Tonight on KVNU’s For the People…
The leader of the free world, President George W. Bush, joins us live in studio.
John McCain is now calling Barack Obama a celebrity and comparing him to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. Is this fair?
And on our last night Ryan and I will make our political predictions for the future in national, state and local issues.
All of that, your phone calls and more, tonight on KVNU’s For the People!
Local Predictions:
Local elected officials who claim to be conservatives will continue to in all actuality to be socialists;
We will see more environmental based regulation that does nothing to help the environment in Logan City.
Cache County will pass a major subdivision ordinance, but only because they are facing a lawsuit from a developer.
John McCain and every other republican candidate will win at lest 60 – 40 in Cache County
State Predictions:
The ultra conservative faction of the Republican Party will continue to face serious challenges from more moderate republicans within the Utah House and Senate.
John Huntsman will be reelected 65-35 and proceed to do nothing substantive and I mean nothing after his election, other than declaring David Archuleta week.
National Predictions:
Democrats get more 60 seats in the US senate, and bad policy results.
Who ever wins the Presidency, defaults on 90% of what they promised, and accomplishes nothing in Iraq.
Ryan
National:
State:
Local:
“If ever there was a philosophy of government totally at war with that of the Founding Fathers, it is the current worship of powerful executives.” – Barry Goldwater, 1964
“[Congress has attempted] to limit future presidents so that they would not abuse power the way it was alleged some had abused power in the past… [failing] to help presidents accrue power in the White House – so that they could achieve good works in the society.” – Dick Cheney, 1984
George Washington, as President, was commonly refered to simply as “Chief Magistrate.” George W. Bush was described by a national newspaper, shortly after 9/11, as the “Nation’s Pastor.”
As the office of President has evolved – encompassing (in the minds of Americans at least) the responsibilities of national counselor, economic sage, world wide philanthropist, faith-healer, and guardian angel – admiration and promotion of the “unilateral executive” has reached it’s zenith in the presidency of George W. Bush. Bush has seized the right to ignore many of the key tenants of our Constitution “while we are at war,” simultaneously embarking on a “war on terror” with no defined or measurable endpoint. With the help of a complicit congress, he has granted himself the power to have an American citizen arrested as an “enemy combatant,” whisked away under military authority, and esconced from the world, with no access to legal counsel. He has declared, again and again, that under extreme circumstances (defined by himself or successive office holders) the President can bypass the Constitution in the name of America’s best interests. With the use of signing statements and executive privilege, he has extracted himself from the rule of law.
But these abuses noted, Bush is by no means solely to blame for the notion of President as “King.”
Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, using both war and peace as an excuse, advanced the notion of the authoritarian presidency. Harry Truman believed, much like our current president, that in times of emergency, and in the interest of national security, the executive branch need not bend to congressional oversight or constitutional restrictions. As president, he attempted to seize and nationalize private industries key to the war effort (in this case, privately owned steel mills), a battle the went to the Supreme Court, who ruled against Truman on constitutional grounds. Nixon believed American’s had no right to know what happened behind closed office doors, and that “if the President does it, it’s legal.” Even Bush Sr. and Bill Clinton embraced the idea of a more powerful and unchecked executive branch, with help and even encouragment from Congress.
In the book The Cult of the Presidency, CATO scholar Gene Healy opens with a story from the recent primaries, in which Mike Huckabee is quoted saying: “America needs positive, optimistic leadership to kind of turn this country around, to see a revival of our national soul.”
Healy asks, what office did he think he was running for?
As I’ve watched the debate here at KVNU’s For The People play out over Rocky Anderson’s appearance on the show earlier this week, and the congressional hearing over impeachment and executive power, I thought it important to interject what I hope is a little perspective into the debate.
Regardless of how you feel about the argument Rocky makes, or the idea of impeaching George W. Bush for war crimes itself, it is unavoidably obvious that the very nature of the executive branch is changing from that intended by the founders, who made great strides to avoid the monarchical system of kings and queens they fled in search of freedom.
Neither of our current candidates have offered more than a brief (and vague) promise to address the matter if elected. Congress (outside of a few hearings) seems to have no intention of doing so. But we are still faced with choice between addressing this issue now, or accepting a unitary executive branch, the loss of our system of checks and balances, and the dissolving of our system of representation in lieu of an all powerful President, bound not by legislation or constitution.
It won’t stop unless we demand it.
-Jason
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHXYsw_ZDXg[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckj_pdNMwhs&eurl=http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=641707034[/youtube]
Note from Tom: I know this is a really sensitive issue and I know that people on both sides have very heartfelt and sincere positions on this. I firmly believe that almost all of the people in this debate don’t intend malice. All I ask is that you take some time to watch this to better understand this perspective.
