Ducey-Douglas rift stoked by Lisa Graham Keegan

Arizonans need score card to keep track of AZ Republic’s schizophrenic coverage

Arizona Republic columnist Laurie Roberts appears to applaud state Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas, saying she “Scored Direct hit on Gov. Doug Ducey.’ The claque of Mary Jo Pitzl and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez go off in a pro-Lisa Graham Keegan direction.  E. J. Montini, the dutiful leftist follows the editorial board’s anti-Douglas instructions as he hopes to hang on just another few years until his social security kicks in and before the newspaper kicks off. Robert Robb, the more cerebral of the pack, gives points to Diane Douglas, saying Gov. Doug Ducey lacks the authority to reinstate the two state Board of Education staff members fired by Douglas. Columnist Doug MacEachern?  He weighs in using the take-no-prisoners prerogative, “maniacal” to describe Douglas. These are merely iceberg tips, but readers get the drift.

In nearly every report the name Lisa Graham Keegan appears. This past weekend, she was Brahm Resnik’s haughty guest on “Sunday Square Off.” (linked video follows ad.)

And who is the seemingly ubiquitous Lisa Graham Keegan, suddenly grabbing headlines?

Keegan, a RINO-turned-Independent who supported Douglas’ radical leftwing educrat opponent, oddly seems to be regarded by Ducey as the state school superintendent. And why not? Like Ducey, Keegan is a McCain ally. She served as McCain’s education advisor during his doomed presidential bid.  Keegan formerly held the top school position before ditching it back in 2001 with a year-and-a-half of her term remaining. The heady aura of Washington, D.C. was too compelling to keep her in Arizona to fulfill her commitment to the voters who put her in office. She also left rudderless the controversial Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) test which she had championed as a high school graduation requirement. AIMS was a hotly debated precursor of Common Core.

When Keegan boogied in 2001, then-Gov. Jane Hull appointed lobbyist Jaime Molera to replace her. When the term expired, Molera ran for the position losing to conservative Tom Horne, who was then elected to two consecutive terms.

This past November, grassroots candidate Diane Douglas ran and was elected on an unambiguous anti-Common Core platform. Keegan not only supports the federal overreach into local education, but derides Douglas as “erratic,” even as she tap dances around the issue of fewer dollars for public schools while Ducey slices $13 million from the state education budget.

Conservatives who have ample reasons to distrust the GOP establishment are banking on Diane Douglas holding firm to her campaign pledges. As Robert Robb noted, “she is intensively disliked by all the right people.”

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?

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.

Judge Katherine Cooper’s cringe-worthy lack of judgment

Convicted sex offender & fugitive live-in boyfriend arrested at judge’s home

In a startling report of a judge —- entrusted with life or death decision-making in the lives of Maricopa County residents —- KPHO-TV 5 exposes the personal reality disconnect of Superior Court Judge Katherine “Kay” Cooper.

Living in the digital age and surrounded by nearly daily technological advances, it would be a reasonable assumption that a trial court judge would be astute enough to at least do a free public records search on the honey she’s moving into her home. Exercising that bit of savvy is known as being judicious —– at trait judges should have in abundance. Judge Cooper has been on the bench since being appointed by Gov. Jan Brewer in 2011.

In the case of romance-blinded Katherine Cooper, her live-in boyfriend of two years is a convicted sex offender under indictment for extortion in New York.

In this in-depth coverage, complete with photos of the couple, reporter Donna Rossi notes the judge’s boyfriend, Michael Kent Krause, 42, was indicted recently in New York on a felony charge of grand larceny due to extortion.

Detectives tracked Krause down at the central Phoenix home owned by Cooper after they could not locate him at a small, ramshackle trailer at a Mesa RV park where he rents a space. The Mesa location is the address the state has on record for Krause as part of his sex offender registration requirement.

Krause has quite a rap sheet. He’s a registered sex offender, a convicted felon out of California and was recently arrested at the judge’s home on a warrant for being a fugitive from justice.

It has also been reported that California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation records show that Krause has spent time in prison for burglary, assault with a deadly weapon and assault with intent to commit a sex offense.

Though she claimed to be “shocked” when news of the allegations against Michael Krause became public, and stated that he no longer resides with her, it appears she has hired a former law school classmate to defend him.

