False Advertising

So I'm driving through the neighborhood, burning some more precious fossil fuel, because why the hell not, and what do I see?

There, on one of my more prosperous neighbors' front yard, not one, but two Doug Ducey for Governor signs!

And what does it say on the sign?

"Opportunity for all".

See, now this is the kind of shit you just can't make up.

Opportunity for all? Really? 

I guess "opportunity" doesn't include public education. 'Cause the Ice Cream Man doesn't give a single dip whether the schools are adequately funded.

Says we can't afford it. No, the best thing would be to do away with the state's income tax. That will lead to all sorts of cool stuff! Just like cutting taxes always does! Trickle down, trickle down, hooray hooray!

That old fraud Reagan is rotting in his grave, but we are still plagued by the spawn of his "government is the problem" dictum. That, and its evil, retarded twin "run government like a business."

Government isn't a business. No, not even an ice cream business. And people who believe that government should be run like a business don't understand much about government or business.

But hey, for the sake of argument, let's say that government is a business. Ducey still isn't a good choice. After all, look at the jobs he created: one guy got very rich (that would be Ducey), a few people did well (those would be his franchisees--except for the ones who went under and ended up suing the Dougster), but the vast majority of jobs created were of the minimum wage or just barely above minimum wage variety. You know, the people who need public assistance to get by? Now, I understand that that is the ideal Republican economic model, but I'm not convinced that having a bunch of folks trained to stick gummy bears into ice cream is the best way to face the economic challenges of the future.

If you want to see what the Ducey brand of Republican economic "opportunity for all" can do to a state take a good, long look at the disaster that is Kansas.

Once elected one of the first things all of these parasites do is sell off the public commons to their rich buddies. Because the free market is the best solution for everything! And all of those things that you thought belonged to "we the people"? Well, guess again.

Unless you're an oligarch, a complete idiot, or the kind of person who wants to see just how bad things can get, Fred DuVal is the only choice for Governor of Arizona.

By the way, my well off neighbor with the Ducey signs made his money in agriculture. Which means he definitely benefited from government subsidized water and quite probably benefited from unskilled, cheap labor, i.e. Mexican migrant workers. Other than that he's just another "self-made" rugged individualist Republican.

We Will Get Fooled Again

Well, the other day they had themselves a Republican primary out in these parts.

And they chose which "run the government like a business", "build the dang fence", "cut taxes and then wonder why the place falls apart", "free market worshiping", "fear the dark skin people", "bust the unions", freak they wanted to run for governor against the Democrat Fred DuVal: Ice Cream magnate Doug Ducey.

Then, having separated the chaff from the other chaff, naturally, the first thing the Republicans did was lie about DuVal's record. The very first thing!

Why? It's really very simple: because they have gotten away with lying so often and for so long that by now it's just second nature to them. "Like breathing out and breathing in."

Right out of the box you open your campaign with an easily disproved distortion of the truth. Simply breathtaking!

I think that tells you everything you'll ever need to know about the Republican Party. In Arizona and everywhere else.

That's their true inheritance from Nixon, Reagan, both Bushes and co-president Cheney. Lie, lie, lie...and then lie some more!

The "Party of Lincoln" is really the party of Atwater and Rove. Oh, and Rupert Murdoch, too!

More to the point, we've already seen, ad nauseam, what happens when the Republicans are completely in charge of the state's government--any state--and it ain't pretty.

There is, of course, only one sane choice for Governor of Arizona. In a sane state, Fred DuVal would win in a rout...

But this is Arizona...and sanity...well...sanity is not considered an essential component of Arizona government.

Because you can never stop stupid white people from voting. It's in the state constitution, I think. In fact, it's the very engine that keeps Arizona running the way it does.

And we wouldn't want to change that. No sir!

Status Quo or Death!

John Huppenthal Is Just One Of Many

I suppose I should be all in an uproar over John Huppenthal's no longer secret life as a blogger.

His posts are indeed ignorant, offensive, racist--you know, the whole right wing Tea Party Republican grab bag. You can just about taste the hatred behind his every word.

The fact that he is my state's Superintendent of Public Instruction only adds to the joke--and to his awfulness.

But guess what? A lot of people will still vote for him. Because he speaks for them, doncha know? They are stupid, bigoted, reactionary, antediluvian racists and he's their guy.

I should be pissed off about this, but...

The other day Ben Jr. and I went to a fund raiser for Fred DuVal, the Democratic candidate for Governor. He's a nice man, a good man, an intelligent man. Not exactly charismatic, but you can't have everything. I hope he wins. But even if he does, he'll still have to deal with a legislature that is controlled by sadistic, nihilistic, hillbillies. And that means nothing much changes.

Hey, this is Arizona:

Land of Governor Jan Brewer and Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Attorney General Tom Horne. Trent Franks and Rick Renzi and Ben Quayle. John McCain and Jon Kyl and Jeff Flake. Paul Gosar and Matt Salmon and David Schweikert. Oh my God, the list is never ending! One empty suit replaces another empty suit, and the beat goes on.

So, let's be fair and give ol Hup a break. After all, he fits right in.