Category Archives: Editorial Commentaries

Utahns know what our culture looks like when we match our values to our public policies, especially on highly contentious issues. We saw this “alignment effect” when the state debated immigration policy a few years ago. Once we aligned our commensurate values with our legal and legislative behaviors toward undocumented immigrants, contention dissipated and marginalized communities were more welcomed. Many social barriers were overcome. People began to work together constructively and productively, united behind the desire to share opportunity, peace and prosperity. read more

For most of my political career I have been a right-wing Republican. On a shelf in my home office is a nearly 40-year-old framed cartoon from Malcolm “Mal” Hancock of two amorphous people, one saying to the other, “The way I figure it, I’m somewhere right of ultra-right wing.” My right-wing pedigree is long, distinguished and impeccable. Only Utah GOP politics could make me question that pedigree. Today, next to the Mal cartoon, on my office shelf sits another cartoon showing an older couple watching Hannity, Limbaugh and Coulter ranting and raving on television and the man lamenting, “I miss William F. Buckley.” read more

A lifelong registered Republican, I registered as unaffiliated earlier this year. The Utah GOP’s support for Donald Trump was more than I could take, and that is saying a lot after putting up for years with the crazy inside the Utah GOP. And, as a studied conservative, I have tried to put my finger on a precise summary of this crazy afflicting the Utah GOP and what, if anything, to do about it.

For many years, I blamed the party’s undercurrent of libertarianism pushing the Utah GOP to extremes. In great detail, through writing and speech, I have warned Utahns against the libertarian apostasy from true freedom. And, though an impractical philosophy, libertarianism is not the problem. read more

Of course, I do not speak for Sutherland Institute, but my 14 years there give me some authority with which to respond to ABU. Rather than chastise Sutherland, ABU should follow its example. After all, ABU is neither an effective public policy group nor public relations machine. It could learn a thing or two from a successful organization.

Like ABU, Sutherland started small and was experiencing trouble finding its influence in Utah. We did a few things to change all of that in my first three years. First, we became more relevant and less ideological. Second, we fired the entire staff and turned over the Board of Trustees. Third, by January of 2004, we reinvented ourselves. And, fourth, we fearlessly engaged every issue with honesty and transparency (there is nothing to fear when you are right). Sutherland went from nothing to a respected and highly influential organization. read more

Editor’s note: This article from commentator Paul Mero is a response to Taylor G. Petrey’s recent piece “The failures of Mormon conservativism.” These opinion articles are part of an ongoing Deseret News opinion series exploring ideas and issues at the intersection of faith and thought.

Taylor G. Petrey is a progressive provocateur who dares tell Latter-day Saints what to believe about politics, sex and gender. Petrey tempts members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to think that it’s time for “a revitalization of Mormonism’s past and potential.” read more

Editor’s note: This article from commentator Paul Mero is a response to Taylor G. Petrey’s recent piece “The failures of Mormon conservativism.” These opinion articles are part of an ongoing Deseret News opinion series exploring ideas and issues at the intersection of faith and thought.

Taylor G. Petrey is a progressive provocateur who dares tell Latter-day Saints what to believe about politics, sex, and gender. Petrey tempts members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to think that it’s time for “a revitalization of Mormonism’s past and potential.” read more

Is it possible to defend religious freedom and not oppose LGBT rights? Yes. In fact, standing down on those rights is the only way to effectively defend religious freedom today. Kathy Carlson is right to advocate for a Christian view of the LGBT community. No, her prescriptions are not popular among conservatives or in Utah, and incomplete in crucial ways, but a couple of us have been quietly arguing behind the scenes, considering the spirit of what she advocates.

The irony of my message is not lost on me. As surprising as all of this will sound to fellow conservatives – and as cynical as all of this might sound to the LGBT community coming from me – it is time for those of us who cherish religious freedom to stop, yes stop, opposing gender equality. This is no trade-off, no compromise nor quid pro quo. Neither is it unilateral surrender. It is neutrality and it is wisdom. read more

Is it possible for Utah conservatives to support women’s issues without buying into progressive or feminist ideologies? The right answer is yes, of course. But this journey has its distractions for Utah conservatives. And, as we know, especially during a hurried and heavily prioritized 45-day legislative session, most legislators, lobbyists and media have the attention span of tsetse flies, circumstances highly discouraging when asked to unpack issues wrongly perceived as too partisan or politicized. read more

A lot of time and effort have been and are being spent on addressing intergenerational poverty (IGP) in Utah. A lot of money soon could follow. But before that happens, many systemic barriers, political and programmatic, must disappear.

The good news for the Utah Legislature is that a focus on IGP children now will save taxpayers dollars down the road. Situational poverty will be with us always. But intergenerational poverty is a culture; it is learned. It is in control of the human spirit. We can break this cycle if we put our minds and resources to it. It can all but disappear in a generation. That reality will save millions of dollars over time. More important, it will give hope to the hopeless and literally save lives. read more

Conservatives value the experience that often attends age. But Hatch didn’t begin his Senate career as an old man. He was 43 years old when he defeated 18-year incumbent Frank Moss, not much older than Utah’s junior Sen. Mike Lee when he defeated 18-year incumbent Robert Bennett. In fact, candidate Hatch famously asked his old opponent, “What do you call a senator who’s been in office for more than two terms? You call him home.”

Four years ago, when facing what he perceived to be a tough convention fight in the 2012 Republican primary, Hatch promised delegates that if they elected him, he would not seek to serve a seventh term. Of course, between then and now a lot has changed in Utah politics. read more