Tinfoil Hat Parade
Rep. Chris Stewart posted on Facebook that he thought Utah AG Sean Reyes was right to try and clear up "critical concerns regarding the election," and sprint behind Texas and Nevada and others in their efforts to throw out millions of presidential votes from other states. But take a trip into Morgan Philpot's mind, and you'll find the hordes of conspiracists lining up. Philpot was a Utah representative, a Republican nominee for Congress and a candidate for governor, not to mention the former vice-chair of the Utah GOP. He was appalled by Gary Herbert's "meddling with the authority and duties of the Attorney General" and garnered 119 comments—mostly affirmative—on his soon-to-be vacated Facebook page. He hasn't yet moved to Parler because "I decided to stick around to watch the dismantling of FB for their participation in treason." But he stayed long enough to hear his followers disparage the governor as a scumbag and a hypocritical moron—and to make it clear that the Republican Party is fractured.
Museum Grinch
The women who marched on Washington is 2017 are still at it and daily horrified by the sustained attacks from the male barracks. Utah's own Sen. Mike Lee is leading the anti-woman whites-only charge, blocking bipartisan legislation for two museums—one for Latinos and another for American women. "The last thing we need," NPR quotes Lee as saying, "is to further divide an already divided nation with an array of segregated, separate-but-equal museums for hyphenated identity groups." The Smithsonian itself acknowledges its neglect of Latinos. The 100th anniversary of women's suffrage didn't move Lee to act, either. But he's OK with museums like the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers.
Jolly Old Saint Andy
Undoubtedly for many Utahns, Andy Larsen was a holiday miracle. We are talking about Larsen, The Salt Lake Tribune sports writer-turned-COVID-expert who accidentally found himself collecting funds for the needy. He tweeted that he wanted to give away $165 to someone in need, and then the money began coming in—almost $55,000. With the help of volunteers, he gave it out for medical bills, bereavement, school, groceries, dinners and more. "For many people, their only prayer is the charity of others through GoFundMe, which is a wholly inefficient way to deal with a problem—no one's medical or financial survival should be predicated on having rich friends," he says. "A huge swath of America is in financial ruin. There just has to be a better system (I'm looking at you, politicians)." He calls it insane. We call it tragic.
