Tony Bouie scores cushy post: Establishment takes care of its own

Newly elected Arizona Governor Doug Ducey isn’t letting any grass grow under his feet as he repays establishment favors.

In this accolade-filled press release, Ducey announces the appointment of accomplished charlatan Tony Bouie as the new director of the Arizona State Lottery.

This post, “Tony Bouie: Problematic candidate is baaack,“ dated Jan. 30, 2012, contains links to numerous articles we’ve written about Bouie’s brazen attempts to deceive the voters in two separate districts where he sought legislative seats.  “It’s time to stop the embarrassment, Tony“ contains links to a dozen other articles about the duplicitous Tony Bouie.

A man with an abundance of personal problems, Bouie is best known for registering as a Republican after being a lifelong Democrat, and then opportunistically lying about it when running in a GOP heavy District. He shamelessly filed his intent to run within FIVE short days of changing his registration status. Then the newly-minted Republican had the temerity to refer to himself as a “conservative leader.” After his con was exposed he went so far as to send out a press release declaring that he “became a Republican in his heart,” but neglected to reregister — with the new party that meant so much to him. 

Until his lies were exposed, opportunistic imposter Bouie remained so insistent touting his longtime Republican credentials that he told the Capitol Times, “In fact, I’ve been a Republican half of my voting life.”

The lottery —- state sanctioned gambling —- is taking a pointless gamble with Tony Bouie.

In an arena where integrity must be the paramount consideration, Gov. Ducey and his advisors have fallen far short of the mark in replacing principled former state lawmaker Jeff Hatch-Miller, who has held this position since 2009.

Advertisement

Departing candidate Mitt gets it right with Jeb jab

Bush fatigue coupled with Jeb Bush’s notorious amnesty stance make his candidacy unacceptable

In his Friday morning announcement that he will not be running for president, Mitt Romney lobbed a less than subtle parting shot at 61-year-old Jeb Bush.  Though cloaked, conservative politicos got his message loud and clear —- and Romney was right on target.

“After putting considerable thought into making another run for president, I’ve decided it is best to give other leaders in the Party the opportunity to become our next nominee,” Romney, 67, said, as he underscored the need for a fresh face for the GOP.

“I believe that one of our next generation of Republican leaders, one who may not be as well known as I am today, one who has not yet taken their message across the country, one who is just getting started, may well emerge as being better able to defeat the Democrat nominee,” he told supporters on the conference call during which he announced his decision. “In fact, I expect and hope that to be the case.”

Though not supporters of Romney, we join him in that hope.

Here is Jeb Bush calling the invasion of the United States by illegal aliens, “an act of love.” 

“Yes, they broke the law,” Jeb Bush acknowledges, “but it’s not a felony. It’s an act of love. It’s an act of commitment to your family. I honestly think that that is a different kind of crime. It shouldn’t rile people up that people are coming to this country to provide for their families.”

Obama terrorism disconnect shown in press conference, poll

Nearly 50% say Obama downplays threat from Islamic terrorists

White House Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz embarrassingly attempted to respond to a simple question posed by ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl during a White House press conference Wednesday. When Schultz described the Taliban as just an “armed insurgency,” and not a “terrorist organization” like ISIS, an astonished Karl asked,  “You don’t think the Taliban’s a terrorist group?”

In an exchange between the two on a possible Jordanian prisoner swap with ISIS forces, Karl asked Schultz how that government’s actions differ from the United States’ 2014 release of Gitmo prisoners with the Taliban in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

WH spokesman Schultz struggled to answer, obviously trying to recall administration talking points on the subject: “I don’t think that the Taliban, um… uh…the Taliban is an armed insurgency, this was the winding down of the war in Afghanistan and that’s why this arrangement was dealt.”

 This latest Fox News poll points to an overwhelming 84 percent of American voters surveyed who think it is at least somewhat likely Islamic terrorists will try to launch an attack on U.S. soil soon. That includes half —- 50 percent —- who say “very” likely. A scant 15 percent of voters think the country is safer since Obama became president.

