Redistricting-related meeting on Monday

At 1 p.m Monday., the Arizona Commission on Appellate Court Appointments will hold an emergency meeting to discuss how they will nominate three Independents to be considered as replacements for Colleen Mathis, who was ousted as chair of the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission this past week.

Note to anyone who plans to attend the meeting: it will be held in the Arizona State Courts Building at 1501 W. Washington in Phoenix (directly east of the state capitol, with Wesley Bolin Plaza in between) and will chaired by Chief Justice Rebecca White Berch.  If she is running true to form, that means the meeting will start a 1 p.m. sharp, not "around 1", not "within a few minutes of 1", and not "1-ish", so plan accordingly.

Like most meetings of public bodies in Arizona (but unlike the closed meeting of the Republican caucus of the Senate last week where they wrangled votes for their kangaroo court of Mathis), public comments can be submitted to the Commission, whether in person, via snail mail, or via email.

Since I have to work Monday, I submitted a comment via email (jnc@courts.az.gov) -

Chief Justice Berch and Commissioners,

Regarding the discussion of a nominating process to fill a vacancy on the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC):

Ideally, you would wait until any and all court petitions pertaining to the removal of AIRC chair Colleen Mathis have been adjudicated before starting the nomination process to fill any vacancy (if that is the end result of the court actions), but redistricting is a time sensitive matter and it is only prudent to make appropriate preparations.

With that time sensitivity in mind, the simplest and perhaps fairest process would be to contact the original finalists for the Independent member slot, perhaps in the order of the number of votes they received during the original process, and ask each if they are still interested in serving as chair of the AIRC.

Those original nominees have been through the full vetting and nomination process. If any or all of the original nominees are still interested, it would greatly reduce any delay in the redistricting process.

In addition, even an abbreviated search process for new applicants runs the risk of opening up more opportunities for the sort of mischief that has been evident over the last few months, culminating in last week's removal of Mathis.

Having said all that, I wish upon you the best of good luck - the Arizona Supreme Court may yet make any preparations moot.

I also wish upon you the deepest patience - the Court may make your preparations absolutely necessary, at which point this commission will become the focus of the same extraordinary political pressures that have been directed at the AIRC.

Thank you for your consideration and service.

Regards,

Craig McDermott

Scottsdale

Representing myself

P.S. - My first instinct in writing this was to recommend that you send the Governor and State Senate a letter that says simply "Be careful what you wish for..." and then forward a list of three names for the Independent member of the AIRC - "Paul Bender", "Paul Bender", and "Paul Bender". After careful consideration, I opted for a more tactful approach. Especially since I don't know if Professor Bender is still even interested in the rather thankless job of Chair of the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission.

...Not the most eloquent thing ever written, but I really did have to rein it in, as indicated in the "P.S.", which in and of itself reined in.  I actually wanted to suggest that the members of the Appellate Court Appointments Commission go to the roof of the Courts Building, walk over to the side closest to the Capitol, turn around, and moon the Governor and Senate.

I also wanted to include this pic -

 

Arizona has its own Queen of Hearts (Alice in Wonderland-style) - Governor Jan Brewer.  Pic courtesy Lauren Kuby

















However, since I wanted my comment to be taken seriously... :))

Email spammers follow current events. Who knew?

Like most people, my email inbox receives at least a few dozen purely "spam" emails every day (to be fair, I probably receive a few more than average because my email address is on the sidebar of the blog).  Most of the time, I completely ignore them.

On those few occasions when I do take note of them, it's because of discordant, almost mutually exclusive, subjects of the subject headings of emails in close proximity to each other, like when there are messages promising to help me enlarge my breasts right after the ones hawking pills to help with penis enlargement.  Or when messages advertising Christian dating services are next to ones offering to help me find Mormon singles in my area while still others tout access to Jewish singles.

When looking at the subjects in my inbox, I wonder briefly who is more confused, the person(s) sending out the messages or the person(s) they work on.

After a quick chuckle, I delete them without reading the actual message.

On rare days however, one spam message come through that I just *have* to read...and today was one of those days.

From my email inbox, with the subject line "Greeting from Libyian Mamman Gaddafi Son's school friend." (copied and pasted - any typos or spelling or grammatical errors are the original writer's) -

Good day,


I am personal assistant to Mr. Seif al-Islam Gaddafi Son to Ex-President Mr.Muammar Gaddafi of Libya.

Because of the recent resolution by The International community for immediateseizure of the assets of the late president Mr. Muammar Gaddafi both in cashand properties around the world and Mr. Seif Al Islam Al Gaddafi been thechairman of Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation (GICDF) beenin a hideout have asked me to urgently look for an international investmentpartner to assist with moving and investment of $6.9 Million US Dollars whichis in cash and is stashed in a secure Finance house some where to be disclosedto you there after you shown interest.

This cash can be moved directly to you in your country on a good arrangementand once you receive it you will help us to safe guard it or invest the moneyin a lucrative business based on the instruction. Please note that this is avery confidential transaction and should not be mentioned to a third party. Wewill be willing to give you 20% of the total cash for your help in thistransaction. If you accept the offer we want things to be donesoonest because of time due to the instability in Libya at the moment. Pleaseif you agree to help, you should not worry about your safety as we havelogistics in place to move the cash to you, but will want to have your interestfirst and devotion to abide with us and maintain confidentiality over the wholetransaction for security reasons. No risk attached, the transaction will bebacked up with legal documents.

