I have been reading Espresso Pundit for years. I usually agree with Greg on most subjects and find his wit and style interesting. He is front and center in the CD5 campaign, anyone who has read his blog for more than awhile knows he is squarely behind Schweikert. A CPA, he is also an attorney and dude, until recently did not have a TV in his house!
He doesn’t pull any punches. Greg has taken on APS, The Republic, and now he has a new object of his effort.
Sometimes you just have to give credit where credit is due, Greg Patterson who writes Espresso Pundit, nails the reality of Andy Thomas in his latest post on the subject…
With such flagrant and well documented ethical violations, I don’t see how Thomas could possibly still be a licensed attorney this time next year.
This is the reality most have come to believe. The evidence pointing to extreme abuse of power and corruption is so overwhelming, that to suggest Thomas will escape this without, at the minimum, being disbarred is foolish. The odds he may very well be sitting in Camp Cupcake very soon are pretty good. Disappointing.
So, what is a conservative to do? Patterson had this to say about Tom Horne:
…he supported parental consent as well as the ban on partial birth abortion–and he has pledged to defend the laws that the legislature passes.
So I can say that from a Conservative perspective, I’m not simply voting against Thomas. I’m very comfortable voting for Tom Horne.
However, there is another point that has been made by more than a few very conservative folks. When faced with the idea of having an AG who is likely to be indicted, disbarred, and tied up in personal fights of corruption…
And if Horne doesn’t win the Primary…? Ok, then I’ll simply be voting against Thomas.
A growing number of R’s will not pull the lever for Thomas. No D’s will. Certainly a good portion of I’s will go with the Democratic nominee. In light of these latest developments, Andrew Thomas should immediately step aside, get his house in order, fight his good fight and when, or if, he can… return to public service. For now, he is doing more harm than good.
We do want a candidate that will aid in enforcing immigration law (rule of law, not exceptions).
We don’t want a candidate that will prosecute people for political gain (rule of law, not politicians).
Running for office once meant working for the good of the people. Now to many it just means power.
Funny how no one’s asking Arpaio to resign, just for Thomas to get out of the race. Smells like Horne-itis.
I understand what you mean when you say the “growing number of R’s” who won’t vote for Thomas. A lot of people don’t want political corruption prosecuted. But for each one of them there are plenty of R’s and D’s and I’s who appreciate his willingness to take on those even in his own party, and government in general. Thomas is the ultimate Tea Party candidate.
I still don’t understand who exactly Thomas is supposedly prosecuting for political gain.
If a Republican Congress impeaches a Democrat president, you can argue political motivation. But the Board of Supervisors is 4/5 Republican. Thomas is an R. How does it profit him to indict those in his own party?
@Preview: Clearly, Thomas has not profited from indicting those in his own party, much less the bottom-less pit that is now the Maricopa Board of Supervisors. If there has been any profit in this deal, well, one need only check the taxpayer credit card statements belonging to Wilcox and Stapely.
I couldn’t care less what Greg Patterson thinks which I why I don’t visit the EP; and anyone who takes credence in a Molly Pitcher post needs counseling. It’s highly advisable that voters who are reading at 8th grade level or above read original documents for themselves. Here’s the link for the grand jury docs: http://www.kfyi.com/pages/page_images/Scanned%20Documents.pdf
I’ll finish reading these documents this weekend because the opinions of nitwits are increasingly grating my nerves. In the same way, the broadcast commentary I heard this week was perfectly useless. At issue here and directly affecting our lives is the question: Does the County Board of Supervisors collude with the County Judiciary to the disadvantage of taxpayers?
Preview is correct, Thomas is the ultimate Tea Part candidate – paranoid, arrogant and intolerant.
Todd, Thomas doesn’t tolerate fools. It’s not paranoia if someone really is trying to get you. And arrogance is easy to mistake for confidence.
I saw Thomas on Channel 10 last night complete with his silly grin. I am supporting Horn….
Is it paranoia when they are really out to get you because you deserve it and know it?
How about a class action suit for the generation of Arizona students who rode Arizona’s piss poor education system into Worst Place in the USA?
