Well, there's always walking to work, or even resigning from her position

To be fair, a Republican may consider both to be a "librul conspiracy".

From The Hill -

Alaskan legislator says airline ban preventing her from getting to capital for votes

An Alaskan state senator, who has been banned from Alaska Airlines for failing to comply with masking policies, says that she asked to be excused from legislative business because the ban prevents her from being able to be present for votes.

Earlier this year, the airline announced that state Sen. Lora Reinbold (R), of Eagle River, Alaska, would not be allowed to fly on the airline after she refused to comply with masking guidelines multiple times. Federal COVID-19 protocols require people on certain modes of transportation, including on planes, to wear a masks. 

Maybe the Alaska legislature should just declare the seat to be vacant because the current occupant refuses to appear at the state capitol and fulfill the job requirements.

1. Wear a damn mask.

2. Get vaccinated.  

Is it spelled "freedom" or "freedumb"? Either way, anti-vaxxers should be proud.

Got no words on this one.

From USA Today - 

Alabama man dies of cardiac event after 43 hospitals with full ICUs turned him away

The family of a man who died of heart issues in Mississippi is asking people to get vaccinated for COVID-19 after 43 hospitals across three states were unable to accept him because of full cardiac ICUs. 

Ray Martin DeMonia died last week in Meridian, Mississippi. He was three days shy of his 74th birthday and a well-known native in Cullman, Alabama, his family said.  

1. Wear a damn mask.

2. Get vaccinated.  

9/11, 20 years on

Pundits, both conservative and liberal, like to say that the terrorist attack on 9/11/2001 brought us together as Americans.

20 years later, like most American "days", it's become nothing more than an excuse for sales.

It was more significant than that.

Many people died that day and many others grieve their loss; living people who seek to profit from those deaths should be ridiculed and despised.

Federal committee update

 From the website of the FEC -

Republican Free has joined the clown car load of Republicans running for AZ2.

She appears to be a district person for one of the Pima County supervisors -

State committee update

 From the website of the Arizona Secretary of State -

Grove is lawyer who is best known as an executive for her family's golf club manufacturing company.

Gym Jordan opines that vaccines are a bad thing. He has a different opinion about betraying trust, though

He'd be supportive of vaccines...if there was one that made folks look the other way.  Of course, he doesn't need that one, since he already does that naturally

From Twitter:

By his definition, apparently I attended an un-American elementary school, since I had to take vaccinations for measles, rubella, polio, diptheria, and I'm not sure what else (I think smallpox was all but eradicated in the U.S. by then).

Since you already occupy the position of "Cheeto's Butt-Kisser-In-Chief", maybe they should go to Cancun to look for work

From Twitter:

Dear Ted -

Maybe there would be fewer vacancies if those businesses paid their employees more.  Plus, you make a good argument for Congressional salaries being tied to the federal minimum wage.

Woman sues to deworm her husband; gets rebuffed by an Ohio court.

Isn't getting a divorce attorney easier than pushing a lawsuit?

From NPR -

An Ohio Judge Reverses An Earlier Order Forcing A Hospital To Administer Ivermectin

A judge in Ohio has reversed an earlier emergency order that required a hospital to administer ivermectin to a COVID-19 patient against the hospital's wishes. The anti-parasitic drug is most commonly used in the U.S. as a dewormer in animals.

Federal agencies and medical associations alike have cautioned against the use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19, as there is little evidence it is effective. But prescriptions — and related calls to poison control centers — have skyrocketed in 2021 as right-wing media have hyped it as a treatment for COVID-19.

The judge's decision is here.

In the name of anti-vax purity, the Pinal County Supervisors throw rural folks under the bus.

From KJZZ -

Pinal County Supervisors Vote To Reject $3.4 Million COVID-19 Vaccine Equity Grant

Last week, the Pinal County Board of Supervisors rejected a $3.4 million federal grant aimed at improving vaccine equity.

The board voted 3-2 against accepting the grant money from the Arizona Department of Health Services.

Linda Lyon of Blog for Arizona has a take based on an Arizona Republic story on the same matter here.

From the minutes of the meeting -

It doesn't specify which supes voted against helping rural Pinal County residents, but Lyon has that - 

Kevin Kavanaugh, who has a history of opposing anti-Covid efforts.

Jeff Serdy, who has much the same history.  But he thinks that enhancing corporate profits are a good thing.

Jeff McClure, a fellow traveler on the "sacrifice the lives of others" ideological trail..

While all three are from cities/developments in Pinal County, and one knows it from their votes, there's a *lot* of rural in Pinal County.   From the website of the US Census -

1. Wear a damn mask.

2. Get vaccinated. 

In Florida, facts don't matter. Political expediency does.

 And, in a bit of a surprise, for once I'm not talking about Ron DeSantis, though I could be.

And2, unsurprisingly, he's involved.

From Business Insider -

Florida official wants Gov. Ron DeSantis to make the controversial and unproven COVID-19 treatment ivermectin more widely available

A Florida county commissioner wrote a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis pleading that the livestock deworming drug ivermectin become more widely available for people who are struggling with COVID-19. 

In the letter, Commissioner Neil Combee called ivermectin a "wonder drug," according to NBC affiliate WFLA.

From Lake Wales News -

County Commissioner Neil Combee Promotes Ulcer Medication as Covid Cure

A Polk County Commissioner is coming under fire for promoting a common ulcer medication as a cure for Covid-19. There is no medical or clinical evidence to support his claim.

Neil Combee, who represents the northwest corner of Polk but is elected county-wide, asserts that "the government knows" that the over-the-counter medicine is effective but is covering it up for unknown reasons. He offered no explanation as to why any authority would do so but says that he "doesn't trust government."