If this interest you, kindly send me the following details:

1. Your full name

2. Your telephone and mobile number

3. Your age

4. Your sex

5. Your occupations

6. Your full contact address including city, state and country

Awaiting your urgent response.

May God bless you as you assist my family?

Yours faithfully,

Mr.Ibrahim Abdulaziz..Reply to this email : [DELETED]

 
Yes, it's the Nigerian scam updated into a Libyan scam.

Anybody want to make a bet on how long it is before Jan Brewer, Russell Pearce, and the rest of the gang are the stars of their own spam?

Dearest Friend,

I am the cousin of the neighbor of the cleaning lady of the lawyer for the cellmate of Mr. Ex-Senate President Russell K. Pearce.  Because of the recent incarceration of Mr. Pearce and Ms. deposed Governor Jan Brewer, I have been contracted to move the treasury of Arizona, Mr. Pearce's priceless collection of toupees and many years of Fiesta Bowl swag, and a warehouse full of remainder copies of Ms. Brewer's book "Scorpions For Breakfast" to a safe location, .  We need the help of a few trusting trustworthy saps people for this move.  If you send us your money, your self respect, and your soul, we'll only take your money and self respect.

...You can write the rest.

:)

AIRC hearing in Scottsdale

Thursday evening, well over 200 people gathered at the Granite Reef Senior Citizen Center in Scottsdale for one of the hearings held by the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC).

The room was so crowded that building staff had to put out dozens of extra chairs and there were still people stand around the sides of the room and outside where they still listen to the goings-on.

A couple of us made jokes that the Rs in the legislature weren't going to have time to completely shut down the meeting because the fire department would beat them to it. 

However, the mayor of Scottsdale, Jim Lane, was in the audience, so the Scottsdale Fire Department was nowhere around.

Lane testifying











Steve at Arizona Eagletarian has a full write-up here, but I have a few observations about the meeting, the R talking points (and the early part of the hearing was an R propaganda-fest) -

- Commissioner Rick Stertz, the commissioner present at the hearing (and Russell Pearce's appointee), gave preference to elected officials, letting them speak first.  Apparently, that has been the practice all along, even before the lege moved to usurp the "independence" in the independent redistricting process.

However, the average citizen had only two minutes to speak, where the electeds spoke for as long as they wanted to. 

Apparently in Arizona, not only do alleged public servants not understand the concept of *public" service, they don't even acknowledge (or maybe simply don't understand) the concepts of basic courtesy, as in "hit the high points, submit the rest in writing, and get out of the way - a lot of other people have the right to be heard too".

- Republican State Rep. John Kavanagh was one of the electeds who testified at the hearing.  In the interests of brevity, I won't rehash all of it (it was itself a rehash of the report generated by the GOPers kangaroo court...errr..."Joint Committee On Redistricting"), but suffice to say if Kavanagh or any of his associates choose to stand up and repeat that BS in court, they should bring a good defense attorney with them (hint: not Lisa Hauser; her involvement with this mess may cause her to need a defense attorney, but it doesn't make her one).

And they should bring a good toothbrush with them, in case the good defense attorney just isn't good enough and the judge is one that takes a dim view of perjury.  Ya just don't know where that prison-issued toothbrush has been...

- Other than the generic R talking points excoriating the AIRC for failing to kiss R butt, there was a pattern to specific suggestions that the Rs made to the AIRC.

They want Fountain Hills to be placed in the same district(s) as Scottsdale.  They consider Scottsdale and Fountain Hills to be an unbreakable "community of interest".  One woman testified that placing the two areas in separate districts was unacceptable because while she lives in Fountain Hills, she likes to shop in Scottsdale.

I only *wish* I was making that part up, but alas, my imagination just isn't that creative.

Anyway, the mentality exhibited seemed to be less that district boundaries are lines on a map and more that they walls across streets.

Not the truth, but the truth and intellectual honesty was in short supply during the early part of the meeting.

One thing I'd say to the woman who conflated shopping and district lines if I could - the merchants of north Scottsdale don't care about what district (or state, or country) their customers are from, so long as they leave a lot of money here when they visit.

The other consistent map-specific talking point was that the AIRC should change the lines to include south Scottsdale in the same districts as north Scottsdale.

I haven't heard such professions of solidarity with south Scottsdale from the denizens of north Scottsdale since...

...the last round of redistricting.

The rest of the time, north Scottsdale has as much regard for south Scottsdale as it does for Tempe, Mesa, or a pile of dog poop on the sidewalk.

And after the maps are finalized, and regardless of how the lines turn out, their attitude will return to the normal not-so-benign contempt (gee, can ya tell I live in south Scottsdale?  :) ).

Note: Scottsdale City Councilman Bob Littlefield was there and while he is from north Scottsdale, he is an exception to that observation.  Actually, among Scottsdale's "power elite", he is *the* exception.

- As mentioned earlier, most of the early part of the meeting was Republicans tag-teaming to shovel the same pile of BS.

However, later in the evening, the speakers tended toward being Independents or Democrats, all of whom supported the independence of the AIRC and competitive districts.

Many of them spoke eloquently and passionately, many spoke bluntly and passionately.

However, the best line of the night went to Doris Freeman -

"You think you are living in a Republican state?  You don't.  You live in a banana republic."

Freeman testifying












While the video of the meeting isn't up yet, when it is it will be available here, and it's worth a view...if you need to elevate your blood pressure.

