A third challenger for Harry Mitchell

Note to readers: Much of this post will be familiar material for anybody who has followed LD17 politics.

The following article says that she is "expected" to form a campaign committee, but a quick check of the FEC's website confirms that her organizational paperwork has been filed as of 9/10/2007, just not uploaded to the site.

In other words, she may not have "announced" as yet, but it's official.

From the Business Journal of Phoenix -

Former state lawmaker and conservative newspaper columnist Laura Knaperek is expected to announce that she will challenge U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell, D-Ariz., in next year's election.

Knaperek has been discussing a possible run with leading Republicans and business advocates and is expected to form a campaign committee, sources say.

Knaperek joins former congressional staffer and business lobbyist Jim Ogsbury and state Rep. Mark Anderson, R-Mesa, as possible candidates.

Brief background on Laura Knaperek:

She has been a regular candidate in what is currently Arizona's Legislative District 17 (formerly District 27). She won seats in the State House of Representatives from 1994 - 2000, lost to Harry Mitchell in the 2002 race for State Senate from the district, returned to the AZ House in 2004, and lost last year during a Democratic sweep of the races in the district.

A sweep that was led by Harry Mitchell's victory in the CD5 contest.

In addition to the columns that she has written for the East Valley Tribune, since her loss in last year's election, she has been working as the Executive Director of an organization called United Families International. The organization, among other things, opposes UN efforts to outlaw forced marriage and gender-selective infanticide.

Note: Her association with UFI was not noted in the Business Journal article.

In a Republican primary, she will stake out the 'pro-life, hardcore social conservative' territory.

Evaluation: She is a seasoned campaigner with name recognition among the Republican voters in the LD17 part of the congressional district (approx. 35% of the total district). However, she has lost two general elections in the district in the last 6 years, one to Harry Mitchell directly and one indirectly.

More importantly, she has low name recognition outside of her base district in Tempe, and some of the rumored candidates who have yet to announce are from the district (LD8) that makes up the largest part of CD5.

That deficit can be changed with a lot of schmoozing, but she is far more socially conservative than the average "Chamber of Commerce" Republican that is the norm in LD8.

In addition, she burned some bridges within her party during the contest for AZ Rep State Party Chair early this year.

She will have a tough time getting out of the primary.


A PDF of her statement of organization will be available at the link once the FEC has it available.

Her 2003/4 legislator financial disclosure form can be found here; 2005 form here; 2001 form here. Note - she didn't have to file a form for the years that she wasn't in the legislature.

Later!

9/11 Memorial tonight in Tempe

Tonight, Congressman Harry Mitchell and other will be part of a candlelight vigil in commemoration of the 6th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The vigil will be held at the Tempe Beach Park at 7:00 p.m.

From an email -

Dear Friend,

Six years ago today, on a Tuesday morning that at first seemed much like this one, 19 hijackers -- under the direction of a madman -- terrorized our country, took the lives of thousands of Americans, and forever changed how we view the world around us.

I know that we'll never forget when and where we were when we first heard the news of the attacks, how we felt when we saw the horrific images, or how our sense of national pride was stirred by the stories of courage we heard that day.

Yet, we must do more than simply not forget. We must actively remember and honor those who we lost that day. We must remember how firefighters and police officers saved thousands of lives by rushing into the burning World Trade Center to help others to safety. We must remember the crew and passengers of United Flight 93 who thwarted the ability of hijackers on their flight from hitting yet another target. We must remember the ones we lost that day, including Tempe's Gary Bird, who was in the World Trade Center for a business meeting. Many of us in Tempe got to know Gary and his wife Donna through their service to our community.

Tonight, I will join with others in our community to remember and honor those who lost their lives on 9/11 at a candlelight vigil being held at the Tempe Healing Field. I hope you'll consider joining all of us at 7:00 p.m. at Tempe Beach Park.

As we take time today to remember that horrible day, we are reminded that we must continue to be vigilant against terrorism. Six years have gone by, but Osama bin Laden remains alive and continues to plot attacks on the American people. As the recent video illustrated to us all, the threat is still real.

One of the first votes that I had the privilege to cast was for legislation to implement the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. While I am glad that this legislation is now law, unfortunately we still have more to do. You have my word that as long as I'm serving you in the House of Representatives, I'll continue to work as hard as I can to keep our country safe.

Sincerely yours,






Harry

Later!

