive Powers?

2007-06-22T03:53:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

In light of my last post on signing statements and executive orders, this video clip provides some fascinating insight into the rather novel extra-constitutional political maneuvers being made by Vice President Dick Cheney.

If nothing else, when I watch Cheney in action, I can't help but find myself in awe of his absolute disregard and contempt for the Constitution and laws of the United States of America.

It'd almost be simpler if he just gave us all the finger and said "Look, bitches. I do what I want. Whaddya gonna do about it? Huh? Nothin', that's what. I don't answer to nobody nowhere nohow. Now get the hell out of here. I got some bizness to take care of."

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Signing Statements = Constitutional Crisis | Part 2

2007-06-21T00:05:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

I was reading through my last post, and after reading an excellent, insightful comment by Theorris, felt compelled to rewrite it and put it up as its own post:

Let's get this straight, people: The President has one option and one option only in the legislative process: Veto power.

That's it.

If he doesn't like a bill, he can veto it. At that point, Congress can either rewrite the law until they come up with something the President likes, or they can override the Presidential veto if they can muster up a 2/3rds majority. That doesn't happen a lot even when the Congress isn't so narrowly divided.

President Bush seems to believe that his legislative powers are much more expansive. He seems to believe that after signing a bill into law, he can unilaterally change that law through a signing statement. In other words, he is saying "I am signing this bill into law, but will construe it to mean something else."

These signing statements carry absolutely no weight of law. None. Zero. Zip. Nada. He can prattle on about how he will construe this law as not affecting him, or that he will consider a black and white legislative mandate as "advisory in nature," but like the old saying goes - "Just 'cause you say it, don't make it true."

This administration is attempting to forge signing statements (wiki) (list of signing statements made by President George W. Bush) and executive orders (wiki) (wiki - list of executive orders) into an extraordinary, unprecedented tool to usurp power from the other branches of government.

To put this into perspective, consider this: In his first term alone, President George W. Bush attached more signing statements to laws he signed than all of the Presidents before him combined. Not only that, but unlike many signing statements of past presidents, which were more rhetorical in nature, these signing statements are technical interpretations which completely change the wording and intent of the law.

Consider the words of former President Theodore Roosevelt, who is known as a President which pushed for expanded executive power:

I did not usurp power, but I did greatly broaden the use of executive power. In other words, I acted for the public welfare, I acted for the common well-being of all our people, whenever and in whatever manner was necessary, unless prevented by direct constitutional or legislative prohibition.

President Bush seems to think that even constitutional and legislative prohibitions such as Roosevelt respected, do not apply to him.

If they are able to get Americans to perceive these signing statements as Constitutionally substantive, then we will have yet another chunk of the Republic's foundation sandblasted away by the neocons in their quest for plenary power.

It's hard to impress upon people just how extraordinary and unprecedented the Bush administration is taking the political theory of a unitary executive. If we accept their assertions, we will no longer be living under the tested framework of the United States Constitution. Sadly, the actions of this administration suggest that's either precisely what they want, or that it's a danger they are willfully oblivious of.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Signing Statements = Constitutional Crisis

2007-06-20T15:58:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

This post has been cut to pieces and reassembled here. Thanks for your excellent comment, Theorris. Set me on a night of research and though which culminated resulted in a total rewrite.

This is still a good video discussing the unprecedented attempt by the Bush administration to bypass constitutional checks and balances through signing statements:

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

EN GUARD!!

2007-06-19T16:13:00.000-06:00

PROVO, Utah -- A star runner at Brigham Young University was arrested after getting out of his car and striking a pedestrian with a mop, police said.

Kyle Perry's vehicle apparently got too close to the man, who was pushing a bucket with mops across a street June 14, witnesses told police.

"Angry words were exchanged," Provo police Capt. Cliff Argyle said.

"Mr. Perry exited his vehicle and grabbed a mop out of the pedestrian's mop bucket and started to strike the pedestrian," Argyle said. "The pedestrian grabbed another mop and used it to defend himself. Eventually the pedestrian was shoved over a planter box and fell onto his back."

The man, who had a bump on his head, blocked Perry's car until police arrived and arrested the track star for aggravated assault, Argyle said. Any legal action from the mop fight is up to prosecutors.

