AZ Republic: All the news you need to know

Five sentences, 100 words say nothing

The tragedy of a man’s murder aside, what exactly was the point of this lack-of-news item in the Arizona Republic headlined “Man dead in apparent Phoenix homicide”?  The man in question “apparently” suffered a fatal gunshot wound in the “apparent” homicide. Additional details were “not immediately” available. It was also  “not immediately” clear whether anyone has been arrested. The victim’s name was not released.

A man was fatally shot Saturday morning in what the Phoenix Police Department is calling a homicide. 

Police responded at about 5 a.m. to the 10100 block of West Cordes Road to investigate the death of an adult male, who apparently suffered a fatal gunshot wound inside the home.

Investigators questioned residents throughout the morning Saturday, but additional details were not immediately available. 

It was not immediately clear whether anyone has been arrested in the shooting. Police have also not released the name of the victim.

Republic reporter Jason Pohl refers to himself as a public safety journalist, and lists breakfast among his interests. He “apparently” needs another bowl of Wheaties.

Hero or Goat? Typifying the liberal quandary

Though deeply entrenched in the digital world, there remains an enigmatic appeal to holding a book or magazine in our hands and turning pages. This explains why the arrival of the conservative Weekly Standard in the mailbox each week is such a pleasure.

The magazine runs the gamut from serious commentary, analysis of the news to dashes of humor. Today we bring you the humor, which we all so richly deserve after the antics that dominated the news this past week. This selection is from The Scrapbook:

Hero or Goat?

The latest threat to the American workforce has arrived, and it’s on four hooves.

A public-employee union is up in arms over a team of blue-collar billy-goats employed to clear brush on a college campus. The union claims that by using the animals, Western Michigan University is snatching jobs away from union workers. They’re not kidding around, either—the union has filed a grievance against the university. Their complaint is a sort of inversion of Orwell’s Animal Farm motto: Two legs good, four legs ba-a-a-a-ad.

What’s particularly delightful about this conflict is how it pits two key leftist enterprises—public-employee unions and college environmentalists—against one another. After all, the reason Western Michigan University chose goat grazers in the first place was concern for the environment. Eschewing chemicals, the college instead opted for the green solution, hiring a team of 20 goats to clear 10 acres of rough bramble and poison ivy. Last year a trip of 10 goats proved efficient and sustainable, and the current flock is ahead of schedule.

Alas, such environmental considerations weren’t enough to pacify the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The union was quick to leap to the defense of its members in the face of the ruminant menace.

And just how great is that menace? The Washington Post did the math and found that in one month, one person with a tractor can do the work of 3,600 goats. Even if all 2.5 million goats in the United States were employed, they would only threaten 347 full-time human jobs nationwide.

Small as that number may be (and it’s nothing compared with the threat posed by automated robot goats), it’s not nonexistent, which leaves leftists with a dilemma. It seems to The Scrapbook that there is an obvious compromise that would satisfy all parties: The goats should unionize.

Chaotic musical chairs,Shakespearean style backstabbing in the West Wing & UPDATE

Chief of Staff Reince Priebus out, Scaramucci falls short in communications department

 Anthony Scaramucci, the White House communications director on the job for a week, let go with a barrage of blue language that might even make even the most uncouth blush.

In a profanity-laced tirade on a phone call to New Yorker reporter Ryan Lizza, Scaramucci railed about “leakers,” hurling vicious barbs at Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff and Steve Bannon, President Trump’s chief strategist, while issuing threats of firing “everyone.”

“What I’m going to do is, I will eliminate everyone in the comms team and we’ll start over,” Scaramucci was quoted as saying.

Angry about Lizza’s report of a private White House dinner Scaramucci threatened, “They’ll all be fired by me. I fired one guy the other day. I have three to four people I’ll fire tomorrow. I’ll get to the person who leaked that to you.”

 Scaramucci is a Harvard educated lawyer who worked for Goldman-Sachs early in his financial career. Politically, he’s been all over the map, endorsing Jeb Bush prior to joining Trump’s presidential campaign team. He co-chaired Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential finance committee and is liberal on social issues, advocating for same-sex marriage and restrictive gun laws. Going back to 2015, he has been critical of Trump, disparaging his stated intent to build a wall along our southern border. He donated to the campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Press secretary Sean Spicer resigned after President Trump appointed Scaramucci, as his communications director, who would bypass Spicer and report directly to the president. Spicer had previously worked for the Republican National Committee, which Priebus chaired.

