In about a week, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to take up, in conference, the issue of whether to grant one Philip Berg’s petition for certiorari in a case called Berg v. Obama.  That petition seeks permission to argue, in a court of law, that BH Obama is not eligible to serve as president because substantial doubt exists as to whether he is, as required under the Constitution, a “natural born Citizen.”  The issue has been previously addressed here at Liberty’s Apothecary.

Berg has, to this point, been denied the opportunity to present his arguments to a court because, purportedly, he lacks the requisite “standing” or “personal stake in the outcome” of the issue.  One of the other requirements of the Constitution is that federal courts can consider only actual “cases and controversies” to ensure that only “real” rather than contrived or “imaginary” disputes take up valuable court time and resources.  The concept of standing grows out of this concern.

Mr. Berg has been ruled to lack the requisite standing to warrant even allowing him to present his arguments to a court.  A U.S. District Court judge granted Mr. Obama’s lawyers’ motion to dismiss on these grounds, so Berg is trying to get the Supreme Court to overturn that order and allow him, at minimum, to proceed with “discovery” so that the issue can be presented to a court on a complete factual record.  Just like any other litigant seeking relief from a court.

Thus far, Obama has done nothing to remove the darkening clouds of suspicion and doubt surrounding his citizenship status and the issue of whether, in fact, he is eligible under Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the Constitution.  Seemingly credible evidence has surfaced that he may have been born in Kenya and/or that he may possess Indonesian citizenship, both of which would bear directly on the “natural born Citizen” issue under the Constitution.  And a denial by the Supreme Court of Berg’s petition - still the most likely outcome - will do nothing to shed any light on that substantive question.

Obama has, however, consistently opposed Mr. Berg’s efforts to seek judicial relief.  And to insulate himself, he repeatedly utilizes sycophantic surrogates and his lawyers to fall back on hearsay statements that images posted on the Internet of what is claimed to be his authentic birth certificate should suffice to qualify him for the highest public office in the land, if not the planet.  Just ask the guys at Factcheck.org.

This is roughly the equivalent of allowing someone who is applying for a driver’s license, a marriage license or a passport - let alone a position implicating access to national security secrets and nuclear weapons arming codes - to simply tell authorities seeking proof of birth and citizenship: “Just ‘Google’ me and check me out that way.” 

This amazing arabesque around a legitimate, real issue - one plainly neither imaginary nor contrived - has been bought hook, line and sinker by the MSM, the DNC and approximately 67 million Obamatons across the nation.  Amazing.

Look at it this way, Virginia: if, on January 20, 2009, when Chief Justice Roberts is scheduled to swear him in as president, would it not be reasonable and prudent to actually know whether Obama’s oath to support and defend the Constitution comported with his eligibility to serve under the terms of that very same document in the first place?  

Here’s a better question: if, by January 20, 2009, the Supreme Court has not denied Berg’s certiorari petition, will the Chief Justice - or for that matter any other federal judge - have a conflict of interest regarding the administration of the oath of office? 

For this reason alone, the smart money is on a denial of Berg’s petition, well before January 20, 2009, after which, of course, we will continue to be instructed to ignore that pesky “natural born Citizen” boogeyman lurking behind the curtain. 

There are some 67 million Obamaton lemmings who will be more than happy to do this; but there are others who will refuse.  Stay tuned.

Well, the biggest one-horse town in North America - Phoenix - now has its fancy-schmantcy $1.4 billion (as of now) light rail system up and running.  Sort of….

As noted in Liberty’s Apothecary last August (”Pay No Attention to Those Percentages Behind the Curtain” 8/2/08), the “light-rail-will-fail” system, designed to transform Phoenix into the cosmopolitan, 21st Century mecca of the Southwest, will, for an equivalent amount of money, (a) move from Point “A” to Point “B” one-tenth the number of people at (b) four times the cost and (c) one-half the average speed as compared to additional buses.  

The light rail literature assures riders that the entire 20-mile route can be traversed in 60 minutes, a mere 1 hour, missing the irony that, even if true, the average speed would be (that’s right, Virginia): twenty miles per hour.

But yes, the proof of the pudding is in the riding, sooooo…. yesterday, an intrepid Liberty’s Apothecary contributor conducted her own “excellent Sunday afternoon adventure,” boarding one of the trains (ummm… a two-car contrivance hardly qualifies as a “train”) at the McClintock Road/Apache Boulevard “Park ‘N Ride” lot in Tempe. 

Armed with a very accurate Seiko watch, she rode (more precisely “stood,” along with around 7,000 other sardines in the cabin) from there to the Central/Osborn station in mid-town Phoenix, near Park Central Mall, a distance of around 13 miles, with 16 station stops, not counting the start and finish.

