Short Attention Span Musing: Syria Edition

As most people have heard by now (and if you have the internet connection needed to read this, you are part of "most people"), the situation in Syria has deteriorated to the point where the world (mostly meaning the US) has two options -

1. Directly intercede with military forces.

2. Ignore it.

Both approaches have potentially significant downsides (and both will result in people dying), to the point that no matter what course of action (or inaction) is chosen, there will be legitimate criticisms.

It's one of those situations that contribute to US presidents entering office with a full head of (usually) dark hair and leaving office with hair that's gray, or even white.

Like most Americans who actually *think* about things, I'm torn on this one.

As a man with a moral center (maybe my cynicism shows through the most, but that cynicism is rooted in frustrated ideals), I am outraged by the use of gas as a weapon and utterly appalled by the targeting of civilians, including children.  The people responsible for that should be removed from the face of the Earth.

However, as a man who watched the previous presidential administration gin up a couple of forever wars that mostly have benefited only deep-pocketed defense contractors who are generous with only two things: 1) campaign contributions to elected officials who are in a position to help the contractors' profit margins and 2) the lives of American servicemen and -women (and the lives of civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan).

Many in Congress (let's call them "Republicans") will oppose whatever course is chosen by the president, not so much because they think it is wrong, but just because it is supported by *this* president.

Whatever course is chosen (and as I write this, the President has announced that he has decided that limited military action is necessary, but has deferred that action pending Congressional consideration and approval of such action), the president and other leadership had better accept that support in the US and across the world will not be unanimous, no matter which course is chosen.

Addendum: Since the President has apparently decided on "limited" military action as the best course of action here, I'll say one more thing -

In this context, "limited" should mean "we have a clear, achievable goal, and our military forces will be limited to that which is necessary to efficiently achieve the goal with a minimum of harm to civilians, and no less.

In other words, go in, get the job done, and get out.

Campaign and committees update

Recent campaign filings:

...Republican Jeff Dewit opened a committee for a run at the R nomination for State Treasurer.  Don't know much about him.  Yet.  :)

...Republican Diane Douglas opened a committee for a run at the R nomination for Superintendent of Public Instruction.  This could turn into the most colorful primary of the cycle - the incumbent is Republican John Huppenthal.  Douglas' campaign treasurer is Wes Harris, a tea party poobah, so expect her campaign platform to be that Huppenthal, the man who hates public education and brown-skinned people, doesn't hate them enough.

...Democrat Ken Clark, a long-time activist, opened a committee for a run a the D nomination for an AZ House seat from LD24 (parts of east and central Phoenix and south Scottsdale).

...Republican Martin Sepulveda, former member of the Chandler City Council and a 2012 candidate for Congress, opened a committee for a run at State Treasurer.  Mitch M. at Arizona's Politics has fuller coverage here.

...Democrat Brent Kleinman, a Phoenix attorney, has opened an exploratory committee for an office unknown (to me, anyway :) ).  Since the filing is with the AZSOS, the office is a state-level one.

...Republican Michele Reagan has officially removed the blank part of her exploratory committee, stating that she is "exploring" a run for Secretary of State.  I'd call her interest in the SOS job "the worst-kept secret in Arizona politics", but it's not really a secret if everyone knows.

...AZSenate Republicans have formed the "Senate Majority PAC" for the 2014 election cycle; it's headed by Senate President Andy Biggs and Sen. Gail Griffin.

...AZHouse Republicans have formed the "House Victory PAC" for the 2014 cycle; it's headed by Reps. David Gowan and Justin Olson.

- In both of the above cases, it will be something of a surprise if the committees help any candidates who run to the left of Attila the Hun.


...Expect an increase in the frequency of new candidates and committee after the Phoenix City Council elections.  Until then, new candidates and committee formations will be intermittent.

Al Melvin reveals the secret cause of drought conditions in the Southwest: Trees.

The man who would be King Ev The Second uses his Twitter feed to "enlighten" his followers on political and societal "reality" as he sees it.

In general, his posts are worthy only of ignoring (they run the rhetorical gamut from "Obama's a [something that Melvin disapproves of, usually a socialist]" to "Democrats are responsible for [everything that Melvin finds wrong in the modern US]"), but once in a while, he posts something that serves to remind people that he may be crazier than the average AZ Republican (and that's saying something).

To my embarrassment, I missed this one when he posted it -

Mock away, folks...

President Obama Marks the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington

Text of the remarks, courtesy WhiteHouse.gov - 

To the King family, who have sacrificed and inspired so much; to President Clinton; President Carter; Vice President Biden and Jill; fellow Americans. 
 
Five decades ago today, Americans came to this honored place to lay claim to a promise made at our founding:  “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

In 1963, almost 200 years after those words were set to paper, a full century after a great war was fought and emancipation proclaimed, that promise -- those truths -- remained unmet.  And so they came by the thousands from every corner of our country, men and women, young and old, blacks who longed for freedom and whites who could no longer accept freedom for themselves while witnessing the subjugation of others.

Across the land, congregations sent them off with food and with prayer.  In the middle of the night, entire blocks of Harlem came out to wish them well.  With the few dollars they scrimped from their labor, some bought tickets and boarded buses, even if they couldn’t always sit where they wanted to sit.  Those with less money hitchhiked or walked.  They were seamstresses and steelworkers, students and teachers, maids and Pullman porters.  They shared simple meals and bunked together on floors.

And then, on a hot summer day, they assembled here, in our nation’s capital, under the shadow of the Great Emancipator -- to offer testimony of injustice, to petition their government for redress, and to awaken America’s long-slumbering conscience.

We rightly and best remember Dr. King’s soaring oratory that day, how he gave mighty voice to the quiet hopes of millions; how he offered a salvation path for oppressed and oppressors alike.  His words belong to the ages, possessing a power and prophecy unmatched in our time.

But we would do well to recall that day itself also belonged to those ordinary people whose names never appeared in the history books, never got on TV.  Many had gone to segregated schools and sat at segregated lunch counters.  They lived in towns where they couldn’t vote and cities where their votes didn’t matter.  They were couples in love who couldn’t marry, soldiers who fought for freedom abroad that they found denied to them at home.  They had seen loved ones beaten, and children fire-hosed, and they had every reason to lash out in anger, or resign themselves to a bitter fate.

