Jana Bommersbach's Blog

Thank you, Governor Brewer

jana — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 21:01:20 +0000

Your veto of the guns in public places bill is very appreciated by the good citizens of Arizona.

And your message that you won’t sign such a bill unless it has wider support–from police, cities and the public–was a very clear statement that you will NEVER sign a guns in public places bill in Arizona.

You’re not going to find a sane police officer in the state of Arizona that doesn’t think guns in public places is a lousy idea.

You’re not going to find a city in Arizona that wants angry citizens coming to council meetings packing heat. Or to spend millions every year on special security in order to keep guns from coming into City Hall or the County Building. (And Jan, I remember you were there the day a crazed man shot Mary Rose Wilcox in the Maricopa County Supervisor’s Chambers.)

And the only “public” you’re going to get supporting this idea are those who believe guns should be everywhere–like the National Rifle Association. They lost all credibility with thinking Americans when they fought for teflon bullets, whose only use is to pierce the bulletproof vests of police officers. I remember doing a commentary on this lunacy and quoting policemen who said until then, they thought the NRA was on their side!

The Second Amendment says we have the right to bear arms; it doesn’t say we must arm every citizen–no matter how paranoid or dangerous.

So thank you. I hope this, your second veto of a ridiculous idea, will stand forever in Arizona.

Email CEO of Clear Channel

jana — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 15:31:33 +0000

In case you want to express your disgust at Rush directly to his employer, Clear Channel, the email address of the CEO, Mr. Mays, is llowrymays@clearchannel.com. I emailed him today myself.

Rush Limbaugh Needs to Go

jana — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 14:37:08 +0000

Rush, somebody needs to shut up your vile, lousy voice and if Clear Channel doesn’t pull you off the air for your disgusting and sexist remarks about Susan Fluke, then here’s our other option: I’m going to find out every single advertiser who believes your voice has any validity and will never buy a single thing from any of them again.

I’ve signed a national petition demanding the Republican Party denounce you, but that’s just the start.

You have signaled the true intent of the extreme right wing and Tea Party–to destroy the rights of women and go back to the dark ages. If you think women will stand for this, you’re even more stupid than I thought. You’ve done us a favor–you’ve reignited the women’s rights movement, and for good measure, you’ve destroyed the Republican Party.

Bumper Stickers for the Upcoming Election

jana — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 12:42:40 +0000

I don’t claim authorship of any of these; a friend sent them, but I laughed and nodded in great agreement:

DEMOCRATS: Cleaning up Republican Messes since 1933

TEA PARTIES are for little girls with imaginary friends

MY PRESIDENT killed Osama Bin Laden! How about Yours?

VOTING is like driving a car. Choose (R) to move backward. Chose (D) to move forward.

8 YEARS of insanity, and NOW you’re mad?

Sarah Palin 2012? The Mayans tried to warn us

REPUBLICANS 2012: Keeping milliions out of work to put one man out of a job.

IF LIBERALS hated America, we’d vote Republican

PROUD of everything the right wing hates.

Hey, stupid men, I’ve got news for you

jana — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 01:30:43 +0000

It is with astonishment, horror, amazement and humor that I’m watching a bunch of white guys deciding what to do with women’s bodies. We’re not talking about the anti-abortion crowd; we’re talking about the ANTI-CONTRACEPTION crowd, which turns out, if you’re a Republican, to be the same thing.

Every single man running for the Republican nomination for president has come out against contraception–a battle fought two generations ago. They say that if health insurers cover contraception, it’s against religious principles. They say they know what is best.

Well, you stupid, backward, idiotic, delusional, pitiful men, you’re so wrong you aren’t even relevant to the discussion anymore. And that one issue is going to assure that President Obama gets a second term.

Frankly, stupid men, you have completely and totally ticked off the largest voting bloc in this nation and even conservative women won’t let you get away with this.

Not my Fandango

jana — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:06:32 +0000

Nine years ago I started harranging Arizona about the upcoming Statehood Centennial–which happens next week on Feb. 14 when the State of Arizona is officially 100 years old.

I threw out all kinds of ideas about the kinds of things we could do to celebrate this milestone and showcase what’s right with Arizona–since so much of the national press we get points out, painfully, what’s wrong with some of the folks who call this home.

One idea I suggested way back then was this: “If we want to be authentic, we won’t have a ‘ball’ or a ‘dance’ but a ‘fandango,’ which is what they called dances in those days. We’ll have giant picnics and ice cream socials and bands in the streets and parades.”

The Centennial Commission adopted the fandango idea, but, well…..something got lost in the translation. Their idea of a fandango is a black tie cocktail, silent auction and dinner celebration that costs $250 a plate–that’s $500 a couple.

