Here’s a quick plug for our new friends over at Gilbert Watch. If you live in Gilbert, you should be reading their blog every day.

Take a look at their latest post about the Ground Zero Anti-Tax Rally scheduled this Saturday at the Gilbert Municipal Center from 10 AM to 3 PM.

There will be plenty of people there expressing their view on tax issues including that of Gilbert and the State of Arizona. Several candidates will also be in attendance including US Senate candidate, JD Hayworth.

Please show your support for this important rally and GilbertWatch.com

Sonoran Alliance was featured on this Sunday’s edition of 12 News’ Sunday Square-Off. That’s right, yours truly made my debut appearance on the show in which I had the opportunity to represent conservative Arizona bloggers and activists.

Brahm Resnik hosts this weekly show which is always fast-paced and quick thinking. My two co-guests were Katie Hobbs from the liberal blog, Democratic Diva as well as a Democratic candidate in LD-15, and Casey Newton from the Arizona Republic. The show will actually not show tomorrow morning because it is being pre-empted by another show but you can view it online right here on Sonoran Alliance.

By Emil Franzi, Special to The Explorer

I do not “blog,” although I post on some. I dislike the format because it allows for anonymity, which I don’t hide behind on my own posts. You want to run off at the pen, have the guts to tell me who you really are like I tell you.

Something we who do talk radio learn quickly is to dump the dumb caller as rapidly as possible. Allowing some yahoo to rant is an invitation to station change.

The late Marshall Fritz, well known in libertarian and educational freedom circles, once explained to me a principle from Little League coaching he called “Gresham’s Law of People.” Taken from the economic principle that bad money drives out good, he believed that loud-mouthed jerks drove away good folks and should be purged early and often for the health of any organization.

Newspaper editors have discretion when it comes to letters to the editor, which must be signed hopefully by a real person or even the person who actually wrote them. Some blogs are policed better than others. But the amount of illiterate drivel allowed to pass from left, right and ignorant center is still appalling.

I find many right-wing posters to be embarrassments, not for me personally or my philosophy, but for themselves. Hyper-active newbies always emerge whenever there is any kind of popular awakening, from opposing the Viet Nam War in the ’60s to opposing the Obama leftist agenda now.

California conservatives had a name for the worst of this category in the early ’60s – one-book Birchers. They read “I Saw Poland Betrayed.” Actually, they got up to page 23. It took three days. They found out there were communists and that was enough. They usually didn’t stay active long. This was pre-blog or they would’ve hung around longer.

There are left-wing equivalents, but they’re not my problem. You know who they are. Some of them on both sides are decent folks who just don’t know any better. My job is to help clean up my own. Best way to do that is to clarify the most commonly abused terminology.

• RINO, or Republican in Name Only. A simple measurement separates them from liberal Republicans. RINOS are Republicans like Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup, who are not only liberals but don’t support other Republicans in general elections. Except for the Mecham recall in 1988, Sen. McCain hasn’t publicly dumped on other GOP nominees. He’s not a RINO and is too inconsistent to qualify as a liberal. I think CINO probably fits him best.

Conservatives and particularly conservative Republicans must learn these distinctions. Mayor Guliani is not a conservative, but supports the ticket. Mayor Bloomberg is a Republican out of convenience only and doesn’t. Real RINOS were the GOP officials who walked on Barry Goldwater in 1964. Those like Oregon’s Mark Hatfield who didn’t deserve consideration for playing by the rules.

• Conservative. There’s broad philosophical diversity in the movement which includes some libertarians. There are libertarians who don’t consider themselves conservatives, and conservatives who agree. Before you decide to yell sell-out or RINO, please note the lack of conservative consensus on immigration, fair tax, term limits, the Afghan war, and the foreign policy diversity you get from Ron Paul and Pat Buchanan. Both qualifed as RINOs for having once run on another party’s ticket. Republicans holding party roles talking third party also qualify.

• Socialist. Has specific meanings and, like conservative, is highly diverse. Marxist? Positivist? Fabian? National? Fascist? Hint: It was not socialized medicine when the Roman Army sent early medics along with each Legion. Learn to focus.

