Kyrsten Sinema proves laissez-faire dems aren’t so tolerant after all

Former Green Party member Sinema, once adored by leftist AZ Republic newspaper now feels its wrath

If you’re seeing smoke on a no-burn day, rest assured it’s only members of the Arizona democrat party executive committee and the leftist local newspaper fuming as they vent their rage. Early Saturday, the dems passed a resolution to censure Sen. Kyrsten Sinema in advance of the party’s convention. The cause of their angst? Sinema’s vote to keep the filibuster, a senate tool that has been used effectively since 1837. The filibuster requires 60 votes to end debate and move to a final vote. It doesn’t take much to tick off the dem party elite who want absolute control over U.S. senators toting the democrat label.

In a desperate effort to achieve success, the filibuster has suddenly transmogrified into a tool to limit minority voting rights, which is nothing more than blatant deception on the part of the democrats.

Sen. Joe Manchin, a moderate, principled and popular West Virginia democrat, has partnered with Sinema on retaining the filibuster. In this 2021 Op-Ed, ”I will not vote to eliminate or weaken the filibuster,” he wrote to the Washington Post, he explains his rationale. Manchin honed his bipartisan skills as a state legislator and governor.

When Arizona Republican-elected state committeemen voted to censure John McCain in January 2014, it was an honest reaction to his repeated assaults on the party he chose to use to forward his ambitions, as we exposed in, “John McCain: Unfavorite son censured by home state GOP.” Enraged, he retaliated against the party faithful as reported by Politico.

We’ll jumble our metaphors to describe Sinema as a mixed bag of many facets. In 2018 the Hillary-endorsing Arizona Republic newspaper dubbed her “Arizonan of the Year” as we noted in “Kyrsten Sinematic theatre of the absurd.” Do yourself a favor and read it to get a complete handle on the duplicity that drives the desperately failing newspaper.

Filibuster remains intact, thanks to dem Sens. Sinema, Manchin

Voter suppression claims were a hoax

Two democrat U.S. Senators, Joe Manchin (WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), on Wednesday evening joined unified Republicans to save our nation. We have not previously been fans of Arizona’s senior senator, Kyrsten Sinema, but owe her a debt of gratitude for this courageous action in opposition to her own party. The vote was 52 – 48 to maintain the 60 vote threshold.(Video of the final vote.)

The dems falsely framed this issue as necessary to ensure the right to vote. American citizens have the right to vote. The claim is bogus. Felons who have had their rights restored also qualify.

Although The New York Post recently editorialized, “The only reason to kill the filibuster: to empower Democrats,” the radically left, hemorrhaging subscriptions, Arizona Republic has gone apoplectic over Sen. Sinema’s resistance to eliminating the filibuster, prominently featuring a front page photo of her wearing a message-sending red dress and quoting — above the fold — the whining spokesman of the Primary Sinema PAC, established to remove her. “She just proved exactly what we’ve been saying: She prioritizes her own self-image as a ‘maverick’ trying to suck up to Republicans over delivering for her constituents.”

In a speech before the vote Manchin warned, “Allowing one party to exert complete control in the Senate with only a simple majority will only pour fuel on the fire of political whiplash and dysfunction that is tearing this nation apart…It’s time that we do the hard work to forge difficult compromises that can stand the test of time.”

TJ Helmstetter, a onetime associate communications director for the Democratic National Committee, is a guy who uses the incendiary word “Nazi” to describe Republicans. That’s the latest grotesque distortion used by the newspaper, which recently featured editorialist Elvia Diaz comparing illegal aliens breaching our sovereign border to Jews fleeing the Holocaust, resettling in Israel.

On January 15, 2022, Seeing Red AZ posted, “Freedom to Cheat Act: Left craves total fed takeover of elections.” Since then, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has left Mark Kelly behind in the dust.

For more factual background, The Heritage Foundation explains “The Role of the Filibuster.”

