This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
When Utah State Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem (pictured), called into X96's "Radio From Hell" show this morning to talk about Utah's liquor laws, what resulted was an abject failure to communicate.
Valentine dodged questions about the infamous "Zion Curtain" that hides liquor preparation from restaurant patrons, sending X96 hosts Bill Allred and Kerry Jackson into sputtering frustration. It made for bad explanations of public policy, but good radio.
Valentine opined that not keeping liquor hidden from restaurants would lead, in his mind, to restaurants having to check ID of all patrons. "That's a police state," Valentine argued. Allred and Jackson talked over each other in their attempt to debunk this logical leap from a visible bottle of Jim Beam to jackboots down State Street.
Moving on (and with co-host Gina Barberi failing in her attempts to be peacemaker), Allred tried to get Valentine to answer whether the purpose of the "Zion Curtain" was to hide booze from children. Valentine evaded the question three times, saying that the law's purpose is to draw "a bright line between a restaurant and a bar." Jackson's argument, that not allowing minors into a bar was a bright line in itself, went unanswered.
When Allred tried to suggest that such restrictions on restaurants were anti-business, and discouraging national chains from locating in Utah, Valentine threw up a straw-man argument: "If you want a true dry area, go to one of the places in the South."
Ultimately, Valentine inadvertently laid bare a usually unspoken truth: "If religious people are in the majority, shouldn't you reflect that religious value?" Allred took this as confirmation of what most people already assumed: That the leadership of the LDS Church dictates Utah's liquor laws.
The other message to be gleaned from Valentine's argument is that non-Mormons should shut their yaps and be thankful the Utah Legislature lets them have access to any alcohol at all.
(Here's a link to the audio of the encounter, and here's the Radio From Hell Facebook page with comments from the show's listeners.)