Some pics from the meeting -

The crowd

Kavanagh lying "testifying"

Steve Muratore of the Arizona Eagletarian (seated) and Kavanagh.  Check out the skeptical look from Muratore.

Commission Rick Stertz (seated center), AIRC Republican counsel Joe Kanefield (right) and a representative from Strategic Telemetry whose name I can't spell (left)

Independent Eric Kurland testifying

Jan and her clan waging open war on democracy in Arizona...

Started this post last night, but was far too outraged to write sensibly.  Still pissed off, but am now back to my usual snarky self... :)

Arizona's Republican Governor, Jan Brewer, and her accomplices in the Republican caucus of the state senate have dropped all pretense of respect for the will of the voters.

After spending the days leading up to Tuesday's special session wrangling enough votes to pull this off (strangely, doing so behind closed doors, something they accused the chair of the AIRC doing so they could rationalize removing her from the AIRC),  Brewer called the legislature into a special session to remove Independent Colleen Mathis from the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC).

Shortly thereafter, the Senate Republicans held a political necktie party and voted to remove Mathis from the AIRC.

Needless to say (but I'm still going to say it :) ), this is going to end up in court, starting with the Arizona Supreme Court, but probably moving to the federal judiciary before long.

Interestingly, and I'm not sure how it will affect deliberations, but with the Chief Justice's recusal from the case (because of her part in screening the applicants for the AIRC), that leaves Vice-Chief Justice David Hurwitz to preside over the case.  The interesting part is that Hurwitz has been nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit by President Barack Obama.

That leaves Hurwitz open to pressure from Arizona's US Senators, Jon Kyl and John McCain, who can block his nomination from even reaching the floor of the Senate if the Arizona Supreme Court doesn't rule the way that they prefer.

And the Republican members of Arizona's Congressional delegation are among those who are most upset by the independence of the redistricting commission and put a lot of pressure on Brewer to do something to intimidate the AIRC.
Many Democrats and Independents (and even a few Republicans, the ones who realize how Tuesday contemptible act by Jan and her clan could come back to bite them in the ass next year at the polls, or next week in Russell Pearce's case, are outraged.

From State Sen. David Schapira (D-Tempe), the Senate Democratic leader, via Bloomberg (written by Amanda Crawford) -

“There is no basis for this removal other than pure partisan politics,” said Senate Minority Leader David Schapira of Tempe. There were no findings of fact proving misconduct, Schapira and other Democrats said.

From Andrei Cherny, chair of the Arizona Democratic Party (same source as above) -

“Governor Brewer’s power grab is a clear abuse of the powers of her office,” Andrei Cherny, chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party, said in a statement.

From Sara Presler, mayor of Flagstaff, via the Arizona Daily Sun -

"This is nuts. The governor went to New York to sell her book and the state is 'Home Alone.'"

Just as predictably, the Republicans are gloating.

From the Facebook page of Sen. Ron Gould (R-The Confederacy Will Rise Again!) (Check out Rep. Doris Goodale's comments) -

Rep. Jack Harper is, of course, being his usual self.  From his Twitter feed (I don't even need to add the snark here; there is nothing that I can write that can top the ridiculousness that is our Jack) -

Possibly the most interesting comment came from Sen. Al Melvin.  It isn't related directly to the AIRC or the Republicans' scheme to blow up the process because there are too many competitive districts, but since it highlights their hypocrisy AND it was posted during or near the time of the Senate's floor vote -

The fun/frustrating part was watching KAET's Horizon tonight with Schapira and Sen. Steve Pierce.  Pierce kept talking about the testimony before the Republican kangaroo court Joint Legislative Committee on Redistricting.  Pierce said that the testimony formed the foundation of the reasons that the Rs used to rationalize removing Mathis.

What Pierce didn't say, in fact couldn't say, is that their "indictment" of Mathis, as spurious as it is, was based on *sworn* testimony, the same way as real indictments in real courts.

Because it wasn't.

Go to the lege's video archive page and watch any (or all) of the meetings.

It was mostly an unsworn and unsubstantiated echo chamber (and the Rs bullied any members of the public who dared to go off script).

Also, contrast the Republican high-speed railroad that is aimed at Mathis (and also the Democratic members of the AIRC, but mostly at Mathis) with the painstaking regard for the "proprieties" in the ethics investigation of Republican Sen. Scott Bungaard over his violent assault on his then-girlfriend by the side of a Phoenix freeway..

With Mathis, they have is unsubstantiated allegations supported only by unsworn testimony, yet they scrambled to politically lynch her this week (perhaps worried that they'll be losing Senate President Russell Pearce's vote after next week's recall election?).

With Bundgaard, there are police reports, eye witness accounts, and even court decisions. 

All sworn.  All documented.

They can claim that they aren't motivated by partisanship, but their own behavior gives lie to their denials.

And it flies directly in the face of the voters' will, expressed when they created the independent redistricting process.

No anti-AIRC special session for now, but don't relax yet

OK.  The situation is a little fluid, so everything I'm about to write could change in a minute, but here goes -

As of right now, there probably won't be a special session of the legislature on Tuesday, and it is looking less likely that there will one at all. 

As recently as Monday morning, the Arizona Capitol Tmes was reporting that Republican Governor Jan Brewer would call a special session for Tuesday to remove the members of the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission for not producing district maps that are lopsided enough in favor of the Republicans.

