Impartial media? AP chairman slobbers over Obama

Evenhanded press obviously nonexistent

This is Dean Singleton — Associated Press’ Chairman of the Board – introducing Barack Obama and demonstrating his overt liberal bias at the Associated Press annual meeting and luncheon. The event was held April 3 in the grand ballroom at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC.

 

AZ República spins for Mexico, ignores facts

Another bizarre editorial in this morning’s newspaper. This one, filled with cutesy colloquialisms is titled “Arizona missing out on rewards.” It begins: “For cryin’ out loud, people. This should never have happened. It could have been Arizona. But no. Texas gets the attaboys for cashing in on the benefits of a shared international border. And we do mean benefits.”

Arizona is accused of getting “sidetracked” making news “for being tough on” illegal aliens,* “while Texas was rustlin’ up some business. And we do mean business,” states the editorialist who sounds suspiciously like Linda Valdez, Mexico’s lead cheerleader drawing a paycheck at the Periódico de la República de Arizona (Arizona Republic).

“Arizona could write a primer on what not to do,” we are told.

Some pertinent facts are missing as Arizona is scolded for not engaging in more trade with our not-so-neighborly neighbor to the south.

Facts: Organized crime-related deaths in the Mexican state of Chihuahua during the first nine months of 2011 exceeded the number of Afghan civilians killed in roughly the same period in all of war-torn Afghanistan. Chihuahua borders Texas and New Mexico. The Mexican government acknowledged from January through September last year, 2,276 deaths were recorded in Chihuahua.

Again comparing the Mexican and Afghanistan figures, 11,007 Afghan civilians were killed from 2007 through October 2011. That is about 80 percent fewer deaths than the 47,515 drug-related murders in Mexico over roughly the same period  — numbers substantiated by the U.S. Department of State in its tactfully worded, yet still alarming travel warning for Mexico. Begin under the heading “General Conditions.” Read carefully our government’s alert stating U.S. citizens have fallen victim to Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCO) activity, including homicide, gun battles, kidnapping, carjacking and highway robbery.

There were more organized crime-related killings in Chihuahua than in any other Mexican state, according to the government figures. Chihuahua, the largest state in Mexico, includes Ciudad Juarez, a border city located across from El Paso, Texas. It is the deadliest city in Mexico and is considered one of the most dangerous places in the entire world.

Although eight decapitated bodies were recently found in the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas, the Republic’s editorial ends with, “Time’s awastin’ people.”  It should more accurately read, “Mexico’s wasting people.”

*The daily refuses to use the term “illegal aliens,” instead calling the illegal invaders (watch shocking embedded video) “immigrants.” True immigrants come legally and unreservedly become proud, acclimated U.S. citizens.  Our popular glossary offers a valuable assist in deciphering the local newspaper’s terminology.

Trayvon Martin: He be da martyr

The Daily Caller provides an insight into Trayvon Martin, the sudden hero of the left. A photo accompanying his profanity-laced and sexually explicit twitter account, shows the tattooed 17-year-old flipping off the camera.  He used the handles “NO_LIMIT_NIGGA.” and “T33ZY TAUGHT M3,” on the 152 pages of compiled Twitter activity retrieved by the Daily Caller.

This is a standout, written by the “son” of Barack Obama, now given celebrity status in death:  “Plzz shoot da #mf dat lied 2 u!”

Meanwhile Martin’s shooter, self-described Hispanic George Zimmerman has a $10,000 bounty on his head and has been abandoned by Hispanic groups some of whom are actually challenging Zimmerman’s ethnicity while bonding with Martin.

The National Council of La Raza* urges Latino participation in rallies for the slain youth, demanding “Justice for Trayvon,” insisting  that block watch volunteer George Zimmerman, as well as law enforcement be held accountable for the unfortunate death. Janet Murguia, the group’s President and CEO wrote this article. Her twin sister is Mary Murguia, a judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Their brother Carlos is a US Federal judge in Kansas.

The racial overtones of this highly charged shooting have become irrational as black columnist Leonard Pitts “explains” why George Zimmerman is white.

