Some fake electors in GA get immunity: guessing that Trump and his camp don't need laxatives at this point

From CNN -

At least 8 fake electors have been granted immunity in the Georgia Trump investigation

At least eight of the Republican “fake electors” in Georgia have accepted immunity deals in an ongoing criminal investigation into efforts by Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election there, according to a new court filing.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis had previously notified all 16 GOP fake electors in Georgia that they were targets in her investigation. Last month, Willis offered immunity deals to several of the Republicans who served as pro-Trump electors and they accepted, according to the filing.

Except the farter-in-chief.  He has probably never needed laxatives.

Legislative schedule - week starting 5/7/2023 - Break in the budget impasse?

This post is early this week because there may be some action on the budget.

Jerod Macdonald-Evoy of the Arizona Mirror has some details here.

Note: HHR refers to a hearing room in the House building; SHR refers to one in the Senate building.

Note2: Generally, I'll only specify bills that look to spread propaganda.  Other bills may be more conventionally bad (think: corrupt or other misuses of public monies and/or authority.  My recommendation is that if an agenda covers an area of interest to you, read the entire agenda.

Note3: Each chamber's respective Rules Committee meets on Monday, the House's in HHR4 at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, also at 1 p.m.  Both committees serve as rubber stamps for bills leadership wants to be advanced and gatekeepers for measures that leadership wants stopped.

Note4: Meeting start times may be listed, but are flexible.  Before journeying to the Capitol or viewing the meeting online, verify the start time.

Note5: Watch for strikers, or strike everything amendments.  Those involve inserting language that replaces the entirety of a bill.  Those can be introduced at any time and can make a previously harmless bill into a very bad one. 

On Monday,  5/8 

-

House Rules meets at 1 p.m. in HHR4.  No bills directly on the agenda, but there is one interesting item there - 

As one can see from the pic above, the lege has floor sessions scheduled for Monday, and may do so for Tuesday.  Right now, both the House and Senate have full Republican caucuses.  They can pass things with only R votes.

Things after that will depend on the status of Sen. Wendy Rogers.  On Wednesday, May 10, there will be a hearing on her restraining order against a reporter investigating Rogers' residency.

I'm guessing that she planned to be a no show at the hearing so she wouldn't have to testify under oath about her residency.  My thinking was "no testimony = no perjury."

Turns out that a petition for a restraining order has to be filed under penalty for perjury.

On Tuesday, 5/9 thru Thursday 5/12 -

Nada scheduled

Arizona getting (mostly) national exposure, and (mostly) not in a good way

...First up, the national debt ceiling, something used by MAGA types and other ideological terrorists to threaten America.

From Politico -

Biden beware: Manchin and Sinema align with Republicans in debt negotiations

Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema saved the filibuster and cut down President Joe Biden’s agenda, delighting Republicans. Now they’re breaking with Democrats on the debt limit, and Republicans hope they keep it coming.

The two centrists, who spent Biden’s first two years in office at odds with the left, are glaring outliers on the debt drama in the party’s 51-member Senate caucus. While their Democratic colleagues insist on no negotiations until the debt ceiling is lifted, Manchin and Sinema are not only pushing for a bipartisan deal but positioning themselves as potential players in any future Senate talks on a way out of the crisis.

Referring to Manchin and Sinema as "centrists" is mislabeling them.  Better to refer to them by what they are - "Republicans in everything but name."

...Why do we keep electing Paul Gosar?

From the Southern Poverty Law Center -

CONGRESSMEN TO MIX WITH LEADER OF FPÖ, A PARTY 

FOUNDED BY NAZIS

At CPAC Hungary this week, Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona and Rep. 

Barry Moore of Alabama will speak alongside a global collection of 

radical-right figures, including the leader of an Austrian political party 

founded by Nazi SS officers.

CPAC Hungary, an offshoot of the U.S.-based Conservative Political Action 

Conference, puts that country’s autocratic Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in a 

global spotlight for a second consecutive year, surrounding him with 

like-minded figures from across the world. Orbán is an authoritarian leader 

whom Tucker Carlson regularly lauded on his show before Fox News 

canceled it last month. In addition to Orbán’s history of corruption and 

hostility to press freedom, he has given voice to the great replacement 

conspiracy theory espoused by radical-right extremists.

...Arizona, back to being punch line material for the rest of the country.