"From my understanding, he's not at fault," BYU cross country coach Ed Eyestone told the Deseret Morning News. "I think he may have acted hastily, but we'll just see how that plays out."

In 2006, Perry won the Mountain West Conference title in the 1,500-meter run. He finished 12th in the same event at the NCAA track championship. His performances were limited this year by injuries.

Don't mess with a man that knows how to use a mop.

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

1000th Post Spectacular!

2007-06-19T00:20:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

One Triple Zero, baby. That's right. This is the 1000th post from the Deseret Spectacle. But nothing really spectacular. Sorry, that was a lie. In fact, all I really have for you is a song which is really moving and sometimes reminds me why I do this sort of stuff. I hope it affects you as well. It's "Dear Mr. President" by Pink.

You can get the 1st import single here and the second import here or you can get the album, I'm Not Dead. She's worth supporting for this song alone.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Video - Programmers guild shows the ugly truth

2007-06-18T13:03:00.000-06:00

Layton, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

Ever applied for a job, hit the interview out of the park and never get a call back? Don't call us, we'll call you, yea there might be a reason.

Marshall
Layton, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Viddeo - A little Break: Best of Stewie from Family Guy

2007-06-17T16:42:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

This is one of the 100 most popular videos from youtube. I love Stewie, so I thought I'd share it all with you. For those of you who can't see youtube videos, this video is a part of my new "cut youtube out of the picture" campaign and it hosted locally.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Video - Daily Show - Gonzo Goes for Incompetent Instead of Criminal

2007-06-15T03:08:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

Wow. You know, I've never liked Gonzo - his smug little dismissals of Congress irritated and scared me. He is in typical form in this video. Instead of admitting his complicity in this growing scandal, or trying to spin it, he plays the incompetence card. Either this is the most incompetent administration in the history of the United States of America, or it is the most corrupt.

Neither option is particularly appealing to me. How about you?

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Opinion - Laurel Huff - Environmentalists to blame for.... Everything.

2007-06-15T02:55:00.000-06:00

Environmentalists to blame
Who is to blame that we aren't drilling for more oil in our own country to lessen our dependency on foreign oil? The environmentalist wing of the Democratic Party. Of course, we must all do our part in conserving the oil we use by purchasing more energy-efficient cars, taking fewer trips and using public transit. Everyone agrees we should take care of Mother Earth. But with today's technology, that can be done while still developing our own oil production. Environmentalists are stuck in their college years.

Laurel Huff
Kearns

Wow, that's a long paragraph there. Let's try to break it down into more manageable chunks:

Who is to blame that we aren't drilling for more oil in our own country to lessen our dependency on foreign oil?

Who?! Who?! Let's get the bastards!

The environmentalist wing of the Democratic Party.

Oh. Yeah. Of course. The ultra-radical-environmental-fringe-portion of the super-duper-far-left-insanely-out-of-the-mainstream Democratic party. yawn.

Of course, we must all do our part in conserving the oil we use by purchasing more energy-efficient cars, taking fewer trips and using public transit.

Well get whiz, Laurel. That's might fine of ya. I haven't really seen a rash of Republicans giving up their SUVs, hopping on the bus, or shopping around for energy efficient automobiles, but I'm sure it's just around the corner.

Everyone agrees we should take care of Mother Earth.

No, we don't. In fact, you don't appear to even agree. You just maligned the "environmentalist wing of the Democratic party without providing even an argument. Usually conservative nutcakes at least throw out some ridiculous, reaching anecdote, moronic analogy or completely inaccurate contention. What does it mean to you to "take care of Mother Earth" anyway?

But with today's technology, that can be done while still developing our own oil production.

Really? What technology is that? Where do you want to drill? I don't mind throwing something out there, but could you at least pretend you have some reasoning behind your contentions? I realize that Deseret Morning News doesn't give you a whole lot of space to pack them in, but maybe you could leave out petty jabs like this:

Environmentalists are stuck in their college years.

...which doesn't even make sense in the context of the rest of your letter, and provide some reference or coherent thought to back up your position.

