Federal committees update

 From the website of the FEC - 

Norton is a political newbie who is mounting a primary challenge to David Schweikert.  As Norton is a direct marketing guy, I expect his campaign to come down to "Same stuff, different name."

Lindberg's desire to run is not new; the federal committee is.

Lowell looks to be a doctor who has signed up for a seat on the clown car of Rs running for AZ02 (sometimes, it seems that the Rs who aren't running for that seat are running for governor.  Not completely true, I know, but there are a LOT of both.)

State (AZ) committee update

 From the website of the Arizona Secretary of State -

McWhirter is a failed 2020 candidate for Maricopa County Attorney.

Cobb is a sitting legislator.

While the committees are new (hence their inclusion here), they're not real news - both McWhirter and Cobb have made their electoral intentions clear before this.

Not sure about Neely; he appears to be a political newbie.

The MSM shows its cluelessness about human nature. Again.

 From CNN -

Tensions in the House of Representatives boil over after 1/6 hearing and mask rule

Democratic Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut did not want to lose his cool, but he said this week he couldn't help it.

Himes was at the residence of an ambassador with two Republican lawmakers on Tuesday for dinner, just hours after police officers gave explosive testimony about fearing for their lives on January 6 during the Capitol Hill insurrection, when the ambassador asked the group what it was like to be in Congress during the insurrection.

"I'm not going to sit here and say anything other than what we all know happened," Himes added. "I just said, you know, I will never forgive the President for so damaging our democracy and it's been very, very hard to watch my Republican colleagues collude in this big lie."

What?!?  People who work with the likes of Paul Gosar, Andy Biggs, and others, who (allegedly) aided and abetted armed insurrectionists who wanted to kill most of those people and overturn democracy and who still show their desire to kill those around them by not wearing masks feel "tense"?

{start sarcasm]

Quelle surprise!

{/end sarcasm]

The Arizona fraudit has issues. Is anyone not in the national MSM surprised?

From AP via Yahoo! News - 

'Botched': Arizona GOP's ballot count ends, troubles persist

 Arizona Republicans’ partisan review of the 2020 election results got off to a rocky start when their contractors broke rules for counting ballots and election experts warned the work was dangerous for democracy.

When the auditors stopped the counting and returned the ballots this week, it hadn't gotten better. In the last week alone, the only audit leader with substantial election experience was locked out of the building, went on the radio to say he was quitting, then reversed course hours later. The review's Twitter accounts were suspended for breaking the rules. A conservative Republican senator withdrew her support, calling the process “botched.” And the lead auditor confirmed what was long suspected: that his work was almost entirely paid for by supporters of Donald Trump who were active in the former president’s movement to spread false narratives of fraud. 

[snip]

On Wednesday night, Logan ended months of silence about who was paying him when he said a whopping $5.7 million had been contributed by political groups run by prominent Trump supporters including Michael Flynn, Sidney Powell, Patrick Byrne and correspondents from One America News Network. The figure dwarfs the $150,000 to be paid by the Senate. 

Apparently, not only was it always an effort to overturn democracy, it was a grift.

Considering Cheeto was involved, not a shock.  On either count.

The Georgia Secretary of State has a, ummmm, "creative" definition of "gone".

 From the Daily Beast - 

Georgia Secretary of State Declares Pandemic ‘Gone’ and Expanded Voting Access Over

Georgia’s top election official said he believes the COVID-19 pandemic is “gone,” making the efforts enacted last year to expand voting access no longer necessary—and it’s one reason he’s opposing a Justice Department lawsuit against his state’s new voting law.

“It was a once-in-a-century event. We are now back to a situation where more Georgians will want to return to vote in person,” Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told The Daily Beast on Friday.

Ummmm - From the Georgia Department of Public Health (an agency that Raffensperger is familiar with) - 

There are real world effects of Raffensperger's beliefs and statements.

From CNN -

Atlanta students in quarantine after 9 students and 5 staffers test positive for Covid-19

 

More than 100 students at Atlanta's Drew Charter School are in quarantine after nine students and five staff members tested positive for Covid-19, the head of school said Friday.

The school had informed parents in a letter Thursday that two staff members and a student had tested positive. The school said it was "working closely with local public health officials to ensure we follow the proper recommendations to quarantine."

Wearing masks or violating the civil rights of immigrants. Which is worse?

If you're a Republican, you'll come to the wrong answer.

From Texas Tribune -

Gov. Greg Abbott draws criticism for ordering state troopers to pull over vehicles with migrants, saying it will stem COVID-19 risk

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state troopers on Wednesday to begin pulling over vehicles whose drivers are transporting migrants who pose a risk of carrying COVID-19, escalating his hardline approach on immigrants and eliciting outrage from advocates calling the order a ticket to racial profiling.

The executive order allows Texas Department of Public Safety troopers to reroute those vehicles back to their origin point or a port of entry, or seize the vehicles if the driver does not comply.

Blaming the "other" is nothing new for Republicans.

