What a difference a day makes. Way back on Tuesday, State Senators Valentine and Waddoups (rhymes with fruit loops) were feverishly engaged in a madcap wingnut competition, with the object of enacting legislation which would have mandated the collection of Utah "sinners" names (and other personal information) in one giant "Sinner Central Database." And this morning, the Salt Lake Tribune reports they've both suddenly backed down. From this morning's story:
A controversial plan to create a central database to track bar patrons -- in place of the state's private club law -- is being abandoned amid fears of "Big Brother."Too weird. Even Waddoups now admits the idea is "Orwellian." Why, we wonder, didn't this occur to him on Tuesday?
Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem, said Wednesday that he has dropped the proposed private club changes from his bill and will let the debate play out in the House.
Rep. Greg Hughes, R-Draper, is sponsoring a bill that does away with private clubs and requires licenses to be scanned, but the information would be stored temporarily at the clubs so it is available to law enforcement.
Neither of the bills has yet been numbered.
Senate President Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, who spent this week stamping out the talk of the database, says even storing data at the clubs may be untenable now, because of the controversy over the database.
"That's pretty Orwellian, I believe," he said. Just the public perception that clubs are storing patrons' data "might put some club owner out of business."
Of course it's "controversy" that seems to be the operative word here. Perhaps this giant policy flip-flop had something to do with the scathing editorials and flurries of angry constituent emails. Maybe it has to do with public humiliation... Perchance though, this is some slight indication that democracy works, even in American provincial outposts like Utah. Notably however, we'll point out that neither of these fickle GOP fellows has actually come out and unequivocally stated that he's opposed to the "Big Brother Nanny State" as a general concept. No. These proposals were merely "too controversial."
Will sanity ultimately return to GOP legislators this 2009 legislative session? We won't count on it. We haven't had a look at the final version of Representative Hughes proposed House bill yet. It could well be a "Trojan Horse."
As for Senators Valentine and Waddoups, we'll just add this. If these two numbskulls were truly the "political conservatives" that they pretend to be, they would have reflexively known that the Central Database concept was a terrible idea at the outset.
In a pinch, prior to opening their mouths and engaging in their recent fool's errands, either of these fellows also could have easily boned up on their own Utah GOP State Party Platform, which says this:
THE PROPER ROLE OF GOVERNMENTAnd what say out gentle readers about all this?
We believe government properly exists by the consent of the governed and must be
restrained from intruding into the freedoms of its citizens. The function of government is not to grant rights, but to protect the unalienable, God-given rights of life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness.
4 comments:
Rudi, not in our lifetimes of single party dominated rule has this supposed platform applied or ever been considered by our duly elected. It runs counter to prevailing religious dogma.
Did you just make that up?
IN RE: the GOP state party platform plank you quoted, Rudi. As fine a piece of creative fiction I've seen in the public prints in quite a while.
Your Utah GOP sure can talk the talk, Rudi. But, as you note, we don't much see them walking the walk. When it comes to "not intruding into the freedoms of... citizens," the Utah GOP is [as they say, or used to, in Texas] "all hat and no cattle."
It is evident that the GOP legislators have never read their own GOP State Party Platform..
Rep. Ray who has introduced his nutty abortion bill making it a crime for a doctor to perform an abortion is the real nut case.
I am so sick of Utah GOP legislators thinking they should act as the God Almighty himself.
Why don't they spend their time on real issues such as our fiscal crisis.
It is evident that the GOP legislators have never read their own GOP State Party Platform..
Rep. Ray who has introduced his nutty abortion bill making it a crime for a doctor to perform an abortion is the real nut case.
I am so sick of Utah GOP legislators thinking they should act as the God Almighty himself.
Why don't they spend their time on real issues such as our fiscal crisis.
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