AZ GOP prepares for 2012

The following is an announcement from Arizona Republican Party Chairman Tom Morrissey regarding personnel changes at state GOP headquarters:

Phoenix, May 31 – Arizona Republican Party Chairman Tom Morrissey announces that Brett Mecum, a holdover from the previous Pullen administration, has left his position of State Executive Director to pursue other opportunities. 

“Upon my election in January, I chose to retain Mr. Mecum so he could provide transition for the Party as we gear up for the 2012 election cycle,” stated Mr. Morrissey.  “With the conclusion of that transition period, it is time to employ and empower the highly qualified personnel necessary to achieve the results Arizona Republicans expect.”

Mr. Morrissey continued, “As the first step in that process, I am proud to announce that the Honorable Thayer Verschoor has agreed to provide the staff leadership necessary for across-the-board Republican victories at all levels across Arizona in 2012.”

Senator Verschoor stated, “I am honored that Chairman Morrissey has entrusted me to be a key component of his team in these critical days for the state.  My efforts over the next seventeen months will be focused on electing small government conservatives so small businesses can once again flourish and provide employment opportunities for all Arizonans.”

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Child drownings: The preventable death

Over the holiday weekend, and with the onset of soaring temperatures, the Arizona Republic ran a lengthy Page One article titled One Fatal Moment, detailing the 21 Valley children who died as a result of drowning this past year.

Just beneath the headline were these words: A distracted parent. A determined child. An inviting pool. It takes just one minute, and Valley families are left with a lifetime of grief.

It’s difficult not to be struck by the fact that these children were victims of more than a “distracted” parent. The photos of cherubic young faces accompanied a list of the activities engaged in by the “supervisors” (the newspaper’s word, not ours) of these mostly infants and toddlers who needlessly perished. Some were in backyards, others at community pools or even in their home bathtubs.  Many of the adults were talking on the phone, texting or sleeping.  They certainly were not watching their children or those in their charge. Were the doors locked or pools fenced? If not, why not?

The truth is, these are preventable deaths, caused by inattention. They are child neglect in the extreme. The adults are torn by grief and guilt, as they should be.  But the children’s lives are irretrievably snuffed out.

If a child killer marauded through Valley neighborhoods randomly killing dozens of young children each and every year, there would be an outraged cry to find and bring such offenders to justice. When they are parents or babysitters, people merely shake their heads, cluck over how sad it is, and then inevitably say “they’ve suffered enough.” 

If these “supervisors” were charged with child endangerment, they might get the message — one that would resonate with others who still think it’s safe to leave babies unattended in bathtubs or young children by themselves in the yard while “supervisors” go in the house to answer the phone.

How many more children must die?

Pamela Gorman: Up in smoke with big tobacco?

Pamela Gorman, a onetime Arizona legislator and congressional candidate has announced that she has moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and will no longer serve “as the Sarah Palin of Arizona.”

For anyone else, that might be a tongue-in-cheek adios, but her follow-up declares “it will be nice to return to the private sector and no longer have a bull’s-eye on [her] back,” giving it the air of dramatic authenticity.

Gorman failed to respond to several inquiries on her Facebook page as to where she was going to be working. But her former colleague and campaign consultant Chris Baker is rumored to have done consulting work for RJ Reynolds tobacco — coincidently located right there in Winston-Salem, NC. Connecting the dots, David Parker, VP of RJ Reynolds, donated $1,000 to Pamela Gorman for Congress in 2010.

Is conservative Pamela Gorman going to do PR work for big tobacco? That might explain her reluctance to respond to those friends wondering where she was settling in. Brian Fojtik, a Chicago lobbyist and consultant with ties to Gorman is also on her Facebook page. Fojtik donated $2400 to her congressional race. His key client?  US Tobacco Public Affairs. Here Fojtik gives the lengthy and enthusiastic endorsement on her campaign page.

The numerous dots all connect Big Tobacco to the self-described “Sarah Palin of Arizona” — Pamela Gorman. Somehow this move doesn’t strike us as all that conservative.

