AZ Congressional Delegation

What is Martha McSally For? Why will she not commit to a debate?

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Republican Senate Nominee Martha McSally (left) and Democratic Senate Nominee Kyrsten Sinema (right)

In the three weeks since the primary election, Republican Senate nominee Martha McSally and her allies have aired several television pieces challenging Democratic Nominee Kyrsten Sinema’s commitment to our military, law enforcement, and the safety of our children.

These ads were false, as reported by Politifact, the Arizona Republic, and Blog For Arizona — including the one about wearing of the pink Tutu to protest our troops were false. They also pertain to events that occurred over a decade ago.

What these ads also prove is that Representative McSally has not been able to discuss what she is for and why Arizonans should support her. This would be important for the citizens of this state to know, especially since the two candidates will be debating sometime in October.

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Joan Greene says CD 5 is not the Red Haven pundits make it out to be.

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Congressional District Five Democratic Nominee Joan Greene

At the same Sozo coffee shop in Chandler where we met before the primaries, Arizona Congressional District Five Democratic Nominee Joan Greene, along with her campaign advisor Ryan Winkle, eagerly communicated that the district is not the “red-headed stepchild that pundits have made it out to be” and the prospects for victory at the representative and local level is real. During our conversation, she relayed how she would campaign to victory over incumbent ultra conservative Andy Biggs and what she would do as the new Arizona Congressional Five House Representative starting in January 2019.

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A sham hearing and a denial of due process

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This is what GOP authoritarianism looks like: a sham hearing and a denial of due process to a victim of sexual abuse.

I explained yesterday, The Senate needs to get this right, and right now it is failing: for judicial background checks, the client is not the Senate but the White House. And the White House Hasn’t Asked FBI to Vet Kavanaugh Allegations, Sources Say.

The FBI background is the legally correct thing to do in fairness to both the accuser and the accused. Due process demands it. As Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told the Washington Post, “If there’s a hearing before that investigation, the committee is going to be shooting in the dark with questions.” “As a former prosecutor and state attorney general, there’s no way I would put a crime survivor on the stand in front of a jury, let alone the American people, without a full investigation so that I know what the facts are before I start asking questions.”

On Tuesday, Christine Blasey Ford Requested That the F.B.I. to Investigate Kavanaugh Before She Testifies, a reasonable request, as is her right:

Speaking through lawyers, Christine Blasey Ford said she would cooperate with the Senate Judiciary Committee and left open the possibility of testifying later about her allegations against Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh. But echoing Senate Democrats, she said an investigation should be “the first step” before she is put “on national television to relive this traumatic and harrowing incident.”

Republicans signaled Tuesday night that they would not negotiate an alternative date and would go ahead with the hearing without her or declare it unnecessary if she refuses to appear, then possibly move to a vote. They have repeatedly stressed that Monday would be Dr. Blasey’s opportunity to testify, either privately or publicly, and that they planned to move forward with the confirmation process afterward.

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The biggest test of the #MeToo movement: a Supreme Court nominee

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The #MeToo movement is about believing a woman when she says that she has been sexually harassed, sexually assaulted, or raped by a man who is in a position of power:

After The New York Times published an explosive report in October 2017 detailing decades of sexual harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein, dozens of women came forward with their own accusations against the Hollywood mogul. Within a week Weinstein had been fired from his company and expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Now, in a post-Weinstein world, legions of women have felt empowered to speak out and share their own #MeToo stories—both on social media and in news outlets. The reports against the powerful producer sparked an avalanche of accusations against high-profile men in media, politics, Silicon Valley, and Hollywood, all with varying degrees of repercussions.

Here, a list of the high-profile men who have been accused of sexual harassment, assault, and/or misconduct since the Weinstein story broke, which we’ll keep updating as new allegations surface. Post-Wtneinstein, These Are the Powerful Men Facing Sexual Harassment Allegations.

The stakes just got a lot higher for the #MeToo movement.

“Earlier this summer, Christine Blasey Ford wrote a confidential letter to a senior Democratic lawmaker alleging that Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her more than three decades ago, when they were high school students in suburban Maryland.” California professor, writer of confidential Brett Kavanaugh letter, speaks out about her allegation of sexual assault:

Now, Ford has decided that if her story is going to be told, she wants to be the one to tell it.

Speaking publicly for the first time, Ford said that one summer in the early 1980s, Kavanaugh and a friend — both “stumbling drunk,” Ford alleges — corralled her into a bedroom during a gathering of teenagers at a house in Montgomery County.

While his friend watched, she said, Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed on her back and groped her over her clothes, grinding his body against hers and clumsily attempting to pull off her one-piece bathing suit and the clothing she wore over it. When she tried to scream, she said, he put his hand over her mouth.

“I thought he might inadvertently kill me,” said Ford, now a 51-year-old research psychologist in northern California. “He was trying to attack me and remove my clothing.”

Ford said she was able to escape when Kavanaugh’s friend and classmate at Georgetown Preparatory School, Mark Judge, jumped on top of them, sending all three tumbling. She said she ran from the room, briefly locked herself in a bathroom and then fled the house.

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