Judge Katherine Cooper (her first name was misspelled as Catherine in this voter guide) was just retained by Maricopa County voters in November.

Diane Douglas disappointingly parses ethnic studies

The conservative support that brought Diane Douglas to the Nov. 6, Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction victory was based on her steadfast opposition to the Common Core curriculum. Her base also counted on Douglas following in the footsteps of an earlier two-term predecessor, Tom Horne, who successfully fought the divisive ethnic studies program in the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD). A lawyer, he personally argued the case in U.S. District Court in Tucson.

Instead, using slippery language, Douglas has taken a startling new position on the separatist studies. After a meeting with TUSD Superintendent Heliodoro Torres “H.T.” Sanchez, Douglas concluded that “elements” of the district’s program, including a section on hip-hop music, went too far. But she is not actually opposed to ethnic studies. In a statement released following her meeting with Sanchez, Douglas hit a low note with this conclusion, “It is important to correct the misunderstanding that the Arizona Department of Education is opposed to ethnic studies. If any child educated in Arizona is not exposed to the suffering, trials and triumphs of all ethnic groups who have contributed to our state’s rich cultural mix, then we are failing to teach accurate history.”

Douglas’ immediate former predecessor John Huppenthal addressed this issue in a Jan. 2, 2015 press release as he was leaving the superintendent’s post.

“During my tenure as Superintendent, I have been closely monitoring the status of the Tucson Unified School District’s culturally relevant curricula to ensure that all TUSD students, regardless of their race or ethnic background, have access to a high quality education,” Huppenthal wrote. “After a thorough review of materials from TUSD’s culturally relevant courses, I find that the district has failed to meet several provisions of the 2012 Settlement Agreement settlement and is once again in clear violation of A.R.S. §15-112. Furthermore, I am deeply concerned by the fact that the noncompliance appears to extend beyond classes taught from the Mexican American perspective and now also includes classes taught from the African-American perspective.”

Huppenthal nailed it.

Tom Horne also got it right when he previously said, “Traditionally, the American public school system has brought together students from different backgrounds and taught them to be Americans and to treat each other as individuals, and not on the basis of their ethnic backgrounds. This is consistent with the fundamental American value that we are all individuals, not exemplars of whatever ethnic groups we were born into. Ethnic studies programs teach the opposite, and are designed to promote ethnic chauvinism.”

There is palpable disappointment at Douglas’ apparent willingness to expand and breathe new life into the discredited program. How does the establishment of statewide minority programs that focus on victim status and characterize the United States as an oppressor nation benefit students? Shouldn’t the emphasis be on an inclusive American history rather than one that separates, blames and embraces victimhood in this country of unparalleled opportunity?

As an advertised conservative who appeared to possess quality credentials from her years on the Peoria Unified School District Governing Board, great hope was placed in her election triumph over a dedicated leftist educrat.

After just days in office, her supporters must already be wondering if Diane Douglas has forgotten who ‘brung her to the dance?’

Seeing Red AZ has covered the anti-American, La Raza-endorsed ethnic-studies programs since 2008. Here is a sampling:

March 12, 2013: AZ AG Horne victory: Judge upholds ethnic studies ban

Dec. 28, 2011: TUSD Mexican anti-American studies violates law

May 4, 2011: Tucson Unified School District: Inmates running the asylum

April 22, 2011: Chaos erupts over TUSD’s review of ethnic studies program

Jan. 4, 2011: AZ Republic lambastes TUSD’s ethnic studies duplicity as “bogus”

April 30, 2010: Bill to ban separatist studies sent to Gov. Brewer

Sept. 24, 2009: It’s still too hot to be taken in by TUSD’s snow job

Sept. 22, 2009: Bizarre race-based system of discipline for Tucson Schools

July 29, 2009: The Washington Times discovers AZ’s Superintendent of Public Instruction

June 28, 2009: Anti-Americanism passing as education in Tucson

June 11, 2008: Travesty in Tucson

 

 

AZ Federal judge protects illegals using stolen ID

Judicial overreaches reach new low

In a news article in which the headline is nearly as large as the report itself, the Periódico de la República de Arizona (Arizona Republic) enthusiastically treats readers to the latest in outrageous judicial actions. The report states, U.S. District Court Judge David Campbell “issued a preliminary injunction blocking Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery from enforcing two state laws that make it a felony for undocumented immigrants to use stolen identities to obtain work.”

