In recent days, there have been mass shootings in a school, supermarket, strip mall, hospital, church, and even a street.
And while certain people object to anything that even hints of gun control, one place that was safe from guns was the NRA convention when Cheeto was speaking.
Because guns were banned there.
Certain people think that sacrificing innocent lives on the altar of fear and greed is a good thing.
It's not.
Also, if you're going to put "Arizona" in your PAC's name, it may be a good idea to base it here.
From the Saving Arizona PAC's statement of organization filed with the FEC -
Thiel used $10,000,000 of his billions and funded the PAC.
From the PAC's mid-year 2021 filing -
Yet, while the PAC may have "Arizona" in its name, incredibly little of its money has been raised or spent here.
According to its FEC summary page, the PAC has raised a total of $10,558,039.78, yet of that total, $130K was raised here (and of that, $100K came from the same sources -
Anyway, I digress.
To make a long story short, 1.23% of the PAC's money has been raised here.
Which is actually higher than the percentage of the PAC's money spent here, which is 1.14% out of $6,146,710.68.
Anyway, while Thiel has spent $10M + on the race (the "+" comes from the fact that he given almost $6K directly to Masters' campaign committee), but I have to ask one thing -
How much more did Thiel have to spend to "win" Cheeto's endorsement of Masters?
It's pretty obvious that I am *not* a fan of Mark Brnovich - I think that he's a bigoted and opportunistic hack.
Having said that, at least he's an Arizona bigoted and opportunistic hack and not a carpetbagger looking to buy a nomination.
Thiel/Masters is.
Rich people trying to buy a political office is not a new idea, but in the age of Cheeto, they're not even trying to hide it any longer.
From Politico -
Big-spending billionaires are upending politics. The Los Angeles mayor's race is the latest test.
Even by the cash-flush standards of modern politics, Rick Caruso’s run for mayor of Los Angeles has been a shock-and-awe spending campaign.
The billionaire Republican-turned-Democrat has already dropped $34 million on the race, single-handedly making the June 7 primary one of the most expensive elections in the country. He’s spent $25 million on TV advertising alone this year, more than any other candidate for any office in America, save one prospect running for governor in Illinois, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. And in those TV ads, Caruso hammers away at homelessness, crime and corruption at City Hall, a trio of top issues for Los Angeles voters, while casting himself as an outsider — “not just a talker, a doer,” one TV ad narrator says.
From the website of the Arizona Secretary of State --
Both Heaton and Reid-Shaver are Libertarians, though neither listed a party.
As of this writing, there are no Libertarian candidates for Superintendent of Public Instruction, write-in or ballot, listed by the AZSOS, while there is one declared Libertarian candidate for Governor, write-in candidate Barry Hess.
From NPR -
In a new U.S. poll, a majority identify as 'pro-choice' for the first time in decades
The percentage of Americans who consider themselves "pro-choice" has risen in the past year to 55%, its highest level in decades, according to a Gallup poll released Thursday.
That increase mainly was driven by Democrats, wrote Lydia Saad, the polling firm's director for U.S. social research, in a summary of the survey's findings. She attributed the shift to the recent Supreme Court draft opinion suggesting a possible end to Roe v. Wade.
Gallup surveyed more than 1,000 U.S. adults by telephone over three weeks beginning May 2 — the day Politico published a draft opinion suggesting that the Supreme Court could soon overturn Roe v. Wade. That decision would enable many states to dramatically restrict or ban abortions.
The Supreme Court's leaked majority opinion is here.
From the Gallup poll -
Now, I realize that public policy issues aren't popularity contests and opinion polls doesn't mean that the pro-choice side is correct.
However, the dearth of facts on the anti-choice side adds credibility to the pro-choice side.
And, have no doubt, pro sports qualifies as "Big Business."
From The Hill -
DeSantis vetoes funds for Tampa Bay Rays practice facility after team tweets on gun control
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) approved a new state budget Thursday, but vetoed funds for a Pasco County baseball practice facility that was to be used by the Tampa Bay Rays, a move that comes shortly after the MLB organization tweeted in support of gun control last week.
DeSantis, an avid supporter of gun rights, vetoed the funding proposed by state Sen. Danny Burgess (R) that was widely expected to be signed into the state’s budget a week after the Rays showed support for gun control measures.
DeSantis wants to be president, one in the mold of Cheeto.
He's already got the "petty dictator wannabe" part down.
Pointed at this by AZBlueMeanie at Blog for Arizona.
From Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services, published by KJZZ -
Townsend encourages 'vigilantes' to monitor ballot drop boxes, denies it's intimidation
One of the leading proponents of the claim that there is fraud in Arizona elections wants "vigilantes" to monitor ballot drop boxes in the upcoming election.
Sen. Kelly Townsend (R-Apache Junction) complained during an informal legislative hearing Tuesday about the failure of the Senate to either outlaw drop boxes entirely or require that they be monitored 24 hours a day. In fact, Townsend wants to deal with the issue of possible fraudulent ballots by eliminating early voting entirely.
[snip]
"We're going to have people out there watching you," Townsend said. "And they're going to follow you to your car and get your license plate."
That was Tuesday; on Wednesday, she voted to greatly expand the definition of "harassment".
From the minority report on the conference committee results for SB1633, signed by Rep. Melody Hernandez and Sen. Victoria Steele -
"Under this language, a single instance of surveilling or contacting a person "in a manner that harasses" (the definition of which is murky) could expose someone to a Class 6 felony. The amendment fails to address any of these concerns, and in fact broadens the application of the statute by making it aggravated harassment to commit an act of harassment, as specified above, in violation of an order of protection. For those reasons oppose SB1633 as amended by the conference committee."
