Marco Rubio to GOP: Please make the pain stop!

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Jimmy Zuma

The endorsement of Mitt Romney by Florida Senator Marco Rubio signals the end of the Republican primary. He joins other tea party darlings, among them Rubio Marco Gage Skidmore PhotoUtah Senator Mike Lee and South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint, in bowing to the inevitability of a Romney candidacy.

Rubio’s nod to Romney also follows on the heels of a string of party establishment (read rich guy) endorsements in recent weeks. These included the older George Bush and his son Jeb. But the Rubio nomination is especially meaningful. He is both a favorite of right wing anarchists and a rising star in the mainstream GOP. Rubio – along with Jeb Bush – is also thought to be the last best hope for saving the Republican Party from its knee-jerk tendency to alienate Latinos whenever the opportunity arises. He is a cross-constituency power player.

Both the Rubio and Jeb Bush endorsements were unusually tepid, though. Traditionally, endorsements are made before the endorser’s home state primary — when they have the opportunity to affect the outcome. They are usually effusively positive.

But The Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio endorsements could only be described as tepid. Rubio essentially said he was endorsing Romney because the primary was hurting the party. Jeb’s endorsement was hardly more ringing, but at least he endorsed the candidate, not simply the end of a painful primary. Still neither of these guys stepped up when they should have, before the Florida primary.

Lukewarm endorsement or not, Rubio is right that the Republican primary is hurting the party’s chances. I wrote over a year ago that President Obama had no chance of being reelected. This election should have been a GOP cake walk. But boy, what a difference a year makes.

Gingrich-as-gadfly has been delivering stinging criticisms of Romney (on any subject) to anyone who would listen. His pronouncements are mostly notable for their apocalyptic construction, as if a Romney candidacy signals the end of life. But that’s Gingrich. He’s the perfect embodiment of “Please make it stop!” Party officials are thrilled that Newt’s owner, Sheldon Adelson, has declared his candidacy finished. Newt is now left to charge $50 for a photo with himself at his events. He may be out by tomorrow.

Santorum brings his own set of party-killing negatives, essentially serving as the focal point for the party’s antediluvian views on women, a woman’s place, and women’s health. He – along with help from a few state legislatures – has killed his party’s chances with women. Women voters now give Democrats (and President Obama) a 15 point advantage, largely owing to Santorum’s – and the party’s — opposition to family planning.

So, dragged along by these fringe-thinkers, Romney’s favorability continues to drop. In five recent polls, his unfavorability is approaching majority. And his spreads are growing:

Romney unfavorables chart

Meanwhile, President Obama finally has some wind at his back (despite rising gas prices.) The most recent ABC News Poll pegs his favorable number at 53%, ten points higher than his unfavorable number. That’s a 19 point advantage over Romney in favorability.

Nonetheless, Romney can still win the general election. In order to do so he needs:

  • Effective RNC voter suppression in minority neighborhoods
  • A successful campaign free of rich-guy gaffes
  • A strategy to win back women
  • A big negative ad campaign by Superpacs
  • Marco Rubio as his vice-presidential mate

Yes, Romney needs Rubio on the ticket to win. It’ll be a cold day at the condom counter before Romney offers the vice-presidency to Santorum, or to Gingrich or to any of the other nutbag nominees. Jeb Bush won’t accept it. Neither Chris Christie nor Mitch Daniels delivers votes Romney wouldn’t already get. But Rubio can deliver the hopes and aspirations of the Latino community. Romney can’t win without a solid third of Latino votes.

Still, Rubio — who has presidential aspirations of his own — will only join the ticket if he believes Romney has a chance to win. That will be the true test of his endorsement.

Rubio portrait by Gage Skidmore. First published on Technorati as Marco Rubio to GOP: Kill me now, OK?

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Trayvon Martin and Florida’s Right to Murder Law

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Jimmy Zuma

Florida’s law makes it dead easy to get away with murder

trayvon martin martin family photoTrayvon Martin was 17 when he was killed – almost a man. But anyone who heard his screams for help on the 911 tape, followed by gunshots, knows that a child was killed that night…

Two people are alone. One pulls out a gun and kills the other. If they are in Florida, it is almost impossible to convict – or even to arrest – the killer. If the sole survivor of a two person confrontation is willing to lie (and what murderer isn’t) CHAPTER 776 of the Florida Statute says, OK by us, here’s your gun back, now go home and mix yourself a celebration martini!

