Q. What's a lawyer to do when he isn't allowed to be a lawyer? A. Run for governor, of course.

Nearly six months ago, disgraced and disbarred former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas threatened to do just this, and now he is carrying out the threat.

From the Arizona Republic, written by Alia Beard Rau -

Disbarred former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas has announced he will run for governor in 2014.

In an e-mail to members of the media, the Republican said he file paperwork today with the Secretary of State’s Office.

“I’ll be focusing on the need to protect public safety, ensure border security and fight corruption, among other issues,” Thomas said in the e-mail. “Voters will be urged to watch the video of my State Bar hearing and see for themselves how honest prosecutors are railroaded for fighting corruption in this state.”

 His joining with Sen. Al "Tin Foil" Melvin in the race for the GOP nomination for governor sends a couple of signals -

1. Next year is going to be colorful,  As in colorful enough for The Daily Show to consider moving here, if only to save big money on air fare for their crews and correspondents.  They're going to be here, a lot.

2.  There will be whispers of a conspiracy.  The idea here may be to make the GOP slate of candidates so unpalatable that Arizona's judiciary is convinced that a third Brewer term isn't a violation of Arizona's constitution.

Yes, I mock, but I mock with the full knowledge that Arizona has a history of picking some really bad governors, like good ol' Ev Mecham.  I don't believe that AZ's Rs will embrace the "full loony", but the field may be large enough to split the sane vote to the point where one of the loons will get the nomination.

And then anything could happen.