However, by Monday evening, the Cap Times had posted a story saying that there definitely will NOT be a special session Tuesday.  (Subscription required for both stories)

On the other hand, Steve Muratore at The Arizona Eagletarian is reporting (from KPNX's Brahm Resnick) that GOP senators have been advised to be at the Capitol for a closed caucus meeting at 12:30 p.m.

In other words, keep an eye on this.  It is very possible that the GOPers are planning to try a sneak attack to remove the Commissioners on no real notice (note:  the legislature long ago exempted itself from open meeting requirements including a notice period for meetings) so that there isn't enough time for opposition to organize at the Capitol.

There may yet be a "Day of the Long Knives", wielded by the Governor and lege and targeting the AIRC.

Stay tuned...

The upcoming week - Special session (maybe), special meetings, and more

...The biggest meeting of the week is only a rumor at this point, but it is a rather persistent one.  There is a strong rumor going around that Republican Governor Jan Brewer is going to call a special session of the legislature to remove the Independent and Democratic members of the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC).  One of the rumors going around was that the special session would be on Monday, but that seems to be off of the table.  It may have been R posturing, or it may have been due to an inability to line up enough votes to do the deed on Monday (they need 20 of the 21 Rs in the Senate to be in attendance and on board to pull this off, if they go the special session route.

Details if/when they become available.

...In a perhaps related development, the AIRC has scheduled a business meeting for Monday at 6:20 p.m.  at the Adams House in Phoenix (1100 W. Washington Street).  The one action item on the agenda:

Legal advice, direction to counsel, discussion and possible action regarding actions relating to letter from Governor Brewer concerning Commission conduct. Commission may vote to go into executive session, which will not be open to the public, for the purpose of obtaining legal advice and providing direction to counsel (A.R.S. §38-431.03 (A) (3) and (4)).

...The AIRC has a full slate of public hearings scheduled for the week - Phoenix on Tuesday, Cottonwood on Wednesday, Scottsdale on Thursday, Marana on Friday, and Casa Grande and Green Valley on Saturday.

However, stay tuned - if the Governor and her associates in the legislature go through with their craven scheme to ignore the will of the voters and blow up the independent redistricting process, that schedule of public hearings on the new lines for Congressional and legislative districts will change to a schedule of court appearances, dates and times TBA.

- Also on Monday, the Joint Republican "Legislative" Committee on Messing With The Redistricting process and Commission is scheduled to meet at 1:30 p.m. in HHR4.


...In other areas of interest...

- The Arizona Corporation Commission's hearing schedule is here.  In addition to the hearings, they are holding two special open meetings for Tuesday/Wednesday and Friday.

- The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is meeting Monday and Wednesday.

- The Scottsdale City Council is meeting Tuesday, both in a special meeting for appointments to City boards and commissions and a regular meeting.  One item of interest to political geeks: an item to remove John Washington from the City's Airport Advisory Commission.  Recently, the Council has OK the building of well more than 1000 apartments near the Scottsdale Airport, something that Washington thinks is ill-advised and more importantly, a violation of some agreements with the FAA that the Scottsdale airport operates under.  Washington has contacted the FAA directly, and because of that contact, Mayor Jim Lane has agendized a motion to remove Washington from the Commission.  I can't say for certain how the vote will turn out, but whatever happens Tuesday, don't be shocked if Washington runs for Council or Mayor next year.

- The Tempe City Council is meeting Thursday.


Early notice:  On Wednesday, December 7, the Community Involvement Group of the North Indian Bend Wash Superfund Site will meet at 5:30 p.m. in the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts.  More details as the date gets closer.

"Republicans moralizing about deficits. That's like an arsonist moralizing about fire safety"

Vice-President Joe Biden is a man known for his directness and bluntness, rare qualities in a place like D.C.  Occasionally, that can result in an embarrassing moment, especially if there is an open mic within range.

OK, it's more often than "occasionally"... :)

However, every so often, Biden's directness is spot on and appropriate.

From the Orlando Sentinel, h/t to Taegen Goddard's Political Wire for spotting this (emphasis added) -

Vice President Joe Biden turned a dinner speech to Florida Democrats at Walt Disney World into a pep rally Friday night, blasting Republicans as obstructionists with whom he said the administration can no longer work.


{snip}

"That's what I find absolutely bizarre: Republicans moralizing about deficits. That's like an arsonist moralizing about fire safety," he said. "These guys have zero credibility."

Later...

AZ Republicans taking the "3 Bs"* approach to redistricting

* = "Bluster, Bully, and Bullshit"

Arizona's Republicans, led by their officeholders, are crying "foul" over the independent redistricting process.

They've whined about all sorts of alleged misdeeds and wrongdoing on the part of the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC), but mostly they're upset over the fact that, unlike the last incarnation of the AIRC, this Commission is actually living up to the "Independent" part of their name.

They started their attacks with "bluster", ranging from busing scads of "grass roots" Republicans to AIRC hearings and meetings all over the state, many of whom read, with voices filled with self-righteous indignation, from a script of fabricated talking points (seriously, many of them walked up to the microphone script in hand and read the same text over and over) to press releases denouncing the AIRC as partisan and not in keeping with the wishes of Arizona's voters.

