I know it's early, but the 2026 election cycle has already started

Note: Someone declaring that they are interested in running for a particular office does NOT mean that person will be a candidate on a ballot.  Also, it's early, so people may declare an interest in a particular office now but may ultimately run for another office.

From the statements of interest filed by potential candidates with the Secretary of State's office.

First to file one: 

Barby Ingle, Republican, interested in a state representative slot in LD7.  Filed on 12/4/2024.

Biggest name (so far):

Rodney Glassman, Republican, interested in running for state Attorney General.  Filed on 12/14 and 12/26.

Normally, I am loathe to make any predictions about R primaries, but here, I'll make one.  The only way Glassman is the R nominee is if the Rs have given up on winning the AG's race.

Note: Some sitting legislators, all Rs, have declared an interest in running again for a spot in the legislature.

Legislative schedule - week starting 12/29/2024

It's a holiday week, so nothing is on the schedule right now.

However, that's subject to change.  It's best to keep an eye out for changes.

Also, I expect legislative activity at the Capitol to pick as we get closer and into the 2025 session.

Short Attention Span Musing - Wahhh!!! Edition

I could have named this one the "Snowflake Edition", but individual snowflakes are unique, and there's a certain similarity here.

....Maybe, just maybe, it's not a good thing to lie about others...and dressing up as a mythical character will not change that.

From MSNBC -

Giuliani, who has said he’s broke, dresses as Santa to hawk coffee

Rudy Giuliani, who has said that he cannot afford to pay his bills in protracted court proceedings over his assets handover to two former Georgia election workers, has turned to his self-branded coffee line to make some money during the Christmas season.

This week on X, the former New York City mayor has shared multiple Christmas-themed ads touting Rudy Coffee, some of which feature him dressed in a Santa Claus costume and handing it out.

From CBS News -

Rudy Giuliani files for bankruptcy following $146 million defamation suit judgment

Former New York City mayor and Donald Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani filed for bankruptcy Thursday, according to a court filing. 

Giuliani filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy less than a week after a jury ordered him to pay $146 million in damages to Fulton County election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, who sued him for defamation. He estimates his liabilities are between about $100 million and $500 million. The damage award was originally set at $148 million, but the federal judge presiding over the case later reduced it to $145,969,000.

"This maneuver is unsurprising, and it will not succeed in discharging Mr. Giuliani's debt to Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss," Michael Gottleib, a lawyer for the two women, said in a statement.

On Wednesday, Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, ordered Giuliani to compensate the pair of election workers immediately, expressing concern that he may have been dishonest about his finances and that he might not comply with the judgment.

...Don't say something negative about the Fuhrer-elect - he might sue you.

From AP -

Trump sues Des Moines Register, pollster for ‘election interference’ after pre-election poll

President-elect Donald Trump sued the Des Moines Register and its pollster for “brazen election interference” in publishing a survey the weekend before the election that showed Democrat Kamala Harris with a surprising lead of three percentage points in the state.

The Register’s parent Gannett Co. on Tuesday dismissed the lawsuit as meritless and said it would vigorously defend its First Amendment rights.

...The tendency of having easily-ruffled tender sensibilities displayed by certain public figures isn't limited to national ones - there are Arizona politicos with similarly tender sensibilities.

From the Fountain Hills Times Independent, written by Howard Fischer, dated 12/19 -

Fountain Hills legislator holding up funds for UofA over Palestinian painting

The head of the Senate Appropriations Committee is holding up the ability of the University of Arizona to borrow millions of dollars over a painting on display supporting Palestinians that he contends is offensive.

But it may end up being a big fuss over nothing: the University of Arizona Museum of Art where the picture is located will be shutting down anyway at the end of the week.

Maybe Cheeto and his acolytes should eschew a limousine when traveling to his inauguration and just travel by Wahhmbulance.

Maybe they can turn up the radio loud enough so that they aren't bothered by any dissent.

The Gaetz report: A little light Christmas reading for ya

My gift to you :) .

This CBS News article has the full report.

From the summary -

It's not really a surprise that Cheeto wanted this guy to be the nation's Attorney General.

Is "center right conservative" another way of saying "election denying, democracy hating, bigot"?

It seems to be, at least for failed AZ SOS candidate Mark Finchem.

From the Yellow Sheet Report from the Arizona Capitol Times (which is behind a paywall, so I only have a pic of the header...but that's enough :) ) -

Finchem denies the validity of elections (except his own, of course).

Finchem hates democracy.

Finchem is a bigot.

The fact that he believes he qualifies as "center right" says a LOT about the modern GOP.

Are "petty" and "vindictive" characteristics of (alleged) public servants?

From KJZZ, dated 12/18, written by Wayne Schutsky -

Republican Arizona Corporation commissioners censure Democrat Anna Tovar

Three Republican Arizona Corporation commissioners voted to censure the commission’s lone Democrat after she criticized the agency’s executive director, saying he shouldn’t receive a $20,000 bonus.

The commission awarded Executive Director Doug Clark the bonus on Nov. 6 on top of his annual $215,000 salary.