And yet they chose a different path.  In the face of hatred, they prayed for their tormentors.  In the face of violence, they stood up and sat in, with the moral force of nonviolence.  Willingly, they went to jail to protest unjust laws, their cells swelling with the sound of freedom songs.  A lifetime of indignities had taught them that no man can take away the dignity and grace that God grants us.

They had learned through hard experience what Frederick Douglass once taught -- that freedom is not given, it must be won, through struggle and discipline, persistence and faith.

That was the spirit they brought here that day.  That was the spirit young people like John Lewis brought to that day.  That was the spirit that they carried with them, like a torch, back to their cities and their neighborhoods.  That steady flame of conscience and courage that would sustain them through the campaigns to come -- through boycotts and voter registration drives and smaller marches far from the spotlight; through the loss of four little girls in Birmingham, and the carnage of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and the agony of Dallas and California and Memphis.  Through setbacks and heartbreaks and gnawing doubt, that flame of justice flickered; it never died.

And because they kept marching, America changed.  Because they marched, a Civil Rights law was passed.  Because they marched, a Voting Rights law was signed.  Because they marched, doors of opportunity and education swung open so their daughters and sons could finally imagine a life for themselves beyond washing somebody else’s laundry or shining somebody else’s shoes. (Applause.)

Because they marched, city councils changed and state legislatures changed, and Congress changed, and, yes, eventually, the White House changed.  (Applause.) 

Because they marched, America became more free and more fair -- not just for African Americans, but for women and Latinos, Asians and Native Americans; for Catholics, Jews, and Muslims; for gays, for Americans with a disability.  America changed for you and for me.  and the entire world drew strength from that example, whether the young people who watched from the other side of an Iron Curtain and would eventually tear down that wall, or the young people inside South Africa who would eventually end the scourge of apartheid.  (Applause.)

Those are the victories they won, with iron wills and hope in their hearts.  That is the transformation that they wrought, with each step of their well-worn shoes.  That’s the debt that I and millions of Americans owe those maids, those laborers, those porters, those secretaries; folks who could have run a company maybe if they had ever had a chance; those white students who put themselves in harm’s way, even though they didn't have; those Japanese Americans who recalled their own internment; those Jewish Americans who had survived the Holocaust; people who could have given up and given in, but kept on keeping on, knowing that “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” (Applause.)

On the battlefield of justice, men and women without rank or wealth or title or fame would liberate us all in ways that our children now take for granted, as people of all colors and creeds live together and learn together and walk together, and fight alongside one another, and love one another, and judge one another by the content of our character in this greatest nation on Earth.  (Applause.)

To dismiss the magnitude of this progress -- to suggest, as some sometimes do, that little has changed -- that dishonors the courage and the sacrifice of those who paid the price to march in those years.  (Applause.)  Medgar Evers, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, Martin Luther King Jr. -- they did not die in vain.  (Applause.)  Their victory was great.

But we would dishonor those heroes as well to suggest that the work of this nation is somehow complete.  The arc of the moral universe may bend towards justice, but it doesn’t bend on its own.  To secure the gains this country has made requires constant vigilance, not complacency.  Whether by challenging those who erect new barriers to the vote, or ensuring that the scales of justice work equally for all, and the criminal justice system is not simply a pipeline from underfunded schools to overcrowded jails, it requires vigilance.  (Applause.)

And we'll suffer the occasional setback.  But we will win these fights.  This country has changed too much.  (Applause.)  People of goodwill, regardless of party, are too plentiful for those with ill will to change history’s currents.  (Applause.)
  
In some ways, though, the securing of civil rights, voting rights, the eradication of legalized discrimination -- the very significance of these victories may have obscured a second goal of the March.  For the men and women who gathered 50 years ago were not there in search of some abstract ideal.  They were there seeking jobs as well as justice -- (applause) -- not just the absence of oppression but the presence of economic opportunity.  (Applause.)

For what does it profit a man, Dr. King would ask, to sit at an integrated lunch counter if he can’t afford the meal?  This idea -- that one’s liberty is linked to one’s livelihood; that the pursuit of happiness requires the dignity of work, the skills to find work, decent pay, some measure of material security -- this idea was not new.  Lincoln himself understood the Declaration of Independence in such terms -- as a promise that in due time, “the weights should be lifted from the shoulders of all men, and that all should have an equal chance.”
  
And Dr. King explained that the goals of African Americans were identical to working people of all races:  “Decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old-age security, health and welfare measures, conditions in which families can grow, have education for their children, and respect in the community.”

What King was describing has been the dream of every American.  It's what's lured for centuries new arrivals to our shores.  And it’s along this second dimension -- of economic opportunity, the chance through honest toil to advance one’s station in life -- where the goals of 50 years ago have fallen most short. 

Yes, there have been examples of success within black America that would have been unimaginable a half century ago.  But as has already been noted, black unemployment has remained almost twice as high as white unemployment, Latino unemployment close behind.  The gap in wealth between races has not lessened, it's grown.  And as President Clinton indicated, the position of all working Americans, regardless of color, has eroded, making the dream Dr. King described even more elusive. 
For over a decade, working Americans of all races have seen their wages and incomes stagnate, even as corporate profits soar, even as the pay of a fortunate few explodes.  Inequality has steadily risen over the decades.  Upward mobility has become harder.  In too many communities across this country, in cities and suburbs and rural hamlets, the shadow of poverty casts a pall over our youth, their lives a fortress of substandard schools and diminished prospects, inadequate health care and perennial violence. 

And so as we mark this anniversary, we must remind ourselves that the measure of progress for those who marched 50 years ago was not merely how many blacks could join the ranks of millionaires.  It was whether this country would admit all people who are willing to work hard regardless of race into the ranks of a middle-class life.  (Applause.)

The test was not, and never has been, whether the doors of opportunity are cracked a bit wider for a few.  It was whether our economic system provides a fair shot for the many -- for the black custodian and the white steelworker, the immigrant dishwasher and the Native American veteran.  To win that battle, to answer that call -- this remains our great unfinished business.

