I have been having trouble with my computer off an on since Saturday, so I neglected to write anything about my friend Nick Fontana, who was just picked to replace Daniel Patterson.

I’ve known Nick as long as I’ve been alive, I think. He was an intern for Mo Udall way back, and ended up taking over for a fellow employee who took a long term leave. He’s still a tremendous admirer of Udall, and if he only learned five percent of what Mo had to offer, District 29 will do okay.

Nic...

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Just so y’all know, Russell Pearce was not our only former legislative leader at the capitol for the hearings on SB 1070. Kirk Adams was up there taking time out from fundraising for his congressional race to tweet the hearings.

Here’s a sample:

Lesson so far? Impossible to have reasoned discussion here about how to solve this problem.Hearing is everything that was expected. #SB1070

Yes, Speaker Adams. What we need is a fact based, calm, reasoned discussion of immigration policy. It&...

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I’m sure some of you have already read the article on Jeff Flake’s lobbying career that ran in National Journal last week. If not, here’s a couple of paragraphs:

Between 1990 and 1991, Flake was a registered foreign agent for Rossing Uranium, a company which operates a mine in Namibia that is among the world’s largest suppliers of the nuclear fuel. He earned between $5,000 and $7,000 per month opening doors in the nation’s capital and promoting the firm, according to record...

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So, why the bruhaha over Ted Nugent? I guess he’d get more attention for his music if he’d done anything notable since Damn Yankees broke up, and even that was of dubious value.

He definitely crossed some lines with his comments, so much so that even the NRA is trying to get some distance. The Secret Service questioned him, and I’m sure the Nuge was disappointed to find that they didn’t bring any of those Colombian prostitutes he’d heard about.

I got a call from a r...

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I get e-mails from Republican flacks. Yeah, I know. I think a lot of them don’t know me too well or read my blog.

I got an interesting one this morning from Daily Star reporter turned Republican National Congressional Campaign Committee spinmeister Daniel Scarpinato.

He forwarded a Ron Barber fundraising e-mail, added no commentary except for his change in title: “Civility.” And those quotation marks were there apparently to indicate irony and indignation.

I didn’t see mu...

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La Cervecera signed Terri Proud’s “Bible study” bill today, which just goes to show that students in Arizona are allowed to study their culture as long as they are Protestants.

Okay, Jesse Kelly won. Yep, he came tantalizingly close last time (at least for those who are tantalized by Jesse Kelly), but it’s a different election this time, and he already spent a lot of money (he’s down to less than $50,000 cash on hand in the last report). Ron Barber has spent hardly anything yet.

I’m surprised that Dave Sitton failed to do better. He’s been active in the community for a while; I thought that would carry him. I should have known better: we learned...

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Another gem from our favorite Republican talker, Bruce Ash, this time from his Facebook page:

Kudos to AZ House member Judy Burges ,Speaker Tobin and Senate President Pierce for their leadership on moving SB 1507 through the Arizona Legislature !!

SB 1507 will prohibit the imposition of UN Agenda 21 here in Arizona which an insidious plan by the United Nations to force their governance on our state , counties, municipalities, schools and even neighborhoods.

UN Agenda 21 preaches population contr...

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Yes, there is plenty to write about. For example: why did Mark Stegeman and Miggy Cuevas think going to a festival in Barrio Hollywood, a bastion of Chicano activism for decades, would be a good idea?

Instead, I’m doing a poll on tomorrow’s results. I haven’t found a good way to do ranked voting, so instead, y’all get to vote on first and fourth with a bonus question. If you want to give us clues to your reasoning, feel free to share them with us in your comments.

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I’d like to point out this unhinged e-mail exchange between Terri Proud and a local citizen who was concerned about Proud’s uninformed reasoning regarding Pima County’s bonds.

It isn’t the first time that Proud’s e-mails have gotten her into trouble. As Dave Fitzsimmons points out in the article, Proud has complained in the past when her rants sent on the public dime become, well, public.

Then again, check out this Twitter exchange that the Weekly wrote about when t...

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The Pima Area Labor Federation and the National Association of Letter Carriers are going to be at Jon Kyl’s office, 6480 N Oracle Road, at 5:00 PM to oppose S 1789. The bill would end six day mail delivery and phase out home delivery entirely.

The NALC has more details about what this legislation would do at their website.

I had to call a legislator last night because I couldn’t believe what I had heard. She confirmed it, the legislature passed a bill that counts weeks of pregnancy from a woman’s last menstrual period.

Yep, that would mean before conception.

One thing that amuses me is that the word “menstrual” is in there. My experience with the sort of men that pass this sort of legislation is that they think words like “menstrual” are icky. This is not a coincidence.

To be fa...

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Daniel Patterson has submitted a resignation letter to Tlotoani Andy Tobin.

The ethics committee just voted unanamously to recommend the expulsion of Daniel Patterson.

The house reconvenes this afternoon for action on bills with the possibility of an expulsion vote.

Here I thought it was bad enough that Daniel Patterson is asserting that he’s the victim of racism, and Andrew Thomas goes and compares himself to Ghandi.

Daniel Patterson just had his press conference up in Phoenix, accompanied by Republican Representatives Cecil Ash and John Filmore.

Oh yeah, and Jaret Maupin of all people. Because if you want to make sure that a discussion remains above board and honest, you call Maupin. Maupin alleged that Patterson wasn’t getting his due because he’s a white guy.

I am not making that up.

Apparently, being white in the Democratic caucus is tantamount to being a leper or something, according to Maup...

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It’s really unfair for our morning daily, known to us in the know as the Red Star, to pick on Frank Antenori for his FEC report.

Brady McCombs throws around math and numbers to make his case that Antenori’s campaign is not doing well. I’d like to point out to comrade McCombs that “math” also supposedly proves global warming and doesn’t work well with supply-side economics, so Frank will tell him where to stick it.

McCombs says that other candidates have raised...

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Per the Twitterverse: Andrew Thomas and Lisa Aubuchon disbarred, Rachel Alexander suspended for six months and one day.

Once in a while, things work out.

I’ve been told that the Ethics Committee is expected to meet at 9 AM, with the full House meeting at 10 AM and a possible vote on expulsion at that time.

I’ve given some of my legislative Democrat friends a little stick for trying to push this process. I think holding a snap vote after the release of the report would have been a mistake. Yes, it would have been technically proper, but would have set a bad precedent. For anyone who doesn’t think that such a precedent wouldn̵...

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No one seems to be listening to Joe Arpaio on his latest attention grabbing crusade. The only people that are are crackpots and third-rate talk show hosts. Here is Arpaio on his frustration that even Republican presidential candidates aren’t following him like lonely puppies:

I’ve had presidential candidates visit me in my office. I’ve talked to every one of them. … I don’t see anybody talking about this. I don’t see any senators talking about it. But when the mention me, they se...

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