Gnaw on that bit of preposterousness.  According to a federal judge illegal aliens have as much right to your identity as you do —- and neither law enforcement nor prosecutors are able to take legal action against the thieves. Children are viewed as especially attractive targets since their stolen identities usually go undetected for years.

Previously, when found, arrested and turned over to federal immigration officials, the identity thieves were deported. But, alas, those pesky felony convictions hindered their chances of returning to the U.S. legally. Now using legal contrivances reminiscent of George Orwell’s “1984” Newspeak, a federal judge rules that disallowing criminals free access to our county and the personal identity of American citizens is repressive.

Under court imposed pressure, Arpaio has announced plans to disband his work-site enforcement unit within the next two months, following completion of an ongoing investigation.

Campbell said the state laws that criminalize the act of identify theft for the purpose of obtaining employment are likely unconstitutional because they are preempted by federal law.

Jack MacIntyre, a lawyer and deputy chief with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, correctly noted the ruling is “a little bit of an exercise in futility if you eliminate and declare a state law unconstitutional because of federal preemption with a wink and a nod to the reality that the federal government shows no interest in enforcing that area of immigration law.”

The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office is reviewing an appeal of the preliminary injunction.  Bill Montgomery said the ruling “underscores yet again the consequences of federal inaction and the Obama administration’s indifference to the effects of unlawful immigration practices. While pretending to address the concerns of people admittedly violating the law, the victims of identity theft are deprived of the state of Arizona’s protection.”

As expected, left-wing organizations including the ACLU and Hispanic advocacy groups, praised the contemptible ruling.

Tillman resigns local NAACP top job, unusual replacement named

After nearly three decades as president of the Maricopa County Branch of the NAACP, Rev. Oscar Tillman is retiring.

In the news account of his torch passing, the 69-year old Tillman was quoted as saying, “I’m an old-school person who knows when to let someone else step up to the plate. Somebody else gave me that chance.”

For that reason we imagined a young black leader would have been chosen to lead the organization. Instead, his replacement will be Donald Harris, a local lawyer, with a libertine bent. At age 76, Harris is seven years older than the retiree. He is also white.

That fact should be enough to drag Al Sharpton protégé, Rev. Jarrett Maupin, II, out to hurl racially charged insults. Instead he was busy with a Tuesday press conference to announce his latest campaign, “Black Lives Matter,” which Maupin says ‘addresses the violence of systemic racism in America and Arizona.” Maupin says, “Black communities throughout America suffer untold violence at the hands of aggressive police. His not-so-veiled threat, “We are counting down to the Super Bowl, but who’s counting down to the next police killing? There are consequences.”

In January 2013, covering the Phoenix City Council race we noted that race-baiter Maupin reprehensibly referred to then-candidate Kate Gallego, a Harvard grad with an MBA from the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, as “a white political patsy.”  He also called her “a power-hungry white…who not is openly campaigning as white.”

Maupin, who we still expect to hear from regarding the Harris appointment to the local NAACP post, momentarily dipped his toe into the congressional race in 2014, to replace retiring CD-7 Democrat Congressman Ed Pastor. But Maupin would have been unable to vote for himself due to a felony conviction.

Kate Gallego, the subject of Maupin’s vile invectives, had the last laugh.  She won the District 8 council seat and her husband Ruben has been elected to congress in the same race Maupin had a yen for. Both Gallego’s are Democrats.

As to Donald Harris, who has served on the NAACP executive board, the Gamma-Rho Chapter of the U of A Kappa Sigma fraternity has this bio of the Brooklyn-born Democrat. In 2004, the Phoenix New Times gave the loose cannon lawyer some less than flattering coverage during his unsuccessful bid for County Attorney. He had previously been a short timer heading that office in the 1970’s when he was appointed interim county attorney to complete the term of Moise Berger, who resigned.

Just days ago we posted, NYC officers murdered, Maupin crawls out of Phx rat hole. Of particular significance is the comment from ‘State Delegate,’ following the post, containing a letter from Rev. Clyde Bowen, Chairman of the Arizona American African Republican Committee (AAARC). exposing Maupin —- referred to by Rev. Bowen as “Kid Sharpton.”