Mercury star Brittney Griner arrested in Russia

From CNN -

New York Times: Brittney Griner, two-time Olympic gold medalist and WNBA all-star, arrested in Russia on drug charges

Brittney Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and seven-time Women's National Basketball Association All-Star with the Phoenix Mercury basketball team, has been arrested in Russia after customs officials detected cannabis oil in her luggage at an airport near Moscow, The New York Times reported.

The Russian news agency TASS cited a law enforcement source identifying the American woman who was arrested on drug charges as 31-year-old Griner, upon arriving from New York, the report said.

I truly don't know if Griner was in possession of anything that's considered to be illegal under Russian law, but I will say this -

Russian authorities have something of a credibility problem.

I can also say this -

It is time for all Americans, non-celebrities, minor celebrities, and major celebrities, to leave Russia, Ukraine, and any Russia-controlled countries and/or not travel to the same.

Have no fear - the Rs will denounce her anyway

From CNN -

Harris to walk across Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday anniversary

Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Selma, Alabama, on Sunday, where she will walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge to mark the 57th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, a key moment in the civil rights moment.

Bloody Sunday commemorates when, in 1965, 600 people began a march from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery, Alabama, demanding an end to discrimination in voter registration. At the Edmund Pettus Bridge, state and local lawmen attacked the marchers with billy clubs and tear gas, driving them back to Selma. Seventeen people were hospitalized and dozens were more injured by police.

Pic from a Los Angeles Sentinel story, dated 7/17/2020

Kari Lake likes to associate with con men and traitors

Pics taken from Twitter today, though some of the tweets are a few days old -

And, of course -

Being seen with them may help Lake win the R primary for governor, but in civil society, images of her with the likes of Lindell, Kern, and Cheeto may hurt her.

The blind leading the blind?

Example 1:

Example 2:

Two are members of Congress; two are members of the Arizona legislature who are running for Arizona Secretary of State.

Federal and State Committee update

There's nothing to update.  With nominating petition signatures due at the office of the Arizona Secretary of State's office on Monday, April 4th, I don't expect there to be any new committees for statewide or federal office.

If any new committees are formed for such, I'll update.

Legislative schedule - week starting 3/6/2022

Note: HHR refers to a hearing room in the House building; SHR refers to one in the Senate building.

Note2: Generally, I'll only specify bills that look to propagate propaganda.  Other bills may be more conventionally bad (think: corrupt or other misuses of public monies and/or authority.  My recommendation is that if an agenda covers an area of interest to you, read the entire agenda.

Note3: Each chamber's respective Rules Committee meets on Monday, the House's in HHR4 at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, also at 1 p.m.  Both committees serve as rubber stamps for bills leadership wants to be advanced and gatekeepers for measures that leadership wants stopped.

Note4: Meeting start times may be listed, but are flexible.  Before journeying to the Capitol or viewing the meeting online, verify the start time.

Note5: Watch for strikers, or strike everything amendments.  Those involve inserting language into the entirety of a bill.  Those can be introduced at any time and can make a previously harmless bill into a very bad one. 

Strikers are back this week, but only two of them.  I expect that number to increase until the legislature adjourns its session.

On Monday, 3/7 -

House Health & Human Services meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  1 bill on the agenda.

It meets again at 2:15 p.m.  12 bills on that agenda, including the first striker of the week, regarding the extension of temporary healthcare licenses.

House Land, Agriculture & Rural Affairs meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  3 bills on the agenda.

House Military Affairs and Public Safety meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  4 bills on the agenda, including SB1060, titled "survival of action; deceased sheriff" and SB1718, appropriating $1,140,800 to the "border security fund".

Senate Government meets at 2 p.m.in SHR1.  9 bills on the agenda, including HB2070, adding a civil penalty for the head of a public body that doesn't have enough chairs for the attendees at one their meeting or don't post on the meeting agenda when the public will have physical access to the meeting area; HB2237, barring same-day voter registration; HB2289, requiring that county chairs of political parties to appoint a vote challenger for each precinct polling place and for those people to remain in the polling place until votes there are tabulated and sent to the county recorder; HB2379, adding language to laws regarding voting and the election procedures manual, including language that has the legislature review voting equipment and the procedures manual; and HB2412, among other things, changes "or" to "and" regarding the posting of written minutes and a recording of meetings of a public body.

On Tuesday, 3/8 -

House Commerce meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  6 or 7 bills on the agenda (more on that later) including SB1278, adding a definition of "labor organization" to a law regarding fiduciary guidelines; and SB1494, making sure that folks who lose their jobs due to not receiving a Covid vaccine or a booster get unemployment compensation benefits.  One discrepancy on the agenda:

One bill, SB1168, regarding "vacation rentals; short-term rentals; enforcement" is list on the pdf of the agenda, but on the lege's website, shows as removed from consideration at this meeting.

