Maricopa County prosecutor Rachel Mitchell’s unprofessional memo

Republican strategist Rick Wilson authored the book Everything Trump Touches Dies.

This is likely to include the professional legal career of Maricopa County prosecutor Rachel Mitchell.

Hired to be a “human shield” for Republican senators in questioning Christine Blasey Ford last week, she proved to be ‘not effective’ in questioning Ford.

Mitchell had barely begun asking questions of Judge Kavanaugh when she zeroed in on his July 1 calendar entry which might corroborate Dr. Blasey’s recollection of a party. Republican senators insulted her by summarily dismissing her, never to be heard from again.

Eleven old white men didn’t want to hear from any woman, even their hired gun.

Mitchell has since compounded her catastrophic performance by providing a partisan political memo to the GOP senators who hired her. Her memo violates the rules of professional conduct for attorneys and prosecutors. Her desire to be in the national spotlight may wind up costing her.

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More opposition to Prop. 126

I have previously posted No on Prop. 126, the false and purposefully misleading Protect Arizona Taxpayers Act and posted Abe Kwok of The Arizona Republic adding his voice in opposition to Prop. 126. Another opinion against Prop. 126.

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Howard Fisher reports, Arizona’s Prop. 126 — a ban on taxing services — draws diverse resistance:

To hear the proponents of Proposition 126 tell it, Arizona lawmakers are chomping at the bit to tax medical services, child care and veterinary bills.

Never mind that lawmakers already can do that — and have not.

The initiative sponsors, financed by Arizona Realtors and their national parent organization, want to put a [preemptive] provision in the state constitution. It would forever preclude the Legislature from expanding the current sales-tax base to services that are not already taxed.

And they have built a war chest — $6.1 million as of the last campaign-finance report filed in the middle of August — to get voters to agree. The campaign is operating under the umbrella of Citizens for Fair Tax Policy.

There is no organized opposition.

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Martha McSally to venture outside her chicken bunker to debate Kyrsten Sinema

Martha McSally goes to great lengths to avoid debating her opponents, she always has. It is because she is a terrible debater, as anyone who has ever seen her debate can attest.

And when McSally does agree to a debate — never multiple debates — it is always in front of a GOP-friendly audience.

McSally never strays far from her chicken bunker, as this blog has documented for years (hence, the familiar graphic).

The Arizona Republic reports Martha McSally agrees to debate with Kyrsten Sinema in Phoenix:

U.S. Senate contenders Democrat Kyrsten Sinema and Republican Martha McSally will debate Oct.15 in Phoenix at an event hosted by Arizona PBS and The Arizona Republic.

The debate is scheduled for 7-8 p.m. on October 15. It will be broadcast on Arizona PBS Channel 8.1 and at azcentral.com. Republic political reporter Maria Polletta and Ted Simons, host of Channel 8’s “Arizona Horizon,” the nightly public affairs program, will be the moderators.

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We Have Something to Say art exhibit at Steinfeld Warehouse

 

“An art exhibit voicing social, political, and environmental
concerns, observations and vision.
October 5 through 7, 2018

Steinfeld Warehouse Art Center
101 West 6th Street
Tucson, AZ

Hosted by We Have Something to Say and Steinfeld Warehouse Community Arts Center

October, 5
Gallery Hours 12 – 9 PM
Opening Reception 6 to 9 pm
Poetry Reading 7 to 7:45 pm
William Pitt Root
Jefferson Carter
Charlotte Lowe

October, 6
Gallery Hours 12 – 9 PM
Presentations 7 to 8 pm
Censorship – David Fitzsimmons
Transgender Issues – Emily Amadhia King
Climate Change – Ken Matesich

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12 Angry Men: pity the privileged white male patriarchy

Twelve Angry Men is a gripping courtroom drama about a murder trial in which a single dissenting juror holds out from a unanimous verdict of guilty because he has reasonable doubt.

Last week we saw a different context for “Twelve Angry Men”: eleven privileged white male Republican senators and privileged white male Judge Brett Kavanaugh in a collective primal scream against the outrage of anyone, especially this woman, challenging their privileged white male patriarchy, nay their God-given right to rule over our us.

It was a defense of the old world order of privileged white male patriarchy, to paraphrase William F. Buckley, Jr., “standing athwart the tide of history and demographics yelling Stop at a time when no one is inclined to do so, or to have much patience with those who so urge it.”

If Christine Blasey Ford had behaved the way that Judge Kavanaugh or Senator Lindsey Graham behaved, she would have been immediately dismissed as a shrill harpy who was being hysterical (typical male stereotypes for a woman who speaks up). But Republicans cheered this behavior in the Twelve Angry Men defending the privileged white male patriarchy. Why?

The Washington Post reports, ‘The trauma for a man’: Male fury and fear rises in GOP in defense of Kavanaugh:

The sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh have sparked a wave of unbridled anger and anxiety from many Republican men, who say they are in danger of being swept up by false accusers who are biased against them.

From President Trump to his namesake son to Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), the howls of outrage crystallize a strong current of grievance within a party whose leadership is almost entirely white and overwhelmingly male — and which does not make a secret of its fear that demographic shifts and cultural convulsions could jeopardize its grip on power.

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