So, was Cheeto talking about himself...or Fred?

FYI for those who don't know it already - Fred Trump was/is Cheeto's father.

From HuffPost vi Yahoo! -

Trump Comes Right Out And Says It: ‘Some Of Us Have Horrible Children’

Donald Trump made a comment Thursday night that some of his critics think may have hit way too close to home.

At a rally in Iowa, Trump bragged about changes to the estate tax passed into law during his presidency that allowed the wealthy to leave more money to their kids ― or as the former president put it, the kids they like.

“I always say, ’If you don’t like, leave it to charity,” he said, then added: “Some of us have horrible children!”

There may not be an "or" here - he could be talking about both.  It's not as if there's any restriction that prevents horrible children from having horrible children

Right now, I expect that Cheeto's eldest children (Junior, Vanky, and Fredo) are on their phones, busily declaring that the others are "horrible."

Of course, they're probably gladdened by the fact that the next time their dad does something truly charitable will be the first time.

Was the AZGOP acting as a laundry when it took money from an ally of Cheeto?

From Reuters -

Jury weighs whether Trump ally Barrack was a foreign agent and lied about it

A U.S. jury began deliberations on Wednesday in the trial of Tom Barrack, the onetime private equity executive and fundraiser for former President Donald Trump, on charges that he acted as a foreign agent for the United Arab Emirates and lied to federal investigators.

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn last year charged Barrack with using his influence with Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and later his administration to push the UAE's policy interests without notifying the U.S. attorney general as required by law that he was acting as an agent for the Middle Eastern country.

[snip]

The OPEC member nation paid Barrack back in 2017 and 2018 by investing $374 million from its sovereign wealth funds with his company, then known as Colony Capital, prosecutors said.

Yet, in 2020, the Arizona Republican Party took money from Cheeto's ally...via Cheeto..

From a report filed by the AZGOP -

From a report filed by Cheeto's Victory joint fundraising committee -

This begs two questions:

1. Was the AZGOP on tumble dry or cool down when it accepted the money from Cheeto's ally?

2. And will they disavow and return that money upon his conviction?

Purveyors of Cheeto's lies go to jail; not for the lies, but for contempt of court

Think Mark Finchem, Karen Fann, Doug Logan, et. al. are paying attention?

From Reuters via Yahoo! -

True the Vote leaders jailed after being found in contempt

Two leaders of a Texas nonprofit with a history of spreading false claims about voter fraud were jailed on Monday for not complying with a judge's order to identify a person behind data at the heart of their claims of a conspiracy involving China.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt ordered Gregg Phillips and Catherine Englebrecht, leaders of True the Vote, detained by U.S. Marshals "for one-day and further until they fully comply with the Court's Order," according to a notice from the federal court in Houston.

Politically-motivated violence *is* a laughing matter. Just ask Kari Lake.

She's a lot like her patron, the Cheeto Fuhrer, in one way (OK, *many* ways).  Just when you believe she can't sink any lower, just wait a minute.

She will.

From The Hill -

Arizona governor candidate Kari Lake jokes about Paul Pelosi attack

Kari Lake, the Republican nominee for governor of Arizona, made light Monday of the violent assault against Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) husband on Friday. 

“It is not impossible to protect our kids at school. They act like it is,” Lake said at a campaign stop along her “Ask Me Anything” tour.  

“Nancy Pelosi — well, she’s got protection when she’s in D.C. Apparently her house doesn’t have a lot of protection,” Lake said, prompting laughs and applause from the crowd and the event moderator beside her.

Paul Pelosi, the husband of the Speaker and the victim of the attack, is recovering slowly.

From The Independent (UK) -

Paul Pelosi’s son says his dad’s condition is improving: ‘They are rebuilding him slowly’

Paul Pelosi’s son says his father appears to be responding to treatment after he was brutally assaulted with a hammer during a home invasion.

“They are rebuilding him slowly,” Paul Pelosi Jr told reporters outside the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center on Sunday evening, according to the New York Post.

The person who thinks violence in an excuse to yuk it up may defeat Katie Hobbs for the governorship of Arizona.

God help us all if that happens.

Early ballots: return 'em

On 10/28, Ron Williams at Blog for Arizona published a piece urging people that have early ballots to return them ASAP

He presented an idealistic argument for doing so, and was right, but I'm going to present a more practical argument.

When you know who you are going to vote for, vote and return your ballot.

 

It won't do anything about the ads permeating our radios and TVs, or do anything about the campaigns that don’t have enough money to buy lists of who has returned a ballot, but most of the texts and emails will stop.

I received my ballot on a Friday, and as I already knew who I was going to vote for, I filled it out and returned it on Saturday, dropping it off at the post office.  By Monday, I had received a text message from Maricopa County Elections telling me that my ballot had been received.

Within a few days, the candidate texts and/or emails had all but stopped.

