Simple Utah Mormon Politics

In 1831, Alexis de Tocqueville, during his tour of America, was surprised by Americans' lack of interest in other nations and cultures. This is still the case today. Why is it so? There are some good reasons, and there are some embarrassing ones.

I initially thought someone was joking when they told me about this one. I find no mention of it, let alone outrage against it, on MediaMatters.com . Dozens of people have died in the wake of Hurricane Gustav, yet Michael Moore and Keith Olbermann find it funny that Gustav put a damper on Republicans' plans to hold their convention. If Rush Limbaugh had If Rush Limbaugh had said something like this, media outlets would be outraged at the insensitivity. And rightly so. However, this story was not even noticed by the larger media. said something like this, MediaMatters and many other media outlets would be outraged at the insensitivity. And rightly so. However, a look on MediaMatters, USA Today, New York Times, and Washington Post indicates that the story was not even noticed. Watch for yourself what Michael Moore an Keith Olbermann were laughing about on Olberman's show the other night. The problem with political discussion Michael Moore (and Keith Olbermann for that matter...

Elliott Spitzer and Eve Carson have dominated national news coverage for the past few days. Do you think it's healthy that two attractive people--and very unfortunate events in their lives (or deaths)--take up nearly twenty percent of the news cycle--while hundreds of other news stories go unreported? I don't think so. It seems a bit voyeuristic to me. Elliott Spitzer is a fallen celebrity, and Eve Carson was a very successful, very attractive woman. Let's respect both of them--and ourselves--by leaving them and their families alone. Stories should dominate the national news according to their national importance. I know--it hasn't been that way for a long time. But the current news cycle goes to emphasize the point that outlets like CNN and Fox News think you're more interested in the murder of Eve Carson and the adulterous antics of Elliott Spitzer than you are about the failing US economy, Iraq, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and the Presidentia...

The British press kept it a secret for almost three months.Give the American media whores one day, and everyone in the world knows it. The American press ought to be embarrassed that it spread like wildfire the leak about Prince Harry’s military whereabouts—but they’re not embarrassed, because they know you want it. I was listening to the Doug Wright show on KSL radio from Salt Lake City yesterday, and he was veritably salivating over the fact that British Prince Harry’s specific whereabouts in Afghanistan have been revealed, making him a security risk for the British military there. Harry was not allowed by the British crown to serve in Iraq for the very reason that the specifics of his service would be divulged to the world. Then it was agreed by the British press that—for operational security—it would not be revealed that Prince Harry was actually in Afghanistan. The Brits kept their end of the bargain. It was a foreign source—perhaps Australian, but begun in the US very likely b...

I don't even like Rush Limbaugh, but it's clear what he said about "phony soldiers". I'm not sure why Media Matters can't get it correct. Maybe because they don't want to. Update: Who's calling who a phony? Huh, moveon.org? Update 10/5/2007: There are many "phony soldiers" that the government is investigating. Why would Rush Limbaugh say that all soldiers who are against the war are "phony soldiers"? They're not. Rush knows it. I don't know why he would say that. But I don't have to try to figure out why, because HE DIDN'T SAY THAT. Media Matters has this to say about itself on its website : Media Matters for America is a Web-based, not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media. At least they openly admit that they're only working at "correcting conservative misin...

In a world where a Hollywood-infatuated media feels an obligation to report on a regular basis about Hollywood harlots, should I be surprised that at least one Utah radio station led off its news broadcast with a crime story involving OJ Simpson? Well, I'm unfortunately not surprised. But I haven't stopped expecting better out of organizations that purport to report the news. KRNS AM 570 this morning (and for many of the past several mornings) has selected as their "top story" that OJ Simpson has been arrested in conjunction with some crime in Las Vegas. Please. There are probably at least 100 stories on any given day that could "top" that. Out of a 3-4 minute newscast, KNRS devoted between 30 seconds and 1 minute to tell us all the latest--which was nothing. Such reporting is just plainly and simply lazy. As a result of this august reportage, we now know that OJ will be arraigned today. Members of the media think they know which door he's going to...

The Deseret News this morning told us that Lindsay Lohan might be somewhere in Utah. Oh my heck!!! That is like so totally awesome!!! Updated: 8-8-2007 A gracious response from the Deseret News journalist. What is it with so-called news sources that they have to slap putrescence on their pages and call it news? I must at least compliment the Deseret News for not having a non-news story about Lindsay Lohan rehabbing somewhere in Utah on their front page. (Of course if there hadn't been six miners missing in Huntington, Utah, Lohan may have been on the front page, huh?) I guess they were trying to keep up with the Salt Lake Tribune and the Daily Herald, who also think this story is news. BYU Newsnet didn't report it; the fetchers... Not to mention that the DesNews article did not have a scintilla of original-source reporting in it, only citing such august sources as E Online, the Insider, and US Weekly. But I guess that helps them fill up space so they can get their paper o...

It is a travesty that the media and nearly everyone else with an opinion has declared Michael Vick guilty of participating in dog-fighting. He might just be. But how can we possibly apologize to him and give him his life back if he is not? Updated : 7/31/2007 I don't even really like the National Football League (college football is much more fun to watch). And I don't really like the Atlanta Falcons. And I don't think, from my limited knowledge of the professional game, that Michael Vick is a very good quarterback. But I am of the strong opinion that he is being treated wrongly by a pack of leeches who can't wait to get in the first lick. Have you ever noticed that when someone is captured for this or that crime, that more often than not the person's mug shot is on the evening news that night with the implication that the individual is clearly guilty of the crime for which he has been arrested? I think such statements by the media should be illegal. In most c...

When it comes to the Fairness Doctrine, the beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Are we talking about who owns the radio and television stations, or who gets to talk on them? The first is a valid point. The second is just liberals whining that nobody likes to hear what they have to say. I once listened to a talk by Bill Moyers about the Fairness Doctrine. He pointed out that ClearChannel and a handful of other companies are buying up a lot of the radio and TV stations in the United States, and that we should put a stop to it. I think what he meant, though, was that most of these stations run conservative talk shows, and that we should put a stop to that. I disagree. I'm of the opinion that most TV and radio news sources make up for the conservative dominance in radio talk, which partially answers the question why there aren't left-wing radio shows galore. But the main reason? The American people just don't like what the liberals have to say. They're always negat...

The way some outlets (oh, let's just take a random example....ummmmmm.....how about.....Associated Press) report crime stories, you'd almost get the impression that the reporter thinks that those killing their assailant in self-defense are unjustified in doing so. At least the story makes it look like the self-defender didn't know how to use the gun. And now, the rest of the story... The Associated Press story begins thusly : The owner of a popular pizza shop opened fire on three robbery suspects, killing one of them and apparently wounding his own son. What does that conjure up in your mind? That he recklessly endangered his son's life? That he didn't know how to use a firearm? That he shouldn't have had a firearm on the premises? I remember working as a college student at a 7-11, whose policy at the time was that we could not bring firearms on the premises. My employment was not in a particularly high-crime city, but I remember thinking how stupid that ...