I don’t drink tea with people who lie and cheat to win an election, so I’ll pass on the kind of “Tea Party” the East Valley is dishing out.
The spectacle of the District 18 recall effort against Russell Pearce–the first recall against a sitting lawmaker in state history–should sicken anyone of any political persuasion who actually believes in America and democracy.
Because it has been all too obvious that the folks who shammed–and shamed–Olivia Cortes into the race for a time have no respect for anything; certainly not the United States of America.
Although Cortes has withdrawn from the race– I’m not sure that sad woman ever realized just how used and abused she was at the hands of her “campaign” helpers–the impact of her fake candidacy will reverberate throughout Arizona and will turn a lot of stomaches against the Tea Party that concocked this scheme. Pearce can claim all he wants that he knows nothing about the ugly affair, but nobody believes him.
Here’s what I want to know. Cortes’ “campaign manager” was Greg Western, Chair of the East Valley Tea Party. He testified in court–under oath–that he didn’t know who had collected her nominating signatures (although he personally delivered them to the secretary of state’s office); that he didn’t know who printed or placed her signs that used the iconic Hispanic slogan Si se Puede–a bit of crash exploitation that is beyond nausea. So here’s what I want to know–doesn’t Arizona have perjury laws to punish you if you lie under oath? Just asking.
But NOBODY is still asking what the Tea Party in the East Valley is all about. You know, the party that Russell Pearce proudly declares as his own. We now know. They’re liars and cheats and their hands are so dirty they are an affront to our sacred right to vote.
I don’t know who’s going to win the race–Pearce or his Republican opponent Jerry Lewis–but this flilthy affair has already ruined Pearce’s name, reputation and power in this state and has revealed the Tea Party as unAmerican.