A BIG, and VERY IMPORTANT day in Arizona today, abortion ban repeal IN THE WORKS; and AZ grand jury returns INDICTMENTS for the 2020 AZ FAKE ELECTOR conspiracy

First, the Arizona House of Representatives voted, with ALL Democratic members voting in favor, and three Republican members (Reps Matt Gress (R-Phoenix), Tim Dunn (R-Yuma) and Justin Wilmeth R-Phoenix) voting with them, to REPEAL the 1864 abortion ban. Clearly, there is deep conviction on both sides of the issue. However, as the Arizona Eagletarian has indicated before, the bottom-line is to protect the (civil) rights of already breathing humans. I commend all of the Democratic members along with Gress, Dunn, and Wilmeth.

From the Arizona Mirror:

After two weeks of thwarted attempts, the Arizona House of Representatives voted Wednesday to repeal a near-total abortion ban from 1864, with three Republican lawmakers breaking from their party to join Democrats in striking it down.

Earlier this month, the Arizona Supreme Court upheld the 1864 law, which carries with it a mandatory prison sentence for doctors who provide an abortion for any reason other than saving a woman’s life, over a 15-week gestational ban passed in 2022.

The ruling sent shockwaves through Arizona’s political landscape, and several attempts to repeal the 160-year-old law in the state legislature on April 10 and April 17 were blocked by the GOP majority. At the time, only Rep. Matt Gress, R-Phoenix, who’s facing reelection in a swing district that has a history of punishing anti-abortion politicians, supported Democrats in their bid to eliminate the law before it’s set to go into effect on June 8.

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Arizona's Attorney General Kris Mayes:

Also from the Arizona Mirror, regarding INDICTMENT (only the first step in the process of accountability and strengthening democracy in our state),

A grand jury has indicted 18 people, including two Arizona state senators and the former head of the Arizona Republican Party, in a fake elector scheme that aimed to install Donald Trump as the president after he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden.

The Arizona Attorney General’s Office has not released the names of everyone who was indicted, but all 11 fake electors were charged:

• Kelli Ward, former AZGOP chairman
• Arizona Sen. Jake Hoffman, leader of the Arizona Freedom Caucus
• Arizona Sen. Anthony Kern, member of the Arizona Freedom Caucus
• Tyler Bowyer, Turning Point USA CEO
• Michael Ward, husband of Kelli Ward
• Nancy Cottle, a Republican who’s been active in local politics for a decade
• James Lamon, a failed 2022 U.S. Senate candidate
• Robert Montgomery, former chairman of the Cochise County Republican Committee
• Samuel Moorhead, former chairman of Gila County Republican Party
• Lorraine Pellegrino, former president of the Ahwatukee Republican Women
• Gregory Safsten, former executive director of the AZGOP

And as President Biden would say, both of today's developments are BFDs!

The Arizona Eagletarian is thankful today for both of these major developments, which literally and symbolically strengthen democracy in Arizona and indirectly throughout the country.

Arizona, the EYES and EARS of the world are focused on US. Do WE stand for Personal Sovereignty and Bodily Autonomy for breathing HUMANS?

Let's start by boiling the issues down to the basics.

Pro-birth (mostly) Republicans hold firm to their belief, no matter that said belief is completely lacking in factual basis, that there is something sacred in a human embryo/fetus.

Pro-FREEDOM (mostly Democrats and some Republicans) believe the "sacred" aspect of the situation is actual FREEDOM (personal sovereignty,* aka not allowing religious zealots to impose their rules on others without due process of law, the other commonly used expression for this freedom is Bodily Autonomy) for already breathing humans (i.e. women of childbearing age). In other words, it's perfectly fine for a religious zealot to disagree with the right of half the population to make their own choices. But it is NOT acceptable for them to take action to impose ANY requirement on women to abridge their FREEDOM in any way. Or for medical care providers to be prevented from providing necessary medical care to women who need it. Whether by law or threats or any kind of intimidation, personal sovereignty for already breathing humans holds sway over the imagined or philosophically believed rights of any human embryo or fetus. 

The Arizona Eagletarian holds firm to the premise that Arizona, one of the "United States of America" was founded on near sacred philosophical documents that have evolved over the course of its two and a half plus century history.

The bottom-line is and will continue to be, for however long our Democratic (Republic...I won't go into a drawn out explanation right now about the fact that republic comes from the words "res publica," or, for the good of the republic. Dominionism, a bastardization of Christian faith, is not for the good of the republic. However, Thomas Paine's writings, including Rights of Man, expounds along with Common Sense, the foundation of OUR republic. Not one iota of which has a darn thing to do with anything other establishing (majority rule) underscored by protection of the rights of minorities. 

All of which is the conceptual opposite of what Dominionists and pro-birth factions vehemently propound.

