Quick hits for the week

...Saw Governor Napolitano speak on Monday evening at the Scottsdale Policy Forum. She was *very* good. She came across as intelligent, funny, competent,visionary, and professional.

That's not just my opinion. I met a couple of people at the LD8 meeting who also attended the forum. Like me, it was their first time seeing her live. We were all very impressed.

...Republican gubernortorial challenger Len Munsil presented his plan for the first 100 days of his term in office.

He calls it his "conservative reform agenda."

I call it "100 Days To Theocracy."

And "conservative reform"?? Can you say "mutually exclusive terms" everyone?

It what's sure to be the continuing theme of his campaign, his message (emphasis mine):

"We're worse off than we were four years ago."

The one exception, he said, is the economy. And he credited its success to Republican policies nationally and in the Legislature.

...In border security news, Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff announced the awarding of a $67 million contract to Boeing for construction of a "virtual fence" along the Arizona/Mexico border.

The interesting parts:

T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, the union that represents border agents, said he was skeptical of any plan that relies on technology.

{snip}

...many of the contract's details still need to be finalized...

Hmmm...an open-ended contract for stuff that the Border Patrol officers on the ground aren't sure is going to do any good.

Think that Boeing Co.'s $5 million+ in campaign contributions since 1998 had anything to do with the awarding of this contract, as well as the rest of the $81 BILLION in defense contracts that they have received over the same period? (Source: Center for Public Integrity.)

In preparation for JD Hayworth's inevitable press release touting this contract, let me just say this - he has received $22,000 from Boeing's PAC since 1998, $3000 since the last election alone.

To be fair, pretty near every Congress-type person has received something from them over the years, including all of AZ's delegation. However, the leading AZ recipients of Boeing's largesse are John McCain, Jon Kyl, and good ol' JD, with Rick Renzi is quickly catching up to the leaders.

...And to anyone in Maricopa County who was running for a PC position, the County Recorder's office has the results posted here. Democratic Party results start on page 60 of the .pdf file.

Later!