Arizona's political scene, always a three-ring circus, is abuzz over the prospects of John McCain finally having to defend his senate seat against a viable opponent. This challenge comes not from any particular Democrat in the general election, but from a far-right conservative in the primary, that being former Congressman (and current talk-radio host) J.D. Hayworth.
McCain probably doesn't feel vulnerable, but he sure looks it, fresh off a stinging national rebuke from voters of all stripes. A recent Rasmussen poll confirms this; even though Hayworth has yet to officially announce his candidacy, the two are in a statistical tie.
Hayworth was once a moving force in the Republican Party. Blustery and unapologetic, his approach to decorum accurately reflected the sensibilities of his constituents. After a few years, though, a sense of disenchantment settled in amongst the public.
Hayworth's uncontrolled rants about illegal immigration quickly alienated him from Hispanic voters and their patrons in the business community. His connections to the odious Jack Abramoff didn't help matters. The final dagger came from the Arizona Republic, whose editors portrayed Hayworth in a most unflattering light when they endorsed his opponent in 2006.
The funny thing is that Hayworth summarily lost to Democrat Harry Mitchell, who is politically not that far removed from positions that John McCain claims to hold dear. In a primary race, though, he wouldn't have to worry about those pesky Independents. He could play to the baser natures of red-meat-eating conservatives.
If this insurgent candidate ultimately claims the seat once held by Barry Goldwater, McCain will have nobody to blame but himself. The retired Navy man has shown an unsettling penchant for re-rigging his sails to suit the prevailing winds so much that nobody can be convinced of his positions - not even himself.
Not so long ago, McCain would tell you that climate change is a pressing problem. His position has since shifted closer to the beliefs of collegiate troglodytes like Oklahoma's James Inhofe (who doesn't believe climate change exists). Immigrants were vital to our economy when McCain was running as a Senator; they were slated to go to the back of the line when he was running for president.
Just last September, you may recall, McCain said that the fundamentals of our economy were strong. Hours later he "suspended" his campaign to go back to D.C. to help George W. Bush rescue that same economy. Then, to top it all off, he voted against the stimulus package. I'm not suggesting my senator is bi-polar. At this point, he truly appears to be tri-polar.
Now John McCain says he wants to remake the GOP in his own image - thoughtful, considerate, bipartisan. In other words, he wants his Party to be stocked with people who are not like Sarah Palin... You remember Sarah Palin, his 2oo8 running mate, whose track record indicates she would be far more likely to endorse someone like J.D. Hayworth.
It's almost salacious enough to get a guy - or gal - to register Republican just to oust McCain from a post that he has held for far too long. At least with Hayworth, you know what you're getting. Just don't get too close to him, or what you'll be getting is a series of precautionary rabies shots.
pH 11.29.o9
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Backyard Talk
November is always the month of surprises, and this one was no different, except that today is Friday the 13th. It should have been no big surprise (although it was) to field a phone call from the reclusive yet reliable Mick the Mechanic.
"Hate to bother you, but I thought I'd call you up and play Devil's Advocate."
Well, you've every right to do so. Go ahead.
"Okay. How come you haven't written anything about this crazy Army guy shooting up Fort Hood?"
Well, for one, everybody else seems to have it covered. Beyond that, some stories, you have to let them... Bake. Ferment. Gestate.
"Got it. So what do you think? Did he do it because he's a crazy Arab terrorist, like everyone's saying?"
I don't know. They ought to ask him. However you slice it, he's still crazy.
"Should the military ban Muslims?"
Only the gay ones... I'm kidding, of course.
"All right, man." (I could tell that the role of DA didn't much suit Mick.) "What's all this noise about the 9/11 terrorists being tried in a New York City courtroom? What happened to Bush's military tribunals?"
What happened to Bush? I don't disagree with what they're doing, and here's why. I was in New York a couple of weeks ago -
"You were?"
Yes. And our tour-bus guide twice mentioned the World Trade Center, and both times he referenced "the murder of 2,750 people." To the people of New York - the victims of 9/11 - it was a crime. Not an act of war; a crime. Besides, nobody has ever escaped from a Supermax prison, so what's the big deal?
"You went and saw Hair, didn't you? On Broadway?"
Yes. (Long, uncomfortable pause.) Anything else?
"Yeah. Does it seem to you that the Republicans are a little too focused on the terrorism stuff, and that the Democrats are kind of not focused enough?"
It almost seems like that. The only variable is that the concerns of conservatives are false. It's just political hay to them. Their only hope to garner any attention in the 2010 election is to frighten people. Good point about the Democrats, by the way.
"So you're saying that they're inflating the Muslim angle in the Fort Hood case, and inflating the terrorist threat in the 9/11 trials, saying their crimes are therefore more serious? That they should be punished more severely because of their religious nature?"
That's not what I'm saying. That's what they're doing. And it's really very funny.
"What's funny about it?"