From the Arizona Republic this afternoon:

Senate kick-starts Arizona abortion ban repeal after House Republicans block similar bill
Mary Jo Pitzl, Stacey Barchenger, Ray Stern Arizona Republic 3:21pm April 17, 2024

Arizona House Republicans twice blocked attempts on Wednesday to repeal a near-total abortion ban that dates from 1864.

But Republicans in the Arizona Senate crossed over to vote with Democrats, kick-starting the legislative process required to pass an abortion ban repeal.

The House action was orderly and relied on procedural motions, but the result was clear: There was no appetite among most House Republicans to nullify the law that was revived last week by a 4-2 state Supreme Court ruling.

Rep. Matt Gress of Phoenix was the only Republican who backed the motion from Democratic Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton to bring a repeal up for a vote. But without another Republican, the repeal supporters lacked the 31 votes they needed to surmount objections from House Speaker Ben Toma.

But in the Senate, Republicans Ken Bennett of Prescott, T.J Shope of Coolidge and Shawnna Bolick of Phoenix joined Democrats to reject three GOP attempts to shut down a vote to introduce a repeal bill. Bolick and Shope then voted with Democrats to introduce the repeal bill.

The measure, which will be called Senate Bill 1734, received its "first read" on Wednesday. That means the bill is active but still needs to work its way through the legislative process. The state constitution requires new bills be heard by each legislative chamber on three separate days, unless lawmakers approve it with a two-thirds majority.

House deadlocks on abortion repeal, preserving GOP control. House Democrats vowed to keep up their repeal attempts.

“This is not going away,” said Rep. Lupe Contreras, of Avondale and the House minority leader. “We’ll bring it back to the floor again.”

Stahl Hamilton, a Tucson Democrat who sponsored House Bill 2677, predicted if Republicans continue to refuse to allow a vote on repeal, they will pay a price in this year’s elections. 

[Given the performance of citizen initiatives on this subject since the Dobbs debacle, where in BRIGHT RED states, i.e. Kansas and Ohio, that prediction, and despite obvious rumblings and ramblings of "powerful" Arizona Republican state lawmakers declaring their interest in subterfuge to subvert the will/vote of the Arizona people in November, seems to be an incredibly safe prediction.] 

“We will definitely flip the Legislature,” she said, echoing Democrats’ intent to wrest control from Republicans.

The 1864 law bans abortions at any stage of pregnancy, with exceptions only for the life of the mother. Doctors, or anyone who aids in an abortion, could face three to five years in prison.

Stahl Hamilton acknowledged that while the failure to nullify the law might be politically advantageous, she lamented that it does nothing to protect pregnant women and health care providers.

Wednesday’s session was a contrast with the previous week, where Democrats erupted in angry shouts of “shame, shame” aimed at their GOP colleagues.

Toma condemned those actions and urged lawmakers to refrain from repeating them.

“I would ask everyone in this chamber to respect the fact that some of us believe that abortion is the murder of children,” he said. “It is not OK to shout at each other, it is not OK to engage in the kind of behavior I saw on this floor last week.” 

[Because Ben Toma is Speaker of the House, and declares abortion to be "murder of children" he has some right to prevent the House from debating and taking action to nullify the insanity imposed on Arizona by the AZ Supremes last week?  Declaring a totally anachronistic statute to instead nullify the personal sovereignty of Arizona women is absurd and a religious insanity.  I consider HIS refusal to allow legislative action on this matter to be much more offensive than the verbal expression he denounced from last week.]

He defended the court’s ruling, as he urged lawmakers to reject the call for a repeal.

”The last thing we should be doing today is repealing a [totally anachronistic statute] law that has been enacted and reaffirmed by the [a NON-state of Arizona] Legislature several [a very dubious claim] times,” he said.

Democrats argued that HB 2677 deserves a vote.

“This issue is very simple,” House Minority Leader Oscar de los Santos, D-Phoenix, said. “Do we support or do we oppose an 1864 territorial abortion ban?”

The answer, twice over, was “no.”

After the first attempt failed, Rep. Alma Hernandez, D-Tucson, tried again. She argued that Republicans play with the rules all of the time to deny Democrats the ability to have their bills heard. And she reminded lawmakers of the consequences of their actions.

“There are so many people watching right now and watching what Arizona is doing,” Hernandez said, adding that to not even consider a bill that would protect rape victims is appalling.

Democrats had counted on Rep. David Cook’s support for the repeal motion. But the Globe Republican stuck with his caucus.

“I’ve never rolled my leadership or my speaker,” Cook said. [In other words, he was effectively intimidated by Ben Toma into abandoning his convictions regarding FREEDOM.]

He said he supports a repeal, but it must be done “the right way” and waiving the rules isn’t proper, he said. [Ostensibly, the "right way"  precludes offending the members of the majority caucus]

Abortion opponents pack House gallery

Wednesday’s actions played out before a House gallery filled with [Anti-FREEDOM for already breathing HUMANS] supporters of Arizona Right to Life.

