The Colorado theater massacre has triggered yet another discussion on gun control.
Reflection, discussion and debate is always a good thing, so let’s keep it going. But somehow we’ve got to figure out a way to filter out the extremes of the gun debate if we hope to get anywhere at all.
The gun-control side probably doesn’t need New York Mayor Bloomberg at the table—judging from his call for public outcry for increased gun control:
“I would take it one step further. I don’t understand why the police officers across this country don’t stand up collectively and say, we’re going to go on strike. We’re not going to protect you. Unless you, the public, through your legislature, do what’s required to keep us safe.”
But as James Taranto at the Wall Street Journal points out:
“Bloomberg’s strike would be for the purpose of curtailing the citizenry’s constitutional rights. The mayor urged an unlawful rebellion by government employees against their employers, the people.”
Bloomberg’s idiot idea would, of course, create a situation in New York reminiscent of “Escape from New York,” in which anyone with half the sense of Snake Plissken would run out and buy a gun or two. (I would recommend the gun market at KSL.com, which Bloomberg embarrassed the Mormon Church by calling the third most active in the nation.)
Knee-jerk won’t cut it. Anyone serious about calling for “assault rifle” bans or registration, better do their homework because here’s the other side. To give yourself a small idea of the gun-law hurdles ahead, sit down and write out a definition for “assault rifle.” You’ll begin to understand the right’s mockery of liberals’ irrational fear of the: “ugly black rifle.”
Case in point: Bill O’Reilly demonstrated just how counterproductive ignorance is when he called for registration of “heavy weapons” with the FBI during a shouting match with Rep. Jason Chaffetz. (Chaffetz was well informed and made O’Reilly look like an idiot.)
And don’t expect Obama to have your back on gun control—at least until (and if) he is re-elected. He’s a Second Amendment champion these days.
Glen Warchol is an arts, culture and politics contributor to Salt Lake magazine. He also writes Crawler at SLCene.com.
The American Legislative Exchange is meeting in Salt Lake this week to come up with ways for the “big guys,” — American Tort Reform Association, Chemical Manufacturers Association, Americans United for Life, ExxonMobil, Koch Companies Public Sector, the NRA, etc.—to have their way with legislatures across the nation.
The little guys, including Alliance for a Better Utah, are trying to counter all that money and political clout with information.
It happens at 629 S. State Street, Salt Lake City.
On Thursday, at 10 a.m. the Alliance for a Better Utah will release a report on ALEC’s impact on Utah at the same address.
In the name of transparency, I want to know the contents of the cocktails ALEC bartenders will serving at the reception before the group is entertained by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at 8:30 Thursday.
More details at 801-427-3397, www.betterutah.org
An incredible amount of music arrives in Utah the next few days, along with an artist who blends music, film, photography and spoken-word into an evening you’ll never forget. Check it out:
BAND OF HORSES, PIONEER PARK, Thursday, 7 p.m., $5
When Band of Horses’ 2006 debut Everything All the Time was released and the Seattle group arrived for a gig at Club Sound, I decided to check them out mainly due to the fact the album includes a song called “The Great Salt Lake.” Fortuitous decision, because several years and album releases later, I’m still a fan of Ben Bridwell and Co.’s sound and songs–especially that one. The two albums released since then, Cease to Begin and Infinite Arms, both built on that bedrock Band of Horses approach of expansive, lyrically vivid tunes with a touch of twang. Mirage Rock, the band’s fourth album, arrives in September, and here’s hoping we get to hear a few of the new tunes at this week’s Twilight Concert Series show. The Lower Dens opens the show.
Band of Horses headline the Twilight Concert Series show Thursday, July 26, at Pioneer Park.
AL GREEN, RED BUTTE GARDEN, Friday, 7:30 p.m., $53
Not much needs to be said about Al Green; the good reverend is a gospel and soul legend with a catalog of hits that are part of America’s pop-music fabric: “Love & Happiness,” “Let’s Stay Together,” “I’m Still in Love With You,” among many, many more. But Green doesn’t simply rely on his old hits to mesmerize a crowd. His 2008 album produced by the Roots’ Questlove, Lay It Down, was one of the best R&B releases in years, and songs like the title track fit easily in a set alongside Green’s standards. Last time Green performed at Red Butte Garden, the frenzy of women trying to reach Green on stage was one of the stranger sights I’ve ever witnessed at a show. Understandable, but strange. Expect a repeat of that spectacle–and that stellar show–this time around.
