Anti-Gay Loudmouth Shuts Down Utah Senate

We talked the other day about this Buttars guy, what a piece of work. Out there in Utah his Republican colleagues don't really disagree with him, they just feel a little funny about a guy saying the things he says so, you know, openly. They shut down the state Senate so they could go away and talk about it. This is the strangest thing.

SALT LAKE CITY - The Utah Senate stopped working for about two hours Monday as Republicans privately met to discuss a lawmaker's recent comments that gay people don't have morals and that gay activists are among America's greatest threats.

Not a single bill was debated on the Senate floor Monday morning, increasing the backlog of bills that may never become law simply because lawmakers will run out of time to approve them before the 45-day session ends.

Republican Sen. Chris Buttars of West Jordan told a documentary filmmaker that gay people don't have any morals and he compared gay activists to radical Muslims, saying they're one of America's greatest threats. Anti-gay remarks raise ruckus in Utah Senate

Thinking about it, I can't see any similarities at all between gay people and radical Muslims. It seems to me that radical Muslims cut gay people's heads off, don't they? Radical Muslims crash airplanes into tall buildings, I can't even remember a gay person crashing a party. Okay, I'm being silly, but really ... this guy sounds like he should be in a mental hospital, not a state Capitol building.

Do you ever have that feeling like you might have just fallen here from a distant planet, and the aliens native inhabitants have strange and bizarre ways that you just can't quite get a grip on? Okay, well maybe that's just me, sorry. How about the other way around? -- Do you ever feel like some kind of weird aliens have landed on earth and live among us, with strange and bizarre ways that you just can't quite get a grip on? Let me put it this way: can you imagine being one of these Utah Republicans? Me neither.

Last week, Senate President Michael Waddoups removed Buttars from a judiciary committee he chaired. Buttars frequently took pride in using the chairmanship to kill gay rights legislation.

Waddoups said he wanted to remove a distraction and wasn't trying to punish Buttars for the comments. Waddoups also said that his colleagues agree with many of Buttars' statements, but has refused to say which statements.

That is beautiful, isn't it? They will go on record as saying they don't agree with some of his statements, but won't say which ones. Like, privately they will admit that when Buttars said it was a beautiful day they thought it was too cloudy -- that's what they meant. That stuff about gay people, what'd be wrong with that?

Sen. Greg Bell said Monday he disagrees with at least one of Buttars' comments.

"I think I could say that, to a person, everyone in our caucus supports traditional marriage. Many of us, however, feel that the tenor, the examples, some of the phrasing that Sen. Buttars used in his controversial comments, were intolerant and immoderate," Bell said. "I don't believe that all gays have no morals whatsoever."

Buttars' comments and his removal from the judiciary committee have created a rift in the Senate Republican caucus, prompting the private meeting. Senate leaders said Buttars wouldn't face any more sanctions and that no position was taken on the issue during their meeting.

"It was a venting process, in my judgment, and that's why it took the time that it took," said Sen. Pete Knudson. "I think that's a healthy part of this whole situation, is that no one is being told what to think, no one is being told how to think, but they had their opportunity to express and I think that was very, very good for our caucus."

Buttars' comments first aired last week on the Salt Lake City ABC affiliate KTVX and a copyrighted audio clip is posted on its Web site. The documentary filmmaker he spoke to, Reed Cowan, formerly worked at KTVX and is now a reporter at WSVN in Miami.

Last night I watched the President's speech, and now I can't help seeing these Republicans in relation to that. The biggest criticism of the President last night was that he was "too ambitious." He sees some problems that he thinks we need to do something to solve. The economy, education, health care, wars, torture ... there are real problems in the world, and they require clear thinking and hard work.

In comparison, listen to this: "I don't believe that all gays have no morals whatsoever." Man, these Utah Republicans are going out on a limb!