Cheeto claims "absolute immunity"; what's old is new again

The Latin term for his claim is "ave Maria" (that's "hail Mary" to you football fans :) )

From CBSNews -

Trump claims absolute immunity in attempt to toss January 6 suits from Democrats, Capitol Police officers

Lawyers for former President Donald Trump argued Monday that he is entitled to broad immunity from civil lawsuits attempting to hold him accountable for his role in the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, as they sought to convince a federal judge to toss out a trio of lawsuits filed against him in the wake of last year's violent assault. 

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta heard oral arguments spanning roughly five hours to consider whether to grant the request from the former president to dismiss the civil cases or allow them to move forward.

 

The "old" part?

From USA Today in 2016 (emphasis added by me) -

Exclusive: Trump's 3,500 lawsuits unprecedented for a presidential nominee

Donald Trump is a fighter, famous for legal skirmishes over everything from his golf courses to his tax bills to Trump University. But until now, it hasn’t been clear precisely how litigious he is and what that might portend for a Trump presidency.

An exclusive USA TODAY analysis of legal filings across the United States finds that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee and his businesses have been involved in at least 3,500 legal actions in federal and state courts during the past three decades. They range from skirmishes with casino patrons to million-dollar real estate suits to personal defamation lawsuits.

[snip]

Trump’s history of legal actions provides clues about his style as a leader and manager. While he is quick to take credit for anything associated with his name, he is just as quick to distance himself from failures and to place responsibility on others. In one lawsuit — filed against him by condo owners who wanted their money back for a Fort Lauderdale condo that was never built — he testified in a sworn deposition: “Well, the word ‘developing,’ it doesn't mean that we're the developers.”

AZ GOPer: why be classy when there is a primary to win?

From The Hill -

Arizona GOP Senate candidate invokes 'Let's go, Brandon' in new campaign ad

Arizona Republican Senate candidate Jim Lamon invoked the anti-Biden phrase "Let's go, Brandon" in a campaign ad released on Monday. 

The ad, which kicks off a six-figure ad campaign throughout Arizona, will air tonight during the College Football Playoff championship game.

If you don't already know what the phrase means, Google it.

The Legislature is back in session; "ugly" season has already started

I was going to refer to it as "silly" season, but that name is reserved for the time in the legislative session when all Democrats and rank-and-file Republicans go into "hurry up and wait" mode, waiting for the R leadership and the governor to hand down the state's budget.  A lot of bad bills are passed during this period of boredom.

Introduced today are

HB2059, by Rep. Walt Blackman, an attack on democracy. 

HB2061, also introduced by Blackman, an attack on every school's sex ed curriculum, including a section that removes language in the state law regarding discussion of AIDS (to be fair, language about AIDS is included in other parts of the bill).  It also includes a section that would mandate that abstinence-only be taught in schools.

HB2064, also introduced by Blackman, a pro-Covid and exposure to cervical cancer in schools bill

HB2065, also introduced by Blackman, removing a section of state law barring students who can't show that they've been vaccinated from attending class

HB2071, by Rep. David Cook, putting language in state law about mail in ballots being valid if they are postmarked early enough and received not later than the fifth day after election day...but does NOT remove language saying that ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on election day.

HR2001, a resolution, also introduced by Blackman, that's full of anti-Planned Parenthood/choice propaganda masking itself as a pro-African-American measure.

HB2080, by Rep. Mark Finchem, another anti-democracy measure.

HCR2003, by Rep. Gail Griffin, declaring the the legislature loves remaining unvaccinated in the age of Covid-19.

HB2112, by Rep. Michelle Udall, barring the teaching of critical race theory

HCR2001, by Steve Kaiser, asking the voters to alter the state's constitution to ban the teaching of CRT.

HB2107, by Rep. Leo Biasiucci, repealing the section of state law that allow for the ordering of business closures during declared emergencies

HB2115, also introduced by Udall, is a broadly-written measure that would enable the use of a filter to block the downloading of material that is "harmful to minors" on personal electronic devices.

And to think, at one point, I thought that Udall was one the saner Rs in the legislature.

