Best Q&A in the Mathis hearing

by David Safier

I'm so glad Howie Fischer included this question-and-answer in his coverage of the decision to reinstate Mathis. It made my morning.

Hauser told the justices the governor alone gets to decide what constitutes a firing offense, subject only to her getting consent of two-thirds of the Senate.

That claim brought raised eyebrows from the justices.

Acting Chief Justice Andrew Hurwitz asked [governor's attorney Lisa] Hauser if that means Brewer could remove a commission member solely because the governor did not like that person's hairstyle. Hauser said she could – and the decision could not be appealed to the court.

To recap: If for any reason whatever, Brewer doesn't like the cut of any part of a commissioner's jib, the guv can give the commissioner the old heave ho. That, according to Republican politicians and their supporters, is what democracy and freedom are all about. They get to disregard the democratic vote of the people, and they're free to do whatever the hell they please.

WAIT, THERE'S MORE: This from the Capitol Times (subscription only).

“It all boils down to having some fundamental respect for the fact that the Constitution commits this choice, this decision on removal to the governor with the two-thirds concurrence of the Senate,” Hauser said. “Even if the governor were to be a rogue sort of individual who might do something that would be very off the wall, we have to assume that the Senate will function properly.” [boldface added]

Yes, Ms. Hauser, it is reasonable to assume the two-thirds majority Republican Senate, bullied by the guv's henchmen, high powered congresspeople and who-knows-who-else, will "function properly." What could possibly go wrong?

[NOTE: It turns out the Howie Fischer article included the quote I pulled from the Cap Times, but the Star took it out. It's in the longer version of the article in the East Valley Trib, along with a further howler where Hauser claims, even if Brewer's case against Mathis were false, the justices could do nothing.

In fact, Hauser told the justices that they were powerless to do anything, even if there actually was evidence that the facts cited by the governor in firing a commissioner turned out to be false.

L'etat, c'est Brewer.