I still get a few from PACs (the vast majority) or out-of-state candidates (not many), bur most have stopped.

If you have one, I recommend mailing by Tuesday (due to Trump-era cuts to USPS, service may be slower).  If you cannot mail it by then, drop it off in a secure drop box or at your polling place by 7 p, m. on election day.

The link goes to a list of drop box locations in Maricopa County.

Did Mark Brnovich just use his position as state attorney general to aid and abet treason?

Or just to undermine election integrity?

From AP via Yahoo! -

Arizona AG gives county OK for full ballot hand counts

Arizona's Republican attorney general has issued an opinion saying county officials can hand-count all ballots in at least five races from the Nov. 8 election, a move that gives a green light to GOP officials in at least two counties who have been clamoring for hand counts.

The efforts to hand-count ballots are driven by unfounded concerns among some Republicans that problems with vote-counting machines or voter fraud led to former President Donald Trump's 2020 defeat.

[snip]

The elected Republican county attorneys in both jurisdictions have warned their respective boards there is no legal authority to expand a hand-count of ballots.

"It would be illegal at this point to do a full hand count,” Pinal County Attorney Kent Volkmer told his board on Wednesday.

Cochise County Attorney Brian McIntyre has told the board he also believes a full hand count is illegal and said the board and county Recorder David Stevens would need to find outside attorneys if they went ahead. He repeated that Friday, after Supervisor Judd said Brnovich had given the go-ahead.

"Chemtrails" Kelli believes that treason is a Constitutionally-protected activity

She may also lead to Cheeto's downfall.

From MSNBC, dated 10/27/2022, emphasis added by me -

Kelli Ward could be a smoking gun on Trump's criminality

Arizona GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward could ultimately be the skeleton key that unlocks a trove of details about former President Donald Trump’s scheme to overturn Arizona’s 2020 presidential election results and stay in power indefinitely. 

But she doesn’t want to find out. 

[snip]

For months now, Kelli Ward has been trying to keep her phone records away from the committee, arguing that it shouldn’t have jurisdiction because she says the fake electors scheme is unrelated to the Jan. 6 attack, that the committee's scope is overly broad, and that she was acting within her First Amendment right when she engaged in this anti-democratic fake electors plot.

Paul Pelosi, the husband of the U.S. Speaker of the House, attacked in his home by QAnon sympathizer

I wish I could say that I was shocked, but I'm not.

Those with violent tendencies, like Trumpkins, consider elected officials and their families to be fair game.

From AP -

Suspect in assault at Pelosi home had posted about QAnon

The man accused of breaking into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s 

California home and severely beating her husband with a hammer 

appears to have made racist and often rambling posts online, 

including some that questioned the results of the 2020 election, defended 

former President Donald Trump and echoed QAnon conspiracy theories.

David DePape, 42, grew up in Powell River, British Columbia, before 

leaving about 20 years ago to follow an older girlfriend to San Francisco. 

A street address listed for DePape in the Bay Area college town of Berkeley 

led to a post office box at a UPS Store.

DePape was arrested at the Pelosi home early Friday. San Francisco 

District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said she expected to file 

multiple felony charges, including attempted murder, assault with 

a deadly weapon, burglary and elder abuse.

And with Mark Finchem, Kari Lake, and others being the Republican nominees for various office, we should expect more politically-motivated violence.

Paul Gosar looks to add "diplomat" to the list of things he's bad at

Pointed at this by Taegan Goddard's Political Wire.

From Politico -

Paul Gosar invited Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Arizona for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

It's unlikely that the two foreign leaders will respond, given that Ukraine isn't ready to negotiate yet. 

What's happening: Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) invited Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Arizona to negotiate peace talks between the two countries, as Ukraine faces its eighth month of war against the Russian invasion.

The details: In a letter posted Wednesday on conservative social media platform Truth Social, Gosar invited the two leaders to Phoenix to "begin conversations to deescalate nuclear tensions, terminate the war, and end the death and destruction plaguing both your nations." Before his plea, Gosar put a disclaimer at the beginning of the letter that the lawmaker is "not a diplomat," but rather a "mere member of Congress" who wants to offer a means to pursue peace between the two countries.

Read that letter here.

The link above goes to Truth Social.  I won't go there, but readers can make their own decisions.

If they *do* meet (a big "if"), I expect the conversation to go thusly -

Gosar:[Looking at Zelensky] "What needs to happen for there to be peace in the Ukraine?"

Zelensky: [Looking at Putin] "Go away."

Putin; [Looking at both] "Nyet."

Gosar:[Looking at Zelensky]: "You've gotta give him something."

Zelensky: [Standing up and looking at Gosar] "You go away, too."

AZ receives over $11 million from the feds for Clean School Buses.

How long before Dougie "reappropriates" the funds into the pockets of private school operators?