Scottsdale's Human Relations Commission urges expansion of anti-discrimination protections

Tonight, the Scottsdale Human Relations Commission (SHRC) passed three motions that basically recommend that the City Council extend non-discrimination protection to cover sexual preference and sexual identification.

Currently, sec. 14 - 2 of the city code protects against discrimination on the standard bases of "race, color, religion, disability, sex, age or national origin."

The motions covered the areas of employment with the City, contractors, suppliers, and lessees of the City, and entities doing business in the City.

Note: I don't have the exact wording of the motions; it was a very confusing meeting. Even the secretary for the meeting didn't have the exact wording; when asked, she said that she would have to listen to the recording of the session to clarify the phrasing. It should be available on the SHRC's agendas and minutes webpage late this week.

The move to add additional non-discrimination language to City code had its genesis in a discussion over whether the Scottsdale Charros, a local private charitable group that hosts spring training for the City, discriminates against women in its membership practices.

Short summary of that issue: Don Logan, Scottsdale's Office of Diversity & Dialogue director, met with the Charros. During that meeting, the Charros stated that there is no restriction against female membership; potential members just have to be nominated by a board member.

Net effect: No women in the group.

When asked if any women had ever been nominated, the Charros replied that there have been, but when asked to list individual names, they demurred, citing privacy concerns.

Consideration of that motion was tabled (I think. It was a *very* confusing meeting) to consider a benchmark study prepared by City staff with anti-discrimination ordinances and policies from other municipalities across the valley, the state, and the country.

Net on this: they *really* liked Tucson's and Denver's ordinances.

The next item on the agenda involved discussion of what, if any, recommendation to make to the City Council on the topic.

In the end, while there was a bit of wrangling over the wording, there was very little disagreement. The motions either passed unanimously or with one 'nay' vote. The lone dissenter was worried about telling private businesses that didn't contract with/for the City how to conduct their business.

One public speaker, a trans-woman from Gilbert, appreciated the motion but questioned whether the City Council would approve such an ordinance if they wouldn't approve a GBLT day.

Recently, I've been attending Scottsdale Transportation Commission meetings because they are working on an update to the City's Transportation Master Plan. I figured that update was going to be the root of most of the screaming in City Council meetings for the next year and wanted to have an idea of what all of the hubbub was about.

The SHRC changed that prediction tonight.

Note to any SHRC members who happen to read this: Tighten up the parliamentary procedures; informal discussions are great, but when motions are read into the public record, they should be clear.

Anyway, Blogger is about to have a scheduled outage, so have a good night.

Later!

New day, same tired story

aka - The Petraeus Report On Iraq...

I'll do a more complete post after the hearing is complete, but I was struck by a couple of Gen. Petraeus' assertions in his opening statement.

...He claimed that they *might* be able to draw down troop levels to pre-surge levels. By sometime next year. [My take - Yeah, just in time for next year's elections.]

That means 130,000 troops in Iraq instead of the current 168,000.

Not exactly an improvement, that.

...His statement was a call for an indefinite occupation of Iraq. A Forever War, nothing less.

...He also stated that he wrote his statement himself and did not have it vetted by the White House, Pentagon, or any members of Congress.

That may or may not be true, but *if* he did write the statement without interference from any of those groups, it's only because he was going to say what they wanted him to say anyway.

...AP coverage here; they're already buying into the "withdrawing troops to pre-surge is a real improvement" BS.

More later...

Letter time again - Iraq

With another Iraq vote coming up, likely the week after next, it's time to let our Congresscritters know how we feel. To that end, I just submitted this letter to Rep. Harry Mitchell (D-AZ5) via his website -

Congressman Mitchell -

Within the next few weeks, Congress will hear a progress report on the Bush administration's efforts to stabilize the situation in Iraq. That report will be followed by consideration of a measure funding continued operations in Iraq.

I urge you to reject any measure that doesn't include an unambiguous timeline for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

By any reasonable standard, the war is an ongoing abject failure.

In May when you voted to support HR2206, you cited the benchmarks devised and agreed to by the Iraqi government as the reason you supported continuation of the
war.

According to the GAO, 11 of the 18 benchmarks established earlier this year have not been met; of the other 7 benchmarks, 4 have only been partially met.

And of those seven that have been met or partially met, four are symbolic only. “Quality of life” benchmarks like creating independent and non-sectarian Iraqi security forces are completely unmet.