From the NBC series Night Court, broadcast on May 2, via TVFanatic, emphasis added by me -

Olivia: Where do you feel most safe?
Gurgs: Uh, the basement level of Bed, Bath, and Beyond; the world of aquatic birds at the Bronx Zoo; and this court.
Olivia: Yes! You love this court! It’s the thing I understand least about you, and you love Daylight Savings Time.
Gurgs: Well, I love anything that Arizona is not involved in.

Olivia is played by India de Beaufort and Gurgs is plated by Lacretta

...There's one good thing; at least, the geek in me thinks it's good. :)

From KPNX, written by Kevin Reagan -

Fontes officially declares Thursday as 'Star Wars Day' in Arizona

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes has officially declared Thursday as "Star Wars Day" in the Grand Canyon State. 

The proclamation coincides with May 4, a day often associated with the beloved 1977 film due to a classic line spoken by Alec Guinness' Obi-Wan Kenobi character. 

The line was "may the Force be with yo."

State Sen. Wendy Rogers has a command appearance scheduled in Flagstaff that she may blow off

 Journalists accepting a gig in AZ will need something when they come here - sunblock.

And if they're assigned to the Capitol beat, they'll need something else - a snow shovel, as they'll be dealing with some very sensitive snowflakes that will melt, not in the heat of Arizona, but in the heat of competent reporting.

From the Arizona Republic via Yahoo! (written by Ray Stern and dated 4/21) -

Reporter investigating where state Sen. Wendy Rogers lives in Arizona hit with restraining order

Arizona state Sen. Wendy Rogers, R-Flagstaff, has convinced a judge to issue an order barring a reporter from contacting her at home.

Flagstaff Justice Court Magistrate Judge Amy Criddle signed the restraining order April 19 against Camryn Sanchez, who covers the state Senate for the Arizona Capitol Times, after a petition from Rogers, R-Flagstaff. Criddle's order doesn't appear to show Sanchez doing anything out of the ordinary in her job as a reporter.

Note: There was some difference between the news stories on this matter.  Some referred to Criddle as a JP; some referred to her as a judge on the Flagstaff City Court bench.  As it turns out, she is a city court judge who also works as a pro-tem (temporary) Justice of the Peace.

There will be a hearing on May 10 in Flagstaff to consider whether the order should continue.

From the Arizona Daily Sun (written by Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services, dated 4/28) -

Flagstaff judge to hear arguments in Wendy Rogers' court order vs. reporter

A Flagstaff judge will hear arguments on May 10 whether to dissolve a court order that keeps an Arizona Capitol Times reporter away from the three homes of Republican state Sen. Wendy Rogers.

The hearing will be the first opportunity for the attorney for Camryn Sanchez to question Rogers about her allegations that the reporter had harassed her by going to houses that the senator admitted she owns in Maricopa County to check where she actually is living.

This has earned the attention of other reporters.  From Twitter -

Also from Twitter -

I'm guessing that Rogers won't attend and the order will be vacated - testifying under oath about anything may be something she wants to avoid.

Of course, she could choose another path - resign her position.

It may be honorable, but I don't recommend that anyone hold their breath while waiting for that to happen.

No one's ever accused Rogers of being honorable.

Legislative schedule - week starting 4/30/2023

This post is early this week because I'll be working on another project.  Plus, the lege has very little on their schedule. :)

Same as last week -

Nada.  No bills under consideration.  

For legislative committee meetings, there's nothing scheduled for this week, though that could change on a moment's notice (so keep an eye out as the lege has been known to get sneaky).

Actually, they don't even have floor sessions on tap for Monday though they may have floor sessions later in the week (that happened last week) to consider and pass bills that will be vetoed by Governor Hobbs.

The only thing they have left is the same thing they began the session to do - the state's budget, and that could come down at any time.

Note: HHR refers to a hearing room in the House building; SHR refers to one in the Senate building.

Note2: Generally, I'll only specify bills that look to spread propaganda.  Other bills may be more conventionally bad (think: corrupt or other misuses of public monies and/or authority.  My recommendation is that if an agenda covers an area of interest to you, read the entire agenda.

Note3: Each chamber's respective Rules Committee meets on Monday, the House's in HHR4 at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, also at 1 p.m.  Both committees serve as rubber stamps for bills leadership wants to be advanced and gatekeepers for measures that leadership wants stopped.

Note4: Meeting start times may be listed, but are flexible.  Before journeying to the Capitol or viewing the meeting online, verify the start time.

Note5: Watch for strikers, or strike everything amendments.  Those involve inserting language that replaces the entirety of a bill.  Those can be introduced at any time and can make a previously harmless bill into a very bad one. 