Media bias exposed as SB 1070 routinely maligned

Third Reich lingo gets a workout from liberal media

Media Research Center’s bias alert confirms the liberal predisposition of the mainstream media in describing Arizona’s SB 1070.  In the most derogatory of jargon — using Nazi terminology to portray the law actually titled: “Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act,” NBC Justice Correspondent Pete Williams repeatedly referred to the law as “Arizona’s Nazi Law,” “Round up the usual suspects law” or the “Show us your papers law.”

The Arizona Republic has yet to write about the popular and much imitated Senate Bill, signed into law by then-Gov. Napolitano, without using the word “controversial” before the title.

It’s worth remembering that liberals often suffer from limited cognitive and analytical abilities, giving way to mischaracterizations and repetition as their primary means for conveyance of ideas.

Ex-RNC chair Michael Steele takes left turn

Former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele — often at odds with conservatives in his party — is now onboard as a new hire with MSNBC, a liberal network known as a reliable Democrat mouthpiece.

Steele has appeared as frequent MSNBC guest, but will now be seen as a regular on the full programming lineup as part of the network’s analysts and contributors.

“It’s an honor to contribute and engage in the dialogue on MSNBC,” Steele said. “I look forward to engaging a diverse audience to share insights and analysis about the people, issues, and events shaping America’s future.”

“Diverse audience?”  Steele must also be angling for a comedy slot alongside cackling Rachel Maddow, if this gig doesn’t pan out.

Steele’s tenure as RNC chairman was marred by his bouts with party officers over control of the GOP’s purse strings. He blasted members for pushing a plan for implementation of new checks and balances on the chairman’s spending powers, accusing them of a power grab “scheme.”

Steele, failing at his attempt to maintain his leadership post, was replaced as RNC chairman by Wisconsin GOP party chief Reince Priebus in January.

Memorial Day 2011

 A day to thank our veterans and their families, who have given so much to protect our many freedoms

The United States Department of Veterans Affairs has a fact-filled site with a treasure trove of historic information regarding the observance of Memorial Day.

We invite you to listen to this haunting rendition of “Taps” played by the U.S. Marine Band.

The following event takes place yearly at the Los Angeles National Cemetery, where over 80,000 Veterans — including 10,000 from the Civil War — are buried.

Several thousand Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Scout leaders and parent volunteers assemble for the annual Memorial Day Weekend placement of flags at the grave of every veteran. Each scout reads the name of the veteran aloud, places an American flag in the ground, observes a brief moment of silence….and salutes each fallen patriot.  Within a hour, the entire cemetery is decorated with thousands of American flags. Most importantly, the lesson of gratitude these young scouts learn will stay with them throughout their lives.

Freedom isn’t free.

JD Radio: Tune in Monday morning 6 – 9 am

You can hear a true conservative and “recovering Congressman” JD Hayworth tomorrow — Monday morning — on stations across the nation!

JD Hayworth is filling in as guest host for Laura Ingraham on her nationally syndicated talk show. Arizona airtime: 6:00 -9:00 am.

Click here to LISTEN LIVE on KFNX-AM News-Talk Radio 1100.

John McCain, Pelosi: apologists for Al-Jazeera

Drinking the Qatar Kool-Aid

At the inaugural Al-Jazeera U.S. Forum held recently in Washington. D.C., John McCain said he was proud to have been the first U.S. Senator to travel to Al-Jazeera’s headquarters in Doha– “not a bad place that you’ve got going on there”  — he joked as he sat for interviews with the biased news network known as a mouthpiece for terrorists.

“We live in a new era,” he said. “What Al-Jazeera has done is achieved something that all of us I think want to achieve, particularly as we grow older, and that is to make a contribution that will last and will be brought to future generations that lie ahead of us.”

