Short Attention Span Musing

- Let me be clear - I don't wish death on *anyone*...but there are certain folks who I think shouldn't be mourned.

Elected officials who use their positions to turn their private hatreds into public policy fall into that group.

The Arizona House and Senate have unanimously passed HCR2027, a death resolution commemorating the life of the infamous Russell Pearce.

While it talks about the many public agencies he was part of, it glosses over the bigotry and corruption that suffused any agency he was part of.

I'm not going to mourn a stone bigot, and if some folks believe that makes me a bad person, so be it.

- Booze and guns?  This isn't going to end well.

Pointed at this by Taegan Goddard's Political Wire.

From Jezebel via Yahoo! News -

Wisconsin Supreme Court Candidate Is Trying to Open a Gun Range That Serves Alcohol

There’s a pivotal election in April that you may not have heard about: A conservative judge on the Wisconsin Supreme Court is retiring, and four people are running in a race that could tip the body from its 4-3 conservative majority. It’s not hyperbole to say that whoever wins the race will determine whether the state’s abortion ban gets overturned and could rule on the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. (The two candidates in the race who support abortion rights are Judges Janet Protasiewicz and Everett Mitchell.)

According to local news reports, Waukesha County Judge Jennifer Dorow, a conservative candidate, and her husband Brian, are developing an indoor gun range that would not only host weddings and other events, but would also serve alcohol. The couple requested a Class B liquor license to sell beer and wine to members and guests in the “clubhouse.” The range would also sell firearms and accessories on-site. The Dorows said in city documents that they devised an “alcohol safety policy” consisting of hand stamps to prevent members from entering the shooting range after drinking and a breathalyzer to be used on “suspicious individuals.” 

And I thought that AZ had the craziest people...

- AZ GOP legislators vote to protect corruption.  Color me so not shocked.

From NBC via Yahoo! News -

Arizona’s GOP legislators vote to shield themselves from public records laws

Arizona’s Republican-controlled Legislature approved a measure this week exempting itself from the state’s public records law and authorizing the destruction of all emails sent or received by legislators and their staffs after 90 days.

The new rules adopted by both GOP-led chambers effectively shield members and their staff from public records requests, making investigations into any potential wrongdoing far more difficult.

Methinks that it's time to change the AZ Constitution, in ways that both compel publicly elected officials to maintain and transmit all records of their activities and so that the legislature is subject to all of the laws that they craft.