Furthermore, the practical situation in Iraq is deteriorating. There are daily reports of sectarian strife and military and civilian deaths. Since the beginning of June, nearly 300 U.S. servicemembers and an estimated 5000 Iraqis have died as a result of violence there.

The political situation at home shows a continued decline in support for the war, and even more to the point, growing support for a withdrawal of troops. Support that comes even from many who have supported the war. The latest Gallup poll (August 3 – 5) shows that support for withdrawing troops by next April is at 66%.

Continued support for the war, or even equivocation on withdrawal, is not a position that is in line with the sentiments of the overwhelming majority of Americans.

Lastly, there are the moral considerations, considerations that haven't changed since May.

The war was started under false pretenses, when the President lied about the presence of weapons of mass destruction.

The war was continued under false pretenses, when the Administration repeatedly lied about a connection between Saddam Hussein and terrorism.

Then earlier this year, the President claimed that his “surge” would reduce violence in Iraq, yet the casualty totals for Americans and Iraqis have only increased. In fact, this summer was one of the bloodiest periods of the war.

In short, the President and his appointees have ignored reality, shaded the truth, and out-and-out lied, both to Congress and to the American people, on a regular basis.

To summarize, the situation in Iraq is still deteriorating, support for the war is plummeting, and the least credible President in history is still lying about it all.

There is no reason to believe that the situation in Iraq is improving; the objectively non-partisan GAO report says otherwise.

There are no practical or moral reasons for you or the Congress as a whole to distance yourselves from the mainstream of American thought on this subject.

There is no reason to further align yourself with the least-popular and least-respected President in American history.

There is no reason for you to support any funding measure without specific and binding withdrawal language in it.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

[cpmaz]

Note: I didn't bother sending a letter to AZ's U.S. Senators, Kyl and McCain. Even the few seconds needed to copy and paste the letter into their websites' contact forms would have been an utter waste of time.

Anyway, have a great weekend everyone!

Comings and goings....

Wednesday was a day of transition for many Republicans...

...Former Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn of Washington passed away at her home in Virginia.

...Ohio Congressman Paul Gillmor was found dead in his D.C. apartment, apparently from natural causes.

My deepest condolences to the friends and families of both.

...Two aides to Abramhoff-associated Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) moved from 'staffer' status to 'witness' status as they testified before a grand jury investigating their boss.

From AP via SeattlePI.com -

WASHINGTON -- Rep. John Doolittle's scheduler and deputy chief of staff appeared Wednesday before a federal grand jury investigating the California Republican's ties to jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Doolittle's spokesman said.

The scheduler, Alisha Perkins, and Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Blankenburg were among three Doolittle aides subpoenaed in recent days. Chief of Staff Ron Rogers is scheduled to testify Friday before the grand jury at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

...TV actor and former Senator Fred Thompson officially announced his candidacy for the 2008 Republican nomination for President.

...In Arizona, Ken Bennett, former president of the state senate, announced that he is *not* running for the CD1 Congressional seat, but he did leave open the possibility of seeking the Governor's office in 2010.

Tedski at R-Cubed has an interesting take on the effect of his son's legal troubles on a potential Bennett candidacy, and I have to agree with his point - the troubles themselves ("hazing" 18 kids with a broom handle) would have less of an impact on a candidacy than the suspicions that the elder Bennett's political prominence had something to do with the lenient sentence his son received (30 days).

Those suspicions will still be around in 2010.

...Also in Arizona, State Rep. Russell Pearce (R-National Alliance) has formed an exploratory committee for a potential primary challenge against super conservative Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ6).

Republican blog Espresso Pundit's take on the possible race is here.

...It was also a day of transition for a Democrat - Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota made his welcome return to the Senate after his long recovery from a brain hemorrhage.

AP coverage here.

Later!

What was Joe Arpaio thinking?

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's never-ending pursuit of media coverage and publicity only serves to undermine his (and his agency's) credibility every day.

From the East Valley Tribune (emphasis mine) -

Sheriff Joe Arpaio joins reality TV

Fox television is considering a comedic reality cop show whose pilot episode starred the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.

The premise of the show, tentatively titled “Smile! You’re Under Arrest,” is to lure fugitives to an unexpected arrest with bogus promises of prizes and riches, according to Scott Grogin, vice president of corporate communications for Fox.

{snip}

Variety reported that everyone who was arrested for the pilot got to keep the prize they were offered.

Bribing criminals now Joe?? Where is that covered in Dick Tracy's Crimestopper Handbook?