Bob Pamplin of Mesa said he wanted to see Republicans stand for the unborn, regardless of the political consequences.

“I’m going to support life [instead of FREEDOM for HUMANS] and I think that’s what elected officials that say they’re pro-life need to do also, not just put their finger in the air and see which way the wind is blowing,” he said.

Another abortion opponent, Michael “Mike Check” Rogers, wore a shirt that said: “Democrats created abortion to control the black population.” [Just because an Anti-FREEDOM advocate makes a specious claim like this, corporate media must appease them by lending credibility rather than calling out the nonsensical nature of the claim.]

He said he opposed a repeal of the 1864 law and hoped Republican lawmakers chose unborn babies instead of [FREEDOM] “votes.”

Still, he thinks the abortion ban needs some “tinkering.”

“I don't like doctors being in jail for two to three years,” Rogers said. “But I don't think we have to gut the entire law in order to get rid of those bad branches of the tree.”

One of the people in the gallery heckled Gress as he was telling reporters that he was still confident a repeal would happen if supporters could get the measure brought up for a vote.

“Hey Gress, when are you going to register as a Democrat?” one man in the gallery shouted [i.e. intimidation]. “Traitor.”

Cathi Herrod, president of the anti-abortion Center for Arizona Policy, said she was “pleasantly surprised” to see Gress and the Democrats’ repeal bid shot down. But she expected to see another repeal try soon, adding: “It’s not over until sine die.” That term refers to the conclusion of Arizona's legislative session.

The 1864 law was revived last week in a state Supreme Court decision that made headlines nationwide [and perhaps even in more of the world than just the US]. The following day, attempts to push an immediate repeal were shut down by Republicans, triggering loud protests from Democrats.

The ruling, combined with the importance of the abortion issue in this year's national election, has drawn national media to the Arizona Capitol.

Stahl Hamilton introduced HB 2677 earlier this year. It never got a committee hearing, but it could be brought up for a final vote if there is enough support. The bill is a "clean repeal" of the 160-year-old law, meaning it simply removes the abortion measure from the law books without adding anything new.

Pro-abortion rights, anti-abortion supporters rally outside Capitol

Roughly 100 people gathered outside the Capitol early Wednesday at a Right for Life event to remind GOP lawmakers who might waver, and support the repeal, of their views. They prayed for lawmakers to “stand for those who cannot stand for themselves [including those who are NOT YET actual breathing HUMANS],” passing out plastic yellow flowers and red rose buds.

Micah Killough, 41, of Mesa, said he and his family wanted to encourage GOP lawmakers to stand true to their views on abortion and not cave to pressure to repeal the ban after the state Supreme Court ruling last week. [and obviously, to avoid standing for FREEDOM for breathing HUMANS]

“That’s my concern,” Killough said, “that they’re going to bend to what they perceive to be public opinion, as opposed to standing on principle [this seems to be an Orwellian declaration]. We want them to know that they have constituents that stand with them and do support the right to life and support protecting children.”

Killough and his five children each held stems of yellow flowers. Asked about their significance, his youngest daughter spoke up.

“The guy said it was because babies are beautiful like flowers," the 10-year-old said.

Hours later, after the vote, supporters of abortion rights and leaders of a November ballot measure gathered outside the House.

“Cowards, that’s the word that comes to mind,” Rolande Baker, 72, of Oro Valley, said of Republicans who voted down the bill. "C-O-W-A-R-D-S.”

Baker and three friends observed the House proceedings from the gallery, then left to join a rally outside the House in support of a citizen initiative to write abortion rights into the Arizona Constitution in November. Baker is a volunteer signature gatherer for the campaign.

"Just this morning, despite a week of empty rhetoric acknowledging the ban hurts Arizonans and is too extreme, anti-abortion rights [i.e Anti-FREEDOM] politicians in this very building chose not to repeal it, prolonging the fear, uncertainty and injustice of the court’s ruling,” said Dr. Candace Lew, an obstetrics and gynecology physician and chair of the Arizona for Abortion Access campaign.

“Vote them out!” “Shame!” supporters shouted at the rally outside the House.

Republican lawmakers are discussing strategies to compete [in other words, try to hoodwink Arizona voters with subterfuge] with the Arizona for Abortion Access initiative, which would enshrine the right to an abortion in the Arizona Constitution. The initiative already has far more than the minimum number of voter signatures to qualify for the Nov. 5 ballot.

There were no measures on Wednesday's calendar that would allow Republicans to insert some of those strategies into an existing House concurrent resolution. Those plans were made public on Monday when a House GOP memo outlining various measures to counteract the initiative was also sent to House Democrats, presumably accidentally.

