AZ's Legislative Republican Picking Their Targets...

...and it looks like that in addition to education, Mexicans and other minorities, poor people, the future of the state, and plain ol' common good, one of their targets this coming session will be the press.

From Matt Benson at the AZ Rep's Political Insider -

Those of us in who inhabit the Senate press room just received this notice, proving the axiom that no good news ever arrives after 5 p.m. on the evening before a holiday (what, you've never heard that?)

Anyway, below is the letter. It was addressed to Howie Fischer, Capitol Media Services reporter and dean of the Capitol Press Corps (he's been in this room since 1982. Just ask him.).

Dear Mr. Fischer:

This letter is to inform you that the Arizona state Senate will not be renewing the current lease ending December 31, 2008, for the media space within the Arizona Senate building.

Arrangements are being made for you to continue to lease space from the Arizona Legislative Council on the Capitol Complex in the old Capitol. The Legislative Council will be mailing out a new lease that is similar in all material respects with a few modifications.

The new lease amount is not anticipated to increase over the next lease term. If you choose to enter into a new lease with the Legislative Council, please respond as soon as possible so the space can be made ready for occupancy January 1, 2009.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Timothy Bee, Arizona Senate President

Now, I don't understand why they've targeted Howie Fischer or why they want the press out of the proximity of Senators. Fischer is not only the dean of AZ's political reporters, he's one of the fairest. He just reports the news and other developments at the lege honestly.

Of course, given the hyper-partisan nature of the incoming Republicans, that honesty may be the thing they dislike the most about Fischer. An honest reporting of their activities over the next two years may be just the medicine that the Arizona Democrats need.

Note1 - I don't normally quote MSM pieces in their entirety, but this one was short and it was all relevant.

Note2 - There is a possibility that while Bee's letter was addressed to Fischer, it applies to all media operations based in the press offices in the Senate building. I would check on that, except that it's Thanksgiving and there's no one around to answer that question, and either way, it doesn't change the point of this post.

Have a happy and safe holiday!

Later!

Renzi co-conspirator sentenced to prison

From a US Department of Justice press release -

Texas Businessman Sentenced to Prison for False Statements to Federally Insured Bank

WASHINGTON – A Sherman, Texas, businessman was sentenced today to three years in prison for each of two counts of submitting a false statement to a federally insured financial institution, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Matthew Friedrich announced. The prison terms will run concurrently.

James W. Sandlin, 57, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Richard A. Schell in the Eastern District of Texas. In addition, Judge Schell ordered Sandlin to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term and imposed fines totaling $20,000. Sandlin was indicted on Nov. 15, 2007, and convicted by a federal jury in June 2008.

{snip}

Sandlin is also under indictment along with Congressman Richard G. Renzi on conspiracy, honest services mail and wire fraud, and extortion counts in the District of Arizona. The trial in that case is scheduled to begin on March 24, 2009, in Tucson, Ariz.

I'm not sure what impact, if any, that Sandlin's current conviction will have on the Renzi trial. I'm sure that Mike Bryan at Blog for AZ, lawyer that he is, will have some insight into that aspect.

More on the Renzi/Sandlin indictment from the Washington Post here and The Sunlight Foundation here.

BTW - I don't know about you, but I was hoping that Renzi's trial would be in Phoenix. Just for the sake of being able to be in attendance when he is brought down.

Oh well. Us denizens of Maricopa (and CD1) will just have to read the snarky and insightful reports of Mike Bryan (insightful), Tedski (snarkily insightful), and the other Sonoran bloggers.


Later...

And so the pardons begin...

From Newsweek -

(WASHINGTON) President George W. Bush has granted pardons to 14 individuals and commuted the prison sentences of two others convicted of misdeeds including drug offenses, tax evasion, wildlife violations and bank embezzlement.

The new round of White House pardons announced Monday are Bush's first since March and come less than two months before he will end his presidency. The crimes committed by those on the list also include offenses involving hazardous waste, food stamps, and the theft of government property.

There were a a few interesting names and crimes on the list, but nothing too earth-shattering came up when I did a little research in a few of them.


Then I came across the name "William Hoyle McCright, Jr."

He was convicted of bank fraud in the early 1980s after he was caught lying on bank reports and misapplying bank funds while he was the Executive Vice President of the First National Bank of Midland, Texas. (Information on his convictions and partially successful appeal of those convictions here, courtesy Justia.com)

Let's be clear here - I'm not accusing the Bushies of playing favorites by pardoning somebody for his strong Republican ties, but...

