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About the Blog

This blog focuses on politics relevant to Utah County. It does not seek to promote a particular political party, however the perspective is that of a constitutional conservative, and a classical liberal, subscribing to many of the ideas proposed by Adam Smith and Frederic Bastiat, which can be incompatible with many party platforms. The content in not intended to be neutral in tone, but to promote constitutional principles and liberty.

Much of the content posted to this blog is developed in conjunction with a voter guide which is published separately. The voter guide covers not only elections, but principles of government and voting, as well as coverage of many public policy issues.

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The Debate Over "The Best a Man Can Get"

The Italian term fascismo is derived from fascio meaning a bundle of rods. (Wikipedia) I'm a little late on the commentary here, and it really isn't Utah-specific, but I have plenty of unoriginal thoughts that, perhaps, I might put together in an appealing way. More importantly, somebody made the above cartoon for me, and it seemed like it would be a terrible waste to not air it a little. (It has been posted elsewhere, but it was made for me, and I love it.) You're welcome to share the image around if you are so inclined. My impression of Gi**ette's ad was negative from the start. I was disgusted with the extremely negative view of men in our society (ie. western masculinity), and by use of a clip from the Young Turks (a panel of radical leftist commentators). The message has often been portrayed, by those who like the ad, as a sort of "we can do better, men; look how great you can be" sort of message. That's an interesting interpretation, b...
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Sending Letters to Candidates and a Response from Mike Hardy

Earlier this week I wrote a letter to the mayoral candidates in Payson, Utah. Frequently, when local elections are held, the low profile of the elections makes it difficult to get a clear picture of the candidates. So, in order to get the data I need to distinguish the candidates, I will email the candidates. I try to keep the letter to 4 questions, and, invariably, the responses (or lack thereof) tell me a lot about the candidates. Maybe it is just because my questions dovetail nicely with my way of thinking, but I tend to find that the responses I get are much more helpful than the responses I get from some of the blah questions politicians are frequently asked. Some of my questions are fairly standard, but I try to mix it up sometimes. Some common go-tos are "why are you running for [the position]", "if you are elected, how will you be able to act as a check against abuses perpetrated by [other branches of government]", "what role do you see citiz...
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Utah County Commissioner, Greg Graves, Accused of Sexual Harassment

A butterfly in a leafy bush. On a few occasions recently, I've tried to do dig around the Utah County website , trying to figure out what bills have been passed, and when. However, I've come up empty handed. The county codes and policies I can easily find, and there are meeting minutes and meeting recordings to pour through. This is great if you already know when something happened, or if one has the stomach to comb through reams of terse descriptions of the topics which the commissioners discussed, or watch days of recorded debate. However, what I would like to find are copies of legislation passed, and voting records. It really has been hard for me to find anything that gives me a really solid idea of what the commissioners are actively trying to do, or how well they are doing it. I'm hoping this is just a matter of ignorance on my part, and that I will be able to find the documentation of passed legislation, and maybe some other evidence of what commissioners are tr...
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