David Rodeback's Blog

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• New Hymns from the Sutherland Institute  (04/1/14)
  How gentle God's commands!
  How kind his precepts are!
  Now we will do what God forgot:
  We'll make them all state law! [more]
• I Am Unfit for the Utah Legislature  (02/5/14)
  Not that this is news. I just wouldn't fit in. Lately, this becomes clearer every day. [more]
• Rights and Rights and Right and the Right: Part Three  (01/24/14)
  If the shoe doesn't fit, don't wear it. If it does, let's take a little walk out back, after I tell you about my possible man-crush. [more]
• Rights and Rites and Right and the Right: Part Two  (01/23/14)
  If my willingness to embrace gay people as friends, colleagues, neighbors, relatives, and fellow believers incurs the wrath of the God you worship, I am unmoved. The God I worship understands that the worth of every human soul -- yours, mine, everyone's -- is far greater than the sum of its actual or human-perceived sins. [more]
• Principles, Principles, and Amnesty  (12/13/13)
  . . . In which I offer amnesty to two good men who are in a challenging position -- and it has nothing to do with immigration. [more]
• Thanks Plus  (12/10/13)
  Here's my two-minute statement from the public comment period at tonight's American Fork City Council meeting. Thanks to all who came to help me deliver this little thank-you note, and to everyone else who joined in for the very satisfying ending. Thanks also to those (scattered from Disneyland to the American Fork Junior High auditorium) who wanted to attend but couldn't. [more]
• Big, Thumping Heart Redux  (11/22/13)
  By request . . . [more]
• The Big, Thumping Heart of American Fork  (11/15/13)
  . . . is in Indianapolis just now. It's a band. (We'll return to politics soon enough.) [more]
• AF Road Bond: Why Good Streets Matter  (11/2/13)
  If they didn't matter much, they wouldn't be worth borrowing $20 million -- or writing eleven blog posts in twelve days. [more]
• AF Road Bond: Halloween and Elections Belong Together  (10/31/13)
  Quite apart from masks and costumes and guessing who's behind them, Halloween and elections are both times for conjuring ghosts and bogeymen, and for dark, mysterious forces to run wild. [more]
• The Facts Permit Divergent Opinions  (10/10/13)
  But I don't have to respect your opinion if you don't base it on the facts. [more]
• Favorite Tactics of Tyrants  (09/27/13)
  Some will wish to dismiss this accusation as naked partisanship or worse, but, folks, I've studied tyrants, and our president is a tyrant. I'm not saying he compares to the worst tyrants of history, but he does tyrannical things in tyrannical ways. A lot of Americans don't seem to mind, but that's not much of an excuse. [more]
• A Little Help on Syria  (09/12/13)
  Embracing a fundamental American principle in his foreign policy could make President Obama's life a lot easier. [more]
• Come As You Are: Reflections on Reunion  (08/22/13)
  The personal context of my quoting Erma Bombeck last weekend at my high school reunion. Bubble bath is mentioned. Unmentioned but mysteriously relevant are: North Dakota's questionable existence, the theme song to Gilligan's Island, Burt Reynolds, the Sheboygan Conservatory of Music, wall telephones in bathrooms, and asking for autographs in embarrassing places. [more]
• On Legislating Morality (Yours, Mine, and Ours), Part Two  (08/8/13)
  Our American civic morality, its content and sources, and a difficult contemporary test case. The second post in a two-part series. [more]
• On Legislating Morality (Yours, Mine, and Ours), Part One  (08/3/13)
  What is morality? Whose, if anyone's, ought we legislate? Does speaking of multiple moralities make me a moral relativist? A little-known morsel of relevant history from the Mayflower period. (The first post in a two-part series.) [more]
• Two Wrongs Make a Left  (02/9/13)
  Is it wrong for someone to have more than another? Is it wrong to take from one who has more, to give to another who has less? Is there an alternative? [more]
• Guns in Schools  (02/6/13)
  I did what they wanted that morning. I stopped to reflect on the violent deaths of twenty schoolchildren, their teachers, and others in an elementary school in Connecticut. I tried to imagine myself as a parent, a student, a teacher, and others in that scenario, and each of these efforts led to the same conclusion. Several weeks later, they still lead there. [more]
