Interesting Paul Rolly piece in this morning's Salt Lake Tribune, giving us some perspective about how political commentators outside the Emerald City echo chamber see us:
• "Rolly: Ogden -- the Florida of Utah"Rolly slams the Republican Boss Godfrey pretty hard, but seems quite sympathetic to poor old Democrat Ed Allen, seemingly failing to recognize that these two thoroughly botched characters are actually joined at the political hip. Once again it leaves us to wonder whether anyone outside of Weber County has the faintest understanding of Emerald City politics.
The Republican v. Democrat meme is getting W-A-A-A-Y old, by the way, we think.
Well....?
10 comments:
I think Ed Allen just can't believe he lost. Rep. Shurtliff had tons of good republican challengers, I.E. Mayor Garwood. But he just couldn't pull it off. He lost that seat to the Republicans after 18 years of Democratic control. It was probably a slow news day and Allen kept leaking the story to him; so Rolly did it shut him up.
There but for the grace of luck goes Matt.
Rudi:
One more time: Ed Allen is a Democrat. Has been all of his adult political life. Mayor Godfrey is a Republican. Has been for the last decade at least. They are politically "joined at the hip" only in the mind of those who see gondolas under every bed, everywhere and all the time.
Good Old (?) Curmudgeon:
One more time. Addled Ed Allen is an unscrupulous clown, a sore loser, a founder of Lift Ogden, a proposed THE GONDOLA saves towns jackass, a proven liar and profligate spreader of deception, untruth, and silliness, and a user of religion for political gain; Lying Little Matty Gondola Godfrey is his intellectually botched dwarf sidekick, a gondola dork who is an unethical, small pile of shit with a huge forehead, who employs the same tactics. Take some notes, professor.
THE SKI IS BEAUTIFUL BLUE
Mr. Curmudgeon
For a smart feller you sure can be dumb and obstinate sometimes over this Democrat - Republican thing as it applies to Allen and his precious son in law and protege Lord Godfrey.
It is rather dogmatic for you to continue to promote the idea that these two low grades are somehow not really connected outside of the gondola fiasco regardless of the eight years of evidence to the contrary.
If you were really open minded about this, all you would have to do is look at the editorial Allen wrote about his "precious" son in law to know that you are promoting a false doctrine.
Oz:
Well, what seems clear to me is that, absent the fact that both Allen and Godfrey supported the gondola [and both were wrong on that issue], the perpetual chant here about Allen and Godfrey being joined at the hip would be mostly absent. Look at Jason's post above. He goes right to the gondola to argue that there's no difference between them.
The point to me, Oz, is that everything in this city, and county, and state does not revolve around the [currently moribund] gondola proposal or other Ogden City matters and where people stood on them. There are many other important matters on which the two parties have taken different legislative stands. The people I see being obstinate on this matter are the ones who cannot seem to see beyond the gondola and city matters, folks who argue that because two people agreed on the gondola and other Ogden city issues, they are therefor necessarily "joined at the hip" eternally and there can be no significant difference between them .
Want another example? Rolly's column notes how Allen, a Democratic candidate, was stiffed by Weber County election officials because [Rolly suggests] Allen was a Democratic candidate. And Rudi immediately chimed in that Rolly doesn't understand that Allen and Godfrey are "joined at the hip." What the hell the gondola matter has to do with how election officials treated Allen or other Democratic candidates in the last election escapes me. But Rudi went right to it.
The Mayor's gondola proposal was a poor one, and absolutely not in Ogden's best interests. But that does not mean the gondola matter has to be appealed to on every issue involving Allen all the time. That seems obstinate to me.
Bullshit, Curm.
County Clerk McEwan's office carefully counted the votes.
Addled Ed lost House District 10, a House District which was formerly held by Democrats for eithteen friggin' years!
Why did this happen?
Becaause Allen was tainted by his connection to his botched son-in-aw of course!
Get real, Curm!
Please write back when you come up for air, gentle Curmudgeon.
Even yellow dog demos need to breathe oxygen, at least occasionally.
Rudi:
"Stiffed" meaning not notified of the changed date of the recount and discovered it only when he showed up for it on the original posted date. Efficiently run county clerks' offices do not operate that way.
I did not suggest he was robbed in the election. [If you recall, day after the election I posted an analysis of Allen's loss, which I think is still a valid one.] I don't think it at all unreasonable, though, to wonder, as Rolly did, whether a Republican candidate who was behind in a close race and intended to be present at the recount would not been have notified of a changed date for the recount.
BTW, if I belonged to a party, as you do, that something like 70% of the voters thought poorly of [latest polls], I'd want to get away from "Republican v. Democrat meme" too. [grin]
My good buddy Curmugeon, I must point out once more that you are in Utah. There are very few actual Democrats in this neck of the woods. What we have here is wacko far right zealots that worship their affiliation with a national party that was embarrassed at the thought of one of them being nominated to carry the torch for them,(Romney). Some of the more moderate sheep in this flock call themselves Democrats, but in Utah that seems to be conservative lite.
Take Matheson for instance, much better than the crooked blowhards Hatch, Bennet and the Godforsaken idiot Bishop, but in any other state he'd be considered a conservative republican, and could run as one.
And dear Curm, it is you that constantly seems to focus on gondolas. Read Jason's reasons minus the gondola reference, addled ed is an unscrupulous clown, sore loser, proven liar and profligate spreader of deception, untruth, silliness, and a user of religion for political gain.
Curm, thats alot more than mere gondola fodder. Please be more open minded in the future, your gondola obsession can sometimes get the best of you. Filthy things those gondolas.
Bill:
Well, Bill, I generally don't introduce gondolas into discussions, but I feel free to reply when others do. Like Jason did above. And a lot of the rest of Jason's bill of particulars that you like so much is based, however obliquely, on Allen's actions in support of [sorry Bill]... wait for it... the gondola plan.
Matheson, like Allen, like most WC Democratics I think, is a Blue Dog Democrat. Lots of them in the South, like Sen. Mary Landrieu. So I'm very familiar with the breed. Blue Dog Dems are not my Dems of choice, but they are, as a rule, much to be preferred [as you know] to the knuckle-dragging mouth-breathers the GOP often puts up against them. Which is why before I left Louisiana, I worked in Mary Landrieu's first race for the Seante. Hard. The troglodyte the GOP ran against her made Chris Buttars look like a Bolshevik.
So you're not telling me anything I don't already know when you tell me Allen [and Matheson] are Blue Dog Democrats. Do I wish they were card-carrying ACLU liberal Dems like me? If I may borrow a phrase from Gov. Palin: You betcha! But this is, as you say, Zion, not Oregon. And here, Blue Dog Dems are the best I am likely to get who can [sometimes] be elected or at least make a good fight of it. As Allen did. I'm a pragmatist, Bill. If I can't get a liberal to campaign for, I'll take what I can get that comes as close as is possible in these parts, and no apologies.
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