Unsurprising: Arizona GOP Censures Jan. 6 Committee Star Witness Rusty Bowers
[guest post by Dana]
Wear it like a badge of honor:
The Arizona Republican Party has censured state House Speaker Rusty Bowers after his gripping public testimony to the Jan. 6 panel about Donald Trump’s relentless pressure to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
The censure Tuesday night by the state GOP’s executive committee came hours after Trump reiterated his support for Bowers’ opponent in his upcoming Republican primary for state Senate. The former president is scheduled to campaign with his favored candidates on Friday in northern Arizona.
While these censures typically don’t have teeth to them, the censure of Bowers evidences that the litmus test for Republicans continues to be a demonstrated loyalty to Trump.
“(Bowers) is no longer a Republican in good standing & we call on Republicans to replace him at the ballot box in the August primary,” Arizona Republican Party chair Kelli Ward tweeted Tuesday.
But take note:
The censure does not specifically mention Bowers’ testimony to the House Jan. 6 committee but characterizes him as hostile to the GOP platform and activists. It cites his efforts to block election bills advanced by Trump allies and his support for a bill banning most employers from discriminating against LGBTQ people, among other measures.
If you recall, after Bowers testified before the Jan. 6 Committee, he said that if Trump was up against Biden in 2024, he would vote for him. However, he later walked that back:
“I don’t want the choice of having to look at (Trump) again. And if it comes, I’ll be hard pressed,” he told the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints-owned news outlet. “I don’t know what I’ll do. But I’m not inclined to support him.”
[…]
“He doesn’t represent the morals and the platform of my party. And I just see it more and more all the time. That guy is just — he’s his own party,” he said. “It’s a party of intimidation and I don’t like it.”
[…]
He took heat for telling The Associated Press before his testimony that he would support Trump if he won the GOP nomination. He has since walked that back, saying he’s even more opposed to Trump after testifying publicly before the Jan. 6 committee…
I will be supporting somebody in the primary other than Mr. Trump. But it will be a Republican.”
For his part, Trump went after Bowers, calling him “a weak and pathetic RINO who has blocked Election Integrity”. Bower’s opponent for the Arizona Senate is David Farnsworth, a former senator. That Farnsworth has been endorsed by Trump is all the assurance you need to know that he has passed the GOP litmus test by parroting Trump’s 2020 election lies.
–Dana
Hello.
Dana (1225fc) — 7/20/2022 @ 6:01 pmSome day soon, the Kelli Wards of this country will be off in the Joe McCarthy Retirement Home and Bar.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 7/20/2022 @ 7:50 pmYou realize that, for Trump to get the trains running on lime like his supporters want, he’d need dictatorial powers since he hasn’t a clue how to do anything otherwise.
But he’d still fail because his whole shtick is talk. If he had to actually take responsibility for something, he’d melt.
The problem with Trump is not his policies, it’s the child himself.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 7/20/2022 @ 7:54 pmI am confused as to the R. strategy. The Rs already have the far right crazies and most voters don’t watch cable news or read far right websites. Most people watch their regular local news. And what is appearing in the local news keeps being “R’s censor this non-crazy person and think you should vote for this crazy person instead!! R’s pass this crazy law!!”. Gas prices are going down and gas is one of the things that was driving inflation, so that may go down by Nov. Joe Biden is basically “generic Democrat” and hasn’t gotten much done, so it’ll be hard to run a nationalized campaign if those particular issues are reduced, which means they would be stuck running their crazy person who primaried their non-crazy person. Are they trying to snatch midterm defeat out of the jaws of victory?
Nic (896fdf) — 7/20/2022 @ 8:12 pmNic (896fdf) — 7/20/2022 @ 8:12 pm
i hope the R strategy is to not be concerned about voters who are confused about their strategy and won’t vote for them regardless
JF (a6d404) — 7/20/2022 @ 8:29 pmMost people watch their regular local news.
