Salt Lake Tribune: Governor Herbert Signs Two More 2010 "Message Bills" Into Law

The 2010 Utah legislature's "messages" do seem to be getting through

O wad some Power the giftie gie us to see oursels as ithers see us!

Robert Burns
To A Louse
(On seeing one on a lady's bonnet at church)
1759-96)

Following fast upon this year's 2010 Utah legislative session, which will be mostly remembered for crackpot "message bills" and other bizarre political posturings, The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Utah Governor Gary Herbert has signed into law two more of these "quixotic" bills, which would ostensibly "authorize the use of eminent domain to take some of the U.S. government's most valuable parcels":

• Guv approves use of eminent domain to take federal land

We'll thus invoke the above-cited wise words of Scottish poet Bobbie Burns, and note with considerable amusement that the 2010 Utah legislature's "messages" do seem to be "getting through," at least to some elements of the greater U.S. population:

• Welcome to Glennbeckistan

Okay. So who's ready for some hot-tubbin'?

Update 3/30/10 7:00 a.m.: Charlie Trentelman goes off on these two above-mentioned eminent domain message bills in yesterday's delightful Blogging the Rambler blog rant linked below:

• Utah snatching fed land? But that’s MY land

We'll give Charlie's closing paragraphs, which highlight the harsh discrepancy between the legislature's words and deeds, an especially hearty thumbs up:

Then there’s the whole question of Utah using eminent domain to take land just because it wants it. As I’ve said before, Utah’s Legislature doesn’t really believe in smaller government. All it believes in is a smaller FEDERAL government.
It would love to see the STATE OF UTAH’s government get a whole lot bigger, and more powerful. The legislators showed that when they tried to make miscarriages illegal, and when they’ve tried to make abortions illegal, and when they’ve tried to micromanage drinking and legislate just about every aspect of private life that just doesn’t happen to meet their moral or religious code.
And then they sit around and talk about freedom.

It's a danged good read, all-in-all.

Check it out.