When you write opinions for a living, events and issues can swirl through the air like leaves in a windstorm. The best thing to do is jump in and get your hands on as many as possible. So here goes:
Regardless of how you feel about state Sen. Chris Buttars and his recent statement comparing the gay-rights movement to Islamic fundamentalists, it's hard not to view the performance of Senate President Michael Waddoups, at a televised press conference on the matter, as a disaster. Waddoups looked bothered, distracted and generally more interested in studying his watch than in explaining why he removed Buttars from not only the chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee, but from the committee all together. Incredibly, Waddoups insisted this was not a punishment. Then he said he didn't agree with everything Buttars said, but he refused to elaborate. Well, gee, president. You brought it up.
My guess is if viewers didn't distrust lawmakers before, they definitely would after seeing this. A "straight-talk express" it wasn't.
George W. Bush often was bashed for lowering taxes and increasing spending. Mathematically, his detractors said, it didn't add up, and the result had to be higher deficits. So what are we to think when Barack Obama signs a $787 billion stimulus, outlines plans for government loan programs, a massive health-care reform bill and mortgage bailouts, then says more will have to be done to help credit flow again, and then says he wants to cut the deficit in half during his first term?
I'm no math expert, but even when he talks about raising $634 billion by taxing "the rich," it doesn't even come close to adding up.
Does 10-digit dialing scare you? Apparently, many of you are answering "Yes," and I can't figure that out. All the objections I've heard so far are ridiculous. In case you haven't noticed, there are a lot more phones out there than there used to be. You may even have one or more in your pocket. The 801 area code is running out of numbers, and the best approach is to let everyone keep the number they currently have and give new phones the 385 area code.
And yes, you'll have to dial 10 digits just to reach your next door neighbor — starting today. My advice? Don't limit the human brain. If you could learn seven digits, I think you can master 10. If not, just program your neighbor into your phone and use one-digit dialing. Maybe you can handle that.
The best stories about Larry H. Miller were the ones that didn't get a lot of attention. One of my personal favorites had to do with construction of Franklin Covey Field, which I covered closely as a reporter. Because the new stadium is bigger than old Derks Field, which also sat on that site, several homes beyond the outfield had to be destroyed. Miller, who headed up the stadium construction effort, personally helped those families move, making them feel much better about everything.
The lawyer for the religious group Summum says the legal fight isn't over. Maybe that's true, but the unanimous decision by the U.S. Supreme Court last week in favor of Pleasant Grove in its effort to allow the Ten Commandments, but not the "Seven Aphorisms of Summum," in a city park seems pretty decisive to me. Here is some of the wording:
"Public parks are often closely identified in the public mind with the government unit that owns the land. City parks ... commonly play an important role in defining the identity that a city projects to its own residents and to the outside world. ... Government decisionmakers select the monuments that portray what they view as appropriate for the place in question, taking into account such content-based factors as esthetics, history, and local culture."
In a separate opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia said the city hadn't violated any part of the First Amendment. Sounds pretty clear.
Jay Evensen is editor of the Deseret News editorial page. E-mail: even@desnews.com. Visit his blog at www.deseretnews.com/blogs.