A Weird Political Argument
I read a post this morning (Melia is having a rough night…so I’m up at a weird hour again) on one of my favorite blogs, The Utah Amicus. In his post Rob Miller talks about the mostly justifiable outrage at the Bush Administration’s dealings with Halliburton then finishes with this line:
Would you let your stake president get away with these type of business practices?
Is it just me or is that kind of weird? I love Rob Miller’s blog and really feel strongly about the importance of changing Utah culture so Democrats aren’t considered “un-Mormon” but I don’t think arguments like this are a good way of achieving our goals.
Dragging our ideas of how priesthood leaders should behave into discourse about the corruption of our government by sleazy politicians is not particularly productive. It just seems a bit absurd. I guess it causes me the same discomfort I feel when people try to infuse politics into a sacrament meeting talk…it just doesn’t work.
That said, I seriously love Rob Miller’s site and enjoy reading his opinions on all things political in the State of Utah. I said earlier that Mr. Miller’s commentary played a large role in my chosing a new political party after moving to Utah and I stand by that. If you want to know what great potential exists for the Utah Democratic party keep an eye on his blog.
7 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>
It is tough to change Utah culture so that Democrats aren’t considered un-mormon. The Democratic party is the party of wack job Howard Dean and Nancy Pelosi. It is the party of abortion and welfare. I don’t see how these values are compatible with Utahns’ values of industry, self reliance, and the value of work.
The Republicans might have problems, but I don’t see how the Democrat’s big-government values will resonate with Utahns–unless the Democrats can convince people that since many of them have a patriarchal church, they need a patriarchal government.
Comment by Daniel — February 28, 2006 @ 11:55 am
Dan all I can say is you’d better hope my wife doesn’t read your post or she’ll write a response the likes of which you just may not survive…
Comment by Nate — February 28, 2006 @ 4:52 pm
You know I’m not saying that the Republicans are necessarily better. I’m just saying what the perception of Democrats is right now. Having Howard Dean as the head of the DNC only makes the perception of what the Democratic party is worse. His anti-religious views don’t help the Utah Democratic party.
Comment by Daniel — March 1, 2006 @ 6:41 am
Not everyone will always agree with every statement I make, or understand it. But without hesitation I will say it again, “would you let your stake president get away with this?”
My thoughts are this, although I love my stake president I would not, I could not, and yet so many of us here in Utah turn a blind eye to the corruption of the Bush administration and the leadership of the national republican party.
As an active member of the LDS Church I am amazed that so many of our memebers turn a blind eye to this corruption. I am also troubled that very often if one asks a serious question, one that does have substance, it is portrayed as being anti-LDS.
I stand behind the statement at the end of my post. The truth is you might forgive your Stake President for un-ethical business pratices but would you let him get away with it? I would not.
On another note. The comment, “The Republicans might have problems, but I don’t see how the Democrat’s big-government values will resonate with Utahns–unless the Democrats can convince people that since many of them have a patriarchal church, they need a patriarchal government.”
Take a look at SB200. It is not the Democrats who belive in bigger government it is the republicans. The entire world has been sold a bag of goods about the “conservative” government represted by the republican party. There is nothing conservative about it.
In ending, Harry Nilsson had a great line from his album, “The Point” which states, “we see what we want to see, and hear what we want to hear.” Nate, please have your wife read my ost and then give her my phone number. I would be honored to talk and listen to her viewpoint, I would love to also share mine.
Great Blog!
With every best wish,
Rob Miller
Vice Chair
Utah State Democratic Party
801-706-6203
Bountiful, Utah
Comment by Rob Miller — March 4, 2006 @ 9:49 am
Sorry, typos, typos, typos capitalizations!!!
It has been a long week.
Jeremy, I have tried to link your blog but for some reason it is not working. Any ideas?
Rob
Comment by Rob Miller — March 4, 2006 @ 10:59 am
I actually have said the d word several times at sacrament. Why sould it be uncomfortable? I believe that it was Augustus Faust who said, “be yourself”.
Comment by Anonymous — March 29, 2006 @ 3:26 am
Hey Anonymous,
Quit cussing in church. Its one thing to “be yourself” it is another to subject people to profanity while they are in Sacrament Meeting.
I’m assuming the “d” word you’re talking about is a swear…if not…what is your point?
Either way…thanks for making it to my webpage to leave your insightful comment.
Comment by Jeremy Manning — March 29, 2006 @ 10:02 am