We shouldn’t fool ourselves.  The task will not be easy.  Since 1963, the economy has changed.  The twin forces of technology and global competition have subtracted those jobs that once provided a foothold into the middle class -- reduced the bargaining power of American workers.  And our politics has suffered.  Entrenched interests, those who benefit from an unjust status quo, resisted any government efforts to give working families a fair deal -- marshaling an army of lobbyists and opinion makers to argue that minimum wage increases or stronger labor laws or taxes on the wealthy who could afford it just to fund crumbling schools, that all these things violated sound economic principles.  We'd be told that growing inequality was a price for a growing economy, a measure of this free market; that greed was good and compassion ineffective, and those without jobs or health care had only themselves to blame.

And then, there were those elected officials who found it useful to practice the old politics of division, doing their best to convince middle-class Americans of a great untruth -- that government was somehow itself to blame for their growing economic insecurity; that distant bureaucrats were taking their hard-earned dollars to benefit the welfare cheat or the illegal immigrant.

And then, if we're honest with ourselves, we'll admit that during the course of 50 years, there were times when some of us claiming to push for change lost our way.  The anguish of assassinations set off self-defeating riots.  Legitimate grievances against police brutality tipped into excuse-making for criminal behavior.  Racial politics could cut both ways, as the transformative message of unity and brotherhood was drowned out by the language of recrimination.  And what had once been a call for equality of opportunity, the chance for all Americans to work hard and get ahead was too often framed as a mere desire for government support -- as if we had no agency in our own liberation, as if poverty was an excuse for not raising your child, and the bigotry of others was reason to give up on yourself.

All of that history is how progress stalled.  That's how hope was diverted.  It's how our country remained divided.  But the good news is, just as was true in 1963, we now have a choice. We can continue down our current path, in which the gears of this great democracy grind to a halt and our children accept a life of lower expectations; where politics is a zero-sum game where a few do very well while struggling families of every race fight over a shrinking economic pie -- that’s one path.  Or we can have the courage to change.

The March on Washington teaches us that we are not trapped by the mistakes of history; that we are masters of our fate.  But it also teaches us that the promise of this nation will only be kept when we work together.  We’ll have to reignite the embers of empathy and fellow feeling, the coalition of conscience that found expression in this place 50 years ago.

And I believe that spirit is there, that truth force inside each of us.  I see it when a white mother recognizes her own daughter in the face of a poor black child.  I see it when the black youth thinks of his own grandfather in the dignified steps of an elderly white man.  It’s there when the native-born recognizing that striving spirit of the new immigrant; when the interracial couple connects the pain of a gay couple who are discriminated against and understands it as their own. 

That’s where courage comes from -- when we turn not from each other, or on each other, but towards one another, and we find that we do not walk alone.  That’s where courage comes from. (Applause.)
And with that courage, we can stand together for good jobs and just wages.  With that courage, we can stand together for the right to health care in the richest nation on Earth for every person.  (Applause.)  With that courage, we can stand together for the right of every child, from the corners of Anacostia to the hills of Appalachia, to get an education that stirs the mind and captures the spirit, and prepares them for the world that awaits them.  (Applause.)

With that courage, we can feed the hungry, and house the homeless, and transform bleak wastelands of poverty into fields of commerce and promise.

America, I know the road will be long, but I know we can get there.  Yes, we will stumble, but I know we’ll get back up.  That’s how a movement happens.  That’s how history bends.  That's how when somebody is faint of heart, somebody else brings them along and says, come on, we’re marching.  (Applause.)

There’s a reason why so many who marched that day, and in the days to come, were young -- for the young are unconstrained by habits of fear, unconstrained by the conventions of what is.  They dared to dream differently, to imagine something better.  And I am convinced that same imagination, the same hunger of purpose stirs in this generation.

We might not face the same dangers of 1963, but the fierce urgency of now remains.  We may never duplicate the swelling crowds and dazzling procession of that day so long ago -- no one can match King’s brilliance -- but the same flame that lit the heart of all who are willing to take a first step for justice, I know that flame remains.  (Applause.) 

That tireless teacher who gets to class early and stays late and dips into her own pocket to buy supplies because she believes that every child is her charge -- she’s marching.  (Applause.)

That successful businessman who doesn't have to but pays his workers a fair wage and then offers a shot to a man, maybe an ex-con who is down on his luck -- he’s marching.  (Applause.)

The mother who pours her love into her daughter so that she grows up with the confidence to walk through the same door as anybody’s son -- she’s marching.  (Applause.)

The father who realizes the most important job he’ll ever have is raising his boy right, even if he didn't have a father -- especially if he didn't have a father at home -- he’s marching.  (Applause.)

The battle-scarred veterans who devote themselves not only to helping their fellow warriors stand again, and walk again, and run again, but to keep serving their country when they come home -- they are marching.  (Applause.)

Everyone who realizes what those glorious patriots knew on that day -- that change does not come from Washington, but to Washington; that change has always been built on our willingness, We The People, to take on the mantle of citizenship -- you are marching.  (Applause.)

And that’s the lesson of our past.  That's the promise of tomorrow -- that in the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it.  That when millions of Americans of every race and every region, every faith and every station, can join together in a spirit of brotherhood, then those mountains will be made low, and those rough places will be made plain, and those crooked places, they straighten out towards grace, and we will vindicate the faith of those who sacrificed so much and live up to the true meaning of our creed, as one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.  (Applause.)

RBB: State Sen. Don Shooter invades a school and buys a complete pass

From the Arizona Republic, written by Laurie Roberts -

Sen. Don Shooter dodged a bullet late last week. Or rather, he bought the ammo before it could be used to zap him.

Shooter is one of the more colorful characters at the state Capitol, a two-term tea party patriot best known for his penchant for wearing weird hats. Mention his name around the Legislature and you’ll be regaled with the tale of the time he showed up in costume for a special session held to extend unemployment benefits.

{snip}

Which is perhaps how he came to be barging into a Yuma high school classroom in March, confronting a teacher and demanding that she stop everything to answer his questions.

{snip}

In June, Shooter was charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass, disorderly conduct and interference with or disruption of an educational institution. He hired Ed Novak, one of the state’s elite attorneys, a lawyer whom I imagine doesn’t spend much time in municipal court.