Trump comes to town, lets conservatives down

Republicrat Kari Lake endorsement is a monumental fail

Drawing an enormous crowd of energized supporters, as only he can do, former President Donald Trump held his first 2022 rally in Florence, Arizona, at the Canyon Moon Ranch festival grounds.

Although there is still speculation he will run for president again, a large percentage of his loyalists believe he remains most effective as an energizing force to keep Republican candidates on topic and point to his multiple successes that need to be replicated. During Trump’s administration, the economy soared and employment was at a record high. He was constructing the border wall he had promised as a candidate and appointed a record number of judges to the federal bench and three justices — Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — to the U.S. Supreme Court, comprising a conservative majority.

As president, his style was unique but effective. America was once again elevated on the world stage. He engendered a loyal following that still exists as evidenced by the massive crowd he drew Saturday.The Heavy has photos, although its estimated crowd size is thousands lower than we saw. Since there was no coliseum-style seating, it was difficult to get photos without professional equipment.

Energy ran high throughout the event. The single, but “huge” disappointment was Trump’s endorsement of former TV anchor, teleprompter reading, Kari Lake in Arizona’s governor’s race. Now a Republican, the party switching, generous donor to John Kerry and Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns is a standout for her lack of ability to run the state of Arizona. Trump cannot possibly know each of the candidates he endorses, and in this case he obviously got disastrous advice.

Here is Kari Lake, who claims to be pro-life, endorsing pro-abortion Merrick Garland for the U.S. Supreme Court when Obama tried (and failed) to slip him in as a last minute nominee to replace conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, who mysteriously died while on a hunting trip. Garland was resurrected as the U.S. Attorney General by feeble Biden’s handlers. Among his first acts was suing the state of Texas over its newly implemented abortion law.

These are a few revealing posts about unqualified, teleprompter reader Kari Lake:

July 26, 2021: Conservative” AZ Gov candidate Kari Lake was an Obama democrat. Major new video added

Aug. 3, 2021: GOP hating newspaper promotes former dem Kari Lake as GOP governor. New video explains why

Sept. 23, 2021: Fake “conservative” Guv candidate Kari Lake’s moral compass is broken

Sept. 29, 2021: Pres. Trump gets bad advice in AZ Gov’s race

Oct. 3, 2021: Fake conservative Kari Lake fails trying to speak Republicanese

Oct. 27, 2021: Merrick Garland supporter Kari Lake goes mute as he mobilizes FBI against parents

Matt Salmon’s governor’s office retry is a fool’s errand

Matt Salmon is running again. He began his political career in the state senate in 1990. Then running for congress from a Mesa-based district, he was elected to three 2-year terms, retiring to honor his term-limit pledge. That opened the door for the aptly named Jeff Flake, a McCain clone, to succeed him. In 2002 Salmon ran for governor, losing to democrat Janet Napolitano. She then left the governor’s post mid-term to join Barack Obama’s administration.

Next in line of succession* was Secretary of State Jan Brewer, which is why the mundane post is so popular.

Salmon’s history of commitment isn’t much better than Napolitano‘s. Salmon was a U.S. Rep. from 1995 to 2001 and again from 2013 until 2017, not a difficult task, running from the East Valley, where his roots run deep. The governor’s race is statewide. He lost it previously. As a member of the LDS church, which advocates healthy lifestyles and disparages smoking, Matt Salmon was President of the Electronic Cigarette Association, where he peddled vaping to young people.

In the intervening years, he was reported to have earned $336,090 yearly as of 2018, as the chief lobbyist for Arizona State University, notably supporting the China-financed Confucius Institute. This Jan. 2022 list shows a much slimmer list of participants and ASU appears to have ditched its program, which likely accounts for unemployed Salmon running again.

“Matt Salmon still chasing AZ governor dream…when not backing China,” provides additional background.

Now, as he once again aspires to be Arizona governor, he has a unique campaign tactic. It includes incessantly emailing lists of his supporters, including many sporting the titles “retired“ and “former.” There is also a long list titled, “Women for Salmon Coalition,”  whose white letters on a red background appearance resembles the nefarious “Republicans for Napolitano.” The similarity stops there. Salmon’s women’s coalition is more likely to be drawn from a Relief Society list.

