Their names are familiar, but not the way we know “John McCain” or “Barack Obama.” They raised a total of about $6 million — compared to more than $650 million raised by Obama and $360 million raised by McCain. In case you missed it, Ralph Nader (independent, raised $3.9 million), Bob Barr (Libertarian, $1.3 million), […]
The also-rans…
Posted inNovember 10, 2008: Still Howling Wolf
Passing gas
Western states struggle to capture methane emissions from coal mines
Posted inGoat
The gun lobby’s circular firing squad
Gun activists believe — perhaps correctly — that the future of their hobby is bound up with the financial health of the companies that make guns. That’s why the NRA campaigned so heavily for the 2005 gun liability bill, which keeps gun manufacturers and dealers from being held responsible for crimes committed using their products. […]
Posted inNovember 10, 2008: Still Howling Wolf
Real Mormons are diverse
As a Mormon with Eastern roots, I found this article woefully lacking (HCN, 10/27/08). Mormons are not part of the Christian right cabal. Look at Harry Reid, for crying out loud. I voted for the Green candidate in 2004, and Obama in the California primary and may well vote for him again. Ray Ring simply […]
Posted inNovember 10, 2008: Still Howling Wolf
River giveaway, too
“The great giveaway” did a great job of bringing attention to the Utah BLM’s mad rush to finalize plans that manage 11 million acres in Utah (HCN, 10/13/08). Unfortunately, the article and most other news coverage of this issue overlooked what these plans mean for Utah’s rivers. These plans make recommendations on which rivers should […]
Posted inNovember 10, 2008: Still Howling Wolf
Perspective on the religion card
The Mormon Church engages in overt political activism, and as such it deserves the same muckraking scrutiny as any other advocacy organization (HCN, 10/27/08). Its claim to foster moral leadership shouldn’t exempt it from critique. Ray Ring’s revelations about the “underbelly” of Rexburg are relevant to the investigation of a politico-religious institution that clearly aims […]
Posted inHeard Around the West
Kokopelli attacks
Teri Paul, the director of a state park museum in Blanding, Utah, found herself the victim of a surprise attack recently. The cause? An anatomically correct statue of Kokopelli, a fertility god of ancient Indians, which has greeted visitors to the Edge of the Cedars Park Museum since 1989. Kokopelli, a well-known denizen of the […]
Posted inNovember 10, 2008: Still Howling Wolf
Guns and God
Kudos to Jonathan Thompson, who will surely get plenty of negative responses to his editor’s note in Volume 40, Number 19, from numerous fundamentalists whose understanding of the First Amendment is nearly nonexistent (HCN, 10/27/08). I’m happy to have a Constitution that, at least on paper, allows everyone to worship whatever deity or higher power […]
Posted inGoat
So goes the West?
After two almost-too-close-to-call presidential elections, New Mexico is now considered safe turf for Barack Obama. But more interestingly, in a poll taken just two days ago, things were looking up for the rest of New Mexico’s Democratic candidates. Currently, Republicans hold one of the two U.S. Senate seats and two of the three U.S. Congressional […]
Posted inGoat
High noon for GOP moderates
As Ray Ring observed back in July, there’s a growing rift between conservatives and moderates in the Republican Party in the West. This is something that most of us have lost sight of over the past few months, during which the news has been about the contest between Republicans and Democrats, not the internal power […]
Posted inNovember 10, 2008: Still Howling Wolf
While you were voting …
Bush administration races ahead with environmental policy changes
Posted inWotr
The patriotic thing to do
Maybe I’m crazy, but I think that paying taxes is patriotic. And I’m tired of hearing Americans, especially Westerners, whine about their tax burden. I’m no economist. Taxes aren’t a subject I normally pay attention to – except once a year in April – but during the presidential campaign the rhetoric around taxes was impossible […]
Posted inWotr
Antelope hunting keeps getting better
Every year, I think hunting for antelope just can’t get any better, and every year it does. The days are warm, the nights are cool, the aspens are golden and so are the memories. Let me explain. In my grandfather’s day in southwestern Wyoming, antelope were few and far between. In his journals for the […]
Posted inGoat
Chris Cannon gets curiouser and curiouser
Loyal GOAT readers have already read the tale of Chris Cannon, the ultra-conservative, oil-shale-promoting U.S. House member from Utah who got beat in this year’s Republican primary after he made the mistake of being open to compromise on immigration. Well, it turns out that Utah hath nothing weirder — or sadder — than an uber-conservative […]
Posted inGoat
The West from 30,000 feet
Recently I had the opportunity to fly from Salt Lake City to Arcata on the coast of Northern California during the daytime. I’ve noticed that most airline passengers don’t look out the windows very often. But when I have a clear day I delight in the views. One of my favorite games is to try […]
Posted inWotr
Who will be the West’s new boss?
One of the great parlor games of the West is to guess who the next president will choose to be secretary of the Interior Department. The man or woman succeeding Idaho’s Dirk Kempthorne will be the nation’s top wildlife manager and federal landlord of more than 507 million acres of national parks, rangeland and wildlife […]
Posted inGoat
Orrin Hatch to the rescue
Frustrated by a lack of action from other Republicans, Utah Senator Orrin Hatch has personally raised more than $6.5 million for the National Republican Senatorial Committee through an elite donor group dubbed “Orrin’s Army.” He also presided over the President’s Dinner, a feast that raised $13.5 million for Senate Republicans. The money will be used […]
Posted inWotr
It’s time to cowboy up
They’re a lot of fun, those culture wars. City folk get a chuckle over the cretins out in Kansas passing laws against evolution. The Fox News crowd enjoys fulminating about feminazis. Good ratings, good rantings, good times. Dividing the electorate into rural heartland/ignorant rubes vs. civilization/East Coast eggheads is as old as the Republic, starting […]
Posted inGoat
No dam(n) difference?
Dams are bad for salmon. That’s been the conclusion of thousands of biologists, environmentalists and fishermen after years of watching rapidly declining salmon runs on the Northwest’s dammed rivers. We’ve written many stories about the topic (here are a few: Salmon Justice, Another chance emerges for salmon, Fishermen blamed for salmon troubles, Dams will stand […]
Posted inGoat
Goodbye, Tony Hillerman
Tony Hillerman died at age 83 in an Albuquerque hospital this week, succumbing to pulmonary failure after surviving two heart attacks, cancer and rheumatoid arthritis – none of which stopped him from writing (his last novel was published in 2006). His mysteries portrayed the beauty and desolation of the Four Corners area and featured two […]