Civil & Human Rights

Martha McSally: Warrior woman hides from questions, constituents, inconsistencies

by

If there were a race between Senator Jon Kyl and former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who would you vote for?

The CD2 race is just that. Former Kyl employee Martha McSally is running against former Giffords employee Ron Barber.

Whose legacy would better serve Southern Arizona? That of a right-wing, anti-woman, every-man-for-himself, war-monger who never ventured south of his Tucson Foothills office or that of a reasoned, pro-choice, pro-public health Blue Dog who wasn’t afraid to meet constituents?

As a long-time resident of Giffords’ district, my experiences yesterday made up my mind. Yesterday, I thought I was going to meet the Warrior Woman who hopes to take the CD2 seat– you know, the one who says she “resemble[s] Gabby Giffords more than the man who worked for her”– but she was a no show.

McSally is no Gabby Giffords

Giffords was not afraid to face constituents and answer tough questions. McSally apparently doesn’t have the nerve to answer questions that are not softballs from right-wing commentators. (Sounds like something Jon Kyl would do, huh?)

I had a scheduled interview with McSally to discuss women’s issues (since she now claims to fight for women’s rights, while being anti-choice); the multiple inconsistencies in her platform (believing in the “sanctity of life”, while flying 325+ hours as a bomber) pilot; and rumors circulating about her two-year marriage to Donald Henry in 1997 (what’s up with that annulment in Santa Cruz County, when you were married and lived in Pima County).

When I showed up at her office, video gear in tow, I was given mush-mouth excuses from her press secretary and campaign manager. “Gosh, she’s so busy.” (My guess is they Googled me and said, Yikes– we’re not talking with her!)

Not surprised that McSally bailed on a video interview with a feminist who wanted to ask about women’s issues, I went to her constituent event at Nimbus, down the street. I waited with about 30 old white folks on the Nimbus patio for 45 minutes. Eventually, McSally staffers said, “Gosh… she’s so busy. She doesn’t have time to come and talk with you all today. Scheduling conflicts, you know… blah, blah, blah.” Since when does a politician in a tight race not have time for a meeting with rich, old white folks?   (Was it something I tweeted?)

More unanswered questions about Martha McSally after the jump.

Read more

Obama campaign ad: ‘What He’ll Do’

by

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Willard "Mittens" Romney endorsed Tea-Publican extremist Richard Mourdock for the senate in indiana, and is standing by his man even after Mourdock said during a debate that a woman who gets pregnant by her rapist is
carrying a “gift from God” and thus must have the child.

“I struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize
life is that gift from God,” he said. “And I think even when life begins
in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God
intended to happen.”

The Obama campaign is up with a new ad on the reproductive rights of women entitled "What He'll Do," in Romney's own words. Ad description:

Voiceover:
"Which do you believe? What Mitt Romney's TV ads say about women or what Mitt Romney himself says:"

Mitt Romney:
"Do I believe Supreme Court decisions should overturn Roe v. Wade? Yes."
"And it would be my preference that they reverse Roe v. Wade."
"Hopefully reverse Roe v. Wade."
"Overturn Roe v. Wade"
"Planned Parenthood, we're going to get rid of that."
"I'll cut off funding to Planned Parenthood."

Voiceover:
"No matter what Mitt Romney's ads say we know what he'll do."

Vieo below the fold.

Arpaio is a chicken. Call him out! (video)

by

by Pamela Powers Hannley

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio knows that challenger Paul Penzone is nipping at his dusty cowboy boots this election season– so Arpaio is taking the chicken shit standard Republican position of refusing to debate. Public pressure forced Republican Jeff Flake to debate Democrat Dr. Richard Carmona.

Maricopa County is a cesspool of corruption– election fraud, tent city jails, sheriff's deputies shooting citizens, intimidation of elected officials and citizens, people being murdered in jail, immigration sweeps through neighborhoods, racial profiling … need I go on? Arpaio is a big part of the problem. It's time for his retirement.

Let's put the pressure on Arpaio to debate Penzone. Here is a Facebook call to action from Randy Parraz.

