Our two senators opposed an international treaty to protect the disabled because it supposedly undermined American sovereignty ("Hatch, Lee praise U.N. treaty rejection," Tribune, Dec. 5), while Sen. Orrin Hatch demands we penalize the United Nations because 138 nations dared exercise their sovereignty in granting Palestine observer status ("Hatch seeks cutoff of U.N. funding over Palestine stance," Tribune, Dec. 1). Utah senators: Contradictions R us!
Hatch tried to sweeten the bitter pill of his re-election by claiming a seventh term would be his last. His win should thus be liberating, enabling his return to support the DREAM Act, for example, and to reject the unelected Grover Norquist's egregious no-new-tax-pledge tyranny. Yet, in contradiction, he declares his intention to "stick to GOP tax pledge." That giant sucking sound is Hatch describing Norquist as "one of the best people in Washington."
Were I a pompous Repub, I might call Hatch's "last run" claim, now contradicted by his re-election-minded actions, a principled obfuscation for the good of the country. Instead, I'm tempted to say he was, well, pardon me, lying like a rug. Look for Hatch to emulate the late Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., with a re-election committee when he's 100.
Michele Margetts
Salt Lake City