Thomas: “I’m guessing the Joe and Andy TV ad put him over the edge.” Richard “Rick” Romley thought he could slide into the governor’s ninth floor office without much effort. When he saw the handwriting on the wall, he opted instead for the head of Veteran’s Affairs, even relocating to Washington, DC for an assignment he hoped would eventually lead to taking over the reins of the agency. That didn’t come to fruition, either.

Former Maricopa County Attorney Romley was left to grouse from the sidelines. He has forgotten the word “former” is before his name and yearns to call the shots at his old office. In truth, he was there long enough to have gained the traction to be reelected if he had so desired. But ambition called his name and he gave up the comfortable for the glam. But the glam eluded Romley. He found himself reduced to serving on Democrat Mayor Phil Gordon’s phony committee, working at the Attorney General’s Office for yet another Democrat, Terry Goddard, and endorsing Democrats Dan Saban for Sheriff and now, ACLU lawyer Tim Nelson to head his old office.

An ignoble end to a one-time political star and a Vietnam veteran who made great sacrifices for this county. The shame is, his raw ambition and erratic temperament brought him to this unfortunate spot where he has become the Democrat’s go-to endorsement RINO and Republican pariah.

But remember, these are not his first run-ins with his own party. He also dissed Republican stalwart and next-in-line to the governor, popular Secretary of State Jan Brewer, when he endorsed her Democrat opponent years back.

Although Romley endorsed Thomas during his previous campaign, a rift grew when ego-centric Romley demanded an office and staff after he was hired by Pinal County for one case. This demand was rejected by Thomas.

Romley’s petty, name-calling of his successor along with his endorsement of the Democrat challenger to County Attorney Andrew Thomas are a good barometer of the lengths to which this man will go when cameras are trained on him. His actions would illicit pity if they didn’t infuriate.

      

“Gift to lenders who abandoned any sense of prudence”

When launching the conservative weekly opinion journal in 1955, William F. Buckley’s first message to readers was titled Publisher’s statement. Read it here.

Today, the venerable, conservative icon, National Review, startlingly editorializes on the mortgage mess, giving a kick in the shins to Republicans. 

Buckley must be spinning in his grave.

      

State contracts larger than $50,000 put on hold

“Faced with growing fears about the economy and a darkening fiscal picture for state government, Gov. Janet Napolitano vowed to freeze all state contracts larger than $50,000….” is the opening gambit from the daily newspaper’s above-the-fold article today, regarding the state’s continuing budget woes.

Yet in spite of a bi-partisan supported state hiring freeze in March, underscoring continuing revenue shortfalls amid unprecedented economic downturns, Napolitano had no problem hiring a Mexican border advisor.

Just days ago, Seeing Red AZ exposed the addition of former Douglas Mayor Ray Borane to the governor’s staff as “policy adviser for border and immigration issues.” His vantage point is distinctly one of open borders. Borane has long been an outspoken critic of implementation of security measures, saying they “ignore the interconnectedness of the U.S. and Mexican communities.”

Borane is her very own Juan Hernandez.  (Click on the short video featuring Michelle Malkin interviewing Hernandez.)

Borane‘s $40,000 salary for providing this unconscionable service, must fly under the budgetary limit radar.

It has us Seeing Red.

      

Proven tactical maneuver from former Green Beret

Republican legislative candidate Frank Antenori, running to represent Tucson’s LD 30, exhibited some real savvy recently. Antenori decided to forgo the editorial board interviews with, and potential endorsement of, the Arizona Daily Star and the Tucson Citizen. He then wrote them a sterling letter in which he succinctly explained his reasons.

And what happened? Check it out here.

Up here in the hinterlands of Maricopa County, both our County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Sheriff Joe Arpaio handed the AZ Republic this same dismissal. This could be the wave of the future for Republican candidates, who routinely get the back of the hand from the dependably liberal Valley press.

