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Local politics State

An Open Letter to James Evans

The chairman of the Utah Republican Party sent a letter to precinct chairs last week. Unfortunately in that letter, Mr. Evans crossed a line that any elected person whether public official or party officer should never cross.

Mr. Chairman,

You’ve crossed an important line and I am disappointed by you and anyone among the leadership of the Utah Republican Party who felt that the letter you sent to precinct chairs last week was acceptable.

Obviously it is reasonable that you should communicate with precinct chairs. Certainly it is wise that you should inform them of items that you feel are adversely affecting the party that both you and they have been elected to support. Naturally we should expect and even want you to offer suggestions and encouragement for them to make a positive difference on issues of concern. Despite these truths, the paragraph that you requested the precinct chairs to read at the caucus meetings was out of line.

I see nothing wrong with you pointing out the disproportionate ratio of male to female delegates in past conventions. I also have no problem with your efforts to encourage women to run for delegate positions, to invite precinct chairs to do the same, and to share your concerns and the corresponding statistics with caucus attendees. The problem comes in your overt request that caucus attendees elect more female delegates.

I don’t mind if we do elect a higher proportion of women as delegates than we have in the past – my problem with your request isn’t the desire for more female delegates. My problem is that you would publicly express favoritism on intra-party elections. That is completely unacceptable for a party officer.

Our job as caucus attendees is to select the best people we can to represent us as delegates at the state and county conventions. Having more women running for those positions gives us more options to evaluate which is a good thing. Giving us the information regarding the 4 to 1 ratio of men to women in past conventions is useful information so that we can make an informed choice regarding who we send as delegates. Requesting that we elect more women is inappropriate as it is our job, not yours, to determine who in our individual precincts will best represent us – regardless of gender or gender ratio.

I appreciate your desire to make the party and the party conventions the best they can be but there is no excuse for crossing the line into telling party members how they should be shaping the party with their caucus votes.

Categories
life National politics

Saying “No” to the TSA

Laura and I have been talking about what we can do in response to the horrendous new TSA procedures. Inspired by Connor and Jesse I took a first step by sending this letter:


To: ata@airlines.org

To Whom It May Concern,

I have been appalled at the new security procedures being implemented by the TSA. I don’t consider myself a particularly frequent flyer but I have personally flown twelve times in the last nine years (usually with at least one family member flying with me) and I was planning flights to New York and Orlando next year for both personal and business purposes but after these latest changes in procedure I have determined that I will not take any further flights for any reason. I will avoid business travel that cannot be done on the ground and I see no reason to spend my money so that myself, my wife, or any of my children can be subjected to the full body image machines or the enhanced pat-downs that are now standard procedure by the TSA.

These new “security procedures” are all the more outrageous and intollerable because as far as I am aware passenger screenings have never stopped a single incident of someone trying to interfere with the normal operations of a flight. All such incidents have either been stopped before the would-be criminals approached the passenger screening area or else after they had successfully navigated the passenger screening procedures and boarded the plane.

I refuse to teach my children that nothing we have taught them regarding the sacredness of personal space – especially with regards to strangers – applies when they are inside an airport or when the stranger in question is wearing a uniform. Although others travel much more than I do, I will avoid all public air travel wherever possible and teach my six children to do the same so long as such degrading and unreasonable procedures are in place.

David Miller
Bountiful, Utah


Update 11/17/2010: I got a response to my letter this morning. Normally I would see little reason to share the response publicly but this response included some information that I think should be shared publicly for anyone who is concerned with this issue. Specifically, the response included two links where people can provide their feedback directly to the TSA:

While we will pass on your concerns to the TSA in our routine discussions, we suggest that you also comment directly to TSA – they have a moderated blog on these very subjects, which can be found at:

Enhanced Pat Down: http://blog.tsa.gov/2010/11/new-tsa-pat-down-procedures.html

?Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) Scanner: http://blog.tsa.gov/2010/11/white-house-blog-backscatter-back-story.html

Categories
life thoughts

Dear Eyring Family

Do you know how much people watch you?

Of course you are Eyrings and with that I guess you would have to expect that people would pay attention to what you do just because of your parentage. But are you aware of how much you are watched not because of who your parents are, but because of who your children are and because of the choices you have made about who you will be?

I can only speak for myself, but I pay attention every time I see your van on the street – watching to see who is driving and how happy they usually are. When I see the van parked somewhere I stay alert for the opportunity to see the Eyrings going about their daily lives.

Why do I do this? Because unlike so many, you have chosen to have more than three children. Unlike so many, you have chosen to have mother stay at home and devote her full energy to raising the children. Unlike most that we know who fall into the previous categories, you have some children old enough for us to get a good glimpse of how they have or will turn out. It is because of some of your older children that I pay attention to your family.

I have been blessed to see one of your daughters regularly as a Sunday School teacher. I am under no illusion that she is perfect, or that there is something about her that cannot be achieved by any young woman who is well taught at home, but I could clearly see through those interactions that she is the kind of young woman that I would hope for my daughters to grow up and be like – intelligent, affable, and good.

I have not known any of your sons so intimately as that but I have observed and clearly see that the oldest of your sons is clearly among the good examples of young men whom I hope my sons will emulate as they grow older. Like the sister I know best, he seems intelligent, affable, and good.

You stand out because your children are very good. Their goodness is a testament to the value of having a mother who knows that the greatest good she can do is to be fully engaged in raising the children rather than being lured out into working in order to provide some extra material goods.

Your children stand out, not because they are perfect, or even better than all the other youth around them, but because they have turned out so well while being raised with many siblings rather than few – and that gives me hope that our children may turn out to be very good even though we have chosen not to stop at three or four. It is because I have seen the results of your efforts that I watch in case I can learn any clues about what you do, and also to give me comfort that your have done so well even facing similar challenges to what we find ourselves facing.