House Education meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  6 bills on the agenda.

Senate Appropriations meets at 2 p.m. in SHR109.  12 bills on the agenda, including HB2552, appropriating $20,000,000 to build a new prison in Cochise County; and HB2646, altering the law regarding the fair market value of aircraft.

Senate Education meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  7 bills on the agenda, including HB2161, adding to the "parent's bill of rights" regarding education and health care records, and with a section that is so broadly written that I think it allows a parent to use this as a defense for an act of violence.

On Wednesday, 3/9 -

House Judiciary meets at 8 a.m.in HHR4.  7 bills on the agenda, 5 of them bad.

House Government & Election meets at 9 a.m. in HHR1.  9 bills on the agenda.

Senate Health and Human Services meets at 9 a.m. in SHR1.  10 bills on the agenda.

House Ways & Means meets at 10 a.m. in HHR3.  2 bills on the agenda.

Senate Finance meets at 10 a.m. in SHR109.  6 bills on the agenda, including HB2166, exempting guns, ammunition and "firearms safety equipment", from sales taxes.  This scheme is estimated to cost the state's general fund over $9 million inFY2024.

House Appropriations meets at 1:30 p.m. or upon adjournment of the floor session in HHR1.  8 bills on the agenda, including SB1175, wherein the legislature confiscates "non-custodial federal monies" (with certain specific exceptions) and re-appropriates them; and SB1718, appropriating $1,140,800 to the state's "border security fund."

House Transportation meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  8 bills on the agenda.

Senate Commerce meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  13 bills on the agenda, including HCR2031, asking the voters of AZ to amend the state constitution to bar municipalities from having their own to have their own minimum wages or other employment-related compensation rules.

Senate Natural Resources, Energy & Water meets at 2 p.m. in SHR109.  10 bills on the agenda, including HB2411, allowing ADEQ to regulate coal combustion residuals (coal ash, aka toxic materials produced by coal fired power plants).  Looks like it was written by an industry lobbyist.

On Thursday, 3/10 -

Senate Judiciary meets at 9 a.m. in SHR1.  11 bills on a very bad agenda.  It includes a striker for HB2253, titled "threshold amount; fentanyl" (text not available as of this writing).

Townsend, spurned by Cheeto, quits race for Congress

From KJZZ -

Townsend, not endorsed by Trump, quits House race in Arizona

Arizona state Sen. Kelly Townsend announced Friday she is withdrawing from the race for the Republican nomination for Arizona's new 6th Congressional District because former President Donald Trump hasn't endorsed her.

Despite encouragement and repeated assurances, “the promised formal endorsement has still not materialized," leaving her unable to unify the conservative vote in the August primary, Townsend said in a statement.

[snip]

Redistricting put (state senator Wendy) Rogers and Townsend in the same legislative district and they avoided a head-to-head matchup when Townsend decided to seek the congressional seat.

Townsend's statement said she would “happily” focus on the state Capitol rather than the nation's Capitol, which left open a race against Rogers for the Senate.

Responding to an inquiry from the Associated Press, Townsend said that was indeed a possibility. She also said she could return to the private sector or return to college to get a doctorate. She is a doula, a trained professional who assists mothers giving birth.

What "possibility"?

She's running.  The only question remaining is if it will be against Rogers.

From Twitter -

Ducey says he's not running for Senate

From The Hill -

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey tells donors he won't run for Senate

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) has put what Republicans see as a final kibosh on any chances he would challenge Sen. Mark Kelly (D) later this year, ending a long-running courtship by top Washington Republicans who saw him as their best hope of winning back the seat.

In a letter to donors, Ducey said this year, the last of his eight years in the governor’s office, would be the end of his public service career.

He may not be running in 2022, but in 2024?

I expect that he will be looking *hard* at Kyrsten Sinema's seat in the Senate, no matter what she does. (She's more vulnerable than Kelly, IMHO)

And I also expect that he will also be looking at a run for the White House. (His decision there may depend on if Cheeto continues to dominate GQP politics and if he runs in 2024)

And saying that this year will be the "end of his public service career" implies that he ever really worked for the public.  He never has done so.

Ron DeSantis is shameless enough to be in the Arizona legislature

From Politico -

DeSantis defends scolding students over masks — and fundraises off it

“Predictably, the leftist propagandists in our media had a meltdown and called me a ‘bully’ for allowing children to breathe fresh air," a campaign email reads.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is fundraising off a recent viral video depicting the Republican governor bluntly asking a group of high school students to take off their masks ahead of a public event, which drew outrage among Democrats.

In a Thursday campaign email attempting to spur donations “before the truth is silenced,” DeSantis blasted the “corrupt and biased legacy media” for chastising him over his claims that “masks are political theater.” The DeSantis campaign also created a hype video over his controversial brief scolding of high school students that slams Democrats like California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Stacey Abrams for going maskless at public events.