Many people don’t watch broadcast TV. Many people turn off the news entirely (and cable news hasn’t exactly drawn them in). I sometimes watch Shepard Smith on CNBC, but I am out of the news watching habit mostly.
Gas prices have gone down now about 3 times, then gone up to higher levels later. The national average was at $2.39 1/20/21 and slowly rose to $3.44 by November. Then down to $3.20 by year end, then going to $4.25 by March. Then down again to $4.05, then up to $5 in June. Now it’s down again to $4.40. Biden blames this on Putin, of course, but he forced all the slack out of the system first.
That of course does not explain the GOP need to preach to the choir, but the Democrats are mostly doing that too. Do you really think that 77 genders are the way to win the hearts and minds? Or giant tax increases to shove us all into the Life of Julia?
Yes, some of what the GOP does is crazy, but if you are missing the hole the other side is digging, you need to get out more.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 7/20/2022 @ 8:34 pmThe 2021 rise from $2.35 to $3.44 is really hard to blame on Putin. That goes squarely on Biden’s pander to his environmental lobby.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 7/20/2022 @ 8:37 pm@kevin@6 AFAICT, the Dem strategy is to tell everyone that the Rs are crazy (which is helped by the Rs doing crazier things), but they don’t have a good play regardless (unless gas prices go down a good amount, as well as inflation) and have been on the path to losing the mid-terms for around the last 6 months. This is an R election to win or lose.
Nic (896fdf) — 7/20/2022 @ 8:53 pmThe Arizona Republican leadership is acting like Arizona is still a solidly red state, and that whoever wins the primary election will prevail in the general. Um, wake up and smell the purple, you Trump ass-kissers.
Its northern neighbor, Utah, is the quintessential red state, but I haven’t seen any recent rhetoric from Republicans there that is this crazy.
norcal (da5491) — 7/20/2022 @ 9:03 pm“It’s a party of intimidation…………” Both parties are the party of intimidation, what a stupid statement. That statement alone makes him deserve of being kicked out not just censured. There are people harassing, demonizing and plain threatening SC Justices right now with tacit approval of the D part. When has a R done anything to someone for not supporting the agenda. They simply move on from them for not getting that you can’t play games with fundamental truths, primarily that Ds don’t like the Constitution and want to fundamentally change the country………for failed systems tried elsewhere.
Richard Wetmore (995a5b) — 7/20/2022 @ 9:11 pmMany people don’t watch broadcast TV. Many people turn off the news entirely (and cable news hasn’t exactly drawn them in). I sometimes watch Shepard Smith on CNBC, but I am out of the news watching habit mostly.
I honestly don’t know anyone in my own professional or personal circles who still watches the local news, at least on anything more than a channel-flipping basis. I stopped watching it myself in 2015 when the ones in my area finally went back to the roots of their forebears in the American press, and became full-time partisan shills for the DNC agenda when they weren’t reporting on sportsball teams or the usual “new zoo babies” type of fluff. I never could afford cable until well in to my 30s, so I also never got in the habit of watching cable news shows, and I cut the cord long ago anyhow.
Heck, trust in the media at large by the right and even independents is so low now, they might as well bury it in the ground. Even the left has become disillusioned by the press, and that’s likely only because they haven’t gone all the way to calling for the neomarxist revolution yet outside of fringe outlets like The Young Turks.
The ones who still watch the local news on an even semi-regular basis are mostly collecting Social Security now. Once they die off, local news media will end up going the way newspapers did by the late 2000s, and become a shell of what they were in the late 20th century. At this point, they probably already are.
Factory Working Orphan (2775f0) — 7/20/2022 @ 10:08 pmNo good deed ever goes unpunished in republican arizona. John and cindy mccain were censored here too! Georgia law now says pregnancy or jail! And don’t you dare try a third alternative. Tracy Abrams said kemp said pregnancy or jail ;but am still looking for his quote.
asset (d6bb11) — 7/20/2022 @ 11:14 pm@kevin@6 AFAICT, the Dem strategy is to tell everyone that the Rs are crazy (which is helped by the Rs doing crazier things), but they don’t have a good play regardless (unless gas prices go down a good amount, as well as inflation) and have been on the path to losing the mid-terms for around the last 6 months. This is an R election to win or lose.