The poll asks voters why they think Obama doesn’t use terms like radical Islam or Islamic terrorism. While 14 percent say it’s because he doesn’t think the terrorist threat is directly connected to Islam, most (70 percent) think there is another reason. The poll did not ask what the other reasons might be. 

AG nominee Lynch defends Obama’s amnesty policies

Sen. Jeff Sessions opposes Loretta Lynch; don’t expect AZ’s Sens. to show such spine

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Chairman of the Senate Immigration Subcommittee, questioned Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch during Wednesday’s Judiciary hearing. Sessions asked Lynch about Barack Obama’s decision to bypass Congress to impose a sweeping amnesty —- and how this action undermined the rights of disadvantaged American workers. 

Listen to Democrat Lynch’s declaration that “the right and the obligation to work is one that’s shared by everyone in this country, regardless of how they came here. And certainly, if someone is here —- regardless of status —- I would prefer that they would be participating in the workplace than not participating in the workplace.”

Sen. Sessions is well versed in the law. Beginning his career as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, he was nominated by President Reagan and confirmed by the Senate to serve as the U.S. Attorney for Alabama’s Southern District, a position he held for 12 years. Sessions was elected Alabama Attorney General in 1995, serving as the state’s chief legal officer until he entered the United States Senate.

Read his reason for opposing Loretta Lynch’s nomination.

Attempting to deflect negativity, Lynch said that if confirmed she would focus on combating terrorism and cybercrime and would protect the vulnerable from criminal predators. Would that include vulnerable American citizens who are displaced workers due to a flood of millions of illegals, now given the cover of amnesty, complete with legal status and Social Security numbers?

Don’t expect Arizona’s U.S. Sens. John McCain or Jeff Flake to emulate the far sharper Jeff Sessions when votes are cast on her nomination.

McCain, along with Jon Kyl, Flake’s predecessor, supported the nominations of every leftwing Democrat to come down the pike —- including Eric Holder, Janet Napolitano (voice vote), and Hillary Clinton. The duo voted to confirm Obama nominee Mary Murguia as another liberal judge on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Murguia’s twin sister Janet is the President and CEO of the National Council of La Raza — “The Race” — a group whose two-sentence motto is chilling to everyone who values equal rights for all: “For the Race everything. Outside the Race, nothing.”  

RINOs McCain and Kyl also stepped front and center voting in support of the nomination of Andrew Hurwitz, a politically connected leftist Democrat —- then an AZ Supreme Court Justice —- aiding his ascent to the already radical 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Arizona República was so thrilled, it editorially gushed over retiring Kyl, calling him a “statesman.”

Expect nothing less from Flake and his McMentor. Our bet is they will vote in support of Loretta Lynch’s confirmation.

Same-sex issues: A confusing religious smorgasbord

Faith-based courage retreats as political correctness takes major leap 

On Tuesday the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints loosened the reins on teachings about homosexuality via this rare news conference in which church leaders called for a “fairness for all” approach “that balances religious freedom protections with reasonable safeguards for LGBT people — specifically in areas of housing, employment and public transportation.”

Couching this change of attitude as an issue of “housing, employment and public transportation,” and glib use of the acronym LGBT, appears to be acceptance of the camel’s nose under the tent, since these issues were already addressed in 2009 as the LDS Church endorsed two Salt Lake City ordinances barring housing and job discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Nearly 20 Utah cities and counties have passed similar ordinances.

This Salt Lake City Tribune report contains information on pending legislation to protect religious individuals’ ability to refuse to marry same-sex couples, but even the sponsor is unsure it will pass.

In July 2013, it was Pope Francis who uttered the stunning words, “Who am I to judge?” when speaking with reporters about homosexuality within the Catholic Church.

In the words of the Catechism, the Church teaches that homosexuals “must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity” and that “every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.” But the Catechism also describes a “homosexual inclination” as “objectively disordered” and homosexual acts as “intrinsically disordered,” because sexuality is “an integral part of the love by which a man and a woman commit themselves totally to one another until death.”

