Arizona tragedy: 19 firefighters perish – Update includes victims

A deadly wildfire spreading over 2,000 acres of Yavapai County has taken the lives of 19 members of an elite local firefighter crew battling the Yarnell Hill Fire. The horrific tragedy took hold amid triple digit temperatures and raging winds.

Hundreds of residents in the area southwest of Prescott, AZ have reportedly been forced from their homes. The area is about 85 miles northwest of Phoenix.

Fox 10 News has the video and report:

Read the Prescott Courier coverage here.

This lightning sparked tragedy was the biggest loss of firefighter life since 340 fire personnel died at the World Trade Center, and marks the worst in a wildfire blaze since 1933, when 29 were killed in Los Angeles.

 NBC News has more on the team of firefighters known as the Granite Mountain Hotshots. We are awaiting a listing of their names.

GraniteMountain Hotshots – Fallen Firefighters

The City of Prescott is mourning the loss of the 19 heroes of the Granite Mountain Hotshots who gave their lives yesterday fighting the Yarnell Fire.

The City of Prescott is first and foremost committed to assisting those who have been impacted by this tragedy and tending to their needs. The City asks that the families and others in mourning must be afforded the space they need to begin the healing process.

The Granite Mountain Hotshots who lost their lives are:

• Ashcraft, Andrew – Age: 29
• Caldwell, Robert – Age: 23
• Carter, Travis – Age: 31
• Deford, Dustin – Age: 24
• MacKenzie, Christopher – Age: 30
• Marsh, Eric – Age: 43
• McKee, Grant – Age: 21
• Misner, Sean – Age: 26
• Norris, Scott – Age: 28
• Parker, Wade – Age: 22
• Percin, John – Age: 24
• Rose, Anthony – Age: 23
• Steed, Jesse – Age: 36
• Thurston, Joe – Age: 32
• Turbyfill, Travis – Age: 27
• Warneke, William – Age: 25
• Whitted, Clayton – Age: 28
• Woyjeck, Kevin – Age: 21
• Zuppiger, Garret – Age: 27

The UK’s Daily Mail has more, including photos of the crew here.

We mourn the loss of these heroic young men and pray for their families. May God hold them all in the cusp of his hands

Dedicated Dem wore catheter during abortion filibuster

Never underestimate the commitment of liberal Democrats when it comes to defending their right to slaughter pre-born human babies.

The Democrat at the heart of the filibuster of a Texas bill to ban abortion after 20-weeks of pregnancy and require clinics that perform them to upgrade their facilities to be classified as ambulatory surgical centers — demonstrated her dedication to abortion by actually wearing a catheter as she took to the state senate floor.

Sen. Wendy Davis, 50, donned pink running shoes, a back brace and, yes, a urinary catheter, to equip her for the 11-hour filibuster she delivered in support of abortion. Texas filibuster rules disallow bathroom breaks. But Davis’ keen enthusiasm for being able to snuff out human life was overpowering.

“She’s a total fighter,” gushed liberal abortion activist Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Richards is the daughter of the late former Texas governor Democrat Ann Richards, a longtime advocate of abortion.

Matthew Balan writing for NewsBusters reports on the fawning praise and biased coverage the national media provided to this “new star in Democratic politics.” 

Watch this video in which she is being encouraged by CBS anchors Charlie Rose and Norah O’Donnell to run for governor of Texas based on her exploit — despite the fact that she barely squeaked into her state senate seat in November 2012 with 51.1% of the vote to her opponent’s 48.9%.

Paul Ryan ring-leading House amnesty push

Republican U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (WI), the 2012 VP candidate known for his attempts to rein in federal spending, is emerging as a leading champion of amnesty in the GOP controlled U.S. House of Representatives.

If he assumes a leadership role in this debacle, Ryan — like U. S. Sen. Marco Rubio (FL) — can kiss his 2016 presidential aspirations goodbye. Working on behalf of rewarding lawlessness will not ingratiate either man with the grassroots conservatives who make up the base of the Republican Party.

Like Jeff Flake before him, Ryan has teamed up with liberal Chicago Democrat U.S. Rep. Luis “My only loyalty is to the immigrant community” Gutierrez — a steadfast amnesty supporter.  They joined forces to push the issue at an event in Chicago, and have previously co-sponsored amnesty bills.

Ryan talks of the work ethic of immigrants, often mentioning his own Irish grandparents who fled the potato famine in the 1850s, ultimately starting a family farm in Wisconsin. Chances are they arrived legally via Ellis Island, didn’t march through American streets waving Irish flags and making demands, didn’t teach their children that the American southwest should be reconquered by Mexico, and were happy to become acclimated Americans.

The Congressional Budget Office has revised its previous estimates of  the costs of implementing S. 744 — the amnesty bill. The latest analysis determines that Hoeven/Corker will add $40 billion to deficits (compared to the original bill — which they projected to cut deficits by hundreds of billions), while “significantly” improving border and interior enforcement. The CBO’s previous assessment assured that the ‘Gang of Eight’ legislation would curtail illegal inflow by 25 percent over a decade; presumably due to time constraints, CBO was unable to produce an updated numerical estimate for the new version.

