Are "petty" and "vindictive" characteristics of (alleged) public servants?

From KJZZ, dated 12/18, written by Wayne Schutsky -

Republican Arizona Corporation commissioners censure Democrat Anna Tovar

Three Republican Arizona Corporation commissioners voted to censure the commission’s lone Democrat after she criticized the agency’s executive director, saying he shouldn’t receive a $20,000 bonus.

The commission awarded Executive Director Doug Clark the bonus on Nov. 6 on top of his annual $215,000 salary.

[snip]

The commission found Tovar violated state laws “pertaining to Executive Session confidentiality” and “the confidentiality of personnel matters,” according to the censure, which referred the matter to Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell for further review.

[snip]

Jim Barton, Tovar’s attorney, accused the Republicans on the commission of targeting Tovar for political purposes weeks before her term on the commission ends.

“This is a witch hunt, and it's gross and it's a misuse of taxpayer dollars to settle political scores like this,” Barton said. “They should be ashamed of themselves.”

To that point, Barton cited the commissioners decision to refer the allegations against Tovar to Mitchell, the Republican Maricopa County attorney, instead of Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes, whose office has a dedicated Open Meeting Law Enforcement Team. That team regularly reviews complaints against public bodies and elected officials for alleged violations of the state’s Open Meeting Law, which requires those elected officials to vote and discuss most issues in a public forum.

In fact, the Attorney General’s Office recently concluded that the four Republicans on the Corporation Commission violated that law after Tovar filed a complaint against them.

Actually, the only way that this (using public funds to give a $20,000 payoff bonus to one of their employees and going prosecutor shopping to target the person who had the audacity to criticize it) would look more like a witch hunt is if the R members of the ACC voted to have Commissioner Tovar subject to trial by drowning.

Oh, and the fact that they've hidden Tovar's dissent doesn't add to their credibility.

The Google result -

Leads to -

Hmmm...

Clark is the former Public Works Director in Bellevue, Nebraska.

If direct analogy questions are ever re-added to the SAT, I've got a new one for them!

SAT = "Scholastic Aptitude Text"; it was, and remains, something of a rite of passage for most high school students.

Analogy questions have since been removed from the SAT, but if they're ever returned to the test, the events of the past week have inspired a new one (and in a bonus, there's even a pop culture reference [admittedly, the reference is nearly 50 years old :) ]) -

Donald Trump is to Elon Musk as Grand Moff Tarkin is to__________.

A. Luke Skywalker

B. Princess Leia

C. Darth Vader

One hint (probably not going to be on a test) - the correct answer isn't A or B

Note:

Tarkin was a wholly evil character in the original Star Wars movie who was under the impression that he was in charge.  At least, he thought that until Vader disabused him of that notion.

This isn't a perfect analogy - in the movies, Vader had a spark of humanity...a deeply buried one, but one that was there; Musk hasn't shown any such thing.

He *has* shown a propensity for interceding.

From Business Insider -

Jeff Bezos and Trump had dinner at Mar-a-Lago, and were joined by Elon Musk

Jeff Bezos seems to be trying to patch up his feud with Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

The former Amazon CEO was pictured at Mar-a-Lago with fiancé Lauren Sánchez on Wednesday night in images circulating on social media, as he joined the president-elect for dinner.

[snip]

Tesla CEO Elon Musk was also in attendance, confirming that the meeting had taken place in a post on X, describing it as a "great conversation."

Of course, dinner isn't the only place where Musk has thrown his weight around. He used his influence to defeat a short-term federal spending bill.  The unelected Musk's interference in political matters hasn't been unnoticed.

From Rolling Stone -

Dems Troll Trump by Calling Elon the Real President

Elon Musk has not been elected to any public office, but after tanking Republicans’ most recent attempt at a stopgap funding bill to avoid a shutdown, some right-wing lawmakers are entertaining the idea of installing him as speaker of the House. Democrats, by contrast, are pointing out that if the party — which claims to loathe the unelected bureaucracy — is going to let themselves be controlled by the social media posts of the world’s richest man, they may as well hand him the keys to the White House.

“The US Congress this week came to an agreement to fund our government,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote on Wednesday. “Elon Musk, who became $200 BILLION richer since Trump was elected, objected. Are Republicans beholden to the American people? Or President Musk? This is oligarchy at work.” 

With Cheeto's, I expect him to kick Musk to the curb, or to otherwise bring him to heel...unless Emperor Palatine Vlad brings Cheeto to heel first.

Legislative schedule - week starting 12/22/2024

It's a holiday week, so nothing is on the schedule right now.

However, that's subject to change.  It's best to keep an eye out for changes

Also, things will change as we get closer to the new session of the legislature.

Tom Horne: Arizona's version of Cheeto

I saw Tom Horne, Arizona's Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), on today's episode of Sunday Square Off and Channel 12.attempting to rationalize his attempt to ignore fraud in AZ's ESA (school voucher) program.  He terms it "bulk approval" of reimbursement claims.

What struck me is how much he resembles Cheeto:

1) He never takes responsibility for his own failures.

2) He steals credit for any successes by his office (I'm guessing that he doesn't inspire much loyalty among staff).