...His bank eventually failed (1983), at least in part due to the bad loans made under McCright's auspices, much like Silverado Savings and Loan did under the guidance of W's brother Neil later in the decade...

...According to the FEC, McCright gave $700 to John McCain's failed presidential bid this year...


...One of McCright's partners in the crimes that he was pardoned for, Jim Eastup, is an active Texas Republican, even serving as a campaign treasurer for a county treasurer candidate there (documentation on page 24 of this .pdf )...


...Another of McCright's partners in the crime, Sam Conner (and his wife, Nancy) are contributors to the RNC (according to the FEC)...


...Conner was also one who smeared John Kerry's service in Vietnam, helping Bush's 2004 reelection efforts...


And that's all after a cursory search. Something tells me that with a little more patience, I could find some serious dirt here.

However, as brazenly partisan as this pardon seems, it still isn't as cringe-worthy as Bill Clinton's pardon of Marc Rich in 2001.

However2, give it time - I have plenty of faith in the Bushies and their ability to maintain their status as the "most corrupt presidential administration in history."


Snarky Note: During my research for this post, I came across this website for the George W. Bush Presidential Library, proposed for the campus of Southern Methodist University. Given SMU's past ethics issues (i.e. - NCAA 'death penalty' for repeated football recruiting violations), why not just set up a couple of bar stools in front of the magazine rack at a local Wal-Mart?

It's less expensive and more intellectually appropriate, and it would reduce the number of criminals (pardon recipients are still criminals, just unpunished ones) coming into contact with the students of a once-proud (and perhaps future-proud) university.

Less Snarky Note: McCright is listed as the president of a Texas corporation, H&M Production, Inc. A visit to the Texas Secretary of State's website revealed that one has to pay to search their corporate records online. For 'free' access to the records, a call to the TXSOS's office is necessary.

And given the rather "non-profit" nature of the operation here, a phone call was all the budget could handle. :))

After that phone call, however, I don't know much more than I did before the call.

According to the operator at TXSOS, H&M is an active corporation (no website that I could find), it was incorporated in 1993, McCright is the only officer listed in the paperwork, it has a Midland, Texas address, and the records don't list what the business does.

Because I couldn't *see* the records, I couldn't follow any threads connecting H&M to other entities, but I've got other feelers out.

Another take on this topic, particularly the pardon of McCright, from Harper's Magazine.

More later...

Joel Sinclaire, candidate for county supervisor, passes away

From AZCentral.com -

Joel Sinclaire, an attorney and candidate for the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, was found dead in his Scottsdale home Sunday afternoon.

He was 46.

It is unknown how Sinclaire died, his friends said Monday afternoon. His mother discovered him in the bed of the Scottsdale guest house he shared with his wife around 1 p.m. Sunday.

In addition to his recent campaign for the supes, he was a small business owner, family man, and environmental activist involved with The Sierra Club.

My prayers and deepest condolences go out to his wife, mother, and his entire family at this time of mourning and grief.

Arpaio wants exemption from fiscal responsibility

More specifically, he is insisting that the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors not cut his office's budget when they cut the rest of the county's budget because of a revenue shortfall.

From AZCentral.com -

While the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is dealing with the county's budget shortfall in the current fiscal year, administrators are beginning to brace for some of the most severe cuts in the agency's history in light of more bad economic news for the county.

Already faced with a hiring freeze and looking at a proposed suspension on capital spending for new projects, Sheriff Joe Arpaio pushed back to county administrators earlier this month with a memo that details his strenuous opposition to further cuts.

Deputy County Manager Sandi Wilson has asked each department to identify 20 percent of their budgets that could be cut. The proposals are due Dec. 8.

"This is not an option for my office," Arpaio wrote, adding a request that administrators exempt law-enforcement agencies from the hiring freeze.

Ummm...maybe instead of posturing, he should just cut out his department's junkets to Honduras, lawsuit-inducing murders of prisoners, and public-endangering grandstand ploys...Oh wait -

Posturing, particularly for TV cameras, is what he does best, and what he has always done best.

The Southwest looks to be well-represented in the Obama cabinet

First came the news that AZ's own Governor Janet Napolitano has been tabbed to take over the Department of Homeland Security.

