Our official legislative blog jester, Arizona Senator John Kavanaugh, is always haranguing others about free speech. Yet, he apparently really only wants free speech and expression for those who agree with him. He is currently holding hostage the ability of the University of Arizona to issue ~30 million dollars worth of new bonds for construction based on a painting hanging in the university’s art museum that he doesn’t care for.
The head of the Senate Appropriations Committee is holding up the ability of the University of Arizona to borrow millions of dollars, over a painting on display supporting Palestinians that he calls offensive.
But it may end up being a big fuss over nothing. A University of Arizona official says the museum where the picture is located will be changing exhibits very soon anyway and the painting will be removed.
On Wednesday, Sen. John Kavanagh used his position to block the Joint Committee on Capital Review from considering two separate requests for authority to issue bonds.
One is for $20 million to construct a new facility on the campus to house Arizona Public Media, the university’s TV and radio stations. The other involves $10.7 million to renovate part of a building at the university’s health science complex.
As is now clearly a standard operating procedure for the MAGA grifters and haters, Kavanaugh has decided that even art must give way to his personal political views.
The progressive ‘cancel culture’ these cultural warriors complain of is almost universally private in nature – people deciding to personally boycott or condemn someone or an organization for an egregious act or offensive speech or advocacy – not governmental. MAGA always complains about this supposed ‘cancel culture’, but then turns around and attacks and penalizes anyone who expresses an opinion or belief they don’t like using governmental power. Though I personally don’t care for either flavor of censorship, using governmental powers to penalize a belief or opinion is far more harmful to Americans’ individual freedoms and clearly implicates a target’s constitutional rights, whereas private condemnation does not.
I’ll be interested to hear what pretzel logic Johnny Jester uses to justify his cancel tyranny aimed at the heart of academic freedom using his government position and power. My guess is he’ll take refuge in the argument that support for the Palestinian cause and/or condemning Israel’s illegal and brutal occupation is somehow ‘advocating genocide’ against the Jewish people and does not qualify as free speech.
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Well, John is just peas in a pod of crazies down there. We have a Senator who lies thru her teeth about where she lives. We have certified election deniers, who miraculously have no problem with the election this time. We have a rogue Illinois cop in the House who should have been decertified for misconduct, but came to Arizona, and since they will blindly vote for Hitler in a red district, there he is. We have people with no connection whatsoever to a district, claiming an address there and five minutes later getting elected. We are worried about a painting in a museum, when we are pumping basins dry in the name of freedom and spending obscene amounts of money on vouchers with no revenue source and no accountability. Dont like the painting, ignore it, it will come down soon. What IS important, that John really needs to address is WHO is using the bathroom at the museum!
I do not know where to begin correcting your take on this issue. So, I will proceed one point at a time.
I have promoted free speech at universities and public colleges. I sponsored the bill that made all areas of university campuses open to the public or students as “free speech areas” so long as the people are not disrupting activities. Hobbs signed it into law.
Displaying a painting on a government-run museum wall is not protected free speech. If white supremacists hang racist material inside a museum, the museum can take it down. If a museum curator accepts an offensive piece, her superiors can override the decision and take it down. Two legislative lawyers and legislative council confirmed this. You need to take a refresher course on the First Amendment in law school. While I would not support students parading around campus with signs saying that phrase, I recognize their First Amendment right to do that so long as they are not trespassing or disrupting other activities. I wrote the law confirming that right on campuses.
The picture went far beyond depicting, as you wrote, “support for the Palestinian cause and/or condemning Israel’s illegal and brutal occupation.” It contained the Hamas-associated phrase, “From the river to the sea…” which calls for the elimination of the Jewish state of Israel. Hamas is a recognized terrorist group, and Israel lies between the river and the sea. Can you put 2 and 2 together, Michael?
Finally, the photo of me that you used amused me; it conveyed a sense of dismissive arrogance. It was a pretty old photo because Rep. Frank Pratt is in the background, but I do not mind looking younger. Nice propaganda touch.
Good lord, I may print Kavanagh’s reply and use it for fertilizer.
Johnny John John, my dude, how about you spend more time worrying about Arizona and less time trolling blogs.
Arizona, where you and your party have ruled for decades, is last or near last in all the things we don’t want to be last in.
You demonstrably suck at your job. The numbers prove it.
How about instead of trolling you get back to work and fix some of the shit you’ve fucked up over the years, and earn one of those many government checks you collect.
Wait, then again, the times when you do your job it ends up costing Arizona taxpayers and businesses billions of US dollars.
What an attention starved old weirdo this guy is.
No comment, Michael? Are you just doing hit and runs now?
You’re posting on Xmas eve, John Kava-weird, might be that, I dunno’ some folks are off with their families?
Did you ever think of that, John Government Checks Kavanagh?
The most clueless dumbfuck on the interwebs, I swear.
Shouldn’t you be investigating us dirty libs for stealing elections?
I mean, that’s all you freaks have been whining about for years.
So the convicted rapist and felon wins, and that means we all get a free get out of jail card?
So confusing. Maybe the election stealing stuff was bullshit?
No, no way Republicans would lie…it’s against one of them ten commandments, and Republicans don’t mess with the Jesus.
Seriously, John GC Kavanagh, you live off taxpayer money and lie, how can you expect people here to take you seriously about anything?