Salmon’s time has come and gone. His political aspirations have hit a roadblock. He might have had better luck running for secretary of state, which has frequently provided a direct route to the governor‘s office:

*In 1977 Wesley Bolin, Arizona’s longest serving secretary of state with 28 consecutive years on the job, succeeded Gov. Raul Castro who left midterm to become ambassador to Argentina. Bolin served less than five months before suffering a fatal heart attack. The next in line of succession was Attorney General Bruce Babbitt, later elected to two full terms.

In 1988 Secretary of State Rose Mofford succeeded impeached Gov. Evan Mecham. Jane Hull followed the same route in 1997 after Gov. Fife Symington resigned due to a felony conviction —  which was later reversed. Gov. Jan Brewer was secretary of state when she completed Janet Napolitano’s term in 2009 when she resigned to join the Obama administration.

In Arizona, the secretary of state’s office provides a never-ending, high stakes political version of musical chairs.

MC Justices of the Peace: Diversity prioritized

Although some JP’s have law degrees, others just have a pulse

In a report on Maricopa County’s 26 Justice Courts, the local newspaper has, predictably, tossed credentials aside in order to highlight what it considers most important. Headlined “Maricopa County Justice Courts lead way on representation,” the focus is not on anything even slightly resembling legal knowledge or background. The newspaper’s spotlight shines brightly on “diversity.” Don’t be lulled into thinking this includes diverse ways of addressing the cases that appear before the courts, but rather on the immutable characteristics of the justices of the peace, themselves — genetic factors over which they have no control, but it plays so well into the focus of the failing newspaper.

Ethnicity and gender are always front-and-center issues for the seriously ailing newspaper. Impartially reporting news is backburnered to advancing its leftist messages. This crucial point is all the more evident in the three page article about the JP Courts, which focuses on the purple hair and youth of one JP, who claims her race and appearance puts defendants at ease. She was 24 when she first ran for her job. Another standout is referred to as a Navajo “Two-spirit,” an “indigenous gender-identity that embraces both masculine and feminine spirits.” A former state legislator who ran a gay bar carrying his last name is also featured.

Though justice court judges can oversee civil cases up to $10,000, DUI charges and misdemeanor cases, their qualifications are minimal. In layman’s terms all that’s required is a pulse. According to AZcourts.gov the applicant must be at least 18 years of age, a registered voter in Arizona, reside in the justice court precinct and understand the English language. They are paid a percentage of the salary of a Superior Court judge, along with benefits. JP’s base salaries, excluding weddings for which they are also paid, are over $100,000. Benefits are in addition to the base pay. The types of cases they handle are outlined on azcourts.gov.

Tom Cotton: Proof citizens benefit with GOP U.S. Senators

Unlike Arizona, which has two democrat U.S. Senators, the residents of Arkansas are fortunate. They have Tom Cotton representing them in the U.S. Senate. His website makes it clear what his priorities are since the home page is titled, “Tom Cotton…Senator for Arkansas. His background is unique. Cotton grew up on a farm, graduated Harvard Law School, clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals and spent two tours of duty in Iraq with the101st Airborne and in Afghanistan.

As a U.S. Senator Tom Cotton’s voting record is excellent. He also writes brilliantly, which is why SRAZ is directing our readers to this recent commentary which appeared on Townhall. Don’t be tempted to pass this by, to read at a later date. The knowledge contained in this article titled, “Recall, Remove & Replace Every Last Soros Prosecutor,” is critically important. 

Socialist billionaire George Soros abhors not only sovereign national borders, but also law enforcement. He funded the campaign of Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone, a democrat, by shoveling a cash infusion of $2.9 million into his campaign to unseat popular Republican Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who had been elected to an unprecedented six 4-year terms.