Biblical teachings have remained consistently clear on the topic of homosexuality. Leviticus 20:13 leaves no doubt that homosexual relations are against God’s law. In Romans 1:24 Paul preached to the Romans that homosexual behavior was sinful.

The Bible is a sacred book of scripture that serves as an important pillar of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

As overreaching courts have legitimized same-sex marriages in dozens of states, including those with large Mormon populations such as Arizona, Idaho, Nevada and Utah, a growing number of churchgoers have pushed the conservative church to become more accepting of homosexual members —- a considerably altered  position since the church’s involvement as one of the leading forces behind California’s 2008 ballot measure  known as Proposition 8, prohibiting such unions.

This Dec. 2012 Pew Research Center report provides an overview of the official positions on same-sex marriage held by 16 religious groups in the U.S.

Illegal ID thieves become victims in topsy-turvy world

The laws that Arizona citizens look to for protection from the life-altering crime of identity theft are not worthy of being enforced if the perpetrator happens to be an illegal alien, in the world according to U.S. District Court Judge David Campbell.

Prosecutors are now dismissing identity-theft cases in light of Campbell’s preliminary injunction ordering law enforcement and prosecutors to stop pursuing felony convictions in cases where stolen identity is used to obtain employment until he issues a final ruling on the case —- according to a report in the pro-open borders Periódico de la República de Arizona (Arizona Republic).

In short, this means that the court’s loathing of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is greater than its concern for the actual victims of crime perpetrated by those who have invaded our country.

Ironically, Paul Charlton, the lawyer representing one of the highest-profile business owner defendants arrested by the sheriff’s office, is the former United States Attorney for the District of Arizona —- appointed by President George W. Bush.

Carlos Garcia, director of the radical Puente Arizona, one of the plaintiffs in the case, said he hopes the injunction is the beginning of the end for the ID-theft laws.

Sure. Why not?

Arizona courts have incrementally gutted the ability of law enforcement to protect citizens as further protections have been gifted to those invading our state and nation.

ID theft is not a victimless crime. “In some of the worst cases of identity theft, people who have had their name stolen, are refused loans, have lost their jobs, have had their wages garnished or been arrested for crimes they haven’t committed,” said AARP’s previous Arizona State Director David Mitchell.  “And cleaning up the mess can take years and money.”

Illegal alien identity thieves are also stealing your child’s future. Their Social Security numbers are especially valuable targets, since children aren’t employed, making discovery of the fraud unlikely until years after it has occurred and hundreds of thousands in debt have been accrued.

As far back as 2008 we wrote Illegal alien couple applied for home loan, bought cars, using stolen SSNs.

Has Judge David Campbell ever watched this video which highlights the $750,000 debt piled on a young Arizona girl by illegals? Does he care?

AZ Republic roughs up Jeff Flake in lover’s spat

Hollywood divorces are sensational news though they occur with enough regularity to render them humdrum. There’s always a peroxide blonde dumper or dumpee grabbing the headlines.

When the split occurs on the political front and the dumper is the state’s newspaper of record, the news is even more compelling. In this case the blonde is Sen. Jeff Flake who is getting something far less than the royal treatment from the Arizona Republic —– not once, but twice, within 24 hours.

On Saturday Jan. 24, the newspaper drew a parallel between Flake and Obama in a report that must have sent Flake reeling even more than the disapproval he received at the statutory state GOP meeting where Flake and McCain were greeted with boos and catcalls from the Republican elected state committeemen. The article is derisively headlined, Flake sides with Obama on Iran and Cuba.

From the report:

U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, the Foreign Relations committee’s ranking Democrat, ripped Obama administration “quotes” as sounding like “talking points that come straight out of Tehran and it feeds to the Iranian narrative of victimization when they are the ones with original sin, an illicit nuclear-weapons program going back over the course of 20 years that they are unwilling to come clean on.”

But Flake said he supports the ongoing negotiations and believes the United States should do whatever it can to ensure Iran makes good on its promise. “I’m fine with imposing even harsher sanctions if the negotiations fall apart, or if Iran doesn’t live up to its agreement, but while these negotiations are going on, I think we ought to support them,” Flake said.

