When it comes to avoiding future misfortune, people generally fall into one of three categories. The vast majority of people tend to learn from their own mistakes. They may have to make them more than once, but eventually, they learn. The truly fortunate are those who are able to learn from the mistakes of others, thereby saving themselves from all kinds of grief. The third (unfortunate) group consists of those who never learn from mistakes, theirs or anybody else’s. These are the knuckleheads, the recidivists, the repeat offenders. And, if somebody doesn’t do something to pull them out of their self-destructive tailspin, that third group is going to include whatever is left of the once-powerful Arizona Republican Party.
For indisputable evidence, one needs only to look to our neighbor to the west. If an outside observer were to take a political derivative of California, freezing the moment in time, they would be inclined to conclude that the Golden State has always been a bastion of Democratic politics. How else to explain a 5 million vote margin in the state for Joe Biden last November? Or two Democratic Senators, a huge advantage in the state’s delegation to the House of Representatives, and strong control of both parts of the State Legislature?
That conclusion, however, would be wrong. California has not always been a Democratic stronghold. Since 1950, California has had 14 different U.S. Senators—seven Republicans, seven Democrats. In that same time, the state has had 11 governors—six Republicans, five Democrats. The state’s political inflection point can best be seen in the evolution of its membership in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In 1950, California had 24 Representatives in the House—14 Republicans and 10 Democrats.
After the election of 1960, it had 30 Reps—14 Republican, 16 Democrats (still a pretty even split).
In the 1970s and 80s, the Republican to Democrat splits were 19-20 and 21-22, respectively.
By the 1990s, the Dems had pulled out to a 26-19 advantage and expanded it to 30-21 in 2000. But in the past 20 years, that relatively modest nine-seat margin is now a stunning 42-11. And while there are a number of factors that can help explain that surge, more of them point to Republican self-destruction rather than Democratic brilliance.
The rapid descent into near-oblivion is often traced to the 1994 passage of Proposition 187, a draconian measure that called for the institution of a citizenship verification system in the state and the subsequent use of that system to prohibit people who were not in the country legally from using public education, non-emergency health care, and a variety of other state services. Prop 187 passed overwhelmingly, by a nearly 3-2 margin. Proponents of the measure, including then-Governor Pete Wilson (a Republican), claimed that it was strictly an economic measure, even though the California Legislative Analyst’s Office said that the cost of the verification would be more than any savings in state services.
The backlash was immediate and severe. Huge anti-187 demonstrations sprang up all over the state. Three days after its passage, it was declared unconstitutional by a federal court and was never implemented. In the quarter-century since Prop 187, California has had no Republican senators and the only Republican governor was Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose party affiliation appears to have been determined by a coin toss.
After the intense reaction to Prop 187, the California Republican Party chose to double down, becoming more reactionary and appearing more racist. Today, it’s a hollowed-out shell of a political party, almost completely inconsequential in the largest state of the Union.
It’s becoming obvious that chapters of the Republican Party in various states (and the nation, as a whole) aren’t sharp enough to learn from California’s lesson. Democrats have won the popular vote in seven of the last eight Presidential elections. And in four years under Donald Trump, the Republicans lost control of the House, the Senate, and the White House. And the post-carnage evaluation? They weren’t Trump enough; they need to be even Trumpier.
In Texas, the GOP has adopted the QAnon phrase “We are the Storm” that was used by terrorists who attacked the U.S. Capitol. The Republican Party in Oregon has officially claimed that the people who stormed the Capitol were really leftists dressed in MAGA costumes in an effort to embarrass Trump. And here in Arizona, the Republican Party, led by the truly horrible Kelli Ward, has gone just plain crazy.
They’ve lost both Senate seats, the presidential vote, they are one seat from an evenly divided Legislature in both chambers, and they’ve lost multiple statewide races. And so what do the Republicans do? They censure three of their own.
Now, the final nail. Shawnna Bolick, whose Arizona Supreme Court justice husband might want to let her know that Arizona is still part of the United States, introduced a bill in the State Legislature that would effectively render meaningless all voting for President in the state. She wants the Legislature to reserve the power to determine which electors go to the Electoral College. I’ve been around for a long time and this is the absolute most vile attack on democracy I’ve ever seen.