From the EPA -

Biden-Harris Administration Announces Close to $95 Million from EPA’s Clean School Bus Program for School Districts in American Samoa, Arizona, California, Hawaii, and Nevada

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced the Fiscal Year 2022 recipients of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean School Bus Program rebate competition, awarding nearly $94,970,000 from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to 29 school districts in American Samoa, Arizona, California, Hawaii, and Nevada. The grants will help these school districts across our nation’s Pacific Southwest purchase over 283 clean school buses that will accelerate the transition to zero emissions vehicles and produce cleaner air in and around schools and communities.

[snip]

• Arizona will receive $11,415,00 to procure 52 school buses for 8 school districts, of which more than 51% are electric school buses.

From an email sent to me -

Biden-Harris Administration Announces $11,415,000 from EPA’s Clean School Bus Program for Arizona School Districts

Historic investment from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law headed to all 50 states in effort to transform America’s school bus fleet

Contact: EPA Press Office (press@epa.gov)

SAN FRANCISCO — Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced the Fiscal Year 2022 recipients of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean School Bus Program rebate competition, awarding $11,415,000 from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to eight school districts in Arizona. The grants will help school districts purchase 52 clean school buses that will accelerate the transition to zero emissions vehicles and produce cleaner air in and around schools and communities.

“President Biden’s historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is accelerating our nation’s transition to electric and low-emission school buses while ensuring a brighter, healthier future for our children,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “As many as 25 million children rely on the bus to get to school each day. Thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration, we are making an unprecedented investment in our children’s health, especially those in communities overburdened by air pollution. This is just the beginning of our work to build a healthier future, reduce climate pollution, and ensure the clean, breathable air that all our children deserve.”

All eight of the Arizona districts selected met one or more of EPA’s prioritization criteria for low income, high need, rural, or tribal schools. Additionally, five of the eight selected school districts qualified under the Tribal prioritization. Over 50% of the funding will be used to purchase zero emission electric buses and charging infrastructure. Today’s announcement includes funding for buses and infrastructure for school districts in cities like Keams Canyon and Mesa, Arizona.

“We’re keeping Arizona children safe through cleaner and more reliable school transportation – giving peace of mind to Arizona parents knowing that their children are safe in these newer, safer buses,” said Senator Kyrsten Sinema.

“Traveling long distances, some tribal students spend hours on a school bus each day, many of which are outdated, breaking down, and extremely costly to operate during high gas price periods,” said U.S. Representative Tom O’Halleran. “I was proud to vote in favor of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to secure funding for new, energy efficient school buses for tribal communities, and pleased to see these incentives reach tribal school districts in Arizona.”

“I’m proud to see our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law making a difference right here in Mesa, said U.S. Representative Greg Stanton. “When we invest in our sustainable infrastructure, those dollars not only make a difference in the health of our roads and bridges, but they also make a difference in the health of our community. This funding will transform Mesa Unified School District’s school bus fleet, helping keep the air our children breathe cleaner by curbing harmful emissions.”

In May, EPA announced the availability of $500 million for its Clean School Bus Program. Given overwhelming demand from school districts across the country, including in low-income communities, Tribal nations, and territories, EPA nearly doubled the amount of funding that will be awarded to $965 million. The rebate application period closed in August with an outstanding response from school districts seeking to purchase electric and low-emission school buses across the country.

At this time, the agency has selected 389 applications totaling $913 million to support the purchase of 2,463 buses, 95% of which will be electric. EPA will distribute awards to school districts in all 50 states, Washington D.C., along with several federally recognized Tribes and U.S. territories. School districts identified as priority areas serving low-income, rural, and, or Tribal students make up 99% of the projects that were selected. More applications are under review, and the agency plans to select more to reach the full $965 million in the coming weeks.

Those school districts who received an award can now proceed with purchasing new buses and eligible infrastructure. Selectees will need to submit Payment Request Forms with purchase orders demonstrating they have ordered new buses and eligible infrastructure. EPA is also partnering with the U.S. Department of Energy and Department of Transportation to provide school districts with robust technical assistance to ensure effective implementation.

These awards are the first $1 billion of a five-year, $5 billion program created by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. EPA is also designing the next rounds of program funding to launch in the coming months, which will include an ambitious grant competition. Through future rounds of funding, EPA will make available another $1 billion for clean school buses in Fiscal Year 2023. EPA encourages school districts not selected in the first round of rebates – and those that did not apply this funding cycle – to participate in future rounds.

About the Clean School Bus Rebate Program

The Clean School Bus Program will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, save money for school districts and produce cleaner air. Diesel air pollution is linked to asthma and other conditions that harm students’ health and cause them to miss school, particularly in communities of color and Tribal communities. Phasing out these diesel engines will ensure cleaner air for students, bus drivers, and school staff working near the bus loading areas, and the communities through which the buses drive each day. The reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from these bus replacements will also help to address the outsized role of the transportation sector in fueling the climate crisis. The program will also save school districts money as they upgrade school bus fleets, replacing older, heavily polluting buses with brand new clean school buses, while freeing up needed resources for schools.