And Reince Priebus — a man with political contacts and insider knowledge worth their weight in gold? He was unceremoniously pushed out as White House chief of staff Friday, resigning, with grace and kind words for the president. Priebus was replaced by John Kelly, the secretary of homeland security and retired four-star Marine general.

President Trump has unfairly endured more vitriol from the leftwing, Hillary-supporting  media than any of his predecessors, yet he needs to remain steady. Conservatives can only hope this is the end of the shuffling and oustings, and that U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions  — a man  with outstanding credentials, continues to disregard the verbal slings and arrows and stays on the job.

The Shakespearean tragedy “Macbeth,” written in the early 1600’s, demonstrated that catering to political whims based in the notion of a divine right of the reining monarch can have disastrous results. Those of us who support President Trump see the need for impulse control.

July 29, 2017:

Scaramucci out within days — a mere 250 hours — of his appointment as White House communications director

Retired General John Kelly, President Trump’s new chief of staff, firmly asserted his authority on his first day in the White House stating he will impose military discipline in the chaotic West Wing. He underscored his intent by firing classless Anthony Scaramucci, the bombastic communications director, 10 days after he was hired. Scaramucci disgracefully distinguished himself with an x-rated and threat filled  rant (linked in original post above) at a reporter regarding a leak naming dinner guests at a small gathering with the president.

USA Today perfects Winston Smith’s Newspeak

Altering words doesn’t change facts

Today is Bastille Day, traditionally a day of celebration in France. Last year irrevocably changed that, turning the day into one of grief. Memorial services are planned to honor the 86 victims of a rampaging nearly 20-truck whose driver purposely plowed into the crowd of revelers, including families with children eating ice cream, strolling the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France after the fireworks display ended. In addition to those killed, there were 435 who were wounded in the attack.

Gannett, the parent company of the failing, left-wing Arizona Republic newspaper, now inserts a copy of its USA Today newspaper in with the barely there daily in a vain attempt to give it heft.  Gannett’s stock has tumbled from $17.49  on Dec. 5, 2015 to  now struggling to stay afloat in the $8.00 range.  

This might be the reason:

The caption beneath a photo of two men who were seriously wounded in the attack names them and says, they “were injured in Nice when someone drove a truck through a crowd last year. “

“Someone?’

The 31-year-old killer’s name is Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel. He was a Tunisian Muslim living in France, who had been previously arrested for theft and gun violations, had his sentences suspended and was not deported. He was killed by police at the scene of the massacre.

Gannett’s absurd politically correct contrivance is reminiscent of Winston Smith, the protagonist in George Orwell’s best seller titled, “1984.” Smith was employed as a clerk in the government’s Ministry of Truth Records Department. His job was to rewrite historical documents to align with the constantly changing current political deception. Newspeak, a reduced language became the tool to limit free thought and concepts posing a threat to the totalitarian regime.  Any form of thought alternative to the party’s construct was classified as “thought crime,” “crime think,” or “doublethink.”

Smith’s work included manipulating facts, revising newspaper articles and doctoring photographs to remove “unpersons,” the term used to describe people who had fallen out of favor with the party.  We servatives are “unpersons” to the MSM liberals. But we still have a voice. We need to continue to use it.

When his book was published in 1949, Orwell wrote, “By 2050 — earlier, probably — all real knowledge of Oldspeak will have disappeared.”  He turned out to be a reliable prophet.

AZ GOP chair Lines omits facts, engages in braggadocio

If you’re up to the task, there are occasional chuckles brought on by hefty dosages of irony in the Daily Updates emailed by AZ GOP chairman Jonathan Lines. The first harrumph inducer is the banner that blasts it’s “The Only Official Newsletter of the Arizona Republican Party!”— an obvious attempt to disparage the fact-filled and widely read “MCRC Briefs.”

Monday’s message, “Empowering Republicans” could make even the most seasoned political observer scratch his head in bewilderment, given the shenanigans currently taking place within the AZ GOP.