Known as famotidine and marketed as Pepcid-AC, the drug is used to reduce the production of stomach acid in ulcer patients, and may cause significant interactions with other medications.

Combee, a Polk County Commissioner and former state legislator, has no scientific or medical training, but he *is* a trumpkin, working in Trump's administration as the Florida state director of the USDA.

Like other trumpkins, reality doesn't matter to him.  Apparently.

From KFOR (OK) -

Patients overdosing on ivermectin backing up rural Oklahoma hospitals, ambulances

A rural Oklahoma doctor said patients who are taking the horse de-wormer medication, ivermectin, to fight COVID-19 are causing emergency room and ambulance back ups.

“There’s a reason you have to have a doctor to get a prescription for this stuff, because it can be dangerous,” said Dr. Jason McElyea.

My guess is that he runs for governor of Florida when DeSantis' term is up; and if that doesn't work out, he moves to AZ and runs for something here.

1. Wear a damn mask.

2. Get vaccinated. 

3. Don't ignore facts.

Betcha Biden doesn't pull a Trump by throwing some paper towels

From NJ.com -

Biden coming to N.J. on Tuesday to review Ida storm damage

President Joe Biden will travel to Manville on Tuesday to survey the damage caused by remnants of Hurricane Ida, the White House said.

Biden also will visit Jamaica, Queens, on the trip. He is spending the weekend in Wilmington, Delaware, after traveling to Louisiana on Friday to view the damage caused by Ida.

Here's hoping that Biden learns from one of Trump's (many) miscues.  From NBC News -

Trump Defends Throwing Paper Towels to Hurricane Survivors in Puerto Rico

President Donald Trump defended throwing paper towels into a crowd of Puerto Ricans at a relief center in the hurricane-ravaged territory earlier this week and lauded federal relief efforts.

“They had these beautiful, soft towels. Very good towels,” Trump told Mike Huckabee during an interview Saturday with Christian network Trinity Broadcasting.

The conspiracy theory laundry is working at full speed; the only question now is Cheeto getting a cut

 From the AZ Mirror, written by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy - 

A GOP lawmaker’s nonprofit was billed $400K for ‘audit’ security

Newly released documents show that the Arizona “audit” has spent more than $400,000 to hire off-duty police officers to provide security for the ballot review that concluded last month at the state fairgrounds. 

Not much has been previously known about how much money is flowing in and the agreements between the Senate and Peoria-based Law Enforcement Specialists except that the Senate entered into an agreement with the group on April 26. 

According to the website of the Arizona Corporation Commission, one Bonnie Lucas is the statutory agent and a director of Law Enforcement Specialists -

According to the website of the Arizona Secretary of State, one Bonnie Lucas gave a donation to Anthony Kern in 2019 - 

Which is significant because Kern is a party to a lawsuit over his and Finchem's presence on January 6th at the U.S. Capitol.  From Capitol Media Services, written by Howard Fischer, and published by the Arizona Capitol Times -

Fernandez fights Finchem, Kern lawsuit against her

A Yuma Democratic lawmaker is asking a judge to toss a defamation lawsuit filed against her by two Republican legislators and a member of Congress.

Rep. Charlene Fernandez contends she did nothing wrong in signing a letter asking the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI to investigate the activities of Rep. Mark Finchem of Oro Valley and now-former Rep. Anthony Kern of Glendale during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Both state lawmakers were there but have denied taking part in any disturbance.

Lawsuit status, from the website of the Arizona Supreme Court -

Interesting aside:

One of the attorneys, Alexander Kolodin, ran for a seat in the AZ Senate in 2020.

He lost in the R primary by more than 8000 votes to eventual winner and current AZSOS candidate, Michelle Ugenti-Rita -

Election integrity officials in Mesa County Colorado have no, wait for it, *integrity*

Mesa County Colorado is a *very* Republican county - in 2020, it went for Cheeto by a lot, and in 2018, the clerk in question was unopposed in the general election (she defeated one challenger in the Republican primary).

From NPR - 

Voting Data From A Colorado County Was Leaked Online. Now The Clerk Is In Hiding

It's been nearly a month since sensitive data about voting equipment in Colorado's Mesa County was posted online by conspiracy theorists eager to cast doubt on the outcome of the 2020 election.

At the center of the criminal investigation into how that information was released is county clerk Tina Peters, whose whereabouts remain unknown. She hasn't returned to work in Mesa County since the data breach was announced.

There seems to be a culture problem in her office.  From the Grand Junction (CO) Daily Sentinel -

Charges filed against Mesa County deputy clerk

To avoid being arrested and put in jail, Mesa County Deputy Clerk Belinda Knisley turned herself in to Mesa County District Court today and was advised on charges of felony burglary and misdemeanor cyber crimes filed against her in relation to a personnel matter and ongoing investigations of her office.

As a result, Knisley, 66, was ordered not to enter the Mesa County Clerk and Recorder's Office while state and federal criminal investigations are ongoing into possible felony charges for breaching election security, according to her arrest warrant.

Neither of them should expect Cheeto to pay for a lawyer.

State committee update

From the website of the Arizona Secretary of State -

R

Republican Weninger is a current state legislator.

Federal committees update

From the website of the FEC -

Republican Davison is setting up a challenge in AZ9, currently held by Democrat Greg Stanton.

Davison is currently a church pastor who's a former ASU and NFL player.

One person dropped out of the Democratic primary in AZ2.  An email sent out by Randy Friese - 

Which brings up an important point that's applicable to both federal and state committees (and, for that matter, committees formed for county and local seats):

Just because a committee has been formed to support the candidacy of a particular person for a particular office does NOT mean that person will actually campaign for that office or will appear on a ballot.