And the R’s seem intent on doing so. I get it. I have said before that one (of both) of these two parties need to be replaced. It would not take all that much money to make the CA GOP the third place party. Maybe a billion or so, which isn’t a lot for California.. I think you can give as much as you want to party-building activities. The Dems seem intent on repeating the GOP mistake in Florida.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 7/20/2022 @ 11:58 pmI am very happy with YouTubeTV and MLB.com
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 7/20/2022 @ 11:59 pmThe Dems seem to be playing the abortion thing better than I expected. They’ve avoiding being caught up in their weak spot (all the abortion all the pregnancy) but it’s still early. Meanwhile a few particularly noxious GOPers have been grabbing every headline they could making sure they win ugly.
Still — and perhaps I give people too much credit for thinking — people now have to actually decide what they believe about abortion. Before now, it’s been as important as taking a position on gravity. I don’t think it will break as people think. I just don’t know who gets the surprise.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 7/21/2022 @ 12:04 amI have said before that one (of both) of these two parties need to be replaced.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 7/20/2022 @ 11:58 pm
It’s not the parties. It’s the voters.
Parties and politicians do their utmost to appeal to voters.
If the voters were more shrewd, a lot of this nonsense would go away.
norcal (da5491) — 7/21/2022 @ 12:06 amI am very happy with YouTubeTV and MLB.com
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 7/20/2022 @ 11:59 pm
I don’t watch much baseball, but I do have YTTV. Subscribed a couple of years ago. I like the unlimited cloud DVR feature. Have tons of old movies recorded.
I’ve probably watched 100-200 old movies during my subscription. It’s fun, because I can discuss them with my 90-year-old mother, who is still as sharp as a tack.
She favors Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart. Can’t say I disagree. Davis has really grown on me.
norcal (da5491) — 7/21/2022 @ 12:11 am@15 Democrats don’t need to change minds though they seem to be doing this with some independents according to latest polls. All democrats have to do is get democrats and democrat leading independents to vote as their are more of them then their are anti-abortion republicans.
asset (d6bb11) — 7/21/2022 @ 1:25 amRepublicans are pathetic and will blow the upcoming election. The GOP can’t keep getting saved by Democrats Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema only to then be shivved in the back by the Romney wing of the party.
mg (8cbc69) — 7/21/2022 @ 2:29 amMy focus is on the continuing, absolute disaster the Biden administration has been… one crisis after another, most created by the moronic policies of Biden and the Democrats.
They don’t have a viable alternative that doesn’t come across as just another empty-headed, jabbering, low rent Marxist.
Colonel Haiku (d900e5) — 7/21/2022 @ 7:02 amPoor Biden! First cancer and now COVID.
Poor SOB can’t catch a break… he wouldn’t recognize one anyway…
Colonel Haiku (d900e5) — 7/21/2022 @ 7:31 am@21. It’s Putin’s fault.
DCSCA (e1f66f) — 7/21/2022 @ 7:45 amIn AZ, the Grand Old Party is the Batsh-t Party. Maryland, too, it appears.
Paul Montagu (5de684) — 7/21/2022 @ 8:00 amAny Republican who’s on board with Trump’s Big Lie won’t get my vote.
Video at the link
BuDuh (340919) — 7/21/2022 @ 8:01 am@21 Isn’t he vaxxed?
frosty (19e6ad) — 7/21/2022 @ 8:09 amMeanwhile, in the present day:
US may send fighter jets to Ukraine; natural gas again flowing from Russia to Europe
‘A top U.S. military general says the United States and its allies are considering providing Ukraine with fighter jets, a decision that would sharply escalate the level of weaponry being sent to Kyiv.