Meanwhile, the state Senate has a busy calendar with non-abortion bills queued up for a vote. There is a chance that if a repeal is approved by the House, the measure could be sent to the Senate immediately, but it would take several days of work before it could be up for a final vote.

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*That no man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent. I say this is the leading principle, the sheet-anchor of American republicanism . . . Now the relation of master and slave is pro tanto a total violation of this principle. The master not only governs the slave without his consent, but he governs him by a set of rules altogether different from those which he prescribes for himself. Allow ALL the governed an equal voice in the government, and that, and that only, is self-government. -- Abraham Lincoln, 1865

The great fact underlying the claim for universal suffrage is that every man is himself and belongs to himself, and represents his own individuality, not only in form and features, but in thought and feeling. And the same is true of woman. She is herself, and can be nobody else than herself. Her selfhood is as perfect and as absolute as is the selfhood of man. -- Frederick Douglas, 1886

Ordinary men in 1940s Germany for sure; but in 2025 America? Hell NO!

The first video is from a year ago. Not anyone reflecting on what Trump said in Ohio about a bloodbath last weekend.

Trump has publicly, emphatically and prominently PROMISED RETRIBUTION in 2025 if he reascends to power. 

Maybe it's easy to think corporate (aka mainstream) media has dropped the ball as far as telling the truth (the WHOLE truth, and nothing but the truth) about HOW FREAKING BAD Trump is and would be IF he is able to return to the most powerful office in the world.

But corporate media does have to cope with a constant firehose of "stuff" from and about Trump.

In SOME cases, including local Arizona nonprofit media outlet Arizona Mirror, managing editor Jim Small, has said he will ditch "junk food" coverage to instead focus on the stakes of the 2024 election. I commend Jim and the Arizona Mirror for doing so. I donate to support it. It's an incredibly important enterprise in the current moment. Please join me in doing so. 

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Today, Arizona held it's "presidential primary," technically and specifically called the Presidential Preference Election. 

Unsurprisingly, Biden and Trump won decisively the race for convention delegates from our state.

The STAKES are very high this year. Nothing less than whether America will remain a nation allowing self-determination on a personal and community level.

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Project 2025 holds the essence of how Trump intends to implement that promise of retribution

It is not enough for conservatives to win elections. If we are going to rescue the country from the grip of the radical Left, we need both a governing agenda and the right people in place, ready to carry this agenda out on Day One of the next conservative Administration.

"Rescue the country from the grip of the radical Left..." is an extremely stark statement couched in euphemistic rhetoric. They mean business. Trump regularly uses violent imagery in the demagogic language he spouts.

There is a very short straight line between the John Birch Society (the Koch brothers' father Fred was very deep in JBS). The Kochs have provided funding to the Heritage Foundation. 

The Heritage Foundation is an associate member of the State Policy Network, founded in 1992, a network of conservative and libertarian organizations financed by the Koch brothers, Philip Morris, and other corporate sources.

Since August 2023, the foundation has led a constellation of groups participating in Project 2025, a collection of policy proposals to reshape the executive branch of the U.S. federal government in the event of a Republican victory in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. In addition to laying out policy proposals, the project is recruiting thousands to staff and reshape the federal government in ways closer to Heritage preferences should a Republican president be inaugurated in January 2025. Former Trump administration official Russell Vought, who is involved in the project, said, "The president Day One will be a wrecking ball for the administrative state." The project's policy proposals include changes "for nearly every agency across the government", including undoing the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, shutting down the Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office, boosting the extraction and use of fossil fuels, and other measures that could have significant impact on how the administration approaches global warming and climate change.

If you think Ordinary Men cannot or would not do Trump's bidding which he has euphemistically claimed is to begin a mass deportation of anyone he affixes labels to as a hated Other, you might want to view this documentary.

Regardless of Project 2025, Trump or MAGA, YOU and I have AGENCY.  

noun The state of being in action or of exerting power; action; operation; instrumentality.

noun A mode of exerting power; a means of producing effects.

You and I have a VOICE.

You and I will RAISE our VOICE increasingly in 2024.

You and I will defeat the orange and red capped monster, will defeat Project 2025, and will reelect Joe Biden to a second term, and God (the VOTERS) willing, we will flip the Arizona Legislature.

THIS is within our grasp. I do not write these words with even one iota of uncertainty.

We Rise UP! with One VOICE, we WIN.

 

One in the Chamber? Elijah Crane's Congressional newsletter

 Yesterday, March 16, Arizona Congressman Elijah Crane (R-CD2) delivered his latest newsletter to me by email.