Apparently, it was a good move because on Friday, the Yuma city prosecutor dropped the charges. This, provided Shooter stays out of trouble for a year, pays $1,500 in restitution to the school and forks over a $1,000 “deferred prosecution fee” to the city of Yuma.

No admission of guilt and no penalty – other than the payoff required in order to buy his way out of a prosecution and possible conviction.

Filed under "IOKIYARw/$".

For new readers: "IOKIYARw/$" means "It's OK If You're A Republican with money".


Court record:

"Destroy file"?  Say what?

It's bad enough that Shooter bought his way out of this, but to scrub his behavior from the official history, apparently because he is an "important" (his word, not mine) public official?

That may be a crime that's worse that what Shooter did.



Full story on the dismissal from the Yuma Sun here.

Thursday's Tea Party hearing: "Stranger In A Strange Land" time

In 1961, Robert Heinlein, one of the most renowned authors in the science fiction genre, wrote a classic of the genre, Stranger In A Strange Land.

To summarize the story in a very oversimplified way, the story is about a man who was born and raised on Mars being exposed to Earth-bound human society and the strange and baffling behaviors and social mores of greater society.

Which kind of describes my Thursday afternoon in Mesa, spent at a tea party "Congressional field" hearing at the Mesa Arts Center.

The purpose of the event was ostensibly to hear testimony on "abuses" of Arizonans by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Given that sort of dog-whistle subject, I wasn't surprised to be greeting by this sight upon arrival at the event.

Anti-immigrant protesters

Unfortunately, that was the best picture of the day - the event didn't allow anyone other than credentialed media to bring cameras into the event (though a few folks who appeared to be staffers or other insiders had them).  Any pics later in this post were taken with my cell phone, which I found out isn't a great camera for pics taken in low light situations from more than a few feet away.

The event was had an announced start time of 3:30 p.m., but didn't get rolling until around 3:50.  However, being a dedicated blogger, I arrived early and found a seat at 2:30.

Which was a good thing, because tea party types were drawn to this like salmon looking for a place to spawn.

Among the people spotted in the crowd before the event began:

- Gabriela Saucedo Mercer (R), a challenger to Congressman Raul Grijalva.  Given the way that the tea party types deliberately mangled Grijalva's name ("Greeeeehaaallllllva"),  it probably isn't a coincidence that she was introduced around as "Gabby Mercer".

- Wes Harris, a tea party bigwig.  Overheard pimping his new organization, which doesn't have "Tea Party" in the name; also overheard deriding other tea party type organizations as being led by people with "massive egos".  First "irony alert" of the day.

Harris (in the red t-shirt)

 - Former AZ legislator Chuck Gray, now a staffer for Congressman Matt Salmon

- Former AZ legislator Sylvia Allen, now a county supervisor in Navajo County

- Current AZ Corporation Commissioner Bob Stump

- Current state legislator Chester Crandell (at least, I think it was him)


After brief opening remarks from Scott Smith, mayor of Mesa (who tried to stake out the "moderate" position by stating that conflicts with the EPA are "bipartisan"), the real show started.

First, when they went to have a state-sponsored prayer, they couldn't find the invited preacher, so Congressman Trent Franks volunteered to do the job.

And he did a fine job, if "American Exceptionalism as religious dogma" is your thing.

After that,  the Four Horsemen of the Teapocalypse, Arizona chapter (aka - Congressmen Matt Salmon, Paul Gosar, Trent Franks, and David Schweikert) took shots at the EPA in turn.

(L-R) Salmon, Gosar, Franks, and Schweikert

A pattern of "demonization by association" quickly developed, one designed to associate the EPA, something with which most people have no direct familiarity, with something they think they know better, and despise.

- Gosar, as the nominal chair of the event, led off the "festivities" with a diatribe that linked the EPA to President Barack Obama, someone who is hated by the vast majority of the crowd.  He also lied early and often, with the biggest whopper being that "coal ash is not hazardous".

Umm...that is less than truthful.

- Salmon went for the "everything including the kitchen sink" approach, invoking the faux "scandals" ginned up by the GOP (Fast and Furious, Benghazi, anything they can associate Hillary Clinton's name with) and calling USAG Eric Holder a "criminal" who should be investigated by a "special counsel like Ken Starr (harkening back the GOP's glory days of conducting witch hunts, looking for BJs in the White House).

- Schweikert was the most direct in his attack on the EPA, claiming that EPA regulations were anti-business.  His attack was effective enough that one of the women seated behind me called for the hanging of all EPA employees (Note: Let me be clear, this was not stated by Schweikert.  In addition, while it was uttered in a "normal" voice, given the distance from the stage and the background noise, Schweikert and the other members of Congress almost certainly didn't even hear the statement).

Schweikert also expressed his outrage at the audacity of someone who invests in "green" energy daring to lobby him on the subject.  Guess he isn't bothered by the lobbying efforts of "traditional" energy business enterprises, which includes the direct purchase of members of Congress -

- Franks spent his opening statement essentially rehashing the "American exceptionalism as religious dogma" approach of his opening prayer.

Money lines (and there is a theme here) -

"Rights come from God, not the government."

"When rights are in human hands, we are in trouble."

 And when he wasn't rhetorically minimizing the value of civil society, he was making sure that he used the words "Obama" and "antithetical" in the same sentence.

One common thread that the Four Horsemen each wove into their statements was thumping on their assertion that the EPA's proposed air pollution emission limits for the Navajo Generating Station are not anti-pollution, they're anti-Arizona.

Franks even said that the EPA's "haze rule" is part of a "sinister plot" against Arizona.

After the Four Horsemen were done, the first "witness" was Tom Horne, Arizona's Attorney General.

Horne continued the theme established by the four members of Congress, that of pounding on the EPA by pushing the "hot" buttons of tea party types.  Horne called EPA regulations a "violation of the Tenth Amendment".

Gosar and Horne engaged in a bit of a colloquy (basically, a scripted "discussion") and gave us the second irony moment of the event.

Gosar asked Horne if he could give  USAG Eric Holder "lessons in upholding the law".

Horne replied in the affirmative.

Three words - "Hit and run".

Three more - "Campaign finance violations".

Yet three more - "Permanent SEC ban".

I could keep this going for a while, but you get the point - Horne isn't exactly a paragon of ethical behavior or professional conduct.


