The Range: The Tucson Weekly's Daily Dispatch
Blog Categories: Politics | News | Music | Chow | Do This! | Media | TV | Arts and Culture | Snapshot | Cinema | Fun in General | Just Plain Dumb | more categories»
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Politics Arizona Makes the Legislature Hall of Shame
Posted by Dan Gibson on Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 5:00 PM
Esquire's Charles P. Pierce doesn't think too highly of Lori Klein and her Republican comrades in the Arizona Legislature:
Our last stop is in Arizona, which seems bound and determined to vote itself back to the Stone Age, one law at a time. Not only would this bill get dozens of books chucked out of the curriculum, it apparently is so badly written that it would make a criminal out of any teachers who went home and said to a friend, "This fucking new law about what I can teach belongs in North Fucking Korea." One of its sponsors is a state representative named Lori Klein, who previously became famous for pulling a gun on a reporter in the middle of an interview, and for defending Herman Cain from charges of horndoggery by stating that he'd never dogged her, "and I am an attractive woman." (No jokes. Remember, she's packing.) You would think that cooler heads might prevail, and Arizona would be tired of being the national poster child for bad laws and wingnut overreach. You, of course, would be extremely wrong about this.I hate to keep harping on this, but what you're seeing in the state legislatures is the activity of the Republican farm team. The people voting for laws springing from the mushy brains of people like Bob Marshall and Lori Klein are the young Republicans who, a few cycles from now, will be running for Congress, probably from safe Republican districts that they've helped draw up, and aided immeasurably by voter-suppression laws that they've helped pass. Most of them will be the products of the vast conservative candidate manufacturing base — the kids at CPAC, the College Republicans, the various Christianist organization. They will not equivocate. They will not moderate. And they are the future of the party.
Comments (21)
Showing 1-21 of 21
So what's your solution, Dan, an emasculated party like the democrats in AZ? You're too content to rile a party under whose leadership the budget was finally balanced. Are they the ideal party? No, but every party has their nut jobs and you guys in the media are only content to focus on them when their party is in power... I wonder why that is. Let's look at some of the left wing loonies like Krysten Sinema, who had the gall to call an injured US Marine a domestic terrorist in an open session of the legislature. Or how about Olivia Cajero Bedford who thought it was ok for minors to use fake ID's to purchase tobacco products? When the salary for an AZ state legislator is only $24000 a year, we get what we pay for. When the democrat big league team shows up, let me know and we'll see just how quickly they end up looking like a middle school game of pick up...
like
dislike
As usual Dan is showing his ass. Which he is very proud of,as that is where he keeps his little itty,bitty brain.
The fact that he cahoots with Charles P. Pierce,and only posts when he believes he has a clear line to his lib,prog,dem overlords agenda is not only,NOT surprising but also is simply par for the course.
He is also a boob when it comes to english. Look at that first sentence. "Esquire's Charles P. Pierce doesn't THINKING too highly of Lori Klein and her Republican comrades in the Arizona Legislature:". Really Dan. When are you going to take your ball and go home? You really are not wanted here.
Dis: Admittedly, I made a mistake with the first sentence, so that has been corrected. However, it is amusing that you chose to use that as part of your diatribe considering your strange use of punctuation, capitalization and sentence structure. Everyone makes mistakes, for certain, and I'm less careful than I should be sometimes, but your post is nearly unreadable due to the errors, but it did make for a good laugh when I read it. Thanks!
To the non-pot-kettle-black portion of your argument, I'm hardly in cahoots with Pierce. I don't know him, I just thought his analysis of our state's current legislative makeup is interesting. Also, the bill Pierce is referencing is particularly insane, considering it could lead to a public school teacher's suspension without pay for one week for simply using a profanity outside of school grounds or hours. It's particularly bad, even for Klein, which is saying something.
I know this is hard to believe, but I don't have overlords here. I have bosses, like most people, but they don't really tell me what to write or think. I've often disagreed with the other writers here (and the editor) over political issues and if you look back through my posts, I've hardly toed a Democratic party line. In fact, I've been criticized by left-aligning types in these very comment sections. Sometimes you just can't win, I suppose, but I guess that's why I make the big bucks.
Thanks for reading!
MinAZ: Believe me, I'm not fan of the minority in the legislature either, and their general failure to make note of these terrible bills or to do much to stop them is an embarrassment to my former party of choice.