As it stands, you just come across as one more mindless, babbling, Republican moron without a clue to what they're talking about, content to repeat unsupported talking points they hear on Fox News or "Conservative" talk radio.

It would be funny if there weren't so damn many of you.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Opinion - Ken Roner - I miss Deedee Corradini.

2007-06-15T02:23:00.000-06:00

We miss Corradini
There is one thing we didn't realize when Rocky Anderson was elected mayor of Salt Lake City: how much we would miss Deedee Corradini.

Ken Roner
West Valley City

Uh, did we note realize that when we elected him again? Apparently we weren't as heart-sick as you and the other West Valley City residents were over the loss of DeeDee and were able to pull ourselves together, wipe away the tears, and go and vote our mayor in yet again.

And just out of curiosity, when you say "We," who are you talking about? You and the other residents of West Valley City?

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Two Fine Men - Bill Moyers Interviews Jon Stewart

2007-06-15T01:47:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

These are two of the men I respect most in media.

It's a very interesting interview between Bill Moyers and Jon Stewart. Broken into several parts. Hopefully this should also get past the problems people have with youtube videos, as I'm hosting through a proxy server.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Video - Liberal Viewer - Colin Powell Removing More Doubt

2007-06-14T15:12:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

Does anyone still really have any doubt that this administration deliberately misled the public into war? I mean, are there really any wingnuts that are still able to choke down the company line?

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Video - Olbermann - Word Person in the World - 06042007

2007-06-14T15:11:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

Bill wins two in one night!

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

The Deseret Spectacle Turns One Year Old. (For Real)

2007-06-14T15:06:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

On February 4th, 2006, I posted the first message on the Deseret Spectacle. It was entitled, simply, "Welcome to the Deseret Spectacle."

I then didn't post for quite some time. In fact, I didn't post again until June 14th, 2006; about 4 months later. That post was entitled "Come to hate, stay to vote." Since then, more or less, this blog has been consistently active. There have been few days when the blog didn't see a post of some kind or another.

A few people have contributed over that time, but for one reason or another, have dropped off to attend other matters in their lives. Recently, I've been grateful to have Marshall from the Wasatch Watcher lend a hand from time to time.

In any event, we're damn near 1000 published posts on this blog, and to me that's pretty amazing.

As I look back, it's interesting to see what posts have seen the most traffic. Since I implemented certain analytics code, these are the top 10 posts of the Deseret Spectacle for 2006 and 2007. It's always surprising to me to see what type of content interests people:

2006:

1. Video of the Day - Tribute to Utah - Utahn Beachboys

I'm not sure why this was as popular as it was, but boy was it.

2. 3rd District Judge Leslie Lewis: The Judge That Has To Go

This was a hot issue at the time. I've since come to regret my hard stance again Judge Lewis. Although I still think her behavior was inappropriate that day in the court room, I've since learned that she has also helped a lot of people. I'm not sure a couple of wrongs should trump a career of "rights."

3. Insurance Commercials Make me Cry

I'm glad this video was popular. There aren't a lot of videos which I get choked up over, but this was one of them.

4. Video of the Day - Chris Matthews Smacks Down Michelle Malkin

This is one of my favorite videos of all time. Michelle Malkin looks like she's going to cry. She's the worst kind of partisan demagogue, and is absolutely shameless.

5. Saddam Execution Videos

This one I had mixed feelings about. Especially when posts like this link to me. The comment section had a very strange passage, too.

6. Opinion - Len Bayles

"Vanity Googling" occasionally brings my responses to some letters to the attention of the writers. Since most of my responses are typically disagreeing/making fun of them, they can turn nasty. Take Ryan Larsen - I've posted several of his letters, and he has posted childish replies to all of them, I believe. In any event, this was actually written by RH (who contributed to the Deseret Spectacle for a few months.) Len Bayles discovered it, they went back and forth on it, and whenever controversy erupts over a post, you can bet that it will get traffic. Just ask "A Liberal Mormon." Wasn't he pushing over a hundred comments by the time he closed the thread down?

7. Opinion - Brooke Ann Smith

Brooke Ann Smith wrote a letter criticizing one-time Senatorial hopeful Pete Ashdown. After a little sleuthing, I discovered ties between her and the Senators office. It was linked to on a wiki at Ashdown's site.

