I've watched local and national news coverage of
President Hinckley's passing with considerable interest. I think it's accurate to say that coverage has been respectful, for the most part, and in some instances, particularly on the local level, even reverent.
I caught
the Colbert Report late last night just as he began his "tribute" to the late president of the Mormon Church. He said it was obvious Gordon Hinckley was in perfect health at the time of his passing, so he wondered why no one seemed interested in delving into the mystery of his sudden death, because
it seemed apparent to him that Hinckley had been murdered.
And who would benefit from Hinckley's death? Clearly it was
Thomas S. Monson, who is likely to be named the new Mormon Church president. Why was that significant? Because
Mitt Romney, a Mormon, could possibly be our next U.S. President, and then Romney would take his marching orders from Monson, just as John Kennedy had taken his from the Pope.
Clearly Monson was looking forward to the time that Romney would be his personal puppet.Now, Steven Colbert is a comedian whose schtick is to mock politicians and world leaders and make light of subjects and situations that most people take seriously. I get that. And apparently Colbert's studio audience thought this routine was hilarious. But I found myself squirming uncomfortably. I wasn't laughing.
It didn't seem very funny to me.
Undeterred by my discomfort, Colbert plunged ahead. He claimed that if
Barack Obama were to win the election and move into the White House, he would be taking orders from
his spirtual leader, Oprah. Or more accurately, he said,
"the Pope-rah", and here he showed an image of Oprah wearing a papal mitre on her head.
For the first time in this comedic routine, I laughed out loud. Okay, I said, that was funny. But for me,
it seemed like it took a long time to get there.
I'm not sure how funny our Catholic friends may have found this part of the routine. I'm a little reluctant to ask anyone.
But it seems strange that in these times of sensitivity and political correctness, it's quite okay to mock people of faith such as Catholics and Mormons, while certain other ethnic and religious groups are stictly off limits.What's up with that?
About 8:15 yesterday morning I heard a loud thumping on the side of my house. It sounded like the wind was ripping the siding off. Sure enough, that's exactly what was happening. 
Actually, this is the back of the house. We were expecting a storm any minute, but at this time the skies were only partly cloudy, and we had sunshine. However, the wind was pretty boisterous. I wasn't too concerned about the house until I saw this. We've had strong gusts before and nothing like this has ever happened.
About 8:30 I sent in a warranty request to our homebuilder, Fieldstone Homes. I got a call about 10 a.m. and a warranty rep was on our doorstep an hour later to survey the damage. She assured me that they would have a crew on site in the next two days to repair the damage and replace the siding. That was good to hear. Our one year warranty expires in mid-February.