As noted, the Phoenix Metro Light Rail website advertises that the entire 20-mile route, from Mesa (Sycamore/Main) to the Spectrum Mall (formerly, Chris-Town, at Montebello/19th Avenue in Phoenix) will be traversed in 60 minutes.  Ummm… the intrepid Liberty’s Apothecary traveler spent 75 minutes (standing) going just 13 miles. Coming back was even longer: 90 minutes from Central/Osborn back to McClintock/Apache Boulevard.   

Thus, the average “speed” of each light rail trip was: Tempe to Park Central, 10.4 MPH; Park Central to Tempe, 8.7 MPH.  ¡Ay, chihuahua! There were buses and even bicyclists that ended up outracing the train. 

In fairness, because the trains stop at each station, regardless of whether someone wants to get on or off - and sit there for maybe a minute or more before moving on - this should be taken into consideration, and perhaps the large crowds caused additional delays.  And in any event, the trains themselves are clean (for the moment), spacious (for those lucky enough to be seated) and with additional cars attached, should alleviate crowding problems.  Oh, and their electric motors have some serious acceleration capabilities…. even with cars fully-loaded with sardines and themselves weighing over 50 tons each.

But the fact remains that, for $1.4 billion, a not-so-crazy argument could be made that it would have been far more economical to purchase a lot more buses with more frequent service than to dump the money into a fixed, concrete and steel trolley line which, if there is a single accident along the 20-mile length, the whole system can be brought to a screeching halt.  Ironically, if a track blockage lasts more than 15 to 20 minutes (but who’s counting?), then “bridge buses” will be used to get riders to the next unblocked station or destination. 

And the system’s cost doesn’t even take into account the decline in the economy over the past six months or the… let us be charitable here… somewhat less than aesthetic appearance of the high voltage electric lines now webbing over several heretofore main drags in Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa.  

Perhaps when the kinks are worked out, average speeds will rise.  But even if speeds doubled, they will never come close to beating either buses, some bicyclists or those infernal other contraptions the light rail was intended to replace: automobiles. 

Maybe when (not if) gasoline again soars above $5.00/gal. (or more), light rail will appear to be a better bargain, at least in terms of time spent.  But for now, let us just say that the jury is still out.

The Yellow Sheet is reporting that left wing laid-off reporters from the Tribune Paul Giblin, Dennis Welch, and Mary K. Reinhardt are starting a new online publication, The Arizona Guardian, which will cover the Capitol. We predict it won’t last more than a year, probably just a few months. The market here is already saturated with left wing news publications, so much so they are laying off reporters and going out of business. The Republic has been downsizing, the Tribune has made drastic cuts, and PolitickerAZ came and went within a year.  People are increasingly getting their local news from conservative blogs, alternative sources like PHXnews.com, and competitors like aznewsonline which runs newspaper feeds.  There already is a left wing publication that covers the Capitol - the Arizona Capitol Times and its Yellow Sheet.  The only possible other publication that might survive would have to be a conservative version. There is a reason why the Tribune laid off those three reporters - there is no longer a market for them here.

 Indicted County Supervisor Don Stapley with his pal Presiding Judge Barbara Rodriguez-Mundell. Wish we had a connection like her to assign us a sympathetic judge if we are ever indicted.   We were shocked to hear today that the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors - which includes indicted Supervisor Don Stapley and Mary Rose Wilcox, who illegally demolished a 105-year old historic home - has voted to remove County Attorney Andrew Thomas’s control of civil litigation and instead assigned former County Attorney Rick Romley to manage it! Romley had a terrible relationship with Sheriff Joe Arpaio, and then actively campaigned and ran a television ad for Thomas’s opponent last year, Democrat Tim Nelson. The Board of Supervisors should not have hired someone as difficult to get along with as Romley, so clearly they are doing it to stick it to Arpaio & Thomas.Insiders say it is being done in retaliation for Arpaio and Thomas indicting Stapley a couple of weeks ago. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has around 25 civil attorneys last time we asked. Are they all going to be let go? Wonder how much the Board of Supervisors is paying Romley to supervise the replacement counsel, which will cost the county considerably more as private outside counsel.  This is just the tip of the iceberg; Stapley is cozy with liberal Presiding Superior Court judge Barbara Rodriguez-Mundell, so she recruited a friendly judge out of retirement to handle the indictment! Thomas objected, producing affidavits from a court employee indicating Fields’ obvious bias, as well as the opinions of legal ethics experts, but Mundell refused to assign the case to another judge. Why can’t she assign the case to another judge?It sounds like corruption has taken over the Board of Supervisors and the Superior Court, let’s hope Arpaio and Thomas continue their ethics investigation and root it out. Mundell and Stapley have worked together to cut the budgets of every county agency except the Superior Court, which is getting a brand-new $340 million Taj Mahal building. Next election voters will be informed and able to vote out Mundell and the liberals on the Board of Supervisors. 

