It's freedom OF religion, not freedom FROM religion

Utah Policy Daily linked to an interesting commentary by Lou Dobbs of CNN. It's titled "Keep religion out of politics." In it Mr. Dobbs says, "Religion is dominant in the lives of most Americans." Isn't that a good thing? He also mentions that we shouldn't have churches that are "politicking." The founding fathers envisioned the right to practice what ever religion they wanted to. They wanted freedom OF religion, not freedom FROM religion!

Gas Pains?

This week I'm in Kansas City and gas prices here are $1.89 a gallon. Sure can't wait to get back to Utah and be able to help that economy by spending almost a whole dollar more a gallon!

Rocky will take the credit

So Rocky Anderson was in New York to talk about global warming and how well Salt Lake has done to help reduce pollutions. It baffles me how quick Rocky is to take credit for the reduction. What has he personally done to reduce pollutions? He hosts a rally to demonstrate against the President of the United States. I'd bet the majority of those that participated drove to the site. Maybe he is taking credit because he told all of us people in Davis County to stay away. Guess what Rocky, I did my part. I no longer work in downtown Salt Lake. When I did I would go out to lunch at least once per week. Now I no longer patronize the downtown eating establishments. I guess that helps reduce pollution in Salt Lake City.

I agree with a Democrat

Rob Miller at the Utah Amicus wrote a post yesterday that I agree whole-heartedly with. In one part of it he says, "I do believe that we can once again become united if we will stop focusing on our differences and look more for our similarities."
I really don't think that mainstream Republicans and mainstream Democrats are that far apart in their political views. Sunday, I watched a television show that was talking about the 9-11 attacks and they interviewed Toby Keith. One of the things that he mentioned is that he gets calls from Republicans saying that they are thankful for his support of the troops and that he must be a Republican. He then tells them that he is a life-long Democrat. In listening to his political views, I found myself agreeing with them a lot more then not. I think this is what Rob means when he says we need to look more for our similarities. Would Rob Miller make a great Davis County Commissioner? He probably would, if everyone focused on similarities and the good in people, instead of the differences.

Blogger as a journalist?

I'm in Virginia this week, and on the plane ride here I was reading "Wild Card" by Jennie Hansen. I've enjoyed reading it. There is one page in it that has a couple of great quotes.
"Narrow-minded individuals tend to feel they're being attacked when a difference of opinion is stated with a great deal of bluntness."
Another great quote from the same page is, "Journalism is all about finding the truth and stating it with boldness. Newspapers that only reflect popular opinions, that shy away from pointing out wrongs and sidestep important issues are only good for wrapping yesterday's garbage."
I think different people would get completely different things from these two quotes. To me, it seems to be popular right now to criticize the war and the President. That seems to be what the national news outlets picked up on from the recent visit to Utah by the President. I had to read the Deseret Morning News accounts to know that there was lots of support for President Bush when he visited Utah.