After Horne was done, it was the turn of Andy Biggs, president of the state senate.

Biggs

Biggs' remarks were light on substance but heavy on buzzwords -

He complained about the "tyranny of the federal government" and pronounced that "environmentalism equals a state-sponsored religion".

To be fair to Biggs, however, he wasn't a one-note wonder.  He took the opportunity to criticize EMTALA, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act.  Enacted in 1986 (yes, during the Reagan Administration), it requires that hospitals that participate in Medicare and offer emergency services to treat patients regardless of their ability to pay.

A concept that totally pisses off Andy "No insurance? Then lay down and die" Biggs.

He also called for the elimination of the IRS.


Anyway, by the time he was done, it was nearing 5:30 and I left, but according to a press release from Gosar's office, the "witnesses" continued long into the evening -

List of witnesses who provided testimony include:
Tom Horne, Arizona Attorney General
Andy Biggs, President of the Arizona State Senate
Buster Johnson, Mohave County Supervisor District III
Carlyle Begay, District 7, Arizona State Senate
Bob Stump, Chairman, Arizona Corporation Commission
David M. Martin, President, Arizona Associated General Contractors
Mary L. Frontczak, Senior Vice President & General Counsel,  Peabody Energy Corporation
Mark Ourada, Vice President for Central Region, American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity
Brenda Barton, District 5 Representative, Arizona House of Representatives
Joy Stavely, President & Chief Operating Officer, Canyoneers, Inc.
Shane Krauser, American Academy for Constitutional Education, Inc.
Chris Rossiter, Greater Phoenix Tea Party
Kelly Townsend, District 16 Representative, Arizona House of Representatives
Nick Dranias, Director of Policy Development & Constitutional Government, Goldwater Institute

The interesting names on this list are Carlyle Begay and Mary Frontczak.

Sen. (for the time being, anyway) Begay is the newly-minted state senator from LD7.  In addition to apparently not residing in LD7, Begay is apparently as close to being a wholly-owned subsidiary of Peabody Energy as one can be without articles of incorporation. (see: some great research by Steve at Arizona Eagletarian).

Frontczak, as listed above, is General Counsel and a Senior VP for Peabody Energy.

The same Peabody Energy that (apparently) owns Begay.

The same Peabody Energy that buys "makes campaign contributions to" elected officials by the bushel.

The same Peabody Energy that derives massive amounts of profits from supplying coal to the NGS, profits that stand to be reduced if clean air standards for NGS are tightened.


So, to summarize the meeting (or at least the portion I sat through):

1.  The Four Horsemen of the Teapocalypse are not complete morons*.

2.  They seem to believe that their base is.

3.  Based on what I saw Thursday, they may be right about that.

4. Taking advantage of that perceived lack of intellectual capacity of their base, one of their basic tactics is to promulgate a "science is wrong" talking point.  For this event, the speakers kept stressing their claims that the "haze rule" is only a visual standard and that the proposed changes to NGS' emissions won't result in a reduction in haze that will be visible to the naked eye.

And that things that can't be seen by the naked eye cannot affect people.

Yeah, right.


To summarize the summary:  It looks as if the GOP game plan for the next year plus to spew as much BS as possible because truth won't help them win the 2014 elections.

* = OK, occasionally** I'm not so sure about Trent Franks.

** = In this context "occasionally" means "most of the time". 

RBB: AZ clemency board director resigns due to misconduct

* RBB = Republicans Behaving Badly 

From the Arizona Republic, written by Craig Harris -

Jesse Hernandez, the ex-chairman and executive director of the state Board of Executive Clemency, suddenly quit last week after an investigation found nine cases of inappropriate behavior, including giving an unqualified female employee he was dating a promotion and $21,340 pay raise, records obtained Wednesday by The Arizona Republic show.

The Republic acquired heavily redacted documents through the Arizona Public Records Law after Gov. Jan Brewer’s Office refused to explain Monday why her appointment abruptly quit Aug. 16.

Brewer appointed Hernandez, a Republican political operative, to the post last year despite having no experience in corrections or criminal justice, according to his resume.

Harris used the phrase "Republican political operative" to describe Hernandez. 

Harris has a gift for understatement.

From Hernandez' LinkedIn profile -

 

In addition to the stuff listed above, Hernandez was chair of a pro-Russell Pearce political committee during the Pearce recall in 2011 -

 

 And he was a candidate for state senate in 2006 -

A campaign co-chair for Maricopa County Attnorney Bill Montgomery.  From the AZ lege's bio page for Hernandez' appointment -

Maybe Harris should have spelled "operative" with a capital "O"...


Anyway, it could have been worse - Hernandez could have given his girlfriend an entire *job* for which she wasn't qualified, not just a pay raise.

Ya know, kind of like Tom Horne, Arizona's Attorney General.

Tea Party...errrr..."Congressional Republicans" Holding Hearing In Mesa On Thursday

From the Congressional website of Rep. Paul Gosar -

U.S. Congressman Paul Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) joined by Congressmen Matt Salmon (AZ-05), David Schweikert (AZ-06) and Trent Franks (AZ-08), will host a congressional hearing on I.R.S. abuse and E.P.A. overreach. This hearing was previously scheduled for July 1, but was postponed due to the tragic Yarnell Hill Fire.

The hearing will take place Thursday, August 22, 2013 at the Mesa Arts Center (Virginia G. Piper Repertory Theater) in Mesa, Arizona. The hearing starts at 3:30PM and is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
Attorney General Tom Horne and State Representative Brenda Barton will also offer testimony.

Representatives from Tea Party groups, industry associations and businesses will testify as well.

{snip}

TIME:  3:30PM- 7:30PM (Doors will open at 2:00PM)
LOCATION: Mesa Arts Center
Virginia G. Piper Repertory Theater
1 E. Main St.
Mesa, AZ 85211

Obviously (from the presences of Horne, Barton and tea party groups), the event may be called a "congressional hearing" but in reality will be a "taxpayer-funded campaign event".

Many people will be attending the event (including me), and while I expect that most of us will not be asked to testify (people who will tell the truth aren't on the invitation list), there will be plenty of discussions.