Soros also funded ads attacking Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, whose campaign against unknown democrat Diego Rodriguez flew below the political radar until the billionaire put $1.3 million into the race against the incumbent. Montgomery retained his position and was later appointed to the Arizona Supreme Court. Soros spent $millions attempting to influence races across the United States. His anti-law enforcement agenda began gaining attention in 2016 when Politico exposed his scheme to overhaul the criminal justice system.

Currently, Arizona has two democrats in the U.S. Senate, supposedly representing the citizens of the state. Mark Kelly, who has conveniently misplaced his party affiliation, has lucrative ties to China, and is also a Second Amendment restrictionist. Kirsten Sinema has become a mixed bag. Though a radical leftist with a long track record, she now often aligns with democrat Joe Manchin (WV), who frequently upholds more conservative principles, such as protecting the filibuster,

The last time Arizona had two democrat U.S. Senators was when Ernest McFarland and Carl Hayden represented the state. Hayden had been the territorial sheriff and first ran for congress in 1911 in anticipation of Arizona’s 1912 statehood. He was born in Hayden’s Ferry, Arizona Territory, which was later renamed Tempe in 1878.

McFarland, born in 1894 had the distinction of being the only Arizonan to served in all three branches of government. In 1924 he was elected Pinal County Attorney. He was a U.S. Senator, Arizona governor and Arizona Supreme Court justice. He owned KTVK Channel 3, which he acquired in a sweet media deal with fellow democrat, then-Pres. Lyndon Johnson, who also signed the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967. To put this timeline in context, both Hayden and McFarland joined the military during World War I.

PBS, chiefly funded by tax dollars, is a reliable propaganda arm for the democrat party. A 2014 Pew Research Survey found that 60% of PBS’s audience is consistently or mostly liberal, 26% mixed, and 15% consistently or mostly conservative.

Seeing Red AZ supports conservative businessman Jim Lamon for the U,S. Senate.

Gov. Ducey suddenly motivated to education action

The rumor mill has been rife with talk of term-limited Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey having an itch to relocate to D.C. in some political capacity. As we noted on Dec. 26, 2020, the former ice cream tycoon and his wife sold their gated 11,412 sq. ft. Paradise Valley golf course fairway mansion and 1,200 sq. ft. guest house situated on 2.14 acres, at a discounted rate of $8,150,000, obviously in preparation for his next adventure. His term ends on January 1, 2023, and he’s readying for another gig.

Speculation regarding lame-duck AZ Gov. Doug Ducey’s future plans have been running the gamut, though his national profile is not in the realm of Governors Ron DeSantis (FL) or Greg Abbott (TX).

He’s been quiet of late, not noticeably rocking the political boat except for his needless expansion of the Arizona Supreme Court, obviously thinking two of his friends, neither of whom had tried a case in years, would look sharp in black. There was also that newsworthy snub of then-President Trump, calling Ducey with his distinctive “Hail to the Chief” ring tone and Ducey pointedly ignoring it in front of Trump-disdaining reporters, who made sure it got the attention Ducey clearly desired.  A longtime McCain ally, initially employed by Cindy Hensley McCain at her Hensley Anheuser-Busch beer distributorship when he first arrived in Arizona to attend ASU, their friendship blossomed to the point that John McCain encouraged the then-ice cream mogul Ducey to run for governor.

Ducey’s political future is definitely on his mind as he issued this bullet-pointed January 4, 2022 News Release announcing he was taking “preemptive action to ensure in-person learning remains an option for all Arizona families and students, consistent with guidance from public health experts.” Ducey refers to it as creating an “Open for Learning Recovery Benefit Program.”

Demanding students be kept in class has not exactly been a priority for Ducey, who coddled the striking “#Reds For Ed” teachers who abandoned, for over two weeks, over 840,000 statewide students, as they followed then-24-year-old Noah Karvelis, an eager Socialist Labor Party member and 2016 AZ Bernie Sanders campaign coordinator, demanding 20% pay hikes for their part-time jobs…do you get the entire summer off? Ducey hung tough for a brief moment and then capitulated to the union members demands, emboldening them to get behind Marxist Proposition 208, a ballot measure that provides a perpetually increasing money stream, under the guise of “tax the rich,” a fallacious democrat advanced scheme.