8. Video - Daily Show remakes Al Jazeera

This was great, and I still have a crush on the anchor for Al Jazeera English. (The female, not the male.) I can't remember her real name off the top of my head, so I remember as "Peppermint Gomez." Anyway, the video has since been pulled by youtube (because Viacom/Comedy Central are a bunch of asses) but I am working to replace it with a video hosted on my own server. In the meantime you can download the .mov (quicktime) file here.

9. ABC/Disney - Path to 9/11 - The Story So Far

One of the saddest attempts at rewriting history I've ever seen. Shameless.

10. Rocky Inspires on Radio West Today

Love 'im or hate 'im, people wanna know about good ol' Rocky.

2007

1. Comcast Strikes Again - Too Much is Never Enough

Incredible traffic from this story. Comcast employees shilled in the comments section and people flooded in from a comment at Slashdot.

2. Utah US Attorney Brett Tolman Escapes Attention of MSM in Gonzales/Attorney General Scandal

Brett Tolman, US Attorney for Utah, continues to evade any kind of responsibility for his role in the Gonzales/Attorney General Scandal, even though he was a party to one of the most sinister aspects of the case: altering law to make illegal DoJ actions legal. He was rewarded with his current post and to this day has refused to comment about his participation in the whole affair, and our media seems quite content to walk away with a "No Comment."

3. Opinion - Bryan Laker - Is Romney More Mormon than Reid?

A Romney shill page linked to this story. Apparently they thought it was flattering to the flip-flopping Romney, who has, like so many others, abandoned his integrity in his mad pursuit of the White House.

4. Coffee Drinking Angel Moroni ™

People love or hate irreverence in Utah. Personally, I love it.

5. Comcast's Comcastic Invisible Cap Issue Boiling Over

More Comcast blowback.

6. Analysis & Video - Joseph Smith / Jesus Christ - Christians vs. Christians on who are Christians

Jesus vs. Joseph. That would make for an interesting "Celebrity Deathmatch."

7. Live C-SPAN blogging - Dana Perino - Deer in Headlights/Kyle Sampson - Squirmy but a hint of integrity?

I don't know why this got such a large amount of traffic. I thought it was a pretty poor post, even though I continue to maintain that I wish Dana Perino was the spokeswoman instead of Tony Snow. She is totally hot.

8. Video - Mountain Meadow Massacre Movie Trailer - Doesn't look too flattering for the Mormons

Mormons don't like being portrayed in an unflattering light, but they want to know about it when they do.

9. Opinions - Cheney / BYU Letter-Roundup-Spectacular at the Deseret Morning News!

Talk about a rallying call. Vice President Cheney at BYU? Brought out everyone!

10. Video - Fox News new Show - "Red Eye" laughs about killing Gitmo Prisoners

The only reason this got traffic was because it was linked to as a reference on wikipedia. That reference has, of course, since been removed.

*11. Saddam Execution Videos

It's interesting that this and the next post continue to generate traffic.

*12. Insurance Commercials Make me Cry

Same thing here.

So there you have it, my friends. I actually had to do a lot of work to gather all of this information out, so it's not a day late. But thanks for all of the good times and the memories. And here's to another year.

Oh, one final interesting fact: If you compare the six months of traffic to the second six months of traffic since this blog became active, there was a 299.4% raise in visits, almost across the board. (Unique visitors, returning visitors, pageviews, etc..) Thank you!!

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Video - Historical Cartoon Analysis of Immigration Issue (Comedy)

2007-06-13T16:21:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

I love it.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Gas Prices Drop Everywhere but Here. Again.

2007-06-13T16:20:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

Cross-posted to the Wasatch Watcher.

The Deseret News has a story today about it: Gas prices dip in U.S. but edge up in Utah:

"The refineries are behind," said John P. Hill, president of the Utah Petroleum Marketers and Retailers Association. "They don't have enough supply for us, and consequently, retailers ... can't get as much as they want, which makes prices go up."

