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Harry Reids death may mark the end of the liberal Mormon tradition.

Thats the headline of a recent op-ed in the Washington Post. The former Nevada Democratic Senator and Latter-day Saint died last week at age 82.

The one-time Senate majority leader held steadfast to his party roots, despite the Churchs strong ties to Republicans.

But Benjamin Park writes that we may have seen the last of his kind. Park teaches American Religious History at Sam Houston State University in Texas. Pamela McCall spoke with him about Reids brand of faith and politics.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Pamela McCall: In your op-ed in The Washington Post, you cite Harry Reid's 2007 speech at Brigham Young University, where he said, "I am a Democrat because I am a Mormon, not in spite of it." What principles did he believe connected his political views to his religious beliefs?

Benjamin Park: In that speech itself, and in several other of his addresses to Latter-day Saint audiences, he would often reference Book of Mormon scripture [themes] that would say there shall be no poor among them, or that helping out the least of your brethren is aiding your God. So he believed that the communitarian impulse that comes through in LDS scripture was something that correlated with the Democratic message of trying to build the community all around, rather than a libertarian impulse of everyone fighting for their own.

PM: Why do you think Harry Reid held to those views when so many members of the Church became steadfast Republicans?

BP: Especially post-World War II and notably after the 1960s culture wars, many Mormons came to embrace a demographic politics that was pretty typical of the Mountain West in America during that time, that was much more libertarian, much more conservative [which] saw Mormonism as the fulfillment of an individualistic ethos. Whereas those like Harry Reid, who saw Mormonism more as a communitarian impulse, became more and more in the minority. So by the time Harry Reid died, he was one of the last few public Mormon politicians who leaned to the Democratic side.

PM: I want to go back a bit. You state that, historically, it was thought that when Latter-day Saints did seek federal political affiliation after dissolving their own People's Party in 1891, the year after they renounced polygamy, that it would be the Democrats that they would align with. What actually happened and why?

BP: The federal government basically told Utah, if you want to become a state, one, you need to give up polygamy, and two, you need to participate in our two-party political system. And most of the anti-Mormons living in Utah were Republican. The Republican Party was founded on opposing the twin pillars of barbarism: slavery on one hand, polygamy on the other. So it was very common to expect the Mormons to reject republicanism, even as they embraced the two-party system. But starting in the 1880s, the Democrats have resurging power on the national sphere. So the Republicans are like, our only future is if we dominate the American West and turn all these western territories into Republican-leaning states. And they tried to do that with Mormons in Utah in general to great success.

PM: You note that during that talk at BYU in 2007, Harry Reid said it wouldn't be long before Latter-day Saints returned to the Democratic Party over issues like global warming, economic inequality and civil rights. Fast forward to 2022, those issues are perhaps even more pronounced today. What do you think it would take, one day, to move Latter-day Saints, or a greater percentage, back into the Democratic Party, like Reid predicted?

BP: If you look at the younger generations of Mormons, they often lean Democrat. But the problem is many of those liberal Mormons end up leaving Mormonism altogether or, in order to fit into the Latter-day Saint tradition, they embrace more conservative ideals. What it would take for that to change is a change at the institution, because the institution needs to be able to demonstrate that these more liberal leaning [Latter-day] Saints have a place within their congregations. And as long as the LDS church maintains its rigid exclusion of LGBT people within its ranks, I don't think you're going to see the left-leaning younger generation remain in the faith as much as it would take for them to structure the Church in the future.

PM: What must it have been like for Harry Reid in his later years to be a Latter-day Saint and a Democrat in a deeply Republican faith?

BP: The interviews that he gave often showed him being quite beleaguered and tired and frustrated that the Latter-day Saints did not take the call that he issued in 2007. He did a Salt Lake Tribune interview earlier in 2021 where he basically said the harshest criticisms that he receives are from his fellow Latter-day Saints. And I think he took that personally, because he saw in Mormonism the principles that he believed could shape the modern world through progressive values. And the fact that his fellow [Latter-day] Saints chose not to follow that quest, I'm sure he found as a disappointment.

Harry Reids funeral will be held in Las Vegas on January 8.

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After Harry Reid's death, will the LDS Church ever see another liberal leader? - KUER 90.1

Nothing can separate the geniuses behind Reno 911 from their own brilliance. From Bush to Biden, every iteration of the show is consistently hilarious. Reno 911!: The Hunt For QAnon extends the franchises long record of greatness, and thats despite todays crippling pressures of groupthink.