      

Barack is her kind of guy: Voting against the born alive infant protection act

The smiling photo of Linda Valdez which accompanies her column earlier this week belies the raw deceit of her written words. In McCain’s picks would shift court too far right, pro-abortion proponent Valdez fabricates every conceivable (forgive us for using such a highly charged word) rationale for killing pre-born children.

She misleadingly contends that the “diversity of the court is already diminished” by the Bush appointments of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, saying “McCain appointees would continue the movement toward a monotone court.”

From this we can aptly conclude Valdez is taking up her favorite subject and code-talking racial preferences/diversity.  The always glaring omisson when liberals discuss the subject, is that diversity of ideas is never considered, but the amount of melanin, the pigment that tinges our skin tones, is front and center.

Valdez disingenuously writes Conservatives want John McCain to give them a Supreme Court that will make abortion illegal. If they win, we all lose.

An Obama win, argues Valdez, would have a “moderating effect” on the high court.  Click on the following link to see the “moderating effect” Barack Obama supports.

Valdez neglects to mention that some of the most liberal justices were Republican appointees. John Paul Stevens, now nearly 90, was appointed by Republican President Gerald Ford.

Justices Anthony Kennedy, 72, was a Reagan appointee and David Souter, 69, gained his seat via George H.W.Bush. Sandra O’Connor, who fancied herself the “swing vote,” frequently disappointing conservatives, was also a Reagan appointee. The party affiliation of the appointing president often bears little resemblance to the type of decisions made by the justices. Liberal Justices Stephen Breyer, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg were both Clinton appointees and likely never displease Valdez.

Linda Valdez is doing little more than readying the readership for the newspaper’s Obama endorsement. She knows it will breathe the breath of national notoriety to the gasping Arizona Republic when the state’s largest newspaper fails to endorse the home state senator.

Read the fine post at Growing Our Party, discussing Obama’s support of the insupportable — late term abortions, or infanticide.

      

WorldNetDaily reports that the government of Kenya detained senior staff reporter Jerome Corsi, author of the best-selling book, The Obama Nation.

Corsi was held by police at the Kenyan airport after government officials shut down a scheduled press conference in which he planned to announce the findings of his investigation into Barack Obama’s ties in the country.

Obama has a long history of connections in Kenya, where his father worked as a government economist. Corsi documented this history in his book, traveling to Kenya to find answers to lingering questions - particularly about the links between the presidential candidate and Kenya Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

A hotel worker in Nairobi told Reuters Corsi was picked up as soon as he walked into the hotel for the scheduled press conference: “He was walking in and then some immigration officers who were following him snatched him. It happened so fast, they just vanished with him.”

Corsi was scheduled to leave on an evening flight to London

The Los Angeles Times reports that Obama, whose father was Kenyan and mother was American, is wildly popular in this East African nation, which embraces the senator from Illinois as a native son.

During Obama’s 2006 trip to Kenya, he drew thousands of Kenyans at every stop of his tour.

The WorldNetDaily report is available here.

      

Fraud permeates Ohio registration operation

Volunteers supporting Barack Obama picked up hundreds of people at homeless shelters, soup kitchens and drug-rehab centers and drove them to a polling place yesterday on the last day that Ohioans could register and vote on the same day, with almost no questions asked.

The huge effort by a pro-Obama group, Vote Today Ohio, takes advantage of a quirk in the state’s elections laws that allows people to register and cast ballots at the same time without having to prove residency, the New York Post reports.

The Ohio GOP filed a federal lawsuit targeting Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat, who has instructed local boards of elections to allow new voters to register and cast absentee ballots on the same day from Sept. 30 through Oct. 6.

Republicans argue the window could lead to widespread voter fraud because officials wouldn’t have an opportunity to verify registration information before ballots were cast.

