Arizona Politics & Government Online CommunityGovernor Jan Brewer vetoed Arizona's "religious liberty" bill last evening, putting the brakes on what could have been one of the most discriminatory laws in the country had she given it her approval.
John McCain is increasingly mad as hell about President Trump. And on Friday, he went after Trump — hard. During a speech at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, the Republican senator from Arizona delivered a pointed and striking point-by-point takedown of Trump's worldview and brand of nationalism. McCain didn't mention Trump's name once, but he didn't have to. Jose Barboza was up early on March 22nd, the day of the Presidential primary in Arizona. Barboza, a twenty-four-year-old undocumented immigrant from Mexico, was volunteering for Promise Arizona, a local group dedicated to turning out Latino voters. That morning, he canvassed in the barrios of Phoenix, at the foot of the dry slopes of South Mountain, making sure that the people he had registered showed up to vote. When I interviewed him in April, in the offices of Promise Arizona, he recalled the extraordinary excitement of the primary voters. In the end, a record six hundred thousand people cast ballots in the city and the rest of Maricopa County, twice the number in 2012. A police report indicates that an unarmed young father of two begged for his life before being shot dead by a police officer in Mesa, Arizona. His distraught widow is now fighting to ensure that the officer responsible ends up behind bars. New data from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration suggest that January of 2016 was, for the globe, a truly extraordinary month. Coming off the hottest year ever recorded (2015), January saw the greatest departure from average of any month on record, according to data provided by NASA. Advocates for redistricting reform scored a crucial victory today when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Arizona's Independent Redistricting Commission. Passed by the voters in 2000 in an effort to remove legislators' bias from the redistricting process, the commission was imperiled by the GOP's rabid desire to abolish it so that they could gerrymander the state's congressional districts to give themselves a partisan advantage. Dear Dahlia, Walter, Judge Posner, Kenji, and Marty, Justice Antonin Scalia may have been the worst-behaved justice in the courtroom this morning, Dahlia—but the chief was the most obnoxious on paper. The Arizona redistricting case brought out the worst in Chief Justice John Roberts, the petty jibes and scornful mockery that this usually staid justice strives to avoid. America has forgotten how to talk about important things. Instead we talk about politics, and mostly just the personalities. It’s worse on the left than on the right. For six years, debate among Democrats centered on Obama. Was he everything he seemed? Had he done all he could? Was it wise to criticize him? Now all the talk is of the next set of contestants: Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren, perhaps Sanders or O’Malley or Webb. Electoral politics devours all other politics. It consumes three of every four calendar years. Its debates are empty but entertaining. Signing on to a presidential campaign is like running off to join the circus. Crafting an agenda or building a movement is like doing your chores. Caught up in horse-race politics, we neglect other vital duties. An unlikely ally is offering a glimmer of hope that President Barack Obama can make good on his vow to close Guantanamo Bay before leaving office. Republican Sen. John McCain, a fierce critic of Obama's foreign policy, is about to take the chairmanship of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee. He says it's still possible the war on terror camp in Cuba could be shut down -- but warns that the administration will have to come up with a clear plan to overcome Republican opposition. Asked in a CNN interview whether he was prepared to help his old political foe, despite a congressional ban on sending detainees to the U.S. mainland, McCain said, "I am prepared to and I think it can be done."
Videos on Arizona |  | Sun Apr 26, 2015
Senator John McCain reacts to President Obama's comedy remarks from the 2015 White House... |
|  | Sun Mar 16, 2014
The voice of the Wildcats Brian Jeffries talks with Sean Miller about Arizona's No. 1 see... |
|  | Wed Feb 26, 2014
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer speaks out about the controversial "religious freedom" bill. |
|  | Wed Feb 26, 2014
Crossfire hosts Van Jones & S.E. Cupp debate the controversial Arizona 'religious freedom... |
|  | Thu Dec 19, 2013
The University of Arizona Dept. of Intercollegiate Athletics hosted a surprise welcome ce... |
|  | Thu Dec 19, 2013
Aaron Gordon scored 21 points, Nick Johnson added 17 and Arizona opened its second week a... |
|  | Mon Dec 16, 2013
Sights and sounds of Arizona Basketball 72-70 win at No. 25 Michigan. |
|  | Wed Dec 11, 2013
Driving in downtown Mesa (going south on Country Club at Main Street signal light), the d... |
|  | Wed Dec 11, 2013
Possible meteor spotted in Arizona. |
|  | Wed Dec 11, 2013
Brandon Ashley talks about his game, the Wildcats' success and his goals for this season. |
|  | Tue Dec 10, 2013
The sights and sounds of Arizona Basketball. The capacity crowd at McKale Center was deck... |
|  | Mon Nov 25, 2013
Governor Brewer reviewing DES Director Clarence Carter's plan of action. |
|