Ducey didn’t have the fortitude exhibited by Pres. Ronald Reagan in 1981 when the PATCO Union Air Traffic Control workers threatened to walk off the job, potentially shutting down U.S. air travel. Reagan gave them a deadline and fired those who refused to comply. Supervisors and management filled in until new replacements were able to take over the reins. There were no disruptions. 

“Courageous” Republicrats praised by leftist AZ Republic

Few of us would be inclined to take advice from an adversary telling us who our friends are. Our antenna would shoot straight up and we’d do exactly the opposite of what was being proposed.

Before it took its most recent several days hiatus from delivering a skewed version of the news, the failing leftist local newspaper delivered a gift from the exalted — in its own convoluted vision — editorial board. A full page with six photos of the most negatively viewed Republicans in the state are glorified as “Arizonans of the Year for showing courage under fire.” It would be comical if not so pathetically off base. Here’s a opening example:

“The great victory of the 2020 election wasn’t the ascent of a candidate or cause or ballot initiative. It was the triumph of democracy against a plot to subvert and overturn the results of a presidential election.

Under assault by a sitting president and his high-wattage attorneys and operatives, a group of principled election officials, judges and other officeholders across the country steadfastly carried out their duties to deliver an honest outcome. They did it in a nation cleaved by political division and teeming with tribal hatreds.

Especially noteworthy were a handful of Republicans in Arizona who had to lean into the headwinds of their own party and risk political self-destruction to remain true to their conscience. They never yielded. Our recognition and gratitude go to them….”

Make a note of the ones receiving accolades from the Republican-loathing newspaper.

For them to receive praiseful recognition from the far-left, Trump-despising, Hilary-endorsing, open-border proponents at the Periódico de la República de Arizona (Arizona Republic) identifies them as anything but worthy of conservative’s votes.

Identified by photographs and rave reviews are three of the five Maricopa County Supervisors, Clint Hickman, Bill Gates and Jack Sellers, all Republicrats who sided with the legislative dems and Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, a former registered democrat, (Read UPDATE) who tried to quash the Maricopa County ballot verification. Supervisor Steve Chucri resigned after an embarrassing, covert recording of him surfaced bashing his fellow Republican colleagues, saying they opposed the recount by Senate Republicans because they nearly lost their own 2020 races. Richer, who campaigned and barely squeaked into office — 50.1 to 49.8 —  as a Republican, previously appeared on the front page standing shoulder-to-shoulder with democrat Paul Penzone, the Maricopa County sheriff funded by over $2 million by socialist billionaire George Soros.* Richer called President Trump “unhinged” and a “liar.”

Also making the notorious list, that should sink any further political aspirations in the Grand Old Party, are Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers praised for losing his moral compass and siding with legislative dems, and State Sen. Paul Boyer, a committed leftist who opportunistically ran as a Republican, now announcing his retirement. The link under his name could explain why.

In an effort to wean the few subscribers from more costly hard-copy editions, the Republic announced it would not print a Labor Day edition, ostensibly to give their employees a day off to spend with their families. It also combined three days of the Christmas editions into a single publication and arbitrarily did not deliver a New Year’s paper.

Expect the increasingly unreliable newspaper to cease printing and distributing hard copy editions, as it attempts to go fully digital. It won’t take long to vanish entirely. There will be no mourners.

* Law Enforcement Today

Shifty Schiff tries deflecting from his sordid connections by bashing Trump

U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) recently wrote a book. He’s had more time on his hands since his longtime pervert pal and generous donor, Ed Buck with nefarious roots in Arizona politics, has finally ended up in the slammer after being found guilty of nine felonies. Instead of hunkering down after the details of Buck’s horrific crimes emerged, leftist Schiff decided a good deflection would be to try smearing former President Donald Trump.