Few comedic offerings have mocked the absurdity of post-Obama politics with much success. Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia is a holdover from the Bush era, which explains its ability to skewer right and left without forcing some vapid and ritualistic partisan endorsement. Reno 911! premiered two years earlier, all the way back in 2003, lampooning both sides of the culture wars just as they began congealing. The Q-centric film on Paramount+ retains that strength at a time when most comedy writers feel compelled to couch satire of the left with cheap signals of their progressivism.

The Hunt for QAnon also retains another key feature of the show from its Comedy Central days. Unlike most modern comedy, Reno (and Sunny) is perfectly comfortable as satire. Its absurd, its offensive, its crass, and its not going to take you on an emotional journey.

The Hunt For QAnon relies on some easy tropes and swings lazily at some low-hanging fruit, but the grand Q conspiracy, for all its insanity, is objectively hilarious. It always should have been seen as such, instead of breathlessly treated as a threat to national security, which helped the web of theories metastasize into something bigger.

Writers Robert Ben Garant, Keri Kenney, and Thomas Lennon (who you know as Junior, Wiegel, and Dangle) let us relax and see the grifty Q movement for what it isa collection of crazies, cynics, and disaffected people looking to make sense of a bizarre world.

Spoilers ahead.

The moment its clear they still get it comes when a Q cruise the officers are on turns out to be absolutely loaded with undercover law enforcement. Basically nobody in our political establishment or popular culture concedes this is a real part of the narrative. But, as always, Reno 911! is here to save the day.

Like Reno 911!: Miami, The Hunt For QAnon is a low-budget, low-logic romp, casting the shows best guest stars in new roles, taking the characters out of their usual environment into something even stranger. Its just fun. Its not trying to be anything other than fun. Doing that and doing it well is a lost art.

Even Quibi couldnt dull the spirit of Reno 911! When a new, bite-sized version of the show premiered on Jeffrey Katzenbergs ill-fated streamer, it was like the team hadnt missed a beat. The same is true of The Hunt For QAnon.

Given all the time elapsed since the show first hit the airwaves, the consistency of the humor and the characters is absolutely remarkable. Nothing from new formats, the politics of the Trump era, or the pressures of the Biden era has made so much as a dent in the quality of Reno 911! Thats pretty cool.

While I do have a very legitimate complaint about Terrys absence from the movie, it harkens to a freer time in comedy and culture, where 1) generally liberal comedians felt comfortable breaking boundaries and mocking everything that deserved mockery and 2) people put money behind comedy for the sake of comedy, not comedy delivered with a half-baked emotional subplot. If streamers can fund these niche projects to lure niche audiences, the next step is to make sure more artists are willing to make them.

Emily Jashinsky is culture editor at The Federalist. She previously covered politics as a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner. Prior to joining the Examiner, Emily was the spokeswoman for Young Americas Foundation. Shes interviewed leading politicians and entertainers and appeared regularly as a guest on major television news programs, including Fox News Sunday, Media Buzz, and The McLaughlin Group. Her work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, Real Clear Politics, and more. Emily also serves as director of the National Journalism Center and a visiting fellow at Independent Women's Forum. Originally from Wisconsin, she is a graduate of George Washington University.

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'Reno 911!: The Hunt For QAnon' Is A Work Of Art - The Federalist

Its not what you think. These local skeptics are not anti-vaxxers or conspiracy theorists. Their story is older than our current culture wars and originates from a 2007 message on Yahoo Groups by Susan Gerbic. While scientific skepticism is what brought them together, Monterey County Skeptics is, above all, a space to socialize. A talk featured at each meeting is just part of the fun; making friends is another.

The group has grown over the years there are currently 15-20 people at its core. They discuss everything, from Santa Claus to psychics. Speakers are often non-professionals, but theyve hosted speakers from local universities as well. There is no one subject they cover, the groups curiosity and appetite seem boundless but discussions tend to somehow end with the subject of North Korea.

They also have an active YouTube channel with many presentations archived. One of the classics is My Journey to Skepticism, in which writer Kathryn McKenzie talks about how her critical thinking had a lot to do with having doubts about Santa Claus as a child. She was mystified by the fact her house didnt have a chimney and demanded answers.

This first SkeptiCamp of 2022 will include presentations such as: Why the age of the Earth has oscillated wildly over time by Mano Singham (a theoretical physicist and fellow of the American Physical Society) or Facepalm the absurdities of the Truth Movement by Claus Larsen and Steen Svanholm. Larsen and Svanholm have been investigating conspiracy theories for decades, including years devoted to debunking 9/11 myths.

The pandemic didnt stop the Skeptics, but it changed things. Aided by Zoom, Monterey County Skeptics went worldwide and is now in touch with 50-75 people, locals and not, who help or participate in the camp. Sad as it is, its been really great, Gerbic says. These days speeches come from all over the world, from Australia to Copenhagen.

