By Paul Waugaman and Larry Bodine.
It is time to get specific about seditious acts by Republican members of Arizona’s delegation in Congress and the Arizona Legislature.
- U.S. Representative Andy Biggs
- U.S. Representative Paul Gosar
- U.S. Representative Debbie Lesko
- U.S. Representative David Schweikert
This also includes Arizona state legislators:
- AZ Rep. Mark Finchem
- AZ Rep. David Cook
- AZ Rep. Walt Blackman
- AZ Sen. Wendy Rogers
- AZ Sen. Kelly Townsend
- AZ Sen. Sonny Borrelli
- AZ Sen. David Livingston
GOP Congress members support sedition
On January 6, the Republican U.S. representatives took part in an utterly pointless and certainly seditious effort to block the acceptance of Arizona’s and Pennsylvania’s certified slates of Electors and their votes. The Arizona vote in the House of Representatives took place as the U.S. Capitol was attacked by a mob of violent protestors instigated by none other than the United States president.
Representatives Biggs and Lesko are also guilty of earlier activity when in December they joined more than 130 other members to sign the amicus brief to the Supreme Court on behalf of the ridiculous Texas lawsuit to invalidate the presidential election results in Arizona and four other states.
It is absurd to believe that these four representatives were acting in the best interests of their constituents or acting in accordance with the Constitution and statutes of the United States. Signing on to the amicus brief and voting to disregard our electoral votes were acts supporting sedition and an unlawful overturning of the outcome of the presidential election.
Their actions show a misplaced loyalty to a discredited and untruthful president using illegal and desperate means to protect his grip on his office.
Time to sanction GOP conspirators
The issue, therefore, is what should be done about this behavior.
Should we wait for the House of Representatives to issue sanctions under their rules of conduct? The House has to consider how to sanction the similar behavior of 143 or so other members, all Republicans, and including the Minority Leader, the Minority Whip, and a number of ranking minority members of House committees.
It is doubtful if the Republican caucus has the appetite for sanctioning their own. Sufficient grounds exist for expulsion of more than a quarter of the members of the House. But I doubt that the Republican leadership has the stomach for taking this step. Some alternative halfway measures may be taken — such as not giving any of these people committee assignments, and denying them admittance to any committee meetings. Withholding resources such as staff budgets and office space limitations could also be done.
The question for us is what could and should the State of Arizona do to show the State’s disapproval of this behavior? I suggest we cannot wait for two years to “let the people decide.” If they cannot be recalled in a prompt special election, what can be done now and who can do it? I would love to hear the thoughts of a constitutional lawyer – in addition to those of our Attorney General.
State Reps dangerous and unfit to serve
Progress Arizona called on House Speaker Rusty Bowers and Senate President Karen Fann to remove the following State Legislators before being sworn in Monday:
- Senator-elect Kelly Townsend representing East Mesa and Gold Canyon
- Senator-elect Sonny Borrelli representing Lake Havasu And Kingman
- Senator-elect David Livingston from Surprise and Sun City
- Representative David Cook of the San Tan and Globe Areas
- Representative-elect Walt Blackman Representing Flagstaff
“We’re calling to expel them based on their behavior that they exhibited and the catastrophes that occurred yesterday at the U.S. Capitol,” said Jenny Guzman with Progress Arizona. “At the very least they should hold them accountable by reprimanding them from their chairmanship positions.”
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Today Debbie Lesko is saying impeaching Donald will lead to more violence.
Logic and critical thinking skills are not listed on her Wikipedia page.
Maybe the corporations that fund ALEC and are now threatening to defund the GOP could step in and have their puppets like Lesko act like grown ups.
Chris Cillizza at CNN writes, “The bonkers Republican logic on why Trump shouldn’t be impeached”, https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/12/politics/trump-impeachment-riot-capitol/index.html
So, let’s walk through this logic, shall we? No punitive action should be taken against the President who told a mob of his supporters that “we fight like hell and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore” because, if that action is taken, it could lead to violence?
Er, what? Just in case anyone forgot, we already had a mob overrun the US Capitol — incited by the President. That happened six days ago.
To do what the likes of [Debbie Lesko] is, quite simply, to let mob rule win. We can’t act to punish the President, who clearly egged on the rioters, because it could lead to more riots!
Tell me how that differs from arguing after September 11 that we had better not seek to punish those responsible for the bombings because it might further incite them and lead to more bombings? Or how we had better not strike back after Pearl Harbor because it could lead to further attacks on the United States?
Right. You get it.
[Y]ou cannot in good conscience argue that impeachment shouldn’t happen because it could trigger a violent reaction from Trump’s supporters.
That already happened, people! Did you miss the people marauding through the Capitol last week? And celebrating both during and afterward?
We are already through the looking glass. Impeaching this President is not the match that will light this fire. It is already burning in the country — thanks to the President of the United States pouring lighter fluid of the combustible combination of grievance, victimhood and plain old racism over the past four years.
In short: Give me a damn break.
It should have been clear from Trump’s calls to Ukraine and the Georgia election officials.
The GOP is a mob style protection racket.
Let us get away with crimes and nothing will happen to you.
It looks to me like the Speaker of the House and the Majority Leader of the House in the Arizona Legislature hold the fate of these seditious members of the State Legislature in their hands in the short term. I suggest that readers do what I am doing: Call your elected State reps. You each have a Senator and two Representatives. Contact them. Let them know you support the removal of these peole who have advocated sedition, promoted and enabled insurrection, and attempted to block the will of Arizona voters in the general election, and such behavior is contrary to the oath of office they all have taken or will take next week. Get in touch today
I support a special election to determine the fate of these politicians that defied the people’s vote.
Click for a contemporary image of Traitor Gosar in all his Gosar Glory:
https://www.downwithtyranny.com/post/paul-gosar-r-az-would-join-the-nazis-peter-meijer-r-mi-sounds-ready-to-become-a-biden-democrat