However, the Dems aren't writing laws (or having lobbyists write them on their behalf) that actually stand a chance of passing right now. Absolutely, we get what we pay for with legislators, but I'd prefer they try to just do nothing and collect a meager check than pass some of the crap that's in committee right now.
Also, just for the record, we can (and do) pull comments for the use of (clearly) fake email addresses, so while I understand not having the guts to put your real name or even a consistent pseudonym to your insults, next time you'll at least need to put a little extra effort in on the email front.
Republican farm team? Are you kidding? Schools and the universities in this state make it their mission to brainwash students into being good little democrats. To admit otherwise is total ignorance or just plain lying. Your average college student is NOT a republican or at least will not become one until they have a job and kids of their own. What the left in this state refuses to admit is that Arizona is a conservative state full of conservative households. It's no vast conspiracy that the republicans control our state, as it's the will of the people. Oh yeah, and thanks for the lousy article which undoubtedly had the effect of persuading your more conservative Tucon Weekly readers that more of them should abandon the democratic party.
Dan, I for one agree with what you have said. I have family thru out the western U.S. they no longer refer to this state as Arizona, no its the idiot state. Hows New Mexico doing as a State.
I wonder if the Tucson Weekly gets paid per click on adds for these stories? If they do I wish I could take my click back. There was nothing at all informative about this "story". I am actually still unsure what the article is about. Which law is the "last stop"? Sounded like an angry ranting with no facts to back it up. Maybe you should stick to writing in the comments section. That is usually where the stream of conscious tirades with seemingly irrelevant data go.
Hi again Dan.
I would be more than happy to give YOU my real name and email address. I cannot find one for you so lets see your courage. Does not mean it is not there,I just haven't found it.
I live here in Tucson and I work for the UP railroad. I am mid fifties and have criticized you before,why? Because you are much to often....wrong. My opinion of course.
Your saying that you are incapable of reading my post,says more about your inadequacies
than mine. I most certainly point out your spelling mistakes and others. It shows how you are more interested in spreading your senseless blather and left minded dogma,than attempting quality journalism. Yes I know "quality Journalism" in the same sentence is ludicrous. There could always be a first time.
I would suggest you might simply look for,and then report the facts of something instead of just furthering the separist agenda,you and your lib friends are so fond of.
I will admit that most of the time,when I see your name on the by-line I move on. You are not in any way,shape or form,even remotely a journalist. My opinion again. I do however occasionally look to see what sort of spoiled tripe you are trying to peddle. It is,sometimes fun to read the atrocious ferret feces you seem so joyous in slinging.
I am a firm believer in the constitution,so the first amendment is important to me as well. I am fine with your,bile sliding all over the place. At least we know where the dogmatic kooks like YOU and I are.
As always the one who is almost as entertained by your crap as you.......
Me
Sometimes I agree with Dan; sometimes I don't. Sometimes I just don't care. But our legislature would be a joke if it weren't so frightening. $24,000? I have never earned $24,000 per year. I would apply for the job but I hear the application fee is way out of my reach.
It's not you get what you pay for, you get what the media reports. The press in this state sits back and reports from press releases and stories without verifications of person connection gossip. Want to invite readership, make your headline about guns, misfits or political corruption and you will have readers for your advertising. Make up a headline about "Tugboat Al" funding education with his atomic storage dumps and you'll sell papers but have ignored what is really happening.
Every morning, as I listen to the local NPR "Morning Edition" program, when they start the local and Arizona news pertaining to the latest legislative proposals at the state level, I have to switch to another station.
The pure idiocy of our Republican dominated legislature is pretty much at the bleeding edge of the conservatively dominated states' legislatures in the U.S.
Dan'disser: For the record, my email address, a link to my Twitter feed, and a link to my Facebook fan page are all available when you click my name on the top of any story or blog post of mine. Our office phone number is listed at the bottom of the front page. I'm not hard to find. Dan Gibson is my actual name and it appears on every comment I leave on any website, in any comment section. I feel like I should have to stand behind the things I say and do, and I take that into consideration before I hit send. That's just my personal policy. It doesn't have to be yours.