I was wrong about that.

And that's just the House of Representatives.  In the Senate, they've already introduced

SB1123, by Sen. Wendy Rogers. A pro-concealed weapons in universities, colleges, and community colleges measure

SB1124,  also introduced by Rogers, ending fees for concealed weapons permits for actively serving members of the military or retired veterans who were discharged under certain conditions, and for active or retired LEOs.  It would also create an expedited application process for the same.

SB1125,  also introduced by Rogers, that would legalize all non-fully automatic firearms and equipment and ammunition for the same.

SB1131, also introduced by Rogers, expanding school vouchers

SB1132, also introduced by Rogers, barring municipalities from issuing bonds to finance green projects

SB1133, also introduced by Rogers, barring municipalities and school districts from holding all mail elections.  Given that the early vote in 2020 was overwhelmingly Democratic, this one isn't much of a surprise.

SB1134, also introduced by Rogers, barring the use of photo radar.

SB1135, by Sen. Warren Petersen, removing the ability of courts to evaluate change of judge affidavits

SB1138, also introduced by Petersen, basically barring all "gender transition" procedures for those under 18, and barring the use of public funds for the same, and creating an ability for anyone to sue over this.

Expect a bumpy ride from the legislature, with LOTS of red meat for MAGA/GQP types.

We've already seen that on the first day of the session.

Sen. Sonny Borrelli: another one who isn't likely to win the Legislative Loon Award, but he's not giving up without a fight

The ride through hell starts tomorrow, when the Arizona Legislature re-enters session, crafting and passing bills to work against the interest of all Arizonans.

Senator Sonny Borrelli, the majority whip in the Senate, can be counted on to introduce many MAGA/"stop the steal" bills designed to entrench the R majority.  He's already done so.

Among the bills that he's introduced are

SB1119, making ballots public records

SB1120, requiring that ballots be on the same kind of paper as bank notes and adding a myriad of conditions to the make up of ballots

But let's be clear - Borrelli isn't a one-trick pony.

He's also proposed

SB1060, repealing a section of state law that allows a legal action against a county sheriff or deputies to continues after the death of the sheriff.

Hang on.  The ride is going to get rough.

Arizona has enough anti-vaxxer idiots; we don't need to import more

Lesson here: When doing research, search engines such as Google are your friend.

From KPNX -

Florida-based company's anti-vaccine propaganda popping up in Phoenix suburbs

Ahwatukee resident Jennifer Salome was confused when she recently found a brochure in her neighborhood telling her people dying from COVID-19 was nothing more than "fake news." 

She's known people who have contracted the virus and has seen it affect people in her community. So Salome didn't understand why this literature was suddenly appearing on her doorstep. 

[snip]

Almost two years into the pandemic and the highly contagious omicron variant is now raging across the Valley. During the first week of the new year, Arizona reported more than 60,000 new cases. 

Earlier this week, Salome found a brochure hanging from the handle of her front door along with a newspaper from The People's Chemist entitled "Straight Talk - What's in the Covid-19 Vaccine?" 

[snip]

Why is the "People's Pharmacist" sending propaganda to Arizonans? 

12 News reached out to Ellison through his website's number and email. A voice message said, "We will most likely not get back to your response. There are a lot of people to help. However, most of your answers can be found in Shane’s book.”

So far the company has not responded to an email. 

I couldn't find any info on the company or its owner, Shane Ellison, in Florida corporate records.

Curiosity piqued, I did some more research.

The address listed on their website's privacy policy page leads to a mail drop. 

Curiosity *really* piqued now, I did some more research.

The phone number listed on their contact page, 505-510-1117, leads to New Mexico.

A quick search of corporate records in New Mexico turned up two NM corps -

XYZPost is a business registration LLC and appears to be unrelated to Ellison, other than being used for this.  They *do* seem to have a predilection for registering "holistic" medical organizations though.

The Better Business Bureau does have a listing for The People's Chemist that offers a California address that leads to a mail drop.