• Veterans Day: A Visit to the Vietnam Memorial  (11/11/12)
  I visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall again this summer and wrote down my thoughts. [more]
• Election 2012: My Thoughts in the Light of Day  (11/7/12)
  In the aftermath of an ominous election, I find my thoughts inclined toward, of all things, faith, hope, and charity. [more]
• Voter Fraud Happens  (11/6/12)
  I recently read a new book which chronicles the stories of voter fraud and intimidation I've been watching for years and suggests common-sense remedies. So, if you don't mind, let's talk about voter fraud even as we earnestly hope it doesn't matter much today. [more]
• The Essential Difference Between Left and Right  (06/9/12)
  Twenty-eight words in the Bill of Rights illustrate the essential difference between Left and Right in contemporary American politics. Here is a case study: the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization. [more]
• Why Local Governments Lose Touch with the People, Part III  (06/5/12)
  There's a structural and philosophical reason why the public often feels that its public schools are detached and unresponsive. It involves two different views of the proper role of the people's elected representatives. I'll explain here by looking at my own Alpine School District. [more]
• Why Local Governments Lose Touch with the People, Part II  (06/2/12)
  If a local government near you seems out of touch with the people, the root problem may be structural. Here are some symptoms to watch for. [more]
• Why Local Governments Lose Touch with the People, Part I  (05/31/12)
  Introduction. The legislative branches of our governments are supposed to represent the people in making law and overseeing the activities of the other branches of government, especially the executive. In too many cases the executive branch usurps legislative functions and interferes with representation. [more]
• What I Want in My Next President  (03/6/12)
  I haven't written about them lately, but I've been watching the Republican candidates for president for quite a while, pondering what I want in a candidate and a president this year, and considering how they measure up. [more]
• Democracy of Sheep, Democracy of Thugs  (10/20/11)
  Two crucial democratic pillars of our republic are under assault, from within government and without. [more]
• Nine Ways to Lose My Vote  (07/27/11)
  Last time I described what I generally look for in candidates for local office, focusing on qualities more than issues. I also promised my readers a list of things candidates can do or say to encourage me to vote for someone else. That's today's topic. [more]
• What I Want in My Candidates  (07/25/11)
  I recently held forth on the weeks or months potential candidates spend considering whether to run or not. This early phase of our electoral process is below the radar for most offices, but it's as important as anything in our politics. We must get the right kind of people on the ballot, so we can vote for them. Today's topic is how to recognize them once they're on the ballot. [more]
• The Real American Dream and the Counterfeit  (07/12/11)
  A billboard I passed on the freeway the other day urged me to live the American Dream, but the dream it offered was not the real one. [more]
• A Crucial Phase  (07/7/11)
  Election days are important in our democratic republic, and so are the campaigns which precede them. But one of the most crucial phases in our self-government comes much earlier. It ends with the filing period, but it begins long before. [more]
• Veterans Day: Sergeant John Scott Pinney  (11/11/10)
  Many military veterans deserve more praise and gratitude than they have ever received. The late Sergeant John Scott Pinney is among them. Veterans Day seems like an appropriate time to tell you his story. [more]
• The Importance of Not Being Unified  (10/28/10)
  It's hard to believe something which makes us so uncomfortable is a good thing, but it really is. [more]
• The Green Hornet of Justice, Among Others  (10/18/10)
  This blog post is rated PG, because talking about New York politics involves adult themes. You've been warned. [more]
• What the Words Mean, Part IV: Socialism  (10/15/10)
