Ben Quayle goes pay-per-view with his district

by David Safier Ben Quayle won't be talking to the constituents he represents in the U.S. House — not for free, anyway. If you want to meet with him, you have to pay. According to Politico, Quayle is one of many Republican lawmakers (including Paul Ryan) "whose August recess town hall-style meetings are strictly pay-per-view." … Read more

More AZ GOP guns in the news: Blake Schritter

by David Safier Yesterday I posted about Pima County Sheriff candidate Chester Manning holding a "Shoot With the New Sheriff" campaign event a day after the six month anniversary of the shooting at Giffords' Congress on Your Corner event. Now comes news of Blake Schritter, a staffer in Rep. Paul Gosar's district office (constituent services), … Read more

You couldn’t make this up (or make it any better)

by David Safier Our own Daniel Hernandez (Gabby's intern) throwing out the first pitch at a Washington Nationals  game with also-our-own Amanda Simpson — "the first openly transgender presidential appointee" — in attendance? This is just the kind of moment I need when I get into one of those ain't-it-awful funks. The occasion was Gay … Read more

Arizona’s Political Leaders Evade Their Responsibilities

By Karl Reiner It is approximately 360 miles from the New Mexico state line across Arizona to the border with California. On the south side of the line is the Mexican state of Sonora, part of the territory of a foreign country.  Arizona is one of four U.S. states sharing the international border with Mexico. … Read more

First recent photos of Giffords released

by David Safier I've been waiting with anticipation and trepidation to see the first photos of Gabby since the January 8 shooting. The trepidation is gone. She looks wonderful — hair shorn, bespectacled and beautiful. More photos are supposed to be released this morning on her facebook page.