Last August, Liberty’s Apothecary noted (”How to Kill Two Birds With One Coconut” 8/9/08) that if BH Obama wanted to do some multi-tasking while he was vacationing with his family in Hawaii, he could just boogie on down to the Hawaii Department of Health or the hospital where he says he was born to get a “vault” copy of his original birth certificate.

He passed up that opportunity then, and seemingly is intent on doing the same thing now on his pre-inauguration vacation back in Hawaii.  An interesting, post-election update on the issue is found posted here at the website America’s Right.

As noted in that post, the U.S. Supreme Court on January 9, 2009 will be taking up the question of whether anyone (in this case, one Phillip J. Berg) has “standing” to pose the question in federal court: “Is Mr. Obama a natural born Citizen under the U.S. Constitution?” 

If Berg is ruled to have such standing (he and a number of others have lost on that issue in several independent, separate cases earlier this year), then the matter will proceed to the substantive merits, and none too soon.

But Obama shouldn’t start fretting about that potential just yet because, as the America’s Right post notes, the “amicus journalism” that is now going on regarding the question is just getting warmed up. 

But if the Court grants Berg’s petition and the matter gets remanded to the U.S. District Court for further proceedings (right now, a longshot), those “further proceedings” will include Mr. Berg’s access to what lawyers call “discovery mechanisms.”  Like depositions.  Like interrogatories.  Like requests for admissions.  Like subpoenas.

Nothing would seem to strike greater fear in the Democrats than the words “discovery mechanisms,” so you can rest assured that Team Obama, the MSM, the DNC and the leftist blogs will be pulling out all the stops to impede and deep-six that potential.

How’s that for “change” and “transparency” in government?   

Here’s a story you likely won’t see in the New York Times.

New York investment con-man/broker Bernard (”Charlie-Ponzi-Was-a-Piker”) Madoff was recently indicted and arrested for having bilked his clients - and, potentially, the taxpayers, given the bailout mania now sweeping the land - of between $50 and $75 billion. 

That’s right, Virginia, “-illion” with a “B” not an “M.”  This fraud, if confirmed and proved (ummm…. he has already admitted culpability), dwarfs any prior single-perpetrator theft by fraud.  So, Virginia, you may ask, among other questions: how much money did this huckster donate over the years to politicians? 

Answer: lots.

And how many of them were Republicans?   Three.  And most of those were formerly Democrats.

And how many were Democrats?  Lots.  Including Hillary R. Clinton (BH Obama’s pick for Secretary of State); Senator Chuck (”Democrats-Have-Zero-Culpability-in-the-Financial-Meltdown-Mess”) Schumer; Former Senator Jon (”Goldman-Sachs-Been-Berry-Berry-Good-to-Me”) Corzine; Congressman Charles (”You-Mean-I’m-Supposed-to-Pay-Taxes-Like-Everyone-Else?”) Rangel; and, of course, the Democrat (”From-Each-According-to-His-Ability,-to-Each-According-to-His-Needs”) Senatorial Committee. 

And there are many more, all Democrats, some now serving in Congress, some serving as governors (Corzine, now Governor of New Jersey) and others just out there trying to make a buck.

These facts can be confirmed by going to the Federal Elections Commission website (http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/qind/), but which, apparently for security reasons, cannot be directly accessed through a secondary link.

Bottom line: while Madoff was stealing his clients blind, a bunch of politicians were getting fat on political contributions from the guy.  Let’s see how much they try to return, like the Republicans did with Abramoff.

In fact, in a weird irony, Senator Frank Lautenberg (D. NJ), whose family charitable foundation assets had been invested with and entrusted to Madoff, received, over the years, in excess of $10,000 in Madoff contributions.  The argument could be made that Madoff’s return on investment with Lautenberg was, let us say, substantial.     

Although attempts to determine if Ponzi was a Democrat have thus far proven fruitless, one thing seems certain: compared to Madoff, he was a piker.

http://www.silverbearcafe.com/private/12.08/goodnewa.html

Some of the other blogs and commenters have been discussing whether Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas would have a good shot at winning the 2010 Attorney General race. Let’s analyze his chances, and look at who else might jump into the race.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne has already indicated he is interested in running. Although he’s held statewide office, he hasn’t made much of a name for himself except to tick off conservatives by cutting school vouchers for disabled children. The conservative Goldwater Institute is currently suing the state over it. He is publicly pro-choice and switched his voter registration from Democrat to Republican before running for Superintendent. As far as we know he’s never been a prosecutor or managed a government law office. So his chances at winning a Republican primary are slim.

Thomas, on the other hand, has good name visibility having ran for AG in 2002 (he won the primary) and having been county attorney the past four years. He won reelection by a strong margin this year despite the fact that Napolitano and the Ministry of Truth made removing him from office their highest political priority; Napolitano even ran one of her own advisors, Tim Nelson, against him. Conservatives won’t forget that the Republic ran three editorials blasting Thomas’s reelection bid in the two months leading up to the election - probably a record for editorializing against a candidate within those two months.  The same political and media forces that helped take down other conservatives targeted Thomas with a year’s worth of negative press, made-up stories and record-setting contributions to his opponent. They did it because he doesn’t play the game and talk the talk–he aggressively pushed a conservative agenda on the tough issues that others say are too hard for conservatives to do anything about. Illegal immigration, activist judges, soft sentences for child molesters, the death penalty and others. Maricopa County voters like this and considering how well Republican candidates did around the state this past election, the rest of the state does too.

