Pete Ashdown owns and runs XMission, the largest and oldest surviving Internet Service Provider in Utah. They were my first ISP, and after a long hiatus because I was heavily involved in running two of their competitors (Wolsi and 1fn.net), I am back in the fold as an XMission subscriber.

I usually refrain from getting involved in political discussions or even in politics in general. My reasons for this are pretty simple – I do not understand most of the machinations and do not feel a need to argue with others.

I came across Ashdown’s bid for the national Senate race quite some time ago. I felt then that he would be a good candidate. One of his big reasons for running is to oust Orrin Hatch, who he feels has completely lost touch with Utah (and reality). I strongly recommend clicking on the picture above and reading about what he intends.

Due to my normal policy of staying out of politics, I did not try to actively endorse Mr. Ashdown, and have not registered to vote.

What changed my mind about staying out of it was a campaign billboard erected by Orrin Hatch. Because of a really large truck and a bad choice in traffic lanes a few days ago, I was unable to drive my normal route to work one day, and ended up taking I-15. I saw a huge billboard at the side of the freeway for Hatch. It was set up an entry in the dictionary for Hatch, using “power” and “muscle” as the definitions. I will try to get a picture of it.

When Hatch was first elected in 1976, a primary promise of his campaign was to limit Senators to 3 terms, a total of 18 years. As of right now, he’s already been in the Senate for 30 years, trying to make that 36. That’s TWICE the amount of time he claimed a Senator should serve.

A good number of the boneheaded ideas I have seen out of our government were spearheaded by Hatch. One is the DMCA, a complete travesty which remains law to this day. Another is the INDUCE act, which would have made it criminal to create or use any device that might possibly be used for copyright infringement. Thankfully that one has not yet been turned into law – if fully enforced, it would outlaw VCRs and copiers in addition to going after Hatch’s real target, which is people who illegally copy music and movies.

It is my opinion that Hatch’s only remaining motivations in seeking re-election are to increase his own power, and indirectly, the wealth that goes with it. He doesn’t even feel the need to disguise this fact – his campaign billboard publicly flaunts it.

I thought at first that my chance to register to vote was gone, but it turns out that’s not the case. There will be two more opportunities. I encourage any of my readers who still live in Salt Lake County and are not registered to vote to take advantage of this.