Why doesn't he just retire and move to Hollywood? He'll be happy because he'll be in a place with more cameras than people, and we'll be happy because we'll be able to have a true professional in charge of MCSO.

Note: it wouldn't surprise me if the prizes were paid for by Fox, not MCSO. However, whether the money came from Fox or from MCSO, MCSO was part of the scheme to convey the money to known criminals.

Either way, Arpaio comes off looking as if he is more concerned with publicity than with doing his job properly.

Of course, that's not exactly breaking news. :)

Later!

Summer break is over...

and Republicans are back to acting like, well, "Republicans."

Not that they ever stopped. :)

...Sen. Larry Craig (R- Needs a clue) is now "reconsidering" his decision to resign from the U.S. Senate over his arrest in a sex sting. From AP via Yahoo! News -

BOISE, Idaho - Sen. Larry Craig is reconsidering his decision to resign after his arrest in a Minnesota airport sex sting and may still fight for his Senate seat, his spokesman said Tuesday evening.

The highlight of the article was this passage, though (emphasis mine) -

Billy Martin, one of Craig's lawyers, said the senator's arrest in an undercover police operation in the Minneapolis airport "raises very serious constitutional questions."

Martin, who represents Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick in his dogfighting case, said Craig "has the right to pursue any and all legal remedies available as he begins the process of trying to clear his good name."

I'm sure Mr. Martin is well-compensated for his efforts, but isn't there a nice clean armed robbery or corporate fraud case to defend? Maybe a slumlord or mineowner? Any of those defendants would be a step up for him professionally.

Anyway, the good Senator shouldn't resign because

A. the crime he pled to (and is considering 'un-pleading' to) is a misdemeanor that didn't involve violence, a minor, or misuse of his office. It's more than a little creepy, but that's all; and

B. if he resigns, the Democratic nominee for his seat next year won't get to beat on him or the eventual Republican nominee during the campaign with the "hypocrite" plank (metaphorically speaking.)


...The White House is gearing up for more of the same in Iraq.

First came this, courtesy GovExec.com -

Independent study finds Iraq has failed to meet most goals

A Government Accountability Office report released Tuesday concludes that Iraq's government has failed to meet most legislative, economic and security benchmarks established by Congress.

The much-anticipated report kicks off what is expected to be a month dominated by debate over Iraq policy, as Democrats in both chambers continue efforts to end the increasingly unpopular war. The report says the Iraqi government has met three of 18 benchmarks, partially met four and failed to achieve 11.

The Bush administration response, courtesy AP via Yahoo! News -

WASHINGTON - President Bush's senior advisers on Iraq have recommended he stand by his current war strategy, and he is unlikely to order more than a symbolic cut in troops before the end of the year, administration officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

{snip}

Bush himself suggested that modest troop cuts may be possible if military successes continue, but he gave no timeline or specific numbers. Options beyond a symbolic cut this year include cutting the tour of duty for troops in Iraq from 15 months back to the traditional 12 months, one official said. If adopted, that change would not come before the spring.

What a swell guy!! Back to 12-month tours of duty!! Maybe!! Whooo hooo!


...The Republicans behind the 2004 'Swift Boat' smear campaign against Sen. John Kerry are hard at work, trying to rig the 2008 elections.

From AP, via Yahoo! News -

LOS ANGELES - Lawyers behind a California ballot proposal that could benefit the 2008 Republican presidential nominee have ties to a Texas homebuilder who financed attacks on Democrat John Kerry's Vietnam War record in the 2004 presidential campaign.

Charles H. Bell and Thomas Hiltachk's law firm banked nearly $65,000 in fees from a California-based political committee funded almost solely by Bob J. Perry that targeted Democrats in 2006. Perry, a major Republican donor, contributed nearly $4.5 million to the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that made unsubstantiated but damaging attacks on Kerry three years ago.

Perry is funding a campaign to change the way California's 55 electoral votes are allocated, from the 'winner-take-all' statewide format currently used to a system that awards them Congressional district by Congressional district.

In 2004, the state went overwhelmingly Democratic statewide, but 22 of the Congressional districts individually went Republican.

The group is called Californians for Equal Representation, which *sounds* non-partisan, right? However, the primary source of funding for the group, Bob J. Perry of Houston, Texas, has given tens of millions of dollars to Republican candidates and causes over the years.