The statute is called “JUSTIFIABLE USE OF FORCE.” But effectively, it makes “justifiable” into a simple opinion. And thus, all use of force becomes justifiable.

But that’s not all. CHAPTER 776 is such bad law that one has to wonder whether it was written accidentally by idiots or on purpose by morons. Here’s what turned Florida into a murderer’s paradise:

(From FL776.012) …a person is justified in the use of deadly force and does not have a duty to retreat if:

(1) He or she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony…

You may need to read it again. In Florida, you do not actually have to be threatened to execute someone. You just have to believe you are. So the same paranoid nutbag that is afraid leave the house without a gun tucked under his shirt is allowed to decide whether the person he killed was actually threatening him. What if he just imagined it? In Florida, it doesn’t matter. It was still perfectly OK for him to kill another person. He can do it as many times – to as many people – as he imagines might hurt him. Or take his watch.

From FL776.013 A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so…

This is where the Florida law goes completely off the rails. The traditional Castle Doctrine gave protection rights inside your own home (where, presumably, there is no escape.) But since 2005 – in Florida – someone can freely kill someone else any place at any time. All you need to do is believe he or she is going to harm you. Or else you can simply lie about it.

From FL776.032 Immunity from criminal prosecution and civil action for justifiable use of force. — (1) A person who uses force… is justified in using such force and is immune from criminal prosecution and civil action …
…the term “criminal prosecution” includes arresting, detaining in custody, and charging or prosecuting the defendant.

…the agency may not arrest the person for using force unless it determines that there is probable cause that the force that was used was unlawful.

Police departments that arrest or even detain and question someone asserting justifiable use of force are subject to civil liability. Around here, cops don’t even chase speeders because it might create liability. They don’t direct traffic because the department might be liable if they are injured. They are not going to arrest anyone who can make a claim of immunity. “Buck it up to the prosecutor,” says the Sargent; every time.

So in the end if someone is able to get someone alone, he can kill him. As the only remaining witness, he can then claim it was justified, based simply on his own opinion. When he does, he becomes immune from detention, arrest or prosecution, and even from providing any evidence to support his claim. If the police even detain him, he can sue them. And win.

No matter whether justice prevails in the terrible killing of Trayvon Martin, this remains a giant loophole in Florida law. It’s a loophole big enough for a murderer to jump through – as long as he is also willing to tell a fib.

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Democracy lost: unraveling Limbaugh from his boycott

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Jimmy Zuma

To be fair, Rush Limbaugh and his legion of “ditto heads” have a point. Whenever I think of him, my mind automatically adds the honorific “that asshole” to his name as in “that limbaugh DonkeyHotey flickrasshole Rush Limbaugh.” Back when I used to care what he said, I frequently called Limbaugh that asshole – pretty much every time I spoke his name.

So it is not about the words themselves. When I think of Limbaugh as that asshole, it is not because I believe he is the body part. He is that asshole simply because he is an enemy of public intelligence. Getting the point?

Limbaugh knew nothing about Sandra Fluke. He just picked the words he thought would most damage her. Then he delivered them with that hissing sneer familiar to the families of narcotic users. His crime wasn’t foul words; it was attempting to damage a person of differing views. So you might imagine that boycotting Limbaugh’s advertisers is the same kind of bad act.

But that’s where ditto logic goes off the rails. There is no moral equivalency. Picking one brand over another is not the same as slapping someone — rhetorically or not. Making buying choices based on conscience is a perfectly ordinary way to shop. How many flyers in your mailbox say “Christian owned?” How many times has that influenced you?

Voting with your wallet is even more important today, at a time when Democracy plays second fiddle to Capitalism. Formerly just an economic theory, Capitalism is now our organizing form of government. We are a Corporatocracy. Now your most influential vote is in your purse or back pocket.

From the 1920s to the 1940s Italy tried something similar called Fascism. Their leader Benito Mussolini famously said, “Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power.”

Today, the Corporatocracy exerts a near universal veto power over the will of the people. An entire political party is devoted to promoting the idea that every decision should be made on the sole criteria of how it benefits business. And the other party is largely infected by it as well.

In this new environment, the only way you can reduce the influence of dirty oil companies, mountain-killing coal companies, anti-choice chicken sellers, or even asshole talk radio jocks is to boycott their products. The more loudly you can do it, the more people will join you and – as in the case of Limbaugh – the more dramatic the effect will be.