Here's a little light reading from RegBlog from the University of Pennsylvania Program on Regulation - 

Federal regulations from the last ten years, though costly, could potentially generate almost a trillion dollars in net benefits.  Environmental regulations, especially those issued under the Clean Air Act, will likely create the largest benefits.  And, the Obama Administration, through its first four years, may be better than the two previous administrations at enacting beneficial regulations.

Those are some of the key insights from the recently-released draft version of the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) annual Report to Congress on the Benefit and Costs of Federal Regulation.  As required by the Regulatory-Right-To-Know Act, the OMB annually summarizes estimated costs and benefits of major federal regulations and presents the findings to Congress.

In the latest report, the OMB concludes that major federal regulations enacted in the last ten years are expected to produce a net benefit between $109 billion and $743 billion.  Cost estimates range between $57 billion and $84 billion, whereas benefit estimates range from $193 billion to $800 billion.

If you plan to attend Thursday's event, arrive early and bring plenty of water...

Health care reform: Can improved financial access to health care services also improve geographic access to health care services?

On Friday, Government Executive, essentially a business newspaper for people whose "business" is government agency operations, published an "insider baseball" sort of article.  It relates to areas that are designated as "medically underserved areas" (MUAs).

Federal employees are covered covered under slightly different health insurance reimbursement rules when they work in MUAs.

From the article, written by Eric Katz -

The statute that governs the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program requires OPM to determine which states have “critical shortages of primary care physicians.” Employees in these states -- known as “medically underserved areas” -- receive reimbursement for covered services by any licensed provider in the state.

 The next lines in the article are the ones that caught my attention (emphasis added) -

OPM [the federal Office of Personnel Management, basically the federal government's version of an HR department] calculates which states are underserved using data from the Health and Human Services Departments, as well as the Census Bureau. If at least 25 percent of the state’s population lives in a “primary medical care manpower shortage area” -- as determined by HHS -- the state is considered underserved.

The 12 states that will receive the distinctive consideration in 2014 are Alabama, Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wyoming.

After first noticing that most of the states listed are "red" states (hey, this is *political* blog, not a *medical* one...), I noticed that most of the states listed, other than Illinois, are known as being very rural.

Which sent my thoughts off on a tangent (hence, this post.  :) )

Health care reform, commonly known as Obamacare, is all about making health care more financially accessible for the average American.

While it is still in its infancy, so to speak, it does seem to set to do just that, notwithstanding the BS storm stirred up by President Obama's haters.

What is doesn't seem set to do, directly anyway, is address the issue of people who face physical/geographic impediments when trying to access health care services.

As noted above, Arizona is one of the states that medically underserved enough so that it is subject to the slightly different reimbursement rules for federal employees.

A map of specific areas within the state that are designated as MUAs, courtesy Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) -

Looking at the map, we can see that most of the MUAs in AZ are rural, Native American tribal lands, or urban areas with high concentrations of racial or ethnic minorities, or high concentrations of poverty.

Obamacare directly addresses some of the economic inequities that raise barriers to access to health care.  The geographic inequities still raise barriers to access to health care.

Take the examples of the municipalities of Scottsdale and Holbrook, here in Arizona.

A search of the license database of the Arizona Medical Board shows 776 licenses issued to medical doctors with a Scottsdale address.  With a population of 219,713 people, that works out to one medical doctor for every 287 residents.

Scottsdale has three general hospitals, with 3.8 hospital beds per 1000 residents.  Additionally, there are a number of other health care facilities, such as assisted living and skilled nursing facilities.

Scottsdale is located in heavily populated Maricopa County and is bordered by Phoenix (2263 licensed doctors, multiple hospitals, multiple skilled nursing facilities) and Tempe (111 licensed doctors, 1 hospital, 2 skilled nursing facilities).  It takes less than 20 minutes to drive to the closest areas

In contrast, a search of the same AZ Medical Board database turns up all of two licenses issued to medical doctors in Holbrook, a town of 5,038 people in northeastern Arizona.  That works out to 1 physician for every 2519 residents.  Holbrook has no health care facilities.

Holbrook is located in sparsely Navajo County and the nearest towns for seeking health care services are Snowflake and Taylor, and both are more than 30 minutes away.

Snowflake has no health care facilities and three licensed doctors; Taylor has no health care facilities and no licensed doctors.

Not to be ignored in this is the fact that Scottsdale's median income is more than twice that of Holbrook, meaning that not only are there significantly more people in Scottsdale, the average person in Scottsdale has far more money to spend on health care, and doctor's offices are business operations as well as health care operations.

Interesting factoid:  AZ Medical Board records show that there are more licensed cosmetic surgeons in Scottsdale (6) than there are licensed medical doctors in Holbrook, Snowflake, and Taylor combined (5).

Speculation time:

Now, HCR won't change the basic economics of the health care provider industry as it relates to population density - doctors and other primary care providers will still be concentrated where human population is concentrated.  However, where it could, and should, be able to help with MUAs is to ameliorate the economic disparity.

With the implementation of HCR and its increased financial access to health care insurance (aka - $ for health care), establishing a medical practice in rural or other underserved areas should become a more fiscally feasible proposition.


Snark time:

So why is some of the strongest opposition to Obamacare in Arizona coming from federal and state legislators whose districts have many constituents living in medically underserved areas?  And why do voters in those areas support candidates and officeholders who actively work against their constituents' interests?


Scottsdale demographic data here, courtesy Arizona Department of Health Services.
Holbrook demographic data here, courtesy ADHS.

Data on other AZ municipalities can be found here, also courtesy ADHS.

Information on medically underserved areas from the US Department of Health and Human Services is available here.

GOP plan for victory in 2016: Preach to the choir

From TheFreeDictionary.com -

preach to the choir - to make one's case primarily to one's supporters; to make one's case only to those people who are present or who are already friendly to the issues.

From the Washington Post, written by Ed O'Keefe -

The Republican National Committee formally decided Friday not to partner with CNN and NBC News for any presidential primary debates during the 2016 election cycle, a rebuke of the networks’ plans to air programs about Hillary Rodham Clinton and an attempt to seize more control of a crucial element of modern-day campaigns.

From Politico, written by James Hohmann -

Speculation that conservative radio talking heads like Mark Levin, Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh could moderate debates has ensured positive coverage of the new push on their programs.