Including $4,350,000 to fund the Swift Boat Liars PAC. (Courtesy FEC)

Stay tuned on this one.


...And when all is bleak - Bush's war is still going badly, prominent Republicans are found not using bathroom stalls for the purposes for which they were created, Republican after Republican is facing ethics questions, and a tanking housing market seems to be taking the overall economy with it - you can count on a House Republican to immediately try to bring Congress' focus to that which truly ails America - illegal immigration.

Rep. Martha Blackburn (R-TN7), in perhaps the 2nd or 3rd floor speech given after the House gavelled back into session on Tuesday, started right in on how illegal immigration is one of the greatest threats facing our nation right now.

Edit to add:

The transcript of her speech can be found in the Congressional Record here.

End edit.

Nice to have clear priorities; too bad their priorities have nothing to do with solving real problems and everything to do with appeasing the most extreme part of their base.


There was some good news, though.

...Laura Richardson (D-CA) was sworn in to fill the open seat left by the late Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA).

Congrats to Congresswoman Richardson on her election!

...Niki Tsongas, widow of the late Sen. Paul Tsongas, won the Democratic primary to fill the vacant seat in Massachusetts' 5th district. The seat opened up when Rep. Martin Meehan resigned to accept the Chancellor's post and UMass-Lowell.

Congrats to Mrs. Tsongas, too!

I'd mention the winner of the Republican primary, but the only way for a Republican to win in that district is to have Katherine Harris count the ballots. :)

Later!

Scottsdale Campaign Season Is Open

The City of Scottsdale's campaign season is officially underway, as denoted by the fact that the City's website now includes a page where all pertinent campaign forms can be downloaded.

Scottsdale's City Clerk, Carolyn Jagger, graciously took a few minutes out of her day to talk about the process and answer a few questions.

Currently active candidate committees include those for the four incumbents up for reelection - Mayor Mary Manross, Council members Jim Lane, Betty Drake, and Ron McCullagh - as well as for previously announced candidates Nan Nesvig and Joel Bramoweth.

Expect more candidates to throw their hats in the ring over the next few months. Many more. :)

Candidates can obtain nominating petitions and other forms either by downloading them from the website or by picking them up at the City Clerk's office. Note: Forms don't have to be picked up by candidates; a representative can do it, also. One advantage to picking up the forms (as opposed to downloading them) is that the Clerk's office can answer any questions right there.

Forms can be picked up/downloaded at any time; however, before any campaigning can take place, either a Statement of Organization or a $500 Threshold Exemption Statement must be on file. (ARS 16-903)

Petitions can be submitted no earlier than 8:00 a.m. on Monday, May 5, 2008, and no later than 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 4, 2008.

The City's General Election will be held on Tuesday, September 2, 2008 (the same day as the state's primary election); the City's runoff election (if necessary) will be held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008 (same as the state's general election).

All city offices will be at the bottom of the ballot.

Next year's election will mark the first time where the City's election will synch up with the statewide election, and it would be very easy for an minor little municipal election to get lost in the fanfare (and angst! :) ) of a presidential election.

That would be unfortunate, as that local election will have far more impact on the daily lives of the residents of Scottsdale than whoever wins the White House.

Most questions can be answered by reading the 2008 Candidate Handbook or by contacting the Clerk's office. The Clerk and her staff will be happy to help.

Later!

Congrats to the newly elected officers of the AZNJDC

The AZNJDC is off to a fast start and is gearing up to have an impact on next year's elections.

Now that the chapter has completed organization (more than 50 members!), the following people were elected as the officers of the Arizona chapter of the National Jewish Democratic Council -

Jerry Gettinger - President

David Schapira - Chairman

Bob Rosenberg - V.P. Community Action

Fred Barlam - V.P. Membership

Liz Kaplan - V.P. Public Relations

Richard Merkin - V.P. Fundraising

Joan Rose - Secretary

Joel Stempil - Treasurer

Hannah Kaplan, Nancy Stein, Carin Jablonsky, Jerry Rose - At Large Exec. Committee Members

Congratulations to everyone!!

A special election in CD1 is still possible...

From a Chicago Tribune article about the Sen. Craig (R-ID) scandal (thanks to blog Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot, Over for the heads-up on this article) -

Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) recently said he would not run for re-election, privately telling his staff that he expects to be indicted for his ties to Abramoff.

While this would be a great turn of events if true, take the article with a grain of salt.