3) He blame shifts to Democrats.

4) He really doesn't like women.  He blamed his troubles on AZ AG Kris Mayes and his predecessor as SPI, Kathy Hoffman.  It helps him that both Mayes and Hoffman are Democrats.

5) He habitually cheats on his wife with a future wife.  Though to the best of my knowledge, he hasn't yet boinked a porn star.

If he wants to be more like Cheeto, maybe he should cheat at golf, too.

Legislative schedule - week starting 12/15/2024

 Well, the election is over, so activity at the Capitol is picking up.

Admittedly, there's only three meetings scheduled at this point, and they're all scheduled for Wednesday, but that's three more than are on the schedule for Christmas week.

However, that's subject to change.  It's best to keep an eye out for changes.

On Monday 12/16, Tuesday, 12/17, and Thursday, 12/19 - nada.

On Wednesday, 12/18 -

Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) meets at 9:30 a.m. in SHR109. On the agenda: 12 items, eight of will be considered en masse as part of consent agenda item.  The four items that they will actually consider: reviews of items involving the AZ SOS and AZ AG.  As both offices are headed by Democrats and the "reviews" will take place in executive session (fewer witnesses that way), I'm guessing that there will be less considering and more "raking over the coals" going on. The other two item will be public and involve DEQ and AHCCCS/DES.  As John Kavanagh chairs this committee, he will probably focus making sure no trans people are helped by these agencies.

Joint Committee on Capital Review (JCCR) meets at 9:45 a.m. or upon adjournment of the JLBC meeting in SHR109.  On the agenda:  six items, five and half of which will be considered en masse as part of consent agenda item.  What will be considered in public are a couple buildings under construction as U of A.  Kavanagh chairs this one too, so trans people will probably be mentioned here, too.

House Committee on International Trade meets at 10:30 a.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: this looks to be a pro forma meeting.

If it's December, it must be vehicle bill time at the AZ legislature

In lege-speak, a "vehicle bill" that exists basically to serve a shell for a strike-everything amendment ("striker") that's usually far more insidious and detrimental to society than the underlying bill.

Normally, such bills have "technical correction" in the working title, but this year, they've gotten creative.  So far, none have that in the title.

Thus far, 14 actual bills have been introduced; of those, eight look to be vehicles for strikers.

Of the 14, nine were introduced by Ol' Reliable, John Kavanagh (R - CAP's Lapdog) (and he is listed as a co-sponsor of another); seven look to be strikers.

Some of the bills are about things like balloons, fair juries, and eyeglasses; not the sort of things that Republicans are known for giving a damn about.

One prediction: SB1007, working title "public school tax credit; purposes" will be turned into something to expand private school vouchers.

Regarding the murder of a CEO in NYC where the NYPD pulls out all stops to look for the killer

That may be because that CEO was rich and white; if the victim was poor and/or black, they'd call the killing a "public service homicide" and ignore it completely.

Posted on Bluesky (by me):

I don't wish death on anyone. Full stop. However, there is a list of folks who I don't believe should be mourned, and people who value profits more than human lives make that list.

And if certain folks (on both sides of the issue) think that makes me a bad human being, then I can live with that.

I'm back on social media!

I realize that most readers won't care, but I'm now on Bluesky as cpmaz.bsky.social.

I'll try to use this place for AZ-related stuff and non-Cheeto-related snark (I'll share it to Bluesky, though); the Cheeto-related stuff will just go to Bluesky.  That's not an absolute, though.

One thing that I've noticed about Bluesky is a large number of post from or about authors.  A *really* large number.

So either there are a lot of writers out there, or a certain someone feels threatened by a competitor to Twitter/X and has unleashed the 'bots to fill Bluesky with meaningless chaff in an effort to distract users from the meaningful posts there.

It'll fail.

That person's next step will be to try and turn it into a Twitter-esque hate-filled hellscape.

That'll fail, too.

Legislative schedule - week starting 12/8/2024

 Well, the election is over, so activity at the Capitol is picking up.

Admittedly, there's only two meetings scheduled at this point, but that's two more than happens during most weeks between legislative sessions.

However, that's subject to change.  It may be best to keep an eye out for changes.

On Monday, 12/9 and Thursday, 12/12 - Nada.

On Tuesday, 12/10 -

Joint Legislative Audit Committee meets at 9 a.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: Six items, including some about certain audits of certain schools/programs.

On Wednesday, 12/11-

Senate Government meets at 1 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: no bills, but is this was a hockey blog, I'd say the committee chairman Jake Hoffman is dropping his gloves and facing off with AZAG Kris Mayes,  Except that unlike a hockey fight between two participants looking each other in the eye, Hoffman will be launching his haymakers from behind a shield made up of Phoenix firefighters.

The committee will be looking into allegations of discriminatory practices by the Phoenix Fire Department and seeking the blame Mayes.  

One of the presenters: an attorney from the Goldwater Institute, a conservative lobbying group.

 

Is there a post office with a blank wall? Cheeto has a list of names of people who should be on it.

Some have even already been convicted and served some prison time.

