Senator Buttars, please just go away

Senator Chris Buttars doesn't represent my district. He lives on the other side of the valley. And boy am I glad.

Every year during the Utah legislative session, he never fails to amaze me with his incredible ability to carry on the narrow-minded stereotypes that tend to make Utah a state that always seems to be viewed in a different way than residents of other states (read: people think we're weird here).

And yet every election period, Buttars is re-elected by his constituents--Not for his overwhelming qualifications (doesn't have many), but because his opponents have a "D" next to their name instead of an "R," which, if you didn't already know, doesn't go over so well in Utah.

Let me give you a brief summary of Buttars' greatest hits:

1. In 2008's legislative session, Buttars opposed a bill that dealt with school funding. Instead of merely disagreeing and stating his opposing view, Buttars decided to use this beautiful prose to describe how he saw the bill. He said: "This baby is black, I'll tell you. This is a dark, ugly thing." Needless to say, the NAACP (and the rest of sane Utahns) had a fit over this and Buttars later apologized saying that he made a comment "that some could take as racist." Uh, yeah. Mark me down for that group.

2. Buttars tried to introduce legislation that would have forced schools to stop teaching evolution (which, as most people who have attended at least seventh grade science know, is a scientific theory). Instead, Buttars insisted that teachers teach a curriculum based completely on creationism (which, for the record, I believe in. But that doesn't mean I can't learn other theories as well).

3. In a recent interview on a local TV station, Buttars continued his legacy--this time taking his fight to homosexuals. He compared homosexuals to radical Muslims and said that gays are "the greatest threat to America."

I can think of a greater threat to America, Mr. Buttars: intolerance.