Mr. Horne was in charge of all that millions and millions of taxpayer money MEANT for EDUCATION and Arizona DROPPED in ranking. One WOULD have THOGUHT that UP was the ONLY way to go with Arizona’s benthos scores, but NO, there was still a fathom or two BELOW to explore first.
VOTE for HIM? Education not his “thing” or something, he can do better by applying those “talents” to a different sector?
Let’s get to the “nub” of the matter.
Thomas is under attack for seeking to prosecute those whose political interests are sponsored and financed by those who profit from illegal immigration.
Nothing more, nothing less!
wanumba,
Do you have statistics to back up your assertion or are you just repeating the talking points you have heard?
Mr. Horne actually did provide leadership that shaped the development of education in Arizona in a very good way.
He eliminated the costly and ineffective bilingual education policies and practice. Then followed-up by having accountability measures that would not allow the districts to go around the rules but follow them.
When Goddard and Napolitano refused to support the state in the Flores case, Mr. Horne use his extremely accomplished legal skills and took the case all the way to the Supreme Court. Where he prevailed, saving the state MILLIONS.
These efforts put dollars into the classroom for all students.
For years he has battled inefficient and inappropriate curricula statewide. Standards for more subjects have been established. He even ruffled up the United Nations who felt his long-fought effort to eliminate ethnic studies was wrong.
Check out our Terranova scores, they are above the national average. This is a nationally normed test, the state cannot manipulate the results. Our SAT scores, above the national average. The ALEC ratings put Arizona at 33rd when they put our student achievement into the whole mix. However, we are #50 in regionalized dollars per student.
We have a more transient student population than most, we have a huge number of ELL students, and our economy has fallen faster than any other state. This effects kids.
What that means…we do far more with far less than any other state. That is called good leadership.
Preview,
You are wrong. The transcripts just released are the final nail in the coffin showing that there is no far-reaching conspiracy to get Thomas but in fact Thomas and Arpaio appear to have been making baseless accusations and implying things they have zero proof of.
I didn’t say there was a conspiracy, but that many people wanted Thomas out of office. I did say that is a far-reaching group, and add that they are not necessarily coordinating with each other. Example, if we all stomp our feet in unison at a Suns game, that’s coordination. If we both happen to clap at the same time, that’s not coordinated, just a coincidence. So Democrats, RINO’s, the Supervisors and even some misguided conservatives are criticizing Thomas. I do not think they are coordinating. So no conspiracy claim on my part.
If Todd thinks Arpaio and Thomas are “implying things they have zero proof of” then he ought to welcome the investigation. Arpaio and Thomas and their subordinates are law enforcement guys. They investigate, theorize, inquire, conject, study, imply, deduce, ponder, and even guess in the process of doing their jobs. Ever been pulled over for speeding by a cop who didn’t have a radar? He’ll imply you did something he has no proof of but suspects or even knows to be true. He has no proof, but yet you were speeding.
These cases are complicated and not as tidy as AZSCAM, where there was videotape and audio and cash and admissions and a trial and pleas. We’re not at that point yet. I want to see the outcome of Arpaio’s investigation into MY public officials.
Preview, the outcome was that a grand jury told them to stop the investigation and they ignored it. I have not seen a single compelling piece of evidence that there is some massive corruption that is being investigated. The evidence is that there has been politically motivated prosecutions and investigations that have been based on the flimsiest of threads. I do not understand those of you who continue to claim that Thomas and Arpaio are the actual victims here.
Ann Says:
August 15th, 2010 at 8:57 am
wanumba,
Do you have statistics to back up your assertion or are you just repeating the talking points you have heard?
……..
See the toolbar on the right? ARCHIVES?
“Educating Arizona: Adding up to FAIL.”
My October 9, 2009 article,right here on SA plus links.
No “talking points” Those are for people who need someone else to tell them what to think, n’est pas? Just because you may use them doesn’t automatically mean EVERYBODY does.