* Do yourself a favor and read this exposé of La Raza by Charlie Norwood, the late Georgia Congressman, who provided great insight into the inner workings of the leftist organization and its anti-American agenda.

H/T Human Events

Inconvenient truths about Obama’s “son”

The death of any teenager is a tragedy. A life cut short causes us all anguish. The shooting death of unarmed, black Florida teen Trayvon Martin fits that description to a tee. The fact that this incident has become riddled with racial and political overtones, even causing the President of the United States to jump into the fray and declare, “If I had a son, he would look like Treyvon.” raises the profile to even higher proportions. 

Protest marches from coast to coast — including here in Phoenix — feature professional athletes, celebrities and the now-standard self-appointed black “leaders” Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. Activists from the ACLU and Urban League are capitalizing on the momentum.

An interjection of sanity comes as former NAACP leader Rev. C.L. Bryant accuses Jackson and Sharpton of “exploiting” the Trayvon Martin tragedy to “racially divide this country.” Bryant, quoted in the Daily Caller, says, “His family should be outraged at the fact that they’re using this child as the bait to inflame racial passions.”  The pastor called Jackson and Sharpton “race hustlers” and said they are “acting as though they are buzzards circling the carcass of this young boy.”

But it turns out even the family is cashing in on the bounty, with Trayvon’s mother Sybrina Fulton filing documents to trademark her son’s name. In case you find that difficult to believe, The Smoking Gun website has six pages of applications.

George Zimmerman, 28, a neighborhood watch captain, shot Martin, a 17-year-old youth last month. Zimmerman, also a minority with a mother who is Hispanic, was bruised and bleeding from head and face wounds following an altercation with Martin. He says he shot Martin in self-defense. Though he has not been charged with a crime, Zimmerman has gone into hiding, as the New Black Panther Party vigilantes have offered a $10,000 reward for his “capture.”

The Obama Justice Department and the FBI have opened an investigation into the death and a state grand jury is set to convene April 10.  And in the most glaring example of the racial overtones undergirding the situation, the Sanford Police Department has replaced the white chief, who they say has “temporarily stepped down” with a black appointee.

The Martin case captures the essence of Tom Wolfe’s 1987 classic The Bonfire of the Vanities.  In the novel, a hot-bed of racial tensions erupt as a young black victim sets a city seething. The youth is given sainthood status and the unintentional perpetrator becomes the hunted prey. It’s probably still in the library and chances are you haven’t ventured into one lately. Take this opportunity and pick up the book.  It’s all there — 25 years ago mirrors today.

In that accounting,  the youth became an honor student in death. In the Martin case, the inadvertent victim has had his third, and still current, school suspension for drug possession mysteriously erased and a president with two daughters wax eloquent about his “son.”

Worsley’s new pals at Periódico de la República de Arizona

On Day One newspaper liberals already slobbering over political hired gun

Within a day of political unknown Bob Worsley announcing that he is running for the state senate in the newly crafted District 25, the incumbent Republican Sen. Rich Crandall –  first elected in 2007 — suddenly decided to step aside to provide Worsley a clear path.

This unprecedented move raises a few questions.

Former Senate President Russell Pearce is returning to the campaign trail, and political novice Worsley, the chosen pugilist in this round, has been quickly anointed as the imposing stalwart to try to remove him.

But by whom?

And why is he viewed as so formidable that the district’s incumbent senator is wiling to fall on his sword for him?

This source provides the answers to the vexing questions. Read the wording under the third and final bold-faced heading very carefully. The only words missing are SB 1070.

Be advised the left-wing support machine is in full gear and at heightened alert. In today’s Arizona Republic, compliant columnist Laurie Roberts is already giving the kid glove treatment to multimillionaire Worsley. She quotes him as claiming Pearce is a “boring…one note” candidate with a “depressing message.” Not a single word about Pearce’s jobs bill, his longtime legislative actions on behalf of a stabilized economy, opposition to raising taxes,  and his consistent message of less governmental intrusion. On the topic of illegal immigration, Worsley concedes “no question the federal government needed to be woken up.” Fluent Spanish-speaker Worsley supports a “humanitarian, comprehensive approach.”