Then came the strong rumors that Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ7) will be selected as Secretary of the Interior.

Now today comes the news that New Mexico governor Bill Richardson has been tapped to be Secretary of Commerce.

While all of those selections (if they become official) are good ones, both for the desert Southwest and for the country as a whole, the most significant for the Southwest is that of longtime environmental and progressive activist Grijalva, not that of the higher-profile Napolitano or Richardson. Grijalva has long been involved with southwestern and national environmental issues, serving as a member of the House's Committee on Natural Resources and chairing that committee's National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee. In short, he brings the right disposition and experience to the job once held by prominent Arizonans Bruce Babbitt (1993 - 2001) and Stewart Udall (1961 - 1969).

Over 50% of Arizona's land area is under federal control, as is Utah's, over 40% of New Mexico is federal land and over 80% of Nevada is. Colorado is slacking - a little over 30% of it is under federal jurisdiction.

Note: not all of the land areas mentioned above are under Interior's jurisdiction, such as that which is under military control. Still, a huge percentage of the Four Corners states and Nevada are federally-controlled.

In other words, there's definitely a need for a native of the southwest to be overseeing the Department of the Interior.

While both are longtime westerners and have served ably as governors of southwestern states, Napolitano and Richardson bring the sort of experience and temperment that lends itself to more generalization. In fact, both were rumored to have been considered for other posts before the proposed ones were settled on - Napolitano for Attorney General or White House Counsel and Richardson for Secretary of State (and with all due respect to Senator Clinton, Bill Richardson has way more qualifications for the job.)


On to consideration of more mundane ramifications...

Of the three seats, the Democratic Party is most likely to lose the AZ governorship. Not only would a Republican, Jan Brewer, ascend to the office upon Napolitano's move to D.C, but the Republicans have a registration advantage in AZ. That advantage will have to be overcome by the eventual Democratic nominee (Terry Goddard???) in 2010.

However, in AZCD7, the Democrats have an almost 2-1 registration advantage, so unless there's a brutal Democratic primary battle as part of a possible special election and the eventual winner is weakened significantly, the Dems will hold on to that seat.

In New Mexico, there are over 200,000 more registered Dems than Reps, so the Democratic Party *should* keep the NM governor's office. I say "*should*" because western Democrats are rather independent, which is why New Mexico is considered a battleground state during presidential elections.

Later...

The $70 per hour lie

During the discussions leading up to September's $700 billion bailout of the financial services industry, most of the naysayers focused on the "rightness" of interfering with free market forces. Eventually for most of those naysayers though, scads of campaign contributions outweighed any ideological considerations.

The package giving hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to huge corporations was passed "for the good of the country."

However, when auto industry executives journeyed to Congress with hat in hand to try to get in on the fun (on separate corporate jets, of course), most of the naysayers, particularly the right wing ones, have focused on a report that the average auto worker receives $70 per hour in wages and benefits.

They (and unfortunately, one of my sisters, who's usually pretty even-keeled about such things) are calling for the auto manufacturers to break their contracts with the auto worker unions as part of any reorganization and bailout.

There's one major problem with that $70 figure. It's inaccurate, and the people citing it know that.

In other words, they're lying.

According to the Center for Automotive Research (as cited in this New Republic article), the actual figures are closer to $28 per hour in wages and $10 per hour in benefits for workers. The difference between the cited figure of $70 and the more realistic one of $38 came from a little statistical deception - the higher figure is inflated by benefits paid out to retirees, not just active workers.

The $70 number is being used to cravenly whip up anti-union (and anti-worker!) sentiment during a period of economic strife. That anti-worker sentiment is used to mask the fact that most federal efforts to ease the impact of the economic downturn have focused on large companies and their wealthy managers.

Edit on 11/24 to add -

Large companies like Citigroup, which is getting another $20 billion in cash as well as hundreds of billions in debt guarantees.

Something tells me that more of that money will end up in the pockets of Citigroup's executives than will be used to rehire some of the thousands of employees that Citigroup has laid off just this year.

End edit...

BTW - thanks for the heads-up on the New Republic piece to Jon Talton in this post on his blog.

Later!

Time for some 2010 speculations...

...especially since "Candie Dates" at Sonoran Alliance got the ball rolling with a post concerning possible candidates to replace Jan Brewer at the Secretary of State's office if she ascends to the governor's office (OK, OK - "when" :( ) and the AZ Rep has an article about how Janet Napolitano's expected move to D.C. would "shake up" the 2010 race for governor.