In times like these, when it can seem like people prefer social media echo chambers to rigorous intellectual pursuit, Monterey County Skeptics has been a good outlet, Gerbic says. Critical thinking is harder and less flashy than an Illuminati video your neighbor posted on Facebook, but its an option and this is a group that pursues it locally.

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Scientific skepticism brought this group together. Friendship keeps them going. - Monterey County Weekly

As we approach the anniversary of the January 6 insurrection/attempted coup/riot/assault on democracy/pro-Trump demonstration gone awry/righteous protest to stop the steal/patriots come to save America/false flag operation, one thing is clear a year later that Americans cant begin to even agree on how to describe the assault.

And thats just the beginning of the problem. It not only reflects the ever more dangerous divide in our country, made worse not only by Donald Trump and Ted Cruz and the rest of the Trump political sycophancy, but also by Tucker Carlson and others in the ultra-right-wingosphere for minimizing the assault or still pretending as Carlson does in his online, uh, special called Patriot Purge that the assault was actually a false flag operation and an excuse for Democrats to prosecute and eventually persecute Trump supporters.

Youd be tempted to laugh have you been reading about the January 6 trials and those born-again rioters who now say they were duped by Trump? and I admit I did, momentarily. And then I remembered that Carlson reaches millions of Americans every night as the leading voice on cable TV news, if, that is, you accept the prime-time offerings of FoxNews as something other than propaganda.

Or until you read the polls, like the recent one from the Washington Post/University of Maryland, which found, disturbingly but no longer surprisingly, 34% of Americans believe violent action against the government is sometimes justified. Thats 40% among law-and-order Republicans. More than 60% of those polled say Trump bears a great deal or good amount of responsibility for the Capitol riot, but 72% of Republicans and 83% of Trump voters disagree.

Theres more. Yes, despite the fact that all the phoney-baloney 2020 election audits found no evidence of widespread fraud, 62% of Republicans still claim to believe the Big Lie of a rigged election and 58%, even now, say they believe Joe Bidens presidency is illegitimate. Are the Big Lie numbers really that high or is this something that Republicans feel obliged to say? I dont know. I also cant decide which would be worse.

On the anniversary date, Democratic politicians will lament the assault on democracy, the contagion of state-level voter-suppression laws and the dangerous place weve reached with a 6-3 conservative Supreme Court ready to overturn Roe v. Wade and then take up other battles in the culture wars.

Want to get early access to Mikes columns? Click here to become a premium member of The Sun.

The question for Democrats is whether theyre sufficiently moved by these issues, which may determine nothing less than the nations future as a democracy. Try to picture a 2024 election in which critical red states, having passed laws allowing state legislatures to basically overturn election results, decide that Donald Trump has won an election he lost. What would happen when neither side red or blue - accepts the legitimacy of any election if their party loses? What are we left with then?

Meanwhile, on Jan. 6, Donald Trump will counter-program with a news conference, in which hell say that the real insurrection took place on Nov. 3, Election Day. What Trump wont do is blame the January 6 insurrectionists, the ones he said he loved and called very special people and refused for hours to call down.

So here we are, wherever that is.

Read more of Mike Littwins columns.

By nature and by profession, I am not an alarmist, but smart people who have studied these issues for years dont just state the obvious, that Republicans, particularly at the state level, have put our democracy at real risk. Some blame the outmoded American system, with its unrepresentative Senate and an Electoral College that doesnt work. But some of these same people are even saying that we might be approaching civil war although most dont think of this as an 1861-style Civil War, but as a rise in political violence, born of what some academics call pernicious polarization.

One academic sees a comparison to Italys long bout of violence in the 70s and 80s the so-called Years of Lead with violence from left and right. Others see the possibility of right-wing authoritarianism, as we have seen develop in Hungary, whose prime minister, Viktor Orban, was recently endorsed by, yes, Donald Trump. Could Trump be making the case against Trumpism any more openly?

As the January 6 committee has learned, so much of what took place before and during the riot happened in plain view. And then once the committee dug a little deeper, it found text messages and calls to Mark Meadows from members of Congress, from Fox media, uh, personalities and even from the likes of Don Jr. to stop the riot. Weve learned of Ivanka Trumps failed pleas to her father to call off his supporters even as Trump watched gleefully, weve been told the insurrection play out on his wide-screen TV. They knew we all know this was a Trump-activated mob, openly hunting Mike Pence and openly allied with the president.

We know, too, what should have happened after Jan. 6, but didnt. Republicans had a chance to reclaim their party, to break the Trumpian spell. But after a few tries from a few of the leaders early in the game, they caved, virtually one and all. And now no one will be surprised if Trump is the GOP nominee in 2024, particularly given that the Department of Justice has shown little interest in pursuing whatever the January 6 committee reveals.