On Monday, 5/1 and Tuesday, 5/2 -

Nada scheduled.

On Wednesday, 5/3 

-

Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) meets at 1 p.m. in HHR4.  No bills on the agenda; five reviews to be conducted via the consent agenda and no testimony on those items will be accepted; one other review is probably going to devolve into a propaganda-fest for conspiracy theorists.  Its title?  "SECRETARY OF STATE - Review of Election Services Line Item Transfer"

Joint Committee on Capital Review (JCCR) meets at 1:15 p.m. or upon adjournment of JLBC in HHR1.  No bills on the agenda.  Two items to be reviewed; both on the consent agenda with no testimony accepted.

Joint Legislative Ad Hoc Study Committee on Water Security meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  No bills on the agenda.  Two presentations.

On Thursday, 5/4 -

Nada scheduled.

Celebrate National Library Week by reading a challenged or banned book

From The Hill -

Here are the top 10 books banned in 2022

The American Library Association (ALA) kicked off National Library Week on Monday by releasing its State of America’s Libraries Report, which details an increase in book bans in 2022 and the top 10 books that were censored last year. 

The top banned books were censored mostly due to LGBTQ content or claims they are sexually explicit, according to the ALA. Profanity, drugs and sex education were also mentioned in efforts to ban the books on the list. 

The ALA's  top 13 list of challenged books in 2022 is available on their press release (it was going to be a top 10 list, but because of ties... :) ) -

Below are the most Top 13 Most Challenged Books of 2022:

1. “Gender Queer,” by Maia Kobabe
   Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit

2. “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” by George M. Johnson
   Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit

3. “The Bluest Eye,” by Toni Morrison
   Reasons: depiction of sexual abuse, claimed to be sexually explicit, EDI content

4. “Flamer,” by Mike Curato
   Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit

5. (TIE) “Looking for Alaska,” by John Green
   Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit, LGBTQIA+ content

        5. (TIE) “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky

             Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit, LGBTQIA+ content, depiction of sexual       abuse, drugs, profanity

        7.  “Lawn Boy,” by Jonathan Evison

             Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit

        8.  “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” by Sherman Alexie

             Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit, profanity

        9.  “Out of Darkness,” by Ashley Hope Perez

             Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit

       10. (TIE) “A Court of Mist and Fury,” by Sarah J. Maas

              Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit

       10. (TIE) “Crank,” by Ellen Hopkins

             Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit, drugs

       10. (TIE) “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl,” by Jesse Andrews

             Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit, profanity

       10. (TIE) “This Book is Gay,” by Juno Dawson

             Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, sex education, claimed to be sexually explicit

Paul Gosar - not just an embarrassment in the state or the country; he's going international now

From Haaretz, dated 4/17/2023 -

GOP Lawmaker Spreads Blatant Antisemitism, Invokes Nazis on Holocaust Remembrance Day

 Rep. Paul Gosar, long considered among the most extreme Republicans in Congress and closely linked with white nationalists and avowed antisemites, accused the Biden administration of aiding a supposed Nazi regime in Ukraine while criticizing U.S. efforts to provide assistance to Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion.

“$100 billion of your tax money is going to help Nazis,” Gosar wrote in his weekly newsletter published Sunday morning, one day before Holocaust Remembrance Day. “I will never support Nazis and I condemn our country’s support and military aid to Nazis.”

Someone's running for POTUS...and that would be a step down if he wins

Note: I don't normally mock candidates for office simply for declaring that candidacy (in person, I tend to be shy and quiet, just not hypocritical), but on this one, the temptation was too strong. :)

From an FEC organizational filing -

Note2: In addition to being the committee's custodian of records, Snider is the candidate.

Now, I'm not an expert on religion, but I'm pretty sure that "President" isn't on the level of "Messiah". :)

Legislative schedule - week starting 4/13/2023

Same as last week -

Nada.  No bills under consideration.  

For legislative committee meetings, there's nothing scheduled for this week, though that could change on a moment's notice (so keep an eye out as the lege has been known to get sneaky).

Actually, they don't even have floor sessions on tap for Monday though they may have floor sessions later in the week to consider and pass bills that will be vetoed by Governor Hobbs.

The only thing they have left is the same thing they began the session to do - the state's budget, and that could come down at any time.

Note: HHR refers to a hearing room in the House building; SHR refers to one in the Senate building.

Note2: Generally, I'll only specify bills that look to spread propaganda.  Other bills may be more conventionally bad (think: corrupt or other misuses of public monies and/or authority.  My recommendation is that if an agenda covers an area of interest to you, read the entire agenda.