Flake was irrationally speaking of the terror-sponsoring nation that nurtures anti-America hatred, while working to build a nuclear arsenal.

 Flake also is a GOP fan of Obama’s effort to normalize relations with Communist Cuba, a plan opposed by many Cuban Americans. Sen. Marco Rubio, the son of naturalized Cuban immigrants  said, “Obama gave Castro virtually everything the U.S. president could and got no concessions in the way of guarantees for more democracy, free speech or human rights. This is what happens when you send a speech-writer to negotiate with a tyrant.”

Sunday’s editorial was equally scathing. It ran with the headline, Jeff Flake is now part of the immigration problem. The “editorial board,” sounding a whole lot like a solo Linda Valdez offering, opens with this tidbit:

“Arizona’s junior senator once tried to solve our broken system. How, he’s just feeding the GOP base.”

 “A new session has started, and now Flake is co-sponsoring a hard-nosed bill, the Secure the Border First Act of 2015. It would prescribe where fences must be built and what other infrastructure must be added.”

The AZ República has had plate-throwing tantrums with its honey-haired honey before as evidenced by this split in March 2011, where editorialist Doug MacEachern called Flake’s pre-election change of heart on legalizing millions of illegal aliens “jarring.”  Flake was declared a mere “politician “ —- no longer a statesman”— for emulating his mentor John McCain’s campaign border epiphany during his last senatorial campaign.

 Count on the fact this separation is just a lover’s spat. The Periódico de la República de Arizona (Arizona Republic) and Jeff the Flake will be cuddling again soon.

Sens. McCain, Flake rate boo-vation at AZ GOP meeting

Inauspicious beginning of Robert Graham’s second term at helm of AZ GOP

The annual Statutory Meeting of the State Committee of the Arizona Republican Party was the site of another in the continued rejections of John McCain, as nearly 800 elected statewide delegates, carrying 435 proxies, expressed their displeasure with Arizona’s U.S. Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake. The duo made a grossly miscalculated judgment call by even turning onto the property where the Saturday meeting was held.

McCain was introduced by Rev. C. T. Wright, a man of the cloth obviously selected to keep the crowd in check. But even the emotive pastor wasn’t enough to tame the ire of the crowd at seeing the man they censured just last year for a litany of grievances, including a “record [which] has been disastrous and harmful to Arizona and the United States.”

Of interest to seasoned politicos was the set-up involved in springing the duplicitous pair on the delegates who were sent out to lunch wagons on the grounds as the hall was cleared to spirit the unpopular senators in.  Among the supporting cast was a Vietnamese entourage, some dressed in fatigues, waving their native flags. There was even a Vietnamese beauty queen resplendent in a long white gown with a shoulder-to-waist ribbon sash.

Judging by the boos, backs turned to the speaker, and people leaving the auditorium during his address, McCain’s choreographed purge of conservatives from the party ranks wasn’t as successful as he had envisioned.

Robert Graham’s pedantic lecture on civility fell on deaf ears as he chastised the McCain-weary delegates. This appalling ruse was put in place by AZ GOP Chairman Graham, who can no longer deny his close association with Team McCain. Had he foisted the “surprise” of McCain and Flake on the delegates before the ballots were voted, his slate likely would have failed.

Graham’s wily timing saved his Chairmanship and the 1st Vice Chairman post for Paralee Schneider; Secretary, Linda White; and Treasurer, Jonathan Lines.  Conservatives held the 2nd Vice Chairmanship with the election of Gabby Saucedo Mercer.

These anti-McCain buttons, badges and lapel stickers were in high demand at the state GOP convention. The badges with “Deport McCain 2 Manchuria,” refer to the 1959 novel and followup movie, “The Manchurian Candidate,” about a former POW from a prominent family who was brainwashed by his Communist captors.