Given the low BBB rating (no actual complaints were provided there) and the habitual use of mail drops, I thought it prudent to look for complaints about The People's Chemist.

Some of those are here and here.

Note: In the interest of being thorough, I checked corporate records in both CA and AZ. I didn't find anything in either place.

Note2: On many websites, Ellison claims to have a master's degree in Chemistry from NAU.  Due to a lack of information, I was unable to confirm or refute that claim.

1. Wear a damn mask.

2. Get vaccinated. 

3. Don't bother with propaganda.

What's a worse look for a candidate for governor of Arizona? Featuring a pic of Cheeto or featuring an endorsement by the leader of the invertebrate caucus

Who happens to be from Texas?

First from Kari Lake's website -

Then from Matt Salmon's website -

For new readers, Cruz is the one who is the leader of the invertebrate caucus.

It's no secret that I support Katie Hobbs in the Democratic primary for AZ Governor but any of the Democratic candidates would be a better choice for Arizona than these two.

Hell, a cactus would be a better choice.

Federal Committees update

From the website of the FEC -

Foster is an Independent candidate for the Congressional seat in AZ6.

Corazon may be Corazon Ortiz and is a Republican candidate for the Congressional seat in AZ8

Deluzio is a Republican candidate for the Congressional seat in AZ2

Gallant is a Republican candidate for the Congressional seat in AZ1.  She ran for governor in 1998...as a Libertarian.

Sen. JD Mesnard: probably not going to win the Legislative Loon Award, but he's trying

Former House Speaker JD Mesnard is in the state senate now, and while he may have switched chambers, he's still bad news.  He may not win the Legislative Loon Award (he faces LOTS of competition there), but he's doing his level best to undermine AZ, both in revenues and democracy.  He's already proposed

SCR1011, asking the voters to reduce the amount of revenue available to school districts by taking large swaths of property and exempting such property from property taxes.  He has proposed other measures affecting property taxes, but since I'm not certain of their net effect on revenue, they're not included here

SB1094, invalidating signatures on initiative and referendum petitions unless a specific condition is met

SB1096,  with a couple of very specific exceptions, taking all "non-custodial federal monies" from the recipients and giving the funds to the legislature to appropriate any way it wants to.  This one is proposed in nearly every session of the legislature.

SCR1012, asking the voters to expand the membership of the House of Representatives from 60 to 90.  Each representative would be elected from a separate district, while each senate district would contain three house districts.  As written, if approved by the voters, this change wouldn't take effect until 2033.

State Committee update

From the website of the Arizona Secretary of State -

Thompson's interest in running for Corporation Commission is/was hardly a secret - he filed a statement of interest with the AZSOS last June.  He simply has finally formed a committee for that run.

Thompson is a Mesa City Council member and is running as part of a team with fellow R Nick Myers.

From Facebook -

Sidney Poitier passes

From CNN -

Sidney Poitier, Oscar-winning actor and Hollywood's first Black movie star, dies at 94

Sidney Poitier, whose elegant bearing and principled onscreen characters made him Hollywood's first Black movie star and the first Black man to win the best actor Oscar, has died. He was 94.

Clint Watson, press secretary for the Prime Minister of the Bahamas, confirmed to CNN that Poitier died Thursday evening.

1967 was a good year for him - he starred in three classic movies that year - To Sir With Love, Guess Who's Coming To Dinner, and In The Heat Of The Night.

In The Heat Of The Night was the first movie that I saw him in, and for that one alone (and he had many other iconic roles), I think he belongs in any list of the top 20 actors ever.

From IMDB -

2022 has started out as badly as 2021 ended.

Maybe the GQP should just make their obeisance to Trump official and move their 2024 convention to Mar A Lago

Or at least to West Palm Beach, which is close to Palm Beach, where Mar A Lago is located, and Palm Beach has an actual convention center.

Plus by holding it there, the organizers will be able to ensure that no one but the anointed folks will be near Mar A Lago and risk offending the sensibilities of their Cheeto-colored Imperious Leader and his neighbors.