On the Democrat side, the name being thrown out is Dennis Burke, another top advisor to Napolitano. If he ran, he would be Tim Nelson’s political twin. He would share Nelson’s weak record from Napolitano’s office, plus many of the same problems that Nelson had - liberal on illegal immigration, liberal on crime, and backed by criminal defense attorneys. Most importantly, he also would be running in what’s likely to be a strong year for Republicans, as the backlash against Obama and a Democrat-controlled Congress hits.

We’re going to predict that Thomas wins if he decides to run. Based on history, he has the best shot of any candidate that would run for the position.

Taj Mahal

The Arizona Republic has ran editorials two days in a row criticizing Sheriff Arpaio for not coming up with 15% in cuts for his office. As usual, the Ministry of Truth is not providing its readers with all the facts.  A quick google search reveals that a few months ago the Sheriff’s Office shelved a program for the seriously mentally ill, saving the county $950,000. Also unmentiond is that the Sheriff’s Office frequently receives large cash gifts from the grateful public, especially for its animal abuse and care program. Nor did the article mention that the Sheriff is going to start charging inmates for their meals.

Why should the Sheriff’s Office be forced to cut 15% of its budget? Law enforcement is the last area of government that should be cut, there is no essential function of government more important than public safety. Where is the Sheriff supposed to cut, putting less officers on the streets? Less corrections officers to monitor inmates?

Meanwhile, the Superior Court doesn’t have to make any cuts to its $340 million Taj Mahal new building that will have everything from “state of the art” technology to luxurious chambers for the judges. There are plenty of areas in county government that are nonessential and can be cut, but the Ministry of Truth doesn’t bother to mention them. In 2005, the county set up a “Diversity Council” and “Diversity Director” (probably making around $80k/yr), spending thousands of dollars on glossy rainbow posters and training for all employees on diversity. The county also has a policy which gives priority to women and minorities when doing business with the county - so even if their bid is higher than a white guy’s bid, they get the contract instead, costing the county more.

The Republic’s bias towards all things left is obvious. It is frightening that the Republic would rather cut public safety over diversity programs and other nonessential aspects of government. Whatever happened to compassion for victims, who will be the first negatively affected when public safety is cut?

  Seriously. Look at this guy. Raise your hand if you really thought he was a contender to be Secretary of the Interior. (OK, we see one hand in the back there. Thank you, Mrs. Grijalva.)

Imagine that.  The head lizard for BH Obama’s transition team - and the person likely to become the messiah’s White House chief of staff - Rahm Emanuel, caught up in the pay-to-play scandal now engulfing indicted Illinois governor Rod (”I Want a ##@** Pile of %##* $$$$$$$$ For Obama’s Senate Seat”) Blagojevich. 

His actions  over the equivalent of auctioning off a seat in the U.S. Senate on e-Bay bought him a federal indictment last week.  Blagojevich’s chief of staff, John Harris, indicted along with Blagojevich, resigned his position last week.  Blagojevich, of course, responded to calls for his resignation with a curt: “##@*!!*&^^#@$$$$$$**.”

To all of those out there who voted for the messiah because of the “change” that was promised, a simple question: what else did you expect?  All of these folks are products of the most breathtakingly corrupt political machine city in the nation, Chicago, Illinois, and now, thanks to your mindless adulation, they are poised to take their show on the road to Washington, D.C.   

Attention Obamatons: Be careful what you vote for, as you just might get it.

We now learn, thanks to the Chicago Tribune, that Rahm Emanuel and Blagojevich administration personnel were captured in court-approved wiretap conversations.  The Tribune also reports: “Another source said that contact between the Obama camp and the governor’s administration regarding the Senate seat began the Saturday before the Nov. 4 election, when Emanuel made a call to the cell phone of Harris.

“The conversation took place around the same time press reports surfaced about Emanuel being approached about taking the high-level White House post should Obama win.  Emanuel delivered a list of candidates who would be ‘acceptable’ to Obama, the source said.”

Rumors that Emanuel is now trying to contact federal prosecutors to offer free tape transcripts, courtesy of the Rose Mary Woods Transcription Service, remain unsubstantiated.

The significant item in that report is that Emanuel initiated the call to the Blagojevich folks, not vice versa.  Also significant is the fact that, despite the provisions of Illinois law giving the governor the “sole” authority to name the Senate seat replacement, Emanuel (and, presumably, “others”… or at least one “Other”) felt it necessary and appropriate to deliver a list of “acceptable” replacement candidates to Blagojevich.