To some people, the idea that capitalism has replaced democracy is unimaginable. But listen carefully to how Republicans frame their policy positions – the only deciding factor is profit. Coal and oil are preferable, they argue, because they cost less. Clean energy is bad simply because it costs more. Yes, I realize this is oversimplifying and doesn’t account for the corrosive nature of campaign contributions. But those are the arguments they make. Seriously.

Still not convinced? This is America:

  • The rich have bought the right to be permanently under taxed.
  • The Supreme Court has ruled that rich people or corporations may legally buy elections if they’d care to spend enough.
  • Rich guys Foster Friess and Sheldon Adelson now own particular Republican hopefuls who will remain in the race only as long as their benefactors allow.
  • Republican nominee Mitt Romney argues – with a straight face — that corporations are people.
  • Employers are free to fire you for things you say at home even if no harm can be demonstrated.
  • Members of Congress want your employer to be able to veto your health choices.

How much more does it take to put the pieces together? The three branches of government – legislative, judicial and executive – are all on board to one degree or another.

Luckily, as the Limbaugh boycott shows, wallet-voting (particularly by women) turns out to be very powerful.

You should probably think about boycotting my advertisers if you feel so inclined (sorry editors.) As you can imagine, that’s not my choice for how society should work – but it is the best choice for how our society does work. I’ll take my chances. Until we can re-establish democracy in the United States, it’s the only way you have to register a vote that you know will count.

Art courtesy of DonkeyHotey. First published on Technorati as “Democracy Lost: Unraveling Limbaugh from his Boycott.”

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On Syria McCain reminds us why we voted for Obama

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Jimmy Zuma

On Syria McCain Reminds Us Why We Voted for Obama

Arizona Senator John McCain is at it again. This week he upbraided Defense Secretary Leon Panetta for failing to deploy US troops to fight in the ongoing civil war in Syria. McCain could hardly contain himself as Panetta finished his opening remarks, squirming like a first-grader needing a potty break.

mccain uniform donkeyhotey flickr“Let me tell you what’s wrong with your statement,” McCain sneered, “you don’t mention American leadership. Americans should lead in this, America should be standing up.” He didn’t really explain why, except to say that that is what we always do. Iraq for example, I thought.

But this is not a new rant for McCain. He might fancy himself as a defender of freedom, but it seems that his only path to it is through a pile of bodies – ours or someone else’s. McCain has advocated more troop deployments in more hot wars than anyone else since he lost the presidential election. Prior to this, the Senator insisted that US military intervention in Libya was required. It wasn’t.

And let’s remember that McCain was one of the prominent purveyors of the now discredited weapons of mass destruction argument for attacking Iraq. He also consistently opposed any drawdowns in either Iraq or Afghanistan, predicting doom and gloom if they happened. When should we come home? Never, I suppose…

Now he’s beating the drum for bombing both Syria and Iran.

McCain enjoys a (deserved) wellspring of deference for his odd views and behavior owing to the terrible experiences he suffered as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. But as anyone on the Hill can tell you privately, one never knows quite which side of the bed the famously prickly Senator woke up on. He is even known to entirely gin up a new mood during the lunch recess. The joke is that McCain gets on the Senators-only elevator with a grin and gets off with a grimace.

Despite all the deference, nobody really likes John McCain. He has a near 50% disapproval rate in his home state, perhaps owing to all the people he has personally ticked off over the years. In 2008, when push came to shove, he managed to beat President Obama by nearly nine points in Arizona. But what with his general unpopularity and his close ties to the scandal-plagued Pinal County Sheriff Paul “build the dang fence” Babeu, it is unlikely that he could be reelected today.

In his recent rants on Syria, McCain is following a familiar script: The US has failed to lead unless we lead with the bodies of our young service members. Anything less than sending our men and women to commence the killing is a failure of US resolve.

So let’s add up what a President McCain’s commitment to American “leadership” might have looked like:

  • Iraq – 500,000 troops digging in for a permanent occupation.
  • Afghanistan – 250,000 troops digging in for a long term occupation (only because half a million wouldn’t fit.)
  • Egypt – 50,000 Airmen controlling the airspace after official society collapses and there is no government to continue to buy the US spare parts with US foreign aid. Egypt has been the biggest purchaser of US weapons with US dollars for years.
  • Libya — 75,000 soldiers unsuccessfully reestablishing order after deposing Gadhafi. But it’s a dry heat…
  • Syria — 200,000 soldiers in an active ground war and training local rebels we believe are “not yet ready to stand up” See below since Syria and Iran quickly morph into a single war.
  • Iran — 600,000 soldiers in an all-out shooting war backed by 30,000 Israeli troops who basically serve just to piss off the average Iranian and get Netanyahu reelected.
  • Strait of Hormuz blockade — 35,000 Sailors. The navigational implications of so many warships slow up traffic and raise oil prices.
  • One of the largest resupply missions in US history. Damn the deficits; full speed ahead!