Natural gas again flowing from Russia to Europe
Natural gas started flowing through a major pipeline from Russia to Europe on Thursday after a 10-day shutdown for maintenance, the operator said. But the gas flow was expected to fall well short of full capacity. Amid growing tensions over Russia’s war in Ukraine, German officials had feared that the pipeline might not reopen at all. It is the country’s main source of Russian gas, which has accounted for around a third of Germany’s gas supplies.
On Wednesday, the European Commission urged member nations to immediately cut natural gas use by 15% or face cold homes and struggling economies this winter. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned that Russia is using gas as a “weapon” in its war with Ukraine. [So much for ‘sanctions.’]
US plans to send more rocket launchers to Ukraine
The Pentagon is sending four more rocket artillery launchers to Ukraine as its defense against Russia in the eastern part of the country continues in what has become an increasingly brutal war of attrition, the U.S. military’s top leaders said Wednesday. The additional High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems will bring to 16 the number of long-range missile launchers provided to the Ukrainian military, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said. The HIMARS systems can fire rockets with precision more than 40 miles and have been used to destroy Russian command posts and supply depots.
Russia’s war aims have been trimmed since mid-April after it abandoned its offensive against the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. President Vladimir Putin has redeployed Russian forces into eastern Ukraine and waged a war reliant on saturating towns and villages with tens of thousands of rockets per day, said Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“Russia is keeping up its relentless shelling, and that’s a cruel tactic that harkens back to the horrors of World War I,” Austin said.’ – USAToday.com
So Vlad’s been demoted from Fuhrer… to the Kaiser, eh, Lloyd.
“This letter’s postmarked, Vietnam…” -Barry Sadler, 1966
DCSCA (0af8c2) — 7/21/2022 @ 8:12 amPretty much a drunk driver that put everyone at risk because he took a sober pill.
BuDuh (340919) — 7/21/2022 @ 8:14 am@25. Twice. And boosted as well:
During a town hall event in July [2021], hosted by CNN’s Don Lemon, President Joe Biden assured the country that if they were vaccinated, they would not contract COVID-19. He said it to motivate people to get vaccinated, but it wasn’t true.
“You’re not going to get COVID if you have these vaccinations,” Biden stated bluntly at the time.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/in-july-joe-biden-said-that-if-you-get-vaccinated-you-will-not-get-covid
[ ] Idiot
[ ] Imbecile
[ ] Never right
[ ] Always wrong
[ ] All the above
Choose.
DCSCA (0af8c2) — 7/21/2022 @ 8:21 amIn an average of national polls, Biden currently has a lower approval rating than DJT post-Jan6…
No joke!
Colonel Haiku (57fca7) — 7/21/2022 @ 8:31 amFIFY
frosty (19e6ad) — 7/21/2022 @ 8:33 am#27:
Biden is teseted all the time because of his position. Query is whether anyone would have tested him had he not been President or whether he would have bothered testing himself.
Anyway, just a friendly reminder that the shots/boosters do prevent serious disease. They seem less good about granting one total COVID protection.
Also, a friendly reminder that Trump had a far nastier COVID infection that Biden seems to have.
Appalled (fa627b) — 7/21/2022 @ 8:41 amFist bumps didn’t help Joe.
Paul Montagu (5de684) — 7/21/2022 @ 8:59 am“FIFY”
—- frosty
FAT!!!
Colonel Haiku (57fca7) — 7/21/2022 @ 9:14 amHow would the trains run on lime? 😉
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 7/21/2022 @ 9:34 amZero evidence of this for any existing strain.
Carry on with your faith. May you worship the vaccine forever more
NJRob (2e3cdb) — 7/21/2022 @ 11:22 amThey seem less good about granting one total COVID protection.
Not according to Joe:
“You’re not going to get COVID if you have these vaccinations.” – Joe Biden, 7/21/21
Safe bet you can’t go wrong remembering, over half a century, Joe’s never been right.