Just a couple of weeks ago, they were against hate-crimes legislation. John McCain had the most to say about it. Quote: “If this amendment was to become law, police officers and prosecutors would be forced to treat identical crimes differently depending on the police officer or prosecutor’s determination of the political, philosophical, or even religious beliefs of the offender. This is absolutely wrong." But, then, that had to do with -
"There you go with the gays again. I gotta go."
All right, then. Good luck this deer season. Kill one for me.
"Oh, yeah. Or more, if I get the chance."
That's what I still miss the most about Michigan. Hunting. And long, pointless conversations with Mick.
pH 11.13.o9
"Hate to bother you, but I thought I'd call you up and play Devil's Advocate."
Well, you've every right to do so. Go ahead.
"Okay. How come you haven't written anything about this crazy Army guy shooting up Fort Hood?"
Well, for one, everybody else seems to have it covered. Beyond that, some stories, you have to let them... Bake. Ferment. Gestate.
"Got it. So what do you think? Did he do it because he's a crazy Arab terrorist, like everyone's saying?"
I don't know. They ought to ask him. However you slice it, he's still crazy.
"Should the military ban Muslims?"
Only the gay ones... I'm kidding, of course.
"All right, man." (I could tell that the role of DA didn't much suit Mick.) "What's all this noise about the 9/11 terrorists being tried in a New York City courtroom? What happened to Bush's military tribunals?"
What happened to Bush? I don't disagree with what they're doing, and here's why. I was in New York a couple of weeks ago -
"You were?"
Yes. And our tour-bus guide twice mentioned the World Trade Center, and both times he referenced "the murder of 2,750 people." To the people of New York - the victims of 9/11 - it was a crime. Not an act of war; a crime. Besides, nobody has ever escaped from a Supermax prison, so what's the big deal?
"You went and saw Hair, didn't you? On Broadway?"
Yes. (Long, uncomfortable pause.) Anything else?
"Yeah. Does it seem to you that the Republicans are a little too focused on the terrorism stuff, and that the Democrats are kind of not focused enough?"
It almost seems like that. The only variable is that the concerns of conservatives are false. It's just political hay to them. Their only hope to garner any attention in the 2010 election is to frighten people. Good point about the Democrats, by the way.
"So you're saying that they're inflating the Muslim angle in the Fort Hood case, and inflating the terrorist threat in the 9/11 trials, saying their crimes are therefore more serious? That they should be punished more severely because of their religious nature?"
That's not what I'm saying. That's what they're doing. And it's really very funny.
"What's funny about it?"
Just a couple of weeks ago, they were against hate-crimes legislation. John McCain had the most to say about it. Quote: “If this amendment was to become law, police officers and prosecutors would be forced to treat identical crimes differently depending on the police officer or prosecutor’s determination of the political, philosophical, or even religious beliefs of the offender. This is absolutely wrong." But, then, that had to do with -
"There you go with the gays again. I gotta go."
All right, then. Good luck this deer season. Kill one for me.
"Oh, yeah. Or more, if I get the chance."
That's what I still miss the most about Michigan. Hunting. And long, pointless conversations with Mick.
pH 11.13.o9
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
On Veterans Day
There's a bumper sticker on my four-wheel drive that says it plain and simple: If You Love Your Freedom, Thank a Vet.
Every year I try to do just that. Notes go out to my father, who served in the Air Force, and to my baby brother, who drove tank in the Army. Something nice gets picked out for my girl, who worked on the mighty A-10 Warthog.
A litany of names gratefully plays through my mind. Bobby Lanier. Stacey DeGraff. Larry Haffner. Chris Davis. Mark Hartmann. John McMillan. Joe Cusack. Ralph Hill. Al Tolman. In peacetime or otherwise, active or reserves, short hitch or career stint, they all wore the uniform. They all shouldered a rifle. They all laced up their boots and answered a tough call.
To them, I say again, thank you. It's more than a bumper sticker to me.
In Arizona, we're all a little more aware of the veterans in our midst, because so many of them have retired here. The Greatest Generation now spends its time, as it should, puttering around Sun City in golf carts. They paid their dues.
But there's also a dirty little secret about the veterans of Arizona. We have a burgeoning homeless population here. No fewer than one out of four of those who have noplace to go served their country. One out of four.
In return, we serve them at soup kitchens south of the railroad tracks. And we'll throw a parade, just like we do every year.
Happy Veterans Day.
pH 11.11.o9
Every year I try to do just that. Notes go out to my father, who served in the Air Force, and to my baby brother, who drove tank in the Army. Something nice gets picked out for my girl, who worked on the mighty A-10 Warthog.
A litany of names gratefully plays through my mind. Bobby Lanier. Stacey DeGraff. Larry Haffner. Chris Davis. Mark Hartmann. John McMillan. Joe Cusack. Ralph Hill. Al Tolman. In peacetime or otherwise, active or reserves, short hitch or career stint, they all wore the uniform. They all shouldered a rifle. They all laced up their boots and answered a tough call.
