It should be clear to Arizonans by now that there is only one major political party committed to Democracy, reality, and maintaining/expanding voter access.
It is not the Republican Party in case there is still confusion.
Since the 2020 Presidential Election, members of the former Party of Lincoln in Arizona have:
- Engaged in spreading false (big) lies about how victory in the 2020 Presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump. Those would include Trump Zone residents Kelli Ward, Andy Biggs, and Paul Gosar.
- Stoked resentment among Trump Zone-Fox Island-Disinfo War-leaning voters to the point of igniting the spark that led to the Domestic Terrorist attack on the Nation’s Capitol on January 6, 2021.
- Voted to overturn the legitimate Arizona Electoral College results favoring Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
- Censured leading Republicans for either supporting Joe Biden (Cindy McCain and Jeff Flake) or not breaking the electoral law for Donald Trump (Doug Ducey.)
- Called for an audit of the Maricopa County Presidential Election results when there was no evidence of major fraud and ignored requests for an audit in the reelection of Kelli Ward and other State Republican Party offices when there was.
- Voted to back a known Q’Anon conspiracy theory supporter in Marjorie Taylor Green.
- Advanced the most voter suppression bills in the nation, including a failed attempt to throw people off the Permanent Early Voting List. These attempts have caught the attention of many media outlets across the nation like the New York Times, NPR, and U.S. News and World Report.
- Ignored requests to investigate State Legislators (Mark Finchem) about their potential involvement in encouraging the Domestic Terrorist events at the State Capitol on January 6, 2021. The February 17 article on the subject written by the Phoenix New Time’s Josh Keltey is revealing as newly released communications between Finchem and other organizers (like Ali Alexander, the man who said he coordinated with Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar) of the January 6, 2021 rally demonstrate that the Legislative District 11 State Representative had a role in shaping the early events of that day. It will be interesting to see what the unreleased social media communications (which Finchem and his lawyer do not want to release) reveal.
Finchem had the audacity (chutzpah), after the State House Ethics Committee Chairperson, Becky Nutt, decided not to pursue an investigation on his involvement in the January 6, 2021, Trumpist Domestic Terrorist Attack (where there were over 80 complaints,) to file an ethics complaint against all the Democrats in the Arizona Legislature, claiming they had harmed him.
Please click below to read the complaint. Its content is both amusing and scary at the same time.
Responding to Finchem’s outrageous counter-complaint, LD 26 State Representative Athena Salman tweeted:
Finchem filed an ethics complaint against all Dem members for inquiring into his involvement in the insurrection
Let me be clear: If Republican lawmakers want to punish us for defending our laws & constitution against all enemies foreign & domestic, they can knock themselves out
— Rep. Athena Salman (@AthenaSalman) February 17, 2021
On Finchem’s involvement on January 6, 2021, and most State Republicans attempt to turn back the clock on Democracy in the State Legislature, both the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) and its Arizona branch (ADLCC) released statements.
Jessica Post of the DLCC released a statement on Finchem which read:
“This is just the latest evidence that shows Mark Finchem engaged in a coordinated effort to undermine our democracy. He has no place serving as a lawmaker — but Republican officials have covered for him. They dismissed ethics complaints against Finchem and refused to work with their Democratic colleagues to expel him from the legislature. Republicans must answer for these shocking new findings. If Republican leadership refuses to take disciplinary action against him, they are complicit.”
Liz Luna, the Deputy Executive Director of the ADLCC issued a statement on both Finchem and the attempts among most Republicans in the State Legislature to suppress voting rights. It said:
“After Donald Trump’s loss, Arizona Republicans are making our state a national laughing stock. Republicans continue to: push anti-democracy legislation, endorse social policies from the 1950s, promote dangerous conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, and spend time attacking each other instead of working for Arizonans.
“Thanks to the GOP’s anti-democracy efforts, Arizona is making headlines–Our legislature is leading the country with the highest number of attacks on voting rights. From Rep. Mark Finchem’s alleged involvement in and text messages around the January 6th insurrection to more than 40 bills designed to keep people from voting to charging women who receive abortions with murder, the GOP is making Arizona a national joke.
“These priorities are not just anti-democracy; they are anti-Arizona. The GOP should be ashamed. Their actions are insulting to our entire state, and are harming the lives and livelihoods of Arizonans.
“It’s time to stop these political games and get to work helping families and small businesses survive the pandemic and grow our economy. If Republicans need advice on how to start doing their actual jobs, I suggest they turn to one of their Democratic colleagues.”
Ms. Luna is right.
Republican priorities to suppress the vote and circumvent the Republic and American Democracy are Anti Democratic and Anti Arizona. They are also pro Autocratic and extremely dishonest.
People need to make their voices heard in the legislative process and contact their legislative representatives and senators, telling them to cease considering these voter suppression measures.
Citizens need to stay engaged in the redistricting process so safe legislative and House Congressional seats for these fringe embarrassments to public service are not created.
Voters would do well to show these reactionary Anti Democratic members of the former Party of Lincoln out the door when the 2022 primary and general elections occur.
The soul of the state and the country is at stake.
Do not let these spreaders of the big lie and supporters of autocracy and voter suppression stay in elected office.
Get them out before it is too late.
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