Maybe I Am Naive...

Or maybe I am spoiled. Either way, this is what is going to be representing me in a few short weeks and I am not exactly happy about it.

Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, needs to think long and hard about whether he will file for re-election to the Utah Legislature.

Earlier this week, during a debate over a school-funding measure that included references to King Solomon and splitting babies, Buttars said, "This baby is black, I'll tell you. This is a dark, ugly thing."

In the aftermath of the first remark, Sen. Buttars commented that his remarks had been grossly mis-characterized by the hyper-sensitive of society. At the time, I didn't think much about this kerfuffle - even though the Logical Husband and I were pretty much decided that we were going to settle in the West Jordan area. That is until last week.....

Mapleton officials say Sen. Chris Buttars repeated his infamous remark about a black baby during a meeting with them this week.
Three city officials - one was Mayor Laurel Brady who has three adopted black children - said Buttars referred at least three times to inflammatory remarks earlier this year, saying of a bill, "this baby is black . . . it's a dark and ugly thing."

Emphasis mine. The fact that he again brought this remark up again (after supposedly apologizing for using it) was stunning in and of itself. What totally floored me was this comment...

"I was so shocked; I couldn't believe what he was saying," said Brady. "We were all surprised. It ended with Senator Buttars making it clear to us that he is powerful; he could repeat the 'black baby' remark and that he was untouchable. He said, 'If they wanted to get rid of me, they would have done it in the primaries, and they didn't. I am here to stay.' ''

Emphasis again mine. Senator Buttars - before you go claiming how untouchable you are, you may want to pay attention to another "untouchable" Utah legislator! Talk to Congressman Cannon today and find out just how "untouchable" he really is.

This kind of unabashed arrogance is the product of single party "rule" in a state. In Minnesota, we got the same kind of arrogance out of the DFL (Democrat Farmer Labor for my Utah readers) party leaders who have been in the legislature for decades. Just as it is time for the DFL to purge themselves of an out of touch leadership, the same thing needs to be done here in Utah! We need to remind the elected just who really has the power.....WE THE PEOPLE!

I guess I was indeed spoiled. I know that I would have never heard this kind of "rhetoric" out of either of these three. Maybe that is why I worked so hard for them.