Venomous column signals bent of Republic’s new ownership

The steady decline of the Hillary-endorsing Arizona Republic appears to have exacerbated with its recent acquisition by Gatehouse. The newspaper was actually founded in 1890 as the Arizona Republican, a name it kept for nearly half a century. Later, the then-conservative newspaper flourished under the ownership of Eugene and Nina Pulliam, changing its direction after their deaths.

The best indication of the course being taken is the massive photo of an elephant’s backside atop this headline: “I leave GOP as it turns its back on what it stood for.”

The “Your Turn guest column,” a shifty vehicle for securing free editorials, is written by a Mesa immigration lawyer with the incongruous name of Yasser Sanchez. A dichotomy of complexities, he’s also a graduate of BYU.

As our astute readers have likely guessed, President Donald Trump is at the core of Sanchez’ complaints. Among Sanchez’ litany of criticisms is what he refers to by the left’s favored contrived term of “nativism.” “Nationalism,” a reliable indicator of love of country and patriotism is also the recipient of his ire. According to Sanchez, such feelings are pejoratives.

The lawyer needs to revisit our nation’s founding documents. Included in his litany of things that “sicken him” are the freedoms delineated in the Second Amendment. He is also “repulsed” by President Trump.

Sanchez, who says he came to the United States as a child with his parents doesn’t clarify if they entered legally, but he misuses the term “undocumented immigrants” when describing illegal aliens, the legally correct, precise term used by the U.S. Supreme Court.  The high court has decided numerous cases involving federal immigration law using “illegal alien” — as Hans von Spakovsky, Senior Legal Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, capably points out in this brief column.

Sanchez also has an aversion to the term “invasion,” though it would be interesting to know what he calls hundreds of thousands of people who illegally breach our sovereign border on their way to accessing American taxpayer funded benefits while flipping off border agents.

As pointed out in this Media Research Center’s now older though still accurate report, “The Liberal Media: Every Poll Shows Journalists Are More Liberal than the American Public — And the Public Knows It.”

The policy of insulting its few remaining readers that brought Gannett and the industry to it’s knees, is obviously the path the that will be followed by the newspaper’s new ownership.

If you still subscribe, save your money. The insults will keep coming.  Why fund them?

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Remembering our many blessings, obligations this Independence Day

 ….and honoring those 56 brave men* who had the vision and strength of character to challenge authority and affix their signatures to the Declaration of Independence.

Before signing the Declaration of Independence, our Founders included this memorable line:

“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

* Click on each Declaration signer’s name for a brief biography.

On this momentous holiday, we gift our readers with, “This Fourth of July, why patriotism is worth defending,” by Kyle Smith — a New York Post columnist whose engaging style and reasoned approach has made him a newly found favorite. Do yourself a favor and get acquainted with his take on popular culture and politics.

Smith’s unique background includes serving as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army during the Persian Gulf War, and with the Second Armored Cavalry Regiment in Saudi Arabia. He graduated summa cum laude from Yale.

This recent Gallup Poll indicates the level of pride in America has plummeted among our own citizens, with only 22% of Democrats saying they are “extremely proud,” down 10 points in one year. For their part, most Republicans have remained extremely proud of our country, though the latest 76% reading is 10 points below the high recorded in 2003. Even when Barack Obama was in office, Republicans’ extreme pride never fell below 68%.

Still, these latest numbers are catastrophic in a country that stands as a beacon of freedom to the world. They are indicative of the media’s extreme anti-Trump sentiment and the fact that the radical hippies who spat on our returning Vietnam vets have permeated our educational establishment, disparaging our history and negatively influencing successive generations.  To ensure our nation’s survival, history and patriotism must be taught at home.

H/T Independence Hall Association (us history.org)

75th D-Day Anniversary: A crucial history lesson

“Why the world can thank American exceptionalism for successful D-Day,” by Bob McManus, presents a riveting overview of the lead up to the June 6, 1944 Normandy invasion and what transpired in its wake.

Unfortunately, it’s a good bet today’s students aren’t being taught this essential history. Climate change and recycling have replaced American exceptionalism which leftist historical and moral revisionists now view as unacceptable braggadocio for a “flawed country.”

Teach your children or grandchildren what makes America special, “the shining city on the hill,” as idyllically described by President Ronald Reagan in his farewell speech to the nation. Acquaint them with how our U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights set us apart. They won’t learn it otherwise.

#REDSforEd teachers followed actual dunce, Noah Karvelis

For many Arizona parents, the anger over their children’s teachers abandoning them and sneering at their contractual obligations as they went out on strike for over a week, still rages. The bond of trust was irretrievably broken as they deserted over 840,000 students while over demanding a 20% pay increase for their part-time employment.

Newly elected Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman boasted she “proudly voted to walk out” with her fellow #REDSforEd striking teachers as they followed Socialist Pied Piper Noah Karvelis a 24-year-old hip hop music teacher and avowed Socialist. Hoffman, whose own teaching credentials are paper thin, says she was “inspired by unity within the movement.”