  Today's word is socialism. We'll talk about it and its role in the present debate over the Alpine School District's official mission, goals, and values. [more]
• What the Words Mean, Part III: Democracy  (10/14/10)
  Today's word is democracy. It has at least as long as history as republic and at least as many legitimate meanings. [more]
• The Zebra Effect  (10/12/10)
  If you're a lion, the zebra effect makes it hard to distinguish specific animals in a running herd. In politics, well, stay tuned. I'm about to invent a meaning. [more]
• What the Words Mean, Part II: Republic  (10/8/10)
  Today's word is republic. It's word with a long history, and that history matters. [more]
• What Would Be Fair?  (10/5/10)
  I was struck the other day by an editorial cartoon by Tom Toles in the Washington Post. He won a Pulitzer Prize twenty years ago, but this cartoon didn't make me want to give him any prizes. [more]
• What Is It About Americans?  (09/16/10)
  Have you noticed that the Republican establishment wants nothing to do with so-called Tea Party candidates? They were wigging out before Tuesday's final batch of primaries, and they still are. It's not that they have anything against tea. They just don't like conservatives -- not that this is news. They didn't want anything to do with Ronald Reagan, either, back in the day -- until the people left them no choice. The American people, that is. [more]
• Immigration Reform, Part IV: Loose Ends  (09/13/10)
  Today I'll take a few minutes to tie up some loose ends in our calm, rational discussion of immigration policy, and I'll answer an important question some of you are asking. [more]
• Civilized People Do Not Burn Other People's Holy Books  (09/7/10)
  A pastor in Florida plans to mark September 11 by burning copies of the Koran. You may have noticed that Americans have the right to do some un-American things, even if they're wrong. [more]
• Immigration Reform, Part III: The Millions of Illegals Who Are Already Here  (08/31/10)
  Estimates of the number of illegal immigrants now in the United States range from 10 million to at least 25 million. What are we to do with them? Wave our magic wand and make them citizens? Herd them into cattle cars and ship them across the border? I'm glad you asked. [more]
• Immigration Reform, Part II: A Border Is a Border, and the Benefits of Legal Immigration  (08/24/10)
  My discussion of immigration policy continues with talk of the border and of the benefits of legal immigration. Within reason, where legal immigrants are concerned, I say: the more, the better. [more]
• Immigration Reform: My Wild Fantasy and Five Postulates  (08/3/10)
  Just wait 'til you see how I try to get you in the mood to share my fantasy. I figure you might need some help with that, since you (unlike I) did not just return from Disneyland. [more]
• Disenfranchised? Not . . .  (06/23/10)
  Ethan Millard claims that most of Utah's 1.5 million registered voters were disenfranchised yesterday. I think none of them were. What do you think? [more]
• Thomas, Patrick, Tea, and Me  (06/9/10)
  My thoughts on the Tea Party movement and two of the icons that illuminate it, Thomas Paine and Patrick Henry. [more]
• More of a Prayer than a Post  (05/31/10)
  It is Memorial Day, and my thoughts seem to reach beyond politics -- if there is such a place. [more]
• Labels as Alternatives to Thought and Effort  (05/28/10)
  It is when labels become substitutes for serious thought and effort that they do us harm. [more]
• Join a Major Political Party. I Don't Care Which One.  (05/18/10)
  To paraphrase our first president, it is the interest and duty of a wise people to restrain its political parties. At present, this is the only way to restrain and redirect our government. The only way to do that effectively in the short run or the long run is from the inside. [more]
• Compassion and Coerced Silver  (02/15/10)
  Two versions of one parable, the interpretation thereof, and my recommendation of a good book. [more]
• Don't Blame the Bloggers  (02/13/10)
  A feisty little essay about the importance of political bloggers and the unfortunate tendency to use them as scapegoats. [more]
• Reasons and Excuses for Electoral Defeat  (01/21/10)
  In the wake of Tuesday's special US Senate election in Massachusetts, the reasons and excuses we offer after an electoral defeat seem relevant. [more]
• I Love Numbers, but What Do They Mean?  (01/19/10)
