sb1062

Where is the national outrage over Arkansas’ SB 202?

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SB1062Last year, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed SB 1062, a bill that would have overridden local LGBT non-discrimination protections in cases where the business cited a religious reason for the discriminator.

A coalition of business leaders — including the state’s chamber of commerce — opposed the measure and warned against sending “a message that our state is anything but an open and attractive place for visitors and the top talent that will be the cornerstone of our continued economic growth.”

SB 1062 was a major national news scandal at the time. All the national media attention forced Gov. Jan Brewer’s veto, in my opinion.

The home of former Gov. Mike “Huckajesus,” Arkansas, is another story. The national news media is not paying attention. And the Arkansas Chamber of Commerce is sitting on its hands saying nothing in response to a similar bill to SB 1062. Business Community Silent As Arkansas Bill To Allow LGBT Discrimination Set To Become Law:

On Friday, the Arkansas legislature sent to Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) a bill that would eliminate all local non-discrimination protections for LGBT Arkansans — legislation the governor has vowed to let become law without his signature. While citizens are imploring Hutchinson to change his mind and veto the bill before the Wednesday deadline, Arkansas’ business community has remained silent on the measure.

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Now that the Super Bowl is over, time to pull the tarp off the crAZy in the AZ Lege

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AZ-Capital-with-Flags-frontFirst, some important deadlines in the Arizona legislature: TODAY is the last day for Senate bills to be introduced without special permission.

A week from today, February 9, is the last day for House bills to be introduced without special permission.

The Lege has an ambitious goal of Friday, February 20, as the last day for House consideration of House bills, and the last day for Senate consideration of Senate bills. This has little meaning in a state legislature which permits “strike everything” amendments at any time in the legislative process.

If you think this legislative session has been slightly less crAZy than past legislative sessions, you have the presence of the Super Bowl on Sunday to thank  for that. The crazies have been holding their bills until after our Super Bowl guests leave town today, according to the Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) Rumors persist: Lightning rod bills to surface after Super Bowl: “A confluence of circumstances is aiding the persistence of a rumor at the Arizona Capitol – the “crazy” is lurking behind Super Bowl XLIX.”

E.J. Montini of The Republic admitted in his column Sunday that even The Republic has been “sugar coating” its news coverage while the Super Bowl was in town so as not to frighten our Super Bowl guests with the crAZy. Good news! The bad news is back … on Monday. That is one helluva an admission to make by the state’s largest news conglomerate, dontcha think? It just screams journalistic integrity – not!

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Why are conservatives unwilling to admit that pulling “The Interview” was a business decision?

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Arizona Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake, along with Rep. Paul Gosar have joined the conservative hand-wringing over Sony’s decision to pull the release of “The Interview”.

That move came after U.S. intelligence linked the North Korean government to hackers who made violent threats about the comedy film. In the movie, a TV crew travels to North Korea to interview dictator Kim Jong Un, and they are recruited by the CIA to assassinate Kim.

“It’s remarkable that a country like North Korea can have that capability,” McCain said. “If they are able to disrupt a film, you can imagine what they are doing or attempting to do to our national defense capability. This is deeply alarming.”

Flake added the hacking incident was a “huge wake up call.”

“If they can wreak that kind of havoc in the entertainment industry, then you’ve got to worry where else their reach is,” Flake said. “It’s very concerning.”

Gosar quipped: “Just show the movie.”

When Americans can’t see one particular Seth Rogen movie the terrorists have won! Like pretty much most people, I think Sony made a bad decision but it’s fairly obvious why they made it and, contrary to what the right wing perpetual outrage machine is spinning,

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Republican senator signals the return of SB1062 under, you guessed it, the banner of Hobby Lobby

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hl 1062

On Monday the AZ Republic featured a pair of op-eds from a Republican State Senator and the outgoing Democratic House Minority Leader about the prospect of a reformulated SB1062 in the upcoming Arizona legislative session.

Here’s Senator Nancy Barto (R) explaining why opponents of discrimination are misguided meaniebutts:

To start — the vast majority of the attacks against this simple bill were at best misunderstandings of the legislation, or at worst outright lies with the endgame of conditioning the public into automatically equating faith with bigotry — in the name of equality and fairness.

On the contrary, SB 1062 brought Arizona in line with federal law and would not have created any “new right” to discriminate (i.e. refusing people taxi, hotel or restaurant service).

The Supreme Court made this clear in June when they said the Green family, who own Hobby Lobby, couldn’t be forced to pay for abortion-causing drugs in their insurance plans as “Obamacare” mandated — meaning they didn’t have to surrender their First Amendment rights simply because they started a business.

This is exactly what SB 1062 would have clarified in Arizona.

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Measuring for the drapes on the 9th Floor

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HerrodSo “Cathi’s Clown” Doug Ducey, “hired by Koch Industries to manage their Southwest subsidiary formerly known as the state of Arizona,” to paraphrase Charles Pierce, is now the governor-elect of Arizona.

I’m curious. Has Cathi Herrod started measuring for the drapes in her corner office on the 9th Floor?

From the Yellow Sheet, Rumor mill: Churn, baby, churn:

Many Republicans celebrating last night (Nov. 4) already had accurate measurements of the Governor’s Office windows, with key cabinet positions all but guaranteed for some.

Cathi Herrod has already promised to bring back a new version of SB 1062, the “get out of jail free” card for hatin’ on the gays and anyone else you dislike, based upon one’s personal “deeply held religious beliefs.” Freedom to discriminate is a “religious liberty” in her bizarro world. But WWJD?

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