The New York Times ran a recent article that sounded remarkably similar to one I posted after conducting an interview with paradise Vernon Parker last summer. The good guys over at Exurban League picked up on the story and plugged NYT’s article. In the crowded primary race in CD-3, I still remain committed to Pamela Gorman but there are plenty of other excellent candidates including Parker. Here’s an excerpt from the NYT article and a paragraph I wrote last year:

A childhood lived among drug users and multigenerational public housing residents formed his vision, and a chance meeting with Lee Atwater, who was a Republican strategist, his politics. “I know people who’ve been so dependent on the government that they still find themselves in a trap — and that is the trust fund they have handed down to their children,” said Mr. Parker, whose he-can’t-be-50 face smiles warmly. – New York Times (3/10/2010)

But prior to his election to Town Council, not many people know that Vernon has a compelling life story. Parker was raised in a gang and drug-infested neighborhood in Long Beach California where many of his peers never made it out of high school or ended up dead or in a lifestyle of trouble. Young Vernon Parker was able to avoid that typical path but it wasn’t without a lot of sacrifice and determination. After graduating from the same high school portrayed in the movie Freedom Writers, Parker went on to college at California State Long Beach and ultimately, to law school at Georgetown University. That’s where he also met his wife, Lisa. – Sonoran Alliance (8/26/2009).

The media, patiently waiting for a Beck slip up, got their big break on March 2. Here are some highlights…

“I beg you, look for the words ’social justice’ or ‘economic justice’ on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words.”

“Am I advising people to leave their church? Yes! If I am going to Jeremiah Wright’s church. If you have a priest that is pushing social justice, go find another parish. Go alert your bishop.”

So, if you’re the media the goal is to push “social justice” as helping people. It is also important to go find some liberal religious leaders that share your world view to reinforce the interpretation. Better still, find someone from Beck’s own weird Mormon faith. ( I am Mormon, so relax )

The Times also interviewed Kent P. Jackson, associate dean of religion at BYU. “My own experience as a believing Latter-day Saint over the course of 60 years is that I have seen social justice in practice in every LDS congregation I’ve been in,” Jackson said. “People endeavor with all of our frailties and shortcomings to love one another and to lift up other people. So if that’s Beck’s definition of social justice, he and I are definitely not on the same team.

I might not be a Beck convert but as someone who takes my own faith seriously, I want to have a little chat with Mr. Jackson about being disingenuous. If the ambiguity is not complete hit those bible thumping zealots with another quote.

The Rev. Jim Wallis, who leads the Christian social justice group “Sojourners” in Washington, D.C., took strong offense to Beck’s comments.

Wallis has begun a “Tell Glenn Beck: I’m a Social Justice Christian” campaign on his Web site, www.sojo.net.

“Glenn Beck recently told his listeners to leave any church that teaches social justice, and to report its pastor to church authorities,” Wallis wrote. “Since Sojourners’ mission is ‘to articulate the biblical call to social justice,’ we thought we’d better turn ourselves in. But before reporting to any church hierarchy, we’re going to report ourselves to Glenn Beck.”

Perfect, the ambiguity is complete. It is pretty clear to anyone, who is not an agenda driving idiot (strong language, maybe), that what Beck was referring to was the term “social justice” is often a euphemism for Marxism, socialism and collectivism. Although your friendly neighborhood leftist Christian would love for you to think the term simply means, helping people help people help themselves by helping others or whatever leftist wiener crap their selling. Let me give you an example…

A Rabbi visited our law school recently an argued it was effectively a sin to oppose Obamacare. His rationale was simple. God loves people. God commands others to help people. It flows it is a commandment/duty we owe to have healthy people. Simple right? If you don’t agree your in sin…..and your a racist bigot ( just wanted to throw that in there )

Beck was referring to the temptation to equate religious charity with statist compulsion. The former is godliness the latter is tyranny. We all have our favorite religious leaders, here’s mine.

“Our homes are not as strong unless we are using it to bring our children to Christ. Our families may be corrupted by worldly trends and teachings unless we know how to use the book to expose and combat falsehoods in socialism, rationalism, etc.”  Ezra Taft Benson

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.” – C.S. Lewis

So, what do you think Beck was trying to say? If you go to a church that tells you it is a sin not to support legislation that is aimed at helping children, puppies, the poor, or albino squirrels ( I actually saw one the other day ) or whatever then you should leave. Why? It is wrong. If you disagree stay at your church but if you believe the founding principles of this nation are primarily appendages to liberty and personal responsibility then you should look elsewhere.

The term “social justice” does not mean simply helping people. How insulting is that? Everyone wants to help people, even us bitter gun clinging conservatives. Beck was talking primarily to conservatives who might be deceived by a religious leader using his position to guilt their members into adopting a political ideology.

