Monthly Archives: December 2011

Monsters and Mormons provides edgy chills and thrills

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Doug Gibson

I don’t think LDS readers will be able to find Monsters and Mormons at Deseret Book or Seagull Book. I’d love to be wrong about that, but it’s my experience that fantasy at those stores never matures beyond puberty. Those interested … Read More

Posted in The Political Surf | Tagged Baptisms for the Dead, Bokev Momen, C. Douglas Birkhead, D. Michael Martindale, Monsters and Mormons, Mormon fiction, Terryl Givens, Theric Jepson | 8 Comments

Newt Gingrich was for RomneyCare before he was against it

Posted on December 27, 2011 by Doug Gibson

One of the main problems with Newt Gingrich as presidential timbre is that he tends to talk out of his as… uh, … rear end. Before Newt was taken seriously, Mitt Romney parried a “Newt-bomb” attack on states enacting individual … Read More

Posted in The Political Surf | Tagged 2012 presidential race, 2012 Republican presidential primaries, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, RomneyCare, Ron Paul | 4 Comments

Book presents case that libertarianism, Mormon doctrine, are compatible

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Doug Gibson

The book, “Latter-day Liberty,” by Utah County political activist Connor Boyack, is extremely provocative. If sales gain steam, it could provoke a political debate within Mormonism. I say that as someone who disagrees with Boyack’s conclusions at times. Yet, his … Read More

Posted in The Political Surf | Tagged Agency, Connor Boyack, Latter Day Liberty, LDS Church, Libertarianism, Liberty, Mormon doctrine, Ron Paul, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | 62 Comments

The payroll tax cut needs to end

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Doug Gibson

“Do you want to know what lives longer than a vampire?” … “What?” … “A one-year tax cut.” OK, I know it’s not great humor, but at least it’s wry humor. How can one not at least chuckle at the … Read More

Posted in The Political Surf | Tagged Democrats, Entitlements, Feckless politicians, Payroll tax cut, Republicans, U.S. Congress, Value-added tax | 5 Comments

Demagogic political rhetoric has a colorful, long history

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Doug Gibson

The fight over extending the payroll tax cut is as interesting to watch for the political rhetoric pitched by pols as it is for the actual arguments. Watch the debate sometime via C-Span and you’ll get the idea that the opposing … Read More

Posted in The Political Surf | Tagged Claude Pepper, George Smathers, Jean L. Morrison, New York Daily News, Political demagoguery, Political rhetoric, President Harry Truman, Rep. Clarence J. Brown, Washington Post | 5 Comments

LDS Church, through Church News, praised Hitler, Nazi Germany

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Doug Gibson

(To see Cal Grondahl’s cartoon that goes with this post, click here) History is blunt. Left to itself, it doesn’t spin or gloss over unpleasant facts. The positive side to unvarnished history is that it can prevent future mistakes. There … Read More

Posted in The Political Surf | Tagged Adolf Hitler, Alan F. Keele and Douglas F. Tobler, Ant-Semitism, Gunter Grass, Heber J. Grant, Helmuth Hubener, Mormonism in Nazi Germany, Propaganda, Religious enabling of evil, Sunstone magazine, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The LDS Church News, Totalitarianism | 77 Comments

Rick Perry is pathetic

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Doug Gibson

GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry is such a pandering clown. Romney “bets” Perry $10,000 that he’s wrong about his Massachusetts’ health care mandate and the media, sensing “gotcha,” calls it a gaffe because Romney’s so darn rich he can’t possibly … Read More

Posted in The Political Surf | Tagged 2012 Republican presidential primaries, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Democratic Party, Mitt Romney, Rick Perry | 17 Comments

Envy against rich, class warfare the ticket to Obama’s re-election

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Doug Gibson

President Barack Obama’s class warfare speech in Kansas (here) makes clear the theme of the 2012 election for the Democratic Party, and the president: anger at those who have earned more than others. It’s an insidious strategy that both deflects … Read More

Posted in The Political Surf | Tagged 2012 presidential race, Class envy, Class warfare, Democratic Party, President Barack Obama | 18 Comments

Jacob Marley gets to tell his Christmas Carol, but alas, ’tis more dull

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Doug Gibson

(To see Cal Grondahl’s cartoon that goes with this post, click here.) Have you ever wondered what happened to Jacob Marley, the tormented, consigned-to-eternal-punishment spirit who successfully warned miser Ebenezer Scrooge of the fate that awaited him if he did … Read More

Posted in The Political Surf | Tagged A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens, Christmas novels, Jacob T. Marley, R. William Bennett, Shadow Mountain Publishers, Unauthorized sequels to classic novels | 3 Comments

Sporting Surf: Utah football up, BYU football down

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Doug Gibson

The decision by Jake Heaps to leave BYU is not the biggest story of BYU football. It’s just one baby step toward what will be a consistent decline in the BYU football program.