Pete Ashdown's Journal

Your voice is not a miracle. Your voice can be heard. Divine Strake is dead.

Today’s Salt Lake Tribune carries an opinion piece by Steve Urquhart audaciously titled “The People Have Spoken.” Representative Urquhart somehow believes that consent was found via Politicopia’s discussion of HB148. Yet I feel my sole concern of vouchers was not only ignored by Representative Urquhart, it was outright mocked by a proponent. Representative Urquhart weighed in early on the discussion and promptly stopped with a link to the bill’s draft at revision 29. For some reason my concern of tax dollars going to extremists was not only scoffed at, but edited to remove references to America’s and Utah’s history of extremism. An additional discussion about the abortion bill had my “Pro” and “Con” sides of the issue removed completely.

I would chalk some of this up to SocialText’s inability to do moderated reversions, and Ted Gardiner’s baffling level of cutting and pasting, but regardless of where my words went, I have to ask why was I not heard? Representative Urquhart touts this Wiki as an open avenue to legislators. If that is true, why are the legislators barely participating? Urquhart has been trumpeting his innovation far and wide, yet he lightly participates on issues of his own crafting. Instead, he deems the public discussion fulfilled because a dozen people can voice their 2 cents in a Wiki, then moves on to the next issue. So far, the opponents of the Abortion Bill far outweigh the proponents, and all of them are talking about the fiscal issues of Utah challenging the Supreme Court. Will Urquhart and our legislators listen to that in the same manner they listened to my concern about tuition vouchers? So far, it doesn’t look good. If that is enhanced democracy, I beg to differ. I feel like I’ve been shuffled to an online “free speech zone” away from the actual debate.

When I started my Senate campaign Wiki last year, I was clear that it was an additional tool in the belt, not a substitute for all the tools. It also stands the danger, like email, to be largely ignored by our representatives who are actually making the policy. Even worse, it carries the pretense that we are being heard.

I personally would like to see legislation drafted allowing the State to expand the legislative website to allow commentary and, yes, a full Wiki as well. As I demonstrated this last year, any nutcake can setup a Wiki, what makes it powerful is when the legislators actually participate and use it. Governmental Wikis should be institutionalized and not under the control of a single company or individual. There is no excuse in this century for governments and legislators not participating in the online debate.

Some have asked for the commentary I gave at the governor’s Divine Strake hearing. I didn’t give that commentary from written material, so I had to wait for the transcript to come through. Thanks to Sherry Milne for her efforts in emailing me the transcript.

My name is Pete Ashdown, and I am not an elected official.

I want to thank everyone for coming out tonight. This is an important part of this process. As I have looked at Divine Strake over the past two years, I have always asked one question. I always see the Department of Defense and the DTRA saying, If we can do this, we’ll know this. But what I never see them doing is asking, “Why are we doing this?”

Saddam Hussein came out of a ten_foot hole. Adolph Hitler, which had the __ he had the backing of a nation behind him, came out of a 30_foot bunker. And he came out all by himself. So I went to the DTRA session, the information session, and I asked __ I asked Why are we doing this? And they had the great posters __ I don’t know if some of you saw __ that bunkers are a growing threat. Well, it seems to me that the growing threat are teenagers using cell phones and fertilizer to blow up our troops, not build bunkers with alien technology.

And I said, What’s wrong with dropping a five_ton bomb on the hole to the bunker so you can’t get access to the materials inside, and whatever is inside can’t get out?

Well, we want to destroy what’s inside too. Why? Well, it could be uncovered. They could remove the dirt. They could get it out. Who are we fighting? How can they do this? How can they avoid our spy satellites? How can they avoid our predator drones and use earth movers to uncover their bunkers? It’s baloney. It’s pure baloney. It’s military masturbation, and I’m tired of being forced to watch it.

When it comes to nuclear weapons, the United States is the chain smoker telling the rest of the world to quit. It starts today. We do not need nuclear weapons, and I will say it again. Senator Hatch, stop this test. I applaud Governor Huntsman for the opportunity to speak without being arrested. But I want Governor Huntsman to know that I will get arrested if this test goes forward, and I challenge Governor Huntsman to join me and thousands of other Utahns who will walk out on that range and get arrested so this test does not happen.

Thank you very much.

Today is the last day you can send in commentary on Divine Strake. You can send email or postal. Your letter must be postmarked the 7th. More information here on KTVX’s website.