A little Arizona history
The name Suzanne Barr has been in the news recently, but how many know her Arizona background?
Her father was longtime Arizona House Speaker and legislative member Burton Barr who represented north central Phoenix — then known as District 18 — for twenty-two years from 1964 to 1986. In a political world far removed from todays, Barr was the Republican majority leader for twenty of those years. In today’s lingo, he would be known as a RINO. In those days, he was called a “compromiser.” The main Phoenix library on Central Avenue bears his name.
Burt Barr passed away in 1997. Few remember that the confident politico lost his last election to conservative Evan Mecham, who in 1986 succeeded in trouncing the stunned Barr to win the governorship.
Barr’s daughter Suzanne has recently been in the news herself. But not in a context that would have pleased her witty but straitlaced father. Suzanne has been named as a central figure in the sex scandal lawsuit rocking the Department of Homeland Security. And not unlike her aisle crossing father, Suzanne Barr, worked as liberal Janet Napolitano’s chief of staff at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, where — according to court documents — she appeared to delight in engaging in “numerous” acts of “sexually offensive behavior” intended to “humiliate and intimidate male employees.” The 21-page complaint, complete with lurid details filed May 21, 2012 can be read here. (Courtesy of Debbie Schlussel).
Before becoming chief of staff in January 2009, the Arizona native served in then-Governor Janet Napolitano’s office, working as deputy director and director of legislative affairs. As director of legislative affairs, Barr was responsible for the governor’s legislative agenda and oversaw the legislative proposals of all state agencies. She also served as the governor’s policy advisor on law enforcement issues, overseeing all state law enforcement agencies. Like Napolitano, she holds a law degree.
According to this report on FOX News, Suzanne Barr has “voluntarily placed herself on leave” amid new allegations of lewd conduct which have surfaced. Republicans would have preferred to see former Arizona Governor Napolitano and her incompetent, raunchy gal pals out the door for partisan incompetence.
But this will do.
September 2, 2012 — Suzanne Barr resigns as Chief of Staff amid sex scandal rocking ICE
Gee… And today the Republic told me Janet is doing GREAT work at DHS. I suppose this Barr story will get similar play on the front page tomorrow. I also suppose unicorns tend bar at the Four Seasons.
Are you folks kidding? The ‘pink elephant in the room’ is that these ‘gals’ have been acting like men, sans scratching themselves in public. And why isn’t this an issue? Lots of the ‘girls’ around Arizona politics woul be implicated … just sayin !
Birds of a feather …
“She holds a law degree.” Where? Surely not between her knees!
…uuummm…ssssooo th’ “asprin regimine”…where a young lady places an asprin between her knees & keeps it there, is pretty much out, huh?
…maybe she used TAPE!
OMG… I didn’t make the connection. Burton must turning over in his grave. He was something. I remember going to his office to cover his meeting with a group of PTA moms in the late 60/early 70s. I was amazed at how smoothly he told them to go to hell and they didn’t even realize it. They were awed that he had met with them… and he literally ate them alive. I left there so disgusted with those women.
Papa Barr was an arrogant piece ‘o work. When he lost the governor’s race to Ev Mecham, a man he clearly thought was his inferior, I thought his head would blow off.
I wonder how “close” that friendship is/was. Will J-No come to Suzi’s aid in her hour of need? Somehow, I suspect it’s every man…er…woman for him/herself.
Or, every dike for itself.
I actually remember Burton Barr coming to my apartment when I was a kid just out of college. It was quite a surprise since he was a huge name in Arizona politics. That was in the mid 1960′s. He was savvy enough to know that each and every personal contact was at least one vote. When I told my folks that he came to my door, they were shocked — until he came to theirs a few weeks later!!
Trash finds its own level. Janet found Suzi.
Really, it won’t do just to get Barr booted from her position- we need to see Napolitano kicked to the curb. Her incompetence and that of her “staff” compromises the security of this country. Napolitano is a friend to illegals and an enemy of freedom loving Americans who she labels terrorists. It won’t do until she is gone.
Couldn’t have said it better myself!
patriotmom-I couldn’t agree with you more…but it’ll never happen ’till “0-bow-mao-i’m-sorry” is evicted from 1600 PA. Ave! That schmuck keepin’ gaff prone biden around! Thank God! THAT IDIOT’s gonna’ hopefully cost him th’ presidency
Democrats with power get reckless. Witness Bill Clinton, the Kennedy’s, Gary Hart, Anthony Wiener, Jesse Jackson, John Edwards….the list goes on…..
Great point.
workplaces have become almost cult-like environments, too.