Remember Good Mitch McConell, who on the day he refused to vote to convict Trump of impeachment charges, blamed Trump for the insurrection and said the mob did this because theyd been fed wild falsehoods by the most powerful man on Earth because he was angry he lost an election? Soon, McConnell was saying that he would vote for Trump if he runs in 2024, and there hasnt been a Good Mitch sighting since.

For his part, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy spoke loudly after the riot that Trump bore more than a little responsibility and then oh-so-quietly slipped away to Mar-a-Lago to make amends and to promise to never say anything like that again.

It was Bad Mitch who doomed any chance of Senate approval of an independent commission to study the January 6 assault. And so the House had to set up one of its own, which Democrats hoped to make sufficiently bipartisan. But the only two semi-responsible Republicans the committee could successfully recruit were anti-Trumpists Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney.

It was Cheney who said last Sunday that Republicans were faced with an existential choice We can either be loyal to Donald Trump or we can be loyal to the Constitution. But we cannot be both.

Democrats are faced with a similar choice. While Bidens $1.9 trillion safety-net, climate-change bill is being blocked by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, the far more important issue even more important than the checks, now stopped, from the poverty-fighting expanded child tax credit program is the protection of voting rights. That cant happen unless Senate Democrats all 50 of them vote to reform the filibuster, this time in a carve-out for voting rights bills.

Biden has now said he supports the filibuster carve-out, but his support has been sporadic and not nearly as pointed as it needs to be if he and Chuck Schumer are going to convince Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema that saving democracy with voting-reform bills is more important than saving a Senate rule.

On Jan. 6, we will stop for a moment and presumably try to recall just what it is that American democracy means. And some will even wonder how many more chances well get to make things right.

Mike Littwin has been a columnist for too many years to count. He has covered Dr. J, four presidential inaugurations, six national conventions and countless brain-numbing speeches in the New Hampshire and Iowa snow.

The Colorado Sun is a nonpartisan news organization, and the opinions of columnists and editorial writers do not reflect the opinions of the newsroom. Read our ethics policy for more on The Suns opinion policy and submit columns, suggest writers or give feedback at opinion@coloradosun.com.

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Littwin: As the January 6 Capitol riot anniversary nears, we're in no better shape one year later - The Colorado Sun

Kathleen Hennessey

David Halbfinger | The New York Times

Im thrilled to announce that Kathleen Hennessey, one of the most knowledgeable, skilled and gifted political editors around, will be our new deputy politics editor for enterprise.

Kathleen comes to The Times from The Associated Press, where she has served as a White House reporter and editor, deputy Washington bureau chief and, most recently, as regional politics editor, charged with surfacing and elevating the best political stories taking place outside of Washington.

In that role, as in earlier ones, Kathleen quickly established herself as a driver of news coverage, sharp-eyed trendspotter, exceptional story framer and loyalty-inspiring nurturer of talent. She spearheaded much of A.P.s coverage of the fight over democratic fundamentals like access to the ballot and the administration of elections, the forces behind school-board battles and the divisions within the G.O.P. During the 2020 campaign, she co-edited America Disrupted, a deep, data-driven series exploring the American electorate amid the turmoil of the pandemic.

She not only gets politics, she gets how politics is perceived outside the Acela corridor: After overhearing parents in her sons Little League complaining about mask rules and curriculum fights, she pushed for more political coverage of school boards and culture wars coverage that we and other major competitors often wound up following.

The word of mouth on Kathleen is a bit, well, beyond: Amy Fiscus called her hands-down the best framer of stories Ive ever worked with. Elizabeth Kennedy, who shared the title of A.P.s deputy Washington bureau chief with Kathleen, said she learned more from her about Washington, how to write about it, how to cover it, than from anyone else and said Kathleen knows politics better than anyone I know.

Thats no surprise, really, when you find out that Kathleen has politics in her genes. Her grandfather, Thomas Byrne, was the mayor of her hometown, St. Paul, Minn. Her parents met at a political convention. And her first job after graduating from Boston College was at a museum dedicated to Hubert H. Humphrey.

After journalism school at Berkeley, Kathleen went on to cover campaigns and government at every level, beginning at the statehouse in Carson City, Nev., where she owned coverage of the debate over taxing brothels. Her last reporting job was covering the Obama White House, first for the Los Angeles Times and Tribune newspapers and then for The A.P.

Shell start with us on Jan. 10. Please welcome her to The Times.

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Kathleen Hennessey is joining The New York Times - Editor And Publisher Magazine