It's Time to Censure and Impeach President Trump

Senators Hatch and Lee, Representatives Bishop, Love, and Stewart:

Please censure and impeach President Trump. The president has proven repeatedly that he cares more about himself than the health, welfare, or condition of the country. He needs to go before he is personally responsible for more damage to the peace of the nation. 

He has dismissed advisory councils, believing his own “brain” to be better than the experience or advice of other leaders. He mocks, threatens and bullies any public figure that dares to speak out against him. He has set a horrible example for the youth of America regarding the truth, sexism, racism, trusting the expertise of others, and acceptance of others. 

His comments regarding the tragedy in Charlottesville fell far short of a leader who cares about all citizens. He failed to make it clear that racism, bigotry, and extremism would not be tolerated in this country. If nothing else proves it, surely his failures regarding Charlottesville indicate he is unfit to lead a diverse nation.

If you need further proof, consider that as the Commander in Chief he has disrupted morale, leading even the highest ranking leadership of the armed forces to speak out against his policies. (Policies he claims he had consulted them on.) 

His fake cover of Time magazine that he publicly displays (and has not disavowed knowledge of) is proof that he cares more about his ego more than the truth. 

When he doesn’t like someone’s allegations or actions regarding his behavior, he simply fires them. He does not have the confidence of the nation that he has any interests above his own personal reputation.

At a time in history where it has never been more important to show acceptance of all religions and races, he canceled the traditional Ramadan dinner. What message does that send to our Muslim neighbors both at home and abroad? 

His obsession with “fake news” wreaks of a personal agenda of misdirection. If he can convince enough people that they cannot trust the media, he can get away with anything by saying the media made it up. He has banned major news outlets from the press room and press conference. He has shown a total disregard for the First Amendment. What part of the Constitution will he ignore next? 

He has been in office over 200 days now. In that time he hasn’t managed to get even one effort passed through Congress. He has only been able to accomplish anything by ignoring the legislative branch and using his executive powers. While he may have the right to use those executive powers, he does not have the right to ignore the will of the people. If the citizens of this country wanted those same things, he would have been able to get them passed through Congress. 

On the global level he has embarrassed the country, and harmed our relationships with other former allies. 

And this is all before we even bring up his and his staff’s relations with Russia.  An issue too complicated and long to parse out in this short letter. 

From the moment he took office the question has been raised over and over whether or not he has the trust and confidence of the nation (he does not), or if he is fit to lead (quite questionable when he puts his own interests above those of the country), or if he has broken the law (with his business relations with foreign governments, and possible treasonous relations with Russia). 

We wake up each day worried to see what chaos no drama he has caused with his egotistical decisions. How much more must we endure? When will you put this country out of its misery and bring in real leadership? 

Representatives Bishop, Love, and Stewart, as members of the House, you have the ability to begin the process to censure and create articles of impeachment. 

Senator Hatch, few people in this country have the power that you do to impeach President Trump. As the head of the Judiciary Committee, you have the power to lead this effort. 

And so I ask you, what are you waiting for? What more must he do before you will take action? How much more harm must ensue? How much more damage to the American culture must he inflict? Does he need to mock the disabled one more time? Abuse another woman? Fire more staff and advisors? Discriminate against minorities? Alienate our international neighbors? Invite Nazis to dinner? 

Mr. Trump does not have the best interest of this country in mind. He cares solely about himself, and will continue to make statements and choices to preserve himself at the expense of the safety and peace of the nation.

Please, Senators and Representatives, censure and impeach President Trump before he causes more harm. 

Utah Billboard and the Russia Investigation

This billboard perfectly explains how I feel about Chaffetz and the GOP lately.

If the GOP could waste YEARS searching for a birth certificate, they can spend at least half that time to investigate potential treason.

Utah and the Zion Curtain

Another excellent example of Republican legislators who have forgotten what it means to be Republicans, and in this case, they think they are the Morality Police. (A job they certainly weren't elected to do.)
 In short, the Utah Legislature has expanded the "Zion Curtain," to now include a "Zion Moat." (A name they apparently find offensive, but it's beautifully appropriate and descriptive.)
Previously (to help the state get the winter olympics) they had "opened up" liquor laws to allow restaurants to serve alcohol. If a restaurant wanted to serve alcohol (and most do), they had to put a wall or barrier between the bar area and the eating area, primarily so children couldn't see drinks being made or consumed. (I'm not joking.) This wall came to be known as the Zion Curtain.
Now they have expanded it by saying you don't have to have a Zion Curtain if instead you just create a 10 ft buffer area from the bar where minors are not allowed at tables (unless accompanied by an adult), or build a half-wall or railing, at least 42 inches high, that creates a delineation between the dining and liquor-dispensing areas. The new buffer zone has come to be known as the Zion Moat.
"What this bill does is establish parameters under which restaurants can operate and keep children away from alcohol," Sen. Jerry Stevenson, the Senate sponsor, said. "It keeps kids away from the bars and the mixing area and works to prevent overconsumption by patrons."
Exactly how this helps to prevent "overconsumption" (which, by the way, isn't a word) isn't exactly clear.
And really, how does not seeing drinks being made keep a child from drinking it? (Especially if their parents can still order and drink alcohol at their table?) (Note: I am not in anyway suggesting that parents shouldn't be allowed to drink.)
But then because the Utah legislature just can't help but be hypocrites in every possible way, they added this to the bill-
Restaurants serving alcohol are now allowed to be closer to community locations (churches and schools where minors are found)— dropping from the current 600 feet distance to 300 feet.
And again, just further proof that Republicans in this state don't know how to be Republicans, this new bill would boost the state markup on liquor from 86% to 88%. The markup on heavy beer sold in liquor stores would go up from 64.5% to 66.5%. Utah consumers already pay the highest markup on wine — and the sixth highest on spirits — among the country's 17 liquor-control states and one county.