Not only are these educrats intent on dumbing down Arizona students, ironically Noah Karvelis is now being exposed as also being a failed student himself.

Breitbart News reports Karvelis only holds a “provisional” teaching certificate, having failed to complete the required coursework and pass tests on the U.S. Constitution and the Arizona Constitution — documents on which he places no value. Popular KFYI-550 AM conservative talk show host James T. Harris, previously outed Karvelis‘ insufficient credentials.

Important to remember is the fact “underpaid” teachers, who work 81/2 months a year, are able to support the far left teacher’s unions* to the tune of $millions a year, earmarked for Democrat candidates and liberal causes.

These same people are undermining the values conservative parents try to instill in their children. Karvelis’ résumé states he served as campaign manager to elect leftist Kathy Hoffman and was also a volunteer for Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. Additionally Karvelis has been a political consultant and staff writer for the Progressive Times, which defines itself on its masthead with this banner: “Progressive, independent journalism for the political revolution.” His mantra is, Teaching is political, and silence is complicity. Karvelis, a young white male. is also a self-hater.

This is akin to putting Marxists in charge of educating our children. Noah Karvelis, and those who march to his extremist tune, are dangerously influencing America’s youth, steering them away from democracy that flourishes in our representative Republic, and into the killing fields of Socialism.

Rare truth was contained in the words of then-retiring NEA legal counsel Bob Chanin. Listen to his admission carefully.(brief video.) He admits that the unions are about money, power, and a leftist agenda —- clearly stating “It’s not because we care about children.”

Passage of ballot propositions — 301 in 2000 increasing the state sales tax and 123 in 2016 a grab from the state land trust — guaranteed more money for education, which apparently is never enough. School districts routinely hold budget overrides and bond elections to “get more money into the classroom” —- eduspeak for bolstering teacher’s salaries. A major premise of passing the Arizona Lottery in 1980 was that money from ticket sales would fund schools.

Falling prey to the teacher’s demands was foolishness personified. Akin to attempting to bribe a mobster, no amount will ever be enough.

* Center for Responsive Politics

Ducey glibly deflects counting illegals with ice cream

Diversity reigns supreme as 2020 census revs up

While Gov. Doug Ducey, the former CEO of Cold Stone Creamery ice cream stores, makes the news with his signing of ‘Ice Cream Freedom Day’ legislation, (H. B. 2178), a much more consequential  executive order flew under the radar.

April Fools’ Day brought a news release informing Arizonans that Ducey, via an executive order, created the Arizona Complete Count Committee (AZCCC).

Full of puffery and numerous whereas(es), his order, complete with a gold seal, forms a 19 person committee — 2 Chairs and 17 government and “outreach” liaisons — who serve at his pleasure, and will be “subject to change at any time.”

 “All members of the AZCCC, except for members one through five, shall each form a subcommittee to work on matters related to the census count that correspond to their specific liaison role. They are encouraged to select subcommittee members [a maximum of 25 each] that represent different geographical areas of the state, have a diverse set of experiences and qualifications, and can represent the perspectives and needs of traditionally hard to count populations.”

Apparently, their overarching duty will be to ensure an accurate head count for the 2020 Census, since it will affect $millions in federal allocations. The Executive Order states, “Each Arizonan who is not counted is estimated to represent an $887 loss to the State in federal funding allocation, meaning that even a one-percent undercount would represent a loss to the State of $62 million per year for a decade, for a total loss of $620 million.”

The Constitutional reason for the census is not money. Its purpose is to determine how many congressional seats are apportioned in the U.S. House of Representatives. Redistricting of Arizona’s state and local legislative representatives is also impacted by the count.

These facts make it mystifying that Gov. Ducey  places an extraordinary premium on “ensuring a complete and accurate count of all those residing here, including those who have historically been hard to count, such as young children, multi-family housing residents, military families, non-native English speakers, low-income residents, minorities, and rural residents.”

Military, minorities, farmers, low income Americans and family groups have always been counted. The non-native English speakers are highly likely to be illegal aliens. Are they now the go-to population in determining our congressional representation and state legislative redistricting? As of the 2018 election, 5 of our 9 congressional seats are held by Democrats and the Republican majority in the state legislature is no longer assured.  Isn’t that enough to suit Republicrat Doug Ducey? 

Selling out is Robert Robb’s job security

In a recent commentary, Robert Robb, the libertarian leaning, once sole deviant opinion writer among the braying gaggle of leftists at Arizona’s newspaper of record, leapt like a lemming off the extremist cliff. His precipice plunge was titled, “Elizabeth Warren is right: The Electoral College has got to go.”