Perhaps the *only* thing that Renzi (R-Mantech) has yet to get in serious trouble for are his limited ties to Abramoff.

Funnelling defense appropriations to his father's company (the aforementioned Mantech)? Yep.

Campaign finance violations? Yep again.

Shady land deals and business dealings? Oh yeaaahhhhh.


His ties to Abramoff are almost an afterthought compared to his other issues, but whatthehell -

The feds took mob kingpin and stone killer Al Capone off the streets with an income tax violation; if the ties to Abramoff are what get the job done with Renzi, so be it.

My only question is does Renzi have to resign upon indictment, or like fellow corrupt Republican Fife Symington before him, can he wait until he is convicted before leaving office? Or does he have to be forced from office by a vote of the House? Comments with that info will be gratefully accepted. :)

Later!

Red Sox rookie Buchholz no-hits Orioles!

In only his 2nd major league start, rookie Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz threw the 17th no-hitter in franchise history, the 8th at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox scored 10 runs behind Buchholz as he hit one batter, walked three, and struck out nine in a masterful 115-pitch performance.

It doesn't quite make up for the sweep at the hands of the hated, contemptible, vile, despicable, wretched, abominable, craven, [insert your favorite adjective here] Yankees earlier in the week, but it definitely helps. :)

Later!

500th post - Short Attention Span Musing

I had planned to do a significant post in commemoration of my 500th post here, full of wry observations and profound witticisms.

However, it's been a long week, so a normal post will have to do. :))


...Now that Rick Renzi has made his departure official, the race for the Republican nomination can officially start.

Sydney Hay, president of the Arizona Mining Association, threw her hat in the ring this week.

According to her AZGOP press release, she will be campaigning on a platform of lower taxes, privatized education and other public services, Republican ethics, and, of course, 'change.'

I have a suggestion for a campaign plank - "CD1 needs a representative who isn't a wholly-owned subsidiary of an out-of-state corporation! In-state corporations need sweetheart no-bid contracts too!"

Among the recipients of her personal campaign contributions, according to the FEC - Sen. Lindsay Graham, Rep. Mike Pence, Rep. Jeff Flake, and herself (she ran in CD1 in 2002.)

...In a development that only reinforced the point made in the first Random Musings post - perhaps the ethnicity of the targeted groups has changed, as well as general language usage, but otherwise, nothing substantial has changed regarding anti-immigrant fervor in the United States.

In Texas, a native-born citizen of Hispanic ancestry was arrested, jailed, and nearly deported because she has the same name as someone who has been deported in the past.

From the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram -

Texan is jailed as illegal immigrant

A native Texan spent the night in the Arlington Jail, missed her children's first day of school and feared being deported after authorities mistook her for an illegal immigrant.

Alicia Rodriguez, an accountant and mother of three, has the same name and date of birth as a woman deported to Mexico three times.

{snip}

Gilfour said police overlooked fingerprints that would have shown Rodriguez was not the illegal immigrant.

Rodriguez said she does not plan to sue, but apologies do not make up for what she was put through.

"I think it's ridiculous. I think it was obvious that I wasn't an illegal immigrant," she said.

Thanks to jobsanger in Texas for the heads-up on this. He summed it up pretty well in his post when he wrote -

This could have easily been avoided if they had just checked her fingerprints against the known prints of the woman they had her confused with. But they didn't -- they already had their minds made up and didn't want to be confused with facts. After all, she was Hispanic.

...Not that I was ever a fan, but Vince Gill's career fade is painful to watch for anybody who likes any kind of music.

Now he's reduced to doing ads where his backing band is the Fruit of the Loom guys! YouTube video here.

What's next? An off-the-Strip gig in a Vegas dive bar? Hell, working as a judge on a reality show has more dignity than jamming with the Fruit of the Loom guys.

...On the other hand, at least *he's* the one destroying his own legacy; Elvis Presley is probably auditioning for the next "Night of the Living Dead" remake, just for the chance to get his hands on whoever from his estate licensed "Viva Las Vegas" to the makers of Viagra.

The spot, with a bunch of guys in an old barn (or something similar) singing "Viva Viagra" is possibly the creepiest use of a catchy tune. Ever.

That's not the worst of it, either - I can't think about the lyrics to Viva Las Vegas without changing "Las Vegas" to "Viagra."

That may make some marketing exec jump for joy, but the song is just ruined.

YouTube video of the spot here.