They then added "bully" to their repertoire, first with threats from people like Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne, a scam artist of long renown, ginning up an "investigation" of the Commission to the current kangaroo court conducted by the members of the Republican majority in the legislature where people like Republican state senator Andy Biggs has bullied and ridiculed members of the public who don't drink the Kool-Aid and follow the script of "independent redistricting really bad, Republican officeholders really good" (check out the video archive here; as of this writing, there are archives of four of the meetings of the Joint Legislative Committee on Redistricting.  Each of them contains many examples of this behavior.  Also, Steve at Arizona Eagletarian has reporting here and here).

Note:  While I was writing this post, word came down that Horne has been disqualified from investigating the AIRC.

Also, Jan Brewer, Arizona's Republican governor is threatening to call a special session of the Arizona Senate in order to remove the commissioners for what she calls "gross misconduct" and I call "living up to the 'Independent' in 'Independent Redistricting Commission'."

As for the "bullshit" part of the "3 Bs", well, that's been an integral part of the game plan all along.

Whether it was the assertion that renowned Constitutional scholar Paul Bender was unqualified to even be nominated to the AIRC and suing to have him removed from the list of nominees, the claims that Colleen Mathis, selected as the independent chair of the Independent Redistricting Commission was actually a Democrat, the assertions that the AIRC has been too secretive in its operations and deliberations crafting the draft maps that have the Republicans so upset, or more, the Rs have been flinging bullshit against the AIRC's wall for months hoping that some of it sticks.

So far, their efforts have only left the Rs with stinky hands, but that hasn't made them less determined to undermine the AIRC and the will of the voters, who created the AIRC specifically to remove elected officials from the redistricting process.

A few facts:

The AIRC has held dozens of public meetings and hearings and accepted *hundreds* of hours of public input on the maps and the factors that should be considered when laying out the new legislative and Congressional districts.

Colleen Mathis *is* an Independent.  The issue of her husband's support for a Democratic candidate in one election ignores the fact that her husband has also supported Republican candidates, attending a Bush inauguration ball with her.

Professor Paul Bender, a true Independent (more liberal than the Rs or Ds) is so qualified that the members of  Commission on Appellate Court Appointments, most of whom are accomplished in their fields, enthusiastically supported his nomination when screening the applicants for the AIRC (except for Doug Cole, Chuck Coughlin's plant on the commission,  Cole was like Mikey of Life Cereal fame - he hates everything...that doesn't result in increased power and profits for him, Coughlin, and their clients at HighGround).

Another thing area that has sparked Republican complaints is that the draft maps have resulted in incumbents such as Congressmen David Schweikert and Ben Quayle facing off in a primary.

What they don't mention in their complaints is that both Schweikert and Quayle have freely chosen to run in a district that they don't live in (Schweikert lives in draft CD4, Quayle in draft CD9, but both would rather run in north Scottsdale, which is in draft CD6).  Something that is allowed under the US Constitution, but it is rather cynical for them to make that choice and then complain about the unfairness of the AIRC.

Note:  The draft CD9 is competitive, leaning slightly R, while both the draft CD4 and draft CD6 are overwhelmingly R.  Draft CD4 has a strong rural component though, and Schweikert is most definitely not an "honorary judge of cow milking contests at 4-H fairs" kind of guy.

As for the whining that the AIRC has sacrificed "communities of interest" to bolster "competitiveness" -

The AIRC's competitiveness analysis of the draft maps are here (legislative) and here (Congressional).

Based on the voter registration numbers, only one of the 30 legislative districts is truly competitive and maybe four others have a realistic chance of breaking that way.  Otherwise, 18 LDs will be solidly R and seven will be solidly D.  Even if all five of the competitive and quasi-competitive districts go Democratic (possible, but not likely), that would result in 18-12 and 36-24 splits (favoring the Rs) in the AZ Senate and House respectively.  Not exactly leading to a positive change in AZ there.

Also based on the registration numbers, the Congressional districts wouldn't be much better.  Two of the nine Congressional districts would be competitive, while four would be solidly R and three would be solidly D (one of the D districts would be poachable by the Rs, but it would be an uphill battle).

Based on the numbers, about the only real "community of interest" whose interests have been sacrificed  is the community called "Arizona", which stands to gain the most from having districts competitive enough to force candidates and officeholders to actually represent their constituents, not just their friends at country club cocktail parties and tea party "Kool-Aid" drinking sessions.

Of course, the draft maps *do*protect the "community of interest" that least needs protection -

Republican officeholders.

And that fact won't change no matter how much they whine about things in an attempt to intimidate the AIRC into making the maps even less competitive than they are already.

The second round of hearings is winding down, but there is still time to add your voice in support of an increased number of truly competitive districts.

The AIRC will travel to places like Yuma, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Marana, Casa Grande and Cottonwood in the next week.  Make plans to be at one or more (if possible) hearings.  If that isn't feasible, the AIRC accepts public input via phone, email, or through their website.

...In a related matter, some pics from the AIRC hearing held in Mesa on Wednesday evening (note - the overall turnout was light, but out of two dozen speakers, only one or two came out against competitive districts):

Commissioner Scott Freeman, the commissioner in attendance Wednesday

Korinne Kubena Belock of Strategic Telemetry giving a overview of the redistricting process

Tempe Democratic activist  Lauren Kuby speaking in support of competitive districts

State Rep. Lynne Pancrazi, advocating for keeping Yuma and La Paz counties together, and out of a Maricopa County-dominated LD

Jay Schlum, mayor of Fountain Hills, testifying in favor of changing the maps to put FH together with other northeast valley communities like Rio Verde.  Other local elected officials there, from places like Queen Creek, Apache Junction, Gilbert, Chandler, and more similarly spoke on behalf of issue relevent to their particular communities.