In 2006, I was at a community meeting in south Scottsdale where State Rep. John Kavanagh blamed immigrants for leprosy.

Edit on 7/30 to add: I was wrong.  Not about Kavanagh and his bigotry.  Nope.  It was in 2007 or 2008.

Apologies to readers for the error.

End edit.

Deep philosophical question: can someone be called a "leader" if no one follows?

Ask Ron DeSantis...

From Politico -

Florida officials defy DeSantis as infections spike

Florida’s Covid wars are starting again.

Local officials across Florida are bucking Gov. Ron DeSantis and his anti-mandate coronavirus strategy as infections soar in the state and nation. They’re imposing vaccine and mask requirements for government workers and even declaring states of emergency. In a sign of how worrisome the new Covid-19 surge is, Disney World is ordering all guests over 2-years-old to wear masks indoors at its Florida theme park, regardless of vaccination status.

The new pandemic regulations were announced Wednesday, a day after Florida reported over 16,000 new cases — the highest one-day total since mid-January when the vaccine was not widely available. The local mandates also came as DeSantis reiterated that the state will resist any pandemic-related regulations, even as it remains one of the worst hotspots in America.

Kathy Hoffman, defending Arizona's schools, calls out Arizona's governor

From KTAR- 

Arizona’s schools chief slams Ducey for limiting COVID mitigation policies

Arizona’s schools chief didn’t mince words Wednesday criticizing Gov. Doug Ducey limiting the ability for schools in the state to enforce COVID-19 mitigation measures, including requiring face masks.

“You can tell that he’s not asking our school leaders what would help them have in-person instruction, he’s just making big political moves to get on national TV,” Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Gaydos and Chad.

Pic courtesy the AZ Department of Education

Kyrsten Sinema hangs America out to dry

I was pointed to most of this by Taegan Goddard's Political Wire.

Being a Massachusetts guy, I would most liken Kyrsten Sinema to Billy Bulger, another pol who seemed to become a Democrat only because it was the shortest path to power, not because of any affinity for Democratic ideals.

Hey!  This is nice; I could have said she was shamelessly auditioning for the 2024 or 2028 Republican presidential ticket.

From the Arizona Republic -

Sinema doesn't support Democrats' $3.5T bill, clinches bipartisan infrastructure deal

Yvonne Wingett Sanchez

Arizona Republic

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema does not support Democrats' $3.5 trillion budget plan that aims to deliver major components of President Joe Biden’s economic agenda that Democrats hope to pass after moving a separate bipartisan infrastructure deal that Sinema negotiated.

Sinema, D-Ariz., told The Arizona Republic on Wednesday she had reviewed the Senate Budget Committee’s spending framework and has told Senate leadership and Biden that she supports many of its goals, including job growth and American competitiveness. 

Needless to say, some members of the more liberal wing of the Democratic Party expressed their disagreement with her position -

Of course, her positions are situational.  To whit: her current defense of the Republican-friendly filibuster.

From Business Insider -

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema slammed 'false pressure' to reach a filibuster-proof 60 votes in unearthed 2010 video

In comments to supporters 11 years ago, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona Democrat, criticized the "false pressure" to reach a 60-vote supermajority to pass legislation, a 2010 video unearthed by the progressive media organization More Perfect Union showed.  

Sinema, an Arizona state representative at the time, told the audience that she supported Democrats using reconciliation to pass major legislation, including healthcare reform, with just 51 votes. She also criticized Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut who caucused with the Democratic Party, and Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, for being too moderate. 

Sinema's action made Mitch McConnell happy - 

Making Mitch happy probably is not in the job description of any (allegedly) Democratic senator.

Sinema may have displayed some power today, but she didn't make any friends; we'll see what that means when/if she's up for reelection.

Do you know where Paul Gosar is? Is "running away" a place?

From The Daily Beast -

GOP Reps Abandon Disastrous Presser on Jan. 6 Hearing

Members of the so-called sedition caucus, the moniker given to Republican lawmakers who have refused to acknowledge the truth of what happened on Jan. 6, were chased out of their own press conference on Tuesday by a man blowing a whistle and a protester holding a “RAPIST” sign. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who is under federal investigation for sex trafficking, appeared alongside other proponents of the “Big Lie” like Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA), Paul Gosar (AZ), and Louie Gohmert (TX) to complain about the Jan. 6 hearing that was underway in the House on Tuesday morning.

But protesters quickly swamped the event, including one holding up a sign behind the podium that read “TRAITORS + RAPISTS: SIT DOWN.” An aide confronted a man who was repeatedly blowing a whistle and asked him, “Are you trying to assault people with auditory weapons?” before eventually shutting down the presser while yelling “the left shut us down.” Gaetz and Greene had to be whisked away by security while a woman repeatedly yelled, “Are you a pedophile?” at Gaetz.

For what it's worth, the press conference that Gosar ran away from is NOT the first time that Gosar has associated with folks of questionable integrity.

Pastor calls Covid stuff "nonsense" and doesn't want folks to believe it. He may have other nonsense for folks to believe.