There’s more. Hopefully there are some folks I have thoroughly offended. I can only hope those wishing to berate me will use their real names.

Hear Emil Franzi and Tom Danehy Saturdays 1-4 p.m. on KVOI 1030AM.

For the third time in just a week, evidence of major accounting irregularities has surfaced in the Arizona Republican Party’s recent campaign finance reports.  The Arizona Guardian today reports that the Party owed $70,000 to the Tempe, Arizona-based political consulting firm Lincoln Strategy Group.  This unreported debt is in addition to the $50,000 that the Party is said to have owed to Strategic Fundraising and it comes on the heels of news that $50,000 from the Republican National Committee was not included in its required monthly filings to the Federal Election Commission.

An analysis of internal documents and the “AZ Republican Party” most recent post-general election report to the Arizona Secretary of State’s office revealed this glaring - and possibly illegal – omission.  While the exact amount still due to the firm has not been disclosed by either AZGOP officials or Lincoln Strategy, according to the Guardian, what is clear is that a troubling pattern of misreporting has emerged in Arizona Republican Party finances.

Randy Pullen needs to stand-up and be accountable to to the grassroots Republicans that elected him to the leadership.  He should have immediately done so when the scandal broke out last week.  For an accountant to remain this “unconcerned” with such gross financial irregularities is highly unprofessional: for the leader of Republicans in Arizona (and RNC Treasurer) to do so is simply unacceptable.

The posts of Sonoran Alliance are often used to put front and center a personal viewpoint on a partisan issue.  Such is the art of the “blog”.  While the need for an outlet of frustration and expression of personal interests can be understood, I am of the belief that such can also be used by people who twist the story and feel hiding behind a blind name gives them absolution to do and say whatever they please, in hopes more people will pile on and prove them right.  Now their perversion of the truth has become reality.  Mission accomplished!

In my years of following local, state, and national politics, I’ve come to know such behavior is a sure sign of weakness and fear from those who understand theirs is a house built on sand.  Those who go negative and stay there never win in the long run.  They may win a race here and there, a local chairmanship or some other position.  They never will be in control or rise to real leadership, for they have no substance only their passion for disruption.   

People tire of anger; they tire of always keeping score and running up the points for the other team so to be sure of their position of victim.  They tire of the arrogance of those local leaders who would keep them submissive so as to have at their beck and call an army of mobile minions to wage battle on the next person/issue that dared to cross the always moving line of their own design.  No progress is ever made but to keep the little man in power as he rails against the big man. 

If I had my wish, adults would act like adults, people of faith would actually stop using it as a wall to hide their lies and purposeful acts of deceit, and those who call on conservatives to be conservatives, the loud and often hate-filled speechifying flame-throwers, would pull the log out of their own eye before looking for the splinter in the eye of another.    

If I had my wish… conservatives would understand our current enemy is not the left but the persistent push from within for division and come to the realization that a house divided cannot stand and those who would seek to form the division will be the architects of our defeat.

Should you need a reminder of what true leadership is…read this: http://reagan2020.us/speeches/nomination_acceptance_1980.asp

I watched the comment fly all day on the Mecum post (below) and have to admit that I agree with a lot of what our readers have said on both sides. But allow me to clarify even more.

The word “lynch mob” came up several times and I would have to agree with those who brought it up that we need to be careful not to become one.

We know nothing about the relationship betweet Mr. Mecum and the woman mentioned in the complaint. It could have been an acquaintance or even romantic situation but that is none of our business. If Brett was infatuated to the point of pursuing her or in today’s politically correct language “stalking” her, she obviously didn’t harbor the same feelings and felt compelled to file a complaint with the authorities.

