What is it with Republicans and Nazis? It used to be, several decades ago in hippie times, the word “fascist” was bandied about so often by lefties that it lost all meaning. These days, seems like every time you turn around some GOP putz is calling someone a Nazi. Teabaggers…
No one would call the sheriff’s lawyer, Tim Casey, a maestro of spin, but his response to federal Judge G. Murray Snow’s final order in the ACLU’s racial-profiling lawsuit, Melendres v. Arpaio, was a little like painting a smiley face on day-old road kill. Arpaio still is the jefe, Casey told…
Should you need to get anywhere fast on the afternoon of Monday, October 14, you may want to avoid driving near Central Avenue and McDowell Road. That’s because the local human rights organization Puente and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network are promising to “shut down” the Phoenix offices of…
Governor Jan Brewer, recalled redneck pol Russell Pearce, Brewer’s “brain” Chuck Coughlin, and Attorney General Tom “Hit-and-Run” Horne best hope and pray there is no afterlife. Because if there is, I virtually can assure them that they, along with their pal Sheriff Joe, will boil in a hot tub of…
At the beginning of August, I wrote about proposed new ethical rules for Arizona prosecutors, in a petition currently pending before the Arizona Supreme Court. Opposed by Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, as well as numerous other county, state and federal prosecutors in Arizona, these amendments to Ethical Rule 3.8…
It’s been a blue moon or two since I gave much thought to Phoenix attorney Carmen Fischer, wife of Angel Garcia, imprisoned honcho of the New Mexican Mafia, an Arizona prison gang that takes its name from the more notorious, California-based eMe, or Mexican Mafia. But along comes a press…
Federal Judge G. Murray Snow issued his much-anticipated final order Wednesday in the ACLU’s big racial-profiling case Melendres v. Arpaio, and you can bet Sheriff Joe will not be pleased. The detailed 59-page command requires strict compliance with the court’s previous injunctions against the MCSO’s prejudiced policing toward Latinos, and…
Kudos to Morgan Loew for infiltrating yet another militia group, the Arizona State Militia, which Loew exposed on CBS 5’s Wednesday night broadcast. Loew went undercover to document with hidden cameras a statewide recruitment drive by the organization, which bills itself as “a law-abiding, non-racist, non-radical unit.” Sure. That’s why…
***Please see the update at this blog’s end.*** Attorney General Tom Horne’s getting the band back together. Yep, with 2014 ’round the corner, the Man Who Knows No Shame, is relying on a little help from the same crowd who got him over the finish line in 2010, specifically, attorney…
The MCSO has released its report on an August 17 incident, during which Glendale resident Richard Malley allegedly pointed an AR-15 at one of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s deputies in the desert near Gila Bend. Following his run-in with MCSO Deputy P. Arend, which could have easily ended in bloodshed, Malley,…
Operating on the assumption that not all MCSO deputies are as lame as their organization’s titular tyrant and his immediate underlings, I apologize in advance to those beige-shirts who, contrary to this blog’s header, can chew gum and drive at the same time. My title’s query is prompted by the…
Coddling copperheads never has been my thing. On the other hand, I don’t expect vipers to morph into poodles, which is why I’m bewildered by the outrage expressed by local scribblers over the Goldwater Institute’s suing Governor Jan Brewer on the subject of Medicaid expansion. The lawsuit argues that the…
Don’t know how many of you are familiar with British conspiracy theorist David Icke, the guy who believes a secret race of shape-shifting lizard people have populated the planet in the guise of our political and cultural leaders, but I’m beginning to believe Icke’s not spouting bunkum and has been…
As long as Joe Arpaio is sheriff, every day in Maricopa County is Groundhog Day. Despite federal Judge G. Murray Snow’s May finding that Arpaio and his immigration-obsessed office are guilty of racial profiling and that the MCSO’s prejudiced policing toward Latinos must cease, Tempe Police Chief Tom Ryff has…
Michelle Lynch has a suitcase full of disturbing stories to tell about accused child molester and former minuteman leader Chris Simcox. Some are really creepy, especially in hindsight. Simcox had “tons” of little girls in his apartment playing with his two young daughters, according to Lynch, who lived in the…
How dumb can the nativists get? On Friday, I blogged about an anti-amnesty rally being held at the state Capitol, sponsored in part by nativist extremist Rusty Childress’ new anti-immigrant group Remember 1986. To answer my own question, this is how dumb Basically, Remember 1986 is a rehash of Childress’…
I hate to admit this, but I actually do “Remember 1986,” as prejudiced playboy and former KIA dealer Rusty Childress’ new anti-immigrant organization is named. That moniker is a reference to the Reagan Amnesty, which ended up legalizing nearly 3 million persons. One of the few good things Ronnie Reagan…
Remember when Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery insisted that Debra Milke, the woman whose 1990 conviction for the murder of her son was overturned by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, would not be granted bail? “That’s not going to happen,” Montgomery told reporters in July, asserting that Milke…
Beginning today, Feathered Bastard is moving to Valley Fever. All previous Feathered Bastard content will appear in the Valley Fever blog, as soon as those responsible can get this done. FB’s new link will be the following: http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/feathered_bastard/…
Beginning today, Feathered Bastard is moving to Valley Fever. All previous Feathered Bastard content will appear in the Valley Fever blog, as soon as those responsible can get this done. FB’s new link will be the following: http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/feathered_bastard/…
Chris Simcox cleans up well. Long ago, he ditched his scraggly redneck look — worn jeans, American-flag baseball cap, unshaven face (sometimes with half a cigar in his mouth), a pistol tucked down the front of his pants — for business attire (or at least a clean, collared shirt). On…
The extent to which the media rolls over for Sheriff Joe Arpaio never ceases to astound. Take Joe’s recent comments following an August 17 incident in the desert, where Glendale resident and self-identifying “militia minuteman” Richard Malley allegedly pointed an AR-15 at an MCSO deputy. The incident is described in…