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi also thought this was the place to quip, as she opened her remarks with a nod to the fact that, not so long ago, so much praise of Al-Jazeera from such a high-ranking member of Congress would have been controversial. “I’m very delighted to be here with Senator McCain,” she wisecracked. “When I accepted this invitation to speak here this evening, I didn’t realize that he was going to be here until I arrived. You can just imagine how happy I was to see him, because I was preparing for the onslaught of criticism that I was going to receive. But now I’m covered!”

The room erupted in laughter.

Journalist Cliff Kincaid, writing for NewsWithViews, gives this cogent assessment of McCain’s bizarre behavior: “The only explanation that makes any sense is that Al-Jazeera constitutes another channel that can give — and has given — McCain favorable publicity. The Arizona Senator has a reputation as a favorite of the press who is always anxious to get in front of a TV camera. In this regard, Al-Jazeera simply constitutes another outlet, albeit an unsavory one, that he can use to promote himself. He may, however, find that it will turn on him — and the West — after Gaddafi is overthrown and the Muslim Brotherhood takes power.”

Kincaid wrote this exposé on the launching of the English language version of the Arabist propaganda machine: Enemy Propaganda on Al-Jazeera English.

Take time also to read Media Research Center’s Brent Bozell’s Who’s Soft on Propaganda? which shines a bright light on the Arab-propaganda spin machine. Bozell and Kincaid have covered the topic since the onset of the English language network.

Al-Jazeera English broadcasts as a 24-hour news and current affairs channel, with strategically placed broadcast centers in Doha (Qatar), London, Washington D.C. and Kuala Lumpur with more than 70 bureaus around the world, dedicated to getting their one-sided message disseminated.

Gov. Rick Perry: Weak on the border, opposes SB1070

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is reported to be weighing a presidential run. But even as a border state governor whose own southern border is a war zone,  he stands firmly against Arizona’s SB 1070.

Ciudad Juarez — where the Juarez and Sinaloa cartels are battling over drug-trafficking routes, abuts El Paso, Texas. Last year the death toll in the region stood at 3,111. According to this report in the LA Times, 2011 projections will be closer to 5,000 dead.

But Perry, sounding an awful lot like George W. Bush, who callously allowed illegal immigration to escalate, says: “Texas has a rich history with Mexico, our largest trading partner, and we share more than 1,200 miles of border, more than any other state. As the debate on immigration reform intensifies, the focus must remain on border security and the federal government’s failure to adequately protect our borders.”

John McCain has perfected the line “We must secure our border first.” (Watch his waffle on this link while speaking to Sean Hannity). Jeff Flake, running to replace Jon Kyl in the U.S. Senate has become adept using the same coded talk.  The question to ask is “First before what?”

The answer has always been amnesty.

Fulton Brock: Father of the Year denied parenting class waiver

Maricopa County Supervisor Fulton Brock is divorcing his sexual predator wife, Susan, 49. The disturbing story of his wife and daughter Rachel, 22, molesting the same boy since he was 14,  doesn’t get better with the addition of new facts. The victim is the son of a family friend who attends the Brock’s church.

Fulton kanoodles with Susan on the jail phone, chatting and joking as she playfully teases him and he recklessly responds by seeking to call in his chips with other elected officials to get her special treatment, hide evidence and in violation of jail rules, brings her edible treats.

Remember the initial revulsion after seeing a youth with grotesque and irreversible neck and hand tattoos, yet there was an inability to turn away?  Same deal here, with the story becoming both more repulsive and transfixing.  Brock claimed to be “flabbergasted” by the revelations of ongoing molestations, though he and his pedophile wife actually met with LDS Church officials to discuss the matter. Brock has tainted his own reputation throughout this entire unsavory mess.

The latest winkle in this sordid tale is Brock’s request to bypass the mandatory parenting class required of all divorcing parents of minor children in Arizona. Brock considers himself a “public figure,” and has arrogantly petitioned for a waiver from the statutorily required class.  Superior Court Judge Robert Miles, who is presiding over the Brock divorce, has denied the motion.

Fulton Brock’s days as a “public figure” should be coming to a close. He could put his free time to good use by taking a series of parenting classes. What an appropriate Father’s Day gift for this dude.