A couple of caveats -

1. Most of my focus will be on Democrats from Maricopa County because they're who I have the most familiarity with. There are certain to be candidates from Pima, Pinal, Coconino and other counties whose names I haven't heard.

2. This is all pure speculation on my part. None of the potential candidates mentioned has ever spoken to me about their future plans.

3. The underlying assumptions are that Janet Napolitano leaves and does not return to run against John McCain in two years (though a run against Jon Kyl in four years remains a possibility) and that, despite laying the groundwork for a reelection run, McCain chooses not to run again at age 74.

4. The goal of this post is to start a discussion, so if you have some legitimate speculations of your own, feel free to leave a comment (just keep it civil :) ).


On to the idle thoughts random musings... :))

State Mine Inspector - why on God's green earth is this still an elected office? Could someone explain this to me, please?


State Superintendent of Public Instruction -

Speculation elsewhere on possible Republican candidates has focused on State Sen. John Huppenthal and State Rep. Rich Crandall. Both are very conservative; Huppenthal despises public education with a burning passion and Crandall does not.

As for possible Democratic candidates, Slade Mead and Jason Williams, who both ran in 2006 may try again. However, Williams has remained more active in the education field and has a higher profile in that area. Other to consider include Jackie and John Thrasher. Both are career teachers, both lost elections this year and may want to try for different offices in 2010 - it's looking more and more like John is not destined to be the one who unseats Congressman Trent Franks in CD3 and Jackie could make Republicans Jim Weiers and Doug Quelland eat green crow by winning a statewide office after weaselling their way back into office in LD10.


State Treasurer - No clue here. At all.


Attorney General -

On the Republican side, I have no idea, though I expect their nominee to be some party apparatchik.

As for the Democratic possibilities, I don't have much more of a clue here, though Tim Nelson (former candidate for Maricopa County Attorney) is a possibility if he doesn't accompany Napolitano to D.C. Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon is a possibility here too, if he chooses to give Terry Goddard an unobstructed run at the Democratic gubernortorial nomination. Long shots to even consider a run, much less win one, are Don Bivens, chair of the AZ Democratic Party, and Mark Manoil, chair of the Maricopa County Democratic Party. Both are practicing lawyers.


Secretary of State -

The Sonoran Alliance post linked above has a pretty good run down of possible Rep candidates for 2010 even though the focus was on possibilities for appointment to replace Brewer in the immediate future. One name that was mentioned over there was former Tempe state Rep. Laura Knaperek. They raved over her because she is so conservative, but I don't see it - she lost her last general election in 2006 against a couple of relatively new Democratic candidates for state lege, and she lost her last primary this year in CD5. Even good candidates can lose *one* election but she has lost three this decade. She may want to consider *not* running for office for a while.

Current Corporation Commissioner Kris Mayes may consider a run here, too. While her non-political experience is in journalism, she has degrees in law and public administration. Since she is rumored to be interested in moving to the ninth floor (aka - the Governor's office), this office would be a logical steppingstone.

As for Democrats, Sandra Kennedy has been rumored to have interest in the job, though her recent victory in the AZ Corporation Commission race probably means she won't go for this in two years. There are a couple of termed out state legislators who may be interested, and perhaps some not-so-termed-out ones, if it doesn't look like the Dems will improve their representation in the lege in two years.


Governor -

The list is long and varied here. The Republican possibilities are discussed in the AZ Rep article, though Jan Brewer has to be considered the early favorite whether or not she ascends into the governorship within a few weeks. A dark horse here could be Congressman Jeff Flake, whose interest in the job has been the subject of rumors in the past. While the governor's job pays less than U.S. Rep, he wouldn't have to fly back and forth to D.C. every weekend and wouldn't have to sleep in his office to save money for his kids' college education.

On the Democratic side, current Attorney General Terry Goddard is considered the presumptive front-runner for the Democratic nomination with Phil Gordon the primary threat to that. Former AZ Dem chair and former candidate for U.S. Senate Jim Pederson is also mentioned frequently. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has been the subject of rumors here, but she seems more likely to take a run at John McCain's Senate seat at this point.


Arizona Corporation Commission (2 seats) -

No clue as for the Republican possiblilities, and the only Democratic names that I can think of right off the top of my head are Sam George and Kara Kelty, both of whom were candidates this year.


