Simple Utah Mormon Politics

Despite our desperation to believe otherwise, there is a difference between a terrorist and a freedom fighter. Those who spend the effort to think rationally can distinguish the difference. Those who don't distinguish the nuances between the two make it easier for terrorists to thrive. We may even be thought of by the rest of the world as terrorists themselves, and perhaps rightly so.

Mexico has for decades been fraught with civil war and unrest. With a few exceptions, such as the American Civil War and the struggles of the Civil Rights Era, the United States has experienced far less civil disturbance than her neighbor to the south. As a result, the American economy is much more vibrant than its Mexican counterpart. This  helps to explain why, while millions of Mexicans have immigrated northward to the United States, the converse is not true. It also indicates how damaging it would be for the United States to stanch immigration from Mexico. Because America may be Mexico's only hope for recovering from a century of self-destruction.

My appreciation goes out to Patrick Painter, my Utah State Representative from Nephi, Utah, who invited me to a presentation of Steve Sandstrom's "Utah Immigration Enforcement Act" that will be presented in Utah's next legislative session. Steve Sandstrom says the bill is alive and well, but he'll have to convince me. Update 9:00 PM : Rep Sandstrom has been very informative, but I'm not sure that he has persuaded me. I have some studying to do. Rep Sandstrom will send me links to a variety of studies he has conducted or researched in the formulation of this bill.

A couple of months ago, I wrote here that I prefer the style of immigration reform supported by Utah Senator Luz Robles, rather than that being proposed by Representative Steve Sandstrom. I'm not sure whether Senator Robles was involved in today's announcement of the Utah Compact, but it is what I strongly support as an excellent foundation for immigration reform in Utah--and anywhere.

I've discovered that I learn a lot more in any meeting when I take notes. Twitter works very well for this purpose. When all was said and done, I produced 31 different tweets during today's LDS Stake Conference in Santaquin, Utah. And it was NOT boring. I hope you like some of them.

Why do we know so much about some terrorists, but not about the ones who lived in Birmingham, Alabama in the 1960's? Because the Birmingham terrorists got to write the official history. "We found a way to live normally in highly abnormal circumstances," wrote Condoleezza Rice in her autobiography entitled Extraordinary, Ordinary People . "But there was no denying that Birmingham eclipsed every other big American city in the ugliness of its racism. Birmingham would shortly become [in 1963] 'Bombingham'."

Election Day 2010 sure started out crappy for me, but I finally got to vote. Hopefully by the end of the day it will have turned out much better. Stay tuned all day long as I live-blog my experiences and feelings on Election Day 2010.