Arizona Republic mealy-mouthed reported the decline last year, basically blaming the “poor,” the “Indians” and “Hispanics,” so, I read that and checked the Chamber of Commerce rankings, while I had to take the school my kids were in at the time by the throat when I discovered they were passing off what the state of Virginia teaches in 7th grade as 8th grade curriculum, likewise they were passing off what is taught in 8th grade in Virginia as 9th grade, aka Freshman High School. The AZ parents didn’t know until I showed them, and they weren’t happy – actually, they looked sick – the realization that for years they’d trusted, with their kids’ educations, people who can’t be trusted.
THe AIMS-textbooks are pathetic. They weigh a TON, and deliver HALF, if THAT of nationally ranked curriculum. What passes for AIMS “achievement” here wouldn’t cut it on the SAT or ACT. Sky-high drop-out rates at Arizona state universities provide proof that too many AZ students are going in unprepared for college-level work, even as undemanding as ASU, our nation’s premier “Party-School.”
Tom Horne has steered AZ academic achievement DOWN through the bottom pack of piss-poor schools.
I didn’t say they were victims. I said they were doing their jobs. They’re also politicians, and criticism comes with the job.
Is it possible to prosecute a politician, without the politician and his friends claiming that there’s a political motivation behind it? I think it is, and Thomas and Arpaio are showing us the consequences.
Once again, sir…I ask you to do more than pass off your opinion as fact.
FACT: ASU & U of A have over a 23% attendance by out of state students. Hmmm…that’s pretty high and could say a couple of things…families realize our state universities provide a great education at a reasonable cost AND that many of the dropouts are not AZ kids at all.
Since you seem to avoid facts, choosing to use your own version of the truth, here are the facts that can be verified at The College Board website:
FACT:
In all tested areas; Critical Reading, Mathematics, Writing, and the Composite scores in the SAT, Arizona students have outperformed the national average in every area year of Mr. Horne’s service.
FACT:
On the ACT, in all tested areas including the Composite score, English, Reading, Mathematics, and Science…guess what? Yep, Arizona students outperformed the US average.
As to the “AIMS-textbooks”…what are those? You mean the nationally developed textbooks that schools buy from the national publishers who provide the books to ALL states and develop the content to California and Texas? (From where the biggest purchases are made, driving the market)
For the most part, Arizona schools do not produce their own books.
You, sir have said you are new to our state.
Perhaps…since you loathe our schools, our elected officials, our very way of life…you can find it in the hearts of those you left behind to welcome you back.
I, for one, would be happy if Arpaio resigned. But he likes the power, it’s not going to happen. People can’t seem to see past the immigration issue and see everything else he’s doing.
Political benefits to prosecuting the County Supervisors? Here are 2:
1. Thomas campaigns that he’s more conservative than everyone else.
2. County Supervisors can control Arpaio’s budget (though they can’t seem to stop him from buying army-grade tanks and helicopters).
“Thomas is under attack for seeking to prosecute those whose political interests are sponsored and financed by those who profit from illegal immigration.”
Read the first comment on here. That is NOT the only group going after Thomas.
Ann Says:
August 16th, 2010 at 7:31 am
Once again, sir…I ask you to do more than pass off your opinion as fact
………….
Are you not aware that the textbooks have ARIZONA-AIMS on them and have been customized to the AZ AIMS testing? Including and entire chapter on how to take the AIMS, highlight the AIMS type questions throughout the books? YES, it’s obvious that they are a no more than a custom modification off the standard piss-poor market textbooks, which are nothing to be proud of scholastically.
We’re Arizona education clients, as taxpaying citizens of this state, and the service we are getting for our tax dollars is inferior. We did not have any preconceptions when we arrived, but discovered it after we moved here. A lot of children are being shorted in their education because of it, and your solution is to tell me, a client, the customer, to go back to some other state.
Can’t take customer feedback? Telling the customer who is actually receiving the service they don’t know what they’re talking about? A private business would take the complaints seriously and improve their product, not try to chase the client off for inconveniently vocalizing the truth behind the pretty numbers facade.
……………………..
Ann Says:
August 16th, 2010 at 7:31 am
Perhaps…since you loathe our schools, our elected officials, our very way of life…
……………
I don’t suppose you’ve ever noticed how fast you are to interpret every disagreement as some form of “hate.”