  Numbers mean things, and I adore them. But they don't always mean what they appear to mean at first glance. [more]
• Two New Year's Resolutions (Local Government Version)  (01/4/10)
  I suggest the immediate abandonment of two prejudices which are bad for good government (one prejudice per resolution). [more]
• On the Nature of Science  (12/16/09)
  . . . And the sort of suspicions which are justified when people push science as something it is not. [more]
• Legislation Without Representation Is Tyranny  (11/19/09)
  We have a larger, more momentous ongoing task than defeating the health care takeover or blocking a devastating climate treaty: to recognize our tyrants and depose them through the electoral process, and to find and put in their place better American leaders, who are capable of recognizing tyranny in our institutions and in themselves, who are philosophically equipped to hate it when they see it, and who will oppose it persistently, intelligently, and effectively wherever they detect it, irrespective of party. [more]
• Epilogue: Marching Band, Victory, and Justifying the Costs  (11/17/09)
  Some hard questions are reasonable to ask, even if they seem harsh, as long as they are asked for the purpose of finding an answer. And humanity doth not live by bread alone (to borrow a phrase). [more]
• A Veteran's Day Tribute to Demo Red: "So Many Good Men and Women"  (11/11/09)
  The motto of the 30th Infantry Regiment, "San Francisco's Own," seems apt: "Our Country, not Ourselves." Here, with undue brevity, for Veterans Day, is an account of a soldier I know who embodies that motto. [more]
• Freedom Is Not a System. It's Freedom!  (10/28/09)
  Small wonder that capitalism is taking a beating in the United States, when one of its chief exponents doesn't really understand it! [more]
• Things To Do If You're Just Now Catching the Bug  (10/27/09)
  No, no, not the porcine pathogen. The I-feel-like-I-should-get-involved-in-local-politics bug. [more]
• If You Want My Vote (Part V)  (10/23/09)
  Two final principles: Don't make it about good and evil, if it isn't already. And shun the October surprise. [more]
• If You Want My Vote (Part IV)  (10/20/09)
  Principles seven and eight for candidates who want my vote. [more]
• Thoughts on Passing Milepost 49  (10/17/09)
  It was mere coincidence that I took a trip to Idaho this weekend to visit family. [more]
• Pride and Grace and Courage and Some Tears  (10/13/09)
  If it was the angels, one of them was named Heather. [more]
• A Bus, a Band, a Community  (10/11/09)
  Late-night thoughts on this evening's events and tragedy, and larger things. [more]
• If You Want My Vote (Part III)  (10/6/09)
  Principles five and six for local candidates who want me to take them seriously. [more]
• If You Want My Vote (Part II)  (10/2/09)
  Two more essential principles for local candidates who want me to take them seriously. [more]
• If You Want My Vote (Part I)  (09/28/09)
  Two essential principles for local candidates who want me to take them seriously. [more]
• happy punctuation day  (09/24/09)
  in honor of national punctuation day i have written this post without using a single punctuation mark im sorry if that seems sadistic but you dont have to read it if you dont want to so maybe its not so much that im a sadist as that youre a masochist enjoy [more]
• The Federal Government Can Have One-Sixth of Utah -- on One Condition  (09/18/09)
  There's nothing a multi-term Congressman or Senator understands better than quid pro quo. So if they choose the quid, we get to choose the quo. See what you think. [more]
• On Remembering and Forgetting  (09/11/09)
  Reflections on September 11, 2001. Some things to forget. Some things to remember. [more]
• Cheese, Sunroof, Freedom  (09/10/09)
  On loving others' freedoms, not just my own, and loving freedom enough not to spend it on other things, and not assuming that everyone feels the same, and the case we have to make. [more]
• Memo to Fellow Conservatives: Grow Up Already!  (09/7/09)
  On virtue and innocence, and why I prefer that my children watch President Obama's speech. [more]
• I Am a Tocqueville Conservative  (08/27/09)
  Alexis de Tocqueville, the pioneer sociologist and brilliant student of American society, especially American political society, explained how free Americans supplied the wants and needs of society without relying on government to take care of them. He saw in his discovery the key to American freedom's survival. That was in the 1830s. He also foresaw the unique perils that lay in wait. [more]