*rolls eyes* Are ya kiddin' me? You have to wonder if Hill and the rest of these people even bother keeping a straight face as they bust these one-liners out. During the last round of gouging; yes - gouging, as was determined by the state and then dropped without further action - we were offered all kinds of reasons why we were paying so much more. None of them were true, and none of those reasons were "Because we can get away with it. What are ya gonna do about it?"

They may as well, because they know what our answer is: Nothing. The Republican leadership in this State have no interest in protecting the consumer from gouging or collusion.

If they keep pushing, and they keep pushing, and they keep doing it as brashly and unapologetically as they have been... if these ultra-rich multi-national corporations continue to reap obscene profits while the average worker descends deeper into debt, earns less, and earns fewer benefits, etc... you have to wonder if at some point the people won't start rumbling that word that elitists everywhere dread: "Revolution."

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Opinion - Breck England - Time to Bring the Pain on Voucher-Supporting Morons

2007-06-13T01:37:00.000-06:00

Think voucher issue through
In response to Jonathan D. Whitney's pro-voucher Q & A letter (Readers' Forum, June 11):
Q: What do I as a taxpayer pay for each student in Utah schools?
A: About $4,000.
Q: What will I pay for each student who chooses a voucher?
A: The original $4,000, PLUS up to $3,000 from the general fund.
Q: Why do I oppose vouchers?
A: Because I do not want to pay twice for the same student to go to school.
Q: Then why do so many people support vouchers?
A: Because they haven't thought it through.

Breck England
Bountiful

Bring the pain, Mr. England. Bring the pain! You can find my response (and the letter we're both responding to) here.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Video - The Gay Bomb. Seriously. Literally.

2007-06-13T01:35:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

A bomb to make enemy forces gay. This is the type of weapon that must scare the bejesus right out of homophobic bigots like Loa Don Glade.

Anyway, some Pentagon National Security Experts have way too much time and money.

Although... And I'm just sort of visualizing this... Wouldn't that be hilarious irony if you could get a bunch of terrorists or organized Muslim extremists (Or Christian extremists, for that matter) to spontaneously find each other irresistible and just start having mad, passionate, gay sex on the battlefield?

Well if you're like me and you do think the prospect a delicious irony, rest assured: our military is no doubt spending billions to make it reality.

One other thing: Would it help people if I embedded these videos through another method which didn't use youtube? I'm getting the impression that more and more people are being blocked from anything that originates from youtube by firewalls at their work.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Opinion - Loa Don Glade - Vouchers give Parents Freedom to Brainwash Kids into Hateful Christiapublicans

2007-06-13T01:27:00.000-06:00

Allow freedom to pick school
I would like to see a state school board that loves students so much that members will stifle their ambition for power and tame their greed for money to allow people freedom to choose a school where cursing is not the common way to communicate; a school where homosexuality is not accepted as normal; a school whose teachers do not promote the ridiculous theory that all people evolved from a primate; a school that practices patriotism and love of a supreme being; a school that teaches manners and gives awards for good grades and behavior. That is the description of the private school some of my children attended.

Loa Don Glade
(Search for other letters by this author)
Salt Lake City

Oh no! A school where homosexuals aren't mocked, degraded or otherwise discriminated against? That's not the kind of environment I want my kids growing up in!

I want to make sure that my kids grow up in an environment where minorities like homosexuals are recognized as ill at best, evil at worst, and where children are encouraged to attack and vilify other minorities and other religions to the point where these "others" can be effectively dehumanized so that their wholesale slaughter or systematic persecution doesn't leave any bad taste in our children's mouths. Just thinking about it makes me mad. All of these GAYS walking around our schools acting normal, as if it was okay that they existed. The nerve of them.

And damn straight I want my kids learning in an environment that "practices patriotism and love of a supreme being." Of course, what that means, is that I want my kids to be indoctrinated with militant, Republican Christianity. Let's call them Christiapublicans or Republichristians. They're like Christians, but without the love, tolerance or humility.

And finally, I also want my kids growing up in an environment where science is summarily dismissed as "ridiculous" when it conflicts with the Bible. The Earth is a little shy of 7 thousand years. Fossilized bones? Pfft. The real question is who put them there. I have a creepy feeling that it just might have been you know who. It ain't no coincidence that you smell sulfur when looking for trilobites down in Zions. Anyway, it's really quite simple: The Bible is the infallible, literal word of God. As such, anything which conflicts with the Bible must be false. Any questions?

