A Few Father’s Day Morsels
June 17, 2012
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Posted by Bob Lord I found this nugget somewhat buried in today’s Sunday Review section of the Times: http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/14/the-democratic-road-not-taken/ Take a few minutes to read it. Hart explains, far more articulately and insightfully than I could, how the Democratic Party has become entirely result oriented over the course of a few decades, failing to adapt to … Read more
Saguaro Eastside Democrats: A Summer Miniature Golf Challenge and Continental Breakfast
June 17, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Event announcement from the Saguaro Eastside Democrats: SAGUARO EASTSIDE DEMOCRATS present A SUMMER MINIATURE GOLF CHALLENGE and CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST SATURDAY, JULY 7, 8-10 AM at GOLF N’ STUFF, 6503 E. TANQUE VERDE Rd. Tickets $20 / $25 at the door Children under 12 $5Must be accompanied by an adult – No drop-offs! … Read more
FBI probe of Ben Arredondo included ALEC, NCSL, other Arizona politicians
June 16, 2012
Posted by AzblueMeanie:
It's not just Attorney General Tom "Banned for life by the SEC" under investigation by the FBI. The FBI probe of Rep. Ben Arredondo is still ongoing and offers some interesting leads.
Talking Points Memo reports ALEC, Senior Arizona State Legislators Linked To FBI Probe:
[R]ecords uncovered this week by TPM show at least one of the FBI probes has been linked to some of the most powerful politicians in the state government as well as a shadowy conservative group known as ALEC, which has drawn national scrutiny for its outsized influence in state capitols across the country.
The investigation centers on an Arizona super lobbyist who was hired in 2009 by undercover federal agents. The agents posed as high rollers from what they said was a New York City company called Longford Solutions LLC. They came to town looking to make hefty deals to buy land from local governments and allegedly offered gifts like sports tickets to help grease the wheels.
The probe has already led to the indictment of state Rep. Ben Arredondo (D) on charges of bribery and attempted extortion. He has pleaded not guilty. Federal authorities say the inquiry is still ongoing.
Another lawmaker, Rep. Richard Miranda (D), resigned from office earlier this year and pleaded guilty to swindling thousands of dollars from a charity he ran. The federal investigation that brought him down so far appears to be separate from the Arredondo probe, though Miranda’s lawyer has raised questions about whether the two are connected.
Now, records on file with the state show Arredondo wasn’t the only lawmaker that lobbyist Mike Williams met with while representing the FBI’s front company, Longford Solutions.
ALEC’s PR Fail
June 16, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: With all of the corporate money avaialable to these SOBs, you would think they would be better at this. Kenneth Quinnell at crooksandliars.com reports ALEC Launches Website Defending Their Extremism: The American Legislative Exchange Council launched a new website to defend themselves against progressives who are spreading the truth about the organization's … Read more
Utah’s conservative GOP Attorney General supports Obama’s immigration policy
June 16, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
It is Arizona that is extremist and an outlier on immigration reform. States like Utah have been leading the way with sane and humane immigration reform proposals, like the "Utah Compact." Official text of Utah Compact declaration on immigration reform. It is time for Arizonans to stop listening to politicians who dehumanize, demonize and scapegoat undocumented immigrants with their hateful demagoguery.
Sen. John McCain said in 2008, before he became an embittered sore loser, "So let’s from time to time remember that these are God’s children. They must come to our country legally, but they have enriched our culture and our nation as every generation of immigrants before them." And as President Obama said yesterday, "We're a better nation than one that expels innocent young kids."
Greg Sargent interviewed Mark Shurtleff, Utah’s conservative Republican Attorney General for this post. Utah’s GOP attorney general: Obama immigration move totally within his power:
A number of Republican officials and conservatives have responded to Obama’s immigration announcement by attacking it on process grounds, arguing that the decision to circumvent Congress was an abuse of power, an affront to democracy, and even unconstitutional — and could encourage further lawbreaking.
But in an interview with me just now, Mark Shurtleff, Utah’s conservative Republican attorney general, dismissed those objections, arguing the move was perfectly within Obama’s powers, good law enforcement policy, and even a “conservative” solution.
“This is clearly within the president’s power,” Shurtleff said. “I was pleased when the president announced it.”
Nuns on The Bus Tour – Support The Sisters
June 16, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
I was raised Catholic, attended Catholic school, and I have several aunts and cousins who are or were (deceased) nuns. So I can say, tongue-in-cheek, don't mess with the penguins!
The heart and soul of the Catholic faith are its sisters. They are the teachers, the nurses, the caregivers, the missionaries who carry out the "social justice" commandment of Jesus. Matthew 25:
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
It is the male hierarchy of the Church that has lost its way with scandal after scandal of priests sexually abusing children, and the Vatican covering up their crimes for decades. It is the male hierarchy of the Church that has a myopic fixation on dictating to women their reproductive health from contraception to abortion — Jesus never had anything to say about that. The male hierarchy of the Church barely even mentions its "social justice" mission of the Church any longer. How dare the male hierarchy of the Church attempt to silence the sisters of the Church and force them to submit to their domination. Nuns 'stunned' as Vatican tells them to focus on 'human sexuality':
A prominent US Catholic nuns’ group said … it was “stunned” that the Vatican reprimanded it for spending too much time on poverty and social justice concerns and not enough on abortion and gay marriage.
* * *
It also reprimanded American nuns for expressing positions on political issues that differed, at times, from views held by American bishops. Public disagreement with the bishops — “who are the church’s authentic teachers of faith and morals” – is unacceptable, the report said.
When the Vatican cleans up its act and sends paedophile priests to prison for their crimes instead of covering up their horrific crimes and protecting them from prosecution, then they can have a say. Until then, no one is listening to what the bishops have to say, they have lost all credibility and any moral authority to speak for the Church (regardless of what Church doctrine written by males for males may say).
Obama’s DREAM of discretion
June 16, 2012
By Michael Bryan From the over-heated rhetoric coming from the Right, you might think that Obama had executed a coup using illegal aliens as storm troopers in announcing new prosecutorial priorities in removal procedures (PDF link) in lieu of Congressional action on the DREAM Act. Here's what some GOP pols here in Arizona are saying about … Read more
Paul Krugman on the destruction of wealth under Bushonomics
June 16, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: I posted about this last week, the Washington Post reported that Americans saw wealth plummet 40% from 2007 to 2010, Federal Reserve says. Paul Krugman has finally weighed in on this report. Wealth Destruction: I haven’t weighed in on the Survey of Consumer Finances, which shows a sharp decline in net worth … Read more