• The Gulf Which Divides Us  (08/25/09)
  With some unwitting help from Time's Joe Klein, whom I enjoy reading, I attempt to describe the more fundamental battle which underlies the health care debate -- a battle which American conservatives don't yet seem to be fighting, because we've never had to fight it before. Some things are supposed to be self-evident, and maybe they used to be, but they're not universally self-evident now. [more]
• Forgive Me. It's a Limerick.  (08/21/09)
  A true limerick is a single stanza, but occasionally some literary derelict tries multiple stanzas. I have done so here, with apologies to whatever literary gods there be. [more]
• Yankee Doodle, Keep It Up! (a thank-you note)  (08/12/09)
  You'd rather stay home and mind your own business, like you used to, and not be called the foulest names they know. Instead, you crowd into town meetings and make your point with as much civility as circumstances will permit. When they sling mud at you for your trouble, you happily make mud pies. I salute you. [more]
• Sauce for the Goose, Part I  (08/10/09)
  A plan to retire inefficient elected officials, modeled after the Cash for Clunkers program. [more]
• Ruminations on the Rush Limbaugh Quilt  (07/19/09)
  Where do girly men, cigars, and air-conditioned politics meet? At the quilt show, of course. I was there. I was tricked into being there. (That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.) [more]
• On Parade (or at Least AT the Parade)  (07/18/09)
  Results of this year's Steel Days Parade Political Straw Poll. My own Parade Awards, featuring everything from a world-class high school marching band (you know which one) to fake eyeballs. [more]
• A Primer for Aspiring Tyrants: Techniques Used by Experts  (06/19/09)
  Tyranny is a growth industry now, you see. If you don't aspire to it, read this as opposition research. [more]
• Federal Takeovers: The Road Leads Where It Leads  (05/14/09)
  If we keep going down the road we're on, we will inevitably arrive at the place to which the road leads. [more]
• The Mormons Baptized Whom?  (05/13/09)
  Barack Obama's mother, that's whom. Posthumously. Here's an explanation of why we do that sort of thing generally (though it should not have been done in this specific case). [more]
• More from the Convention: I Sided with Satan -- Again!  (04/26/09)
  At least some of my fellow Utah County Republicans seem to think so. [Updated several times with more links, a made-up quotation about Satan Scanners (!), and a link to other blogs and some KSL audio. See the comments.] [more]
• Bureaucracies Don't Laugh. People Do.  (04/11/09)
  . . . A good laugh is a terrible thing to waste. [more]
• Of Freedom and Sacrifice  (02/24/09)
  I read today that two friends' son has been killed in Iraq, where he served in the US Army. . . . [more]
• My Son, the Italian Communist Ten Year Old  (02/18/09)
  It's not as if I planned to spend 15 minutes this morning teaching my ten year old how to be a communist revolutionary. [more]
• Poison in the Water Debate  (12/30/08)
  Discussion of the current skirmish over future water rates in American Fork begins with, among other things, a snake, a rowboat, and a gun; seven habits for civil, opinionated, self-governing people; a dinner table; some links to recent news articles; and a felicitous, partially self-inflicted phrase, "sanctimonious claptrap." [more]
• A Tale of Two Liberals, or Is It Bad to Be a Socialist?  (10/30/08)
  One of those two liberals is now called a conservative. [more]
• Obama: Communist? Marxist? Socialist?  (10/29/08)
  In his political and social views, Barack Obama appears to be not a communist, a Marxist, or a democratic socialist, as political theorists usually categorize such things, but a social democrat . Make no mistake: A social democrat is a kind of socialist. [more]
• Freedom of the Press and Freedom of Speech  (10/28/08)
  "If we do not believe in freedom of speech for those we despise we do not believe in it at all." [more]
• It Hasn't Been Tried  (10/25/08)
  It wasn't free-market capitalism that failed, but it's certainly the popular scapegoat. [more]
• Shouldn't I Be a Democrat?  (10/24/08)