If SB1070 marked the beginning of the end for the Arizona Republican Party, Bolick’s atrocity marks the end of the end. And the postmortem will read, “Death by their own petty, vulgar and often racist hand.”
This article appears in Feb 4-10, 2021.
Is is possible for a liberal to make a comment on issues and not attack persons. If you use Danehy as an example the answer is no.
Please don’t use Biden vote margins as proof of anything. We all know the proof of fraud is there. Your opinions are more irrelevant when you do that.
There is no proof the election was rigged because it wasnt. But in spite of proof to the contrary some have a belief that they feel is stronger than truth. And for this they want to destroy democracy. Name calling instead of fact checking is not a sign of reason. In some cases this way of thinking is not only unreasonable, it is outright irrational bordering on incoherent.
Tucsonbass doesn’t want anyone to attack persons, but I’ll bet his hero is that guy who’s the biggest attack dog (and liar) this country has ever known. It’s simply impossible to tell someone they’ve been duped without suggesting they are dupes. And what better word is there for someone who insists there’s evidence of election fraud when none at all was shown to over 60 judges?
Maricopa County continues to refuse to release the ballots and vote machines for a forensic audit.
List all the judges that have looked at the evidence.
All judges refused to hear the cases on technicalities, not on evidence. That will not prove it didn’t happen.
I am not sure where I stand but once audited we can make up our own minds.
Based on evidence and facts. Let’s get to it!
Tucsonbass: being critical of a person’s actions is not equivalent to an attack. Neither is criticizing the contents of a proposed bill. This is simply political discourse, and is required to maintain a free society.
From Gateway Pundit:
This is the site where Detroit City Officials put cardboard over the windows to prevent the GOP observers from seeing in, where poll workers were militantly hostile to the GOP observers, and where hundreds of affidavits by election observers claim they witnessed voter fraud.
And after our initial review of the TCF security video, we can assure you — We have evidence of illicit and likely criminal activity and we have it on video.
We hope to release our first report of many on Friday.
—————————————————————————————————————-
There are two other videos to be released tomorrow that claim they prove fraud.
You need to look no further than the USC docket as they have conference scheduled on PA election fraud case for Feb 19. Clarification of evidence may be coming.
https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/20-845.html
What are these posters smoking? Gateway Pundit is their source? Hahaha! Their guy got creamed and it’s time they accepted that it’s real. Conspiracy theories are not.
It doesn’t take much research to discover that the characterization of the actions of the Detroit City Officials that Barbara Johnson provides was debunked in November. The real problem there was the intimidation of election workers.
Here is the proof. It looks very clear cut that China stole the election and Trump actually won. Americans including former FBI Director James Comey are involved in allowing/assisting(?) in the fraud.
https://michaeljlindell.com/
Don’t try to watch it all at once. There is way too much information and evidence to digest it all. Try 15 minutes at a time.
This is going to make the impeachment trial very exciting. Watch it be dropped before the start date.
The stupidity on display…
Not ONE of the trumpsters here had ANYTHING to say about the actual article, or Danehy’s point. But instead we get the, “But…but…they cheated!” Ironic that the very woman Danehy brought up, her own husband’s court told trumpsters to go fuck their conspiracies.
On the pearl-clutching, “Tucsonbass”, yeah, this is from your own responses, so go stick those pearls somewhere they will turn brown: “One needs to look no further than the most recent dribble from Danehy to understand that he is suffering from a mental disorder. It’s sad that TLM even allows him to vent. “
And the the “Former Democrat”, no, is not “proof of anything”, but sparky, NOT “We all know” either, given that, “we” – or at least, the majority here as evidenced by how many “disliked” you – know that you are full of shit. A rather eloquent “rebuke-of-your-bullshit” point, wouldn’t you say? No, I guess you wouldn’t…
Question #1 Are the Dominion voting machines connected to the internet?
Take your time. The company spokesperson said that they are not.
