AIRC Update: Tea-Publican Legislative Committee on Interfering with the AIRC ejects reporter, demonstrates contempt for constituents and Constitution

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Tea-Publican authoritarianism and their contempt for constitutional provisions — both the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission enacted by voters in the Arizona Constitution, and the right of a free press under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution — were on display Friday in a farce of a committee hearing to discredit and undermine the AIRC by Tea-Publican legislators.

As I posted the other day, AIRC Update: Tea-Publicans plan legislative interference with the 'independent' commission:

What part of "independent" do Tea-Publicans not understand? Arizona voters enacted the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC) to take redistricting out of the hands of legislators.

After waging a campaign of threats and intimidation against the AIRC through lawsuits, a politically motivated AG investigation, and the GOP front group FAIR Trust lawyer-lobbyists and teabaggers insulting commissioners at commission hearings, now the Tea-Publican controlled Arizona Legislature wants to appoint a committee of legislators to "scrutinize" the draft maps.

The Committee on Interfering with the AIRC held its first meeting on Friday. The Democrats appointed to the committee without consultation of Democratic leadership boycotted this farce of a committee hearing.

"Rep. Lynne Pancrazi of Yuma and Sen. Robert Mesa of Phoenix announced they won’t serve on the committee and skipped today’s hearing in order not to lend credibility to a committee whose sole purpose 'appears only to be political in nature.'" Two Dems snub joint panel on IRC – Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required). Pancrazi stated at a press conference prior to the hearing, "These lawmakers have hijacked the very process that puts the power in independent hands.”

The Tea-Publican only Committee on Interfering with the AIRC then proceeded to engage in hostile exchanges with constituents who dared to disagree with their actions and even ejected a reporter for simply mouthing the word "bullshit" to what was going on at this farce of a proceeding. The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports Chippy meeting on IRC maps brings out critics on both sides -Arizona Capitol Times:

The first speaker of the public comment period, a Phoenix resident named Tonya Norwood-Pearson, echoed some of the Democrats’ sentiments. She accused the Republicans of acting with a “mob-like mentality” and trying to undermine the IRC’s independence for partisan political gain, and said they should testify at the IRC instead.

“You are pushing your partisan agenda to forward your own political interests for political gain. It kind feels a little bit like bullying,” she said.

Sen. Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert, said the committee was nothing more than a fact-finding mission formed to craft the Legislature’s official response to the IRC’s draft maps. He accused Norwood-Pearson of using the kind of inflammatory rhetoric that she alleged the committee was using.

“Demagogic language would be to say this is mob-like,” Biggs said, shortly before he had a liberal blogger ejected from the meeting for allegedly mouthing swear words at him.

The Arizona Capitol Times and its sister publication The Yellow Sheet political gossip rag, publications by lobbyists and for lobbyists, both like to use "liberal" as a pejorative. The "liberal blogger" is actually the only reporter who has consistently reported on the public hearings of the AIRC, Steve Muratore of The Arizona Eagletarian blog.

Muratore's reporting has been a must-read for anyone wanting to know what is going on at the AIRC because our corporate media villagers have done such a godawful job of reporting on the AIRC — unless it is to advance the GOP talking points that AIRC Chair Colleen Mathis is biased or that the GOP is getting screwed with the draft maps — both stories advanced by the Arizona Capitol Times and The Yellow Sheet.

I will let Steve Muratore explain what really happened from his blog post.

The Arizona Eagletarian: Redistricting — Joint Lege committee on interfering with the AIRC — first hearing:

That leaves Sen. Andy Biggs (R-Publisher's Clearinghouse). Biggs has astoundingly good lipreading skills. The Yellow Sheet accounts the events that follow thus:

Liberal blogger Steve Muratore has attended and written about nearly every IRC meeting, but he didn’t get to stay for long at this morning’s legislative committee hearing. During an argument between Biggs and Phoenix resident Tonya Norwood-Pearson over what constituted inflammatory rhetoric, Biggs motioned to a person in the audience who was swearing at him as an example of what was inflammatory, before asking that the person in question be expelled from the hearing. “He’s sitting here swearing at me. That’s beautiful. I would like him removed,” Biggs said. Muratore left quietly and went upstairs to Schapira’s office, where the two presumably watched the rest of the hearing. Both were tweeting throughout the rest of the meeting, with Muratore vowing that he’d have a lot more to say about his ejection. “Biggs being argumentative. I mouth some words to him and he had me kicked out. MORE to come!” he tweeted. After the meeting, Biggs explained exactly what Muratore did that got him kicked out of the meeting. “He was mouthing repeatedly a certain bovine excrement type of swear word,” he told reporters. “For the first two or three minutes, I thought, ‘He’ll get tired of saying it to me. … He’ll get it out of his system.’” But apparently, he didn’t: “At some point I said, ‘Okay, enough’s enough.’” 

Of course, the Yellow Sheet characterization of the situation leaves a lot out and gives Biggs the benefit of the doubt by quoting him. Fact of the matter is that he only looked at me once and the entire lipreading episode lasted MAYBE 15 seconds. But really, ejecting someone reporting on the committee for simply MOUTHING but not saying anything out loud?

We learned a LOT about Mr. BIGgs(hot) from this, however.

If YS wasn't such a slanted gossip sheet, the pejorative label "Liberal blogger" probably wouldn't have been the way to begin the blurb. While the term doesn't offend me, there's no question that the Arizona capitol lobbying "community" (the YS market base) is largely the corporate interests* that work to influence state lawmakers for personal and professional gain. YS saying, "Biggs explained exactly what Muratore did that got him kicked out…" is a subtle but definite way to legitimize Biggs' way of conducting himself as a lawmaker. I'm obviously no more biased than Arizona News Service (which publishes both the Yellow Sheet Report and the Arizona Capitol Times). They are, perhaps, more subtle in their bias, but are still very biased.

The Arizona Republic reported Panel: Maps may need a full review: "There was some controversy when Sen. Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert, requested that blogger Steve Muratore be removed from the hearing room because Biggs said he was swearing at him." No other details.

The Arizona Daily Star and East Valley Tribune did not report these incidents at this committee hearing. Maybe they should have sent their own reporter.

Calling "bullshit" on a farce of a hearing when a state legislator is being argumentitve towards a constituent who disagrees with the Tea-Publicans' attempt to discredit and undermine the AIRC is not "swearing at him." The word was never verbalized. Mr. Biggs demonstrated that he is a small man who is super-sensitive to criticism that is both accurate and well-deserved.

And why is the media not rallying around a fellow member of the press who was ejected from this committee hearing on such specious grounds? Does the corporate media's contempt for bloggers who are doing the reporting that they are failing to do prevent them from objecting to a violation of the freedom of the press under the First Amendment? Do they believe the First Amendment applies only to corporate media villagers? Where is the outrage over a member of the press being ejected from this committee hearing?

The Committee on Interfering with the AIRC will meet again at 1 p.m. Monday. It may also meet on Tuesday as well. Once the meetings conclude, the committee will submit its recommendations to the IRC.

But the ultimate goal of the The Committee on Interfering with the AIRC is a Special Session to interfere with the independence of the AIRC. Ariz. redistricting special session called likely. Gov. Brewer said she doesn’t have enough information to determine whether Mathis should be removed, and said she would wait until after the 30-day public comment period ends before making any decisions. She noted that the IRC could make significant changes after the public hearings end, eliminating the need for a special session. Chippy meeting on IRC maps brings out critics on both sides – Arizona Capitol Times.