I have a question. Suzie Barr was only the Legislative Director for the last six months of Napolitano’s term in office. Wasn’t the legislature out of session during this period and how much of a legislative agenda could she have been pushing during her last six months in office. Second, Why would a Deputy Legislative Affairs Director have a portfolio that included oversight of all law enforcement agencies. She only became a Deputy Maricopa County Attorney in 2003 so how much “law enforcement” experience could she have had. I don’t believe that she had any kind of administrative oversight of State law enforcement agencies. Am I wrong? In Six months she went from being a deputy legislative director to the Chief of Staff of a multi-billion dollar Federal agency with thousands of employees. How did that happen? Why didn’t Napolitano just give her a patronage job as head of ICE’s legislative affairs office.
Prior to law school and hooking up with Napolitano, sex monkey Suzi Barr did a stint working in D.C., first as a staffer for John McCain and then as a aide for Jon Kyl. With her broad ass-ociations, it’s no wonder she’s kinky.
As to your question, can’t help you there. My best guess is that after rollicking with the John/Jons she had to prove her fidelity to Janet Napolitano before the heavy lifting appointment came through. Her actual abilities probably mattered far less than her proclivities.
Suzie was JNo’s Legislative Liaison for a good while during her stint as Governor, working as Mike Haener’s second in command. She was very involved in all aspects of JNo’s policy agenda. Mike left to pursue his own lobbying career some months before JNo jumped ship and went to the swamp, and Suzie took over.
As to why she got the ICE job, that’s like asking why is there patronage in politics? It just is …
I worked with Suzie Barr in Arizona. She is a strong, capable, charismatic woman in a position of power who works very hard. Unfortunately there is a double standard with men/women today.
Yeah, like if a man acted that way to a female staffer, no big deal. When did you fall off the turnip truck Bob?
Yeah, sure there’s a double standard working here.
If some guy yelled at a female employee that he wanted her to sit on his face, or wanted to shove his c**k down her throat, no one would pay a bit of attention, and there certainly could be no valid complaint filed over it.
I have known Suzie since she was born. She is my God sister. Anyone who knows her knows that the accusations against her are absolutely false. Obviously some disgruntled employee (male) has had his ego injured because he was let go by a woman. Gee, that has never happened before in reverse. Suzie is funny, fun, has a great sense of humor and brilliant and I can’t believe how ignorant those of you writing above are for condemning her without knowing anything more than what you read in a one-sided news story. As for Burton Barr, I had known Burt my entire life and I can assure you that no father was ever prouder of a child than he was of Suzie. She was the light in his life as she is the light in all of the lives of those who know and love her.
What about Burt’s other children? Didn’t he love them equally/ What a stupid comment for someone purporting to be a “God Sister”– whatever that is.
Do you think Burt Barr would be so proud of her raunchy and sexist behavior detailed in the court documents? You must be Suzi herself writing as “Lisa,” Either that or you win the prize for Absurdity Queen.
Queen of Absurdity…that’s a good one. My husband got a good laugh at that one, as did I. Well, you are right Burt did love all of his children equally but Suzie really is very, very funny. I’m sure that if she ever said anything off color then it was said in fun and this person has taken it completely out of context to make her look bad. She would never purposefully hurt anyone. It is simply not in her nature. This I know! BTW, my husband doesn’t know what a God Sister is either. :-)
Since when is telling a subordinate “Put your c**k in my mouth, I want to feel it in the back of my throat,” just showing a good sense of humor and having fun at work? Suzi Barr is a pig. Imagine the hell that would have broken loose if something similar had been said to any of the female employees by a male!!
You’ve known her since she was born, but you somehow never noticed that she was a foul-mouthed wench whose proclivities ran to whatever was handy that day? Oh, please.
try telling that to someone who never worked with her.
Jack, I have known Suzie since law school. She is arrogant, pontificating, aggressive and thinks she is better than those around her. She definitively does not have the experience in law enforcement to hold a senior position, especially Chief of Staff to the Director, of the second largest federal investigative agency.
Quite right — her qualifications for this job were exactly zero, and only what we laughingly refer to as her “relationship” with Napolitano got her in that door.
Law enforcement experience? Zero.
Federal law enforcement experience? Zero.
There are some men I truly dislike in this world, but I wouldn’t borrow THEIR c**ks to stick in her throat.
We are innocent until proven guilty in this country.
Then why not let this play out and clear her? She stepped down because the walls were closing in on her. As her ‘God sister” apologist you do her no favors.
I don’t know why everyone gets this wrong. In the court system there is a presumption of innocence, that is why there is a right to bail. Some attorney many years ago used that presumption to persuade a court that his guilty client couldn’t get a fair trial because of the pretrial publicity. That is why the media today always says “presumed” and “accused” instead of “the guy that did it”. All in all, it is better this way. At trial, the prosecution must rebut that presumption and show beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty. Just say “we are presumed innocent until proven guilty.”