Lines begins his missive by saying he’s midair “on his way to Washington DC, having accepted an invitation from the White House to continue our planning for 2018. I was honored to be invited by the President and his team to talk about how we can continue to work together to strengthen our party and win elections.”

Working together would be quite an accomplishment, given the despicable defections (video) of Jeff Flake and a host of other Republicrats, including Mitt Romney, the uncle of the RNC Chair.

Lines talks about his “great relationship” with RNC Chairman Ronna Romney McDaniel and how “the White House, the RNC and the AZ GOP are working seamlessly to empower Republicans, strengthen our party, and win elections, and how PCs are being empowered like never before.”

With Lines hectic schedule he night have forgotten that McCain operatives worked diligently to purge dedicated, conservative elected precinct committeemen (PCs). Former Sen. Kyl also engaged in the same trickery.

Aha!  Finally Lines is going to name names and maybe kick ass of defectors: “As always,’ Lines says, “There are those, even some within our Republican ranks, who wish to tear down our President and to demonize some in our party. As I’ve done throughout my chairmanship, I will urge everyone to maintain a civil and respectful discourse, and focus our efforts on defeating Democrats and furthering our President’s agenda…we owe it to the President, to our elected officials, to our fellow PCs, and to our country,” he says. Lines has been chairman since January 28, 2017.

If Lines is referring to Arizona’s two pathetic US Senators McCain and Flake, it would be the first time. His comment is encased in double-speak, so who knows? McCain withdrew his momentary endorsement of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Flake did him one better by making the rounds of liberal television networks publicly stating he would not vote for Trump. Flake even promoted Obama’s lame duck nominee, Democrat Merrick Garland for the US Supreme Court. Fortunately, Donald Trump was elected without these traitors and appointed conservative Judge Neil Gorsuch to the high court.

In a irresistible display of pomposity, Lines concludes, “We are a party on the rise. In fact, earlier his year at the RNC Spring Meeting, Chairman McDaniel specifically asked me to stand up and be recognized, as a tribute to the leadership that the party is providing to win elections and #TurnAll15Red!”

“Chairman McDaniel’s support means so much to me; and needless to say, the confidence that President Trump and the White House have shown us is truly humbling. And none of it happens without my fellow PCs.”

Which PCs? Those who were systematically purged by the party elites or the new recruits who have no historic memory?

Did you miss Carlos Santana? No, you didn’t

Trump hater hypocritically talks “power of peace” while reviling U.S. President

With his Woodstock LSD-addled days supposedly behind him, the now 70-year-old musician Carlos Santana appeared in concert last night at a Valley casino. Ticket prices peaked at $150 a seat.

But it’s not the overpriced tickets for a has-been entertainer that might grab your attention. It’s his words in the local newspaper’s interview that should chill any future interest in this long-in-the-tooth performer. Mexican-born Santana, who became a naturalized citizen in 1965, still doesn’t get the U.S. election system.  Numerous people run for the presidency but ultimately one gets elected, because the message they carried resonated with the majority of voters.

It’s a good bet few who read this site were Obama supporters, but we waited until his time in office was over and went to work, ultimately electing Donald Trump. Unlike his predecessor, he didn’t issue vague promises of “Hope and Change,” bribe gullible voters with free cell phones or repeatedly lie (video montage) about his unsustainable, socialized health care scheme. He spoke instead about making America “great again,” which resonated with weary voters across the country. A business entrepreneur, he has made American private sector job creation a prominent feature of his administration. 

President Trump’s many successes are of no consequence to Carlos Santana, who goes off the deep end in an an unconcealed liberal political rant peppered with lies and led on by ‘music critic’ Ed Masley. Supposedly pitching “the power of peace,” his far leftist views will make you glad you missed the concert. After discussing music, the interview veered off into liberal hate speech:

Q: You’re not especially fond of the new administration in America.

A: Who is? Other than the Ku Klux Klan, I mean, who is? It’s not unity and harmony. It’s fear, fear, fear, fear, fear. It’s built on monetary interests. I have endured as a person LBJ, Nixon, Ronald Reagan, the two Bushes and this guy. It’s the same guy with a different face, you know?