The first several sections or blurbs in Crane's newsletter seem to exclusively contain both unverified/unverifiable and clearly unsupported claims which, on the surface, insult the intelligence of every reader who possesses critical thinking and analysis skills. Case in point: 

"Record-high inflation..." really? Data reported by US Inflation Calculator, sourced from US Dept of Labor on March 12, 2024, 

The annual inflation rate for the United States was 3.2% for the 12 months ending February, compared to the previous rate of 3.1%, according to U.S. Labor Department data published on March 12, 2024. The next inflation update is scheduled for release on April 10 at 8:30 a.m. ET, providing information on the inflation rate for the 12 months ending March 2024 

Shown graphically also on the same US Inflation Calculator page,

Nevertheless, Bidenomics IS working for small businesses and working Americans, as US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen spelled out in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed which demonstrates and backs up her claims.

The American economy has improved significantly over the past year, especially for the middle class. In December 2022, I shared my optimism in these pages about our country’s economic trajectory: We had gotten our economy back on its feet after weathering significant shocks and were poised for growth. It’s now clear that optimism was justified. While some forecasters predicted a 100% chance of recession this year, that didn’t happen. During the first three quarters of 2023, annualized growth averaged around 3%. Americans are applying to start businesses at a record pace, consumers are buying more, and inflation has come down substantially.

Regarding Biden administration responsibility for inflation, consider that Fed chair Jerome Powell began raising interest rates two years ago this month. As reported by NPR, 

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates Wednesday for the first time since 2018, kick-starting its efforts to tackle the country's highest inflation in four decades.

The central bank raised its benchmark rate by a quarter percentage point, marking the beginning of the end of the ultra-easy money policies that have been in place since the early days of the pandemic.

By the way, who was the chief executive of the US federal government in the early days of the pandemic?

Regarding "senseless regulations" crushing small businesses, that's an incredibly VAGUE claim. Due to vagueness, it would be senseless for me to even begin to rebut here.

Regarding "rising crime in Biden's America," the Washington Post in an editorial today (gift article), noted that crime is falling throughout the country, except in Washington, D.C. (Read the well documented argument for free because I subscribe) Briefly, however, the editorial makes these points.

Violent crime declined in nearly every major U.S. city last year. The District was a tragic outlier. [and]

Many perpetrators apparently believed they could get away with breaking the law, and they were somewhat correct. The D.C. police force was the smallest in half a century.

Effective law enforcement requires that those who have the authority to combat crime also take responsibility for doing so. This is hard to achieve in the unusual hybrid system of government in the nation’s capital, with multiple federal and local agencies (and differing elected officials) in control of various aspects of criminal justice.  

Can a case be made showing the D.C. police force staffing problem being related to the January 6, 2021 insurrection? I don't know. 

However, rather than Mr Crane flippantly pointing fingers at the Biden administration, maybe he would do well to direct whoever writes his newsletters to be a bit more diligent about backing up specious allegations of policy concerns. That is, IF Crane's "one in the chamber" hopefully metaphoric newsletter title really wants to hit his rhetorical targets at all.  

 

On the EVE of SCOTUS oral arguments for disqualifying citizen Donald, Congressional insurrectionists escalate attack on the Constitution

As Historian Heather Cox Richardson reported in her February 7th Letter from an American,

February 7, 2024 (Wednesday)

Amidst the Republican meltdown in Washington, a disturbing pattern is emerging.

Under pressure from former president Donald Trump, Republican senators today killed the $118 billion Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act that provided funding for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan and humanitarian assistance for Gaza and also included protections for the border that Republicans themselves had demanded.

Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), one of the team of senators who had negotiated the bill, called out the Republicans who had staged photo ops at the border and insisted that Congress must address the rise in migration across the border…until Trump told them the opposite: “After all those trips to the desert, after all those press conferences, it turns out this crisis isn’t much of a crisis after all. Sunday morning, it’s a real crisis,” she said. “Monday morning it magically disappeared.”

After four months of Senate negotiations over the bill produced a strong bipartisan agreement, Trump pulled the rug out from under a measure that gave the Republicans much of what they wanted, partly because he wanted the issue of immigration and the border to run on in 2024, it seems, but also to demonstrate that he could command Congress to do his bidding.

It appears that Trump is trying to turn the Republican Party into an instrument he can use as he wishes.
Senator James Lankford (R-OK), whom Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) tapped to negotiate the bill, today told the Senate that four weeks ago a right-wing media personality had told him “flat out—before they knew any of the contents of the bill, any of the content, nothing was out at that point—that told me flat out, ‘If you try to move a bill that solves the border crisis during this presidential year, I will do whatever I can to destroy you, because I do not want you to solve this during the presidential election.’”

Lankford added, “[They] have been faithful to their promise and have done everything they can to destroy me in the past several weeks.” (MAGA radio host Jesse Kelly later claimed he was the person to whom Lankford referred, and called the Oklahoma senator a “eunuch.”)
It is not a normal part of our political system to have members of Congress deciding what laws to support on the basis of threats.