From The Hill -

Republicans narrow search for 2024 convention site to four cities

Republicans have winnowed down their list of potential host cities for the 2024 Republican National Convention, picking Milwaukee, Nashville, Salt Lake City and Pittsburgh as the finalists. 

The narrowed-down list of contenders was first reported on Friday by Politico. 

It's time for speculation on the horse races season

Apparently, there's a lot of crazy in rural Arizona and voters there either try to get rid of some of it by sending it to the Capitol or they feel truly represented by it.

From the Payson Roundup -

State House District 7 race may turn into Republican civil war

Redistricting has handed Republicans a safe seat that includes all of Rim Country and the White Mountains.

So get ready for a civil war.

The redrawn State Legislative District 7 seat may pit two incumbent state senators and three incumbent state representatives against one another in the upcoming Republican primary.

[snip]

Currently, both state Sen. Wendy Rogers (R-Flagstaff) and state Sen. Kelly Townsend (R-Apache Junction) could seek the seat in the redrawn District 7.

Sen. Rogers’ office did not respond to an email message asking whether she planned to run for re-election in the redrawn district. Her current official address is actually in the redrawn District 6, which is solidly Democratic and includes the Navajo, Hopi, White Mountain Apache and San Carlos Apache reservations. However, shifting her address by about half a mile would put her in the Republican District 7.

Sen. Townsend’s office responded to a message by saying she had not yet decided whether to seek re-election or what district she would run in. She lives in the new District 7, but her address is just half a mile from a Mesa-based district, so she could easily move into another district.

[snip]

Walt Blackman (R-Snowflake) has said he will not seek another term so he can challenge Democratic Congressman Tom O’Halleran (R-Oak Creek) in the redrawn Congressional District 2 — where Republicans have a registration and vote history advantage.

Brenda Barton (R-Payson) did not respond to an email asking about her future plans. She’s a conservative Republican who represented the old District 6 for several terms, before sitting out two election cycles due to term limits — before her re-election in 2020.

Rep. David Cook (R-Globe) says he will run in the redrawn District 7, which now includes all of Gila County except for the San Carlos Apache Reservation. 

Blackman is anti-choice; supports taxation without representation; is anti-consumer and is an anti-vaxxer.

Barton wants to pay high schoolers less than the minimum wage; is anti-democracy; and is a less than ethical gun nut.

From her 2014 legislative bio -

Cook is pro-developer/anti-water; wants non-LEOs/correction officers (and related types) and anyone else who works for society to rot in their retirements; and is a fave of wingnut religious group The Center for Arizona Policy.

From Cook's legislative bio -

As for Townsend and Rogers?

They're just nuts.

David Gordon of Blog for Arizona has a piece up wherein he, and Kirsten Engel (a Democratic candidate for Congress), state a belief that Townsend will run for Congress in AZ6.

Note: As of this writing, there's no "Townsend" committee listed on the website of the FEC.

Wherever she runs, she may find that winning a general election in Pima County (or part of it) to be "problematical."

She demanded an AG investigation into Pima County's vaccine mandate for its employees.

She's since dropped it, but not because she suddenly started liking vaccines.  Because the AG ran out of time.

If she does run for Congress, one good thing will come out of it.  With her (possibly) running for Congress, and state Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita running for Secretary of State, two of the most anti-voter members of this year's legislature won't be in next year's legislature.  They may famously dislike each other, but they share a hatred of society.

My guess is that this won't be the last time that Pima County hears from Townsend.

Ted Cruz is a leader; Leader of the invertebrate caucus, but a leader is a leader, right?

From Politico -

Ted Cruz walks back Jan. 6 'terrorist' remark in heated exchange with Tucker Carlson

Ted Cruz on Thursday walked back his use of the word “terrorist” when describing the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol during an intense back and forth with Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who repeatedly questioned the validity of the Republican senator’s explanation.

Cruz was lambasted during Carlson’s Wednesday night show for describing Jan. 6 as “a violent terrorist attack on the Capitol.” During his Thursday night appearance, when Carlson asked him why he used the word "terrorist," Cruz brushed off his previous phrasing as “sloppy” and “frankly dumb.”

