are really just sock puppets and shills for Bridgewater?

I’m stunned, I tell you, simply stunned.

::rolling eyes::

politcally active there and I’m telling you that the South Carolina good ol’ boys network has *nothing* on the upper echelon Mormon good ol’ boys network that exists among the power brokers in UT.

As I noted in my many verbal jousts w/utah-cares, this is *not* an indictment of the average Mormon in UT or their faith. My neighbors, friends and co-workers were overwhelmingly LDS, but those that control the money and the power in UT are *much* less conservative than the fine folks that poplulate that state and care nothing about anything except more power and more money.

Bob Bennett are poster children for being ‘connected’ into that grid and acting just conservative enuf to keep out of trouble with their moral and conservative constituency while protecting and enriching thier buds. It’s absolutely of *zero* surprise that Bridgewater has enriched himself at the public trough and just the fact that Bennett endorsed him was enuf to get me to send a couple of contributions off to Lee and to link all of your Bridgewater posts to my very politically active friends who still reside in the state.

Thanks for all your help on this.

I *specifically* delineated between the average Mormon for whom I have a great deal of respect and gobs of friends and the Mormon ‘good old boys’ network. There is a cabal of mega-big business men in UT and they are all Mormon and use their church connections to enrich themselves.

Saying that there’s a Mormon good ol’ boy connection is no more discriminatory against Mormons than saying that the Mafia is Italian is a slur against hardworking Italians. It simply is what it is and anyone who doesn’t think that there is a cabal of businessmen in UT who use the church and their membership in it to enrich themselves is either naive, too trusting of their ‘brothers’ in the Church, or part of the network.

an overwhelming role in the power structure they put together – absolutely it would be spot on and not racist.

Anybody that’s ever lived in UT and has functioning brain cells *knows* there is a Mormon good ol’ boys network that you’re not allowed to be part of if you’re not a member of the church. Even my average Mormon friends knew it and joked about it. These UPPER ECHELON businessmen use their church connections to make money and are as opposed to true conservative values as the establishment GOP for the same reason – they don’t want to upset the apple cart. They just all happen to be from the same religious organization.

And btw, Night, I dont’ often disagree with you but, candidly, I’m pretty insulted that you would be so quick to call me a bigot without, apparently, knowing me any better than you do. That’s the kind of crap that the Left throws out. I expect more from my reasoned colleagues on the Right.

Not every successful businesman in UT is Mormon and not every Mormon businessman in UT is part of the good ol’ boys network. But every member of the good ol’ boys network in UT is a Mormon. And it is absolutely relevant in the context of the ganging up on Mike Lee by everyone else to recognize that it exists and why he’s getting trashed like he is.

If that offends you…well, it is what it is. The ‘good ol’ boys’ network in SC is all-white males so is it divisive to say that it is? I don’t know of a single LDS friend thatI had who would have taken offense to that comment so if you want to think that it’s divisive, and want to call me a bigot for calling it as it is, then I guess it’s a free country. Personally, the ‘bigot’ card has been the purview of Leftists so a) I’m beyond offended; and, b) I’m pretty much done with this conversation.

Mormons *are* the greatest political force and power structure in UT and I’ve seen it up close and in person as I attempted to get involved in the political process there.

Your analogy was probably the best: substitute GOP establishment and rank & file Republicans and you’ve pretty much got the same thing. The fact that Mike Lee is a Mormon and is getting hammered like he is by people with ties to Bob Bennett tells me he’s *not* part of that network and because I understand who’s in the network, how you get there, and how it works, that tells me all I need to know about who I want to win this primary.

And I agree completely with you…to say that there are individuals who (unfortunately) use the Church and the connections they have through it to enrich themselves is absolutely and completely different from saying that the hierarchy of the Church is synonymous with the good ol’ boy network.

Mike Lee comes from a distinguished Mormon family and the fact that he could be this soundly trashed by certain segments of the ‘culture’ out there has taken me from being ambivalent about who replaced Bennett (all I cared about was that he was defeated) and made me a huge Mike Lee fan because it tells me that he poses a threat to that network.

Thanks for all you do, Standard. While our religious views may not be the same, I always had and have a tremendous amount of respect for the average, run-of-the-mill, next door neighbor Mormons that I lived and worked with. A more respectful, honest, moral group would be hard to find.

Nobody invited you into this conversation; nobody gives a rat’s a@@ what you have to say and, ever since Erick exposed your IP address as being a sock puppet shill for Bridgewater you’re doing more harm than good to your candidate.

On 2nd thought….shill away.