U.S. Senate -

If McCain doesn't run again, the field is wide open on both sides of the aisle.

Republican possibilities include current Congressmen John Shadegg (CD3) and Jeff Flake (CD6), though there are sure to be other names floated (Mayes' name might fit here, too, but she passed on a run in CD1 this year. She may not be interested in federal office.)

Democratic possibilities include whichever of the Goddard/Gordon duo doesn't run for governor, Jim Pederson (again) and Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (CD8). Giffords may be a possible candidate even if McCain runs again - many people in AZ believe that a strong female candidate would have the best chance of unseating the popular McCain.


U.S. Congress -

There is a frequent rumor that Congressman Ed Pastor (CD4) could face a primary challenge in two years from Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox. If that actually happens, it would be an interesting, and probably heated, contest between two entrenched west Phoenix political machines.

As for the other CDs, I've got no idea, though any special-election winning replacement for rumored-to-becoming-U.S. Secretary of the Interior Raul Grijalva (CD7) is certain to face some strong challengers.


Other names that could fit into one of these potential races include Dennis Burke (former Napolitano chief of staff and rumored U.S. Attorney-to-be), state legislators David Lujan (D), Kyrsten Sinema (D), Chad Campbell (D) and Michelle Reagan (R) and outgoing Scottsdale Mayor Mary Manross.



Later!

45 years ago today...

May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963

Photo courtesy the archives of Life Magazine, accessed through Google

Congrats to the new leadership of the LD17 Democrats

On Wednesday, the District 17 Democrats held their reorganizational meeting and elected new officers for the 2009-2010 cycle.

Those officers are -

Chair - Lauren Kuby
Vice Chair - Angie Crouse
Vice Chair - Cole Hickman
Vice Chair - Stan Williams
Treasurer - Craig McDermott
Secretary - Johnny Mendez

The new officers are dedicated and active Democrats who will continue the hard work of outgoing chair Doug Mings (now Executive Director of the Maricopa County Democratic Party) and keep LD17 Blue. I won't say that all of them have been Democrats since birth, but if you meet Lauren, ask her to tell you her JFK story. (She is *so* going to kick my butt for that :) ).

On a related note, the Maricopa County Democratic Party will be holding its own reorganizational meeting at 1:00 pm on Saturday, December 13 at a location TBA.

Full disclosure section: I am one of the new officers. Guess which one. :))

Later!

I *really* hope that CNN is wrong on this one..

Because if they're right, we are weeks, possibly days, away from having the Arizona chapter of the Flat Earth Society running completely unchecked over Arizona.

CNN is reporting that anonymous sources within the Obama transition team have told them that Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano is slated to be his nominee for Secretary of Homeland Security.

For her part, Governor Napolitano denied that she is seeking a position in the Obama Administration while not taking her name out of consideration for such a job.

While I respect Governor Napolitano and wish her well in whatever course she chooses for her career, I've got one thing to say about the possibility of her exit from Arizona political scene -

Arrgghhhh!!! Don't go, Janet!!! Please!!!

If she leaves, the only thing that will stand between the depredations of the loons running the AZ lege and the people of Arizona will be...

Governor Jan Brewer???

If that situation comes to pass, God help us all.

The only possible silver lining to a Brewer governorship would be that two years of insanity and pure hell emanating from West Washington will make it easier to elect Democrats to the lege and statewide office in 2010.

Later...

Manross concedes; Jim Lane becomes Mayor of Scottsdale

From AZCentral.com -

Two-term Mayor Mary Manross threw in the towel Wednesday, conceding the drawn-out mayor's race to Councilman Jim Lane more than two weeks after the last ballot was cast.

"Jim Lane will be the next mayor," Manross said in a statement Wednesday morning. "I wish him the very best and also wish the new council success in leading our community."

Lane is maintaining a lead of more than 500 votes more than two weeks after the election. In a development that was a bit surprising to many observers, including me, he built on his 367-vote victory margin in September's primary. Most expectations were that while the Republican primary in CD5 would elevate Rep turnout in September, favoring the Republican Lane, the demographics of the general election, with the elevated number of Democratic voters turning out to support Barack Obama and Harry Mitchell, would favor Democrat Mary Manross.

Turns out that "many observers, including me" were wrong.