“Put together your own debates with your own moderators, whoever you want, and focus on real Republican issues in these debates rather than whether they’re going to do a Hillary Clinton miniseries or not,” Limbaugh said on his show last week. “In this current modern age, there’s no reason anymore to treat these mainstream media people as mainstream objective and nonaligned reporters.”

Without offering evidence, he speculated that ABC’s George Stephanopoulos coordinated with the Obama campaign to ask Romney about contraception during a primary debate so they could create “the war on women” narrative.

“Wherever you go outside of Fox, you are going up against the Democrat Party with people disguised as journalists,” said Limbaugh. “Why do it?”

I'd mock them for trying to limit their national exposure to just most fervent of their base, but I think it's a brilliant plan.

Of course, I'm a Democrat.  :)

Doubling down: Bob Thorpe's seatmate, Rep. Brenda Barton, jumps on the social media bigotry bandwagon

I'd say that there must be something in the water in LD6, but it's Arizona - there just isn't much water there or anywhere else in the state.

After news broke that Rep. Bob Thorpe, her seatmate in Legislative District 6, posted some bigoted tweets, got called on it, and responded by deleting the tweets and blocking reporters from viewing his Twitter feed, Rep. Brenda Barton jumped into the fray.

Apparently, she doesn't feel she has been getting enough attention.  A Facebook post from her earlier today (Thursday, August 15) -

She has learned one lesson already though; she has already blocked her Twitter feed -

Note: Regarding the blacked out names of the people who commented on her FB post - the names that are blocked are names I don't recognize; so far as I know, they aren't public figures.  However, John Corey Wentling is a noted gun industry lobbyist.  He's a public figure.

Electeds (and wannabes) behaving badly

Just a few quick hits on some names in the news, and in the interest of being fair, some of the people listed will be Democrats (yes, there are Democrats who do things that deserve criticism and even ouster from office)...

...Democrat Bob Filner, currently the mayor of San Diego, CA needs to resign.  Now.

I'm all for forgiving someone for a minor transgression, a character flaw, or something similar that doesn't impact an elected's ability to do his (or her) job.

However, Filner's bad behavior isn't just part of his personal life.  It is part and parcel of the way that he does his job.

And descriptions of the bad behavior legitimately include the word "victims".

It's past time for him to step down.


...Republican Tom Horne, Attorney General of Arizona, needs to join Filner in the unemployment line.

Not for cheating on his wife; that's part of his personal life.

What isn't part of his personal life is his penchant for giving his girlfriends highly-paid jobs funded by the taxpayers.

[Mild Crudeness Alert!]

His desire to get laid doesn't give him the right to screw over the people of Arizona.

[End Mild Crudeness]


...Democrat Anthony Weiner, candidate for mayor in New York City, still is in the habit of Tweeting pics of himself and his reproductive organ to women he has never met (already went for "crude" in this post; time for "clinical" :) ).  Even after leaving Congress in disgrace for doing the same thing.

He shouldn't drop out of the race; the voters of NYC should, electorally speaking, hand him his ass on a platter (which they seem to be set to do).

Simply having to leave office amid scandal didn't help him learn the "don't act like a moron!" lesson, perhaps an outright rejection by the voters will bring it home to Weiner.


...Republican Crystal Nuttle, candidate for the LD29 AZ State Senate seat, was arrested on custodial interference charges for helping another woman remove a child from CPS custody.  Instead of exhibiting penitence for her (alleged) crime, she's exhibiting ego and doubling down on it.  She is insisting that her actions were "justified".

I'm guessing that she isn't going to drop out of the race (based on her "it was justified" position), but it should make next year's race interesting to cover.


...Republican Bob Thorpe, LD6 State Representative, posted some bigoted tweets earlier this week, and when called on it, did not respond by apologizing or even simply "clarifying" his tweets.  Nope, he just deleted them and blocked some reporters from viewing his Twitter feed.

I expect that I will soon join the reporters on Thorpe's social media version of an enemies list for this, but here are the tweets in question (posted Monday) -

I do think his tweets are bigoted, but you decide for yourself.

He was called out for the tweets today by a couple of D members of the AZ House, Reps. Martin Quezada and Mark Cardenas.  The conversations are short, perhaps due to the deletion of the original tweets.  However, they make more sense when you look at the above picture first.

To be fair to Thorpe, he doesn't confine his bigotry to ethnic and racial minorities; he advocates shooting environmentalists, too.

And given his history, don't expect Thorpe to change his attitudes or even to withdraw from public life.

TN Judge Orders Baby's Name Changed Because The Name Offended The Judge's Religious Sensibilities

From TalkingPointsMemo, written by Tom Kludt (emphasis added) -

A judge in Tennessee ordered that a 7-month-old baby's name be changed from "Messiah," prompting the mother to challenge the ruling.

Jaleesa Martin and the father of the baby were attending a child support hearing Thursday in Cocke County, Tenn. to settle a dispute over Messiah's last name. It was there that Child Support Magistrate Lu Ann Ballew took the liberty to hand down a ruling on the boy's first name, too.

"The word Messiah is a title and it's a title that has only been earned by one person and that one person is Jesus Christ," Judge Ballew said, according to t.v. station WBIR. Ballew said the child could go by "Martin DeShawn McCullough," which includes both the mother and father's names.

Forgive my ignorance of legal precedents and other niceties, but -

1. What was the judge's legal foundation for her order, changing the baby's first name?  And what was her legal foundation for going beyond the scope of the specific matter before the court (paternity and last name)?

2. Am I the only one who actually sees a bigger issue here? Like say a judge placing her personal religious beliefs/sensibilities above civil society's laws?

This judge should be an *ex-* judge, and soon.

 

Notes:

The Tennessee Courts' biographical webpage for this judge actually doesn't contain any information on her, though while the article above cites her court as being in Cocke County, the bio page states that her court is in Jefferson County.  Not sure what is going on there.

Also, not sure how the judge will feel when she finds out that the name she finds so offensive to her personal religious sensibilities is actually a name that is quickly rising in popularity (courtesy the Social Security Administration) - 

 

Candidate and Committee update

Most of this has been covered elsewhere this week; this is mostly just a compilation.

Federal level -

No new candidates to report as of this writing, but on Channel 12's Sunday Square Off this morning, the panelists did speculate/rumor-spread (not that I've ever done such things :) ) that AZ House Speaker Andy Tobin will enter a race for a seat in Congress.