Note3: Each chamber's respective Rules Committee meets on Monday, the House's in HHR4 at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, also at 1 p.m.  Both committees serve as rubber stamps for bills leadership wants to be advanced and gatekeepers for measures that leadership wants stopped.

Note4: Meeting start times may be listed, but are flexible.  Before journeying to the Capitol or viewing the meeting online, verify the start time.

Note5: Watch for strikers, or strike everything amendments.  Those involve inserting language that replaces the entirety of a bill.  Those can be introduced at any time and can make a previously harmless bill into a very bad one. 

On Monday. 4/24 

-

Senate Director Nominations meets at 10 a.m. in SHR109.  One nomination scheduled for consideration/inquisition: Ben Henry as director of the Department of Liquor Licenses and Control.  Not sure if this is intended as a shot across the bow directed at Governor Hobbs for her vetoing so many bills  or a peace offering as part of the negotiations on a budget..  

However, considering the history of the committee chair, Jake Hoffman, as an Always Trumper and a fake elector in 2020, the "shot" part wouldn't be a surprise.

Joint Legislative Ad Hoc Committee on Air Quality and Energy meets at 1:30 p.m.in SHR1.  No bills on the agenda.  Scheduled to receive a presentation from the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) on "Ozone Nonattainment Designation for the Maricopa County."

MAG's press release on the topic is here.

I can't say that the House doesn't take air pollution seriously, but they've at once abandoned the committee and desginated as the committee co-chair someone who regularly caters to industrial interests.

On Tuesday, 4/25 and Wednesday,  4/26 -

Nada scheduled.

On Thursday, 4/27 

-

Senate Judiciary meets at 9:30 a.m. in SHR1.  No bills on the agenda, just consideration of one appointment to one commission, the Commission On Trial Court Appointments, Maricopa County.

So who will be Cheeto's running mate in 2024?

Time for some idle speculation.

Current frontrunners:

Kari Lake.   The failed 2022 candidate has traveled the country, serve as Cheeto's surrogate.

    Pluses: Is female and is from a state that Cheeto needs to win in a general election.  Plus she regularly pushes Cheeto's "big lie" and whines almost as he does.

    Negatives: Isn't blonde.  Lost her election.  Won't help in the primary, because Cheeto will win the AZ primary which I expect him to win no matter what.

Greg Abbott.  The current governor of Texas.

    Pluses: Hates people of color and immigrants almost as much as Cheeto.  Wins elections.

    Negatives: Cheeto will win the general election in Texas no matter who's on the ticket with him.

    

Others in the mix :

Kristi Noem, the current governor of South Dakota.  She's as nuts as Cheeto.

Marjorie Taylor Greene.  Currently in Congress.  Makes Noem look sane.

Ron DeSantis, currently Florida's Governor and a presumed presidential candidate in 2024.  He and Cheeto aren't fans of each other, so if this happens, it will be a cynical move by both.

Tommy Tuberville.  Currently in the US Senate.  Cheeto likes to think that he's smarter than others.  In Tuberville's case, that belief might actually be true.

Gym Jordan.  Currently in Congress.  His penchant for looking the other way when facing sexual predators may endear him to Cheeto.

Kyrsten Sinema.  Currently in the US Senate.  A former Democrat who may be as self-centered as Cheeto.

Not gonna happen, either because Cheeto won't have them, or there's no way in hell that they'd take the gig:

Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, and any R who voted to impeach him. Mike Pence.

There will be others in the mix as this early speculation.

The CD1 candidate field is getting crowded

Kurt Kroemer, an experienced exec for non-profits, has formed a committee in the D race to unseat the vulnerable R David Schweikert.

Kroemer has already started his campaign - he sent out a mass text on Wednesday.

He joins Amish Shah, a doctor and member of the Arizona Legislature, and Andrei Cherny, a former chair of the Arizona Democratic Party, in the race.  

They may be the earliest entrants, but I don't expect them to be the last ones.

Disclosure time: While I haven't made a decision as yet, because of a move, I now live in CD1 and will be voting in this primary.

'Bye Parler: Turns out that catering exclusively to nuts and bigots isn't profitable.

Pointed at this by Taegan Goddard's Political Wire.

From Variety -

Parler Shut Down by New Owner: ‘A Twitter Clone’ for Conservatives Is Not a ‘Viable Business’

Parler, the self-described “uncancelable free-speech social platform” that catered to right-wing users — which was nearly acquired by Kanye West last year — has been shut down by its new owner.