I am *so* going to get flak for this one.

So be it.

From Yahoo! News -

Evangelical pastor demands churchgoers ditch their masks: 'Don't believe this delta variant nonsense'

Since the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, Greg Locke, the pastor at a Nashville-area church, has repeatedly called covid a hoax, undermined emergency mandates and refused to comply with guidance from public health officials.

This week, Locke took his defiance a step further, making a sharp warning regarding mask-wearing.

If "you start showing up [with] all these masks and all this nonsense, I will ask you to leave,"

Locke, 45, told scores of Global Vision Bible Church parishioners during his sermon on Sunday

His statement was followed by cheers and applause.

From Johns Hopkins U -

Guess those 12K+ dead people are just lying about being dead.

1. Wear a damn mask.

2. Get vaccinated.

Members of the public are dying, so the GOP sees a justification for helping...themselves to public money.

 From NPR -

A Group Of Michigan Lawmakers Used Coronavirus Relief Funds For $65,000 In Bonuses

Lawmakers in a Michigan county are vowing to return $65,000 in bonuses they gave themselves using federal coronavirus relief funds.

During a July 15 public meeting, the Shiawassee County Board of Commissioners voted to approve "hazard pay" for elected officials and county employees who worked through the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

[snip]

According to the Associated Press, the board of commissioners gave $557,000 in hazard pay to 250 county employees, including $65,000 that went to the seven county commissioners, all of whom are Republicans. 

Of course.

In GOPworld, men harassing women is OK; arming and training them like men, not so much.

Of course, I could have gone with "aiding and abetting a crime is an expression of party loyalty; holding someone accountable for their acts is an expression of party disloyalty."

Explains the fealty to Cheeto.

From AP-

Far right tugs at North Dakota Republican Party

An effort to recall a Republican legislator largely over his vote to

 

expel a fellow GOP lawmaker accused of sexually harassing

 

women at the state Capitol is being viewed as a litmus test for

 

party loyalty, the state GOP ’s new chairman said.

The move to recall Rep. Dwight Kiefert over his vote to oust former

 

Rep. Luke Simons has fanned the flames of an intraparty fight

 

that has a far-right faction seeking to control the party

 

apparatus and replace Republicans they see as too moderate.

Yet...

From Roll Call -

Conservatives riled up over registering women for draft

Conservatives are expressing outrage about a pending Senate defense policy bill that would require women to register for the draft, and two defense hawks opposed the measure in the Armed Services Committee over the issue.

The Senate’s National Defense Authorization Act, which the committee approved on July 21, contains an amendment by the panel’s chairman, Jack Reed of Rhode Island, that would require women to sign up with Selective Service, just as men do between the ages of 18 and 25. If enacted, women could be drafted into military service in the event of a national emergency, though there is no prospect of that on the horizon, and no American has been drafted in nearly half a century.

Nice two step there.

The Senate Armed Service summary of the NDAA is here.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse speak in Phoenix

In lore they are known as War, Famine, Pestilence and Death, but in Arizona they are known as Lesko, Gosar, Biggs, and Trump.

In CSPAN's video they spoke consecutively at Saturday's event in Phoenix, with Lesko leading off at the 2:04.23 mark.(the video itself is over 5 1/2 hours long, so eliminating the first couple of hours is a good thing. :)

Oh, the sacrifices I make for readers; the time spent doing this is time I will never get back. :) :)

Can you say "You have a bit of a credibility problem, Rep. Jackson"?

 From The Hill -

Ronny Jackson, former White House doctor, predicts Biden will resign

Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), the controversial former White House physician, said on Thursday that he believed President Biden would resign because of his limited cognitive abilities.

During an episode of Fox’s “Hannity,” host Sean Hannity criticized responses Biden gave during a CNN town hall the day before, calling some “completely incomprehensible.”

In an interview with Jackson, Hannity said that Biden would not perform well on a cognitive test, repeating a claim circulated among Republicans that the president's health is in decline.

Remember this?

From Vox (in 2018) - 

White House doctor: Trump “has absolutely no cognitive or mental issues”

President Donald Trump is in “excellent” physical and cognitive health, according to his physician Dr. Ronny Jackson, who shared the results of Trump’s first physical at a press conference Tuesday.

“It is called genetics ... ” Jackson said. “Some people have just great genes. I told the president that if he had a healthier diet over the last 20 years, he might live to be 200 years old.”

Trump’s only health concern, according to Jackson, is his weight of 239 pounds. Jackson said the president wants to lose 10 to 15 pounds over the next year, and plans to exercise more.

His expertise on the topic of "cognitive issues" is questionable, and, while Trump may be the 6'3'' described in the Vox story, *I'm* closer to 239 pounds than Cheeto, and I should lose more than 10 to 15 pounds.

For the record, I am not questioning Cheeto's mental state.  The cabinet didn't 25th Amendment his ass; and they saw him more closely than a TV camera, and they saw him every day.

Plus, being found to be mentally unfit would keep him out of the place that he so richly belongs, prison.