Inconceivable! Trib endorsement rises to level of myth

Despite the impact of the 2002 Olympics, eyewitness accounts of millions of tourists, clever license-plate slogans, elevated tourism campaigns and tens of thousands of Mormon missionaries, the epic failure to comprehend Utah continues nationwide.

All those breathtaking national parks are in Arizona. That god-kissed powder snow falls on Colorado ski slopes. And every Utah man jack is a polygamist. (The wide-spread belief that our Legislature and congressional delegation is controlled by lunatics, of course, is not far off the mark.)

The latest denial of reality by our fellow Americans is that The Salt Lake Tribune snubbed native son and co-religionist Mitt Romney (as they see it) to endorse Barack Obama. It’s the stuff of urban myth.

First off: Yes, indeed, the Obama endorsement occurred.

But the idea that Utah’s largest circulation paper would turn its back on Mitt is apparently, to quote Vizzini: inconceivable.

The endorsement was so outrageous it was taken toSnopes.com, the fraud and rumor clearance center, which not only confirmed that the Obama endorsement was true, but that the Trib had endorsed Obama in 2008—though Mitt was not a choice then. Obama failed to carry the state’s voters then and it’s trully inconceivable that he will November.

The Snopes notation included another myth-buster: “Contrary to common misbelief, the Deseret News, not the Tribune, is the Salt Lake City newspaper that is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

Anyone who has ever worked for the Trib has been disheartened to run into Utahns, mainly in Salt Lake County, who steadfastly believe the paper is owned by the Mormon church.

On the other hand, Utah County residents (and some Trib employees) are convinced the the paper is owned by Satan.