Despite admissions to Cuyahoga County election officials yesterday that it cannot eliminate fraud from its operation, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, (ACORN) has turned in at least 65,000 voter-registration cards to Cleveland’s Cuyahoga County Board of Elections in the past year, as reported by the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The board has investigated potentially fraudulent cards since August.

William Woods, 59, was picked up at the soup kitchen of the Bishop Cosgrove Center.

“I never voted before,” Woods said, because of a felony conviction that previously barred him from the polls. “Without this service, I would have had no way to get here.”

Seeing Red AZ has previously covered the multi-state fraud associated with ACORN.

      

Although written before last night’s debate,* it could be a review

This cogent paragraph is the conclusion of conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer’s excellent overview of the presidential campaign.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. famously said of Franklin Roosevelt that he had a “second-class intellect, but a first-class temperament.” Obama has shown that he is a man of limited experience, questionable convictions, deeply troubling associations (Jeremiah Wright, William Ayers, Tony Rezko) and an alarming lack of self- definition — do you really know who he is and what he believes? Nonetheless, he’s got both a first-class intellect and a first-class temperament. That will likely be enough to make him president.

The column, Hail Mary vs. Cool Barry, is available here.  Seeing Red AZ recommends it to our readers as well as to the advisors on the McTeam.

*The entire second presidential debate video can be seen here.

      

Vindication for Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, Sheriff Joe Arpaio

ABC KNXV-TV News reports that U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton has dismissed a lawsuit filed against the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office by executives of the New Times newspaper.

The suit accused County Attorney Andrew Thomas and his office of negligence, conspiracy and racketeering, and violating the constitutional rights of two journalists by arresting them for publishing details of an overreaching grand jury subpoena.

In granting the motion, U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton said the decision to hire outside counsel due to conflict of interest “falls within the prosecutorial function because it is intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process.”

The judge further states, “Plaintiff’s vague allegations regarding the failure to train or supervise do not allege Thomas was aware of Dennis Wilenchik’s conduct in issuing overly broad subpoenas or failing to follow grand jury procedures.”

Andrew Thomas said, “I am grateful that Judge Bolton has dismissed my wife and me and the County Attorney’s Office from this frivolous lawsuit.”

The court additionally ruled that Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Wilenchik did not violate the free speech or First Amendment rights of editor Mike Lacey and publisher Jim Larkin.

The complete report is available here.

The County Attorney’s Office issued this press release.

      

Thomas Sowell: The Real Obama

Associations are very different from alliances. Allies are not just people who happen to be where you are or who happen to be doing the same things you do. You choose allies deliberately for a reason. The kind of allies you choose says something about you.

Jeremiah Wright, Father Michael Pfleger, William Ayers and Antoin Rezko are not just people who happened to be at the same place at the same time as Barack Obama. They are people with whom he chose to ally himself for years, and with some of whom some serious money changed hands.

Read what Dr. Thomas Sowell  has to say about Barack Obama’s associations.

      

Democrats, in their own words, covering up the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac scam that caused economic crisis

 Watch this astonishing video.

      

Expert warns ‘mainstream media’ providing ‘talking points’ of Arab countries

WorldNetDaily columnist and syndicated radio talk-show host Larry Elder asked Lebanese-born, author Brigitte Gabriel: “What happens if a Democrat wins the 2008 election?”

“We are doomed,” she answered. “Our enemies want the Democrats to win. This last election, jihadist websites were playing victory songs and declaring the Democrats are our allies in the war against America.”

Read the WND article here.

This Arizona Daily Star article is revealing. Read it to its conclusion.

      

The Democrats couldn’t have done a better job themselves

Political consultant Nathan Sproul, who has a history of losing even the most winnable measures, and eviscerating Republican candidates with whom he takes issue, is back in attack-dog mode.

Sproul employed such toxic tactics during the recent primary campaign against Rep. Russell Pearce, that even the left-leaning AZ Republic, no fan of Pearce’s to be sure, defended him against the vicious high-dollar “independent expenditure” assault.