Tomorrow
1 PM
Deck at the Owl.
-Tom
I am impressed once again with the innovation of Barack Obama’s campaign.
From the Associated Press:
Those 75,000 Democrats who will pack a football stadium for Barack Obama’s convention speech won’t be there just to whoop and holler on television. They’ll form the world’s largest phone bank to boost voter registration – fired-up supporters using computer targeting the campaign has spent months putting together.
The move to the Invesco Field at Mile High stadium for the convention’s final night next month – at an additional cost of $5 million – will capture a huge crowd the Obama campaign plans to put to work. They’ll be armed with data gleaned through “microtargeting” unregistered voters the campaign believes are ripe to back Obama if pressed to get on board.
…
Enter the 75,000 people who will have to come hours early for Obama’s acceptance speech to get through security, most carrying cell phones. As they settle in their seats, campaign aides will be on stage asking them to text message their friends and use call sheets to get people to register. “There will be a lot of idle time. We put idle people to work,” Hildebrand said.
It’s such a simple idea, but innovative, and that is what has been consistently impressive about the mechanics of the Obama campaign. John McCain is holding town hall meetings in Bingo Parlors in Pennsylvania while Obama is spearheading the largest phone bank in American history.
This not only reaches targeted potential Obama voters, but also the friends of those in attendance. When Jim calls Joe back home in Nebraska from Mile High Stadium, Joe is more likely to watch the event having a personal tie to it with his friend in attendance. It’s a multiplier effect that will certainly yield results for Obama.
It’s been really fun to watch Barack Obama’s campaign re-invent how presidential campaigns operate.
-Tom
| From: | Thad Box |
| To: | Joe Dulin |
| Cc: | KVNU’s For the People |
| Date: | 30 Jul ’08 09:25 |
| Subject: | Re: We are on our way to winning Sen Dist 25 |
Sic’em, Joe. This is the year we can surprise a lot of people. 43% of eligible Utahns are not even registered to vote. And less than 40% of those who are registered actually voted. If we can get Democrats registered and voting, we can win.
I just sold one of the Obama signs to an unregistered voter. I gave him a registration form I had printed out and asked him to print out more and give them to any unregistered voter he knew. He seemed enthusiastic
and said he would get more voters. We have his info on the sign roster so we can follow up to see he does it.
I have just exchanged emails with Carmelita Thomas, our long-term Comanche democrat. She agreed to get all her unregistered friends registered.
I saw Gilberto Urroz’s campaign manager at the play last night. She was horrified at how many of her own friends who had never voted. She will start carrying registration forms.
I think anyone with a sign, whether it is for Joe Dulin or Obama, should be given several voter registration forms and asked to get their friends registered.
Josh, Reid and their organized registration drives are great. We should supplement them with hundreds of friends registering friends. Thad
jbdulin@aol.com wrote:
Despite what the naysayers may claim, we are doing very well with our campaign and many believe that we have a realistic shot at winning our election and unseating the 30 year incumbent, Sen. Lyle Hillyard. There is a lot of agreement that after 30 years, it is time for the good and honorable senior citizen senator to move along to other things. Nobody should be in office that long, me included.
We already have a couple of hundred signs up in people yards. (Thank you all very much to those of you hosting them.) I receive notes of support and positive feedback every day. (The good, moral and classy people of the Republican Party only threw a very small amount of candy back at me during the four parades I have participated in so far this season. Considering the barrage of returned goodies in past years, I think we are moving in the right direction.)
We cannot hope to compete with the Republicans and their big business donors in terms of money. However we are doing enough to fundraising to make our campaign visible. We can always use more money and I can assure you that unlike certain Republicans I know, every penny collected for our campaign is spent to further this campaign and it is never used to further any of my personal interests.
What I need from you is simple. I need you to vote and encourage others to vote. If we pull together, a win is a real possibility. We are going to begin canvassing soon. I will need volunteers to help me distribute literature. Please drop me a note if you are interested in helping.
We have a lot of momentum going into the final 90 stretch run. Spread the enthusiasm and be positive. If so, we will win and can look forward to a new era of leadership in the Utah Senate.
Joe
From today’s Herald Journal:
Logan officials say they would have no grounds to oust a recent patron of the city’s Aquatic Center whose tattoo of a partially nude angel offended others at the pool.
Councilmembers, the city attorney and other employees have recently dealt with the complaints of one Logan woman, who is concerned about what she calls a graphic tattoo sported on another woman’s back. While some images may offend others recreating on city property, it’s tough to regulate distasteful material, Logan Attorney Kymber Housley says.