“Woken up?”

Couple that with today’s derogatory editorial on Arizona becoming the ‘Birther’ state, which uses the same odd phraseology, beginning with the words “You’ve awoken the day after ….”

We can’t help but wonder if Worsley‘s been moonlighting for the newspaper of late.  If so, editorialist Linda Valdez might find herself kicked to the curb. With Worsley’s deep pockets, he’d probably crank out this same blather — factually incorrect and grammatically questionable — sans salary.

A few missing points about Russell Pearce that you’ll never see in the Arizona Republic or hear from its accommodating crew:

Pearce was the recipient of the 2009 “Legislator of the Year” award and was recognized as the top Hero of the Taxpayer legislator by the tax watchdog group, Americans for Prosperity.  The Goldwater Institute consistently rated Pearce as the #1 legislator who “proved to be the strongest ally against government encroachment on liberty.” The Pachyderm Coalition, a Reagan Republican group, recognized Russell Pearce as the #1 legislator. Pearce was one of only seven legislators in the entire nation and the only one in Arizona to receive the “Hero of the Taxpayer” award by the American Tax Reform Association. He also authored TABOR, Arizona’s Taxpayers Bill of Rights and sponsored tax reduction legislation, including the largest tax relief package in Arizona’s history. In 2011, Pearce was honored by Arizona School Public Relations Association for his outstanding contributions to public education

Mr. Worsley needs to pay attention. Sen. Pearce is anything but a “boring…one note” candidate with a “depressing message.”  He is a principled and consistent conservative with a proven record.

Arpaio rates AZ Republic’s quintuple whammy

“Birther” becomes a word in Republic style book 

Using one of the left’s favorite non-words to headline its editorial today, the daily newspaper slams the findings of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s investigation into the presidential eligibility of Barack Obama, as a “birther’ probe.

As expected, it goes downhill from there.

The editorial plays in concert with another editorial, masquerading as a straight news report. It begins with the words: It was part press conference, part political rally and all conspiracy theory when Sheriff Joe Arpaio revealed the findings Thursday of his volunteer posse’s six-month investigation into the validity of President Barack Obama’s birth certificate.

The word “claim” is sprinkled liberally regarding the disclosures revealed in the 6-month investigation by the Cold Case Posse of career lawmen.

Then resident extremist monger, EJ Montini chimes in with his column, titled Arpaio’s birther claims just another distraction, retaliation. His actual gig is bootlicking to ensure job security before the newspaper finally collapses.

And wonder of wonders, hovering over both Montini’s column and the supposed news article attempting to demean Arpaio as a Tea Party icon, is a single headline, also slurringly critical of Arpaio.

Benson’s cartoon brings up the rear with grotesque imagery supposedly depicting Maricopa County’s popular five-term elected sheriff.  Omitted is any mention of the unrivaled law enforcement career credentials that obviously warrant the respect of the citizens of one of the largest counties in the contiguous United States (that’s excluding Alaska, EJ)  — who keep reelecting him to do the job he has been charged to carry out.

To the left-wing gaggle still hanging on at the dying Periódico de la República de Arizona (Arizona Republic), that’s the real problem with Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Daily’s promotion of political sham revs up

 Be aware, be wary, don’t be conned again

Liberal songbird Linda Valdez is back on her leftist perch today trilling for open primaries.  After all, the deceptive practice worked so well in the recall of her nemesis  former Senate President Russell Pearce, author of SB 1070.

Valdez has been on this toot previously, revealing her true motives by declaring open primaries “give candidates a better chance of surviving primary elections,” where the “party faithful favor more extreme candidates.”

Here’s a short lesson, Linda.  Primary elections are where citizen voters who align with the principles of the Republican or Democrat parties –- based upon shared values articulated in their individual Platforms — select the candidates they desire to go forward to the General Election and challenge the candidate of the opposing party. We can all be as “independent” as we desire, casting ballots in the General.