To them, I say again, thank you. It's more than a bumper sticker to me.
In Arizona, we're all a little more aware of the veterans in our midst, because so many of them have retired here. The Greatest Generation now spends its time, as it should, puttering around Sun City in golf carts. They paid their dues.
But there's also a dirty little secret about the veterans of Arizona. We have a burgeoning homeless population here. No fewer than one out of four of those who have noplace to go served their country. One out of four.
In return, we serve them at soup kitchens south of the railroad tracks. And we'll throw a parade, just like we do every year.
Happy Veterans Day.
pH 11.11.o9
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Recovery Less Jobs
Gone are the days when a man or woman could step up bravely before his or her employer's big desk and declare, "Take this job and shove it." Long gone.
The latest unemployment figures are in, and they are not good. While the pace of firings by American companies has slowed to its lowest point in a couple of years, a sign that the tide is indeed turning, the jobless rate has climbed to 10.2 percent nationally.
Some would have you believe that this is somehow President Obama's fault. Yet the federal government has been just about the only entity to expand payroll this past year, and any junior economist can handily explain that employment is a lagging indicator when it comes to recovering from the kind of recession Obama's predecessor left us all in.
In fact, productivity is way up, meaning Big Business is happy to utilize fewer Americans to make their profits. Here in Arizona, the supermarket chain Fry's - which includes Safeway - is preparing to hire temporary workers, as it prepares for another round of good old-fashioned union busting.
Still, 10.2 percent, that's pretty high (and doesn't even come close to telling the story in places like Michigan), the highest it's been in 26 years. Some have been collecting unemployment compensation for nearly two years now. These figures reflect not only the number of workers who have given up - hey, wait a second.
Twenty-six years? Let's see, that would have been, well, it would've been 1983. So the last time this many Americans were suffering from joblessness, which really translates into hopelessness, Ronald Wilson Reagan was our president. And he was in his third year as such.
Funny how that works. Last year's gouging at the pump was the result of oil prices that broke all the records set in 1981... When Reagan was in office. The sub-prime collapse was the worst banking crisis since the S & L scandal of the late '80s... When Reagan was in office. The Dubya-era stock market swoons were the worst since 1987... When Reagan was in office.
Let's face it. There is no question that Ronald Reagan was a massive failure as a president. And Barack Obama is regularly assailed by those who would scrape dogshit off Reagan's bootheels with their front teeth, so in love are they with the false memories they have of his abysmal presidency.
(This is by no means the only indicator that right-wingers are delusional; it is only the most glaring.)
Think about that when you hear conservatives crying about Obama's deficit spending, the highest we've seen since Ronald Reagan, unless you count the fiscal nightmares endured under George W. Bush (they don't). When Clintonian job creation becomes the norm, well before Obama's third year in office, you can forget it all over again.
That seems to be the way we roll.
pH 11.o7.o9
The latest unemployment figures are in, and they are not good. While the pace of firings by American companies has slowed to its lowest point in a couple of years, a sign that the tide is indeed turning, the jobless rate has climbed to 10.2 percent nationally.
Some would have you believe that this is somehow President Obama's fault. Yet the federal government has been just about the only entity to expand payroll this past year, and any junior economist can handily explain that employment is a lagging indicator when it comes to recovering from the kind of recession Obama's predecessor left us all in.
In fact, productivity is way up, meaning Big Business is happy to utilize fewer Americans to make their profits. Here in Arizona, the supermarket chain Fry's - which includes Safeway - is preparing to hire temporary workers, as it prepares for another round of good old-fashioned union busting.
Still, 10.2 percent, that's pretty high (and doesn't even come close to telling the story in places like Michigan), the highest it's been in 26 years. Some have been collecting unemployment compensation for nearly two years now. These figures reflect not only the number of workers who have given up - hey, wait a second.
Twenty-six years? Let's see, that would have been, well, it would've been 1983. So the last time this many Americans were suffering from joblessness, which really translates into hopelessness, Ronald Wilson Reagan was our president. And he was in his third year as such.
Funny how that works. Last year's gouging at the pump was the result of oil prices that broke all the records set in 1981... When Reagan was in office. The sub-prime collapse was the worst banking crisis since the S & L scandal of the late '80s... When Reagan was in office. The Dubya-era stock market swoons were the worst since 1987... When Reagan was in office.
Let's face it. There is no question that Ronald Reagan was a massive failure as a president. And Barack Obama is regularly assailed by those who would scrape dogshit off Reagan's bootheels with their front teeth, so in love are they with the false memories they have of his abysmal presidency.
(This is by no means the only indicator that right-wingers are delusional; it is only the most glaring.)
Think about that when you hear conservatives crying about Obama's deficit spending, the highest we've seen since Ronald Reagan, unless you count the fiscal nightmares endured under George W. Bush (they don't). When Clintonian job creation becomes the norm, well before Obama's third year in office, you can forget it all over again.
That seems to be the way we roll.
pH 11.o7.o9
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