Hillary Clinton at the Women in The World Summit
March 12, 2012
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."
CD 8 Special Election Update: It’s not easy being Green (Part 2)
March 12, 2012
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.
Rep. Patterson stripped of committee posts
March 12, 2012
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
If the Star is Too Afraid to Run Doonesbury’s Vaginal Probe Arc…
March 12, 2012
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.
Arizona Daily Star censors Doonesbury comic strip
March 12, 2012
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
The coming week…
March 11, 2012
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
Fact checking the mendacity of ‘Mittens’
March 11, 2012
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
(Update) Advertisers are ‘Rush-ing’ for the exits from Limbaugh
March 10, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Clear Channel's Premiere Networks, the purveyors of right-wing hate radio, has a problem with advertisers in the wake of Rush Limbaugh's misogynistic attacks on Sandra Fluke last week, and the resulting firestorm. Advertisers are "Rush-ing" for the exits not just from Limbaugh, but from all of Premiere Networks' stable of fire-breathing haters.
As John Avlon of The Daily Beast says, "Rush Limbaugh made the right-wing talk-radio industry, and he just might break it." Rush Limbaugh Scandal Proves Contagious for Talk-Radio Advertisers – The Daily Beast:
[T]he fallout from the “slut” slurs against Sandra Fluke is extending to the entire political shock-jock genre.
Premiere Networks, which distributes Limbaugh as well as a host of other right-wing talkers, sent an email out to its affiliates early Friday listing 98 large corporations that have requested their ads appear only on “programs free of content that you know are deemed to be offensive or controversial (for example, Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh, Tom Leykis, Michael Savage, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity).”
This is big. According to the radio-industry website Radio-Info.com, which first posted excerpts of the Premiere memo, among the 98 companies that have decided to no longer sponsor these programs are “carmakers (Ford, GM, Toyota), insurance companies (Allstate, Geico, Prudential, State Farm), and restaurants (McDonald’s, Subway).” Together, these talk-radio advertising staples represent millions of dollars in revenue.
Valerie Geller, an industry insider and author of Beyond Powerful Radio, confirmed the trend. “I have talked with several reps who report that they're having conversations with their clients, who are asking not to be associated with specifically polarizing controversial hosts, particularly if those hosts are ‘mean-spirited.’ While most products and services offered on these shows have strong competitors, and enjoy purchasing the exposure that many of these shows and hosts can offer, they do not wish to be ‘tarred’ with the brush of anger, or endure customer anger, or, worse, product boycotts.”