But allowing for open primaries neuters the elective process, which is exactly what the Periódico de la República de Arizona (Arizona Republic) desires.  Last summer, it was Valdez’s cohort Mary Jo Pitzl who was waxing eloquent on the subject, promoting a radical left-of-center group seeking to counter what she referred to as “partisan extremists.”  Their goal? Replacing traditional primaries with a single-primary system open to all voters, allowing for the top two vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, to advance to the general election.  In the perfect world of Valdez and Pitzl, both would, of course,  be Democrats.

The usual suspects are among those who have endorsed this ruthless charade.  The coalition is directed by former Phoenix Mayor Paul Johnson, a life-long Democrat now cloaked as an Independent; Paulina Morris, a losing 2010 GOP candidate for Congress, who leans left; Carolyn Allen, a former Republican state senator who often voted with Democrats and Joe Yuhas one of the state top Democrat strategists.  Former Pinnacle West (parent company of AZ Public Service) Chairman Bill Post, earning more than $5 million in retirement compensation, has plenty of time and resources for such erratic dabbling.

Watch for the blitz.  We’ve been getting this extremist pablum spoon fed by the República’s two resident liberal mamas as they prime us for the coming barrage.  Count on a media onslaught with high dollar campaigns, no doubt proffering a saleable name that has been vetted by focus groups.  That’s how we ended up with monstrosities such as the “Citizens Clean Elections Committee” (nothing clean there),  “Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission” (Only the gullible regard this as “independent”), Judicial “Merit Selection” (Merit often takes a back seat to other considerations), or a group such as “Planned Parenthood.”  (Nowhere does the largest abortion provider admit that its brand of family planning involves killing off a few of the kids).  Such names are carefully selected to appeal to busy citizens/voters who buy into the deceptive titles.

Be on the alert. In her post today,Valdez tells us, open primaries are “a much better idea.”

Even the bland Ms. Bland lobs anti-GOP jabs

Daily’s spew comes from unexpected corners

Ah, the Arizona Republic. Love it or hate it, you’ve got to give it credit for consistency. Even the self-described mid-life crisis expert — Karina Bland — has jumped into the anti-Republican hate mongering cliché, leaving her tedious recitations of hot flashes, bra shopping and fights with flab behind, to get in a few licks.

Her columns are insipid at best, certainly worthy of carrying her name. It’s a good bet most of the newspaper’s remaining readers would easily skip over her trials and tribulations, interspersed with snippets describing her preteen son. It’s the whiny fluff that inspires few.

Her most recent effort describes her life in, and what she terms her love-affair with, Arizona. She gives a few insights into decades ago Phoenix, which might interest newcomers or the women of “that certain age’ who are the targets of her columns.

They constitute an increasingly minority target, especially as the newspaper’s subscriptions sail off on an iceberg. But the wife of a friend of a friend at yesterday’s Super Bowl party, was discussing the latest column. Interestingly, it made her angry. This was enough to elicit a visit to Bland’s bland on-line effort.  Here is the passage Lisa, the riled Patriots fan, was discussing:

“This is where I have fallen in love, first with a guy who took me for rides on his old Vespa along Galvin Parkway and whispered in my ear in Italian, and most recently with a baby born to me at Tempe St. Luke’s Hospital on a clear April night a dozen years ago.”

It gets better:

“Arizona is celebrating its centennial this month, which is what has me thinking about just why I’ve stayed. Certainly there have been days that I’ve asked, “Why in the world do I live here?” with so many of our schools failing, our inability to care for those in need, recent legislation painting us all as intolerant, and a finger-wagging governor. But then, I witness wonderful moments of generosity and good.”

No doubt the bland Ms. Bland is on a loose tether with the failing newspaper.  Who can fault her for cozying up to its vitriolic tone in hopes of staying afloat and keeping hearth and home together? We give her a D- for sappy writing and a C+ for working her employer’s established theme into a tedious, minutiae-filled column that was all about nothing.

Where else but in the AZ Republic?

Oh, the distorted joys of Cuba

The lefties at the Periódico de la República de Arizona (Arizona Republic) never cease to amaze.