Laura Call was visiting the pool about two weeks ago with her husband, 1-year-old daughter and another couple. She said she — and those with her — became concerned after seeing a detailed tattoo depicting a woman’s breasts on an individual’s back. Call said she complained to a lifeguard, but nothing was done.
“With it being so graphic, especially at a public place, I don’t think it should be allowed,” she said.
Aside from the legal question- and you can call me callous and even self-righteous for saying this- it takes an exceptionally trashy person to get a tattoo like that and then to parade it out in front of little kids at a public pool. What kind of adult thinks it’s OK to display a bare-breasted woman, drawn or photographed, in front of children and the general public?
More:
“There’s no harm in asking (people to cover up),” Housley said. “They may say no, and it’s not like we can force them to do that. It really comes down to First Amendment issues.”
Kymber Housely is right.
This is a great example of why government cannot and should not be the enforcer or even the morals in society. We need morals. We promote morals by establishing social mores and norms through families, communities, churches, etc. But we cannot and should not force people to make “right” choices by eroding things like the First Amendment.
The woman with the tattoo is being trashy if the tattoo offends others and she is aware and disregards it. Rather than use the force of government to compel her to be considerate of others, perhaps people should politely ask her to cover her trashy tattoo. IF that doesn’t work, then social censures of shame and embarassment are very appropriate.
-Tom
From the Washington Post:
The media’s Mitt-wagon may have just hit a bump:
“Prominent evangelical leaders are warning Sen. John McCain against picking former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney as his running mate, saying their troops will abandon the Republican ticket on Election Day if that happens,” says the Washington Times.
“They say Mr. Romney lacks trust on issues such as outlawing abortion and opposing same-sex marriage and because he is a Mormon.”
More from the Washington Times:
The Rev. Rob McCoy, pastor of Calvary Chapel in Thousand Oaks, Calif., who speaks at evangelical events across the country, told The Washington Times, “I will vote for McCain unless he does one thing. You know what that is? If he puts Romney on the ticket as veep.
“It will alienate the entire evangelical community – 62 million self-professing evangelicals in this country, half of them registered to vote, are going to be deeply saddened,” Mr. McCoy added.
Mr. Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, was the favorite of evangelical voters in the Republican presidential nomination contest earlier this year and won more delegates per dollar spent than any other candidate in either party.
Other well-placed Christian conservatives say that although many evangelical leaders could accept and work for a McCain-Romney ticket, Mr. Huckabee’s supporters tend to be “rabid” in their views against Mr. Romney because of his faith: They do not regard Mormonism as a Christian denomination.
Geez.
Certainly racism and sexism still exist in politics today. But you don’t see many people with the character to openly admit they won’t vote for someone because they are African American or a woman. It’s politically incorrect and even if a person is a racist and/or a sexist embarassment itself keeps explicit statements from emerging.
Somehow that doesn’t apply to how some evanglicals feel about Mormons- there is no shame is outright bigotry. At least they are honest about it, right?
-Tom
I am in mourning. Today a friend died.
From Portfolio.com:
A cry of woe went up from Facebook users today with the suspension of Scrabulous, the Scrabble knock-off that had created a huge following — except among executives at Hasbro, which sued the site last week. As word spread that the game, run by two brothers in India, had been disabled on Facebook (though available still on its own site), Facebook users vented their frustrations, grief, anger, and, in at least one case, happiness (likely a recovering addict) via Status Updates. Here, a sampling:
Suck!
I was right in the middle of games with Dion R. (who was kicking my trash, btw) and Jessica L.!
-Tom
Campaign reports of donors over $200 (campaigns are not obligated to report lesser donations in this filing) reveal that strange things are afoot with our neighbor to the north. From Kevin Richert of The Idaho Statesman:
• Through June 30, Idahoans gave $375,586 to Barack Obama, the Democrats’ presumptive presidential nominee. Presumptive GOP nominee John McCain received $228,938.
Statewide, Mitt Romney — the preferred candidate of most leading Idaho Republicans — raised more than Obama and McCain combined. But the fact remains that Obama has raised 64 percent more than McCain in Idaho, with four months left in the election.
• For the month of June, Obama raised $57,880 in Idaho. McCain raised $40,995. Even with Romney out of the picture as a presidential candidate, McCain trailed in fundraising in one of America’s most Republican states.
• Obama’s fund-raising edge is particularly pronounced in Boise. In Idaho zip codes with an “837″ prefix (Boise and Garden City), Obama has raised $113,596 through the election cycle, nearly doubling McCain’s take and surpassing even Romney.
• In the “836″ zip codes — including heavily Republican Nampa, Meridian and Eagle — Obama has raised $43,156 to McCain’s $29,947. Among GOP candidates, McCain trailed not only Romney but Ron Paul.