It will be most interesting to see what is revealed in those taped conversations between the staggeringly corrupt Blagojevich people and the staggeringly arrogant - but totally “uninvolved and in the dark” - Team Obama folks.

Emanuel claims he knew nothing of the skullduggery.  BH Obama claims he knew nothing of the shakedown.  It therefore likely boils down to what their definition of “knew” … is.

One thing is certain: when matters go from bad to worse, that progression does, in fact, constitute “change.”   So look for a lot more change in the next four years.

The “Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act” - also known as the “UAW Relief and Team Obama/Democrat Union Workers Payback Act of 2008″ - was today approved by the House on a 237 “aye,” 170 “no,” 26 “not voting” and 1 “present” vote.  

No, Virginia, the one “present” vote was not BH Obama (although his transition team chief, Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D. IL.), was a “not voting”).  Interesting.  

Congressman John Shadegg, (R. AZ) voted against the bill and tonight issued the following statement, thereafter introducing two economic alternatives:

“If anyone needs a bailout in this economy it’s the American taxpayer.  Politicians shouldn’t be picking winners and losers; the American people should.

“I voted against the massive auto industry bailout, not because I don’t care about America’s auto industry, or the workers in that industry, but because I believe taxpayers should decide which businesses survive and which need to be restructured to remain competitive.

“The American people, those in the auto industry, and those in every other industry need help right now.  While I would favor permanent tax relief, I also believe a substantial tax holiday will do more to stimulate our economy than another taxpayer-funded bailout. 

“Average Americans, not politicians, should determine which companies deserve to be rewarded and which do not.  The banking industry bailout enacted just weeks ago has proven that Washington is clueless when it comes to the American economy.  And, it’s been a spectacular failure.

“The bills I introduced today would stimulate the economy and be a tremendous boon for every struggling American family.  Under the first proposal, individuals making less than $125,000, or couples making up to $250,000, in 2008 would owe no income taxes.  Taxes withheld to date would be refunded to these taxpayers to use as they see fit.  Those making over these amounts would pay income tax at 5% below the otherwise applicable rate. 

“The alternate bill, would suspend both payroll and income taxes for the first six months of 2009.  Either would cost dramatically less than the bloated $7 trillion bailout packages peddled by congressional Democrats and the Bush Administration.

 ”The federal government has demonstrated utter incompetence in solving our nation’s economic problems over the past three months.  It’s time to put the control of our economy back in the hands of the American people.”

Intriguing proposals, if anyone would listen.  And as for the auto industry bailout bill (yes, Virginia, let us call it by its true name), for the sake of the American taxpayer, let us hope that the Senate has the backbone to vote against it too. 

After all, the only thing one needs to know about the bill - and why it is a bad idea - is to take note that its sole sponsor in the House was Congressperson Barney (”Fannie-Mae-and-Freddie-Mac-Are-Not-In-Trouble”) Frank.

 Through her writing you’d think that The Arizona Republic’s Linda Valdez is an unpleasant sourpuss with all the warmth of an old maid Kansas school marm. However, in person, Linda Valdez is actually … an unpleasant sourpuss with all the warmth of an old maid Kansas school marm.

Consider her most recent observation that speed cameras are actually a good thing: “Why do people hate them so much? After all, those who exceed the speed limit know what they’re doing. What part of “illegal activity” don’t they understand?”

We would ask Ms. Valdez, an open-borders advocate who thinks we should have comfortable rest areas for illegal aliens crossing from Mexico into the United States, don’t the illegal aliens know what they are doing? What part of “illegal activity,” don’t they understand?

Indeed, when it comes to Mexicans sneaking into the United States, what part of “illegal activity,” does our unpleasant sourpuss with all the warmth of an old maid Kansas school marm, not understand?

The Goldwater Institute’s recent report criticizing Sheriff Joe Arpaio isn’t terribly newsworthy. The Institute has become radically libertarian over the past few years. Libertarians are different from conservatives on social issues; they align more with the Democrats on illegal immigration and criminal issues. So it comes as no surprise that the Institute has published a report critical of Arpaio on these issues. Clint Bolick, who wrote the report, describes himself as a libertarian and has not hesitated in the past to attack conservatives on issues where he is radically libertarian.  

Bolick favors open borders, so it is no surprise that he asserts the Sheriff has wasted resources fighting illegal immigration. The conclusions in the report are sketchy. It says that the Sheriff’s office has wasted resources with its crime sweeps, but never bothers to mention that Arizona has had the highest rate of illegal immigration in the nation as well as the highest crime rates (#1 in identity theft for example), and over the past few years, and since Arpaio started his crime sweeps, crime overall and the rate of illegal immigration have both decreased. (The Goldwater Institute should be giving Arpaio credit for slowing the rate of illegal immigration - because illegal immigrants disproportionately consume taxpayers dollars, a fiscal issue libertarians care about)

 Instead, the report claims that the sweeps have not reduced crime. This is not accurate, unless you only look at a few violent crime figures like the report does and ignore the fact that property crimes have been decreasing in the county, and that crime overall countywide has been decreasing.  City after city across the Valley have reported decreases in crime over the past couple of years. Even Maryvale, which has the highest rate of crime in the Valley, has seen an overall decrease in crime.

