Standard-Examiner Guest Editorial: Washington's Advice Should Guide Us

Letting the voters decide... what a novel concept for "we the sheeple" here in Glenbeckistan

The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.
Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight), the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it. [Emphasis added].

George Washington
Washington's Farewell Address
1796

This morning we'll highlight a fine Guest Commentary in today's Standard-Examiner, within which frequent SE contributor Rick Jones cleverly incorporates words from Washington's farewell address to argue against the "spirit of party," and in favor of the Fair Boundaries and Utahns for Ethical Government citizen inititive petitions, as desirable reform measures, which would "lessen the ["frightfully despotic"] power of political parties and "factional" partisanship" in our Utah legislature:

• Washington's advice should guide us

For a startlingly recent example of the "continual mischiefs of the spirit of party" which are so painfully evident in our Utah legislature, Weber County Forum readers need only look back to March 4 of this year, when House Representative Gage Froerer candidly informed us that that the beleagured citizens of Powderville could probably get their voting rights back... simply by coughing up a cool twenty-five grand to a "lobbyist" with "influence" amongst the members of the real estate development-partisan State Senate Leadership Faction.

Time's running short folks. These petitions need to be submitted to the Lt. Governor's office by April 15. Once again, here are the online citizen petition links:

• Fair Boundaries
• Utahns for Ethical Government

And for those readers who are still reluctant to sign the petitions, due to the raft armada of confusing misinformation which has been disseminated by the evil (or naively misguided) opponents of real ethics reform in Utah, please consider this:

If these two petitions DO receive the requisite 95,000 ballot-qualifying signatures, these initiatives WILL NOT automatically become law. Rather, they will be merely placed on November General Election ballots, which means that ALL UTAH VOTERS will then be able to decide whether these initiatives are worthy of our vote.

Letting the voters decide... what a novel concept for "we the sheeple" here in Glenbeckistan.

Just sign the petitions, folks. If you later change your minds, you can simply vote against the ballot initiatives in November.