The Utah Legislature - 2012 Edition

[Jeff Lebowski]

I applaud the fiscal conservatism of the Utah Legislature, but on social issues they can be batshit crazy. This year is no exception. First of all, that knucklehead Bill Wright (how this guy has so much influence is beyond me) introduced a bill that would forbid ANY discussion of contraception in Utah schools.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/8...only-bill.html
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politic...akers.html.csp

Current law allows discussion of contraception in sex-ed classes as long as students have opt-in via a permission slip from parents. Almost 100% of parents choose to opt-in. This new bill would eliminate the opt-in process and remove all discussion. Idiots.

Next, they are passing a bill that forces all grades, K-12, to recite the pledge every day at the beginning of school:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/8...ic-school.html

Note the calm, measured rhetoric:

"People are being taught to be ashamed to be an American. We should be proud to be an American," said Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem, adding there's an obligation to instill patriotism in children.
"If we don't do this, we could lose this country."

[mcan]

It's a good thing we only have a part-time legislature. Imagine what these nut jobs would dream up if they had all year to do it.

I recall (not fondly) reciting the Pledge every morning in elementary school. If anything, having to do that made me hate the Pledge and basically just rush through. (Coincidentally enough, I feel the same way about reciting D&C 4 every week in Priesthood opening exercises in our ward.)

My clearest memory regarding the Pledge was a year or two ago when a 12 year old scout admonished all of us at Cub Scout Pack Meeting to not allow the typical full pause before saying, "under God" since that somehow diminishes the critical God/America link that would otherwise be galvanized in our souls - or something like that.

I didn't have the heart to point out to him that the whole "under God" bit was thrown in by Congress & Eisenhower in a message bill of their own in 1954.

So Lebowski, imagine if you will, a world in which not only is the Pledge not recited in every classroom in America, but also in where the critical words "under God" are omitted. That's what were fighting to prevent. That's the world Rep. Sandstrom cannot abide. If you don't think that's bad enough, imagine these same children were exposed to the horrors of condoms (with full knowledge and consent of their respective parents). That would be too much to to endure. Surely that world would be ripe for destruction!

But don't worry, Sandstrom et al will save us.

[SCcoug]

My clearest memory regarding the Pledge was a year or two ago when a 12 year old scout admonished all of us at Cub Scout Pack Meeting to not allow the typical full pause before saying, "under God" since that somehow diminishes the critical God/America link that would otherwise be galvanized in our souls - or something like that.

My 11 year old scout leader made the same point. His reason was that there was no comma or punctuation of any kind to indicate there should be a pause.

He was also big on the distinction that deacons don't go around to collect fast offerings; they go and receive fast offerings.

[Jeff Lebowski]

My 11 year old scout leader made the same point. His reason was that there was no comma or punctuation of any kind to indicate there should be a pause.

He was also big on the distinction that deacons don't go around to collect fast offerings; they go and receive fast offerings.

I don't get it. Why is the pause such a big deal?

Some of these folks missed their chance. They would have been perfect McCarthy-ites.

[mcan]

I don't get it. Why is the pause such a big deal?

Some of these folks missed their chance. They would have been perfect McCarthy-ites.

Pining for the halcyon days of the 1950's... A Utah tradition since 1960.

[Moliere]

Ha, glad I don't live in Utah anymore....oh wait I live in Texas

As for the pledge, I said it every day through elementary and mabye even middle school. I like the fact that kids say the pledge as part of the concept of the school system is to instill patriotism into the youth, which shouldn't be a difficult thing given our awesome Constitution and freedoms. Drafting a bill that requires the pledge be said every day is going a bit far, but if I were a principal I'd have it recited everyday as a school.

In Texas, my kids say both the US pledge and the Texas pledge. They also spend a lot of time on Texas history (probably more than on US history ). All of this leads to that Texas Pride that exudes from Texans. Sure, that pride can be annoying, but it's a great thing to meet a fellow Texan and to both be proud of your home state instead of trying to justify why you live where you do.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Ha, glad I don't live in Utah anymore....oh wait I live in Texas

As for the pledge, I said it every day through elementary and mabye even middle school. I like the fact that kids say the pledge as part of the concept of the school system is to instill patriotism into the youth, which shouldn't be a difficult thing given our awesome Constitution and freedoms. Drafting a bill that requires the pledge be said every day is going a bit far, but if I were a principal I'd have it recited everyday as a school.