Al Green headlines Friday, July 27, at Red Butte Garden.
CRISPIN HELLION GLOVER SLIDESHOW, FILM SCREENING AND Q&A, TOWER THEATRE, Saturday and Sunday, 7 p.m., $15
Most of the world knows Crispin Glover (if they know Cripsin Glover) as the man who played George McFly, Michael J. Fox’s dad in Back to the Future. The actor is a little more well known in these parts because Glover is a big fan of Utah, and the star of one of local filmmaker Trent Harris’ best flicks, Rubin & Ed. Glover is also a multi-faceted artist with a perspective that is probably closer to that of one of Glover’s other former directors, David Lynch, than anyone. He’s an author, filmmaker, musician, photographer and monologuist, and he’s coming to the Tower Theatre for two nights of art that will include screenings of his two feature films–It is fine! EVERYTHING IS FINE on Sunday and What Is It? on Saturday–a slide show and Q&A. Suffice to say, it will be a night of offbeat art worth experiencing.
Crispin Glover is screening his films, including It is fine! EVERYTHING IS FINE, at the Tower Theatre Saturday and Sunday nights.
DWIGHT YOAKAM, DEER VALLEY, Sunday, 7 p.m., $40-$75
It’s a cruel twist by the summer scheduling gods that Dwight Yoakam’s headlining show at Deer Valley is the same night as the Los Lobos/Steve Earle gig at Red Butte Garden. I’d go see any of those three on any given night, and I have to CHOOSE!?! Bummer. Here’s the argument for Yoakam: the trad-country crooner has one of the best voices in the biz, a deep catalog of rootsy tunes that bound between old-school twang and popperific covers of bands like Queen and Cheap Trick. And the lanky Yoakam still looks great in a pair of jeans, am I right? He doesn’t come to Utah as often as I’d like (or as often as Los Lobos and Earle), so Sunday night’s show is a rare treat.
Dwight Yoakam headlines Sunday, July 29, at Deer Valley.
LOS LOBOS/STEVE EARLE AND THE DUKES, RED BUTTE GARDEN, Sunday, 7 p.m., $42
The reason I’ll be at the Los Lobos/Steve Earle and the Dukes show instead of Yoakam’s show? Simple math. At this one, you get two groups who have written some of the best American rock ‘n’ roll of the past quarter-century, together on one stage for one night. Los Lobos are regular Utah visitors, and in singer/guitarists David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas, they have two top-notch frontmen to lead a live party. Steve Earle is a folk-rock icon cut from the pattern of Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan and his hero Townes Van Zandt. At this show, Earle’s wife Allison Moorer is part of the band, and she’s a headlining-quality artist herself. Bonus!
Los Lobos joins Steve Earle for a show at Red Butte Garden on Sunday, July 29.
When you saw the AP story on Orrin Hatch returning to sanity after fending off the Tea Party nutbags, you probably said, “Ain’t politics beautiful!” Now, you thought, Orrin can get back to what he seemed in the past to have a particular knack for—the politics of reality.
A few short months after fighting off a scary Tea Party challenge — by swinging far to the right and enlisting the help of the LDS Church to send its members to fill caucuses, Orrin told the AP reporter what anyone with an IQ equal to his hatband knows—Washington needs a “course correction”:
“Neither side is going to get everything they want. But it is important that we move ahead, and that we do the art of the doable to pull this country out of the fiscal morass it’s in. And I think we can.”
It was the Orrin of olden days—BFF to Ted Kennedy and a leader who would compromise, work deals and get stuff done like no one in today’s Congress. For that, we were willing to endure his annoying sanctimony and godawful song writing.
The transformation, apparently, was too soon.
Within hours of the story’s publication, Orrin’s handlers had the senator backing all over himself. Hatch mouthpiece Antonia Ferrier worked the levers:
“. . . Senator Hatch never – not once – said anything that would’ve lead anyone to come to the conclusion this story came to. Not once. The insinuation that the only reason he’s conservative is because he was running is offensive and stands in sharp contrast with his record.”
