Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke at the Women in The World Summit over the weekend. This short video clip below the fold is well worth viewing.

"Why extremists always focus on women remains a mystery to me. But they all seem to. It doesn't matter what country they're in or what religion they claim, they all want to control women. They want to control how we dress, they want to control how we act, they even want to control the decisions we make about our own health and our our own bodies. Yes, it is hard to believe but even here at home, we have to stand up for women's rights and reject efforts to marginalize any one us because America needs to set an example for the entire world."

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Last week I posted that Democratic Party activist Luke Knipe had filed a challenge to the petitions of Green Party candidate Charlie Mankolis for the reason that Mr. Mankolis is a registered Democrat and not even a member of the Green Party. Doh! CD 8 Special Election Update: It's not easy being Green.

Well folks, remember the Green Scheme Siphon Scandal the GOP pulled with "sham" Green Party candidates in 2010? Republican voter fraud "Green" scheme. An alumnus from this group of sham Green Party candidates, Richard Grayson from Apache Junction in Pinal County, has filed to run as a write-in candidate again, this time in the CD 8 Special Election. See the Arizona Secretary of State web site "Full Listing 2012 Special Primary Election – CD 8."

You may recall that the Arizona Green Party sued to keep these sham Green Party candidates off the ballot in 2010, Green Party sues to remove 11 "sham" candidates from the ballot, but a federal judge allowed them to remain on the ballot under Arizona's quirky law pertaining to newly recognized political parties, as the Arizona Green Party was in 2010. Update: Federal judge allows GOP-recruited "sham" Green Party candidates to remain on the ballot.

The number of write-in votes needed for Democrats, Libertarians and Republicans is based on the number of signatures they would have needed to qualify for the ballot in the first place. But newly recognized parties – which the Green Party was in 2010 – needed only a plurality of votes, meaning an unopposed write-in candidate could win the nomination with a single vote. A.R.S. Sec. 16-645(D).

From the Arizona Green Party Complaint in Arizona Green Party v. Sham Candidates (.docstoc):

43. Defendant Richard Grayson is a write-in candidate purporting to be affiliated with the Arizona Green Party (AGP). Grayson is a write-in candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in District 6. Upon information and belief, he switched his political party registration from Republican to Green sometime in late 2009. Grayson filed as a write-in candidate on May 28, 2010. His filing papers are attached hereto as Ex. 3.

* * *

60. (b). Grayson secured the AGP nomination and will advance to the general election as the Green candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in District 6 with only 3 votes. [See Ex. 33]. A Republican write-in candidate would have had to obtain 1,055 votes, a Democratic write-in candidate would have had to obtain 610 votes, and a Libertarian write-in candidate would have had to obtain 17 votes. If the AGP was subject to the same statutory requirement for write-in candidates as the other parties, Grayson would have had to obtain 154 votes. [See Ex. 34].

The Arizona Green Party is no longer a newly recognized political party as it was in 2010, so it will be subject to the same statutory requirement as the other political parties in 2012. Even so, the qualifying number of write-in signatures for Libertarian and Green Party candidates is ridiculously low. I do not know what the "magic number" is in this CD 8 Special Election Primary for Mr. Grayson — but I am sure he will find out and post it in the comments. 

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: On Sunday, House Speaker Any Tobin stripped Rep. Daniel Patterson of his committee posts. Patterson loses his positions on 2 House committees: House Speaker Andy Tobin has stripped embattled state Rep. Daniel Patterson, D-Tucson, of his right to serve on legislative committees – at least for the time being. * * * … Read more

By Michael Bryan Go see it for yourself at Doonesbury.com. Hey, in this day and age, no single publication gets to dictate what you can and can't see. Here's the lead off strip.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: I have read the Doonesbury comic strip religiously since it was first syndicated in the Arizona Daily Star. Last week I caught this report in the Arizona Republic, Papers debate using Doonesbury abortion law strips, but I do not recall the editors of the Arizona Daily Star publishing any explanation how they … Read more

By Craig McDermott, cross-posted from Random Musings   As usual, all agendas are subject to change without notice This is the last week that bills can be heard in committee at the AZ lege, though exceptions can (and probably will) be made. As a result, most committee agendas are incredibly long, and there are a … Read more

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Steve Benen started his "Chronicling Mitt's Mendacity" posts back in January when he was blogging at the Political Animal blog. He has since moved to the Rachel Maddow blog. I had intended to follow his posts as a regular weekly feature, but it kind of got lost in Steve's move. In any event, … Read more