AIRC hearing in Mesa Wednesday evening

It's fairly short notice, because it wasn't on the original list of the second round of hearings announced by the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC), but on Wednesday (tomorrow as I write this, "today" as many of you read it), the AIRC will hold a meeting to solicit public input on their draft maps for the next decade's Congressional and legislative districts.

Details:

Time - 6 p.m.

Place - Mesa Convention Center, Palo Verde I Building B Main Campus, 263 North Center St., Mesa, AZ 85201

If you are travelling to Mesa from the west, the easiest route is Loop 202 east to Country Club/SR87, turn right/south on Country Club to University.  Turn left/east on University, travelling to Center St.  Turn right/south on Center, travelling approximately 1/10 of a mile to #263.

Less easy (but not difficult) is US60 east to Country Club, turn left/north on Country Club.  Travel to Broadway, turning right/east on Broadway.  Travel east to Center, turning left/north on Center.  Travel to #263 (approximately .9 miles).

Or you can just use the GPS system in your car or on your phone.  :)

However you get there though, it's worth a couple of hours of your time.

Interesting phone call for a Sunday evening...

The district lines haven't even been finalized yet, but I received my first polling call of the election season.

Six potential candidates were mentioned, but only three were the focus of the call.

Mentioned only:

Harry Mitchell, the former teacher, mayor, city council member, state senator and current husband, father, grandfather, icon and mentor (geez, is it too obvious that I really wish Harry would reconsider his decision not to run next year?  :) )

Neil Giuliano, the former Republican mayor of Tempe and current Democrat

David Schapira, the current state senator from LD17 and Senate Democratic leader


Focused on:

Kyrsten Sinema, current LD15 state senator and author (and many other things).  Easily the most liberal member of this field

Andrei Cherny, current chair of the Arizona Democratic Party and former staffer in the Clinton White House

Jon Hulburd, a lawyer, businessman, and 2010 candidate for Congress in the current CD3.  Easily the most conservative member of this field


The call was pretty standard with questions about if I thought the country/state/my area was headed in the right direction, rating the importance of certain issues in next year's election and general impressions some potential candidates (the six named above), voting habits, and so on.

Then the call moved into thoughts on potential matchups between specific candidates.

The potential matchups named were Sinema-Hulburd, Hulburd-Cherny, Harry-Cherny (I think.  My notes went kind of fuzzy here.  Turns out I have trouble taking good notes while keeping one eye on the baseball game, posting my status on Facebook, holding my cell phone to one ear and typing one-handed.  Who knew? LOL), and Sinema-Cherny-Hulburd.

Then it moved into a sorta-push poll/testing possible negative messages section, reciting a list of negative statements about Sinema and Hulburd and asking me if the statements impacted my opinions of the pair.

Obviously, I can't state definitively who put the poll in the field, but given that the surveyor focused on three candidates, and only tested negative messages about two of them...well, I'm an Occam's Razor kind of guy (not necessarily a perfect approach in assessing political developments, but it'll do this far out from the election)...

What I can state definitively to the folks behind this poll, and to anyone else considering entering the race is that my support and vote won't go to the candidate with the strongest progressive bonafides or who runs as the most Republican-lite or has the most polished professional resume.

The candidate who I think will work hardest for the district and the state will get my support and vote.  I certainly had my disagreements with some of Harry Mitchell's votes and positions on individual issues, but his votes and positions were what he thought was right for the best interests of his constituents.

He may have chosen to forego another campaign, but I expect no less from any candidate that wants my support.

 I know, that attitude may be a little naively idealistic, perhaps surprisingly so for someone as cynical as me, but that's the way it is.

Let the infighting begin...

Edit on 10/24 to add:

Last night I received a phone call from someone who is in a position to know about these things (aka - someone who is more of a campaign insider than me), and they informed me that Occam's Razor is a little dull.  They informed me that the campaign that I hinted may have been behind the poll in fact wasn't, and that it was one of the other two candidates.

Since paying for polls is generally listed as a campaign expense (though it is an expense that is frequently is not listed directly but is buried in "consulting fees"), I did a little research on the FEC's website and found that only one of the three, Jon Hulburd, has an active campaign committee.  In fact, that candidate's committee just filed a Statement of Organization on September 9, 2011.

FWIW, while this news doesn't raise or lower my opinion of any of the candidates, it is research I should have done before posting.  I promise to do a better job in future coverage.

End edit...

A little politics, a little wine: Just another Thursday night in Scottsdale

Thursday evening, Zocalo Public Square, along with ASU, put on a panel about how Arizona has moved to the forefront of America's political discussion.

The panel was led by Marc Lacey, Phoenix bureau chief for the New York Times, and included Jennifer Steen, a political science professor at ASU, Art Hamilton, a long-time figure on the Arizona political scene (including more than a quarter-century in the Arizona House of Representatives), and Tom Zoellner, an author, former journalist, and fifth-generation Arizonan.

(left to right - Lacey, Steen, Hamilton, and Zoellner)








The event took place at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA).

Zocalo Public Square has its report on the event here, and some brief offerings on the topic from a group of observers of the Arizona scene here.