  My biography says so. My education says so. My long residency in the Northeast says so. My dissatisfaction with state and national Republicans says so. But I'm not. Here's what the Utah Democrats would have to do to entice me. [more]
• July 4, Give or Take a Day  (07/5/08)
  Obviously, Independence Day has a lot to do with freedom. But what does it have to do with bungee jumping? [more]
• Real Men Don't Smell Like Strawberries  (06/7/08)
  A case study in the free market's shampoo aisles. [more]
• Playing Politics with Economics -- as in Food Prices  (05/30/08)
  This happens, and food gets more expensive. That happens, and food gets more expensive. The other things happens, and everything gets more expensive. It's all quite predictable, if you understand the difference between politics and economics. [more]
• Last Week an Angry Liberal, This Week a Right-wing Nut Job  (04/11/08)
  This didn't turn out exactly as I planned. My original strategy proved to be too much like carpet-bombing some of my neighbors and relatives, so I shelved it. Something more surgical is indicated. [more]
• This Morning I Tried to Be a Liberal  (04/4/08)
  . . . Not just any liberal, you understand, and not a thinking liberal like some of my friends, but a liberal like Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and, yes, Barack Obama. [more]
• What's in a Word?  (03/19/08)
  When things continue at approximately the same speed, we're told that things "basically ground to a halt" -- if those things are economic. And the words "qualified, certified, and competent" can be used to resist improvement and reform, when the subject is education. [more]
• Obama and the Flag: What's Not in a Symbol  (02/26/08)
  If you want to convince me that Barack Obama isn't sufficiently loyal to his country, you'll have to do better than to tell me he doesn't wear an American flag on his lapel. [more]
• American Fork City's Next Two Years  (02/25/08)
  There's a particular sort of progress we need to see in our City government. [more]
• Almost a Dozen Reasons Honest and Intelligent People May Have for Voting Against Vouchers  (11/5/07)
  On the day before Election Day I, who already voted for vouchers, do my best to find some reasons why good, honorable, intelligent people might want to vote against them -- as opposed to the false or deceptive reasons filling the mailboxes and airwaves of Utah. [more]
• Vouchers and the Public Schools  (10/4/07)
  Here is the best explanation I can give of what may seem a contradictory fact: It is my commitment to and my belief in public schools which moves me to advocate school vouchers. [more]
• Buying a Used Car: A School Voucher Parable  (10/3/07)
  It's a bird. It's a plane. Good grief, it's positively Orwellian. [more]
• Guarantees?  (08/17/07)
  Did Governor Huntsman mean it? Has he thought this through? Or did exhaustion and emotion just get ahead of his reason for a minute? Admittedly, the duress was considerable. [more]
• The Battle of 9600 West  (08/15/07)
  Somehow I manage to incorporate chemical warfare, invasion, trade sanctions, and passive resistance into a discussion about widening a street in Highland. (I'm having fun. Are you?) [more]
• Voldemort and Global Warming  (08/9/07)
  On the uncanny resemblance of He-Who-Must-not-Be-Named and That-Which-Must-not-Be-Questioned. [more]
• Moscow: July 4, 1987  (07/4/07)
  Twenty years ago, rather by surprise, I celebrated American independence with a bunch of -- gasp! -- Soviet Communists. [more]
• Random Smokin' Thoughts  (05/12/07)
  First, I have to say positive things about the Utah Jazz, because 'tis the season. Then I present my two-part plan for a kinder, gentler, less littered society. Preview: It's a pair of truces. [more]
• A Little, Concrete Test of American Fork's Commitment to the Rule of Law  (05/10/07)
  The concrete is actual concrete. The law is an ordinance passed by the American Fork City Council. And in a small city that has been committed only selectively to the rule of law over the years, the rule of law seems now to have a fighting chance. [more]
• We Can't Prevent Another Virginia Tech Massacre by Passing a Law  (04/24/07)
  32 dead -- 33, if you count the shooter. 29 wounded. Labels and accusations and proposed legislation are swirling everywhere in response. There is nothing in that maelstrom that will bring back the dead. There is nothing in it that will prevent this from ever happening again, either. [more]
