This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Deseret News appears to be taking on a new role for itself: Orrin Hatch's language nanny.
The senior Utah senator's recent use of the word "dumb-ass" to describe President Obama's health-care plan - uttered last week at an appearance at Utah State University in Logan - drew the attention of D-News reporter Jamshid Ghazi Askar.
Askar didn't hear Hatch himself, instead quoting a transcript printed in The Utah Statesman, the student paper at USU.
Askar also quoted The Statesman's next line: "Hatch apologized for swearing and said he does not swear often. He said he is passionate about the health care debate and would repent for using the words that he did."
Two weeks ago, Askar's byline appeared on another story about Hatch's use of language, when Hatch called Washington, D.C., "a godforsaken city."
For many people, that term is just hyperbole, I suppose - but a good many of Hatch's constituents believe God really does forsake things, and therefore took Hatch literally.
That epithet was enough for Askar to seek a comment from former Utah Republican Party chairman Dave Hansen, who said Hatch's use of the term "was just the frustration of the unwillingness of too many people back there to make the hard decisions and make the changes that need to be made."