He’s lost his way down the murky liberal alley more frequently as former colleagues have increasingly been replaced with ASU Cronkite Journalism students, who have neither editors nor offices. In September 2018, we wrote, “AZ Republic’s Robb grovels, earns his pay on AZ Senate race,”

In response to the virulent anti-Trump spew his superiors routinely dole out, Robb’s recent submissive offering was titled, “Trump’s irresponsible budget.” Barack Obama was never the recipient of such an assault, though his spending eclipsed all previous presidents combined. It’s not difficult to imagine the meeting with editorial page editor Phil Boas, and the instructions being handed to Robb, with that pathetic commentary as the result.

Now Robb’s outdone himself, singing George Soros’ mantra of the National Popular Vote (NPV). His most recent opinion piece is titled….brace yourself ….“Elizabeth Warren is right: The Electoral College has got to go.”

Surely Robb is aware that this farce has become a front burner item for the Democrats. He’s no dummy, as demonstrated by his use of the word “fecund” (which we had to look up), as he described Democrat presidential candidate, Elizabeth Warren. He is, however, all too willing to sing for his supper.

As if by providence, SRAZ wrote a post on the very topic last Friday, taking a much different view than the skew offered by Robert Robb. We place more value on our Nation’s Founders and our U.S. Constitution than in either Socialist billionaire George Soros or Elizabeth Warren. Our piece is headlined, “Desperate Dems embrace NPV absurdity.”

Soros wants to hijack our presidential elections allowing a few highly populated and left-leaning states such as California, New Jersey, New York and Illinois to have a disproportionate influence in our elections. He has also been pouring $millions into under-the-radar campaigns influencing local district attorney races in numerous states to reconfigure the American justice system to his liking, as reported by POLITICO.

NPV is partnered with FairVote, a project of the Soros-funded Center for Voting and Democracy. Along with advocating for the flawed national popular vote for president, it also sets as a goal lowering the voting age to 16.

Robert Robb should know that selling one’s soul to the left is the ultimate degradation. Conservatives no longer have high expectations of him, but he should have them for himself.

Desperate Dems embrace NPV absurdity

The National Popular Vote has emerged among the latest schemes of Democrat politicians. They are also enamored with open borders and lowering the voting age to 16. Now that marijuana is mainstreamed, desperate Dems see a clear pathway to winning elections…the Constitution be damned.

Donald Trump’s 2018 sweeping presidential victory, which dazed the Democrats like a direct hit of a lightening bolt has made them eager to explore every absurdity to gain control. If it takes mind numbed teens, illiterate in American history and our U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, who have never paid a bill or taxes to fulfill their dream, Dems are onboard giving them the vote. Obliterating Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and allowing all comers to invade the United States is an integral part of the plan, since they will be low hanging fruit ripe for Democrat picking. Why should citizenship matter? Democrat candidates are also hoping to pack the Supreme Court by inflating the number of leftist justices. Read the history of that scam attempted by Democrat President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1937 in the last two paragraphs of this post.

In 2016 Breitbart News headlined, “MoveOn.org Petition Demands: ‘Abolish the Electoral College,” which laid the groundwork for this George Soros backed movement.

Our Founders specifically included the Electoral Vote to forestall the inherent dangers of what James Madison called “the tyranny of the majority.” This Heritage Foundation commentary, Preventing “The Tyranny of the Majority“ by Edwin J. Feulner is listed as a two minute read. You won’t spend a more enlightening two minutes today.

Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution grants the power to elect the president and vice president to the states through the system known as the Electoral College. Under the Constitution, the highest-ranking U.S. officials elected by the direct popular vote of the people are the governors of the states.

The Electoral College gives smaller and rural states with lower populations an equal voice. If the popular vote alone decided elections, presidential candidates would have no need to visit those states or consider the needs of rural residents in their policy platforms. The Electoral College dynamics require candidates to get votes from multiple states — large and small — ensuring that the president addresses the needs of the entire country. America’s Founders, in their wisdom, also wanted the Electoral College system to enforce the concept of federalism — the division and sharing of powers between the state and national governments.

There are 538 possible electoral votes. 270 electoral votes are required for a candidate to win the electoral college vote. This was the 2016 election breakdown. With the National Popular Vote, Hillary Clinton would be sitting in the Oval Office.

Declared and still exploring Democrat presidential candidates might be adversaries, but they are unified in their desire to gut our Constitution. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, (D-Mass) and Bob O’Rourke, (D-TX); support doing away with the Electoral College. Sen. Cory Booker, (D-N.J); has expressed a desire to increase the number of justices on the Supreme Court and term limit them. Bob also supports expanding the high court.  Sen. Kamala Harris, (D-CA) supports uncontrolled illegal immigration and free education and healthcare for all. Socialist Bernie Sanders (S-VT) ditto. Like her fellow candidates, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, (D- NY) is for whatever sucker punches the GOP and takes out President Trump.

The U.S. Constitution provides for a separation of powers, dividing the federal government into three distinct branches to ensure no individual or group will have too much power: Legislative (makes laws), Executive (carries out laws) and Judicial (interprets laws) — operate independently.

It should be abundantly clear by now that Democrats have no use for the Constitution.