McCain verbally mugs GOP Sen’s amnesty deviation

U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer’s dissent from McCain’s skewed views brings on rude tirade

Testy John McCain calls fellow U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) “So ill-informed in the statement I just saw that I don’t know where to begin,” as he expressed his “disappointment in the series of false statements that the senator just made.” McCain’s unhinged attack was in response to his senate colleague having the temerity to express criticism of his amnesty legislation.

McCain rudely trounced Republican Fischer after she publicly stated, “I will not support legislation simply because it might be vogue or politically expedient, or could ingratiate me with the inside-the-beltway club.”       

Sen. Fischer had the wisdom to oppose John McCain, his ardent sycophant Jeff Flake and their left-leaning “bi-partisan” clique of Eight Gangsters who are committed to ramming through the gift of amnesty for an estimated 25+ million illegal alien invaders of our sovereign nation. Foreign national relatives will also be entitled to eventual legalization through the chain migration practices known as family reunification. Legalization creates a pathway to massive new welfare expenditures, along with job and university placement competition, while incentivizing even more illegal immigration.

For her strong stance in support of the rule of law, the foul-mouthed Señor Juan McAmnesty maliciously blasted Sen. Fischer. The none-to-bright McCain asked Fischer if she had ever been to the Arizona-Mexico border — as if that alone qualifies one as an expert on border security. McCain’s made quite a show at the border, strolling along with Sheriff Babeu and demanding the completion of the “danged fence.” He even stood idly by and watched as illegals scaled the area where he staged a recent, contrived photo op.  Yet hypocrite McCain proceeded to castigate Fischer for suggesting the bill fails to provide security.

America would once again be respected and its laws observed if establishment leftists like Señor Juan McAmnesty would battle Democrats with the same ferocious determination reserved for launching attacks on conservatives.  But the man who delights in his “maverick” moniker is intolerant of dissent.

Arizona’s Machiavellian U.S. Senators have perfected the oily art of double talk on the border —  one for pre-election consumption and another for the day after.  For a memory refresher, here is border hawk candidate McCain. Here is the politically expedient border hawk candidate Jeff Flake  — an unwavering amnesty-supporting congressman — doing an about-face to win conservative votes for the senate seat he so blatantly coveted.

Seeing Red AZ has devoted an entire  category to each of these deceptive establishment politicos. We know them well. For that reason we commend formidable Nebraska Republican Sen. Deb Fischer.

H/T BizPac Review 

AZ Conservative Coalition: Final rating updates

On June 18, we reported the Arizona Conservative Coalition (ACC) would release a final, updated scoring for the just completed legislative session. The most recent ratings reflecting legislative actions as of 6/28/13 are now available. Click here for the updated report and individual scores. There are six categories, ranging from Reagan Republican down to RINO.

Howard Levine’s informative narrative can be read here. The Governor’s score will be published separately next week due to the fact that her final actions on the last couple of bills occurred this week, and require review before releasing her score.

The folks at ACC provide individual scores for Arizona’s Republican Representatives and Senators. There is quite a variation. This week the Senate ratings range from a high of 92.0 down to a disgraceful 34.2. In the House of Representatives the top scorer received a 96.1 with the bottom of the list rating a feeble 36.0.

The FAQs section responds to some of the questions the folks at ACC have been getting regarding the grades assigned.

Bills used in the evaluation along with the summary of criteria used to weight bills can be seen here. There is also an excellent, concise analysis of each bill considered.

Click this link for detail evaluation data.

We at Seeing Red AZ send our appreciation to the crew at Arizona Conservative Coalition for their timely and in-depth weekly reports during the legislative session and this final follow-up. It’s obvious a great amount of effort goes into making these reports available.  We look forward to posting these informative reports for our readers next session. 

PBS: The new meaning of gay celebrants

Inattentive parents and grandparents who think PBS’s Sesame Street is a benign bit of programming designed to acquaint the children in their lives with numbers and the alphabet, might not be aware that two of the longtime characters have come out of the closet.  Yep. Bert and Ernie are now considered, by those who consider such things, to be one of the most famous homosexual duos in pop culture.

On Wednesday, the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. jubilantly rang its bells in support of sodomy, referred to in the Bible as an “abomination.”  Steve Benson, who used this essay to extol abandoning his faith, is the cartoonist at the pro-homosexual agendized Arizona Republic. He recently portrayed the puppet characters with their wedding ringed hands held aloft in celebration of the U.S. Supreme Court DOMA ruling. Now the New Yorker magazine has gotten in on the act. The cover is titled “Bert and Ernie’s Moment of Joy,” with a depiction of Bert and Ernie snuggling together on the couch as they watch news of the Supreme Court rulings on television.

None of this incrementalism occurred in a vacuum. “Sesame Street” creator Joan Ganz Cooney first introduced the programming in 1969, with an admittedly liberal agenda — now masquerading  as “progressive.” It used innovative techniques of oversized puppets, animation and music to capture the attention of children and first mainstreamed diverse characters — one living in a garbage can — to introduce them to the alphabet, numbers and urbanism. One of the program’s stated goals was to “help level the educational playing field for all pre-school children” with inoculations of leftwing politics.

