In the Cabinet
Well that does it. Half of Utahns say they like Donald Trump's cabinet picks; the same half (or about) of people who spurned the Mormon Church's admonition about voting for someone who does not reflect the church's values. So why wouldn't they be just fine with his cabinet choices? We don't know because the Deseret News ran the Utah Policy poll without any explanation from those polled. It's probably not just Democrats who'd like to know why citizens support the prez-elect, although they're doing a lot of research on that now. Meanwhile, readers are left in the dark. First, there is no indication that the poll mentioned the actual cabinet choices by name or office, and the newspaper mostly focused on Utahns who were in the mix. There was much attention on Mitt Romney, but he wasn't a choice. Conservative "experts" said Utahns just want the president to succeed. But in this era lacking context, a little more would be nice.
Once upon a time at the Utah Capitol, there was a Christmas tree adorned with Beehive State symbols—beautiful golden ones. And they were ... not bees. According to an entomologist (and Google, of course), the ornaments are flies. Bees have four wings, but these only have two. This distressed local resident Sheri Poe Bernard, who recently toured the rotunda. "I was admiring the enormous Christmas tree, all decked out in ... scores of sequined gold bees on the tree—unless you have any understanding of bugs, in which case, you know they aren't bees at all," she says. "The Capitol Christmas tree is covered in flying bugs that are known for their attraction to death and feces."
In the never-ending prison controversy, we now hear that the airport prison might not be big enough. Forget the lengthy discussions about the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, reducing sentences for nonviolent crimes and, oh yes, offering meaningful rehabilitation. And don't forget the cost. It's now up to $650 million from $550 million, and the governor's asking for another $100 million, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. But people are worried—like the corrections director, for one. And Sen. Jerry Stevenson says they can just build bigger and close the cells off. So the question is: Where's Utah really headed with corrections? Maybe smaller prisons—like smaller homeless shelters—makes better sense. Or maybe we do need to build for all the illegal aliens Donald Trump plans to incarcerate.