Schiff’s book titled, ‘Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could,‘ is aimed at taking the onus off of Joe Biden and his unparalleled, disastrous presidency, exemplified by increased crime and laxity of punishment, the Afghanistan surrender debacle, record-breaking inflation, halting our energy self-reliance by shutting down the Keystone Pipeline while killing thousands of jobs and massive school and business closures related to his overreaches during the pandemic. These disasters are enhanced by Biden’s incompetence and obvious inability to function. Instead Schiff has gone into fling mode and following the adage of throw it on the wall and see what sticks, is not talking about testing the al dente doneness of a strand of spaghetti, but the darker and more fetid matter that nourishes the democrat hierarchy.

Following the now-disproved Russian collusion hoax perpetrated by Trump rival Hillary Clinton, Schiff made the rounds of network televised talk shows insisting that a probe of Trump was necessary.

Biden has torn down the border wall construction, surrendering our southern border to all comers worldwide — including drug dealers, human traffickers, child predators, murders, prospective terrorists, and other violent criminals, many of whom have been previously deported.  The U.S. Customs and Border Protection no longer reveals the disastrous invasion stats, but now functions as public relations for the administration complete with vision and mission statements. Biden is bankrupting America with his staggering $multi-trillion 2,465 page ‘Build Back Better’ war on reality spending scheme — but that is of no consequence as his handlers increase the momentum as crime soars and Soros-funded elected district attorneys make no effort to attach consequences to the criminality. Jobs have been lost at an alarming rate. Biden responds by putting more people on the dole, as the democrats lean further into socialism’s expansive government theme while caving to the demands of the radical teacher’s unions which funded him 6-1 over Pres. Trump.

An integral tool of the left, Speaker Nancy Pelosi named Schiff a lead impeachment manager in the fraudulent case brought against President Trump.

Prior to his incarceration, Ed Buck donated in excess of half-million dollars to top California democrats including current Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Gov. Jerry Brown, LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, and LA District Attorney Jackie Lacey. His generous donations to AZ U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, and separately to her “Getting Stuff Done” PAC are all documented on these pages made available by Open Secrets. (Press “next” in the lower right corner for the complete list.)

AZ redistricting maps take shape…out of public view

Arizona politicos are keenly attuned to the latest and likely final maps, which will determine the state’s partisan and demographic makeup in congress and the state legislature for the next decade. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission members (read their bios), have reportedly heard from the public at statewide meetings and town halls. What they heard and how well they listened is unspecified.

FiveThirtyEight supplies overviews of each state on the left side of this Arizona page updated Dec. 19, 2021, though the focus for SRAZ readers is definitely Arizona. There is a lot riding on how the districts are configured. Placing your cursor over each proposed district provides the name and party of the incumbent congressional officeholder and the partisan leaning of the district. It’s obvious, for example, that Arizona’s Congressional District 2 is outsized to give Republican-turned-democrat (making the switch in 2014), incumbent Tom O’Halleran a boost in a Republican majority district. The map still shows democrat Ann Kirkpatrick as a candidate, though she is resigning after this term, having fallen and sustained injuries while intoxicated, causing her to go into alcohol rehab.

The Princeton Gerrymandering Project report card — yes, that’s actually its name — gives Arizona’s congressional map an A overall and in partisan fairness, with Cs in competitiveness and geography.

We’ll know soon enough if those are fact-based grades or a political charade.

Ballotpedia, a non-partisan online political encyclopedia, provides an excellent overview of state-by-state redistricting procedures. It includes background information on federal requirements for congressional redistricting, state legislative redistricting, state-based requirements, redistricting methods used in all 50 states, gerrymandering, and recent court decisions.

Arizona’s Independent Redistricting Commission has put out this list of the Final Decision Meetings scheduled for December and available to the public online. One is taking place this morning Dec. 20. at 9:00 am, with two more scheduled for Tues. and Wed. It is topped with this message: “Details coming soon,” and disallows in-person commenting.