Larry Bodine

Larry is an articulate and insightful commentator whose views are shaped by a combination of journalism, entrepreneurship, law practice, and leadership.‎ ★★ Sign up for my occasional newsletter at Bit.ly/LBNow. ★★ ✍ He is an experienced leader, having served as Chair of the LD18 Democrats, and President of the Democrats of Greater Tucson, a teacher at the UA Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, and Video Manager for Iskashitaa Refugee Network, ‎ ✍ A common-sense business leader, he operated a successful marketing consultancy for 20 years. He is skilled in fundraising, artificial intelligence, and online communications.‎ ✍He considers multiple viewpoints before forming an opinion. His ethos is the Boy Scout Law.‎ ✍ Larry is a lifelong writer, having worked as a seven-time award-winning journalist for the New York Daily News and as the author of 600 articles for the Blog for Arizona.‎ ✍He is a graduate of Amherst College and Seton Hall Law School and has also attended the University of Munich in Germany.‎ ✍He is not all work and no play. Larry enjoys singing and playing the guitar, hiking Tucson's beautiful trails, going on outings with his Portuguese Water Dog, weight training, and meeting his many friends for breakfast.‎ ‎▼ Scroll down to see my articles below. ▼

A Pall is Cast over McSally Senate Bid by Election Result in Pennsylvania

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A blue wave is cresting in American politics.
A blue wave is cresting in American politics.

There is definitely a blue wave cresting in American politics. When it hits Arizona, it will spell doom for the Martha McSally campaign for US Senate.

As of last December, Democrats won a U.S. Senate seat in Alabama, won the governorship in New Jersey, took full control of the Washington state government, and swept elective offices statewide in Virginia. Now voters in Pennsylvania elected a Democratic Congressmen in a deep-red district.

Even though the Democrats had less in campaign funds, were outspent by out-of-state PACs and ran in districts carried by the president, they are still finding a way to win.

Congresswoman Martha McSally snuggles up to President Donald Trump.
Congresswoman Martha McSally snuggles up to President Donald Trump.

Trump is poison. Even in conservative districts, Trump is unpopular. Democrat Conor Lamb in Pennsylvania won a stunning upset against a Republican who was chiefly a stand-in for Trump and who endorsed Trump’s tawdry agenda. Trump energizes Democrats, and his two appearances drove independents to vote for the Democrat.

McSally, a nondescript Republican, votes in line with Trump 97.1%. She defended Trump from criticism by Sen. Jeff Flake. McSally has sent out photos of herself with the president and with first daughter Ivanka Trump. McSally appeared on Fox News to sing the president’s praises. Her announcement video features Trump saying, “Martha McSally, she’s the real deal.”

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Profile in Courage: Rep. Randy Friese Stands Up for Gun Safety

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Only one Arizona legislator had the courage to stand up against gun violence: Rep. Randy Friese, a Democrat from Tucson. Watch the 4-minute YouTube video or read the transcript below as he calls for his colleagues to act, just days after the Parkland, FL, mass murders.

Friese had introduced HB2023 to ban bump stocks, but he could not get it heard in the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee where it was assigned. He used procedural motion to bring the measure directly to the House floor for a vote. But Rep. John Allen, a Republican from Scottdale, used a second motion to stop it from being debated.

Every Republican member of the Arizona House voted against gun safety, refusing even to hear the bill against bump stocks.

The GOP legislators are intentionally out of touch with the electorate:

  • 72% of registered voters support a ban on bump stocks.
  • 88% of Americans support universal background checks.
  • 81% think that a person should be at least 21 to buy a gun.
  • 70% endorse a ban on high-capacity magazines.
  • 68% support a ban on assault weapons.

Rep. Friese’s speech on the Arizona House floor is truly a profile in courage.

We are facing an epidemic of gun violence. And this violence is everywhere, unfortunately, it’s in our schools. It’s touching the lives of children. We must act. The country is waiting for us to act. The time is now. We have an obligation to take action, we have a mandate to take action, we have the authority to take action. If we don’t recognize our authority to take action, we are failing. We are failing our country, we are failing our children, we are failing our students.

There are students in Florida today, since the last mass killings in schools, that have shown more leadership and courage than legislators across the country, than people who represent us in DC. I congratulate those young people. I ask us to be responsible to them and what they are asking us to do.

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Democratic Candidates for LD10 House Shine in Drive to Oust Clodfelter

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LD10 Democratic candidates.jpg
Left to right, candidates Kirsten Engel, Domingo DeGrazia, Nikki Lee and Catherine Ripley

Democrats have four impressive candidates for the Arizona House in Legislative District 10 in eastern Tucson, united in their effort to oust Republican incumbent, Todd “Confederate” Clodfelter.