“No reasonable person believes that a Twitter clone just for conservatives is a viable business any more,” Arlington, Va.-based digital media company Starboard said in announcing Friday that it had acquired Parler. The terms of the deal are not being disclosed; Starboard said it expects the deal to be accretive by the end of the second quarter of 2023.

A platform that was favored by Paul Gosar is/was not economically viable.

Who'da thunk it ?

Legislative schedule - week starting 4/16/2023

Nada.

For legislative committee meetings, there's nothing scheduled for this week, though that could change on a moment's notice (so keep an eye out as the lege has been known to get sneaky).

Actually, they don't even have floor sessions on tap for Monday though they may have floor sessions later in the week to consider and pass bills that will be vetoed by Governor Hobbs.

The only thing they have left is the same thing they began the session to do - the state's budget, and that could come down at any time.

Note: HHR refers to a hearing room in the House building; SHR refers to one in the Senate building.

Note2: Generally, I'll only specify bills that look to spread propaganda.  Other bills may be more conventionally bad (think: corrupt or other misuses of public monies and/or authority.  My recommendation is that if an agenda covers an area of interest to you, read the entire agenda.

Note3: Each chamber's respective Rules Committee meets on Monday, the House's in HHR4 at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, also at 1 p.m.  Both committees serve as rubber stamps for bills leadership wants to be advanced and gatekeepers for measures that leadership wants stopped.

Note4: Meeting start times may be listed, but are flexible.  Before journeying to the Capitol or viewing the meeting online, verify the start time.

Note5: Watch for strikers, or strike everything amendments.  Those involve inserting language that replaces the entirety of a bill.  Those can be introduced at any time and can make a previously harmless bill into a very bad one. 

Apparently, threatening to close things down is the MAGAt version of taking their ball and going away...when they don't get their way.

Note: Llano County Texas is a small county northwest of Austin.

From NBC -

Texas county will keep library system open and comply with judge's order to put banned books back in circulation

A small-town Texas library system threatened with extinction was spared Thursday after the Llano County commissioners said they would abide by a federal judge's order to restore the books they banned rather than shut the system down.

Llano County Judge Ron Cunningham, who is the head of the county commission, made the announcement after county leaders heard from more than a dozen residents at an emergency meeting.

"The library will remain open while we try this in the courts, rather than through the news media," said Cunningham, who said the county has already spent more than $100,000 on legal costs and vowed to appeal the federal judge's decision.

Residents turned out in droves to protect their library system

Also from the NBC story -

"That's a victory," the Rev. Kevin Henderson of Sunrise Beach Federated Church declared. "That's a victory for free speech!"

[snip]

"These books are not pornographic," librarian Suzette Baker, who works at the Kingsland branch of the system, told the commissioners.

Jeff Scoggins paused from livestreaming the meeting to warn the commissioners that they will hear it from the voters if they bow to a "minority" that is pushing to close the libraries.

[snip]

"We're really concerned they might just shut the libraries down," Leila Green Little, one of seven people who successfully sued the county in federal court for banning the books, said ahead of the meeting.

"Our library system was started over a 100 years ago by a group of Llano County women who used to meet by our river to read books," Little added. "That was the humble start of our library system. And if they were to shut it down, it would absolutely be the end of a key piece of our county's history."

Two things:

1. My guess is this isn't over.

2. How long before MAGAts, say, the R caucus in the Arizona legislature, come for public education?  They already hate public ed; threatening it won't be a stretch for them.

See: the reaction of Rs to Red for Ed.

Well, the first* Republican announces for the R primary in the 2024 race for US Senate

A "colorful" Pinal County sheriff not named Paul Babeu has announced his intent to run for the seat.

Mark Lamb, professional bigot and stone trumper (yes, I'm being redundant there) announced his candidacy today.  He's not the first R in that particular primary, hence the "*", but he's the first recognizable name to form a committee.

His treasurer is Lisa Lisker of Virginia.

Other Rs who may be looking at the race include (some of this speculation I've heard in news reports, some I'm pulling out of my...ear :) ):

Kari Lake, Karrin Taylor Robson, Blake Masters, Doug Ducey, Mark Brnovich, Sal DiCiccio, and for a dark horse candidate, I'll toss out one name, Kyrsten Sinema.  If she becomes a Republican.  My guess is that even they won't accept her.

There will be others, of course, and not all of those listed will actually run, but I'll be surprised if at least two don't do so.