What’s left of the Tea Party isn’t buying it, of course. It’s the betrayal they predicted, and like any dying beast in Utah, they can still slash and bite.
Glen Warchol’s arts, culture and politics blogs also appears in Salt Lake magazine. http://www.saltlakemagazine.com/blog/#
As a citizen, no one can expect you to keep an eye on the shenanigans of more than 100 Utah state legislators, especially when you consider the amount of lunacy they can pack into a session.
A suggestion: Everyone choose a lawmaker and make a hobby of stalking his/her antics in the media, on the blogosphere and at the state’s most excellent legislative website. If you are really into it, “friend” and follow the chosen one on Facebook and Twitter.
If no lawmaker leaps immediately to mind, don’t worry. I’ll be suggesting potential targets as the January legislative session approaches.
My first recommendation is State Rep. Mike Noel.
Over the decades, this sagebrush rebel and anti-fed rabble rouser from Kanab has wriggled his way into a position of exceptional power. Noel’s not only a powerful House member who sits on committees over natural resources, the environment and public utilities, but he’s the general manager of the Kane County Water Conservancy District.
So, despite the Marboro Man photo I got off Mike’s website, he’s really your basic career politician and government bureaucrat—who controls water in a very thirsty state. As you know, every living thing in Utah needs water, including subdivisions, endangered species, wilderness and nuclear power plants.
Some examples:
Noel is an ally of Blue Castle Holdings, a nuclear-development company run by former Utah legislator and Noel crony Aaron Tilton. The power plant would annually suck enough water to slack the thirst of Salt Lake City and Draper put together.
Noel isn’t shy about using his power to intimidate state employees, board members and fellow lawmakers, like when he defended the managers of SITLA after they defied the Legislature’s moratorium and paid themselves $294,000 in bonuses. It never hurts to have a public land manager owe you a favor.
Noel’s latest mess development opportunity is diverting millions in that nasty federal money to bring water to a hamlet of rustic cabins with a view of Zion National Park, so that it can explode with development.
If you swing far to the right, you can call Noel’s efforts “bleeding the federal beast,” but don’t forget—Noel and his pals are the fat ticks under the fur.
Glen Warchol’s arts, culture and politics blogs also appears in Salt Lake magazine. http://www.saltlakemagazine.com/blog/#
The Days of ’47 Rodeo is one of the highlights of a day full of Pioneer Day festivities.
A Tuesday holiday from the work week will probably feel even more strange than the Wednesday July 4 holiday we just had, and if you don’t want to spend your day with the thousands of spectators gathering in downtown SLC for the Days of ’47 Parade, you’ll be glad to know there are a few worthy options for your day that don’t involve a non-stop train of pioneer-themed floats and outfits.
For my money, it’s hard to beat a rodeo for primo entertainment–you get extreme action courtesy of the cowboys doing their ropin’, ridin’ and rasslin’ various forms of livestock, and near-death experiences thanks to the bull-riding events. Beats a movie, right? The official Days of ’47 Rodeo is going down at the Maverik Center in West Valley City Tuesday at 7 p.m, and tickets start at just $10.
One of my favorite Pioneer Day diversions each year is the Native American Celebration in the Park Powwow, where Native American tribes from Utah gather at Liberty Park for an all-day festival featuring music, dance, arts and crafts from their respective cultures. The celebration runs from noon until 10 p.m., and most of it is free; there’s a $5 charge for the evening powwow.
The appeal of the This is the Place Pioneer Day Celebration can be summed up in two words: candy cannon. Yes, there are more typical pioneer-related attractions at the park, including a pie-eating contest, games and crafts for the kids, live music and train rides. But the image of a cannon blasting children with confections–that’s a holiday activity I can totally get behind. The party runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and tickets are $10
Another annual treat that comes with Pioneer Day is the free admission available at Red Butte Garden. Expect a crowd when the park opens at 10 a.m. And the Salt Lake Bees are in town, playing a home game against Sacramento, followed by fireworks that will be part of a night full of them.
What will I be doing? A house party at a friend’s place to celebrate “Pie and Beer Day,” an annual ritual for many of us Utahns who aren’t part of the dominant religion. That’s always a good option when you’re not in the mood to deal with Pioneer Day crowds–just be sure to hit the liquor store on Monday.
Daniel Nailen 