It goes without saying that Republican donors in Idaho are not giving to the Democratic nominee. But that Obama is outraising McCain in such a red state does tell us that these donors are giving very little to the Repubican nominee, and it speaks volumes of the pulse of the conservative base permeating Idaho and their lack of excitement for McCain as a candidate.
- Jason
Man speaks out in firework injury – ABC4.com.
You’ve probably heard a little bit about the Pioneer Day incident in Lehi where an 11-year-old kid, Bridger Hunt, was critically injured as he rode his bicycle past a homemade firework that exploded improperly.
The story linked above is the best account I could find about Craig Miller, the man who built the homemade firework, expressing his remorse for the incident. Miller has said he’ll do whatever it takes, including selling his $350,000 home, to help pay for what is expected to be millions of dollars worth of medical bills for the kid.
As far as I can tell, however, he’s yet to be charged criminally. So is this just a very, very tragic accident or should Craig Miller face charges?
I can’t believe the intent to injure was there, so it’s hard to see how he’d qualify for an assault (much less aggravated assault) charge. Building explosive devices can’t be legal, however, and he should probably face charges there.
It will be very interesting to see what charges are eventually filed by prosecutors in Lehi.
In study, evidence of liberal-bias bias – Los Angeles Times.
It really grinds my gears when people say there’s a liberal media. Those same people have been saying Obama has been given a free pass by the media this election season while there is nothing but constant bad news reported on McCain.
If you believe that, this study disagrees with you.
A lot of Republicans have jumped up the past day or so and tried to discredit this study, but it was just two years ago, 2006, when the GOP hailed the results of this exact same study for its accuracy when the results came out in favor of their party and their candidates.
Let’s face it, there are media outlets who lean liberal but there are also others that lean conservative. By and large, however, the media plays it pretty straight down the line, at least as far as their NEWS reporting (not commentary) goes.
I was just listening to Logan Mayor Randy Watts on KVNU Crosstalk with Jennie Christensen. Jennie asked for an update on the parkstrips. Mayor Watts indicated he understood that the loss of parking was creating problems for people and said that he empathized with them. He also indicated that there would need to be a re-examination of the current winter parking rules, which ban parking between 1 – 5 AM November through March regardless of weather.
Lifting the overnight ban would be one of the easiest and most practical solutions. The city gets to have the park strips removed and residents still have a place to park. I am happy to hear the Mayor begin to advocate this position. The previous approach of putting parking lots in back yards, offered by Community Development was completely impractical. No one wants to pave their backyard and often logistically the driveway would need to cross someone elses property- who would sign on to putting a driveway to your neighbors backyard through your yard?
Anyway, props to Mayor Watts.
-Tom
Ex-SLC mayor to Congress: Impeach Bush – Salt Lake Tribune.
Former SLC Mayor Rocky Anderson is in the headlines again and will join us at 5:40 p.m. tonight on KVNU’s For the People, taking your phone calls, as he addresses his words to congress regarding the need to consider impeaching President George W. Bush or at least appoint a special commission to investigate his “egregious abuses of power.”
The Herald Journal Serving Logan and Cache Valley > News > County takes ‘big hit’.
The county’s revenues will be decreased by $213,273, which will be reflected in a much lower July sales tax payment, according to County Executive Lynn Lemon.
“It is a big hit,” Lemon said. “There was nothing we could do about it. In essence, they’re telling us that they overpaid us for those three years, and they’re going to make the adjustment.”
It’s unfortunate that the telecommunications providers made such an egregious error on this and now the county has to pay for it, more or less. It sounds like it won’t be a huge problem, because there is quite a bit of money in the county’s reserve fund, but this will certainly mean the county needs to tighten its belt even more in an already trying economic time.
-Tyler
So says Outside magazine in their current issue (DesNews story here). I suspect many of our readers would disagree with this ranking, although it should be noted that this is based on opportunities for outdoor activities, rather than more traditional ranking criteria (for comparison, Odgen didn’t make Money‘s list).
Craig
From Times Online:
And it came to pass, in the eighth year of the reign of the evil Bush the Younger (The Ignorant), when the whole land from the Arabian desert to the shores of the Great Lakes had been laid barren, that a Child appeared in the wilderness.
The Child was blessed in looks and intellect. Scion of a simple family, offspring of a miraculous union, grandson of a typical white person and an African peasant. And yea, as he grew, the Child walked in the path of righteousness, with only the occasional detour into the odd weed and a little blow.
When he was twelve years old, they found him in the temple in the City of Chicago, arguing the finer points of community organisation with the Prophet Jeremiah and the Elders. And the Elders were astonished at what they heard and said among themselves: “Verily, who is this Child that he opens our hearts and minds to the audacity of hope?”
-Tom
The Podcast