Are you an atheist reading this post? Great, some our our greatest thinkers did not believe in a supreme being. The difference is they also respected our beliefs and saw the positives. The extreme left has always thought of religion as a tool, waiting for the day where they no longer need religious rubes to win elections.

This post was brought to you by Hugo Chavez.

“Jesus was the first socialist”

Idiot.

A m e r i c a n P o s t – G a z e t t e

Distributed by C O M M O N S E N S E , in Arizona

Republic reporter Yvonne Wingett skews coverage due to her cozy relationship with Supervisors

The Arizona Republic ran a front-page story on a court decision yesterday which held that County Attorney Andrew Thomas could not prosecute corrupt Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox, but outside special prosecutors could. (http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2010/02/25/20100225wilcox0225.html) Unfortunately the article was so slanted it sounded like it came from the Supervisors’ press secretary, Richard DeUriarte. Oh, that’s right, he used to work for the Republic as an editorial page writer, no wonder.  Arizona Republic Reporter Yvonne Wingett, who hangs out frequently at the Supervisors’ office palling around with DeUriarte, is already well-known for her slanted articles defending the corrupt Supervisors. Yet the Republic does not include any kind of disclaimer next to her articles about this cozy relationship, and she continues to write articles that leave out half the facts. Wingett’s article claims that County Attorney Andrew Thomas suffered a defeat in court yesterday when Judge Leonardo threw out the indictment of Supervisor Wilcox. This characterization was not accurate. Even the more liberal columnists at the Republic, E.J. Montini and Laurie Roberts, have gotten it right and realize that this is about the Supervisors trying to do everything they can to avoid prosecution. (http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/EJMontini/74741 ) The Supervisors have even tried to block the appointment of Special Prosecutors (which in their minds would ostensibly avoid any “conflict of interest” – -a “conflict of interest” they manufactured by having their hand-picked attorney Tom Irvine, former attorney for the Democrat Party, represent BOTH the judges and the Supervisors). Since the judge’s decision stops them from blocking a Special Prosecutor any longer, E.J. Montini described yesterday’s decision as Judge Leonardo giving Thomas what he wanted – the prosecutions should be handled by a Special Prosecutor. Wingett’s article made it sound like a defeat for Thomas, when in reality, it was more of the same – biased liberal judges stalling Thomas’s attempts to prosecute two corrupt Supervisors. This is typical yellow journalism by Wingett – try to make something look like a major defeat for Thomas that is not, and plaster it on the front page. If Thomas or Arpaio have a major win, it is relegated to the back pages of the Valley and State section next to the obituaries. Judge Leonardo berated Thomas and Arpaio for prosecuting the Supervisors in his decision. This is not surprising, considering  the cozy relationship the Supervisors have with judges due to their control over their budgets. Leonardo may be from Pinal County, but he knows the repercussions of attacking another county’s supervisors. If he has any hopes of ever becoming a higher-level state court judge, he knows he can’t look like he’s siding with the conservative Thomas and Arpaio. He did what he could in the situation: criticize Thomas and Arpaio, but allow the prosecution to continue. Leonardo didn’t address the fact that the Supervisors have had their judges hand-picked for them on the prosecutions of Wilcox and Stapley and the investigation of the corrupt $340 million court tower. Judge Daughton, who was handpicked out of retirement by liberal Presiding Judge Barbara Mundell, and responsible for letting the Supervisors steal away Thomas’s entire County Attorney civil division, has even had a complaint filed against him by an employee due to his obvious bias against Thomas. A Democrat, Daughton contributed to Thomas’s Democrat opponent for county attorney. Wingett’s Republic article doesn’t tell you any of that. In fact, she deliberately leaves out facts the reader needs to know in order to understand the whole story. Her article repeats Leonardo’s accusation that Thomas is “trying to gain political advantage by prosecuting political opponents such as Wilcox.” Yet she doesn’t bring up the fact that the other half of these high-profile prosecutions of Supervisors involves Don Stapley (his photo was featured prominently in this article), a prolife Republican. Thomas filed the Stapley indictment first, the Wilcox indictment came later. Obviously, Thomas is not prosecuting Stapley for partisan points as Leonardo asserts. Judge Leonardo chose to make a political statement from the bench, he is using the bench for politicking. Besides an initial indictment on 118 criminal counts for false reporting, Stapley has been indicted on 23 criminal counts for raising money for his campaign that he then spent on personal items instead: $6000 of these funds were spent at Bang and Olufson electronics, along with $1300 for hair implants, $400 for candle holders and $10,000 for furniture for his home. He also spent these funds, solicited as campaign money, to buy tickets to Broadway plays and movie theatres, flowers, grocery store bills, massages, department stores and trips for his family to Sundance, Utah to ski, a trip for his son and friends to Florida and a three-week vacation in Hawaii for his entire family at a beach house costing approximately $11,000. Wilcox is accused of voting on giving taxpayer-funded government grants to the radical left wing activist organization Chicanos por la Causa, while accepting loans from the organization. Don’t you wish you were a Supervisor so you could get away with this kind of white-collar crime and have the liberal judges and newspapers rush to your defense? It is a double standard that these well-connected Supervisors with a long history of corruption get away with  crimes because of their control over the judicial system.