One new development during the rancorous campaign, and one that doesn't bode well for Scottsdale's long-term well-being, was the partisan nature of some of the attacks. One third party committee, "Republicans For A Bright New Day In Scottsdale", was formed on August 1st for the purpose of opposing Manross' candidacy. Through mid-October, the committee had expended over $23K to oppose Manross or support Lane.

The major contributors to the committee were Henry Becker ($5K), a long-time Manross foe from north Scottsdale, and Michael Fernandez (over $27K), who lists his profession as "sales" and his employer as "Paradise Distributing." In the committee's organizational paperwork, Fernandez lists his address as that of his employer.

According to Corporation Commission records, he is actually the president of Paradise Distributing Company, Inc., which sort of explains how a salesman at a pottery store could afford to give nearly $30K to the defeat of a candidate. :)

Anyway, back to the point - the city's Republicans turned a non-partisan race into one of pure partisan ideology, and with their nearly 2-1 registration advantage, can be expected to do so again in the future.

Especially since the tactic worked.

However, since as the record of the Bush administration demonstrates so clearly, hardcore Republican ideology is totally unsuited for practical governing. If Lane governs as if he owes the ideologues a debt for his successful election, Scottsdale is in trouble.

As a possible indicator of which way Lane's politics run, he was a strong supporter of then-Congressman JD Hayworth (R-Blowhard) in 2006.

Let me be clear - there are a number of Republicans (even here in Arizona) who approach the responsibilities of governing seriously and professionally and who don't let blind ideology gain sway over reality when it comes time to make decisions.

For the sake of Scottsdale and its residents, let us all hope that Jim Lane is one of them.


Note: The reason that Lane's September victory wasn't enough is that it wasn't large enough - because of write-ins and undervotes, he didn't receive more than 50% of the votes, which necessitated the November runoff.

Happy 85th Birthday, Senator Stevens

Actually, Happy Birthday, and Happy Trails...

From WashingtonPost.com -

Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich (D) defeated Sen. Ted Stevens, ending the tenure of the longest-serving Republican in Senate history, after the counting of more ballots yesterday gave him a larger lead than the number of votes still untallied, Alaska elections officials said.

{snip}

Begich leads Stevens by more than 3,700 votes, according to the Alaska secretary of state. Gail Fenumiai, the head of the state's election division, said about 2,500 absentee votes from overseas and Alaska's most remote regions remain to be counted.

The Democrat's lead thus far -- 47.8 percent to 46.6 percent -- puts him beyond the margin of victory that would allow Stevens to call for a state-funded recount of the ballots.

Now the two remaining questions are -

Will the Senate expel Stevens for the remaining 6 weeks of his term?

Will George Bush pardon Stevens for his crimes?

Best guesses - No (between Stevens' conviction and election loss, expulsion might be viewed as piling on after the whistle has blown) and probably (it's not like it will hurt Bush politically. Hell, Bush's numbers are so bad, pardoning Al Capone wouldn't lower them.)

Yet another reason not to watch Fox or any of its affiliated networks

From AZCentral.com -

Sheriff Joe Arpaio, TV star? It could happen when Smile ... You're Under Arrest! premieres in December on the Fox Reality channel.

"Sheriff Joe is an absolute natural," producer Scott Satin says. "He should have his own late-night talk show. He's wonderful on camera because he's not acting. He is a very sincere person."

That sincerity will be spotlighted in the show, which was filmed last year in the Valley. The premise involves elaborate sting operations used to nab people with outstanding warrants.

Of course, *not* watching this show won't be much of a stretch for me - I don't watch so-called "reality" shows. They may be unscripted (allegedly), but they are hardly "real."

In short, they should be called "we're too cheap to hire writers" shows, not "reality" shows.

Later!

The 2010 campaigns are already starting

From CNN's Political Ticker -

From CNN's Dana Bash

(CNN) — CNN has learned that John McCain met Tuesday night with top advisers to start the process of setting up a political action committee.

A senior McCain aide says that was done to send the signal he intends to run for another term as senator from Arizona.

He is up for re-election in 2010.

This is no guarantee that McCain is going to actually run for reelection, but it does increase the likelihood that he will do so. Now if we can just convince Janet Napolitano to hang out in AZ for two more years - the political geek in me wants to see two of AZ's electoral phenoms face off in two years. :)

Of course, it doesn't bode well for couch-sleepers (and McCain allies) John Shadegg and Jeff Flake, who are both rumored to be interested in running for the seat.


Later!