DCSCA (0fc588) — 7/21/2022 @ 11:49 amUtterly off-topic: There should be a law that says that “ice cream” must contain cream.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 7/21/2022 @ 12:46 pmThey seem less good about granting one total COVID protection.
Are we still on this crap? NOTHING conveys total protection. All it does is harden the target. Do you sue your deadbolt provider because someone used a Sawzall on your door?
This is such a strawman that anyone still using it should automatically lose whatever argument they are engaging in.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 7/21/2022 @ 12:48 pmAlso, a friendly reminder that Trump had a far nastier COVID infection that Biden seems to have.
Trump is in less good health for his age. Fat, dumb and lazy is no way to go through life, but rich helps.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 7/21/2022 @ 12:51 pmThey probably will discount Trump’s first intervention which was to call upon people not to attack the police. (someone reminded him he was pro-police)
They may note that Vice President Mike Pence was calling all sorts of people, while Trump was, at best, so to speak “absent without leave.”
And maybe abt worse. Since he didn’t want to give up any advantage he might have.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 7/21/2022 @ 2:18 pmColonel Haiku (57fca7) — 7/21/2022 @ 8:31 am
He’s doing more stuff, and most of it does not impress people. (this poll does not ask people to score intensity)
At this point 72% of Republicans believe the 2020 election was stolen (or at least when the poll sample is adjusted, 72% will prefer that answer) which works out to approximately 1/3 of the electorate f everyone who voted for Trump is counted as a “Republican.”
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 7/21/2022 @ 4:10 pm!
Speaking of the J6 Committee, Josh Hawley earlier raised his tiny fist in solidarity with MAGA Nation zealots, then he ran away when they got uppity. Classic.
Paul Montagu (5de684) — 7/21/2022 @ 6:20 pmThe only poll that counts is on “the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November”.
Kelli Ward primaried McCain in 2016 and lost. Then, as chairwoman of the GOP, she continued her streak by losing both Senate seats and Trump’s reelection. But they will always have Dennehotso.
nk (22f6bb) — 7/21/2022 @ 6:27 pmof the *Arizona* GOP
nk (22f6bb) — 7/21/2022 @ 6:36 pm> At this point 72% of Republicans believe the 2020 election was stolen
and that is the reason Trump and his cohorts must never be allowed anywhere the levers of state power again — they have managed to persuade close to 1/3 of the public of this blatant and unsupported lie, a lie which seriously undermines the legitimacy of the system.
Trump is the biggest threat to the United States since the civil war.
aphrael (88b8fb) — 7/21/2022 @ 8:19 pmand that is the reason Trump and his cohorts must never be allowed anywhere the levers of state power again
Trump won’t be, aphrael. Trump was finished on January 20, 2021. There’s enough left of him for his maggots to continue to feed on, but he’s not going to rise again. As for the maggots, they were around before Trump, and new broods are always hatching. It is how it is.
nk (ecbb08) — 7/21/2022 @ 9:13 pmRepublicans are pathetic and will blow the upcoming election.
How would you know? There is a whole ‘nother party between you and the Republicans?
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 7/21/2022 @ 11:29 pmTrump is the biggest threat to the United States since the civil war.
Biggest? The ol’ Kingfisher might deign to argue had he not been shot down by Dr Weiss. Joe McCarthy had the GOP running for cover, until he overplayed his hand and went after the GOP President.
Besides, the biggest real threat is the Internet, as it allows a demagogue cheap access to millions of like-minded people. Not even television could do that. It’s hard to say what a William Jennings Bryan or Andy Jackson could have done with Twitter.
Trump is just one man, and an old obese man who doesn’t exercise or listen to doctors at that.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 7/21/2022 @ 11:34 pm“Besides, the biggest real threat is the Internet”
Trump still leads the popularity poll going into 2024. He’s gotten a fair number of “his candidates” in a position to win in 2022. And he’s gotten a majority of Republicans to continue to believe a stolen election meme that functions without any true evidence. As long as outrage is ascendant, he provides the biggest bang for the buck. Finally to this point, the GOP leadership remains paralyzed to move on, Talk Radio stays in his corner, and Fox provides cover.