Cruz established his "spineless" bonafides years ago; this latest example just reinforced something that everyone knew already.

From the Daily Beast in 2016 -

Trump Attacks Heidi Cruz’s Looks

Donald Trump continued his verbal assault on his top rival’s wife late Wednesday evening with a crude retweet negatively comparing her looks to that of his ex-model wife Melania. On Tuesday, the GOP frontrunner threatened to “spill the beans” on Ted Cruz’s wife, Heidi, in return for an unaffiliated super PAC’s ad shaming Melania for having once posed nude for a magazine. In return, Cruz called the reality-TV star a “coward” and Heidi denied that Trump’s innuendo was grounded in reality. Fulfilling his unassailable classiness, however, Trump then manually retweeted a supporter’s message showing side-by-side images of Heidi and Melania, with the caption, “No need to ‘spill the beans,’ the images are worth a thousand words.” Cruz responded shortly thereafter: “Donald, real men don’t attack women. Your wife is lovely, and Heidi is the love of my life.”

From GQ in 2017 -

Ted Cruz Takes Wife to Dinner with the Man Who Called Her Ugly

Texas senator and noted revisionist historian Ted Cruz has enjoyed what could perhaps charitably called a rocky relationship with Donald Trump. The former rivals for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination were cordial enough at first, but once the field of candidates had been winnowed down to just the two of them, Trump went nuclear on "Lyin' Ted," taking to Twitter to call Cruz's wife ugly and implying in an interview that Cruz's father was involved in the assassination of President Kennedy. As Cruz himself might say, things escalated quickly.

Unwilling to let such repulsive attacks on his family go unaddressed, the senator courageously responded by issuing a blistering rebuke of Trump's comments, and even after Trump eventually secured the GOP nomination and became president, Ted Cruz never forgot the despicable insults and outrageous lies uttered about the man who raised him and the mother of his chil—hahaha, just kidding, he rolled over so fast that he almost threw out his back. Last night, the man reached a previously undiscovered level of spinelessness, bringing his family to dine at the White House with President Trump and the First Lady.

Cyber Ninjas is shutting down: I'm shocked! Shocked, I say!

 From NBCNews -

Cyber Ninjas, company that led Arizona GOP election 'audit,' is shutting down

Cyber Ninjas, the company that led a partisan review of 2020 ballots in Arizona, is closing down following a scathing report by election officials and the threat of $50,000 a day in fines.

"Cyber Ninjas is shutting down. All employees have been let go," Rod Thomson, the company's representative, said in a text message Thursday evening.

[snip]

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge John Hannah said he would impose a $50,000 fine against Cyber Ninjas every day until it hands over documents related to the so-called audit after the Arizona Republic newspaper filed a public records request, The Associated Press reported Thursday.

Jack Wilenchik, a lawyer for Cyber Ninjas, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Congressmen Gallego and Stanton remember 1/6

 From KOLD -

‘My training kicked in’ – Arizona lawmakers reflect on the chaos of Jan. 6

Thursday marks one year since the attack on the U.S Capitol. As hundreds stormed the Capitol in hopes of overturning lawful election results, lawmakers inside the building were sent scrambling for safety.

It is a day now emblazoned in the minds of many Americans. Some Arizona lawmakers say that day one year ago brings back memories of chaos.

“My training kicked in,” said Marine-turned Congressman Ruben Gallego (D-AZ).

[snip]

Gallego’s colleague Rep. Greg Stanton (D-AZ) was getting ready to speak in defense of Arizona’s election results that day when insurrectionists delayed proceedings. Stanton said it has been difficult to work with some of his colleagues who cast doubt on his state’s results.

“Relationships among members of Congress have been a little frayed, which means for a member like me you have to work even harder to build those relationships,” said Stanton.

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) was objecting to his state’s election results on the House floor when evacuations began. We reached out to Gosar for an interview but his office rejected our request and did not send a statement.

[snip]

Yes, I have voted for both Gallego and Stanton (don't freak out Rs, there was no fraud here - I moved in 2018).

And I don't regret voting for either one.