Today, the paid maligner of conservative, grassroots Republicans, serves the liberal daily newspaper its essential helping of red meat, by tearing into the party base. Never one to employ words with economy, Sproul sent out a four-page warning “memo” to Republican candidates and elected leaders alerting them of the possibility of massive GOP loses in the state legislature.

What a guy! With less than a month before the election, Sproul is at diligently working to give aid and comfort to Democrats.

The newspaper describes Sproul as a political consultant with Lincoln Strategy Group. In fact, he is its principal. The group was originally named Sproul and Associates, but the designation became so incendiary that he polished the image with a respectable and presidential-sounding moniker.

The daily’s article, complete with Sproul’s dire warnings that the party is in danger of losing its soul and is teetering on the precipice of a doomsday cliff, is available here.

We suggest you read it at least an hour after eating.

      

Slump in readership and advertising blamed for woes

The Tribune announced a major shift in strategy Monday in which the newspaper will withdraw coverage and distribution from Scottsdale and Tempe to concentrate on Mesa, Gilbert and other parts of the East Valley.

Buffeted by an unprecedented downturn in the newspaper industry, Tribune Publisher Julie Moreno said the Tribune will move to four-day-a-week free distribution in the cities it will continue to serve - Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert and Queen Creek. The number of papers distributed in those cities will be increased as it is eliminated in Tempe and Scottsdale, she said.

The newspaper also will provide coverage of news in those communities seven days a week in its online edition, she said.

In line with the service cutback, the paper will cut 142 jobs - about 40 percent of its overall staff.

The last Tribune editions to be published under the current model will be on Sunday, Jan. 4, and the first newspapers under the new plan will appear on Wednesday, Jan. 7.

The new print edition will have two sections - one for local news and a second for sports, entertainment and late-breaking news. Both sections will be tabloid-sized, and the front page of the newspaper will look similar to its current layout. Zoned editions are planned for each of the four communities.

The print edition probably will appear on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, Moreno said. Distribution will be through morning driveway deliveries and newspaper racks.

The Tribune’s entire announcement is available here.

      

Arizona moves from ‘Safe GOP’ to ‘Likely GOP’

The Rasmussen Balance of Power Calculator aggregates data from a variety of sources to provide a comprehensive assessment of the state-by-state race for the White House.

Rasmussen’s most recent state-by-state figures are available here, along with the Daily Presidential Tracking Poll seen here.

      

I aspire…..

More regimented adoration of the Obamessiah.

Update: Teacher suspended for releasing this Obama youth video. Read the FOX news report here.

      

Arizona daily Titanic still rearranging deck chairs

The Association for Financial Professionals recent survey of several hundred companies with more than $500 million in annual revenue found that 40% said they’d had their credit tightened in recent weeks. Gannett, the parent company of the Arizona Republic, was among those that drew down on bank credit lines this week because of limited access to the commercial paper market.

The Wall Street Journal reports credit problems are springing up throughout the newspaper industry as the global financial and economic crisis takes its toll on an industry already teetering from the rise of the Internet and a weak advertising market.

“We didn’t think it could get any worse for newspapers, but apparently it can,” said Ken Doctor, a newspaper analyst with Outsell.

Last week, the Minnesota Star Tribune newspaper halted payments to its senior creditors, skipping a $9 million quarterly payment on its $432 million in debt to conserve cash flow. The New York Sun has ceased operations.

The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News (Philadelphia Media Holdings), have been reeling for months amid cutbacks and layoffs.

And, the Gatehouse newspaper chain is facing the point where some of its properties can’t deliver the morning paper. The company’s stock is at $.50, down from a 52-week high of $12.94. It has almost $1.3 billion in debt and lost $429 million in the last quarter. Newsprint is expensive. So are the costs of drivers, trucks, and gas. In a horrible credit environment, Gatehouse could become one of the first large newspaper companies that simply can’t print and distribute papers at some of its locations, according to a report in 24/7 Wall St.

