They are just trolling us now.
Wolf Directs Sheep Herd
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 41 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
Pretty clear violation of the Hatch Act, which does apply to state and local government employees.
In Maricopa County, it is very important to remember that high-level lhigh-profile gov types who say they are “Republicans” —are not.
Since the Age of McCain, big -corporate, big-government, liberals—Jeff Flake, Doug Ducey, former AG Grant Woods—learned to run with an “R” after their name, or they knew they were toast, electively speaking.
Now, with the vast influx of ex-, Californians and of Hispanics whose children have turned 18 and are anchor children-voting legal citizens, fully indoctrinated into Democrat ideology in the schools, their need to maintain the masque will soon come off and they will turn Democrat, and turn once-red/now-purple Arizona into a perfect Oregon.
If I were the weeping type, I would weep for my once-wonderful safe and economically prosperous Southwest state.
Steve, do not give up without a fight. Those of us of Polish descent are too stubborn to quit. Lost cause? Nah, some things take longer than others.
John McCain, a cringeworthy pol if there ever was, has way too much influence given his current position. Kari Lake isn’t quitting.
Since the Age of McCain, big -corporate, big-government, liberals—Jeff Flake, Doug Ducey, former AG Grant Woods—learned to run with an “R” after their name, or they knew they were toast, electively speaking.
Over 18 years in Congress, the American Conservative Union reports Jeff Flake voted their preferred way 93% of the time. John McCain did so about 81% of the time. (Ted Cruz has done so 97% of the time). The problem with Flake and McCain is not what you fancy it was.
John McCain did so about 81% of the time.
But that other 19% was the worst!
Who to trust: A “conservative” grifter think tank, or my own observations of the betrayals of McCain and Flake?
But even if I were to trust organizations like the American Conservative Union, this sort of thing invites all sorts of gaming of the methodology in ways that politicians will game it. It looks to me like not voting is counted neutrally, though I couldn’t confirm that bit of methodology. If that is how it works then a politician can maintain a “conservative” rating by simply sitting out on controversial bills, which they are inclined to do anyway. And even putting that aside, certainly not all votes are created equal. If a politician votes “conservatively” on 9 procedural votes and then votes for Obamacare, or denying funding for border security, or impeaching President Trump, etc. etc. etc. then the overall effect is not 90% conservative. If a politician does that and then goes a long diatribe about how other conservatives are the real problem, it’s definitely not being 90% conservative. But that’s how the score will show up.
The arbitrary nature of the whole affair becomes clear when you look at scores from differing sites. For example, take Kevin McCarthy: 84% lifetime rating, 74% 2021 rating from the Conservative Union rating. However his Conservative Review Liberty Score is 54%, despite the basic methodology being the same (i.e. check to find “conservative” or “liberal” votes and perform a percentage of conservative vs. total.) But you look at a different subset of votes and occasionally take a different position on what the “conservative” vote was, and you get a very different score.
Who to trust: A “conservative” grifter think tank, or my own observations of the betrayals of McCain and Flake?
The American Conservative Union is not a think tank. No clue why you refer to them as ‘grifters’ except that they said something inconvenient to you. They’re transparent about which votes go into composing their index. The distribution of scores achieved by their index has varied over time. Prior to 1995, there were a great many Democratic members with scores closer to the Republican median than to the Democratic media and prior to 1981 there was a corps of Republicans with scores closer to the Democratic median than to the Republican median.
You’re free to design a better index. Right now, your inchoate complaint is that nearly every Republican in Congress is a ‘Big government liberal’. The purpose of political terminology is to make a shorthand which actually communicates with other people, not to give expression to the voices in your head.
Trust your own eyes, Rudolph, and be careful of self-appointed organizations who think they can act as gatekeepers for the title of “conservative”. You will inevitably find that they have a formula for how many anti-tax votes it takes to offset a pro-abortion vote, and that this will likely differ from your own formula. Soon enough you will find that they and/or their fan club will consider it a kind of theft if you do not use your vote as they wish — after all, “real conservatives” vote as they are told to vote, for the Party.