Now one can argue that his brand was too badly soiled on J6 to ever get re-elected, but does polling show that…conclusively? Can the DEMs still nominate someone bad enough?
The internet is neither bad nor good…..people can be good or bad. Character matters…and for many, that’s secondary to ideology, partisanship, hate, anger, and fear. The internet is just one more tool for bad people to ply their trade….
AJ_Liberty (c82e21) — 7/22/2022 @ 2:07 amIf P. Delecto was leading the charge the internet would be solid gold.
mg (8cbc69) — 7/22/2022 @ 3:18 amIf P. Delecto was leading the charge the internet would be solid gold.
mg (8cbc69) — 7/22/2022 @ 3:18 amMcCain was basically hostile during the health-care debate, for no apparent reason other than to spite the party. And that isn’t like Sinema or Manchin opposing filibuster reform. It would be more like Sinema or Manchin saying publicly that they supported filibuster reform, perhaps literally hundreds of times; emphasizing in ads that they were ‘leading the fight against the filibuster’; receiving votes on that basis, and then nosily opposing filibuster reform.
McCain mentioned in his memoir that Obama called him to thank him for opposing any repeal of Obamacare. He always seems to care more about being liked by the other party, and the press, than by people like me who voted for him for President, etc. If readers want to understand why many GOP voters were looking for other options within the party, that is a big part of the reason.
mikeybates (d2f916) — 7/22/2022 @ 5:24 amHe always seems to care more about being liked by the other party, and the press, than by people like me who voted for him for President, etc. If readers want to understand why many GOP voters were looking for other options within the party, that is a big part of the reason.
mikeybates (d2f916) — 7/22/2022 @ 5:24 am
For all his political acumen, McCain never really understood, or was in complete denial, that the only reason he ever received positive press or good remarks from Democrats was because the they considered him a tool to embarrass Republicans. He completely misread all ego-puffing he got in the 2000 primaries with his “Straight Talk Express” stuff was mainly because the press thought Bush was a theocrat that would turn the US into some Hawthorne-style religious dystopia. In the general, he would have been expected to be the sacrificial lamb to the inevitable Gore presidency, the same way Jeb would have been if the GOP establishment had gotten their way in 2016. And of course, he reveled in the “Maverick” nickname, even though he was basically undermining his own party’s agenda in the process. There’s a reason he was portrayed positively as a party rebel, while Manchin and Sinema are portrayed as traitors.
When they turned on him in 2008 after he got the nomination, he had to have been absolutely flabbergasted by it. He never got that they only wanted him to act as a cat’s paw against the GOP; the last thing they really wanted was him being anywhere near the actual levers of power.
Factory Working Orphan (2775f0) — 7/22/2022 @ 6:27 am#43 —
Do you realize that featuring stuff like that in the 1-6 prime time hearings helps make the whole thing look very partisan? Essentially, the 1-6 committee is a grand jury presentation to show us the 1-6 crimes of Trump and maybe get Justice to do something. To the extent it shows us something criminal or sketches a complete picture of what hapened — it’s useful. It’s not prime-time must see TV, and the very partisan feel of the enterprise gives too easy an excuse to those who don’t want to pay attention.
What have I learned through this? 1. I can’t trust the Secret Service to tell the truth. 2. Justice may have a decent chance at getting Trump on incitement — based on his knowledge that his followers were armed.
Appalled (fa627b) — 7/22/2022 @ 6:34 am“It’s not the parties. It’s the voters.”
“Trump is the biggest threat to the United States since the civil war.“
“the biggest real threat is the Internet“
putin has lost his fastball
JF (a6d404) — 7/22/2022 @ 7:34 amIna few states, the official Republican organization has fallen into the hands of stop the steal people
Sammy Finkelman (b7dc9b) — 7/22/2022 @ 3:17 pm