With the Republicans holding super majorities in both houses of the Utah Legislature, proposals to tighten laws governing ethics reasonably are seen as aimed primarily at the party that holds the reins to power.
But when Utahns for Ethical Government unveiled its plan for a ballot initiative that would tighten existing ethics laws, who do you think was first out of the chute to organize opposition to the idea?
The Democrats.
"While well-intended it may in fact be the worst of all worlds -- strongly bureaucratic and actually provides less transparency to the public," Todd Taylor, State Democratic Party executive director, wrote in an e-mail to Democratic legislators.
"Additionally," Taylor wrote, "there are concerns that it may create obstacles to grassroots participation in politics."
Grassroots participation in politics usually is code for campaign contributions and favors from lobbyists.
After all, the Democratic Party invites the same well-heeled lobbyists to buy tables at its fundraisers that the Republican Party does.
According to the e-mail: "We advise you not to make any commitments to this group until there has been time to review its proposals,"
The e-mail also lamented that the organizers of the ethics-reform campaign -- which advocates for an independent commission to investigate ethics complaints against legislators and to limit political contributions -- "have not allowed the state party to review the proposal."
Didn't know that was a requirement.
Mixed messages » You may have noticed the story about KSL Channel 5 opting not to air the prime-time network poker game show "Face the Ace," saying the subject of gambling does not meet community standards.
That's interesting because a KSL sales rep playing in a political fundraising golf tournament recently was using as ball markers and handing out to other players promotional tokens that had KSL-TV printed on one side and KSL.com on the other.
They were poker chips .
Learning from mistakes » Remember two years ago when Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff crashed his Harley Davidson while participating in a charity ride for law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty?
He was injured so badly he nearly lost his leg.
Well, he's in the event again this year. But when the "Fall Ride for Fallen Officers" commences Sunday at 8 a.m. at the Harley dealership in Lindon, Shurtleff will be riding in a classic car, not on a Harley.
Mia culpa » I reported a reader's complaint in Wednesday's column about a Cottonwood Heights police K-9 patrol vehicle that had its engine running for at least a half hour at a shopping center, with no one in the vehicle and a set of golf clubs in the front seat.
The engine was kept on to provide air conditioning for the police dog in the back of the vehicle, the officer was inside the store on a burglary investigation and the golf clubs were the stolen items the officer was preparing to return to the victim.
Sorry.