 The report blames Arpaio for the large backlog of felony warrants, which is inaccurate since the vast majority of them are from other police agencies like Phoenix and Mesa - cities that aren’t bothering to enforce illegal immigration laws, so accusing Arpaio of neglecting warrants in order to do his crime suppression sweeps instead isn’t a valid argument. The report indicates there are currently 42,297 outstanding felony warrants - but doesn’t bother to mention that only 1500 are from the Sheriff’s office! The last we heard, the City of Phoenix had the most outstanding felony warrants. The report doesn’t bother to criticize the City of Phoenix for its large backlog.

The report criticizes Arpaio for increasing his budget, but doesn’t bother to mention that similar government agencies around the state as well as in other states around the country are also increasing their budgets at similar rates. Arizona is the 2nd fastest growing large county in the nation, and because it has had the highest rate of illegal immigration, it has had a disproportionate amount of crime compared to other states.

A lot of the article is just skeptical musing over information obtained from the Sheriff’s office - revealing nothing but creating innuendoes and trying to plant a seed of doubt in the reader’s mind that perhaps something *bad* could have occurred at the Sheriff’s Office.

One innuendo speculates that illegal immigrants may be leaving the county because of the tough new employer sanctions law, not Arpaio’s crime suppression sweeps. Zero evidence is provided to support this theory, and common sense would suggest that they both have had an effect influencing the exodus. Saying something like this just hurts the Institute’s credibility, because everyone knows it’s not true.

Many of the other accusations are not fully analyzed, instead the report comes to a pre-planned conclusion. For example, it says that Sheriff’s deputies response times to 911 calls have increased, and contrasts that with the shorter response times of Phoenix police. What it leaves out, however, is the obvious  fact that the Sheriff’s jurisdiction is hundreds of miles larger than the City of Phoenix - the deputies have to drive a lot farther. There is also no mention of the fact that traffic has become more congested across the Valley over the past few years. No figures are provided showing what Phoenix police response times used to be - probably because they’ve increased as well!

The report whines about the Sheriff’s crime suppression sweeps, but never addresses the fact that Arpaio does them because that’s what the people of Arizona want. He trounced his opponent by close to 20% in the fall election. If the Goldwater Institute doesn’t like the sweeps, they should encourage people to vote in a new Sheriff, not blame the Sheriff for carrying out the will of the people. Where is the gratitude toward an elected official who gets into office and actually does what he promised and what the public wants, instead of following his own self-serving agenda?

Arpaio is criticized for launching a crime suppression sweep in Fountain Hills, since the town does not historically have high crime rates or illegal immigrant smuggling. But if he hadn’t done a raid there, he would be criticized for racial profiling because he hadn’t done a sweep in a rich, predominantly white neighborhood. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

 The report accuses Arpaio of failing to arrest the kingpins of human smuggling - but fails to give him credit for arresting hundreds of lower-level smugglers.

Quite a bit of the report discusses the feud between Arpaio and Mesa Police Chief George Gascon, an open borders advocate who has had a sanctuary city policy in Mesa - something the public does not like. Gascon became upset with Arpaio for conducting crime sweeps in Mesa without giving him advance notice. Showing its lack of objectivity, the report fails to explain why Arpaio wasn’t giving Gascon advance notice - because Gascon was tipping off protesters who would then show up and interfere with the sweeps.

A big deal is made of the fact that the Sheriff’s office paid out $30 million in judgments last year - but the report conveniently leaves out how much similarly sized counties paid out in judgments. No mention is made either of the Sheriff recently winning 11 cases in a row against inmate lawsuits, due to hiring outstanding legal counsel who now take cases all the way to trial instead of settling and giving the suing inmates loads of money. Not only is the Sheriff now saving taxpayers money, but since those legal issues were litigated to finality, they cannot be brought up again in future lawsuits by other inmates. If the Governor can hire Arizona’s top law firms, why shouldn’t the Sheriff? Not surprisingly, in this portion of the report, the Phoenix New Times is referenced as the authority on this. 

The report attacks the Sheriff for failing to turn over public records requests - but never bothers to acknowledge that the reason the requests went to litigation was because it wasn’t clear under state law whether or not the Sheriff had the legal right to withhold them. The Sheriff has won some of those battles, which the report also leaves out. When it comes to victims, the Sheriff would rather be safe than sorry releasing potentially harmful information to defendants who are demanding it.