[snip]

The commission found Tovar violated state laws “pertaining to Executive Session confidentiality” and “the confidentiality of personnel matters,” according to the censure, which referred the matter to Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell for further review.

[snip]

Jim Barton, Tovar’s attorney, accused the Republicans on the commission of targeting Tovar for political purposes weeks before her term on the commission ends.

“This is a witch hunt, and it's gross and it's a misuse of taxpayer dollars to settle political scores like this,” Barton said. “They should be ashamed of themselves.”

To that point, Barton cited the commissioners decision to refer the allegations against Tovar to Mitchell, the Republican Maricopa County attorney, instead of Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes, whose office has a dedicated Open Meeting Law Enforcement Team. That team regularly reviews complaints against public bodies and elected officials for alleged violations of the state’s Open Meeting Law, which requires those elected officials to vote and discuss most issues in a public forum.

In fact, the Attorney General’s Office recently concluded that the four Republicans on the Corporation Commission violated that law after Tovar filed a complaint against them.

Actually, the only way that this (using public funds to give a $20,000 payoff bonus to one of their employees and going prosecutor shopping to target the person who had the audacity to criticize it) would look more like a witch hunt is if the R members of the ACC voted to have Commissioner Tovar subject to trial by drowning.

Oh, and the fact that they've hidden Tovar's dissent doesn't add to their credibility.

The Google result -

Leads to -

Hmmm...

Clark is the former Public Works Director in Bellevue, Nebraska.

If direct analogy questions are ever re-added to the SAT, I've got a new one for them!

SAT = "Scholastic Aptitude Text"; it was, and remains, something of a rite of passage for most high school students.

Analogy questions have since been removed from the SAT, but if they're ever returned to the test, the events of the past week have inspired a new one (and in a bonus, there's even a pop culture reference [admittedly, the reference is nearly 50 years old :) ]) -

Donald Trump is to Elon Musk as Grand Moff Tarkin is to__________.

A. Luke Skywalker

B. Princess Leia

C. Darth Vader

One hint (probably not going to be on a test) - the correct answer isn't A or B

Note:

Tarkin was a wholly evil character in the original Star Wars movie who was under the impression that he was in charge.  At least, he thought that until Vader disabused him of that notion.

This isn't a perfect analogy - in the movies, Vader had a spark of humanity...a deeply buried one, but one that was there; Musk hasn't shown any such thing.

He *has* shown a propensity for interceding.

From Business Insider -

Jeff Bezos and Trump had dinner at Mar-a-Lago, and were joined by Elon Musk

Jeff Bezos seems to be trying to patch up his feud with Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

The former Amazon CEO was pictured at Mar-a-Lago with fiancé Lauren Sánchez on Wednesday night in images circulating on social media, as he joined the president-elect for dinner.

[snip]

Tesla CEO Elon Musk was also in attendance, confirming that the meeting had taken place in a post on X, describing it as a "great conversation."

Of course, dinner isn't the only place where Musk has thrown his weight around. He used his influence to defeat a short-term federal spending bill.  The unelected Musk's interference in political matters hasn't been unnoticed.

From Rolling Stone -

Dems Troll Trump by Calling Elon the Real President

Elon Musk has not been elected to any public office, but after tanking Republicans’ most recent attempt at a stopgap funding bill to avoid a shutdown, some right-wing lawmakers are entertaining the idea of installing him as speaker of the House. Democrats, by contrast, are pointing out that if the party — which claims to loathe the unelected bureaucracy — is going to let themselves be controlled by the social media posts of the world’s richest man, they may as well hand him the keys to the White House.

“The US Congress this week came to an agreement to fund our government,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote on Wednesday. “Elon Musk, who became $200 BILLION richer since Trump was elected, objected. Are Republicans beholden to the American people? Or President Musk? This is oligarchy at work.” 

With Cheeto's, I expect him to kick Musk to the curb, or to otherwise bring him to heel...unless Emperor Palatine Vlad brings Cheeto to heel first.

Legislative schedule - week starting 12/22/2024

It's a holiday week, so nothing is on the schedule right now.

However, that's subject to change.  It's best to keep an eye out for changes

Also, things will change as we get closer to the new session of the legislature.

Tom Horne: Arizona's version of Cheeto

I saw Tom Horne, Arizona's Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), on today's episode of Sunday Square Off and Channel 12.attempting to rationalize his attempt to ignore fraud in AZ's ESA (school voucher) program.  He terms it "bulk approval" of reimbursement claims.

What struck me is how much he resembles Cheeto:

1) He never takes responsibility for his own failures.

2) He steals credit for any successes by his office (I'm guessing that he doesn't inspire much loyalty among staff).

3) He blame shifts to Democrats.

4) He really doesn't like women.  He blamed his troubles on AZ AG Kris Mayes and his predecessor as SPI, Kathy Hoffman.  It helps him that both Mayes and Hoffman are Democrats.

5) He habitually cheats on his wife with a future wife.  Though to the best of my knowledge, he hasn't yet boinked a porn star.

If he wants to be more like Cheeto, maybe he should cheat at golf, too.

Legislative schedule - week starting 12/15/2024

 Well, the election is over, so activity at the Capitol is picking up.

