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End the unprecedented Tea-Publican blockade of the Supreme Court

November 3, 2016 by AZ BlueMeanie

Senator John McCain was the first GOP senator to threaten to create a constitutional crisis by imposing a “blockade” of Hilary Clinton judicial nominees. McCain Vows Supreme Court Blockade Will Continue Through Clinton’s Presidency. He has now been joined by “wacko bird” Senator Ted “Calgary” Cruz of Texas, and Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina.

The GOP has descended into authoritarian totalitarianism. Republican talk of holding a Supreme Court seat vacant for four years is without precedent:

One issue weighing heavily on Republican minds these days is the Supreme Court seat vacated in February with the passing of Antonin Scalia. In an unprecedented step earlier this year, Senate Republicans refused to hold hearings for Obama nominee Merrick Garland, arguing instead that American voters should have a say in the process by voting in a new president and letting that person nominate the next justice.

Given the likelihood (albeit a slightly diminishing one) of a Hillary Clinton victory next week, Senate Republicans are starting to shift the goalposts by suggesting they might opt to leave Scalia’s seat open indefinitely if Clinton takes the White House.

Donald Trump is at war with democracy itself

October 27, 2016 by AZ BlueMeanie

Donald Trump’s call for his supporters to be vigilante poll observers on election day — remember, RNC warns its members not to engage in poll watching or any other so-called ‘ballot security’ measures — is all about depressing Democratic voter turnout among “those people” with the prospect of voter intimidation.

Already, “Many of the schools across America that house polling booths will not be open on Election Day for the first time after parents raised fears over violence.” Election Day Safety Fears See Schools Cancel Classes or Move Polling Places.

A USA Today/Suffolk University poll conducted this month finds that Half of likely U.S. voters say they are concerned about violence on Election Day:

Half of likely voters say they are at least somewhat concerned about violence either on Election Day or after.

One in five likely voters say they are very concerned, about the same number who said they were not terribly confident that the United States would “have a peaceful transfer of power after the election.”

And then there were the Trump supporters, i.e., potential vigilante poll observers:

[T]wo out of three Trump supporters said they thought the election’s results would be manipulated rather than be accurate. Trump supporters were also more likely to say that if he lost, it would be due to corruption and therefore the outcome would not be legitimate.

Exactly what Donald Trump has been programming his supporters to believe for months.

John McCain lies about ‘ObamaCare’

October 21, 2016 by AZ BlueMeanie

John McCain has largely built his entire campaign, at least from his television ads, around GOP opposition to the Affordable Care Act aka “ObamaCare.” In his ads, McCain claims that ObamaCare has “devastated” Arizona.

What exactly does he mean by “devastated”? I have been unable to find a single report or fact check from the fawning Arizona McMedia into McCain’s claim. Has any reporter even asked him to explain? Or are they all too busy kissing his wrinkled old ass?

Arizona’s job growth has been lackluster since the Bush Great Recession, but has had a slight uptick in the past couple of years. Do you know why that is?

It is due largely to growth in the health services field as a result of Obamacare. IN December. the Phoenix Business Journal reported, Which Arizona business sectors will do the most hiring in 2016:

In Arizona, the state’s Department of Administration projected that 63,100 jobs will be created in 2016. That seems a bit of a conservative projection, however, since through November 2015, the state had added 65,000. The DOA had projected only 56,000 new jobs in all of 2015.

By the end of next year, DOA expects the number of health care and services workers will increase by nearly 30,000 over the employment base in 2014.

John McCain flees from a reporter refusing to answer questions

October 19, 2016 by AZ BlueMeanie

Senator John McCain’s attack ads against Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick all rely on a video clip of her “walking out” on constituents at a “Chats with Ann” constituent event when questioned about the Affordable Care Act in 2009.

The ads say: “Kirkpatrick betrayed Arizona on Obamacare, walking out on constituents when questioned about it.” The ad shows Kirkpatrick walking out of an Aug. 6, 2009 meeting in Holbrook, Arizona.

PolitiFact fact-checked John McCain claims Democratic challenger walked out on constituents:

Politico reported that the event was overrun by protesters, noting that conservative interest groups had organized opposition to similar events across the country. Conservatives for Patients’ Rights, an anti-health care reform group, did have the Kirkpatrick’s event listed on their website.

* * *

“Ann was trying to answer questions, and was shouted down,” Kirkpatrick spokesman D.B. Mitchell said.

We were unable to find a full video from the 2009 chat, but an extended clip does appear to show several people shouting.

* * *

The ad fails to mention that Kirkpatrick went back to Holbrook for a town hall meeting on health care a month later.

Our ruling

While Kirkpatrick did walk out of the Holbrook grocery store, the ad fails to mention the protesters — and that she returned for a health care town hall a month later.

So some unruly White Mountain Tea Partiers decided to disrupt a constituent event, and McCain fails to mention any of this in his ads to portray Kirkpatrick in a false light. Mr. “honor” and “integrity” he’s not.

But now our boy Johnny has a video of his own in which he flees from a reporter, refusing to answer questions about Donald Trump and his statement this week about obstructing President Hillary Clinton with a “blockade” of any nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court. Karma is a bitch, Johnny.

John McCain threatens to trigger a constitutional crisis over the U.S. Supreme Court

October 18, 2016 by AZ BlueMeanie

Seven current Republican senators voted in 1997 to confirm Merrick Garland, a former Justice Department attorney who coordinated the prosecution in the Oklahoma City bombing case and was nominated by President Bill Clinton to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals: Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas, Sen. Dan Coats ofIndiana, Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, and Sen. John McCain of Arizona. Garland was confirmed by a 76–23 vote. All of the 23 “no” votes came from Republicans, and all were based “on whether there was even a need for an eleventh seat” on the D.C. Circuit (with a Democratic president in the White House), not Garland’s qualifications.

When President Obama nominated Judge Merrick Garland to fill the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced an unprecedented judicial “blockade” to obstruct the president’s nominee: there would be no confirmation hearings for President Obama’s nominee during the remainder of his term. “Give the people a choice in filling this vacancy,” he said. “The Senate will appropriately revisit the matter when it considers the qualifications of the nominee the next president nominates, whoever that may be.”

“This issue is not about any single nominee — it’s about the integrity of the Court,” McCain wrote in a statement. “With less than a year left in a lame-duck presidency and the long-term ideological balance of the Supreme Court at stake, I believe the American people must have a voice in the direction of the Supreme Court by electing a new president.”