Poor John Swallow | The Salt Lake Tribune

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Things are unbelievably bad in Utah:

• Attorney General John Swallow is in the midst of a scandal. Even if his version is true, it's pretty bad. He refuses to consider resigning and acts like the victim.

• Republicans are circling the wagons to protect Swallow. Rep. Brian King, D-Salt Lake City, and Sen. Jim Dabakis, D-Salt Lake City, were even forbidden to ask him questions related to his job when he came to the Legislature to ask for funding. We are supposed to elect good men of character, not protect evil men from punishment.

• Our legislators are falling all over themselves to write the biggest love letter to guns and to make sure we return to the days of the Old West where everyone has to pack a gun on their hip.

• Our big achievement this past month — the worst air in America. Hooray for us! Gov. Gary Herbert's solution — ask people politely to do what they can. There's great leadership for you.

If you let the fox run the henhouse, the henhouse becomes a pretty crappy place to live. How is that one-party system working out for you?

Kara Black

Salt Lake City