Republicans who raise taxes, and create even more government control and interference in personal choices- that's Utah for you.

http://www.sltrib.com/…/50319…/zion-curtain-lives-on-but-new

Hell no, Trump Must Go

It's no secret that I am on a one-woman mission to tear down the Trump. The man disgusts and scares me. In the past few day there have been some very interesting articles about him, in a creative way of not actually being about him.

"The most important skill for any con artist is the ability to lie with complete confidence. People generally feel uncomfortable lying, and they assume that others share their reluctance to fabricate. For this reason, the average person finds it difficult to dismiss a false statement delivered with absolute authority." - The Weekly Standard, "The Art of the Con."

In Utah at a campaign event this weekend the Trump claimed that he "paid the tithing" for some of his employees straight to the Mormon Church for them so they "wouldn't be tempted." If you're Mormon and reading this, you know that's just a bald-faced lie. That's not how tithing works. It's the most ridiculous lie I've ever heard on such a public scale. If you're not Mormon and reading this, ask me privately, and I'll be glad to explain how and why it's so ridiculous.  - Salt Lake Tribune "Trump Questions Romney's Mormon Faith."  Oh, and criticizing or questioning Mitt Romney in Utah to a group of Republicans?? That's just laughably stupid. Talk about not knowing your audience, and self-aggrandizing beliefs. 

Polygamists Use Gay Marriage as a Defense or Right

The infamous polygamist Kody Brown family of the TV show “Sister Wives” has done what conservatives (particularly Mormons) have feared would happen ever since the gay marriage debate began to take hold. They used the same-sex marriage rulings to argue the legality of polygamy.  

The Browns have used this argument before in lower courts with some success. That includes the U.S. Supreme Court case of Obergefell v. Hodges, in which the court upheld the fundamental right of same-sex couples to marry, and Kitchen v. Herbert, the case that brought same-sex marriage to Utah. Turley also cites a Supreme Court case that decriminalized all gay sex as sodomy, Lawrence V. Texas.

In short, the Browns’ lawyer is arguing for the decriminalization or rejection of morality legislation. For the same reasons homosexuality was considered immoral and illegal, polygamy has as well. Now that the gay marriage contingent has convinced the world that this was an archaic belief, the polygamists want to make the same argument. If the argument on behalf of gay marriage is that any two people who want to be married should be allowed to do so, why can't polygamists legally marry? Polygamists don't marry one wife to another. They marry the woman to the man. It's still just a marriage of one woman to one man, but the man happens to also be married to another woman. If all parties are clear on the facts, using the gay marriage defense, why shouldn't it be legal? 

"From the rejection of morality legislation in Lawrence to the expansion of the protections of liberty interests in Obergefell, it is clear that states can no longer use criminal codes to coerce or punish those who choose to live in consensual but unpopular unions," Turley wrote in his answer to Utah's appeal.

When U.S. District Court Judge Clark Waddoups overturned Utah's ban on polygamy in December 2013, same-sex marriage wasn't mentioned in the ruling. The Browns want the want the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold Waddoups' ruling. The state has argued that polygamy is inherently harmful to women and children and that the Browns have not suffered from the law, because they haven't been prosecuted. (They were just threatened with lawsuits and run out of the state.)

It's an interesting legal argument. Why shouldn't polygamy be legalized? 

The more things change, the more they stay the same

Utah Congressional hopeful, Mia Love

Utah politics bring up immediate assumptions and stereotypes. The state is perceived to be all Mormon and Republican. This is close, but not at all accurate. 2.8 million residents, a median household income of $50,000, and yes, in the last Presidential election, 62% of the state voted Red.
Currently both of the senators, Orrin Hatch, and Mike Lee, are GOP. They are joined by Rob Bishop and Jason Chaffetz. The state also managed to elect one Democrat in the last House election- Jim Matheson. Salt Lake City has a tendency to elect Democrats as mayor.
But now that I've convinced you that Utah is as Red as the stereotypes sound, let's move on.
Utah has an interesting hand of biting the hand that feeds it.
Case in point- former Senator Bob Bennett was defeated by now Senator Lee in 2010. Why would a state oust a senator that sat on 16 committees or sub-committees to bring in a freshman with the same exact platform and policies? Does new blood really help? Or does a ranking senator with a history, partnerships, and clout serve a state better? It would be one thing if you shook things up by bringing in someone with entirely new ideas. But Lee and Bennett? Not all that different from each other. (Lee sits on 10 committees or sub-committees, and is ranking member on one.)
Now Utah has the chance to actually shake things up in appearances, if nothing else.
Her name is Mia Love, a black, Mormon, woman. And she's running for the newly formed fourth congressional seat in Utah. If elected, she’d be the first black Republican congresswoman in the House of Representatives. Not just from Utah, but in the full U.S. House.
What qualifies her for the job? She is currently the mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah, a small town in Utah County. She also served on the city council. She is the daughter of [legal] Haitian immigrants. Her politics are conservative. Her website supports her views on limited government, increased citizen liberties and limited restraints on business. She believes the best thing she can do as mayor is stay out of the way of business and out of the lives of citizens. She advocates a return to the personal responsibility and reduced government dependency.
"Cut programs, cut spending, cut taxes and empower business and citizens to thrive and profit." - words from her website.
On the outside she may appear to be young, new, innovating, and different, bringing something exciting to Utah.
But policy-wise? She's the same as all of the other Utah Republicans.