Jan Brewer behaving badly

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Quiz: Who said "I'm not going to let this freaking governor push me around"?

Answer: No, not this guy (pictured right). It was Sen. "Don't make me angry" Frank Antenori, when Gov. Brewer would not call a Special Session for his bill to repeal the AIRC.

President Obama was far more calm in dealing with our Governor. I mean look at this photo — you can see the hint of an amused smile forming on his lips as Brewer throws a hissy fit wagging her boney finger at him.

Yes, Jan Brewer behaving badly, again (sigh). Stay classy, Jan.

Brewer wanted to engage in political theater to upstage the visit by the President of the United States to let him know that she is the Queen of Arizona. Brewer came prepared with prop in hand, allegedly a hand-written letter inviting the President to Arizona to meet with her to discuss border issues and to visit the border with her (a recurrent theme in Brewer's 2010 campaign). You can bet she will use this photo in the future: "Jan Brewer is standing up to the big bad Feds. Contribute now."

This would be the same president who has had more deportations in his administration than previous administrations. This would be the same president who has put more border agents and other federal law enforcement personnel on the border than previous administrations. This would be the same president who has seen a dramatic decline in the number of border crossings, detentions and related crime during his administration. He has done everything our pretentious Governor has demanded of him except one: participate in her political theater by meeting with her in Arizona and visiting the border with her, and thus play a subservient role to the Queen of Arizona. Ain't gonna happen.

President Obama knew that he had been set-up for political theater by our Governor. When she greeted him with her prop letter in hand asking him for a meeting and to visit the border with her, President Obama responded, in words to the effect, "you mean like the last meeting we had that you lied about in your fictional biography that you didn't even write?" Bwah! Bwah! Jan Brewer freaked out and threw her hissy fit finger-waving for the cameras. "Did you boys get the photo?" Golden! Brewer, Obama exchange tense words over book, immigration at airport:

"He was a little disturbed about my book, 'Scorpions for Breakfast,' " Brewer told a pool reporter who is a member of the traveling White House press corps shortly after her encounter with Obama. "I said to him that I have all the respect in the world for the office of the president. The book is what the book is. I asked him if he read the book. He said he read the excerpt."

Asked what aspect of the book disturbed him, Brewer said: "That he didn't feel that I had treated him cordially. I said I was sorry he felt that way, but I didn't get my sentence finished. Anyway, we're glad he's here."

Obama told Brewer that he [was here] to help Arizona's economy expand and that he'd be happy to meet with her, but that he felt Brewer gave an inaccurate portrayal of her previous Oval Office meeting in her 2011 book.

The official said their last meeting, in June 2010, was a cordial discussion in the Oval Office. At the time, Brewer also described the conversation as cordial, but in the book, she calls the president "patronizing" and said "he lectured me."

* * *

Brewer had given Obama a letter about immigration and invited him back to Arizona. Her office declined to release a copy, saying it was a personal, hand-written letter and not a public record. She later released a statement saying she and the president had discussed "this state's economic turnaround."

Yeah, I seriously doubt that. The exchange did not last long enough for any discussion about Arizona's alleged "economic turnaround." During her State of the State Address, Brewer claimed that she had "saved Arizona." As E.J. Montini observed in his column, Brewer is now not only our Queen but our "savior." Yes, she really is that delusional. 

Brewer has concocted a talking point about "The Arizona Comeback" — a state which stands on the precipice of a fiscal train wreck at the end of May 2013. See her press release President Obama's Visit to Arizona (.pdf) in which she fantasizes about what she said to President Obama. This is how the Arizona Republic carried water for this fantasy. Manufacturing key part of Obama economic plan:

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, caused a stir when she confronted Obama after Air Force One touched down at the East Valley's Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. When he disembarked, Brewer handed him a handwritten note, her finger-wagging.

In a written statement later, Brewer said that she and Obama discussed "the 'Arizona Comeback' firsthand" and that she believes the president is taking the wrong economic path. Brewer contrasted her state regulatory moratorium with Obama's 2009 economic-stimulus package, suggesting hers was the better idea.

"This much is clear: Arizona is on the way back, with job growth over the last year rated seventh-best nationally," Brewer said in the written statement. "Our state budget is not only balanced, we have a surplus. Most important, we are putting in place the fundamentals for sustained economic growth: quality education, competitive tax policy and low regulation."

So Governor Brewer successfully upstaged the visit by the President of the United States. I am sure she is as giggly as a school girl. The media villagers all played into her staged political theater and her finger-waving photo is the only thing the media wants to talk about. I hope you're happy.

At least the East Valley Tribune published this photo which is far more typical of a presidential visit to one's  state. Enjoy.