Conservative Challenger Launches First TV/Web Ad Of Republican Primary Battle

PHOENIX, ARIZONA. FEBRUARY 17, 2010. Anyone attending events launching J.D. Hayworth’s conservative challenge to 24-year incumbent John McCain can tell the difference. Hayworth’s crowds are passionate, enthusiastic and full of Tea Party patriots. McCain’s crowds are subdued.

And that conservative enthusiasm is celebrated in the Hayworth campaign’s first advertisement – “Freedom’s Fire.”

McCain is vulnerable to the more conservative Hayworth on taxes, pro-life and pro-family issues as well as illegal immigration. Hayworth also has a better lifetime rating from Citizens Against Government Waste than the 28-year member of Congress.

McCain voted for the $850 billion bailout of the big banks which included $150 billion in pork, proposed a $300 billion bailout for mortgage lenders and, according to the Heritage Foundation, sponsored an amnesty bill that would have cost taxpayers $2.6 trillion over the long-term.

For more information or to donate to Hayworth’s campaign, please go to www.JDforSenate.com.

John McCain’s campaign seems to have conveniently dropped the “Snakes in Guam” radio ad in the last few days from its political hit piece repertoire. I suppose their removal of the ad and adjustment of messaging had something to do with my research revealing that McCain himself also voted for the same bill (see my earlier post, “Snakes in Guam! Snakes in Guam!”).

Now the McCain campaign will have to pull its “Fruit Flies in France” attack ad or they’re going to have to cite a very specific piece of legislation or roll call vote to explain their claim.

McCain’s obsession with those who voted for spending money on fruit flies in France first came up during the Presidential race when he sent Governor Palin out to highlight an earmark in the 2008 Pig Book report published by Citizens Against Government Waste.

In her critique, Palin’s comments were indirectly aimed at California Democrat, Mike Thomson, who earmarked $211,509 for the research study and facility based in France.

When the CAGW report was initially issued, Thompson responded with the following statement:

“The Olive Fruit Fly has infested thousands of California olive groves and is the single largest threat to the U.S. olive and olive oil industries,” he said. “I secured $748,000 for olive fruit fly research and irradiation in the (fiscal year 2008) appropriations bill for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The USDA will use some of that funding for their research facility in France. This USDA research facility is located in France because Mediterranean countries like France have dealt with the Olive Fruit Fly for decades, while California has only been exposed since the late 1990s. This is not uncommon; the USDA has several international research facilities throughout the world, including Australia, China and Argentina.”

Did you catch that?

The bill was for fiscal year 2008. In other words, Citizens Against Government Waste reveals $211,509 being spent on fruit fly research in France. John McCain picks up on CAGW’s expose of the expenditure. He sends Sarah Palin out to criticize those who spend the money. They lose the election. McCain suddenly finds himself being challenged by conservative J.D. Hayworth and he recycles the same ad he used during the presidential campaign.

There’s only one problem with this picture.

When the vote was taken to send $211,509 to France, J.D. Hayworth was not a member of Congress.

Ooooops!

Better pull another attack ad and fire another consultant.

And those in the traditional media, where are you people? Aren’t you fact checking political candidates these days?

Additional Links:
“Sarah Palin’s latest swat at science,” (Salon, October 27, 2008)
“Group calls Thompson’s pest study pork,” (Napa Valley Register, April 9, 2008)

Disclaimer: “DSW” serves as the Field Director for the J.D. Hayworth 2010 campaign.

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, February 10, 2010

MAYOR VERNON PARKER HONORED BY NBC AS ONE OF AMERICA’S TOP AFRICAN-AMERICAN LEADERS

Phoenix, AZ- February 10, 2010 – Paradise Valley Mayor Vernon Parker is being honored by NBC in connection with Black History Month on the list of the top 100 African-Americans in America. NBC teamed up with the thegrio.com to pay special tribute to Parker and other honorees.

Parker’s company on the list includes Olympic speed skater, Shani Davis, Dr. Regina Benjamin (Surgeon General), Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry. The entire story can be found at http://www.thegrio.com/black-history/thegrios-100/thegrios-100-vernon-parker.php

Parker announced his run for Congress recently at Goldwater Park with support from Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Phoenix City Councilman Sal Diciccio. Parker is looking to fill the District 3 seat as a result of Congressman John Shadegg’s upcoming retirement.