...While the story of Sen. Larry Craig's (R-ID) attempt to pick up an undercover police officer in a public restroom is tabloid tawdry, and watching the strident gay-basher try to spin his hypocrisy is seriously entertaining (in a 'watching an impending train wreck' sort of way), the real fun has been watching the Republicans turn on one of their own.

However, does anybody think that if he was caught with trying to pick up a woman, that this story would have lasted more than 5 minutes in the media, or generated more than a wink and a nudge from his Republican colleagues?

Anybody?

One bright spot in all this? Soon-to-be-ex-Senator Craig's press conference to deny that he is gay (YouTube video here) has totally trounced the infamous meltdown by Miss Teen USA-South Carolina as the "worst recorded public appearance of the week." (YouTube vid of that here.)

...And in the "I suppose I should be flattered at the attention" Department -

Somebody at the ultra-conservative Goldwater Institute spent two hours at this blog on Friday.

Host Name mx.goldwaterinstitute.org
IP Address 68.110.172.111 [Label IP Address]
Country United States
Region Arizona
City Phoenix
ISP Cox Communications
Returning Visits 0
Visit Length 2 hours 8 mins 48 secs

There's no guarantee that whoever it was spent two entire hours reading this blog, but the visit was definitely more than a drive-by.

...It's time for me to burn my "Yankees Suck" t-shirt.

I wore it at the beginning of a 5 game series between the Sox and Yanks in NYC last August, and the Red Sox were swept.

Then I wore it at the beginning of this week's three game set, also in NYC. The Sox were swept again.

IT'S THE SHIRT'S FAULT!! IT MUST MAKE THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE!!

:))

...Time for bed...later!

I just hate it when I get lied to...

and I'm pretty sure that a staffer at the House Judiciary Committee just baldly lied about a committee amendment to HR2102, the Free Flow of Information Act. Its basic purpose is to establish a federal shield law for journalists.

As I wrote last week, the bill was reported out of the Judiciary Committee just prior to the House's summer break with a manager's amendment that, among other things, would limit the definition of protected journalism to that is for 'financial gain' or 'livelihood.'

Based on the discussion recorded in the transcript, the change was definitely targeted at amateur bloggers.

Earlier today, I called the House Judiciary Committee looking for a copy of the language of the amendment, as it has not been posted on the House website as yet, four weeks after the meeting.

That question (when the language will be available) was never answered, but the staffer who answered the phone (sorry, didn't get his name) stated, after putting me on hold and consulting with someone, that such language, while discussed in the meeting, was not part of the manager's amendment.

Let me reiterate, quoting from the transcript of the meeting -

Rep. Boucher describing his manager's amendment, from page 33 of the transcript:

First, to be a journalist entitled to the protection, the person must engage in journalism for financial gain or livelihood,

Rep. Conyers, the committee chair, from pages 105 and 106:

All those in favor of the manager's amendment as amended will indicate by signifying, "Aye."

All those opposed, indicate by saying, "No."

The ayes have it, and so ordered.

We now move to the question on reporting the bill as amended favorably to the House.

All those in favor will signify by saying, "Aye."

Those opposed, "No."

In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. The ayes have it, and the bill as amended is reported.

The transcript shows that the manager's amendment was amended by Trent Franks (R-AZ) and Louis Gohmert (R-TX) to include language that had nothing to do with the defintion of protected journalism, but that's it.

The discussion chronicled in the transcript *did* indicate that further changes are under discussion and could be forthcoming, perhaps via floor amendments. In addition, there was some confusion about the meaning of "financial gain or livelihood" so some of the changes may be of a clarifying nature..

However, any way that I read the transcript leads to the same conclusion - no matter how much the staffer insists, the bill has been amended to exclude amateur bloggers from protection.

I'd like to cut him some slack, to say that the misinformation wasn't a lie, that it was due to confusion with the text of the transcript, but the transcript was very clear on the basics. The committee staffer (or perhaps the person he consulted with while I was on hold) lied.

The phone call flustered me so much that I forgot to inquire about part of the transcript that deserves further illumination -

On page 42 of the transcript, Rep. Pence (R-IN) spoke about "many weeks' worth of negotiations."

I was curious about who participated in those "negotiations."

Maybe next call. :)

Note: In related news, Desert Beacon in Nevada has the scoop on a Nevada representative, Jon Porter (R-NV3), sounding off on bloggers, and why they shouldn't be protected by a shield law.

