AZ Congressional Delegation

John McCain, the status quo candidate for ‘post-policy nihilism’ and congressional gridlock

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Senator John McCain, who embraced the xenophobic racist bigot Donald Trump and held on tightly during the GOP primary, consistently endorsing Trump after every misstep and every outrageous statement, now wants to get some “separation” because he believes that Trump is going to lose and will be a drag on the GOP ballot.  John McCain wins his primary, promptly gives up on Donald Trump:

McCainWantedLiterally one day after winning his primary, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) gave up on Donald Trump. In fact, McCain now sounds a bit like he’s betting on Trump losing — or, at least, looking like a loser for the rest of the campaign season — to help him win a sixth term in the Senate. In a gauzy, five-minute YouTube video released Wednesday, McCain looks directly at the camera and says: “My opponent, Representative Ann Kirkpatrick, is a good person. But if Hillary Clinton is elected president, Arizona will need a senator who will act as a check — not a rubber stamp — for the White House.”

What McCain is actually saying is that he wants to continue the gridlock in Washington that has so angered the American people. He is the status quo candidate for a dysfunctional gridlocked Congress that doesn’t get anything done because of ideologues like him. McCain won’t even agree to a confirmation hearing for Judge Merrick Garland as the U.S. Supreme Court struggles without a ninth justice.

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The AZ GOP ‘targets’ Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick with bullet hole-ridden poster

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Here we go again, Republicans “targeting” Democrats with violent imagery. First it was the halfling governor of Alaska, the Quitta from Wasilla Sarah Palin, putting crosshairs on Rep. Gabby Giffords, among others, and now it is the Arizona Republican Party putting a bullet hole in Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick’s chest. Nothing suggestive there, oh no. What could possibly go wrong?

The Arizona Republic reports, Ann Kirkpatrick’s Senate campaign decries Arizona GOP ‘Wanted’ poster:

U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick’s Senate campaign is objecting to an Arizona Republican Party “Wanted” poster that features her photo with mock bullet holes.

WantedKirkpatrick

(Photo: Arizona Republican Party)

Kirkpatrick’s campaign issued a statement calling it a “gross political attack” that recalls the Jan. 8, 2011, assassination attempt on then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., who suffered a near-fatal gunshot wound to the head in a mass shooting near Tucson.

“Arizonans have witnessed, firsthand, how inciteful rhetoric and imagery can influence acts of aggression and violence towards elected officials,” Arizona Democratic Party Chairwoman Alexis Tameron added in a written statement. “Today’s political stunt by the Arizona Republican Party illustrates not only a lack of judgment, but a complete disregard of the tragedy that traumatized so many Arizonans on January 8, 2011.”

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Donald Trump returns to the birthplace of his anti-immigrant demagoguery

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The genesis of Donald Trump’s xenophobic anti-immigrant nativist and racist demagoguery began right here in Arizona more than a decade ago with Prop. 200 in 2004, the “Arizona Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act,” which required that voters be able to produce both identification and proof of citizenship prior to being allowed to vote in any election. The same requirements were also enacted for any person prior to receiving any state or locally funded benefits.

The Yes on 200 committee was led by Rusty Childress, a Phoenix-area car dealer, and supported at the national level by the anti-immigrant Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), whose legal arm is the Immigration Reform Law Institute, lead by the GOP’s voter suppression expert, Kris Kobach, who is now unbelievably Secretary of State of Kansas.

There is, of course, the virulently anti-immigrant Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio who built his reputation on immigrant sweeps, when he was not abusing the power of his office by conducting witch hunts against his political opponents.

Then Rep. Russell Pearce “introduced what is now SB 1070 … every year between 2005 and 2009, before it finally passed and was signed by Gov. Jan Brewer” in 2010 (Pearce only introduced the bill, it was drafted by Kris Kobach as model legislation for ALEC). Pearce bragged in 2011, 1 battle in Arizona immigration war:

Arpaio1Prior to SB 1070, I introduced many other measures that addressed illegal immigration — and eventually became law. In 2004, 56 percent of Arizona voters approved Prop 200, which denies certain government benefits to illegal immigrants and prevents voter fraud.

Additional laws that punish human smugglers; deny illegal immigrants bail, and set up a statewide task force to deal with illegal immigrant gangs passed prior to SB 1070.

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Questions for Martha McSally — Time to put up or shut up: do you endorse Donald Trump, or not?

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Our sad small town newspaper, the Arizona Daily Star, published a “puff piece” about Rep. Martha McSally (R) (the “R” stands for property of Raytheon) that reads as if it was taken directly from a McSally press release. McSally instrumental in keeping missile system in production.

I don’t know if this is just bad political reporting, or it was an editorial decision made by an editor of the Star.

The Star report entirely glosses over this part of the Raytheon town hall: “McSally also took a handful of questions from the audience at the end of the town hall, but sidestepped a question on which presidential candidate would be best in terms of protecting national security.”

Well, luckily the Arizona Republic sent a real reporter to the town hall to report the news that the Arizona Daily Star clearly does not want its Southern Arizona readers to know. McSally: Presidential race ‘like a WWF tournament’:

TrumpWrestlingU.S. Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., said Thursday that she is troubled by positions taken by both fellow Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton  and lamented that the presidential race has become “more like a WWF tournament than a serious discussion.”

Sorry, but no. That would be World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), of which Donald Trump is a member of its Hall of Fame. Donald Trump’s greatest WWE moments; 6 ways Donald Trump’s wrestling career previewed his campaign.

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House descends into chaos over vote switching to support discrimination against LGBT community

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Your Tea-Publican Congress at work . . . haters gotta hate. The Hill reports Chaos in House after GOP votes down LGBT measure:

The House floor devolved into chaos and shouting on Thursday as a measure to ensure protections for members of the LGBT community narrowly failed to pass after Republican leaders urged their members to change their votes.

Initially, it appeared Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney’s (D-N.Y.) amendment had passed, as 217 “yes” votes piled up over 206 “no” votes when the clock ran out. The measure needed 213 votes to pass.

But it eventually failed on a 212-213 vote after a number of Republican lawmakers changed their votes from “yes” to “no” after the clock had expired.

Screenshot from 2016-05-19 12:41:38

Roll Call Vote 226: Arizona Congressional delegation voting “yes”: Gallego, Grijalva, Kirkpatrick, McSally, Sinema; voting “no”: Franks, Gosar, Schweikert; Not voting: Salmon.

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