Vernon Parker is currently the Mayor of Paradise Valley, AZ. He served in the White House under George H.W. Bush and as Assistant Secretary of Agriculture under George W. Bush. Parker is a graduate of Georgetown Law School in Washington where he met his wife Lisa.

For more information about Mayor Parker please go to www.Parker2010.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.

The Arizona Republic has printed a barrage of articles, editorials, and guest op-eds by attorneys lately highly critical of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and County Attorney Andrew Thomas. When attorneys like Dennis Riccio, below, try to submit an article with a positive viewpoint of Arpaio and Thomas, the Republic can’t turn their bias aside enough to printeven one positive article.

The Rejected “My Turn” submission:

Enough of Prejudging Thomas and Arpaio

It is disturbing reading many of the editorials and op-eds in this newspaper about Sheriff Arpaio and County Attorney Andrew Thomas’s attempts to prosecute Supervisors Stapley and Wilcox and investigate the Court Tower. The writers rush to judgment accusing Arpaio and Thomas of unethical behavior, without knowing the full facts. Only Arpaio and Thomas have seen the results of the investigations, search warrants and subpoenas. Most of this information is still privileged until the prosecution is over, and some of it – the Grand Jury information – will never be publicly releasable. The newspaper editorial board and criminal defense attorneys are acting as judge and jury prematurely deciding cases in public they know very little about.

The public has a right to be skeptical of a $341 million state of the art, luxury Court Tower being built during a recession, while county agencies, including law enforcement, are forced to cut 15% of their budgets by laying off employees. With the exception of columnist Laurie Roberts, this newspaper has failed to ask the hard questions, and even her questions have gone unanswered. Why is this luxury tower being built even though the county cannot afford it? People deserve to know answers.

There is a serious problem with one county agency decimating others so it can have more power. It is especially unsettling when the agencies it is cutting are law enforcement. If there is one thing everyone in society can agree upon, it is that public safety is the most important function of government. Without law and order, society is chaos. Instead, taxpayers’ money is being redirected to bloated county government, where money is handed out like candy to promote diversity programs, multiple failed environmental awareness campaigns, and millions of dollars in subsidies to the private sector.

Even more alarming is how the Supervisors have been able to stop the Sheriff and prosecutor from prosecuting them – Supervisors Stapley and Wilcox – by attacking them and cutting off their resources. It is a double standard of justice that those accused of white collar crime are able to get away with these kind of stunts to avoid prosecution.

The accusations against Supervisor Stapley are appalling. It is a slap in the face to the citizens of Maricopa County that the other Supervisors just elected him last week as Chairman of the Board of Supervisors. He has been indicted on multiple felonies for financial misreporting and misusing campaign funds. The kinds of things he is alleged to have spent campaign funds on cannot be ignored: $6000 at Bang and Olufson electronics, along with $1300 for hair implants, $400 for candle holders and $10,000 for furniture for his home. He also spent these funds, solicited as campaign money, to buy tickets to Broadway plays and movie theatres, flowers, grocery store bills, massages, department stores and trips for his family to Sundance, Utah to ski, a trip for his son and friends to Florida and a three-week vacation in Hawaii for his entire family at a beach house costing approximately $11,000.

It is not surprising that criminal defense attorneys are submitting op-eds to the newspaper attacking Arpaio and Thomas. If criminal defense attorneys are attacking the prosecutor and Sheriff, you know they must be doing their job well.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 1, 2010

Top NBC Political Reporter Calls Hayworth V. McCain One to Watch

Phoenix, AZ- February 1, 2010, Conservative J.D. Hayworth has not yet officially announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat occupied for the past 24 years by John McCain, but already national commentators are referring to the contest as one of the top races to watch nationally. On MSNBC’s Daily Rundown, late last week NBC Political Reporter Chuck Todd refers to J.D. Hayworth’s probable run against Senator John McCain as one of the top races in the country to watch.

Raising the possibility of losing to the more conservative Hayworth, Todd said, “McCain is taking no chances and dramatically altered his voting record and rhetoric in the past three months.”

In an attempt to overcome an uninspiring record for conservatives on taxes, immigration and key social issues, Senator McCain has already begun attacking conservative former Congressman J.D. Hayworth on spending.

Interestingly, Hayworth actually has a better lifetime score from Citizens Against Government Waste, “America’s #1 Taxpayer Watchdog.” (Hayworth: 89%/McCain: 88%).

Furthermore, Senator McCain voted for the massive bank bailout bill in 2008, which was full of earmarks. And during his presidential run he proposed spending $300 billion to buy up bad mortgages, again bailing out banks and borrowers.

And in Arizona Senator McCain has supported taxpayer expenditures of over half a billion dollars for sports stadiums.