The 2022 Clean School Bus Rebates prioritize low-income, rural, and Tribal communities. The vast majority of applicants met the priority definition under the 2022 Clean School Bus Rebates criteria, resulting in access to more funds for buses and electric vehicle infrastructure for schools in areas that need them the most. The program also delivers on President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which aims to deliver 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized, underserved and overburdened by pollution.

A list of Clean School Bus award recipients are available on EPA’s Awarded Clean School Bus Program Rebates webpage.

Is MTG a member of Congress or of organized crime? This sure sounds like she's operating a protection racket

Pointed at this by Taegan Goddard's Political Wire.

From Mediaite -

Marjorie Taylor Greene Vows Revenge on Companies That Stopped Donating to GOP Election Deniers: ‘Not Going to Be Forgotten’

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) hasn’t forgotten that some corporations halted donations to Republican lawmakers who didn’t vote to certify the 2020 presidential election.

After that contest, then-President Donald Trump spent weeks lying about the election being stolen from him. Predictably, many of his supporters believed the claim. Some of them arrived in Washington, D.C. for what initially began as a protest on Jan. 6, 2021. On that day, members of Congress convened to certify the election.

[snip]

“Well, let’s just put it like this,” she replied. “You know what they did after Jan. 6, Steve? They stopped donating. All the lobbyists, all the big corporations stopped to a whole bunch of my Republican colleagues that they used to donate to. They said, ‘Oh, no. We can’t support you because of the big lie’ or whatever they want to call it. So, I want you to know – and this is something they should all know – that’s not going to be forgotten by a whole bunch of my Republican colleagues because that was really ridiculous and wrong.”

Greene then pledged “investigations” into said companies.

Pay-to-play or give in to extortion?  If the corporations and/or lobbyists pony up some cash now, they'll be committing a crime, right now, it's just on MTG.

Who I'm guessing is being talked to by some of her colleagues right about now.

U of Florida tramples free speech rights to protect the sensibilities...of a Republican. Again.

From AP -

Protest ban at Florida university after anti-Sasse rally

The University of Florida is going to start enforcing a decades-old 

prohibition against indoor protests following a raucous 

demonstration earlier this month against the selection of 

U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse as a finalist for the school president’s job.

Sasse, a Republican in his second Senate term, has drawn 

criticism from some at the school for his opposition to 

same-sex marriage.

[snip]

The regulation against protests inside campus buildings 

has been on the books for two decades, but it wasn’t enforced 

in recent years because protesters “were respectful of 

others and their rights to speak and to hear,” Fuchs said.

The policy will be enforced next week when the school’s 

board of trustees meets to consider Sasse’s candidacy, 

and students who violate it may be subject to 

discipline, [current university president] Fuchs said.

This isn't the first time that UF has stepped out of line regarding free speech.

From Axios, dated 11/1/2021 -

UF experts barred from sharing expertise

Three University of Florida political science professors have been barred by the University from testifying in a case challenging the new Republican-backed state election law that imposes more restrictions on voting, the Times/Herald reports.

Why it matters: The university's decision to reject the professors' request for permission to testify could have far-reaching free speech implications for higher education faculty across Florida.

Of course, they were slapped down for their efforts.

Also from Axios, dated 1/22/2022, emphasis added by me -

Judge sides with University of Florida professors in academic freedom case

A federal judge on Friday in a decisive free speech ruling ordered that the University of Florida stop enforcing its conflict of interest policy against six professors who were barred from giving expert testimony in lawsuits against the state.

Driving the news: Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker for the Northern District of Florida accused the university of silencing the professors and granted them a preliminary injunction.

• Walker likened the university's actions to Hong Kong University removing a sculpture commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre.
• "In many ways, the Pillar’s demise was emblematic of the demise of academic freedom in Hong Kong," Walker said, linking it to the University of Florida's conflict of interest policy.
• "Defendants must take no steps to enforce its conflict-of-interests policy with respect to faculty and staff requests to engage as expert witnesses or provide legal consulting in litigation involving the State of Florida until otherwise ordered," Walker ordered.

[snip]

What he's saying:  "UF has bowed to perceived pressure from Florida’s political leaders and has sanctioned the unconstitutional suppression of ideas out of favor with Florida’s ruling party."

What to watch: Walker set a bench trial for Nov. 7.

It's almost like they *know* Ron DeSantis, Florida's current governor, plans to run for president in 2024 and UF leaders think that if their students and faculty are anything other than Stepford students and faculty, they may upset that particular apple cart.