ZPS's write-up is decent (if a little too "cheerleader"  for my taste), but it did leave out a few important things...like my impressions.  :)

Lacey








...Lacey and the panelists, as expected, knew their stuff, but they made a couple of factual errors, the most glaring of which was Lacey's statement that the US Supreme Court has overturned Arizona's Clean Elections system.  If fact, as bad as their decision was, they only set aside the matching provisions section of the law.

However, the few errors were very minor.  My biggest quibble with the session was that it was so short.

While the discussion was nearly 90 minutes long, the topic can barely be skimmed in that time.  They tried, but most of the more in-depth talk was during the after-event wine social.  I didn't stay for more than a few minutes of that, so I can't really write about that part of the evening.  Maybe if it had involved beer... :)

The topics covered in the main discussion included the immigration debate, the state's gun culture, the decline of civility in in politics and other civic matters, electoral demographics and more.

Of course, my guess is that both the organizers of the event and the panelists understand that an in-depth analysis was impossible to achieve at such a short event, but also realize that the discussion needs to start somewhere.

Hamilton










...Hamilton delivered the best observations, and the best one-liners, of the evening, illustrating both his long experience with Arizona's politics and his quick wit.

- "The ultimate affront was when a friend of mine, the just-past speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives, told me he was glad we were in the news because it made him feel better about Mississippi." (from Zocalo's report on the event; I noted the quote, but my notes sucked :) )

- SB1070 was an "E-ticket ride" to a full term as governor for Jan Brewer

- "If you think the cost of education is high, consider the cost of ignorance."

- When Lacey asked Hamilton to "psychanalyze" the legislature and other leaders of Arizona's politics, Hamilton responded with "I would suggest 'psycho' without the 'analyzing.' "

- One subject area where Hamilton was far more tactful than most other observers (including this one) would be was on the topic of the influence of ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council, on public policy proposals in Arizona.  He said that ALEC may have a conservative bent, but it is a legitimate organization.

I would have said that ALEC exists mostly to put corporate interests with deep pockets together with legislators with shallow morals.

Steen









...Steen, the ASU professor, brought an outsider's perspective (formerly on the faculties of Boston College and Yale) and has some experience in partisan activity (former PC, delegate to a national convention and member of the Electoral College).  However, it was easy to see her academic background - while she made some dead-on observations, she loves statistics and wants to see some hard numbers of the effect of SB1070 on the number of Hispanic residents in Arizona.

Zoellner










...Zoellner, an author and former journalist, has worked for Gabrielle Giffords and is a fifth-generation Arizonan.

- I don't know Zoellner, but he won my respect early on when he mentioned (and gave credit to) Jon Talton's term about the Arizona economy, the "Real Estate Industrial Complex."

- He noted that in 2010 when he returned to help with the Giffords campaign, he almost didn't recognize his hometown (Tucson) because the political environment there and statewide has become so toxic and "nasty."

- He also noted that much of the contentiousness/increase in nativism in AZ may be due to the generational shift of the state's demographics.  A majority of the state's older (>65 years old) is white/Anglo, while a majority of its younger (<18) residents are Latino/other ethnic or racial group), and the older folks are *not* happy about that reality.

Overall, while it wasn't an occasion where most experienced observers of Arizona politics would learn something new or gain some heretofore unknown insight, it was nice to just sit and talk about politics without the shouting of tea party/Republican types.  It was a serious discussion for serious people with a serious interest in public policy, and more of this is needed.


There were a few members of the audience that I knew - Steve Muratore of The Arizona Eagletarian was there, asking the question about ALEC that brought forth the tactful response from Art Hamilton.  I'd have taken a picture of him asking the question, but it would have been a pic of the back of his head. 

Probably not a pic that would add to the story.  :))

Also at the discussion was Jerry Gettinger, a friend and occasional contributor to this blog.

Jerry asking a question

The audience.  Note the TV cameras.  The event was recorded for a November broadcast on C-SPAN.










Later...

Republican-led legislature going after Independent Redistricting Commission

...Once again, "the law is the law" types in the legislature show their true colors - the "law is the law" - except for them.

At least the members of this committee haven't assaulted a woman by the side of the freeway or aimed a pistol at a reporter.

Yet.

From the Arizona Republic, written by Mary Jo Pitzl -

Legislative leaders want to take a good, hard look at the draft redistricting maps. They've scheduled a Friday meeting for the newly formed Joint Legislative Committee on Redistricting.

The committee will be chaired by Rep. Jim Weiers, R-Phoenix, and Senate Majority Leader Steve Pierce, R-Prescott. Six others also will serve on the panel. No meeting time has been set.

AZBlueMeanie at Blog For Arizona has a post here, with a few more details from an article in the Arizona Capitol Times.

The meeting notice isn't posted on the lege's website as yet.

On November 7, 2000, the voters passed an amendment to the Arizona Constitution removing the legislature's ability to create its own districts and instead creating an *independent* redistricting commission.

Since November 8, 2000, the members of the legislature have been working to undermine the will of the voters and the independence of the redistricting commission.  This is just the latest gambit in a long line of schemes.

They were successful in subverting the process and the commission a decade ago.  One of the ways to stop them this time around is to keep the bright glare of sunshine on them.  As soon as I know the time of the meeting, I'll post it here.

Arpaio Testifies At Thomas' Ethics Hearing

Most of the time, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio likes to portray himself as "America's Toughest Sheriff" or something similarly grandiose and self-serving.