Admittedly, there's only three meetings scheduled at this point, and they're all scheduled for Wednesday, but that's three more than are on the schedule for Christmas week.

However, that's subject to change.  It's best to keep an eye out for changes.

On Monday 12/16, Tuesday, 12/17, and Thursday, 12/19 - nada.

On Wednesday, 12/18 -

Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) meets at 9:30 a.m. in SHR109. On the agenda: 12 items, eight of will be considered en masse as part of consent agenda item.  The four items that they will actually consider: reviews of items involving the AZ SOS and AZ AG.  As both offices are headed by Democrats and the "reviews" will take place in executive session (fewer witnesses that way), I'm guessing that there will be less considering and more "raking over the coals" going on. The other two item will be public and involve DEQ and AHCCCS/DES.  As John Kavanagh chairs this committee, he will probably focus making sure no trans people are helped by these agencies.

Joint Committee on Capital Review (JCCR) meets at 9:45 a.m. or upon adjournment of the JLBC meeting in SHR109.  On the agenda:  six items, five and half of which will be considered en masse as part of consent agenda item.  What will be considered in public are a couple buildings under construction as U of A.  Kavanagh chairs this one too, so trans people will probably be mentioned here, too.

House Committee on International Trade meets at 10:30 a.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: this looks to be a pro forma meeting.

If it's December, it must be vehicle bill time at the AZ legislature

In lege-speak, a "vehicle bill" that exists basically to serve a shell for a strike-everything amendment ("striker") that's usually far more insidious and detrimental to society than the underlying bill.

Normally, such bills have "technical correction" in the working title, but this year, they've gotten creative.  So far, none have that in the title.

Thus far, 14 actual bills have been introduced; of those, eight look to be vehicles for strikers.

Of the 14, nine were introduced by Ol' Reliable, John Kavanagh (R - CAP's Lapdog) (and he is listed as a co-sponsor of another); seven look to be strikers.

Some of the bills are about things like balloons, fair juries, and eyeglasses; not the sort of things that Republicans are known for giving a damn about.

One prediction: SB1007, working title "public school tax credit; purposes" will be turned into something to expand private school vouchers.

Regarding the murder of a CEO in NYC where the NYPD pulls out all stops to look for the killer

That may be because that CEO was rich and white; if the victim was poor and/or black, they'd call the killing a "public service homicide" and ignore it completely.

Posted on Bluesky (by me):

I don't wish death on anyone. Full stop. However, there is a list of folks who I don't believe should be mourned, and people who value profits more than human lives make that list.

And if certain folks (on both sides of the issue) think that makes me a bad human being, then I can live with that.

I'm back on social media!

I realize that most readers won't care, but I'm now on Bluesky as cpmaz.bsky.social.

I'll try to use this place for AZ-related stuff and non-Cheeto-related snark (I'll share it to Bluesky, though); the Cheeto-related stuff will just go to Bluesky.  That's not an absolute, though.

One thing that I've noticed about Bluesky is a large number of post from or about authors.  A *really* large number.

So either there are a lot of writers out there, or a certain someone feels threatened by a competitor to Twitter/X and has unleashed the 'bots to fill Bluesky with meaningless chaff in an effort to distract users from the meaningful posts there.

It'll fail.

That person's next step will be to try and turn it into a Twitter-esque hate-filled hellscape.

That'll fail, too.

Legislative schedule - week starting 12/8/2024

 Well, the election is over, so activity at the Capitol is picking up.

Admittedly, there's only two meetings scheduled at this point, but that's two more than happens during most weeks between legislative sessions.

However, that's subject to change.  It may be best to keep an eye out for changes.

On Monday, 12/9 and Thursday, 12/12 - Nada.

On Tuesday, 12/10 -

Joint Legislative Audit Committee meets at 9 a.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: Six items, including some about certain audits of certain schools/programs.

On Wednesday, 12/11-

Senate Government meets at 1 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: no bills, but is this was a hockey blog, I'd say the committee chairman Jake Hoffman is dropping his gloves and facing off with AZAG Kris Mayes,  Except that unlike a hockey fight between two participants looking each other in the eye, Hoffman will be launching his haymakers from behind a shield made up of Phoenix firefighters.

The committee will be looking into allegations of discriminatory practices by the Phoenix Fire Department and seeking the blame Mayes.  

One of the presenters: an attorney from the Goldwater Institute, a conservative lobbying group.

 

Is there a post office with a blank wall? Cheeto has a list of names of people who should be on it.

Some have even already been convicted and served some prison time.

From USA Today, via Yahoo! -

Just four months out of prison, Peter Navarro to join Trump White House as trade advisor

Peter Navarro will head back to the White House as a top advisor on trade and manufacturing, President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday on Truth Social.

Navarro is an economist who served in Trump's first administration, running a newly created National Trade Council and then the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy.

A loyal supporter to the president-elect, Navarro was sentenced to four months in prison after a federal jury convicted him of refusing to comply with a subpoena from the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. He spoke at the Republican National Convention in August just after being released.

CBS News has a list of Trump nominees/future convicts.

Axios has a list of previous supporters/allies of Cheeto who've done prison time.