From USA Today, via Yahoo! -

Just four months out of prison, Peter Navarro to join Trump White House as trade advisor

Peter Navarro will head back to the White House as a top advisor on trade and manufacturing, President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday on Truth Social.

Navarro is an economist who served in Trump's first administration, running a newly created National Trade Council and then the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy.

A loyal supporter to the president-elect, Navarro was sentenced to four months in prison after a federal jury convicted him of refusing to comply with a subpoena from the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. He spoke at the Republican National Convention in August just after being released.

CBS News has a list of Trump nominees/future convicts.

Axios has a list of previous supporters/allies of Cheeto who've done prison time.

Got a new nickname for State Sen. John Kavanagh: Ol' Reliable

Ol' (bile-filled) Reliable, maybe.

Our John really dislikes trans people.

So when it came time to introduce legislation for the upcoming session, he had two choices - get his hate on or change his character and become ardently pro-public education.

Hint: He hasn't changed.

Instead, he has introduced SB1002 and SB1003.

SB1002 would bar people employed by a school system from using a student's preferred pronoun and SB1003 would bar students from using a restroom or "changing facility" (think: locker room) belonging to their preferred gender.

Not exactly schemes to benefit society, but they may make Kavanagh's handler at the Center for Arizona Policy happy - that person may actually hate trans people as much as our John, and public schools, particularly adequate funds for them, aren't as lucrative as school vouchers that siphon money away from public schools.

Frying pan, meet fire

Leave to Cheeto to go from bad to worse.

From Axios -

Trump considers DeSantis to replace Hegseth as Defense Secretary pick

President-elect Trump is considering replacing Pete Hegseth — his current nominee to lead the Defense Department — with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, multiple outlets reported.

Why it matters: Hegseth's path to confirmation appears in jeopardy. Some Senate Republicans have expressed reservations about the Fox News host after a sexual assault allegation against him resurfaced last month.

• If four Republicans withhold their support, Hegseth's nomination would founder — a prospect that could preempt his withdrawal.

Driving the news: Trump and DeSantis have personally discussed the possibility of DeSantis replacing Hegseth as the Defense Secretary nominee, The Bulwark's Marc Caputo, who is joining Axios in 2025, reported.

It's probably not going to happen, though.  DeSantis seems to fail to meet Cheeto's idea of the primary qualification for *any* position in his administration/coteries of followers. 

From later in the same story -

• Trump has repeatedly attacked DeSantis for being insufficiently loyal. He also gave him the disparaging nickname "Ron DeSanctimonious."

Of course, it *could* happen.  It's not as if I'm on Cheeto's "loyal" list.

Constantly referring to him as "Cheeto" may have contributed to that. :)

This may be the best argument in favor of keeping time changes and Daylight Saving Time

The dumbest man in D.C. hates them.

From The Hill -

Tuberville calls on Musk, Ramaswamy to make daylight saving time permanent

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) encouraged the new “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) to create a year-round standard time in a Wednesday post on the social platform X.

His goal is to have the department, led by X owner Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, replace daylight saving time.

[snip]

President-elect Trump has previously been in favor of making daylight saving time permanent, and his nominee for secretary of State, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), sponsored a bill in support of the change last year.

Apparently, Elon Musk is already failing at his "government "efficiency" gig

Or perhaps he doesn't believe that it applies to Cheeto.

From ABC News -

Trump picks Florida sheriff Chad Chronister for DEA administrator

President-elect Donald Trump announced he will nominate Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration.

In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, Trump said that Chronister -- who has served the Tampa, Florida, area for over 32 years -- will work with his attorney general selection, Pam Bondi, to help secure the U.S.-Mexico Border.

From Barron's -

Trump Taps Charles Kushner, Father Of His Son-in-law,

 

As Envoy To France

President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday nominated Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law Jared Kushner, as the US ambassador to France, in the latest of several controversial picks.

Kushner "is a tremendous business leader, philanthropist, & dealmaker, who will be a strong advocate representing our Country & its interests," Trump said on his Truth Social website, adding that Jared "worked closely with me in the White House."

Whither Joe Arpaio?

He's a (former) sheriff AND he's been pardoned by Cheeto.

Sounds like an efficient two-fer pick for Cheeto and Joltin' Joe is like Cheeto in a significant way - he has lots of experience both at hating people of Mexican ancestry and ignoring laws.

There's an ancient curse -

May you live in interesting times.

The next few years may not be pleasant (except for crooks and bigots) but they won't be boring.

GOP mantra: constitutional clauses are irrelevant if they don't adhere to cons' ideology

From AP via Yahoo! -

Missouri's GOP attorney general says abortions after viability remain illegal under new amendment

Missouri's Republican attorney general has pledged to enforce some laws restricting abortion despite a new constitutional amendment widely expected to undo the state's near-total ban on the procedure.

In an opinion requested by incoming GOP governor Mike Kehoe, Attorney General Andrew Bailey wrote that his office will continue enforcing a ban on abortion after fetal viability.

Pardon my cynicism, but I believe this is just a state-level manifestation of what we'll see from Cheeto and the coterie of crooks in his orbit.

Any parts of constitutions and laws they don't like will simply be ignored