In Politico today, Burgess Everett reported that Trump-aligned MAGA Republican senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT) are calling for McConnell to step down because he backed the national security measure with the border fixes MAGA demanded, suggesting that negotiating with Democrats is off-limits. Trump has consistently called for McConnell to be replaced with someone friendlier to him.

Senators aligned with Trump—Ron Johnson (R-WI), Rick Scott (R-FL), and J.D. Vance (R-OH), as well as Cruz and Lee—took a stand against the national security measure, creating such pressure that McConnell’s supporters quietly turned against it. Everett noted that the rapid about-face Senate Republicans made over the national security measure “is evidence of a major drift away from McConnell’s style of Republicanism and toward Trump’s.”

Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said, “I have a difficult time understanding again how anyone else in the future is going to want to be on that negotiating team—on anything—if we are going to be against it.” She said: “I’ve gone through the multiple stages of grief. Today I’m just pissed off.”
Trump’s takeover of the Republican Party is showing as well in his attempt to take over the Republican National Committee, in particular a plan to replace as its chair his hand-picked loyalist Ronna McDaniel, who has ties to the old party, with someone even closer to him. Since 2016, “[t]hey’ve merged the DNA of the president’s campaign and the RNC,” a Republican operative told Matt Dixon, Olympia Sonnier, and Katherine Doyle of NBC News.

Josh Dawsey and Michael Scherer reported yesterday in the Washington Post that Republicans are afraid to stand up to Trump out of fear that he will retaliate against them. In Politico today, Peder Schaefer described how in Republican-dominated Wyoming, Democrats are afraid to admit their political affiliation out of concern for their safety.

Yesterday, Politico’s Adam Wren pointed out that Trump has spent much of the last week attacking elections officials in Indiana for helping former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, who is running against him for the Republican presidential nomination. He is apparently working with loyalist Representative Jim Banks (R-IN) to push the lie that Haley had forgotten to fill out the paperwork to get onto the Republican primary ballot and that election officials were cheating to get her onto it.
Officials say that these baseless accusations are an attempt to sow distrust of the 2024 election.
“Trump is reinforcing a narrative where the only acceptable outcome is his victory, thus preemptively delegitimizing any electoral defeat,” Evansville attorney and former Indiana Republican delegate Joshua Claybourn told Wren. “It sets the stage for yet another crisis of legitimacy in the November general election.”

Mike Murphy, a former Republican member of the Indiana House of Representatives, offered Wren a different theory about Trump’s actions: “The bottom line is he’s completely unhinged. He is literally off his rocker.”

But there is a method behind the madness. Trump’s actions are not those designed to win an election by getting a majority of the votes. They are the tools someone who cannot win a majority uses to seize power.

Trump’s base is shrinking as his actions become more extreme, but he has a big megaphone, and it is getting bigger. As Robyn Dixon and Natalia Abbakumova pointed out in the Washington Post today, Putin’s awarding of an interview to right-wing former Fox News Channel personality Tucker Carlson in Moscow this week “demonstrated Putin’s interest in building bridges to the disruptive MAGA element of the Republican Party, and it seemed to reflect the Kremlin’s hope that Donald Trump would return to the presidency and that Republicans would continue to block U.S. military aid to Ukraine.”

Yesterday, Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) introduced, and more than 60 House Republicans co-sponsored, a resolution denying that Trump had engaged in insurrection in his attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Former District of Columbia police officer Michael Fanone, who was badly hurt on January 6, said the resolution was “a slap in the face to those of us who almost lost everything defending the Capitol on January 6th, including protecting some of the very Members of Congress who are now attempting to rewrite history to exonerate former President Trump.

“But no piece of paper signed by a group of spineless extremists will ever change the facts about that dark day:” he wrote, “the insurrection was violent, it was deadly and it will happen again if we do not expunge the MAGA ideology that stoked the flames of insurrection in the first place. Rep. Matt Gaetz and every supporter of this resolution must be held accountable for their lies and un-American efforts to undermine our democracy.”

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Professor Richardson's 19 endnotes are clearly marked as hyperlinks at her substack and on her Facebook post.

Notably, insurrectionists Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar, as well as Eli Crane and Debbie Lesko are ALL on Gaetz list of resolution co-signers.

The Arizona Eagletarian maintains a key reason citizen Donald's megaphone is getting louder is because for the last eight effing years, corporate media has not dared to talk or report the REALITY of what Donald has said and done. They have acquiesced and reported what he manipulated them into reporting: HIS WORDS which we know to be tens of thousands of lies.

It seems to this blogger that citizen Donald IS off his rocker, IS unhinged, and IS decompensating. On this eve of SCOTUS oral arguments in case of Colorado's disqualification of Donald from the ballot and subsequent to the DC circuit court of appeals ruling on February 6 ruling that he is NOT immune from criminal prosecution perhaps Donald's mania and his minions' mania was turned up a few notches.

However, now somebody needs to get MAGA GOP in Congress to take a breath and count to ten... and calm down.

