I don't normally do this, but the denizens of AZ's Republican blogosphere went a little goofy on the AZ Republic yesterday, mostly keying on the Sunday edition's Political Insider column.
And for once, most of the criticism was unfair to the Republic.
...Over at Seeing Red AZ, they complained that the Insider column falsely described former state GOP communications director Tony Reinhard as currently "leading the Maricopa County GOP."
They complained that the writers of the Insider column had "waged an ink-driven coup, removing Maricopa County Chairman Tom Husband from his leadership position."
In their righteous indignation, they forgot one minor detail - Reinhard became *executive director* of the Maricopa County Republican Party in early June.
An "ED" job title sounds like "leader" to most people, folks.
...Over at Sonoran Alliance, they called the column a "cheap shot" at State Sen. Jack Harper (R - Surprise!) and gave Harper a forum to respond. In that response, Harper asserted that he was misquoted in the column where the authors wrote "Why don't you come visit me?" Harper crooned any time he saw a member of The Republic's Capitol Bureau. "Do I have to do something crazy again?" "
What Harper claims that have said to Amanda Crawford, allegedly for the sole purpose of making polite conversation, was that he and the other Senators [his EMPHASIS] "missed her in the Senate and she only seems to come over when “SOMETHING crazy” happens."
Ummm...ignoring for the moment Harper's wanton violations of Senate rules and decorum to railroad through a same-sex marriage ban referendum that earned him the ethics complaint that further earned him the mention in this week's Insider column, there are still these factors to consider -
- Harper's involvement in a scheme to shield Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas from professional sanctions for any of his unethical actions in office;
- Harper's use in May of high-handed tactics to suppress debate on the Senate floor to kill a certain-to-pass anti-texting-while-driving bill from State Rep. Steve Farley (tactics similar to those used during the consideration of the same-sex marriage ban; guess he was just warming up for the main event a month later :) );
...His bill to open up Arizona's presidential primaries to...Republicans. Under his failed plan, Republicans could have voted in any primary they chose; members of other parties could have only voted in their own primaries;
...His "guns in restaurants" bill;
...His refusal to hold a confirmation hearing to confirm Gen. David Rataczak as commander of the Arizona National Guard because he was miffed that Governor Janet Napolitano hadn't deployed more troops to the state's border with Mexico;
...His continuing efforts to blame U.S. Congressman Harry Mitchell for the substandard conditions at the *AZ* veterans' home (here and here);
...His proposal to limit citizen-based ballot initiatives to those first considered by the legislature;
...I could go on all night posting dozens more citations like this, but I have to work in the morning, so here's the point -
Harper's response has no credibility because he is one of the major sources of crazy at the legislature in general and in the Senate in particular.
He doesn't add to his credibility by responding to a perceived slight, and Sonoran Alliance didn't do him any favors by giving him an outlet for his whining about Amanda Crawford and the Republic.
Later!
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