• I Ran Away to Chicago -- in February!  (02/27/07)
  I'd do it again, too. Art, pizza, Russian bookstores, a Chicago hot dog . . . And a flight delay led to an excellent lunch in Houston. (Note: This is not about politics. Not everything is, you know.) [more]
• Infinite Shades of Grey  (02/13/07)
  Some of our horror at the bad things which happen in "good" places, such as Salt Lake City, is rooted in our preference for black-and-white categories, instead of infinite shades of gray. That preference is actually dangerous. [more]
• David's Plan for Utah's $1.6 Billion Surplus  (02/6/07)
  There's something for everyone. One-fourth goes back to the taxpayer, and half goes to education, but not precisely how you might think. [more]
• Traffic School  (01/24/07)
  Will Traffic School Guy be coming soon to a comedy club near you? He almost could. Here is the latest chapter in the continuing saga of my life as an alleged scofflaw. [more]
• Some Sample Limericks  (01/19/07)
  I couldn't resist -- I didn't really try -- and I am quite unapologetic. [more]
• Two or Three Recent Encounters with Local Government  (01/17/07)
  Water, water . . . well, not exactly everywhere. Hot chocolate is also mentioned. And then there's my recent life on the other side of the law in the People's Republic of Rockyland. [more]
• The Other Wise Man  (12/21/06)
  Contemporary American chamber opera, professional wrestling, beauty, and power meet in my review of The Other Wise Man. (The production itself has all but one of these. Guess which.) [more]
• Re(nick)naming the Delta Center  (11/22/06)
  I decided to be a slave to fashion and tell you what I think about what we used to know as the Delta Center. In the process, I identify the best nickname I've heard from someone else and offer my own suggestion for a nickname, too. [more]
• Signs of the Times  (10/16/06)
  Here are photos of some signs I saw in southern Utah this weekend. I'm still laughing. You should, too. [more]
• Twinkies, Anyone?  (10/13/06)
  I never buy Twinkies. I don't like them. But I did today -- as a political statement. [more]
• Last Night's City Council Meeting as Civic Education  (10/11/06)
  A school teacher berated the Mayor and City Council of American Fork last night for teaching his students bad things. Here's my view of what his students might have learned at the City Council's meeting, including some lessons that very teacher should not have been teaching. [more]
• It's That Time of the Century  (09/21/06)
  In today's offering you see parts of my personality you might have hoped never to see together: the math geek and the literary scholar, in a bizarre dance with the more familiar political blogger. I prefer to call this erudition, but I'll understand if you consider it some sort of bothersome multiple personality disorder. In any case, read on, and good luck . . . [more]
• I Joined the Math Wars  (09/18/06)
  Here's the text of a letter I sent last week to the principal and teachers at my children's elementary school. [more]
• Is It Fair that All Taxpayers Pay for Everything?  (08/4/06)
  Sometimes a good test of a principle is to attempt to follow it where it leads. [more]
• Happy Blogiversary to Me  (07/27/06)
  No one else asked to, so I interview myself in honor of the occasion. [more]
• Israel and Its Enemies: The View from My Own 'Religion of Peace'  (07/14/06)
  How many attacks must Israel absorb before fighting back? Here's my scriptural view. [more]
• About that Closed Republican Primary  (06/27/06)
  Is it good or bad that you have to be a Republican to vote in a Republican primary in Utah? [more]
• How Many David Rodebacks Are Too Many?  (05/30/06)
  Meet David Rodeback the Older, David Rodeback the Deadbeat, and David Rodeback the Halfwit Moral Cripple. None of them is me, I think. [more]
• How Illegal Are They, Anyway?  (05/17/06)
  I see legal immigration as a national blessing, perhaps even a moral obligation. I'm not isolationist or xenophobic at all, as far as I can tell. And now that we've established that, let's talk about illegal immigration, because I'm not entirely sure there still is such a thing. [more]
• Broadband's Impact on American Fork's Economy and Quality of Life  (05/2/06)
  Here is a list of activities which broadband Internet access enhances or enables. All have economic implications; most also affect the quality of life. [more]
