Gov. Herbert looks inward for a cure for insomnia

KUER’s Doug Fabrizio is one of the best interviewers in Utah—particularly when it comes to thought-provoking, open-ended questions that elicit fresh insights into the human condition.

But even he can only do so much for narcolepsy inducing Gov. Gary Herbert.

In a recent Meet the Candidate interview, Herbert was spouting the usual political cliches—”I pinch myself everyday” at the wonder of being elected governor of “the greatest state in America” and “In this country, any child can grow up to be governor,” (apparently, even one who chooses a Realtor license over a college degree.)

In a desperate move, Fabrizio asked Herbert if any event in his life was a “transformational moment.” (A much better version of the ol’ “If you were a tree, which tree would you be?”) Well played, Doug.

Herbert, obviously, never saw that one coming and proceeded to hem and haw about moments of faith and rearing teenagers and what not. Listeners around the state were hitting radio preset buttons, en masse, before paralysis of the extremities set in.

If you happened to be listening on HD radio, you could actually hear the screaming inside of Fabrizio’s head: “For the love of god, this guy is killing me!”

Somewhere in Herbert’s hairball of an answer, the guv worked in his military service during Vietnam.

Fabrizio seized on it, like Jack Russell terrier on a rat.

“What did you learn from your Vietnam experience?” he asked as the remaining 36 KUER listeners leaned forward.

Again, Herbert— always prepared to upchuck the usual “sacred Founding Fathers” and trust-in-the-common-sense-of-everyday-Utahns political pablum—was taken aback. He verbally shuffled his feet, explaining that he served in the Utah National Guard during Vietnam, but never actually left the country. But, he said, he wore his uniform in airports and saw the divisiveness the war caused in the nation.

OK, maybe the guv said something absolutely profound or at least scintillating after that, but, sorry Doug, I hit the button to seek meaning of life on Radio From Hell.

Trouble sleeping: Tune into the podcast here.