The actions of Governor Brewer, the State Senate, and the Republican Congressional delegation in the last week turn my reveries to my favorite childhood story, Alice in Wonderland.
Imagine if you will…
The adventuring Alice is represented by the Colleen Mathis, chair of the Independent Redistricting Commission. The Queen of Hearts is no other than Jan Brewer, who bellows “Sentence first, verdict afterwards!” and “Off with her head!” as she summarily fires the independent chair.
The Mad Hatter? No other than the Senate Republicans, whose rush to judgment oh-so-hastily overtook the will of the voters.
And who is the Cheshire Cat in this drama of democracy overthrown? It must be “FAIR Trust,” a shadowy Super PAC funded by incumbent Congressmen Schweikert, Quayle, and Franks. In Wonderland, all that’s seen is the cat’s cynical grin; his corporeal body is invisible, Similarly, this shady group has been interfering with the Commission, yet hides from public view.
Curiouser and Curiouser, with only one thing certain in this tale of woe: Arizona is down the rabbit hole.
Lauren Kuby
Tempe
Leon Ceniceros posted at 7:13 am on Sat, Nov 5, 2011.
Folks, come on now....something is starting to smell......"fishy".
When was the last time you saw a ..."Letter to the Editor"...that complimented Republicans or the Tea Party.
I know we have a new East Valley Tribune Editor but did he come from Scripps-Howard News or the Los Angeles Times...one of those West Coast Liberal rags or what?
What ever happened to ....."Fair and Balanced" Newspapers..???
If we wanted to read a Liberal-Progressive "Rag"....we would have picked up the Phenix Newed Times.
Dale Whiting posted at 8:02 am on Sat, Nov 5, 2011.
Lauren,
Bravo! ! !
Arizona Willie posted at 8:40 am on Sat, Nov 5, 2011.
So, Leon, if it isn't right wing it isn't " fair and balanced " in your opinion --- is that right?
" Fair and Balanced " like the Fox News network that went to court to prove it had the right to lie.
And you right wingers continue to believe the garbage that comes from a " news " outfit that admits it lies.
GHTUSA
Rich posted at 10:03 am on Sat, Nov 5, 2011.
I hope some of you catch the irony. Would blowing up the legislature be terrorism, or just a really good idea? Today is the day to ponder that question.
samkat posted at 7:12 pm on Sat, Nov 5, 2011.
Willie:In playing devils advocate, I suggest the following; Are you giving moveon.org a free pass? :-) Rachel Maddow of MSNBC fame is just as radical as anyone on Fox. Speaking of lying, wasn't it the Obama administration that was trying to pass rules that permitted them to lie.
Irons1 posted at 12:53 pm on Sun, Nov 6, 2011.
Why would anyone compliment the republicans or the tea party? They haven't done anything to compliment them on.
Diogenes Lantern posted at 9:09 pm on Sun, Nov 6, 2011.
Ms. Kuby is a leader of Move.On.org famous for throwing blood at people and disrupting US Congressmen Schweikert, Quayle, and Franks townhalls. Trust not this Orger-she is a wolf in sheep's clothing.
You know-the MoveON org that is circulating flyers at the OccupyProtestor demonstrations to kill cops, spread feces over your body, and defecate on police cars.
MoveOn and SEIU-are funding the protestors. Who funds MoveON ? George Soros (David Horowitz's book, "Shadow Government". The Shadow is Soros.)
Rational Human posted at 6:56 am on Mon, Nov 7, 2011.
Irons1, they balanced the budget.
Arizona Willie posted at 7:59 am on Mon, Nov 7, 2011.
samkat, I don't give anyone or any organization a free pass on lying.
Holding radical opinions doesn't make a person a liar. Right wingers think lefties are radicals and lefties think righties are radicals. Radical has been used as a perjorative in recent years, but the Colonists who started the U.S were radicals.
As for the administration trying to codify lying to the public ... the issue they want to legally lie about goes back to the original George Bush administration as I understand it. They ( all administrations ) have been lying to the American people since then. Actually I think politicians and administrations have been lying to the American people a LOT longer than that.
WRONG THEN --- WRONG NOW --- WRONG TOMORROW
Dale Whiting posted at 9:10 am on Mon, Nov 7, 2011.
Willie,
Where I think both the right wingers [neo-cons] and the left wingers [great society, etc.] are radicals, doesn't this make me a moderate like you?
Politicians have to lie. Otherwise they would not get re-elected. Fundamentally that was Carter's problem. I heard him speak to the assumbled student body at Cornell University in the 1976 campaign. His line was "I'll never tell a lie." And he didn't. That was his problem and downfall. Reagan, who lied to most everyone, beat him in 1980. It was Nixon's constant lying that set Carter up for victory in 1976. And it was Carter's telling us the truth about our reckless energy consumption and one-sided foreign policy that got him defeated.
How did Reagan lie? Well, he spread Reaganomics [my economics professor's work product - Wiedenbaum at Wash. U. St Louis], then abandoned it. Bush 41 saw if for what is was - Voodoo Economics - but then compromised himself to become Veep [only to get himself tanked - the economy stupid] when Voodoo Economics finally caught up to us. Heck Reagan raised taxes 11 times. Then Bush 41 promised "no new taxes." All lies.
Nixon promised "peace with dignity" but had to withdraw from Vietnam with his tail between his legs. George Romney called Vietnam for what is was, a very skilled "brain washing" job. And the press crusified him. Can't tell us the truth and expect to get elected. His son, Mitt, finds himself having to lie about his repeated apparent changing of positions. And he is want to find excuses for changing positions. Heck, don't changing circumstances justify changing positions? Apparently not.
Very few politicians have the guts to tell us what we need to hear, not what we want to hear. Bush 43 started by saying his war on terrorism was not a war on Islam. But you cannot convince many Americans and most Muslims today that it is not. Bush 43 lead us into a disasterous war in Iraq, all justified by lies about weapons of mass destruction and Saddam's ties to al Qaeda, all obvious lies. When called to task by Joe Wilson, we got an even thicker dose of lies from Chaney. Collen Powell was so imbarrassed by this whole fiasco that he resigned rather than be a stuge for another four years of lies.
Lies, Lies and more lies.
Any wonder the press is pressing Cain for the details of his alleged sexual harrassment cases? Lies, lies and more lies. That's what politics is today, lies.
One parting shot. The next war threatening to engage us is Israel's threats against Iran. We are being told that Iran has nucs. Is this a lie? Maybe, maybe not. But who cares? Iran wants despirately to be treated with some respect. After all, didn't the West prop up the Shaw, one of the most repressive dictators of all time, in Iran before he fled to the West for medical treatment?
Truth is, we owe Iran a huge apology. And we own them respect, too. We prevent their economic development. They have to export crude oil and import gasoline because we do not allow outsiders to help them evelope their own oil refineries. Is that respect. Heck no! It's hegeminy in its worst form.
We need to tell Israel to learn to turn the other cheek and start respecting Palestinian rights. West Bank developments by Israelis are a crime against humanity. We complain about Mexicans who cross our borders, yet support Isreal in having Israelis cross into the West Bank and build housing there, housing for goodness sake!
Can the US become any more disingenuous? I surely would hope not. But give us another chance to have our politicians lie to us again and I am confident that we can and will!
Dale Whiting posted at 9:13 am on Mon, Nov 7, 2011.
P.S.
So Lauren, if you think Arizona is headed down the rabbit hole, read my above comment. The entire US has been down that rabbit hole for upwards of 50 years!
Wonder if the Mad Hatter would give the Tea Partiers an invite to his next party? I'm sure they would get along just fine!