I’ve always kept a file on my computer — Tweets Not Tweeted — where I stash the tweets that probably could get me fired. Maybe I’ll share it sometime. It’s easily my best work.
This year was so crazy that the only way to capture it is through the Tweets Not Tweeted from the newsmakers who made it so unique. So, with that, here is a rundown of tweets that these folks didn’t actually send, but probably have stashed somewhere.
Outdoor Hightailers
In February, the Outdoor Retailers decided they were fed up with Utah’s policies that were hostile to public lands, the bread and butter of the industry, and moved their downtown convention to Denver, costing the state about $100 million annually.
Take it easy there, tiger
In March, Gov. Gary Herbert signed a bill passed by the state’s teetotaling Legislature that lowers Utah’s blood alcohol threshold for driving under the influence to 0.05, the lowest in the United States. It will take effect Dec. 30, 2018, barring changes. For some, the giddiness could be intoxicating.
Putting on a good show
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke visited southern Utah in May to check out the new Bears Ears National Monument and the less new Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. He met with county commissioners and a select group of elected officials and locals to prove he didn’t want to get rid of the monuments without making it appear as if he had listened first. Then, later in the year, President Donald Trump shrunk those monuments by 2 million acres, a move now being challenged in court.
Check, please!
Just six months after he was re-elected to the U.S. Congress, Rep. Jason Chaffetz unexpectedly walked away, leaving a lot of unfinished work — including investigations into Hillary Clinton, Benghazi, Hillary Clinton, Fast and Furious, Hillary and this tweet.
A bad break
In July, the Utah Jazz saw its superstar, Gordon Hayward, split and sign with Boston. The rejection hurt Utah fans, but not as bad as Hayward got hurt in October, when he busted his leg in horrendous fashion during his first game wearing green.
The unwashed masses
In August, House Speaker Greg Hughes prodded state, local and county leaders to go after the criminals preying on the homeless in Salt Lake City, kicking off Operation Rio Grande. It’s unclear if he thought the sweeps might also extend to Capitol Hill.
Fool me seven times ...
Orrin Hatch was pretty adamant when he ran in 2012 that six terms was enough and he wouldn't run again for the U.S. Senate. And the rubes bought it. Now he's already backtracking and getting heavy pressure from Trump to change his mind and launch a re-election bid — a prospect that probably gets more likely the longer he drags out an announcement.
‘We can get rid of THOSE monuments’
Trump was pretty categorical that he thought it was a bad idea for cities in the South and elsewhere to begin removing monuments to Confederate generals and other memorials glorifying the Southern cause in the Civil War. But when it came to two monuments in Utah, he didn’t have the same qualms, wiping out 2 million acres of protection for the Utah land. Maybe if the land was more racist he'd feel differently.
Catastrophic impact
Hatch seemed pretty pleased with himself after The Salt Lake Tribune named him Utahn of the Year recently because of his outsized impact in 2017. Indeed, if he had made a much larger impact there might not be much left besides a deep crater.
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