"[A]llowing"?

Well, at least he's got a Cheeto-like ego.

A former Missouri legislator writes about the craziness in the Missouri legislature, but she could have been writing about the AZ lege

Pointed to this by Taegan Goddard's Political Wire.

From an op/ed in the Kansas City Star -

I saw booze, guns and fights on the Missouri House floor. Voters must fix this mess 

BY Stacey Newman Special To The Star

The Kansas City Star’s Feb. 17 editorial, “Of dogs and dysfunction: Anarchy in Jefferson City,” was so right on the money. As a nine-year veteran of the Missouri House, I can wholeheartedly vouch that dysfunction is the legislature’s middle name.

 

As do most voters, I expect legislators to be serious when they take their oath of office. I want to trust they will treat their offices with reverence instead of middle school immaturity — I really do.

 

My first late-night session as a freshman involved debate over a pornography bill. Arguments proceeded way past midnight as I was introduced to #molegafterdark. Coffee cups are allowed on House chamber desks, yet during evening sessions, many of those cups contain alcohol. I was appalled at the drunken debate, remembering how hard I campaigned just to be sitting at one of those desks. Surrounding us were the words carved at the very top of the House chamber: “Liberty, Justice, Law, Progress, Truth, Knowledge, Honor.” Yeah, right.

I can't speak to there being any actual fights on the floor of the AZ legislature; I really don't know.

As for booze, while I HAVE seen some behavior that reeks of "under the influence", but absent seeing consumption of alcohol, or an actual blood test, or even smelling booze on someone's breath, I'm not prepared to accuse someone of legislating while intoxicated.

Lastly, guns?

Well, I was there when then-state senator Lori Klein packed some heat at a state of the state address.

And the AZ lege hasn't become classier since then.

Maybe Ron DeSantis thinks that being hooked up to a ventilator is a "presidential" look

From CNN -

Ron DeSantis just yelled at high school students for wearing masks

Ron DeSantis is apparently not above scolding high school students to make his, uh, point about Covid-19.

The Florida Republican governor approached a group of students wearing masks who were standing behind a podium at the University of South Florida, where he was scheduled for a news conference Wednesday.

"You do not have to wear those masks. I mean please take them off," DeSantis said to, at first, polite laughter. But he wasn't kidding around.

"Honestly, it's not doing anything. We've gotta stop with this Covid theater. So if you want to wear it, fine. But this is ridiculous," he continued.

From Johns Hopkins University -

1. Wear a damn mask.

2. Get vaccinated. 

I'd call killing an unarmed civilian doing "something wrong"

From AP (emphasis added by me) -

Fired cop says he did nothing wrong in Breonna Taylor raid

Former Louisville detective Brett Hankison testified in his own defense Wednesday

 

about his actions during the police raid that left Breonna Taylor dead, saying the

 

gunfire began with a muzzle flash that illuminated a shadowy silhouette, and he

 

thought it was someone firing an automatic rifle at his fellow officers.

Hankison is not on trial for the 26-year-old Black woman’s death but for

 

firing bullets 

that went into an adjacent apartment, endangering a pregnant neighbor, her

 

young child and her boyfriend.

Asked if he did anything wrong during the raid, Hankison replied, “absolutely not,”

 

even though he acknowledged firing into the window and patio door. As for

 

Taylor, he said, “She didn’t need to die that night.” Breonna Taylor’s mother,

 

Tamika Palmer, then stormed out of the courtroom.

Hankison said that as a police battering ram broke open Taylor’s door, the

 

blast of a gun lit up the apartment’s hallway and his fellow officer fell wounded

 

in the doorway. He said he thought the muzzle flash matched that of a long rifle,

 

but no rifle was found in the apartment.

No remorse?

More innocent people will die.

Just a guess: The Republicans aren't learning the right lessons from Gosar's, Greene's, and Rogers' ties to a white nationalist group

There are two lessons here:

1. Don't be a white supremacist.

2. Don't be SEEN as being a white supremacist.

Guess which one the Rs are taking to heart?

First, from NBC (emphasis added by me) -

GOP leaders denounce Greene, Gosar for speaking at white nationalist event

GOP leaders in the House and the Senate on Monday denounced a pair of far-right Trump allies — Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Paul Gosar, R-Ariz. — for speaking at a gathering of white nationalists in Florida over the weekend.

“There’s no place in the Republican Party for white supremacists or anti-Semitism,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a terse statement.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters for CNN and Punchbowl News that it was “appalling and wrong” for the two lawmakers to attend the meeting in Florida and that he plans to discuss the matter with them.

Second, from Jeremy Duda at the AZ Mirror -

Senate votes to censure Wendy Rogers for threatening her colleagues

Her ties to white nationalists and antisemitic statements were removed from the censure

In the wake of her speech to a white nationalist conference and a string of offensive and inflammatory social media posts, the Arizona Senate voted to censure Republican Sen. Wendy Rogers. 

