Today in wildly unproductive political drama, two Utah politicians are arguing over the names of roads. After Republican state representative Mike Noel proposed renaming the Utah National Parks Highway the “Donald J. Trump Utah National Parks Highway,” in stepped Democratic state senator Jim Dabakis, who proposed renaming the frontage road “The Stormy Daniels Rampway.”
Republicans have been delighted by Trump’s decision to drastically shrink two of Utah’s national monuments, hence Noel’s desire to honor him with the above road (it would cost approximately $124,000 to install the new signs with Trump’s name).
“I believe and trust what he’s done and I think we ought to recognize him for that,” Noel said. “This is to dispel the myths that come out in the news that this guy is going to damage the public lands. He’s not.” (Spoiler: He is.)
That’s why Dabakis has chosen to #Resist with the threat of attaching an amendment in the State Senate that would rename the highway’s frontage road after the adult-film star with whom Trump had an alleged affair.
Is this … really happening? At a committee hearing yesterday, Democratic state representative Joel K. Briscoe said he only received one email out of 300 in support of the bill to change Utah National Parks Highway’s name. At the same time, it’s highly unlikely Dabakis’s proposal will pass, given Democrats are the minority in the State Senate. Perhaps all this energy — and if either of these were to miraculously pass, money — should be directed elsewhere.