In Texas, my kids say both the US pledge and the Texas pledge. They also spend a lot of time on Texas history (probably more than on US history ). All of this leads to that Texas Pride that exudes from Texans. Sure, that pride can be annoying, but it's a great thing to meet a fellow Texan and to both be proud of your home state instead of trying to justify why you live where you do.

Yeah, the pledge thing is far and away the lesser of the two evils I posted. I just can't stomach the grandstanding associated with it. Current Utah law requires the pledge to be recited every day in elementary school and once per week in middle school and high school. Schools can choose to do more if they wish. New law mandates that it is done every day and it mandates the structure: in the individual classrooms and not over the loudspeaker. Each day a new student must be selected to lead the pledge. Whoever said conservatives were against Big Government?

[SCcoug]

I don't get it. Why is the pause such a big deal?

Some of these folks missed their chance. They would have been perfect McCarthy-ites.

I don't attribute it to any hyper social conservatism. This guy was an immigrant from Peru so non native English speaker. For some reason it was just a pet peeve for him.

[Uncle Ted]

I applaud the fiscal conservatism of the Utah Legislature, but on social issues they can be batshit crazy. This year is no exception. First of all, that knucklehead Bill Wright (how this guy has so much influence is beyond me) introduced a bill that would forbid ANY discussion of contraception in Utah schools.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/8...only-bill.html
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politic...akers.html.csp

Current law allows discussion of contraception in sex-ed classes as long as students have opt-in via a permission slip from parents. Almost 100% of parents choose to opt-in. This new bill would eliminate the opt-in process and remove all discussion. Idiots.

With all the money they save they can cut the state education budget and apply more toward helping offset the social health cost associated with STDs and unexpected teen pregnancies.

Next, they are passing a bill that forces all grades, K-12, to recite the pledge every day at the beginning of school:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/8...ic-school.html

Note the calm, measured rhetoric:

The public schools I went to as a kid we said the pledge every day in school. Once I wrote an opinion/argument paper in middle school with the argument that the pledge should just be written on a sign and place below the flag in each classroom instead. I even included a calculation with how much time we could reclaim for things like teaching. I don't recall the figure now but it was somewhat significant. I do recall getting an A on my paper.

[Moliere]

Yeah, the pledge thing is far and away the lesser of the two evils I posted. I just can't stomach the grandstanding associated with it. Current Utah law requires the pledge to be recited every day in elementary school and once per week in middle school and high school. Schools can choose to do more if they wish. New law mandates that it is done every day and it mandates the structure: in the individual classrooms and not over the loudspeaker. Each day a new student must be selected to lead the pledge. Whoever said conservatives were against Big Government?

Yeah, that's way overboard.

[Tim]

I refuse to pledge allegiance to a piece of cloth.

[Eddie]

I refuse to pledge allegiance to a piece of cloth.

How do you feel about pledging allegiance to the republic for which it stands?

[il Padrino Ute]

I refuse to pledge allegiance to a piece of cloth.

How about pledging allegiance to a politician?

[Uncle Ted]

I refuse to pledge allegiance to a piece of cloth.

Well, your are in good company...



I guess.

[byu71]

I applaud the fiscal conservatism of the Utah Legislature, but on social issues they can be batshit crazy. This year is no exception. First of all, that knucklehead Bill Wright (how this guy has so much influence is beyond me) introduced a bill that would forbid ANY discussion of contraception in Utah schools.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/8...only-bill.html
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politic...akers.html.csp

Current law allows discussion of contraception in sex-ed classes as long as students have opt-in via a permission slip from parents. Almost 100% of parents choose to opt-in. This new bill would eliminate the opt-in process and remove all discussion. Idiots.

Next, they are passing a bill that forces all grades, K-12, to recite the pledge every day at the beginning of school:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/8...ic-school.html

Note the calm, measured rhetoric:

This is a small example of why I would hope the religious right never gains whitehouse and congressional power. Utah is a test case for how it would feel if you weren't part of the "religion" in power.

By the way, orthodox evangelicals might be surprised how comfortable they would be living here once they got the neighbors to leave them alone.