On the Freedom Trail with the Badge and the Star
On January 24, 2014, something pivotal occurred. Seventy-five sheriffs, police chiefs, peace officers and essential others from 31 states met, by invitation only, to find common ground to unite their peace-keeping duties, the U.S. Constitution, concern for federal overreach, and their consciences. They left with a document that spells relief. If you live under the […]
To Those Who Want Freedom For Free
Apathy is tearing at freedom. A recent conversation with a mid-thirties mother of several children illustrates. Responding to a statement that America is losing its freedom, she retorted: “If we lose it, we lose it. There’s nothing I can do about it…I’m not very interested in the topic…I really don’t care very much.” The gut-wrenching […]
On Laws: Nature Says So vs “We Say So”
Our state legislature is now in session, with 500+ new bills under consideration. What will they pass, and how many of them do we actually need? We are awash in laws. Every excursion from home crosses hundreds of them. While many are well-intentioned, others are inane. Law figures prominently into two current issues: the clash […]
Wyoming Federal Land Grab: What It Means to Utah
The voracious federal land animal, hungry for state lands, has found its newest feed lot. Mid-December, the federal government announced it is stealing a million acres from Wyoming. Land issues with the feds are huge for Utah. After the 1996 Grand Staircase-Escalante land grab, we can empathize. The Constitution provides for limited federal lands within […]
The Man Who Wears the Star
Anyone who watches old westerns knows the power of the man who wears the star. With John Wayne, Gary Cooper, and Audie Murphy as models, who could overlook the contribution of sheriffs to the un-wilding of the West? The bad guys lost, the good guys won, and towns, children, and virtuous women were saved. Some […]
HO! HO! HO! to the Clergy
A front page Daily Herald article on Dec 31st bore the headline: “Will LDS bishops have to perform same-sex marriages?” The article quoted Clifford Rosky, a University of Utah professor who chairs Equality Utah, the state’s largest LGBT rights organization. Mr Rosky says the First Amendment would prevent the government from forcing a religious organization […]
Law and the Lawless
On Dec 20, our Rule of Law was attacked. U.S District Court Judge Robert Shelby singlehandedly cancelled 225 years of states’ rights to determine the laws by which they will be governed in a democratic republic. With all the aplomp of a rag doll, he threw aside Utah’s 2004 constitutional amendment, approved by 65.8% of […]
The King of Kings
Tomorrow we celebrate the birth of the King of Kings, He who stands at the axis of Christian worship; whose birth divided time and multiplied heaven. His obscure birth changed world history, though His kingship was not centered in opulent palaces with prestige and a worldly crown. He taught peace, charity, and morality. He was […]
The Art of Being Politically Correct
There was a time when a person could call a spade a spade, as he saw it. No longer. Society is now bound with rules about what one can and cannot say, think, and, increasingly, how one should and should not affiliate. You thought you had freedom of decision and action? Think again. Google defines […]
Time Spent in the Jury Box
Utah recently witnessed the Martin MacNeill murder trial, which concluded with a jury verdict of guilty, and MacNeill now awaits sentencing. Last summer’s Zimmerman/Martin trial in Florida created a firestorm over the jury’s not guilty verdict for George Zimmerman. In both cases, jurists, who were peers of the accused, gave the verdicts as their unanimous […]