Also, I have a viewpoint that you may not agree with. I don't have an "agenda", I don't really even pal around with all that many "lib friends". You don't have to read anything I write, you don't even have to think I'm a journalist, but your hyperbole and senseless anger over something on an alt-weekly's blog (ferret feces? really?) do you no favors. Whether I'm doing my job is up to someone other than you, for better or worse. If you'd like to lodge a complaint, I'm sure you can figure out where to send it. Even easier, you can just find something else to read.
I have the solution, everyone. Just replace the legislature with our brilliant Democratic Tucson City Council and you will see Arizona turn into the land of milk and honey, the most respected state in the Union, known everywhere as the State that Knows How to Get Things Done.
As a teacher, I would like to comment on the proposed legislation. I agree that foul language should not be permitted in the classroom, and I know of few teachers who are so unprofessional they would use it. (Although it is obvious that Lori Klein has never been in a current high school hallway to here the students' language!) However, I am dismayed at the Republicans who cry "freedom of speech!" and "individual rights!" when it comes to whatever supports their belief system, but have no qualms about telling me what I can say outside of the classroom. What I believe, say, and do outside of my workplace should be given the same rights as any other citizen. What next? Arrest all state, county, or city workers who curse? Why not anyone who curses? The law smacks of discrimination. I, for one, am tired of teachers being under constant attack. We are not allowed to espouse any political beliefs in the classroom -- in fact, many district policies even limit our political participation outside of the classroom. Our legislature is busy fighting for the individual right to carry guns, buy sparklers, and force religious beliefs on others, yet wants to limit my rights to speech outside my workplace. Hypocrisy at its finest!
Before I get slammed, I would like to correct "here" for "hear" - my mistake in trying to get my thoughts down quickly before my class begins.
Curious how MinAz's post has 24 dislikes, despite the fact that what was said about Sinema and Cajero Bedford is 100% accurate. Are the left in Az that brainwashed that they think it's ok to call Marine a domestic terrorist and to think it's ok for minors to use fake ID's?
It must be in the wingnut DNA to simply not know how to conjugate and punctuate simple English grammar correctly. There are some traits that seem to be unique to Wingnut English: frequent but not consistent capitalization of nouns, quote marks in odd places, grocer's apostrophes, run-on sentences, breaking compound nouns into multiple words (ie, "Wingnut" becomes "Wing nut"; "byline" becomes "by-line"), and of course, totally misplaced commas.
Since that's the case, allow me to translate what I just wrote into Wingnut:
It mustbe in teh Wing nut D,N,A to simply not.Know how to conjugate, And punctuate, simple english grammer correctly. There are some Traits that seem to be unique to Wing nut english, frequent,but not consistent capitalization of Nouns, quote Marks in "odd" places, grocer's apostrophe's, run-on Sentences breaking compound Nouns into multiple words (ie, "Wingnut" becomes "Wing nut"; "byline" becomes "by-line"), and of course, totally, mis-placed,Commas.
Sorry, the budget was not balanced. Republicans make careers out of lying to sway the public. Our state has 'borrowed' money from the public education system as well as our s financially independent state parks. Brewer conveniently left that out of her 'We have balanced the budget' speech. Thank God not all news sources or citizens fell for that one.
Concerned teacher's comments are right on. While teachers work (way too) hard and students are faced with many obstacles, legislatures and school boards are determined to blame them for failure while they continue to support budget cuts and mandate disruption of education for saying 'fuck' in the hallway.
Previously in the Range
-
CD8: Special Election Ballots Returning At a Record Pace
- May 22, 2012
-
Bennett Gives Up On Whole Birther Thing
- May 22, 2012
-
A Fact Check: The Citizens United Ad Now Showing in CD8
- May 22, 2012
- More »
More by Author
-
You Should Read the Mad Men Power Rankings
- May 21, 2012
-
Pugs and Bone Thugs, Best Internet Combination Ever
- Apr 5, 2012
- More »
Popular Content
- Bennett Gives Up On Whole Birther Thing (The Range: The Tucson Weekly's Daily Dispatch)
- CD8: Special Election Ballots Returning At a Record Pace (The Range: The Tucson Weekly's Daily Dispatch)
- Let's Play Bingo Tonight (The Range: The Tucson Weekly's Daily Dispatch)
- Critter of the Week: Meet Wendy (The Range: The Tucson Weekly's Daily Dispatch)
- A Fact Check: The Citizens United Ad Now Showing in CD8 (The Range: The Tucson Weekly's Daily Dispatch)
