Time: Fri Dec 12 17:20:29 1997
To:
From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar]
Subject: SLS: The Rise and Fall of Orrin Hatch (fwd)
Cc:
Bcc: sls
References:
<snip>
>
>THE RISE AND FALL OF ORRIN HATCH
>
>Timothy C. Rollins
>
>In November of 1976, a trial lawyer and political unknown by the name of
>Orrin Grant Hatch was elected to the United States Senate from the State
>of Utah, defeating favored three-time incumbent Frank Moss. Hatch had
>told Utahns that Moss was out of touch with the constituents back home,
>and that when push came to shove, he voted with fellow Democrats over the
>will of the people of Utah. He campaigned very effectively on that issue
>and offered ideas that were clear, well-defined and whose time had come.
>
>As a freshman senator, he proved to be a uniquely bad headache for
>President Jimmy Carter, opposing nominations that had no business being
>sent to the Senate in the first place. He was key in sending a number of
>them in the tank where they belonged. Under the tutelage of the late
>Senator James Allen (D-AL), Hatch learned the rules of the Senate and
>used them to masterful advantage in helping advance a course of action
>that put America back to greatness under President Ronald Reagan, who
>rebuilt our defenses and sent a message to the world that we don't take
>crap from anybody.
>
>I met Orrin Hatch in 1982 while I was a student at the University of
>Utah, and when he was running for his second term. Affable, highly
>intelligent, concise and articulate, he generated an atmosphere of
>excitement and energy.
>
> So impressed was I with him, I did the occasional campaign bit by
>telling friends why Orrin Hatch should be returned to the Senate for a
>second term.
>
>Which is what makes the Orrin Hatch of today unrecognizable by
>comparison. The Orrin Hatch who was elected in 1976 in an upset would
>have never come up with political abortions the likes of S. 10 or S. 507.
> For the unfamiliar, Senate Bill 10 puts all kinds of restrictions on
>guns that are unnecessary, cumbersome and time consuming which smack of
>harassment of legitimate gun owners. And using the RICO statute is like
>swatting a fly with a sledge hammer. Hatch's rationale is that juvenile
>crime is out of control. This legislation will do NOTHING to reduce
>that. What will reduce it is parents working with their children, not
>running away from their responsibilities and leaving the State to take
>care of them. It is that attitude that got us in to the mess we are in
>now. The State has shown us how good they are at taking care of children.
>
>Though I do not like Hillary Clinton at all, she is right to a certain
>extent when she says it takes a village to raise a child. Communities
>are in place so people can help one another out. It teaches children
>that problems that cannot be solved alone can be solved with cooperation
>and teamwork in many cases. Now do not assume that I think it is the
>only solution, as I think Hillary uses that angle to "justify" more
>government control over our lives. That is wrong. And it is this
>extremism that Hatch has bought into that makes him a now fallen leader.
>That and the mess behind S. 507.
>
>Before his election to the Senate, Hatch had served as a Mormon Bishop.
>Being a lay ministry such as the Mormon Church is, this was in addition
>to his work as a trial lawyer. In reading one of his bios, a portrait is
>painted of Hatch as a caring, compassionate man, and that shows very
>clearly in the writing. He comes across in the book and in my meeting
>with him as one who cares deeply for America and her people and wants
>what is best for them. Yet S. 507 is a sell-out of all Americans because
>it would remove existing patent protections and make them for sale to the
>highest bidder, domestic or foreign. America makes the overwhelming
>majority of new inventions, and this statute would rob decent
>hard-working people of the advantage we have earned a right to. To add
>insult to injury, in a clear case of both conflict of interest and
>blatant hypocrisy, Hatch is also seeking an extension of copyright law to
>extend the length of copyrights for music and recorded work, such as the
>CD of religious music he produced with Janice Kapp Perry. You can't have
>it both ways, Senator!
>
>While Hatch has fallen in a sense, he has made an invaluable contribution
>to American society and should be applauded and commended for it. Yet he
>also needs to wake up and take a look around, as he is falling into the
>trap of more government control of which Bubba himself is the chief
>architect thereof.
>
>Timothy Rollins 1997
>
<snip>
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