Governor Herbert's Failing on Facebook

OK, this is just funny:

And then a few hours later:

What's so funny about that? Well, when you Google Utah Bees you get this:

You would think that the Governor (or whatever staffer is running his Facebook page) would know the name of the professional baseball team playing a couple miles down the street from the Capitol. Basketball and Hockey? Winter Sports, Utah names. Baseball and Soccer? Summer Sports, Salt Lake Names. At least he didn't call them the Buzz......

But, what do you expect from someone who pals around with the dark side?

The Governor's Caption?

"Met with another potential candidate for Utah's 4th Congressional seat. This guy's got potential."

At least someone has a sense of humor.

As for me, I'm going to go watch the Texas Mavericks play the Oklahoma Thunder and morn the state of my Salt Lake Jazz....

My Redistricting Attempts, Part 1 -- Congressional Districts

The Utah Legislature's planned online redistricting program isn't up and running yet, so I used a tool I found last year called Dave's Redistricting Tool to create a congressional map. This is a first draft, and there are some limitations with the program (mainly, you have to use existing precinct lines).

So, here are the districts:

District A (blue):

Box Elder, Cache, Rich, Weber, Morgan Counties, plus Davis County except North Salt Lake City and Woods Cross west of 800 West and South of 1500 South.
Population: 690,868 (-102); 466,695 adults; 83.6% White, 11.3% Hispanic.

District B (red):

All of Tooele County; in Davis County: North Salt Lake City, Woods Cross west of 800 West and South of 1500 South.; in Salt Lake County: Magna, Salt Lake City, South Salt Lake, Millcreek Township, Holladay, Cottonwood Heights; plus the areas east of I-15 in Sandy, Midvale, and Murray (The area west of I15 and north of 4800 South in Murray is also in District B).
Population: 691,013 (+43); 505,242 adults; 73.6& White, 17.2% Hispanic.

District C (Orange):

Salt Lake County not in District B; Utah County: Cedar Fort, Eagle Mountain, Lehi, Saratoga Springs, Alpine, Highland, Cedar Hills, American Fork, Pleasant Grove, Lindon, Orem north of University Parkway.
Population: 690,879 (-91); 441,822 adults; 80.3% White, 13.2% Hispanic

District D (Green):

All areas not included in the other districts.
Population: 691,118 (+148); 479,096 Adults; 84.0% White, 10.2% Hispanic

Under my proposal, 3 counties (Salt Lake, Utah, Davis) are divided into more than one district (and it's impossible to not split Salt Lake County into more than one district).

In addition, only 5 cities (Woods Cross, Sandy, Midvale, Murray, and Orem) are split into two districts. The dividing line in Sandy, Midvale and part of Murray in the Interstate. The dividing line in Orem is a major thoroughfare.

So,what do you think?

Jon Huntsman, and Defining My Own Mormonsism

Much has been made about Jon Huntsman's statement in a Time Magazine article about his relationship to the LDS Church. Namely, his statement that his membership in the Church is "tough to define."

Now, the simple answer is that Mormonism is harder to define than other religions. You can be a "Christian" without having a home church (George W Bush). I have a friend who self-identifies as Baptist despite the fact that he's a Presbyterian Youth Minister. There's a running joke that you are a good Catholic is you attend Mass on Christmas and Easter.

However, in Mormonism, you either are or you aren't in the minds of most Mormons. In fact, there is a growing trend to try to break Mormons into one of two categories. Columnist Robert Kirby tried years ago to break us into 5 kinds of Mormons. However, the reality is, there are varying degrees of Mormonism.

I created several Mormon "character", and then asked 7 friends of various backgrounds to try to define that character's Mormonism. I based each "character" on a real person. For each friend, I got 7 different answers.

Well, except for the one I based on Mitt Romney: the person who is well-known as a Mormon but has said publicly that "I don't know that he has spoken to anyone since Moses and the bush or perhaps some others." That one was pretty universal.

However, it was shocking how different the answers were. I think I might widen the survey a little more and put the questionaire out there for everyone to take, getting a broader range of answers.

My favorite was the definitions of the following character "32 single male, raised in the Church. Comes from two-parent family where Mom was the primary breadwinner. Democrat who votes for Republicans sometimes. Believes Government should not be defining marriage. Attends Temple once every 3 weeks, attends church weekly, but sometimes skips Sunday School."

That one was me. I got 9 definitions from those 7 people.

I don't know what type of Mormon Jon Huntsman is, nor do I really care. All I care is that he's a good person.

Because, after all, that's all that really matters.

John McCain Speaks the Truth on Torture and Bin Laden

I can't think of anyone in government more qualified to speak on torture than Senator McCain.

Orrin Hatch wants to raise taxes on the middle class

"the place where you’ve got to get revenues has to come from the middle class. That’s the huge number of people that are there. So the system does need to be revamped."

Bin Laden is dead -- my reaction

I will always remember where I was on September 11, 2001.

I also remember where I was eight years ago May 1, 2003 when President Bush gave his "mission accomplished" speech. That was the day that started me on the path to becoming a Democrat.

And, May 1, 2011 is a day that makes me proud to be an American.

I wish it hadn't taken us nearly 10 years since 9/11.

In fact, I wish we had gotten him during the Clinton administration. Then none of the above dates would have mattered.

But, they do matter. And they will always matter.

Unfortunately, terrorism is never going away. Terror will be an effective tool both from foreign and domestic terrorists.

However, we must let the world know that if you commit acts of terrorism, we will find you, and you will be met with Justice.

And hopefully we will find you quickly.

May God continue to bless America.