This guy is almost ready for a run at a seat in the lege

It's kind of embarassing, but I have to admit that I was scooped on an AZ kookocracy sighting by the Rachel Maddow show on MSNBC...

From the Lake Havasu News-Herald -

Barnes uses 'poor choice of words' during council meeting

Councilman Lee Barnes, referring to himself as "just a little Jewish" when it comes to finances, received boos and hisses while discussing City Manager Richard Kaffenberger"s contract at the City Council special meeting Tuesday night.

{snip}

Barnes was explaining his hesitancy in firing Kaffenberger and that he did not want the council to have to use funds to hire an interim city manager.

"Excuse my action but I'm just a little Jewish to be able to do this," Barnes told the council, causing an uproar among the standing-room only crowd.

Barnes later said he understood that his words associating a religion with finances could be seen as derogatory and stereotypical.

"What I meant there is Jewish people are pretty good with their money," he said. "I think a lot of Jewish families teach generation after generation very well on how to handle their money."

Barnes later apologized for his remarks, and to his credit, it sounded like a real apology.

From the same article -

"It wasn't meant to be inappropriate, and I meant that we should handle our money very carefully," he said. "I hope this doesn't turn into a big deal, and I apologize to those people who found it offensive.

Phoenix New Times' coverage here.

As embarassing as all Arizonans should find this incident, it shouldn't be surprising.

Lake Havasu is the home of LD3 State Senator Ron Gould (R-Confederate States of America).


There is a silver lining to this, too - it proves that Maricopa County only dominates the AZ kook market, but hasn't yet cornered it.

Later...