english.sxu.edu

What voter apathy looks like.

​Just three days after Public Policy Polling found that just about no one likes Sarah Palin or Donald Trump, the pollsters say today that Arizonans don't like their senators either.

Arizona Senator John McCain -- who had a 40 percent approval rating in the firm's January polling -- now has a 34 percent approval rating, the second-lowest among U.S. senators in the nation.

"[McCain] has improved considerably with the GOP after a bruising primary battle last summer and his White House loss, but he is in the basement with everyone else," the pollsters say in a statement.

More >>

www.last2pics.com

Yee-haw

​For a state that recently became only the second in the  country to pass a law that names an official state gun, it shouldn't come as much of a shock that Arizona scored a whopping zero points on this year's Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence annual scorecard -- and that's out of 100.

Arizona joins Utah and Alaska on the group's list of states that "do not have a single common sense gun law on their books," and are considered "do-nothing" states in terms of gun-control policy.


More >>

www.knowyourledge.com

​Welcome to Arizona, the official billboard for the Connecticut-based Colt gun company.

Following intense lobbying of state legislators by the gun company, Governor Jan Brewer yesterday signed a bill into law that makes the Colt single-action Army revolver the official firearm of the state of Arizona -- which will undoubtedly serve as rhetorical ammo for the state's haters who want to paint Arizonans as knuckle-dragging, gun-toting hillbillies. That said, one look at the majority of our elected officials, and the haters would appear to be right.

Having an official state gun is not the end of the world -- it's just stupid, especially in Arizona, for a lot of reasons.

More >>

This will soon be an Arizona license plate. Oy vey!

​Governor Jan Brewer signed bills into law yesterday that allow for the creation of 11 new Arizona license plates, one of which depicts the Tea Party favorite Gadsden Flag and its "Don't Tread on Me" slogan.

Anyone who wants a Gadsden Flag plate would have to pony up $25, $17 of which goes to "promote Tea Party governing principles" because the Tea Party is the organization that will have to raise the $32,000 required to create the plates.

New York Congressman Gary Ackerman isn't a fan.

More >>

This piece is one signature away from being Arizona's official state gun.

​Yee-ha!

Arizona is one signature from a gun-loving governor away from becoming only the second state in the entire country to have an official state gun, which isn't the end of the world, but given Arizona's current reputation as a hillbilly haven for far-right-wing extremists, it doesn't do much to help the state's already bad rep.

More >>

www.neaca.com

Arizona legislators want to make this piece synonymous with the Grand Canyon State.

​A bill that could potentially make Arizona the first state in the entire country to have an official "state gun" is one step closer to becoming law (that sound you just heard is the collective chuckle of the rest of the country).

As we noted yesterday, more than 40 Arizona state legislators have signed on to a bill that would make the Colt single-action Army revolver the official state firearm. Early this morning, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted 9-4 to advance the measure to a full Senate vote.

More >>

www.frankowenspaintbrush.com

They're baaack....

​As if there's nothing more important on which to focus, and to drag Arizona's reputation further into the deep chasm of humiliation, 41 members of the Arizona State Legislature have signed on to re-introduce the "Birther Bill," which would require anyone who wants to run for president or vice-president to prove their U.S. citizenship before their name's allowed on the ballot in Arizona -- even though it happens to already be a federal requirement to land either job.

As we pointed out the last time this bill was introduced, by Republican state Representative Judy Burges of NumbSkull Valley, we're not saying that wanting to prove a candidate is a naturally born American citizen -- again, as already required by law to run for President of the United States -- is a bad thing. The problem, however (aside from it already being a federal law), is that the move seems to be in direct response to the repeatedly debunked controversy over President Barack Obama's citizenship and the right-wing conspiracy theorist "birther" movement.

More >>

www.faithfulwordbaptist.com

Maniacal man of God, Steven Anderson.

​A Tempe church has been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and after speaking with the church's pastor this morning, we have a pretty good idea why.

Pastor Steven Anderson, the leader of the Faithful Word Baptist Church, is no stranger to controversy. He recently made headlines for saying he was praying for the death of President Barack Obama, and, just this morning, told New Times he thinks the government should put homosexuals to death.


More >>

Andrew Thomas thinks his stupid lawsuit might be "the most factually detailed federal civil RICO claim ever filed in Arizona."

​
For those of us who don't stand accused of being criminals, or literally face felony charges simply for doing our jobs (see: Donahoe, Gary), it's been something of a hoot to read the filings by Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas in his conspiracy-fueled attack on other county officials.

Of course these aren't laughing matters. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are being spent on lawyers; county business isn't getting done; reputations are being destroyed by whisper campaigns and unproven assertions in court filings.

But the logic displayed by Thomas and his minions as they attempt to execute their attack is, in fact, laughable. One lawyer noted at a rally last month that the "probable cause" statement Thomas' office filed in the case against Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Gary Donahoe reads like a letter to the editor -- and that seems about right. These filings are so full of bombast and so short on legal theory, we're still not sure what Thomas' endlessly cited "criminal enterprise" was supposedly up to: There's never been so much as an allegation that anyone has profited one penny from their alleged criminal acts.

That said, Thomas' latest filing in his racketeering case against numerous county officials -- the stupid RICO claim that alleges county supervisors, judges, and their lawyers are part of a criminal conspiracy -- is hilarious. Why? Even though every lawyer in town who's read this thing has been horrified by its absence of fact, Thomas is still convinced it's a gem.
More >>

courtesy of intellectualconservative.com

Rachel Alexander will be handling the RICO litigation

​Deputy County Attorney Lisa Aubuchon -- long considered Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas' hatchet-woman for politically sensitive cases -- is no longer handling the racketeering lawsuit that Thomas' office filed against a host of county officials.

Instead, the RICO suit will be now be handled by one of the few attorneys in Thomas' office perceived to be even more political than Aubuchon: conservative blogger-turned-special assistant Rachel Alexander.

The bizarre lawsuit, now being handled by Alexander, accuses the county supervisors, some county judges, and other county employees of being a "criminal enterprise." Apparently these cronies conspired to -- gasp! -- build a new courthouse.

The move has insiders scratching their heads because Alexander is thought to be more involved in the global, strategic end of things instead of actually litigating, much less handling a case of this legal complexity.
More >>