Mr. Bennett

Now I am not a big supporter of the kind of conservatism preached by active minority groups in the Mountain areas of our country. After all, I am an urbanite. I grew up in a big city, live in a big suburb and do not have to deal with the same issues as does a Utah farmer or Wyoming rancher. I do recognize however that no matter where we are from, we are all Americans. I also recognize that in our history, uncompromising partisanship has not been good for our nation. Yesterday in Utah, Senator Bob Bennett, a republican, was ousted at the State GOP convention in favor of more radical conservativism which for now and perhaps in the future is uncompromising. In 18 years as Senator, Bob Bennett has probably cast votes that are diametrically opposed to my beliefs about 80% of the time, but I pine over his loss. Not because he comes anywhere close to my beliefs, but because he is reasonable, willing to compromise to move big legislation forward, is respectful of alternative points of view and because he is a decent man. This Utah decision by the republican party machine is happening in one of the least liberal or moderate states in our land so it may not be surprising to many, but if this trend continues, our country will be more divided, use more hateful language to describe political adversaries and shift the republican party so far to the right, that its ability to offer real choice to America will be gone. Killing the adversary party is not good. Two parties are needed to check and balance our national viewpoints. When one party becomes so extreme that it does not offer mainstream choices, this is bad for America. Sorry Mr. Bennett, your loss is not the nation or your party's gain. Where are you Americans for reason and truth? Happy Mother's Day to the real heroes...our mothers.