America's Most Comical Attorney General, Mark Shurtleff, Pimps Usana

The State Seal of Utah, which Shurtleff used to hawk a dental product

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, the nation's most comical and least effective attorney general, has put himself in the spotlight again with a Youtube video hyping the loathsome corporate cretins at Usana Health Sciences. So reports a Salt Lake Tribune blog.

Shurtleff, let us not forget, is the flaming clown who has put up a "for sale" sign on his office, and the less reputable elements of Corporate Utah have gladly taken advantage. Shurtleff is being investigated by the Lt. Governor's office after the Trib discovered "he wrote an endorsement for a private company under the state seal. That the company, Digital Bridge, donated $10,000 to his campaign two weeks before he wrote the letter is just a coincidence, says Mark." (Misusing the state seal is a felony in Utah, I am told.)

Now KUTV 2 News uncovered a hysterical YouTube video of Shurtleff huckstering for Usana:

It is now time to change the name of our state. From now, on we will be known as Utahna. Woo-oo!

(I am not making this up — not even the idiotic "woo-oo!")

Shurtleff goes on to endorse Usana, a multilevel-marketing-company-none-dare-call-it-a-pyramid scheme.

Another big, fat coincidence is Shurtleff smearing corporate crime fighter Sam Antar after getting a big, fat, coincidental campaign contribution from Overstock.com.

I've never understood why the voters of Utah reelected this clown as its attorney general. Apart from being a Republican in a jet-red Republican state, his only qualification for top law enforcement officer seems to be his propensity for pushing public officer ethics to the limit. With a buffoon like this as attorney general, it helps explain why Utah has a reputation as a happy breeding ground for securities fraud.

UPDATE: Salt Lake Weekly has more on details on this gag-inducing imitation of a public official. To be read only on an empty stomach.

Here's a Google Cache version of the letter, which was removed from the Digital Bridge website.

© 2008 Gary Weiss. All rights reserved.