Amid such a crisis, why does the Arizona Republic continue to insult and further alienate its readers?

      

“Border critic” criticizing U.S. polices, not Mexico’s

Reading the headline, Border critic joins staff of governor as advisor, one might be tempted to think that Janet Napolitano has expanded her staff to include those who are critical of the porous southern border and supportive of building the long promised security fence.

Aw, shucks. Wrong again.

The new appointee is former Douglas Mayor Ray Borane, who has “defended the contributions of immigrant labor to the U.S. economy,” and has “criticized federal efforts to build a wall along the border, saying it “ignores the interconnectedness of the U.S. and Mexican communities.”

Douglas, Arizona abuts the Mexican town of Agua Prieta, Sonora

Borane will be paid $40,000 a year. With the state budget stretched past its limits, Napolitano feels it is appropriate to hire an advisor who is supportive of a continued flow of illegal immigrants.

If you can stand it, read the article here.

Borane has said the Minuteman Project was not welcome in his town, because they are “white supremacist, racist and very dangerous people” and was “creating an environment that is not good for our people!”

When facing a well-funded foe in 2006, Sen. Jon Kyl  was assuring funding of double and triple border fencing, 200 miles of steel vehicle barriers and hiring an additional 10,000 to 12,000 new agents in the next five years. Ray Borane derisively termed the proposal the latest “idea of the month” from Washington, D.C. “It’s starting to be ridiculous, to be honest with you,” Borane said. “As long as I’ve been in office, I’ve been dealing with everybody’s ideas.”

“They just keep throwing money at the border with all these new novelty things that they try,” Borane said. “It’s just a waste of taxpayers’ money.”

Not too much has changed. We’re still waiting for Kyl’s campaign promises to reach fruition.

But Ray Borane, critic of border enforcement, is now ensconced in the governor’s tower.

      

The scrupulous and morally upright Barney Frank has been less than frank

What a shock.

Unqualified home buyers were not the only ones who benefited from Massachusetts Democrat Rep. Barney Frank’s efforts to deregulate Fannie Mae throughout the 1990s.

So did Frank’s [euphemistically called] partner, a Fannie Mae executive at the forefront of the agency’s push to relax lending restrictions, according to a FOX News report.

Now that Fannie Mae is at the epicenter of a financial meltdown that threatens the U.S. economy, some are raising new questions about Frank’s (personal) relationship with Herb Moses, who was Fannie’s assistant director for product initiatives. Moses worked at the government-sponsored enterprise from 1991 to 1998, while Frank was on the House Banking Committee, which had jurisdiction over Fannie.

Both Frank and Moses assured the Wall Street Journal in 1992 that they took pains to avoid any conflicts of interest. Critics, however, remain skeptical.

“It’s absolutely a conflict,” said Dan Gainor, vice president of the Business & Media Institute. “He was voting on Fannie Mae at a time when he was involved with a Fannie Mae executive. How is that not germane?

Barney Frank will be remembered for claiming he didn’t know his former live-in lover was running a homosexual brothel out of his Georgetown townhouse.

[Click on the link to his name for a fascinating video showing Frank being grilled by Bill O'Reilly.]

      

This is the go-to spot for your updated news on ballot propositions

Another great line-up. Tonight’s spotlight shines on Doug Quelland (R-LD10) who was first elected in 2002 and served two terms in the Arizona House. He is currently running to regain that seat for the GOP.

Tune in to Don Goldwater and Mark Zemel for the latest information on the ballot measures .

Listeners are invited to call in for a spirited discussion on the 2008 Arizona propositions that will appear on your ballot.  What’s your issue?

The Arizona Right Report has all of pertinent facts regarding this evening’s programming.

KFNX 1100 AM News/Talk Radio   Listen Live at TheArizonaRightReport.com

Listener call-in line: 602-277-KFNX (5369)