Randi Rhodes Forums

As Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce replaced three members on the state’s Ethics Committee over an investigation of a fellow colleague’s domestic abuse charges last week, his own campaign in the upcoming recall election spiraled deeper into allegations of fraud and ethic violations.

On the verge of blowing up into an irreparable scandal for Pearce, the self-proclaimed “Tea Party President” and first senate president to face a recall election in American history, a series of blatant efforts by his campaign supporters to fraudulently set up the sham candidacy of Olivia Cortes to undermine his main opponent’s support has unraveled into a damaging comedy of errors.


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http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/201 ... um=twitter

A good friend of mine just moved to Portland from there...she couldn't wait to scrape Arizona off her feet!

It is astounding to me how Arizona is riddled with crap like this, with and without the Tea Party. Dirty cops - who are rather openly dirty - crooked pols. It really doesn't seem to stop. I read Arizona's New Times for entertainment, but if I lived there it would chew my guts inside out, because there is almost literally no accountability. I mean, they get caught, but no one gives a shit.

There's a rather infamous Phoenix cop who for years was the president of the state's largest Law Enforcement union. He was caught in so many serious acts of wrongdoing on the job that, in virtually any other city, he'd have been fired after the first or second. (Plus, Phoenix's cop union has one of those agreements like LAPD - if a cop is docked with unpaid time off as a punishment, the union has a fund that reimburses them for any pay lost to punishments.) He just got tighter and tighter with the pols, and bigger and bigger with the union. Once he became prez of the union at least he was off the streets, but the city paid his salary - not an uncommon part of cop and fire contracts - as he worked full-time for the crooked union. (Which then became a big supporter of Arpaio and AB 1070 - the "Paper's Please" bill, though the membership majority was opposed.) When his terms finally ended, he is STILL "working full time" for the union - supposedly as a lobbyist - while the city continues to pay his salary up until his retirement early next year, at the age of 50, when he will qualify for a full pension. Did I mention he's also the son of the current mayor?

It seems to me that EVERY effing state and federal pol in that state tromps over federal and state campaign laws as a matter of routine, and the voters simply don't care. They elect and re-elect as automatically as anyplace I've ever seen.

This latest - as seen in the OP - just watch. The case really is so incredibly clear cut. A guy being recalled has created from whole cloth his challenger's "campaign," she has literally no campaign committee, no supporters, and her petitions for candidacy were circulated and signed by the recall target's staff and family. It's all clearly against the law, but he'll win the recall, he'll be reelected, and he'll keep hold of the presidency of the State Senate.

In another development, an ethics panel recently voted to check out some other allegations against him, so he removed the panel and named the replacements.

Chicago, Boston, New York - all are places that are known to have been riddled with corruption at one time, or over a period of time. But I've never seen anything like Arizona for the nakedness, the openness of the corruption, the all-encompassing nature of it, and corruption that seems to infect virtually every place in the state. I used to wonder why investigative reporters weren't literally moving down there in waves, because there is SO MUCH of it to cover, and because it does appear the newspapers are willing to dig it out, and even the network affiliate tv stations do report on it. There ARE jobs available.

It took me a while to figure it out. I think the explanation is that NOTHING is ever done about any of it. NONE of it. No one is ripped from office. No one is jailed. No one is destroyed at the ballot box because of scandal.

I REALLY hate Arizona.

YANNO.....There IS a way to deal with this. Constructive Shaming might go along way here. Maybe I should just create some bumper stickers with messages reflective of the following: "FLUSH TWICE. IT'S A LONG WAY TO ARIZONA. (Message sponsored by Tea Party Patriots for Totalitarian Capitalists in Control)"

Whatcha' think???

Crickette/Kyoti

Tea Party people seem to have a proclivity towards bending the rules. The little hamlet of Cascade Locks was taken over by Tea Party fever last year, and the new bosses wasted no time doing things their way. You know, like cutting paid staff, getting rid of the city manager who dared to get in their way, writing new rules that favor their respective businesses, awarding themselves contracts, erecting buildings without permits and then attempting to force public servants to sign off. Nope. One by one the city staff resigned. Unlike Arizona however, the 952 citizens of Cascade Locks started a recall campaign, and last Tuesday Sept 21st, they gave them the heave ho.

Now the lawsuits begin

Russell Pearce is one of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's old deputies, and he claims to be the one who came up with the tent jail idea.

And now that that bag of bad gas is out of a job, he's going for Arpaio's job when his term is up. BAD recycling...bad!

Well relax! Actually nothing has changed. And it's Arizona, they're always like this, and they live somewhere else.

It's the Goldwater state for crying out loud!



Gold always leads to brain damage. I live in Yosemite, I should know about GOLD!

They, the entire population of Arizona is only about 1% of the USA population. So forget what they think. You'll never like what they think anyway, it will always be warped and short.

I never do, I never worry about what Arizona thinks.

Arizona is smaller than Puerto Rico.

I agree with most of what you say...but AZ is not smaller than PR. Unless you mean population density.

I mean intelligent population Roy. Sure AZ has rodents, rocks, and range maggots. Sheer acreage.

Quality! Roy, It's quality!

Okay okay. I withdraw my objection, sir! lol