The report relies heavily upon information from the Phoenix New Times, which is not considered a reputable news source because of its dishonest reporting. It is revealing that the Goldwater Institute has to rely upon something that discredited to come up with this report, and frankly, the Goldwater Institute is sullying its reputation by basing its reports on New Times reporting. The Institute relied so heavily upon New Times reporting that perhaps this report should more accurately have been called “The Goldwater Institute/New Times Report on Sheriff Arpaio.”

It should come as no surprise to anyone that New Times reporters have had disputes with the Sheriff’s Office. It is hard to bend over backwards for people who print lies for a living and think nothing of breaking the law, such as when they published Arpaio’s home address on their website.

Illegal immigration is considered by many to be the biggest issue in Arizona. Ballot propositions curtailing illegal immigration pass by huge margins here. For the report to conclude that Arpaio is misuing resources by focusing on illegal immigration, is the author’s personal opinion and doesn’t reflect the will of the vast majority of Arizonans.

The report concludes with some recommendations, such as having the Board of Supervisors audit the Sheriff’s office. This is ironic considering Supervisor Don Stapley was just indicted yesterday on 118 counts of financial misdealings, including several felony charges. To the Goldwater Institute, people who don’t share their viewpoints should be singled out and criticized while criminal behavior is ignored when done by those they agree with? Why isn’t the Goldwater Institute investigating the massive abuse of fiscal resources by the County Supervisors, such as their $340 million Taj Majal brand-new courthouse mentioned in a prior post? The Goldwater Institute has gone way off the deep end on this one. The Goldwater Institute is supposed to be looking out for the fiscal interests of Arizonans. The liberal mainstream news media has already saturated the news with attacks on Sheriff Arpaio, the Goldwater Institute is merely repeating their attacks - primarily and embarrassingly the New Times attacks.  Attacking a Sheriff who is combating arguably the biggest problem in the state, illegal immigration, is out of their area of expertise and will turn off many of their supporters - including big financial supporters.

Something is not right. The state, county and City of Phoenix are all in dire fiscal straits due to overspending. So what programs get the ax? Law enforcement. That’s right, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office are having their budgets cut by 20%. Meanwhile, the Superior Court’s new “Taj Mahal” overpriced monstrosity, a brand-new building being built to house the judges in more luxurious chambers and other nice amenities, is not going to lose a penny. The new building is costing taxpayers $340 million and is probably the most expensive project ever undertaken by the county.

Instead, the county is cutting $86 million in other areas, including scrapping a crime lab and 911 center for the Sheriff’s office.

Granted, the court needs more space.  But it is not appropriate at this time to build an entirely new expensive building. Why not rent out space nearby, a few extra courtrooms nearby? Do judges and criminals really need top of the line digs? The money would be better spend on law enforcement. Forcing law enforcement to cut their budgets 20% is the last thing the county should be doing to make ends meet. The irresponsible spending on diversity programs and overpriced “advisors” like Lisa Graham Keegan (who was making $175k/yr as an education advisor to the board of supervisors) is where the cuts need to be made.

 Once again, the Arizona Ministry of Truth gushes forth an editorial today extolling the virtues of Janet Napolitano, this time hailing her nomination by BH Obama to become the head of the Department of Homeland Security.  Yikes.

The bittersweet yet frightening thing is that Arizona’s gain from her departure will likely be to the distinct detriment of the Nation.  If anyone with an ounce of intelligence - and access to a computer to review Napolitano’s abject historical failures on the illegal immigration front - believes the United States will be safer with her there, they should seek professional help.

This is the person who, in her last stint as a federal official with power to actually do something about illegal immigration - serving as U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona under Bill Clinton - did exactly zero.  Zip.  Zed.  Zilch.  Her feckless and ineffective response to the illegal immigration problem years ago, when it was a trickle, has now directly contributed to the flood of illegal immigrants we now try to cope with in Arizona.

This is the person who, as Arizona Attorney General, couldn’t find the time to work on securing the state’s southern border, but found plenty of time to rip into Ford Motor Company for “dangerous” fuel tank design in police cruisers. 

Her newfound interest arose following crashes where officers in Ford Crown Victoria cruisers were killed or severely burned, the latter instance including Phoenix Police Officer Jason Schecterle.  Schecterle’s parked cruiser was rear-ended by an illegal alien cab driver traveling at over 100 MPH.  The illegal alien, previously deported - yet, shockingly, back in this country in violation of the law - had lied to get an Arizona driver’s license.  On Napolitano’s watch as AG.

This is the person who, as governor, did everything in her power to hamstring Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio in his efforts to arrest and turn over to ICE illegal aliens who had committed crimes.  She even cut off state funds originally allocated to Arpaio for these purposes, citing among the reasons her concern that his actions were “…causing trepidation in the illegal immigration community.“  See Liberty’s Apothecary ”Off With Their Heads: Part 2″ 5/16/08.