Ganz was a native born Arizonan who graduated ASU. Most of all, she was a product of her time — the anti-establishment 1960s.

“It’s amazing to witness how attitudes on gay rights have evolved in my lifetime,” said Jack Hunter, the artist behind the New Yorker cover, “Moment of Joy.” He says, “This is great for our kids, a moment we can all celebrate.”

Nope. It’s not “amazing” at all, Mr. Hunter.  It was encoded in their minds from the earliest days their infant seats were plopped down in front of Sesame Street and they soaked up the culture of the “socially relevant” World According to Sesame Street.

Education decline exposed in trial testimony

A telling moment during cross examination in the George Zimmerman trial, reveals more than skewed testimony and the witness’ lack of veracity. Coincidently uncovered is the sad state of America’s education system.

Witness Rachel Jeantel was forced to admit that she did not write a letter that she sent to Trayvon Martin’s mother describing what she allegedly heard on a phone call with him moments before he was shot. The revelation came when defense attorney Don West asked her to read the letter aloud in court.

“Are you able to read that at all?” West asked.

Jeantel, head bowed and eyes averted, whispered into the court microphone, “Some but not all. I don’t read cursive.”

The 19-year-old woman’s shocking admission sent a hush through the packed courtroom.

She was unable to read any of the letter except her own name, the date and the words “thank you.”

THIS is likely the reason why.

Watch the witness admit she can’t read cursive:

 

U.S. Senate votes 68 – 32 for amnesty

No surprises with AZ’s two Gang-of-Eightsters.

How the others voted? Check here.

Arizona Republicans gladly bid adios to Rich Crandall

The Casper Star-Tribune reports that Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead has selected Rich Crandall “recognized as a moderate Republican force in the Arizona Senate,” to run the state Education Department.

There are those in Arizona who would consider reporter Joan Barron’s description to be the height of understatement.

Aside from Crandall’s lackadaisical work ethic — during his term in the AZ House, he missed 254 out of 382 floor votes in the 2009 regular session — the phantom legislator is deceptively lacking in commitment to his constituents and his job. He blamed his chronic absenteeism on taking a post in New York — after having run to represent the district. Crandall was also one of the first RINOs to join with the unified Democrats in supporting OBrewerCare, the costly and unsustainable Medicaid expansion.

Additionally Crandall made the infamous Benedict Arnold list after joining with the unified Dems on five major bills in 2011.

Despite missing nearly 2/3 of the session votes and giving aid and comfort to the Democrats at every turn, Crandall’s reelection was paramount to the left-leaning establishment elites, who sunk $105,000 into his campaign to defeat a conservative candidate.

But the efforts on his behalf didn’t provide much incentive to Crandall. After being reelected, he anounced his intention to resign mid-term to pursue his quest for a “dream job” regardless of whether the Wyoming  job came through. It was rumored that Crandall, who has no background in education, was eyeing the superintendent’s post in Gilbert, AZ. He owns Crandall Corporate Dietitians, the nation’s largest provider of dietary consulting and menu services to nursing homes. The lucrative business apparently isn’t enough of a “dream job” to suit his tastes.

Fortunately for the residents of Gilbert, Crandall is leaving the state.  Wyoming’s parents should be outraged at the selection of this Obama Common Core advocate who will be directing the education policies for their children. However his move out of state is a gift to all Arizonans who will no longer be subject to his desire to federalize our education system from his perch on the senate education committee.

Bottom-dwelling lefty Heather Carter censured by GOP

Republican leaders statewide have had their fill and speak out  

At their district meeting last evening, the elected precinct committeemen of Legislative District 15 voted 54 – 5 to issue a vote of “No Confidence” in their state Rep. Heather Carter.

The Motion read: We issue a vote of no confidence on Representative Heather Carter, because of her support of HB 2010 “The Medicaid Expansion.” She did this in direct opposition to the overwhelming majority of LD 15 Precinct Committeemen.

Check out Carter’s bottom-dwelling ranking on the Arizona Conservative Coalition‘s list of state legislative Republicans.

On March 7, the Maricopa County Republican Committee’s Executive Guidance Committee (MCRC EGC) overwhelmingly approved a Resolution opposing Gov. Jan Brewer’s Medicaid expansion.

Around the state, Republican precinct committeemen have spoken loud and clear at their individual monthly legislative district meetings.  Maricopa County LDs 1, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 22, 23, 25, 26, 27 and 30; along with  Pima County Republican LDs 2, 3 ,4, 9, 10, 11, 14 have voted in opposition of the Medicaid expansion.  They were joined by Coconino Republican Executive Committee, the Pinal, Cochise and Mohave County Republican Committees and the Yavapai County Area Directors, who voted on and approved their own individual resolutions in opposition to the Medicaid Expansion — now known as OBrewerCare.

The resolutions can be read here, courtesy of the Maricopa County Republican Committee. Check out the informative “Briefs,” posted daily by Communications Director Frosty Taylor.