From the Laughlin Times -

Asked if he supports a federal shield law for the press, he said he did. However, the problem is how to protect legitimate reporters when there are web logs, “blogs,” whose authors can defame and lie with impunity because they can be anonymous and don't have to worry about the facts.

“I would like to strengthen the legitimate news sources. I'm very concerned about blogs and even some radio. They can hide behind a shield law but they are not legitimate news sources,” the congressman said.

Note: Congressman Porter isn't a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Somebody needs to tell the good Congressman and his colleagues that one doesn't need to work for a corporate media conglomerate to be a journalist; in fact, given the state of journalism in the U.S. today, one could argue that there is very little actual journalism in today's mainstream media, no matter how profitable In addition, many bloggers are at least as good at verifying sources and facts as anybody working for one of those conglomerates.

Especially Fox News.

:))

In addition, they need to understand that disagreement, even partisan-based disagreement, isn't 'defamation' or 'lies.' If they don't want us to write about the things that they do that they don't want folks to know about, they should quit doing those things in the first place.

2nd Potential Challenger For Harry Mitchell

Republican state rep Mark Anderson (R-LD18) has announced that he is looking at running for the Republican nomination in CD5 next year.

From the EV Tribune -

Republican State Rep. Mark Anderson of Mesa has formed an exploratory committee to weigh a challenge against Democrat U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell of Tempe in 2008.

Anderson became the second Republican to step forward in a Congressional race that is sure to attract national interest and campaign funding from both parties. Scottsdale lobbyist Jim Ogsbury announced his intent to run on Aug. 17.

Anderson's legislative webpage is here.

Anderson lives in the bit of west Mesa that is in CD5, so at least he isn't a carpetbagger (unlike some of the other rumored but unannounced candidates that he may be facing next year).

By the standards of today's Republican Party, he is what passes for a moderate because he will occasionally "work across the aisle", and by comparison to his seatmate from LD18, Russell Pearce (R-National Alliance), he is.

However, while he is going to claim that education is one of his signature issues (or whatever terminology he uses), he has spent most of the last decade working to undermine public education in Arizona, from his involvement with the original creation of the tuition tax credit to funnel donations to private schools (and to funnel tax money away from school districts) to his scheme this year to help private testing companies with a bill to uncap the fees they could charge teachers for their recertification tests.

He is also one of the legislators who, in 2005, killed a bill in committee that would have made spousal rape a felony; at the time, it could be treated as a misdemeanor.

His reason? ...Someone could lie about it.

From the linked article, courtesy the Arizona Divorce and Family Law Blog -

The vote of the House Committee on Human Services came after foes said they feared boosting the penalty would provide incentives for a wife to charge rape.

"That's going to be much more likely to happen in a scenario where two people are normally having sexual relations and then, if one person decides for whatever reason that they would like to attack the other person this is a very serious way to get it done," said Rep. Mark Anderson, R-Mesa.

Other pertinent facts:

He's a "Romney Republican," as he is one of the co-chairs of Romney's Arizona campaign.

His legislative campaign site is here.

He's sponsored legislation to undermine the teaching of evolutionary theory and to promote the teaching of creationism in schools (HB2585, 2nd Session, 44th Legislature, year 2000).

There wasn't anything interesting in terms of political contributions by Anderson contained in FEC records or in the AZ Secretary of State's records. Haven't had time to check the contributions *to* his legislative campaigns as yet.

The conservative blog Sonoran Alliance had this to say about him in April -

Solid conservative with a stellar voting record on most counts. Although CD 5 has only a portion of LD 18, it is a portion in which Mark happens to live. Mark is very well respected by conservatives, but frustrates the more libertarian-leaning with his willingness to use government for social conservative outcomes. His membership in the Unification Church (better known as Moonies) could be a weakness because it is easy to shoot at someone’s religion when you don’t know much about it. A bigger weakness will be the money game. He has never had to raise more than $30K for his legislative races. A serious candidate will need to raise that much about every ten days.

General issues: Dems attack his religion and his hard-right voting record.

That's a pretty fair assessment, except for one point - we don't care about his religion.

More importantly, he's going to have a tough time getting out of the Republican primary - he's got zero name recognition in the bulk of CD5, and even if he *does* get the nomination, he won't touch Harry Mitchell in Tempe or with the Independents in Scottsdale.

Note: since he's only forming an "exploratory committee," Arizona's 'resign to run' laws don't apply yet.

Later!