Now, with renewed calls for “immigration reform,” look for the Ministry to abandon all pretense and join in Napolitano’s call for amnesty for all illegal aliens already here and, in conjunction with potential Secretary of Interior Raul (”MEChA Boy”) Grijalva, a much relaxed border enforcement policy.  Yes, Virginia, we now will have a recipe for a real disaster.

And yet, a majority of the voters have apparently sipped the “change” flavored Kool-Aid offered up by Obama…. and likes it. 

Let’s see how long before the sweet taste is replaced with the bitter reality of how bad things are going to get in the next four years as the ominous warning sounded by Joe Biden comes true.  Stay tuned.      

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-St3X3VfCrE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpweQLauyag

The Arizona Republic is doing its best to foment fear about the impending governorship of Jan Brewer. We suppose this comes as no surprise given the fact the newspaper has been a cheerleader for Janet Napolitano ever since she took office, uttering not a word of sincere criticism for any of her policies.

Here are a few recent examples of The Republic’s extraordinary bias:

On November 24th, Republic reporter Pat Kossan wrote a story headlined “Napolitano  advanced cause of education; Some foresee political setbacks for school funding if governor leaves.”

On November 25th Republic reporter Matthew Benson wrote a story headlined “Uneasiness grows over how Brewer might cut budget.”

On November 26th Republic reporter Ginger Richardson wrote a story headlined “Governor change could shift state’s climate policies.”

And on November 29th Republic reporter Ken Alltucker wrote a story headlined “Napolitano exit worries biotech boosters.”

The Arizona Republic is losing its sainted heroine, and is doing its best to prepare for Brewer’s governorship with fear and loathing and naked distortions. Over the past several years The Republic has morphed into a terrible newspaper, but now it is a terrible newspaper motivated by hatred.

 Compounding the farce now taking place as BH Obama pursues “change” in the way Washington works - resuscitating moribund has-beens from the debris of the Clinton administration to populate his team and cabinet, and with the exception of Janet (”I’m-Concerned-Over-Trepedations-in-the-Illegal-Immigration-Community”) Napolitano for Homeland Security - we now learn that Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva may be the “leading contender” to become Secretary of Interior.

Say WHAT?

That’s right, Virginia.  This is the same Raul Grijalva who, in a past he would prefer the voters forget (or, depending on the demographic of the audience, he would like to refresh the memory), once enjoyed membership in MEChA.  You remember that outfit, don’t you?

MEChA - the acronym for “Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan” - is the core mechanism of the anti-American, Marxist “reconquista” movement, which seeks the return to Mexico, or at minimum the disassociation from this nation, of large portions of the United States, which they call “Aztlan.”  

The announced objective of the movement is the creation of an ethnically-pure (ummm… where’ve we heard that before?) “Hispanic” nation.  The “Aztlan” region consists of the present day southwestern United States, including California, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, and portions of Nevada, Utah, and Colorado.

This is the same Raul Grijalva who has railed against prior efforts to control illegal immigration and has labeled as “cockroaches” those who would dare to enforce the law and - with the typical flair of a far-left liberal Democrat - “racists.” 

This is the same Raul Grijalva whose daughter, Adelita Grijalva, took his place on the Tucson Unified School District board.  There, the normal lesson du jour includes inculcation of students in “raza studies,” where the mantra is that Mexican-Americans were and continue to be victims of a racist American society driven by the interests of middle and upper-class Whites.

If Napolitano and Grijalva are placed into positions of authority by BH Obama, let alone cabinet positions, the stage will be set for the formalization - incrementally imposed, of course, just like the incremental socialism now in full swing in this nation - of the transformation of the United States into a much different, and much weaker, country. 

And if you doubt this prediction, just take a look at what is going on in Southern California.  These incidents are but “G-rated” previews of coming attractions if Napolitano and Grijalva have any say in how illegal immigration and immigration “reform” (think “amnesty”) should proceed. 

You’ll get a “reformed” United States all right… but if you think it will look the same as it does on the maps now, think again.

The obamatons must be very proud.

 Today’s editorial in The Arizona Republic bids farewell to Gov. Janet Napolitano by saying, “Napolitano showed Arizona what she can accomplish through hard work and dogged determination. Now she can show the nation. We’ll say congratulations. We won’t say goodbye.”

The Republic disappoints us. Where are the usual breathless gushes of child-like adoration? Where are the lapdog rhetorical excesses?

We believe a more fitting farewell to Napolitano from The Arizona Republic would have been, with apologies to Lord Byron, something like this:

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
The Republic sees mass spending bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellowed to that tender light
The Republic all the truth denies.

Spending more, and saving less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o’er her face;
Where thoughts of debt sweet express
How pure, how dear this debtor’s place.

And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
Blind ambition fuels that glow,
But tell of days in excess spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
to hell with those who pay the rent!

And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,
So hard and soft, yet incompetent,
The smiles that win, the paper’s glow,
But tell of laws to circumvent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is just Janet!