Illegal murders young clerk: plea deal fails us all

In the early morning hours Thursday, Apolinar Altamirano, an illegal alien and previously convicted felon, entered a Mesa QuikTrip convenience market from which he had been banned by a court order just two weeks earlier. Altamirano, 29, became enraged when 21-year-old clerk Grant Ronnebeck told the man that he needed money before he could give him the cigarettes he demanded. When Altamirano pulled a gun, Ronnebeck attempted to hand him the cigarettes. The clerk’s efforts were in vain. The 5’6, 250 lb. Mexican national shot Grant Ronnebeck in the face.

Surveillance video captured Altamirano calmly stepping over Ronnebeck and grabbing a couple of packs of Marlboro cigarettes before he left the store.

Following a high-speed chase, the cold-blooded murderer was apprehended. Police found him in prohibited possession of a 9mm semiautomatic and a revolver. Altamirano had been charged with burglary in 2012, but had the charges reduced to facilitation to commit burglary in a plea deal and was placed on two years probation Jan. 2, 2013. (Read the four-page court document under link.)  Finally in custody, his bail has now been set at $1 million. 

The question to ask is why a felon known to be in the state of Arizona illegally was found worthy of having his sentence suspended, being granted probation and released onto valley streets? The family of young Grant Ronnebeck and the people of Arizona deserve an answer.

AZ GOP election: Slime campaign reaches new depths

Robert Graham is hard at work as he runs for a second term as Arizona Republican Party Chairman. While he amasses conscripted endorsements and accolades, daily emails arrive in the in-boxes of state committeemen heralding Graham as a “defender of conservative principles” who has “delivered tremendous success.”

Confidence building is a requisite campaign tactic. What is troubling is the growing unsavory aspect of having surrogates send 11^th hour messages disparaging the Conservative Team running in opposition to the current chair and his slate.

It was not our desire to enter this fray, but the unrelenting attacks against party chair candidate Lori Urban and first vice chair candidate A. J. LaFaro have reached a point where conservatives can no longer turn a blind eye. Not only are they coming at breakneck speed in the final days before the biennial meeting of the State Committee, but the level of animus has exceeded the bounds of decency. LaFaro is the immediate past Maricopa County Chairman.

When viewed by most reasonable people, mudslinging has a far worse effect on the originators of the attacks than the recipients. In a tactic reminiscent of John McCain, Graham’s hands appear to be clean. The dirty work is done by often nameless sycophants who somehow have access to statewide email addresses.  Reports of manipulative push polls, conducted on behalf of the “Republican Party” attempting to influence recipients, reward the undesired answers with gossip contrived to make uninformed newcomers fall into line. Dare we say the honey-voiced woman reading the alternative script, reminds us of John McCain in drag?

In addition to the attacks there are shenanigans relating to petition collections. Traditionally, gathering petition signatures to get a resolution to the floor of the statutory meeting is done in the parking lot as state committeemen arrive.  However, just days ago an AZ GOP restrictive directive was sent out that reads: “As the state committeemen are checked in with their credentials, they will be referred to the room for the purpose of signing your resolutions if they choose to do so.  NO RESOLUTIONS PETITIONS CAN BE CIRCULATED TO STATE COMMITTEEMEN IN ATTENDANCE BEFORE THEY ARE CHECKED IN WITH THEIR CREDENTIALS.”  Further, there will be no mixing of counties on a single page.

This is obviously a preemptive maneuver designed to prevent state committeemen from ever again forwarding another nationally reported, embarrassing censure as previously happened to John McCain at both the Maricopa County meeting and the state GOP meeting.

This meeting of the AZ GOP State Committee will be held tomorrow, Saturday Jan. 24, at the Grace Community Church in Tempe. Registration opens at 7:30 am. If you are a voting state committeeman, arrive armed with truth and eyes clear of the smoke and mirrors intended to deceive.

We support the actual CONSERVATIVE SLATE:

 Chairman:  Lori Urban  

1st Vice Chairman:   A. J. LaFaro 

2nd Vice Chairman:  Gabby Saucedo-Mercer

Secretary:  Lynne Breyer

Treasurer:  Ardith Hildebrant