The Senate voted 24-3 in a rare censure of one of its own, with 11 of the chamber’s 16 Republicans siding with the chamber’s 13 Democratic members who were in attendance. Rogers voted no, as did GOP Sens. Nancy Barto and Warren Petersen.

The censure, which has no practical effect, was for comments calling for people she perceived as enemies to be hanged from gallows, and for social media postings Rogers made threatening to “personally destroy” fellow Republicans who sought to punish her. The censure resolution was silent on her embrace of white nationalists and a string of antisemitic and racist things she had posted online in recent days. 

The vote on the censure motion -

The motion passed overwhelmingly, with 24 members voting for it, 3 voting against it (Rogers herself {of course} Warren Petersen {not really a surprise}, and Nancy Barto {a bit of a surprise}) and 3 not voting (Gowan, Steele, and Townsend).

Another guess: Rogers will do it again.  Not only is she not penitent about this, she believes she's a victim. (pics of tweets taken today) -

I had to look hard but I DO agree with Rogers on one thing -

Though I expect that we have very different reason for arriving at this conclusion. :)

Cheeto wins CPAC straw poll/name recognition contest

From CNN -

Trump wins CPAC straw poll

Former President Donald Trump easily won an informal straw poll of conservatives Sunday, when asked who they would support in a GOP primary for president in 2024.

Among attendees as the Conservative Political Action Conference, 59% said they would vote for Trump if the 2024 Republican primary were held today.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis came in second with 28% of the vote in the poll. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo came in a distant third with 2% of the vote.

This would be significant...until one remembers that Ted "Cancun" Cruz won the same straw poll in 2016.

From Politico, dated 3/5/2016 -

Cruz wins CPAC straw poll

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won the straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday.

Cruz was named the winner with 40 percent of the attendees' support, while Florida Sen. Marco Rubio came in second place with 30 percent. Donald Trump, who was scheduled to speak at CPAC on Saturday morning before pulling out, came in third place with 15 percent, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich had 8 percent.

And who do the people want for veep? South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has 12 percent, Haley has endorsed Rubio, and traveled with him on the trail. Kasich may not have placed high for the Oval Office but he’s tied for first for vice president. Carly Fiorina – who dropped out of the race earlier this month – is a close second with 11 percent of the vote. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Rubio are tied for third place with 9 percent a piece.

Of course, to be fair, for a poll two years out from the election, we should look at the results from 2014.

Also from Politico, this one dated 3/8/2014 -

Paul wins big in CPAC straw poll

Rand Paul handily won the presidential straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference Saturday, one gauge of the Republican base’s mood less than two years before the 2016 primary season kicks off.

The Kentucky senator received 31 percent, far ahead of second place Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who received 11 percent. Neurosurgeon Ben Carson finished third with 9 percent, ahead of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who received 8 percent.

Doug Ducey of Arizona and Greg Abbott of Texas should be heartened by the 2022 result.  Both have presidential ambitions, but weren't even mentioned in the 2022 poll.  

However, the eventual winner of the 2016 Republican primary wasn't even an afterthought in the 2014 poll

I've never said anything positive about Mitt Romney, but I'll give credit where it is due. When he's right (which isn't often), he's right.

Pointed to this by Taegan Goddard's Political Wire.

And this applies to US Rep. Liz Cheney too.  I may never agree with her politically, and I consider the Cheney family to be almost purely evil, but right is right.

For both, I attribute it to "stopped clock syndrome" :) .

Romney gave an interview to CNN today.

From the transcript of that interview (emphasis added by me) -

[snip]

BASH: You talked several times during this interview about the world seeing the difference between good and evil.

I want to bring that closer to home and talk about something that Congresswoman Liz Cheney tweeted yesterday about sitting Republican House members appearing at a white nationalist gathering.

She said -- quote -- "As Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar speak at this white supremacist, anti-Semitic, pro-Putin event, silence by Republican Party leaders is deafening and enabling. All Americans should renounce this garbage and reject the Putin wing of the GOP now."

Do you agree?

ROMNEY: Absolutely. Liz Cheney was right with that statement. And she's been right for a long time.

And I also saw that Ronna McDaniel came out with a statement as well talking about how repugnant these white nationalists are.

Look, there's no place in either political party for this white nationalism or racism. It's simply wrong. It's -- it's -- as you have indicated, speaking of evil, it's evil as well.

And Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar, I don't know them, but I'm reminded of that old line from the "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" movie, where one character says: "Morons. I have got morons on my team."

And I have to think anybody that would sit down with white nationalists and speak at their conference was certainly missing a few I.Q. points.

Public figures calling Paul Gosar a "moron" get some respect in my book; of course, morons everywhere are like "Really?  That was low."