So be it. If the title “conservative” is to be a millstone around the neck, they can keep it.
Trust your own eyes, Rudolph, and be careful of self-appointed organizations who think they can act as gatekeepers for the title of “conservative”.
What’s a non-self-appointed organization look like? What would the American Conservative Union look like if it weren’t a ‘gatekeeper’ in your mind?
The problem starts with their name, Art.
A non-self-appointed organization would have to be given authority from another. That is precisely what the Catholic Church claims to be, whether or not you believe it.
At least in theory, the US government is another organization that derives its authority from outside itself, “deriving [its] just powers from the consent of the governed.”
But anybody can set up an organization with a big-sounding title. I could found “Loyal American Patriots” tomorrow, if I wanted to pay all the fees for registering the organization. It takes a special kind of gullability to think that registering a name and logo gives meaningful “legitimacy”.
The problem starts with their name, Art.
You’re deeply confused.
Well, that’s a winning argument, Art. There’s nothing QUITE like an anonymous commenter appealing to his personal authority with no further authority to convince the skeptical!
Actually, that sort of is the point. Real authority cannot simply be bootstrapped. Not by me, not by you, not by a group of lobbyists.
Actually, that sort of is the point. Real authority cannot simply be bootstrapped. Not by me, not by you, not by a group of lobbyists.
Your complaint is that someone set up an advocacy group without the permission of the Archbishop of Washington. That’s a silly complaint.
“Conservative ratings” are excellent material to obscure stands on important positions. Conservative ratings (Heritage) for the judiciary helped give us Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, choices that haven’t yet exactly paid off those bets.
Claiming Jeff Flake (now rewarded by the Biden administration with an ambassadorship to Turkey) or the late John McCain were solidly conservative based on some silly point-rating system overlooks key major issues such as:
Both were members of the “Gang of Eight” that drafted the misnomered “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration and Modernization Act” of 2013 that actually passed the Senate and that would have granted a vast amnesty to
Illegal aliens in the US as well as large increases in the number of H1B and “W” visas to enable foreign nationals to put large numbers of US citizens out of work. Arizona voters vigorously opposed the bill: McCain and Flake ignored them like the globalist Leftwing types they really were.
In 2016, Flake started a series of public policy pronouncements on increasing gun controls and passing restrictive legislation on firearms. Only intense citizen lobbying backed him off from voting for greater 2nd Amendment legislation. Flake showed little natural conservative inclinations in adopting this position.
John McCain defeated Dr Kelli Ward in the 2016 Republican primary promising to repeal and replace Obamacare—then, classic two-face McCain, in July, 2016 after getting re-elected on that promise, defeated the Republican Senate vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act with his famously dramatic “thumbs-down” vote in July, 2017.
Just to further demonstrate the lack of character of John McCain, it was he who sent a representative to obtain for him a copy of the now-fully debunked Steele dossier Russian Hotel Babe Hoax aimed at Donald Trump. Did McCain share this planted material with the accused, Donald Trump, which only would be fair? No: he contacted James Comey like a good left-wing stooge and handed the contents over to a corrupt Deep Stater.
Finally, since Taiwan is in the news, the US could really use air superiority fighters-like the far-ahead-of-its-time F22 Raptor: the USAF wanted 750 of the unexcelled single-role fighters. Posturing to the DC left media, McCain led the push and killed the program so only 195 were built—of which maybe—maybe —-120 are mission-operational. The F35 variants are multi-role, but no USAF pilot knowledgeable in the matter says that killing the F22 helped the US in a looming war with China, which has at least 200 stealth J-20 fighters and an estimated 250 J-16 multi-role units.
One could go on. “Conservative rating systems” are bunk when you compare against the really important issues—and there are many more— that losers likeJeff Flake and John McCain, inflicted on Arizona and the US..
McCain was a difficult man and both he and Flake had an odd antagonism to immigration enforcement. The question is, are he and Flake properly described as a ‘big government liberal’, and, if they are, why isn’t the rest of the GOP caucus?
The ‘silly ratings’ are no more silly than your ass-pulls.