 

Today is DAY 15 of Arpaio's NO DEBATE PLEDGE. On October 9th Sheriff Arpaio pledged to NOT debate Paul Penzone AND he thinks he can get away with it. Take action now – Call Arpaio's puppeteer, Chad Willems, at Summit Consulting and ask him why Arpaio is too chicken to debate Paul Penzone: (602) 235-9320. Please post your responses here.

Check out one of Penzone's early campaign speeches and a background video on Arpaio after the jump.

The mythical ‘moderate Mitt’ supports extremist Richard Mourdock

by

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

On Monday, Willard "Mittens" Romney cut an ad in support of Indiana Tea-Publican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock, one of the rare occasions a presidential candidate has endorsed a congressional candidate in an ad this election cycle. The media villager invention of "moderate Mitt" tied his campaign to one of the most far-right extremist Tea-Publican candidates running for Congress this year. I guess the media villagers must have missed it. Mitt Romney TV ad plugs Richard Mourdock in Indiana Senate race.

Mittens is now learning the hard way why presidential candidates do not tie their campaigns to down-ballot congressional races, especially such controversial candidates. On Tuesday night during a televised debate, Richard Mourdock had this to say. Indiana GOP Senate Hopeful Richard Mourdock Says God 'Intended' Rape Pregnancies:

Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock declared during a Tuesday night
U.S. Senate debate that a woman who gets pregnant by her rapist is
carrying a “gift from God” and thus must have the child.

“I struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize
life is that gift from God,” he said. “And I think even when life begins
in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God
intended to happen.” Mourdock, who became visibly emotional while
speaking, supports abortion only to save a mother’s life, not in cases
of rape and incest.

* * *

Mourdock’s Democratic rival, Rep. Joe Donnelly, quickly entered the fray after Tuesday’s debate. “The God I believe in and the God I know most
Hoosiers believe in, does not intend for rape to happen — ever.  What
Mr. Mourdock said is shocking, and it is stunning that he would be so
disrespectful to survivors of rape,” he said in a statement.

Mourdock harumphed and said his words were being taken out of context when tried to walk them back after the debate:

“God does not want rape, and by no means was I suggesting that he does.
Rape is a horrible thing, and for anyone to twist my words otherwise is
absurd and sick.”

More importantly, Team Romney that had made the mistake of embracing Mourdock on Monday quickly moved to disavow his debate statement:

“Gov. Romney disagrees with Richard Mourdock’s comments, and they do not
reflect his views,” said campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul.  The
candidate supports abortion in cases of rape and incest, as well as to
save a mother’s life.

Well, that's what Mittens says now as he pretends to be "moderate Mitt" for the feckless media villagers who fall for that crap. He and his running mate Rep. Paul Ryan have supported the most extreme positions on abortion and women's access to contraception until the eleventh hour of the campaign.

Automated vote flipping for Romney: Crony capitalism at the ballot box? (video)

by

Vote

by Pamela Powers Hannley

Maybe I'm stating the obvious, but the US needs serious election reform.

It should have happened after President George Bush and Florida's hanging chads stole the 2000 election. Remember, that was the year that Al Gore won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College vote by 271 vs 266, with one abstention. 

For decades, people have grumbled about the Electoral College and how out of date it is. In more recent elections, layers of complaints have been heaped on the pile– complaints about the long, drawn out campaign season; the stupid primary/caucus system; the over-reliance on the opinions of voters in two tiny white states (New Hampshire and Iowa); the unending and increasingly nasty commercials; the evil robocalls and push-polls; the lies and spin (which the current Republican presidential ticket has taken to new heights); hackable electronic voting machines; and– this year in particular– the obscene amount of secret, dirty money that is being poured into the elections. 

Is anyone ready for real reform yet? Do you need more evidence that our "democracy" has been stolen by crony capitalists and big money?

Well… here you go, then…

Rigged Elections for Romney? from The Agonist…

A group of independent researchers caught a pattern of apparent vote flipping during the 2012 Republican primaries that consistently favored Mitt Romney. A form of election fraud, vote flipping occurs when votes are changed from one candidate to another or several others during electronic voting and vote tabulation… [more]

More examples of our broken system, some reform ideas, and a video after the jump.