Trump’s “American Carnage” Presidency Green Lights Arizona’s MAGA Republican’s Extremism

By Ron Williams, editor, The Mule News editorthemulenews.com

US Rep. Jamie Raskin, (D-MD), at the close of a recent Jan 6th Congressional hearing, speculated the destruction, injuries and death on that day in 2021, were presaged by President Trump’s reference to “American Carnage” at his inaugural address in 2017.

The four years of Trump’s presidency – pushing an extreme national agenda against abortion, public education, voting access and more tax cuts for the rich – was certainly a precursor to the MAGA Republicans similar agenda here in Arizona. In just two sessions of the Arizona legislature, the core elements of their brand were an extreme agenda to harm Arizonans they don’t agree with, take away their rights and formulate a strategy – no matter how unconstitutional – to stay in power at any costs.

Theirs was not a policy debate on the issues. To the Arizona MAGA Republicans, it was ideology over just governance, marginalizing certain groups of people, crippling public education to benefit wealthy donors who operate private schools, and destroying our trust in elections and democracy itself. And, in the fight for our most personal of freedoms – to make our own healthcare decisions – the MAGA Republicans don’t want abortion or contraception availability, or youth sex education, for anyone, anywhere.

The Jan 6th examination has exposed the linkage of many MAGA Republicans in Arizona who violated sworn oaths to our Constitution that directly lead to Trump’s actual insurrection carnage. US Representatives Biggs, Gosar, Lesko and Schweikert all plotted to reject the certified electoral college votes from their home state. Several sought Presidential pardons from Trump in advance – knowing the criminal riot outside the “Peoples’ House” would provide cover for their seditionist votes inside the chamber. Others, like state representative Mark Finchem and former state representative Anthony Kern, actually attended the sedition rally in Washington, D.C. that led to the insurrection at the US Capitol.

Their extremism, born of the MAGA cult and nourished on the lies and fraud of a lost election, helped fuel Trump acolytes in this most recent legislative session to propose hundreds of the most radical measures ever considered by any legislature in the country.

Need proof for the destruction and dismantling of Arizonan’s rights and institutions? The MAGA Republican extremist legislature and Governor have passed and signed into law:

• A ban on abortions past 15 weeks and some support an 1864 law that gives criminal sentences to medical practitioners providing abortions;
• Expansion of universal ESA vouchers that will siphon $1 billion in public taxpayer dollars every year out of public schools into unaccountable private academies; and
• Requiring public schools to publish a list of every single book purchased – a measure that started out as a copy-cat, broader, book ban initiated in other states.

Fortunately, the Democrats, even while being the minority in each AZ legislative chamber, were able to stop bills that would have: further weakened AZ’s gun safety laws; given the legislature the right to invalidate election results; required the AZ Secretary of State to publish actual completed ballot images and voter lists; and called for school board races be conducted as partisan elections.

The tragedy and carnage of the Trump administration and Arizona’s version of MAGA Republican extremism must never again be allowed the power to attack our democracy and our citizens. We have the opportunity this year to change the majority in both Arizona’s state legislative chambers – by flipping just one or two seats in the November election.

And, along with voting for Democrats from the local school board and municipal races, to the statewide offices and to our Congressional representation; we can put an end to this political bloodshed in Arizona and bind the wounds inflicted on us all.