In the Business Section of the Sunday edition, we read an inane puff-piece regarding a 9-day excursion — “a rare tour“ — to Cuba, sponsored by the Tempe and Glendale Chambers of Commerce, after receiving permission from the U.S. Treasury Department for this venture. The State Department calls Cuba a “totalitarian police state which assumed power by force in 1959.” 

This quote from the sales manager for the travel agency is particularly telling:  “What struck them (other travelers)  is that Cuba is the only place on Earth they’ve been to that doesn’t have a Starbucks or a McDonald’s,” she enthused. “It gave them a frozen-in-time feeling. “That’s what has been appealing to everyone, to be able to go somewhere that’s not been marred by gross consumerism.”

“Gross consumerism?”Cuba is frozen in time because the people who once enjoyed freedom now live under tyranny. They produce little, live in abject poverty, endure shortages of food and are forbidden to leave the island.

The article also has this gross misrepresentation by Glendale Chamber President Don Rinehart, who intends to take the trip. He romanticized about “classic, vintage cars” lining the streets. I’m a ’50s fanatic and would love to go see those cars again.”

What Rinehart neglects to mention is the “vintage cars that line the streets” mostly don’t run and there are no others to replace them. This article from the New York Times tells the actual story.

But Cuba has honed the knack of exploiting the nostalgia that envelopes such as Rinehart when they visit the island — so much so that the government provides reconditioned old convertibles for use by visitors.

A more lucid perspective of the extreme human rights violations and the repression the Communist regime exemplifies comes via The Unreported Tragedy of Cuba’s Repressive Communist Regime by Mike Gonzalez, Cuban-born VP of Communications for the Heritage Foundation. He states, “We at The Heritage Foundation agree with Churchill and Reagan that tyranny cannot be appeased. We have a proud record of standing up to communism.”

“Communism is a human tragedy, enslaving the soul while failing to produce enough goods for the people trudging under it,” he writes. “Communist countries are large prisons; the borders must be closed lest the people escape. And within that hell there are smaller circles where the repression is intensified. It’s the Gulag, the re-education camp or, in Cuba’s case today, public beatings by government mobs for those who dare to speak their minds.”

For additional background, watch this video seminar titled The Unwritten Story: How the media and the Obama administration overlook Cuba’s wave of repression, hosted by Gonzalez.

SCOTUS takes SB1070: República wants “clarity”

This morning’s editorial titled Some clarity would be good, begins: Like Gov. Jan Brewer, we welcome any clarity that may come from the Supreme Court’s decision to look at Senate Bill 1070. Unlike Brewer, we do not support the controversial immigration law that was considered the toughest in the nation until Alabama went a few steps beyond.

Clarity? Okay. Let’s be clear. The only “clarity” the Periódico de la República de Arizona (Arizona Republic) actually desires is the upholding of the Ninth Circuit Court’s decision to issue a temporary injunction against the law — a law the newspaper is unable to mention without describing it as “controversial.”

Editorial policy, under the guidance of Linda Valdez, is solidly pro-open borders, pro-amnesty.  In a relentless campaign of liberal propaganda, multi-page puff pieces sympathetically covering illegal aliens are passed off as news reports. There is no effort to conceal the abhorrence of border enforcement legislators such as former Senate President Russell Pearce, whom the paper savaged on a near daily basis. It was Pearce who was the architect of SB 1070, so he ignited the Republic’s inky fury to the point that they endorsed an open borders opponent, supported by radicals and Democrats in a recall election, erroneously passed off as a primary, resulting in Pearce’s removal.

Ditto the enmity against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, also besmirched by the newspaper daily. His crime?  Enforcing the law Valdez and her cohorts despise.

Policy at the Arizona Republic has been to downplay the other states that have followed Arizona’s lead in enacting laws of their own to combat a massive incursion into the United States by illegal aliens. So we were surprised to see the admission that in the first six months of this year, state legislatures across the nation have introduced 1,592 bills or resolutions on immigration (underreported in the editorial. The actual number is 1,607) emulating our popular — not “controversial” law. In 2005, only 300 such bills were introduced

There must be a reason. It’s called clarity.