SB1633 *does* have a specific carve out, one that seems so specific that Townsend's vigilantes don't seem to fall within it -
From NPR -
The real COVID surge is (much) bigger than it looks. But don't panic
Cases of COVID-19 are — yet again — on the rise. The U.S. is seeing an average of more than 100,000 reported new cases across the country every day. That's nearly double the rate a month ago and four times higher than this time last year.
And the real number of cases is likely much higher than that, according to health officials. Because many people now rely on at-home tests, "we're clearly undercounting infections," White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha told reporters at the most recent COVID press briefing. Hospitalizations are trending upwards too, though only gradually still in most places.
From the Mayo Clinic -
In the U.S.:
In AZ:
1. Wear a damn mask.
2. Get vaccinated.
Pointed at this by Taegan Goddard's Political Wire.
From Business Insider -
Biden insists McConnell is a 'rational Republican' who may come around on gun control, even as the GOP blocks legislation
President Joe Biden insisted Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is "rational" and could agree to gun control, despite the party's longtime refusal to seriously entertain policy changes on firearms.
On Monday, Biden told reporters that he was unsure of whether Republicans would compromise, noting that he has "not been negotiating with any of the Republicans yet."
"Rational Republican"? In reference to Mitch McConnell? Really?
See: Garland, Merrick.
McConnell may (or may not) be "rational," but that doesn't preclude him from being "evil."
Not by a long shot.
Expect future White House speeches and press releases to be littered with words and phrases like "jumbo shrimp," "working vacation," and/or "accurate estimate."
From Vaughan Jones of KJZZ -
Republican Rep. Debbie Lesko heckled, exits stage during graduation speech in Glendale
Arizona Republican Congresswoman Debbie Lesko, who represents the state's 8th Congressional District, was heckled and exited the stage during a commencement speech at a high school graduation ceremony on Friday.
The Arizona Virtual Academy’s ceremony was held in Glendale, close to Lesko’s district.
Graduate Juliana Butler was upset at Lesko’s speech.
“I thought it was very inappropriate, and I was honestly really shocked that that was even allowed. I don’t know who OK'd that,” said Juliana Butler.
From CBS News -
What makes the AR-15 style rifle the weapon of choice for mass shooters?
The mass murder last week at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, has something in common with America's deadliest massacres - the AR-15 semiautomatic rifle. Variations of the AR-15 were used in this month's massacre at a Buffalo supermarket; at a Texas Walmart in 2019; a Florida high school in 2018; a Texas church and a Las Vegas concert in 2017; and Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. The AR-15 style weapon is the most popular rifle in America with well over 11 million. And they are rarely used in crime. But, the AR-15 is the weapon of choice of the worst mass murderers. AR-15 ammunition travels up to three times the speed of sound. And as we first showed you in 2018, we're going to slow that down - so you can see why the AR-15's high velocity ammo is the fear of every american emergency room.
Mass shootings were once so shocking they were impossible to forget. Now they've become so frequent it's hard to remember them all. In October 2018, at a Pittsburgh synagogue, eleven were killed, six wounded.
[snip]
With the AR-15, it's not just the speed of the bullet, but also how quickly hundreds of bullets can be fired. The AR-15 is not a fully automatic machine gun. It fires only one round with each pull of the trigger. But in Las Vegas, it sounded like a machine gun.
A special add-on device called a bump stock allowed the killer to pull the trigger rapidly enough to kill 58 and wound 489. In other mass killings the AR-15 was fired without a bump stock, but even then, it can fire about 60 rounds a minute. Ammunition magazines that hold up to 100 rounds can be changed in about five seconds.
The used many words to answer their own question when I could've answered the same question with far fewer words -
The AR15 gives mass murderers the ability to kill lots of people very quickly.
Her penchant for hanging with grifters, fraudsters, scammers, nutjobs, and bigots is something that lends insight into how her potential administration might be conducted.
Corruption, cult of celebrity, and cult of personality will be big parts of any Lake administration.
For grifters, from 12News in Phoenix -
For fraudsters, from Twitter -
From NPR, dated 11/1/2021 -
'Misfire' is a scathing look at nepotism, fraud and corruption in the NRA
The National Rifle Association — once one of the most well-known and influential lobbying organizations in the country — is a wounded beast.
Tim Mak's Misfire: Inside the Downfall of the NRA might be the final blow in terms of exposing the organization's rotten core and showing how a boundless love for money and power — as well as nepotism, fraud, and corruption — have been eating away at the NRA's foundations for a long time.
For scammers -
From Twitter -
From OregonLive, dated 1/21/2022 -
MyPillow CEO hit with cease and desist letter from Idaho over bogus election fraud claims
Idaho officials have sent MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell a cease-and-desist letter and a bill of more than $6,000 over the businessman’s repeated accusations of voter fraud in the state.
Secretary of State Lawerence Denney and Attorney General Lawrence Wasden sent the cease-and-desist letter to Lindell on Tuesday, the Idaho Statesman reported. The letter demands Lindell “promptly remove all false statements about Idaho’s elections from your website” and “refrain from making similar statements in the future.”
For nutjobs -
From Blog for Arizona -
For bigots -
From Twitter -
Hey - at least the blurb in the pic is better than I might have written -
"Crazy bigot endorsed by craven bigot."
Guessing that he's not making a break with Cheeto.
From the website of the Federal Election Commission -
Democrat Grayson is running in CD8 against Debbie Lesko. He reports an address in Apache Junction. He has NOT filed as a write-in candidate with the Arizona Secretary of State.
Another week of almost nothing on the schedule at the legislature, though a budget could come down at any time and, as we tragically saw last week, public events could also happen at any time. This week will probably be a short one - there's a holiday on Monday and they've taken to skipping work on Thursdays (they've always skipped Fridays*).
* = All subject to change if leadership hands them a budget.
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.
