Monday, March 9, 2015

Living in Arizona

Brenda Starr and I walked some more of the Rillito Park Path this morning.  We wore tee shirts.

The wildflowers are blooming, and my yard is ablaze with random, disorganized color.
I spent the afternoon re-potting and installing and pruning and straightening and cleaning the containers.
It wasn't too cold to be in the shade in the courtyard nor was it too hot to be potting roses in the sunshine out back.

I have a stack of large print mysteries on the bookshelf, books that my library always seems to have on hand.  I can drive twenty-some minutes and be on campus for a class or a lecture or an exhibit or a recital or downtown for a concert or a great meal..... and there's always parking and it's usually free.

Did I mention that I was outside all day today?  Did I tell you the part about the tee shirt?

I have to keep focusing on these things, denizens, because this state is in the hands of people who are turning it into something unrecognizable, something which may call itself government by the people but which, most certainly, it is not.

My State Representative was on Facebook all night, updating her constituents.  She was exhausted. She was being asked for a vote on a budget neither she nor anyone outside a select few had reviewed. Meanwhile, the Governor and his cronies ate cheese pizza and watched it all unfold.

School superintendents and students and Chambers of Commerce and local governing bodies and University presidents were up in arms up in Phoenix this week.

It made for lovely political theater .... and not much else.

Governor Ice Cream's notion of transparency in government reminds me of Daddooooo when someone was blocking his view.  "Your father made better doors than windows," he'd say, and his line of sight would be restored as the offending human moved out of the way.

Governor Ice Cream's father was an excellent door maker.  Unfortunately, he had no intention of stepping out of the way.

There are perks in the budget designed to benefit those legislators who were inclined to vote Nay.  If it's good for your district but bad for the state as a whole, what do you do? On this issue, it's very clear where certain legislators landed.

Without listening, without consulting, with nothing but the arrogance of power, our state's Chief Executive has, once again, made me embarrassed to be a resident of Arizona.

The tee shirts help.... but just a little.

8 comments:

  1. i love arizona but we had 70°F here yesterday. Spring is on its way :).

    I think a lot of states are having political problems right now. Oregon sure has had its moment of nuttiness. One thing I learned recently is the right wing money that went into getting control of state governments. They did it for gerrymandering, which gave them the House, but it's easy to see how this also works to make state government divided or in the control of right wingers who hate all government and are determined to gut it.

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    1. An interesting part of this debate was the presence of former School Board members; they were able to articulate exactly why the budget would decimate education in our state. Even the ones on the Republican side were appalled.

      As the Chambers of Commerce members said, no business will relocate to a state which cares so little about education. Their employees have children, after all.

      Special interests, self-aggrandizement, ego-tripping......it makes me ill.
      a/b

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  2. As Rain said, it's prevalent in lots of legislatures right now. Our governor is a Democrat, but our Senate and House are Republican. They have been doing everything they can in Virginia to not allow Medicaid to expand. Meanwhile, there are thousands of Virginians without health coverage. Our state is losing federal funds daily due to the GOP-controlled House and Senate not passing the expansion. It's sickening how these legislatures care more about their political ideals than the people they are supposed to represent.

    I'm dismayed and cynical about the political process right now.

    At least it's supposed to be nice in the DC area this week. Hopefully, we can get rid of the snow we had last week.

    Sending hugs,


    Megan xxx

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    1. Arizona passed the Medicaid expansion with a Republican legislature and Governor but only, I am certain, because Gov. Brewer's son is institutionalized and would benefit directly from the expansion. She held the legislature hostage over the issue. I was happy for the result, but dismayed by the process.

      Enjoy the sunshine :)
      a/b

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  3. We have followed the downward spiral of Arizona politics with despair. When you think it can't get any worse, it does.

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  4. Add Kansas to the list. The laughing stock of the country. We used to have a surplus and enough money for education. No more.
    Our last election was close but the governor was reelected. Sad.

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    1. As the President said in Selma, people have to get out and vote. If young people went to the ballot boxes, methinks there might be a different cast to things. We changed the world when we were young.....
      a/b

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