I am surprised that he felt that Voter Vault was the most appropriate way to find out how to get in contact with her. Why not use Facebook, the phonebook or the Maricopa County Assessor’s website which contains the names and addresses of individual homeowners? Unless she was a renter, he could have stayed within the boundaries of the law by accessing another source of data. However Commenter #29 has a point if that is what the Voter Vault agreement actually states. As a precinct committeeman, I’ve had to sign a non-disclosure usage agreement to access voter data. And it’s hard to argue with the fact that the law states that it is a class 6 felony. Of anyone who should know the terms and conditions of using  Voter Vault and it’s proper usage, you would expect it to be a party official. Right?

Let’s face it, incidents like this whether fabricated, conspired or true, are a serious public relations problem for the Arizona Republican Party. I would presume that the State Executve Committee would investigate and make a decision whether there are personnel issues it needs to address and whether it needs to take actions to avoid further public relations or even liability issues. Any inquiry by the EC should be thorough and deliberative and avoid embracing a lynch mob mentality.

I don’t know if Brett has “enemies,” as he claims, who want to destroy his career. We know very little about the woman Brett was pursuing. Could she have been a Democrat trying to set him up? Thus far, she hasn’t stepped forward to verify her story. That leaves it up to MCSO to make a determination.

To the broader question. This is where I would really love our reader’s feedback. Should incidents like this ever be posted on Sonoran Alliance? I decided to allow the post to stand because it was not merely a disagreement over policy matters. In the past we have covered stories about Republicans who have been caught doing illegal or unethical activities. Commenter #9 alluded to Mark Sanford, Larry Craig and Mark Foley – all Republicans who did something that got them into trouble and hurt the party (and probably cost elections from a collateral damage standpoint).

Would our readers prefer NOT to see posts that reveal Republicans who break the law or act unethical? Is it better if we sweep it under the carpet, look the other way or just remain silent? Does our silence equate to condoning these acts and ultimately causing more damage? Democrats are always quick to remind us about the log in our own eyes whenever we point out the splinter in theirs. Has anyone in our party ever thought about getting our own house in order or, do we always want to respond with, “well, they do it too?”

Back to the question. Are posts like the Mecum post from the “genre” of the circular firing squad or do they really have a value in the long-run? Do they hurt us more than help us and do they restore credibility to our principles and agenda? I always believed that we were the party of reason, consistency and moral absolutes. If we can’t strive for those ideals then what’s the point of trying to make our lives and country a better place?

Now it’s your turn…

With rare exception do I turn the comments off on a post. Usually to prevent someone from taking a shot at an elected official’s family member or when one group of sophomoric Republicans take shots at another group of sophomoric Republicans. The general rule here on Sonoran Alliance is if you post something, you better be willing to defend your post. With that said, I’m going to open this post up to comments…

It what is best described as a case of wishful thinking, both Tedski over at Rum, Romanism and Rebellion, and David Safier at My Gay Arizona (CAUTION:  Lots of gay cruise ads on this page) are playing up the notion that State Representative Vic Williams is gearing up for a primary challenge to State Senator Al Melvin down in LD26.  Gila Courier has already contacted Williams and he has dismissed the rumor as pure nonsense, but should the GOP be encouraged that the hard left in Arizona is trying to encourage such an event?  We think so.

Melvin ran in 2006 and won the primary, besting Sen. Toni Hellon, but then he lost by several hundred votes in the general election.  In 2008 he ran again, and had to first beat Rep. Pete Hershberger in another rough primary, before winning and recapturing the seat for the GOP in the general election.  Unable to find another candidate, the Democrats are again running Cheryl “Tax the Golf Carts” Cage against Melvin, but given that she lost to him in a good year for Democrats after Melvin endured back-to-back bruising primaries, do the Democrats really expect to win the race in 2010’s political environment, especially with Melvin enjoying a more unified GOP supporting his effort?  Not likely.

Thus the rumor mongering and wishful thinking from Tedski and Safier.  From what we hear, LD26 Democrats need to be far more worried about protecting Rep. Nancy Young Wright than wasting their time and money on Cage.  Republicans already have a strong challenger in that race, who is getting good reviews from everyone in the local GOP.

As you can read below, we are catching up on the press releases we received today. We apologize for the delay to the candidates and our readers.