State level -

...Christine Jones, a former GoDaddy exec, has entered the contest for the Republican nomination for governor.  She should bring a lot of money into the race, but until she shows otherwise, she's presumed to be a wealthy dilettante looking to buy an elected office.

She joins the following in the race for the R nomination -

Hugh Hallman, former mayor of Tempe

Andrew Thomas, disgraced and disbarred former Maricopa County Attorney

Ken Bennett, currently AZ Secretary of State

Doug Ducey, currently AZ Treasurer

Al Melvin, currently an AZ state senator

Others rumored to be interested, but nothing official yet:  Scott Smith, mayor of Mesa; Steve Pierce/Andy Tobin, senator/representative from LD1 (neither may go for it, and almost certainly both won't go for it, but one of them may go for it); Jan Brewer, the term-limited incumbent, who keeps making noises about challenging AZ's term limits law.

...Speaking of wealthy dilettantes looking to buy an elected office, news broke this week that Wil Cardon, a 2012 Republican candidate for US Senate, is going to enter the Republican primary for AZ Secretary of State.  The linked article states that Cardon filed his paperwork on Tuesday, but nothing is on the AZSOS' website as yet.

In 2012, Cardon spent millions of his family's money to challenge Jeff Flake, the eventual general election winner, coming in second place in the Republican primary.  Sounds good for a political newbie, until you realize that it wasn't exactly a "close" second -

Cardon joins the following in the race for the Republican nomination for SOS -

Steve Montenegro, currently a member of the AZ House

Justin Pierce, currently a member of the AZ House

Michele Reagan, currently a member of the AZ Senate


...Effie Carlson, a Scottsdale businesswoman, has entered the race for one of the House seats from LD23.  Don't know much about her, but since I live in Scottsdale (though not in the LD23 part), I expect to hear more in the coming months.

...Trey Terry, a former campaign operative for the likes of Mitt Romney, Jesse Kelly, and Paul Babeu, has entered the race for an AZ House seat from LD8 (Pinal County).


Maricopa County level -

Nothing new to report as of this writing.  There will be news, eventually.  A number of JP and constable seats are up for election in 2014, as is a two-year term for County Assessor (the previous assessor was appointed to fill a JP vacancy).  In addition, there are occasional rumors that the current County Attorney, Bill Montgomery, may throw his hat in the ring for the R nod for Attorney General.  If he does so, that will put a higher-profile county race on the ballot.


Local level -

...In Tempe, one Matthew Papke has filed for a 2014 run for City Council.  Gun nut/tea party type.

Nothing new to report for Scottsdale or Mesa municipal elections.

Vent time: False equivalency

...Not that I've ever been accused of being overly eloquent or tactful, but this is definitely not going to be a post for those with tender sensibilities...

When it comes to assessing bad behavior, one of the favorite rhetorical conceits of two major political demographic groups in the US, the politically conservative and the politically lazy, is that of equating bad behavior by individual Democrats with the bad behavior of Republican elected officials, party apparatchiks, and their base.

The politically conservative do it because they understand that using the bad behavior of individual Ds to tar Ds as a group might serve to diminish the impact of the tarring of individual Rs with the bad behavior of Rs as a group.

The politically lazy do it because it's easier than actually observing and analyzing actions and policies for themselves.  You know, actually being civically engaged.

Early this past week, former president George W. Bush went into a hospital for a heart-related procedure (he had a stent put in to unblock an artery).  He received well wishes from people across the political spectrum and across the world (Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin chimed in...just not at the same time :) ).

However, many of the online stories received comments that were something other than "well wishes".  Most of the comment threads contain postings that wish continued ill health or even death upon Bush.  Other postings are milder, but indicate a distinct lack of sympathy for him.

One person who I deeply respect and care for, someone who is highly intelligent and (usually) highly perceptive, took in all of this on Tuesday morning and whipped off an email expressing outrage, and...wait for it...that the hate-filled expressions of anonymous individuals on the internet is proof that Democrats as a group are as filled with hate as Republicans as a group.

I spent the rest of Tuesday morning trying to come up with a response that was appropriately reasoned and thoughtful.

Then Tuesday afternoon hit, and nothing I could come up with was going to top the reality that is the state of "discourse" among the Republicans.

From Talking Points Memo, written by Perry Stein -

As President Barack Obama spoke in Phoenix Tuesday about responsible home ownership, hundreds of people stood outside protesting his policies, many shouting and carrying racially charged chants and signs.

"Bye Bye Black Sheep," the protestors shouted at one point, a reference to the president's skin color, according to the Arizona Republic.

Another protestor carried a sign that said "Impeach the Half-White Muslim!"

“He’s 47 percent Negro,” one protestor shouted.

“We have gone back so many years,” Judy Burris told the Republic. “He’s divided all the races. I hate him for that.”

Just a couple of points here, and this is where things get a little blunt.

1.  There are those who will try to claim that the bigotry shown by the protesters at the President's appearance in Ahwatukee was an isolated event that is hardly reflective of the demeanor and actions of Republican elected officials.  They will be lying.

2.  The anonymous rantings of morons on the internet don't reflect upon the entirety of Democrats in America any more than they reflect upon the entirety of Republicans.

3.  We (meaning Democrats) have our share of, oh, what's the technical term?  Oh yeah - freakin' loons at the fringes, as well as officeholders who bring great shame to their offices.  So do the Republicans.  The difference being that where we marginalize our loons and power abusers, they lionize theirs.

And when one (or more) of ours steps out of line, we call them on it - witness the sexual harassment complaints lodged against Democrat Bob Filner, mayor of San Diego, and the growing calls, by Democrats, for him to resign from office.

Compare this to the thunderous silence from the Right over the revelations surrounding AZ Attorney General Tom Horne and his pattern of giving his girlfriends taxpayer-funded jobs.

4.  Enough already.  I consider myself to be a pretty even-keeled kind of guy, but the next person who pontificates on how Democrats and Republicans are the same is going to hear three words from me. 

Bullshit.  Prove it.


And when they don't prove it, and they won't, I'm going to look them in the eye, call them a liar, turn my back upon them, and walk away.