Silly me, I was thinking of something that MOST Arizonans could enjoy, not an elite affair. Oh well, I’m just going to dance down Central Avenue with my friends and call it our own fandango.

Guns on Campus: All you need to know

jana — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:37:45 +0000

This very moment, every Arizona campus could allow guns if it wanted, because there is no law prohibiting schools of higher learning from permitting guns. But there is a law that allows the universities and colleges to make their own determination.
So how many of Arizona’s universities and colleges have agreed to allow guns? Zero. Not a single one.
And who do we see standing in front of the legislature begging them not to rescind that self-determination; beseching them not to force guns on campus down their throats–ASU’s police chief for one.
When pro-gun lawmakers are opposed by law enforcement, shouldn’t that tell you something?
When not a single school wants guns on their campuses, shouldn’t that tell you something?
You don’t need to know much more than that about the guns on campus issue.
It doesn’t take thinking people long to see the light on this issue. (Even Gov. Brewer did last year when she veoted a similar bill.)
Just like there’s good and solid reasons you don’t want people bringing guns into city halls and libraries–oh, wait, the Arizona Senate wants to get rid of that restriction, too.
How pathetic. How radical. I know why Lake Havasu Sen. Ron Gould is pushing this issue again–he wants a high profile with the extreme right wing in his run for Congress. But what’s the excuse of the other Senators that are supporting these dangerous bills?
For me, there’s an easy bottom line: If I have to choose between the NRA and Law Enforcement on a gun issue, I’m standing with law enforcement every time.

Anti-EPAers are Killing Us

jana — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:24:31 +0000

The next time you hear a politician vow: “The first thing I’m going to do if elected is get rid of the EPA,” know this, what he or she is really saying is “The first thing I’m going to do is slowly kill you.”
The right-wing attack on the environment–clean air, clean water, preserving national treasures–is an attack on every American’s right to breathe, as Shaun McKinnon’s impressive series on Arizona’s dirty air clearly shows. If you live in Phoenix, you don’t need any more evidence than looking out the window and seeing the dirty air that has made so many of us sick. But Phoenix is in a world of hurt because our right-wingers are so rabid, they equate the EPA with a commie plot.
And now you hear EVERY candidate for the Republican nomination for president shouting that they’ll destroy the EPA because they don’t like Washington telling states what to do and don’t like the EPA cracking down on polluters who just happen to be some of the biggest contributors to the Republican Party. Coincidence? I think not.
So the next time you think “politicians–it doesn’t make any difference,” think of this difference: The Republican assault on EPA is like a rifle aimed at our chests: it’s a life-threatening attack.

Legislature: Beware who you tick off

jana — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:43:36 +0000

This is an open letter to the Arizona Legislature: Please beware who you tick off. I wouldn’t go after police and fire–you know, those first responders that are heros in our culture. I wouldn’t go after hard-working people who are struggling to keep their families together. I wouldn’t…..oh wait, you already have; you’ve already filed 4 different bills to destroy unions in Arizona for public employees. Do you think this is cute? Are you trying to out-Wisconsin, Wisconsin?

Beware: The hardworking people of Arizona might decide to out-Wisconsin, Wisconsin themselves. In reaction to that state’s efforts to destroy unions, the people collected a million signatures to recall the governor–a MILLION–and nearly another million to recall three Republican Senators who had led the charge–ANOTHER MILLION. So many people signed that it represents about 25 percent of every registered voter in that state. Wow, that’s people power.

And Arizona knows something about people power itself. So dear lawmakers, please beware because these are not the people you want to tick off.

Just What Took So Long?

jana — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:34:47 +0000

So last Friday the FBI finally got around to raiding the office of former Fiesta Bowl lobbyist Gary Husk. That’s January, 27, 2012.

Let us review: The Republic first blew the whistle on charges the Fiesta Bowl was making illegal campaign contributions in December of 2009 and the finger was pointed directly at the long-time director John Juncker and lobbyist Husk. In March of 2011, the bowl’s board released a devastating and disgusting report that detailed the allegations of wrongdoing, again pointing figures at those two–this coming after a phony review of the case had tried to sweep this all under the rug.

Since then, the only thing that has happened publicly was the indictment last November of Natalie Wisneski, the bowl’s former chief operation officer who was the whistle blower who finally exposed this issue. The Whistleblower is the FIRST one charged with a crime? That’s just wrong on so many levels. What kind of message does that send to potential whitleblowers of future problems?

They’re just now getting around to confiscating Husk’s records–boy, that sounds way too lazy for me!! I’m wondering just what took so long.