Q: You think?

A: I know so. But one thing that’s happening is America is thirsty for righteousness and integrity. And more and more people are waking up to “You know what? We need to change ourselves and what’s happening.”

Q: How do you stay hopeful in the face of all the fear?

A: Well, thank you for asking that. Every day, when I wake up in the morning, I thank God for life and existence and I especially thank him for Nikola Tesla, because he invented the remote control. I pick it up and as soon as I see Donald Trump, I change the channel or turn it off. So he has absolutely no power over me whatsoever.

I just turn his ass right off. And I listen to birds. I listen to the clouds passing. I don’t give him anything at all from my attention, energy or concentration. I just zap him right out of my house. He has no power over me. And that’s how I stay positive.

AZ GOP outreach could soar minus McCain purge, Flake defection

AZ GOP chairman Jonathan Lines routinely sends out an email titled the AZGOP Daily Update!  Sniping at the more widely read  Republican Briefs he declares it the Only Official Newsletter of the Arizona Republican Party! (Exclamation points and italicized type are his.)

This recent message was an attention grabber. Noting that the party is gearing up for the 2018 election, he says, “ I know you are all excited to get to work for the conservative cause!” He then describes a GOP Data Center intended to ensure that all precinct committeemen have the resources they need to help elect Republicans.  He goes on to describe an ambitious training project to mobilize many thousands of precinct committeemen.

Precinct committeemen are the nuts and bolts, grassroots workers of the party apparatus. They are elected on the primary ballot by their neighbors in each precinct in districts across the state. Many PCs have been volunteering their time to the party for decades, going door-to-door collecting the nominating petition signatures candidates need to qualify for the ballot.  They distribute campaign literature and recruit other committeemen. They hammer signs in the parched earth under the sweltering Arizona sun and work tirelessly getting out mailings and make phone calls on behalf of candidates.

So imagine the shock when establishment types, notably Arizona’s U.S. Senators work to remove these loyalists from their ranks. Former Sen. Jon Kyl got down in the precinct weeds, sending out postcards advising who the conservative choices were. In fact the choices he advocated for were not conservatives at all, while actual conservatives were kicked to the curb on his advice. His actions were intended to remove the Maricopa County chairman, who was unable to serve after losing the PC election. Conservatives had the last laugh as he new county chairman appointed his predecessor as executive director.

This establishment deceit is an ongoing activity. Most recently McCain operatives worked within precincts, recruiting ringers to overfill allotted PC slots, in another concerted effort to oust conservatives. After McCain was the subject of an unprecedented and embarrassing censure by elected state committeemen at the annual statutory meeting the effort began in earnest. Many longtime PCs were replaced by recruited members from the Vietnamese community who esteem McCain.  These recruits never attended monthly district meetings or engaged in the duties of committeemen. They were placeholders intended to do but one task: Show up to vote for squishy intra-party officers.

Breitbart, FrontPage Mag, and POLITICO  all reported on the McPurge.

Now we have U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake who refused to vote for the Republican party nominee Donald Trump —  running for reelection for another 6-year senate term. The state party never uttered a word of reprimand to either Flake or McCain, who both assisted Hillary Clinton. Watch Flake in this Hillary campaign ad. McCain, at age 80, was in the midst of a reelection campaign of his own and couldn’t afford to alienate any voters, but his pals Lindsey Gahamnesty and Mitt Romney had no such qualms.

Romney recently made two Arizona campaign appearances to bolster Flake. Chairman Lines wrote glowingly of the assist. The word “traitor” was never used to describe either man.

And McCain? He recently told the British press that “Barack Obama provided better American leadership than President Trump.” Then he bumped his anti-GOP hostility up a notch, declaring,“ I’m very worried we’re going to lose the House of Representatives.”

Keep demoralizing the base Johnny, and you might well be prophetic.

Meanwhile neither AZ GOP Chairman Jonathan Lines nor his predecessor Robert Graham have ever addressed Arizona’s two Democrat-supporting U.S. Senators —  posing as Republicans when elections roll around — who unashamedly gave Hillary their tacit approval.

Arizona Republicans deserve better.  Commit to principled conservative Dr. Kelli Ward.