Nevertheless, the drama will continue. Be on the lookout for Prof Richardson's letter tomorrow.

But do NOT lose track of this FACT. The so-called crisis on the US southern border MAGICALLY disappeared. 

Citizen Donald is sowing chaos in the (misguided) hope of being an elected dictator (who REALLY believes for ONLY one day?) come next January 20th.

WHY I Do What I Do

Written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, first published in 1845. We should note the historical context. President Lincoln, subsequent to a movement which began more than a century before, to abolish slavery, by executive order on January 1, 1863, declared,

That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.

Of course, there was also post Emancipation Proclamation context. Ramifications. Lincoln fully anticipated the rebellion of slave states. He made the proclamation anyway. Many people died in that rebellion, which Lincoln and the Union Army stood against. It took another century for major civil rights and voting rights legislation to be enacted. The struggle continues today.

This history must also be reflected upon when, in at least four jurisdictions, a tyrant who brazenly refused to honor the legitimate election of his successor now faces criminal prosecution. The weak among the pundit class suggest appeasement lest Trump succeed in his calls for "chaos and bedlam." If he is convicted, or even denied having his name appear on ballots for the 2024 presidential race some powerful people FEAR any such chaos. That's not reasonable cause to let Trump off the hook. But it IS for refusing to put his name on ballots in 2024 or any time in the future.

Historical context demands prosecuting that criminal to the fullest extent of what the laws of the United States and the states of Georgia, New York, Colorado and Maine permit. This includes election laws enacted to protect and defend democracy and the Republic for which the American Flag stands. 

Abbreviated punishment of Hitler for his attempted coup d'etat known as the Beer Hall Putsch was more like a respite for him. A Holocaust ensued in Europe. 

From the book: The Poetry of Longfellow 

Introduction:
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, "The Arrow and the Song," delves into the profound theme of the lasting impact of words and actions. Through the metaphor of an arrow and its subsequent ripples, the poet explores the consequences of spoken words, urging readers to reflect on the responsibility associated with communication.

Metaphorical Significance:
The central metaphor of the arrow serves as a potent symbol for the spoken word or action. Just as an arrow, once released, cannot be recalled, Longfellow suggests that words, once spoken, carry an irreversible power. This metaphor emphasizes the permanence of language, prompting readers to consider the weight of their verbal expressions.

Ripple Effect and Consequences:
The imagery of the arrow creating ripples in a body of water serves to illustrate the ripple effect of our actions. Longfellow suggests that our words and deeds extend beyond their immediate impact, creating ongoing consequences that resonate in ways we may not fully comprehend. This concept encourages readers to recognize the interconnectedness of individual actions within the broader fabric of human experience.

Reflection and Regret:
The reflective tone of the poem indicates a level of awareness on the part of the speaker. The realization that words have a lasting impact implies a sense of responsibility and accountability. This introspective moment in the poem encourages readers to consider the ethical dimensions of their communication, fostering a mindset that acknowledges the potential repercussions of thoughtless words.

Emotional Resonance:
Longfellow infuses the poem with a melancholic tone, evoking an emotional response from the reader. This emotional resonance enhances the poem's effectiveness in conveying the gravity of its theme. The poignant language and imagery serve to underscore the significance of the message, prompting a deeper contemplation of the implications of our words and actions.

Universal Relevance:
"The Arrow and the Song" transcends its immediate context, making it universally relevant. By addressing the timeless theme of the power of language, Longfellow's poem remains applicable across different cultures and eras. This universality enhances the poem's enduring value and ensures its continued resonance with diverse audiences.

Granted, I aspire for these words to transcend. It will be up to those who come later to determine if I was only spinning my wheels. Nevertheless, this is WHY I do what I do, write what I write, and say what I say on the Arizona Eagletarian blog and on social media. 

I hope to speak and write into being what my heart longs for.

As Nobel Prize winning poet and singer/songwriter Bob Dylan has said, The times, they ARE a'changin'.

 We Rise UP! with One VOICE, WE WIN, but I NEED YOU!.

Here's the FALLBACK strategy

We MUST not let the former president regain the power of the oval office. However, in the unlikely event that he does, and if you are pessimistic about the 2024 presidential election, THERE is a plan.

It IS working in Hungary. It HAS worked in Greece, in the Czech Republic, Barcelona (as capital of the autonomous region of Catalonia) and other nation-states. It will work in the United States of America. 

Tessza Udvarhelyi is to Hungary what (who) Heather Cox Richardson is to the USA. Prof Richardson is a historian.

 
Tessza Udvarhelyi is a cultural anthropologist and environmental psychologist by training. She attended universities in Budapest and New York. For more than ten years, she has been active in the Hungarian housing movement and she is also the co-founder of the School of Public Life, an activist school in Budapest. Since 2019 she has been the head of a newly created office called the Office of Community Participation in the 8th district of Budapest where she combines her experience and passion for social justice activism and her belief in the public sector as a vehicle for social change.

