Marcia Busching for Corporation Commission

September 12, 2012

Posted by Bob Lord First, diclosure: Marcia Busching and I were law partners for 12 years, and I've supported her campaign from day 1. Each of the Democratic candidates has their own strengths, and I support them all, but in this post I focus solely on the candidate I know best – Marcia Busching.  I … Read more

Arizona’s everlasting embarrassment, Sen. Jon Kyl, makes a complete ass of himself

September 12, 2012

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: As I posted earlier, the Neocon Washington Post was highly critical of Romney's politicization of the killing of our our ambassador to Libya. Mr. Romney’s rhetoric on embassy attacks is a discredit to his campaign: At a news conference, Mr. Romney claimed that the administration had delivered “an apology for America’s values.” … Read more

The Plot thickens: Sam Bacile is not an Israeli Jew?

September 12, 2012

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Most major media outlets this morning quoted from interviews with a Sam Bacile, who is credited as the filmmaker of "The Innocence of Muslims." Bacile identified himself an Israeli Jew who is a California real estate developer.

Jeffrey Goldberg at The Atlantic did some follow-up investigative reporting and suggests this may not be true. Muhammad Film Consultant: 'Sam Bacile' Is Not Israeli, and Not a Real Name:

As part of my search for more information about Sam Bacile, the alleged producer of the now-infamous anti-Muhammad film trailer "The Innocence of Muslims," I just called a man named Steve Klein — a self-described militant Christian activist in Riverside, California (whose actual business, he said, is in selling "hard-to-place home insurance"), who has been described in multiple media accounts as a consultant to the film.

Klein told me that Bacile, the producer of the film, is not Israeli, and most likely not Jewish, as has been reported, and that the name is, in fact, a pseudonym. He said he did not know "Bacile"'s real name. He said Bacile contacted him because he leads anti-Islam protests outside of mosques and schools, and because, he said, he is a Vietnam veteran and an expert on uncovering al Qaeda cells in California. "After 9/11 I went out to look for terror cells in California and found them, piece of cake. Sam found out about me. The Middle East Christian and Jewish communities trust me."

He said the man who identified himself as Bacile asked him to help make the anti-Muhammad film. When I asked him to describe Bacile, he said: "I don't know that much about him. I met him, I spoke to him for an hour. He's not Israeli, no. I can tell you this for sure, the State of Israel is not involved, Terry Jones (the radical Christian Quran-burning pastor) is not involved. His name is a pseudonym. All these Middle Eastern folks I work with have pseudonyms. I doubt he's Jewish. I would suspect this is a disinformation campaign."

I asked him who he thought Sam Bacile was. He said that there are about 15 people associated with the making of the film, "Nobody is anything but an active American citizen. They're from Syria, Turkey, Pakistan, they're some that are from Egypt. Some are Copts but the vast majority are Evangelical."

What are we to make of Steve Klein's assertions? I'm taking everything about this strange and horrible episod with a grain of salt, though I will say that I haven't seen any proof yet that Sam Bacile is an actual Israeli Jew, or that the name is anything other than a pseudonym.

The plot thickens.

WaPo Editorial: Romney’s attacks ‘a discredit to his campaign’

September 12, 2012

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The Neocon Washington Post, a natural ally of the Romney campaign, nonetheless is harsh in its criticism. Mr. Romney’s rhetoric on embassy attacks is a discredit to his campaign: J.CHRISTOPHER STEVENS, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, was a skilled and courageous diplomat who repeatedly placed himself at risk in order to support … Read more

Romney ‘not ready for prime time’

September 12, 2012

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The verdict is in on Romney’s response to the embassy attacks in Libya and Egypt, and it’s not been kind. Former Romney Adviser On Libya: "They Stepped In It" | The New Republic: The mainstream media promptly proclaimed the response “over the top,” while Republican foreign policy hands griped that it was … Read more

LD 8 Citizens Clean Elections debate tonight

September 12, 2012

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The LD 8 Citizens Clean Elections Debate is tonight at 6:00 p.m., at the Florence Town Hall Council Chambers, 775 N. Main Street (Florence). Here are some questions for clean elections Republican Senate candidate Joe Ortiz that the moderator or local media may want to ask him. Press release from the Arizona Democratic … Read more

Grab Your Cookie

September 12, 2012

Posted by John Denker Recently there was a meeting involving a Wall Street CEO, a public school teacher, and a tea party activist.  When they walked into the meeting room, they discovered that their host had provided a dozen chocolate-chip cookies.  The CEO immediately ate 11 of the cookies, leaving one on the table.  The … Read more

Greatest Country In The World, Huh?

September 12, 2012

Posted by Bob Lord I've never felt entitled to claim the U.S. is the greatest country in the world. Unlike all the worldly scholars who make that claim, I've never lived in another country, so I have little basis to make such a comparison. But, reading this article about poverty and income levels in America,  … Read more