• Broadband's Economic Impact: Public vs. Private  (04/28/06)
  In comparisons between municipal broadband systems and private industry's broadband offerings, measuring their respective economic impacts, it turns out there is a clear winner and a sound economic reason why. [more]
• Exceeding the Bounds of Authority  (04/14/06)
  The Sutherland Institute wants the Utah Legislature to assert authority that no government rightfully has. The Mayor of Kanab and a senior local church leader in American Fork seem oblivious to the bounds of their authority. [more]
• My Precinct's Caucus and My Party's Platform  (03/22/06)
  I wasn't particularly pleased with either. The caucus was poorly attended and the platform is poorly written, whatever one may think of its political content. Do I expect too much? [more]
• Do Little Things Matter? And Avionic Flu . . .  (03/15/06)
  In professional settings, how much does spelling count? How about typeface? How about good writing generally? And you'll want to read up on "avionic" flu. [more]
• Early Help for Next Valentine's Day  (02/15/06)
  I sent my wife several e-mails yesterday with good and/or fun quotes about love. Here are most of them, in case you need them next year. My favorite, at least for yesterday's purposes? This one: Nunc scio quit sit amor. (If your Latin's rusty, google it.) [more]
• What Are You Doing to Celebrate Groundhog Day?  (02/1/06)
  Tomorrow is Groundhog Day. I'm going to party. It's just a small affair, immediate family only, and not even they are required to come. If they do come, they can watch the movie Groundhog Day with me . . . and I will feed them "mystery meat." If they don't come, I'll watch and eat alone, which isn't as sad as it sounds. This may inspire some questions in your mind . . . [more]
• How Can Part of the Constitution Be Unconstitutional?  (01/24/06)
  Some propose the repeal of the 17th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which provides for the direct election of US Senators by the people of their states. At least a few of them call the amendment "unconstitutional." This doesn't seem to make sense . . . but we'll follow it where it leads. [more]
• Systems So Rigid We Don't Have to Use Our Brains  (01/17/06)
  Long ago and in a hemisphere far, far away, I lived for a few months under a government that was even more rule-bound than our own. Almost every good thing I saw happen there happened in defiance of some rule, regulation, or law. A few years after that, the system collapsed under its own weight. The same thing may happen here, eventually. [more]
• The Rule of Law, or 'Living' Is Libspeak for 'Dead'  (01/10/06)
  Our question today is, "Is the US Constitution a living document or not?" [more]
• Grandpa and Veterans Day  (11/11/05)
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• Campaign Ads and Slogans That Didn't Make the Cut  (11/5/05)
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• A Spectrum of Political Courage  (10/15/05)
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• Rocky Anderson Has His Own Brand of Intolerance  (10/6/05)
  Let's hear it for Mayor Rocky, whose campaign to become a major national political (cartoon) figure is going just fine, thank you, if his goal is to become the next Al Sharpton. . . . [more]
• Responsibility Starts at the Bottom, not the Top  (09/7/05)
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• Price Controls Are a Stupid Idea. Don't Fall for Them.  (09/1/05)
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• Yes, I Would Vote for a Druid  (08/18/05)
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• About Bullies: Look Out for That Passive Voice  (08/16/05)
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• 54th with an Asterisk  (07/19/05)
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• Barack Obama's Great Speech  (06/20/05)
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• Goodbye, Joan, You Were My Favorite  (06/16/05)
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• Gambling vs. Investment  (04/5/05)
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• A Christian Hero, a Modern Giant Has Left Us  (04/2/05)
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• Mormons, Abortion Policy, Harry Reid  (11/17/04)
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• It's Too Good to Be True If . . .  (08/19/04)
  [more]