Tessza's training isn't what makes her special. Her insight and determination does. She is a genuine leader, but NOT an elected official. I make the distinction because years ago I realized news enterprises, including the Arizona Republic, intentionally mischaracterize elected officials. The result, intentional or not, is to effectively brainwash some readers into believing they don't have agency (the ability to influence/impact their society or government).

I digress.

Broadcast and cable/satellite news operations are increasingly beginning to recognize the danger Trump presents to the democratic order. Essentially the same as our republican governmental structure. The word "republican" derives from the root "res publica," for the good of the public.

So-called strongmen "govern" with a view of what is in their own interests, not that of the general public.

That news operations increasingly recognize and voice alarm at the danger Trump represents is a good thing (better late/now than never). I believe WE the PEOPLE (i.e. democracy) can and will triumph THIS year. But if it doesn't we have both the record of history (i.e. Beer Hall Putsch) and the current efforts in the face of autocracy in Hungary to light the way forward.   

Give a listen to Ms Udvarhelyi

We now know, by the clear words and tone of his rhetoric and his past practice, that Donald Trump fancies himself an authoritarian autocrat. A so-called strongman. Consider the historical record of the Beer Hall Putsch story from 1923, a full century ago. There very real lessons to be learned. We CAN prevent 20th Century history from echoing in the 21st Century.

The Beer Hall Putsch, also known as the Munich Putsch,[1][note 1] was a failed coup d'état by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler, Generalquartiermeister Erich Ludendorff and other Kampfbund leaders in Munich, Bavaria, on 8–9 November 1923, during the Weimar Republic. 

Approximately two thousand Nazis marched on the Feldherrnhalle, in the city centre, but were confronted by a police cordon, which resulted in the deaths of 16 Nazis, four police officers, and one bystander.[2][3] [Does it sound at all familiar yet?]

Hitler escaped immediate arrest and was spirited off to safety in the countryside. After two days, he was arrested and charged with treason.[4]

The putsch brought Hitler to the attention of the German nation for the first time and generated front-page headlines in newspapers around the world. His arrest was followed by a 24-day trial, which was widely publicised and gave him a platform to express his nationalist sentiments to the nation. Hitler was found guilty of treason and sentenced to five years in Landsberg Prison,[note 2] where he dictated Mein Kampf to fellow prisoners Emil Maurice and Rudolf Hess. On 20 December 1924, having served only nine months, Hitler was released.[5][6] Once released, Hitler redirected his focus towards obtaining power through legal means rather than by revolution or force, and accordingly changed his tactics, further developing Nazi propaganda.[7]

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Not until I viewed the first episode of the Nat Geo limited series Hitler: The Lost Tapes on Hulu did I fully grasp the parallel between the Beer Hall Putsch and former Pres Trump's insurrection on January 6, 2021.

Nevertheless, I am optimistic that WE the PEOPLE will exercise our voices and our citizenship responsibilities in this election year. As we do, be confident. Trump lost mid-term elections (for Congressional control) in 2018 and missed his hoped for "Red Wave" in 2022. Trump lost the presidential election in 2020.

Trump WILL lose in 2024, whether he is on the ballot or not.

Former FBI director James Comey, in the Washington Post yesterday, firmly rebutted WaPo associate editor Ruth Marcus' warning* about Trump incited violence. 

In the implausible and very unlikely event Trump does win, we have consolation in knowing in the face of these times which try men's and women's souls, there IS a way forward. We will cross that bridge IF we come to it.

Founding Father Thomas Paine wrote, in his essay on the American Crisis.

These are the times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

~~~~

*It would be extraordinary for any Supreme Court to declare that the front-runner for his party’s nomination can be barred from the ballot; doing so would unleash widespread confusion, and worse, on the nation. -- Ruth Marcus

In contrast, from Comey:

I doubt it. We should always worry about political violence, especially when violent rhetoric and behavior are embraced, even celebrated, by one of our political parties and its leader. The FBI’s domestic terrorism section is paid to worry, and hundreds of people at the bureau and its partner agencies are getting up every morning trying to spot potential threats and defuse them. It’s work they must do.

But I think we have a much bigger problem with threats of violence than we do with actual violence. Trumpist threats seem to be everywhere these days. Public officials at all levels regularly receive them by mail, email, social media or, quaintly, even voice mail. And there are the attempted “swattings,” where callers report nonexistent crimes to trigger a response by law enforcement, and other forms of harassment. Of course, these must be taken seriously because there’s always the chance that some disturbed person will act on a threat. But I know from professional — and, unfortunately, personal — experience that people mostly tend to threaten because they want to live rent-free in your head, impacting the way you live even if they never come near you.