Still Worthless

Tomorrow, November 8th, Phoenix voters will wander off to the polls to cast their votes for mayor. They will choose between Wes Gullett and Greg Stanton. That choice should be a simple one:

Greg Stanton.

As I've mentioned before, Wes Gullett is a lobbyist. Everybody needs to find something that fulfills them in life, and apparently Wes finds fulfillment in subverting democracy. Because that is what lobbyists attempt to do. They spend their days engaged in what might be called bribery. Of course, in a nation where corporations are people and money is speech, anything goes. So, why not?

Because he is a strong advocate for what is erroneously called "the free market", Gullett is, naturally, beloved by the Chamber of Commerce types. In case you haven't been paying attention, the Chamber of Commerce is generally made up of smarmy, glad-handing poltroons, whose one consistent goal is to keep wages down. Because that's "good for business." Unions, collective bargaining, a liveable minimum wage, or anything else that might conceivably help working people in our benighted state and city, are "bad for business."

Gullett and his friends and supporters are part of the concerted effort to keep the desert hillbillies distracted and confused and, I must admit, they are very good at that. The powers that be have a long list of convenient scapegoats to cover up the consistent failings of their economic and social policies, and local voters are eager and indeed happy to accept any and all disinformation. Look around you, stupidity is always in full bloom in the Valley of the Sun.

In summation, if you want a city governed by people who don't think government has any function beyond enriching their cronies, then by all means Wes Gullett is your boy.

Make no mistake, Greg Stanton isn't a LaGuardia or Daley. Phoenix is not and will never be that kind of city. Stanton may not even reach the level of Terry Goddard, who remains the gold standard of Phoenix mayors in my lifetime.

However, despite his limitations, Greg Stanton would make a much better mayor than Wes Gullett in every measurable way.