Monthly Archives: September 2012

No one faces LDS Church discipline for criticizing Mitt Romney

Posted on September 25, 2012 by Doug Gibson

(To see Cal Grondahl’s cartoon that goes with this post, click here.) Last week the media engaged in silliness by surmising that a disaffected LDS blogger, David Twede, was facing a church disciplinary council supposedly because he had criticized fellow … Read More

Posted in The Political Surf | Tagged David Twede, Excommunication, LDS church discipline, Media sensation, Mitt Romney, Mormon temple ceremonies, Mormonism, Peggy Fletcher Stack, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Daily Beast | 49 Comments

White House gets approval of all quotes for Obama profile in Vanity Fair

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Doug Gibson

Call this a seminal moment in the decline and fall of political journalism … real journalism, not the puff “profiles” in admittedly left- or right-wing publications. “Vanity Fair” has creds: among the best writers and columnists when dealing with politics. So … Read More

Posted in The Political Surf | Tagged Graydon Carter, Journalism ethics, Michael Lewis, Political journalism, Puff journalism, Quote approval, Vanity Fair | 6 Comments

This is a surreal election season; so many have declared Obama the winner

Posted on September 20, 2012 by Doug Gibson

It’s Sept. 20 and it’s a surreal election season. So many have assumed that President Obama has won re-election. Many of my liberal social media friends have move into full gloat mode. It’s over folks, Romney’s a loser, conservative pundits … Read More

Posted in The Political Surf | Tagged 2012 presidential race, Gallup, Mitt Romney, Overconfidence, Polls, President Barack Obama, Rasmussen | 22 Comments

LDS retrenchment and why Ezra Taft Benson wanted to be George Wallace’s VP pick

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Doug Gibson

(To see Cal Grondahl’s cartoon that goes with this blog, click here.) In Matthew Bowman’s book “The Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith,” the Mormon business/educational strategy of correlation is explained. The business advantages of correlation are offset … Read More

Posted in The Political Surf | Tagged B.H. Roberts, Boyd K. Packer, Bruce R. McConkie, David O. McKay, Dispensationalism, Ezra Taft Benson, Heber J. Grant, Joseph Fielding Smith, LDS Church, Matthew Bowman, Mormon doctrine, Retrenchment, The John Birch Society, The Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith | 22 Comments

The result of this election will be mostly about President Obama

Posted on September 5, 2012 by Doug Gibson

After the GOP convention last week, Mitt Romney received a small poll bounce — from the sole poll tracking likely voters — that will be gone by the time President Obama speaks at the Democratic Party convention on Thursday night. … Read More

Posted in The Political Surf | Tagged 2012 presidential race, Bennion Spencer, Close presidential election, Democratic base, Mitt Romney, Party conventions, Political passion, President Barack Obama, Republican Party base | 15 Comments

Correlation is why LDS high priests and MIA maids learn basically the same stuff

Posted on September 4, 2012 by Doug Gibson

(To see Cal Grondahl’s cartoon that goes with this post, click here.) Have you ever wondered why LDS church lessons seem to be recycled every few years? Or why the lesson manuals can be used in high priests group, elder’s quorum, Relief … Read More