However, when he testified before the panel investigating former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, he portrayed himself as something else. 

I'm just trying to figure who or what he was playing.

From the Arizona Republic, written by JJ Hensley -

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio does not recall many of the details related to the investigations that have threatened the careers of former County Attorney Andrew Thomas and one of his top prosecutors.

{snip}

"I don't recall" was Arpaio's most common answer when attorneys pressed him for details.

Upon reading the srory and watching the video (embedded in the Republic story), I had to sit back and figure out what role Arpaio was playing on Tuesday.

Was it -

Ronald Reagan?  The former president may have been best known for evading questions about his involvement in the Iran/Contra scandal with "I don't recall".  However, while Reagan's politics were almost as abominable as Arpaio's (in a different way, however), I can say one positive thing about the man -

He could deliver a punch line.

And Arpaio doesn't have a funny bone in his body.

pic courtesy IMDB


Alberto Gonzales? The former US Attorney General is famous for his use of "I don't recall" to protect himself (and others) from an investigation into the firing of US attorneys who refused to trump up cases against prominent Democrats and other critics of his former bosses, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Karl Rove.

Hmmm...probably not.  Even though Gonzales was a fan of torture and an enemy of civil rights, I can't see Arpaio ever acting like someone named "Gonzales."

pic courtesy OnePennySheet.com

So, if Arpaio wasn't doing his best Reagan imitation and he wasn't doing a Gonzales imitation either, who could it be?

Hmmmm...........I've got it!

pic courtesy KickingTheCanDownTheRoad.com

 

 

Herman Cain and Michelle Bachmann could be showing off their physical flexibility by Wednesday...

...because they could go from kissing Joe Arpaio's butt Monday to kicking themselves Wednesday...

Republican Presidential candidates Michelle Bachmann and Herman Cain spent time in Arizona Monday, kissing up to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and other local nativist bigwigs in separate smoochfests.

On Tuesday, Arpaio is scheduled to testify before the ethics hearing looking into the conduct of Arpaio's long-time ally, former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas.

Given the not-insignificant possibility of perjury or Arpaio invoking his right against self-incrimination, the people who spent Monday trying to get closer to Arpaio than the other R candidates could ending spending Wednesday trying to put as much distance as possible between themselves and him.

Since after February (maybe sooner!) neither one is likely to have much to do, Bachmann and Cain should plan to put out a new workout DVD - "Kissin' and Kickin'!"

Cain and Bachmann could lead their followers in an elegantly simple five-step routine -

1.  Bend over and pucker up.
2.  Stand up quickly and administer a palmsmack to their foreheads.
3.  Jump up, whirl in the air, kicking their own butts in mid-whirl (and mid-air).
4.  Upon landing, run a full speed away from the spot where they puckered up.  One possible variation:  if there is a full moon out, howl at it while running.
5.  Repeat until exhausted or the soft-spoken folks in white coats come to take them away, ha haaa!

The NRA, Fast and Furious, and Wide Receiver: What a difference a few years makes

By now, most people have heard of the "Fast and Furious" scandal, stemming from an operation conducted out of the Phoenix office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE).  During that sting, a number of guns were allowed to "walk" across the border to Mexico in order to allow BATFE to track an organization of "straw" gun buyers.

The operation became a scandal when some of the guns started turning up at Mexican crime scenes, and even were involved in the killing of a Border Patrol agent in southern Arizona.

The operation has come in for criticisms from many quarters and is the subject of Congressional investigations.

While some of the criticisms are certainly justified, the loudest critics seem to have selective memories.

Just a few years ago, during the previous presidential administration, another very similar BATFE effort called Operation Wide Receiver did much the same thing - allowed weapons to cross the border with Mexico, ostensibly to use the weapons to track criminal organizations there.

It failed, not as spectacularly as Fast and Furious, but it still failed miserably.

At the time in 2006, it pretty much escaped notice.  Certainly, many of the critics of Fast and Furious now ignored Wide Receiver then.

The NRA is a good example of this. 

They started criticizing BATFE and the Department of Justice over this in February, following up in February again, February (yet again!), March, March (again), April, May, June, June (again), June (yet again!), July, July (again), July (yet again!), July (one more time for good measure), August, and September.

That list is just the NRA's press releases that directly reference the operation.  It doesn't include the anti-Mexico/Central America propaganda spouted by the NRA's communications shop.  They spent the spring trying to deflect attention from the inconvenient fact that most of the crime guns in Mexico come from the United States.

In addition to the press releases, Wayne LaPierre, the NRA's executive vice president and the primary voice and face of the NRA has been ranting into any microphone that somebody puts in front of him ("Biggest cover up since Watergate" is my personal favorite).

By comparison, the NRA's press releases on Operation Wide Receiver -





[crickets chirping]





Now, I'm not accusing the NRA of engaging in anything illegal here.  However, if they ever want to regain some credibility in civil society, they need to become more than a partisan press release generator/marketing agency for gun manufacturers and retailers.

Jay Bookman of the Atlanta Journal Constitution has a more in-depth column on Fast and Furious here.


This post is written as part of the Media Matters Gun Facts fellowship. The purpose of the fellowship is to further Media Matters' mission to comprehensively monitor, analyze, and correct conservative misinformation in the U.S. media. Some of the worst misinformation occurs around the issue of guns, gun violence, and extremism, the fellowship program is designed to fight this misinformation with facts.