I disagree Michael. Every comment on here is about the quote below from the article:
“Democrats have won the popular vote in seven of the last eight Presidential elections. And in four years under Donald Trump, the Republicans lost control of the House, the Senate, and the White House. And the post-carnage evaluation? They weren’t Trump enough; they need to be even Trumpier.”
Many Americans saw proof today that the Chinese with the help of American traitors stole the election in November.
It’s just that now we see how they stole them.
It’s ironic that Marjorie Taylor Greene touts “freedom of speech”… yet the AZ GOP censures Cindy McCain and Jeff Flake for speaking freely.
Republicans are the biggest hypocrites.
And yes, they were duped.
Democrats do worse. Let’s be honest. Look at Schiffs Russian lies. He should be tried.
The evidence continues to pour out faster than the media can deny it. The admission by Time Magazine over the weekend proves they violated numerous laws in order to cheat in the election. Detroit has now been caught.
https://populist.press/fact-checking-the-phony-fact-checkers-the-gateway-pundits-explosive-michigan-tcf-center-reporting-absolututely-shows-voter-fraud/
Liars Always Lie: That’s some humdinger of a source you got there. You can practically hear the tin foil rattling in their hats.
Ya’ll know them there aliens from outer space started the fires in California with a laser. And yes, they were Jews. And those democrats intend to impeach Trump, our fearless Christian leader and most truthful president ever. I bet the whole world looks at smart people like Kelli Ward and Paul Gosar and wishes they could be like us. They make are state look really inteljent. I just wish I had more flags to hang in my front yard. I only got twenty. (sarcasm)
THERE IS NO LONGER DOUBT THAT THE LUNATICS ARE RUNNING THE ASYLUM IN ARIZONA!!!
“They got states to change voting systems and laws and helped secure hundreds of millions in public and private funding. They fended off voter-suppression lawsuits, recruited armies of poll workers and got millions of people to vote by mail for the first time. They successfully pressured social media companies to take a harder line against disinformation and used data-driven strategies to fight viral smears.” Time Magazine
They broke laws so that we had an uncorrupted election. Other countries call it a coup.
https://time.com/5936036/secret-2020-election-campaign/
The state of Georgia has referred thirty one cases of election fraud for prosecution. New Hampshire hand count has now proven that voting machines illegally transferred six percent of all Republican votes to their Democrat opponents. Alabama filed major fraud charges in 2020 election last week. Pennsylvania and Arizona lawsuits challenging results are heard next week.
What news are you watching for evidence of fraud? They must be hiding it from you.
Watching the Grand Old Party fracture is not a pretty sight for anyone, least of all for long life Republicans. Defending this one dude to the point of insurrection means fractures will increasingly stand apart in the years to come. Trump flipped away a lot of Republicans and Independents in 2020, and all of you who won’t agree to that, or that Biden won fairly, are going to feel worse and worse as time goes on.
President-Elect Biden got 81,283,098 votes to Former-President Trump’s 74,222,958 votes; then, the Electoral College gave Biden 306 votes to Trump’s 232 votes. That result cannot be changed without destroying the United States Constitution and/or by way of widespread insurrection. That is not going to happen.
Impeached and acquitted twice in twelve months by dems and rhinos. We need to know why they fear him so much and why they hide election info from audit. Many are missing that evidence that’s staring them right in the face.
Is the comment section of Tom’s column the place where the RW nuts gather to like each other’s replies?
Just because the former and no-longer-in-office president says it, widespread fraud is not the truth.
The election was not rigged.
There was no extensive cheating that shifted the vote in ANY significant way.
Nobody can change my vote, and I voted along with well over 80 million citizens who refuse to believe the liar.
Trump continues to lie because he is afraid to be prosecuted.
Someday he will be prosecuted, and he may again call out a mob to surround the courthouse to threaten the justice system the same he threatened Congress.
They can try but It won’t work, and any violent people who show up will just get arrested.
Evidence, testimony and extensive court documents will prove that he is a scofflaw and a criminal who never cared about us – none of us.
He just wants to skate away.