  • UofA Law Professor Kirsten H. Engel is running for a second term in the AZ House, after serving on the Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee, and Judiciary and Public Safety committee.
  • Newcomer Domingo DeGrazia, son of famous Tucson artist Ted DeGrazia, is a licensed pilot and a trial attorney in juvenile court. “I have a constant drive to better myself, creativity and tenacity to see a fight through to the end,” he says.
  • Catherine Ripley is a retired 26-year Navy officer and current political science teacher at Pima College (and earlier at Harvard, Boston University, and M.I.T.). In her first run for office, she says, “I’m a former diplomat, Mom, and business executive. I’ve seen famine and war. I’m here to bring my skills and experiences, and have the tools to hand Todd Clodfelter a defeat he’ll never forget.”
  • Running as a Clean Elections Candidate, newcomer Nikki Lee has a young campaign team of Millennials, including herself at age 36. “We have so much excitement on our campaign, doing innovating things, understanding the life of young people.”  She has  launched the “A to Z podcast” for young people.

LD10 has two AZ House members and one Senator, David Bradley, who was on hand and running without opposition. Clodfelter is notorious for his Confederate Flag screen saver, which he claimed wasn’t racist. His signature legislation throws a meager $150 tax credit at teachers to cover school supplies rather than help them in any meaningful way.

If you could pass one bill…

Asked if they could pass only one bill in the Republican-majority House, the candidates said it would be to:

Engel: End the hundreds of corporate sales tax loopholes and use the money to fund public schools.

DeGrazia: Stop gun violence.

Lee: Help veterans recover from PTSD and brain injuries.

Ripley: Enact common-sense gun policy, including a ban on bump stocks.

If you could reverse one law…

Asked what law or bill they would want to stop, the candidates said:

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Orgy of Cheap Guns for Sale at Pima Fairgrounds

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AR-15s are cheap guns. "AR" stands for "ArmaLite rifle," after the company that developed it in the 1950s. “AR” does NOT stand for “assault rifle.”
AR-15 rifles were “selling like hotcakes” at the gun show.

AR-15 rifles — the weapon of choice of mass murderers — are selling briskly at the gun show at the Pima County Fair Grounds. Anybody over 18 with a driver’s license can walk out with an AR-15 for $450. No background checks, either.

It was an orgy of handguns, gas masks, bulletproof vests, pistols, rifles, ammunition, knives, old-time six-shooters, shotguns, holsters, and targets. AR-15s are “selling like hotcakes,” said Aaron Herman of Elite Guns & Ammo.

“You could have bought this gun for $399 last summer. I just raised my price three times today. There’s none to be bought,” he says, talking about an American Tactical AR-15. “I have three left. I’ve sold 17 today. People ask, ‘can you give me a deal?’ and I say no.”

Since 2007, at least 173 people have been killed in mass shootings in the US involving AR-15s in Newtown, CT, Las Vegas, San Bernardino, Sutherland Springs, TX, Aurora, CO, and Parkland, FL.

AR-15s are cheap guns. "AR" stands for "ArmaLite rifle," after the company that developed it in the 1950s. “AR” does NOT stand for “assault rifle.”
AR-15s are cheap guns. “AR” stands for “ArmaLite rifle,” after the company that developed it in the 1950s. “AR” does NOT stand for “assault rifle.”

The gun show had a squalid air, with vendors also selling pots and pans, scissors, posters, shop hardware, cheap gemstones, binoculars, maps, and swords. A guy was walking around with a rifle that has a “private sale” sign stuck in the barrel. He wanted $750 for a gun made from parts.

Read: Why Do We Tolerate a Gun Expo on Public Property?

Collateral damage

Every gun manufacturer makes a variety of AR-15s. It has the same firepower as a standard infantry rifle like military M16 and M4 rifles. Ammo is only $6.50 for a box of 20 rounds, up to $27 a box for bullets “that cause more collateral damage on the animal…or the target. Some of them are pretty devastating rounds,” says General Manager Michael L. Thompson of Triton Arms of Yuma, AZ.

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Why Do We Tolerate a Gun Expo on Public Property?

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For a $120 fee any arms dealer can rent a table at this weekend’s gun show at the Pima County Fairgrounds and sell AR-15s and any kind of assault weapon. There is no background check for buyers. Any maladjusted psycho can purchase a weapon of war. All you need is a driver’s license that says your 18 … Read more

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