In a McCain presidency we might have had upward of two million tired and over rotated US troops now engaged in shooting wars in the Middle East. And behind them, they would need a resupply mission involving perhaps a like number of bodies.

There is only one way to support that level of “leadership.” Does anyone doubt that reinstatement of the military draft would also be part of a President McCain administration?

First published on Technorati as On Syria, McCain Reminds Us Why We Voted for Obama. Art by DonkeyHotey

Imagining what a President John McCain administration might look like is enough to make you breathe a sigh of relief that Barack Obama won.

John McCain, foreign policy, Arizona, Syria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jimmy Zuma, Afghanistan, Libya, Panetta, Obama

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AZ primary exit polls: a moderate conservative is emerging

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Jimmy Zuma

You could be forgiven for imagining that everyone in Arizona is as rabid as the Governor, Jan Brewer. If you live in the rest of the country – especially anywhere in Blue America –Superstitions Flickr Oregon State University crop it is easy to believe that the megalomaniacal sheriffs, illegal-stomping senators, and finger-wagging governor represent just the kind of people who live in the Great Southwest.

But a look inside the exit polls in Arizona’s recent Republican Primary reveals a far less batshit-crazy electorate than you thought. And remember, this is Republican primary voters; arguably Arizona’s most rightest of right-wingers.

There is nothing remarkable about who these desert dwellers voted for – Romney won every single split. But their attitudes about the issues of the day, while not yet liberal, are not so conservative anymore either.

I’m thrilled about that. My personal love affair with Arizona goes way back to the 1980s. A job took me there. But the lifestyle, the people, and the almost indescribable natural beauty kept me there. The job was over almost before it began, but I stayed in Tucson for more than half a decade. I left for another job and – though my life has been better than wonderful – I have always regretted the choice. Arizona is that kind of place.

Politically, Arizona is one of those weird southern states where south is north and north is south. The southern third, down to the Mexican border, is liberal and fun-loving. You might be surprised to know that illegal immigration isn’t considered much of a crisis down Tucson way. There, SB1070 – the anti-immigrant law – is considered an embarrassment.

But north from there – in a wide, urbanized inkblot in the middle of the state where about half a dozen cities have grown together – is Greater Phoenix. It’s the stretch where all the old folks and rich folks have moved in from up north or back east. And there, Arizona is redder than a Vermont blond after a day of tubing on the Salt River. That’s vivid red, cancer causing red, Republican red. And that’s where a majority of Arizonans live. (For the record, the northern part of the state, from Flagstaff on, varies widely in its politics.)

This urban blotch is where Sheriff Joe Arpaio practices his personal grudge on brown people, and Sheriff Paul Babeu hisses “build the dang fence” even though his jurisdiction is near 100 miles from the border. This middle swath is where the recently impeached senate president, Russell Pearce thought up SB1070, the Paper’s Please Law. And it’s where the shrill and wrinkly governor, Jan Brewer, points her finger up at the man in the White House in order to jumpstart her book sales.

But it is also where only 14% (of Republican primary voters, fer crissakes) think illegal immigration is the most important issue. These are Blue Arizona numbers. Is it possible that even the Republican electorate in Arizona has had it with these goofballs? They did recall Russell Pearce over his anti-immigrant jihad. And lots more exit polling data points to the notion that Arizona Republicans are becoming much more like Arizona Democrats.

Other interesting numbers from the exit polls?

  • 38% have reservations about the Republican they voted for.
  • 75% said their family income was “holding steady” or “getting ahead.”
  • More than a third are pro-choice.
  • More than half believe that a candidate’s religion matters “not much” or “not at all.”
  • Only 36% identified themselves as “born again” or “evangelical.”
  • 84% had attended some college or had a degree.

You can see why Rick Santorum got thrashed here.

So is this a Republican electorate that is becoming more moderate? Or one that has always been more mainstream than its elected leaders?

Or is this, as many political scientists have predicted, the first gasp of the last breath of a dying political party – strangled by its own inability to change with a new generation of voters. Surely, only the next election will truly tell. But things are looking pretty good for political trends out among the most beautiful vistas in the nation.

Me? I’m looking for vacation property in Tucson. It looks like a good time for us to rectify that old mistake.

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