And finally, and this is what tickles me, is that you are all gonna pay for it!

Actually, on second thought, I don't think any of that.

Look, crazies: If you want to brainwash you kids into being hateful, militant Christiapublicans that persecute minorities and clamor for war and rail on in perpetual self-righteous indignation, then you go right ahead. But I'll be God dammed if you're gonna do it on my dime.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Video - War Made Easy

2007-06-13T00:50:00.000-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

First the trailer, and then the first part of the movie:

Part 1 of the movie: Hearing the "Cut and Run" and "Stay the Course" brought up again over and over again made me really angry. What kind of people do we have in office? Are we really so malleable? Are we really so easily manipulated into supporting horrific agendas and blatant lies?

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Opinion - Jonathan D. Whitney - Voucher Opponents Fail to Ask and Answer Themselves Misleading Imaginary Questions

2007-06-12T11:43:00.000-06:00

Why oppose vouchers?
Q: Why is education generally funded by the state and federal governments instead of by parents?
A: Because of compulsory education laws.
Q: Why is education compulsory?
A: Universal education creates citizens capable of participating in a democratic society.
Q: Does private education provide as much benefit to society as public education?
A: Yes, probably more.
Q: Then why are so many people opposed to public funding of private education?
A: They haven't thought it through.

Jonathan D. Whitney
Murray

Let's break this down:

Q: Why is education generally funded by the state and federal governments instead of by parents?
A: Because of compulsory education laws.

True.

Q: Why is education compulsory?
A: Universal education creates citizens capable of participating in a democratic society.

True.

Q: Does private education provide as much benefit to society as public education?
A: Yes, probably more.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.. What? Where is your proof of this? In fact, the fact is that Universal education can create citizens "capable of participating in a democratic society" because people are forced to deal with members of society. If anything, vouchers fragment this "forced mingling" of ideologies into polarized little sects, destined to war with each other through public funding of religious and political ideological brainwashing. At least in public schools people are forced to encounter other opinions, other races, other religions, and other beliefs in general. So The answer to this question is "NO." "FALSE." "NEGATIVE." And consequently changes the assumption the following premise relies upon:

Q: Then why are so many people opposed to public funding of private education?
A: They haven't thought it through.

Someone hasn't thought it through, but I don't think it's the voucher opponents.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Opinion - Ryan Curtis - Poor Paris. Mean Judge!

2007-06-12T11:35:00.000-06:00

Hilton treated unfairly
Paris Hilton was treated unfairly. Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer was wrong in paying more attention to her case than any other. Hilton is a human being like the rest of us. She should be treated the same as anyone else. In the courtroom, when the judge sentences the people for crimes, he should sentence them based on the evidence related to the crime, not whether or not they are rich.

Ryan Curtis
Cottonwood Heights

Ryan Curtis is back. And this time he's not talking about cemetary renovations, this time he's talking about something important: Paris Hilton being treated unfairly.

First, if Sauer paid more attention to this case, it's because of the unbelievable amount of power and pressure brought on to get Paris Hilton off the hook. She wasn't sentenced to jail because she was rich, she was sentenced to jail because she broke the law - repeatedly. The real question Mr. Curtis shoudl be asking is why the judge had to go to extraordinary measures to make sure that she served our her sentence as it was directed.

Mr. Curtis is a mystery to me. He wields some of the most backwards logic I've ever seen. The rich are far more likely to avoid jail time than the poor, and if he thinks it's otherwise, he is either completely ignorant of the facts, or in pure denial of them.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor

Video - Fox News: Admitting They're a Right-Wing Shill Group? Huh?

2007-06-12T11:32:00.001-06:00

Salt Lake City, Utah - ©2007 - The Deseret Spectacle

I know this is supposed to be parody, or comedy, or something... I don't know, some weird "daily show" duplicate that Fox News is trying to do. But it's just weird. They pass the Rush Limbaugh loyalty test? *shakes head* Doesn't make sense.

DS
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Deseret Spectacle is in no way related to the Deseret Morning News.
Letters to the Editor