Monday, August 22nd, 2005...8:23 pm
Too Much Democracy
Even though she was turned out of office a few years ago, Rep. Barbara Blewster still feels that she has much to contribute to the debate. She recently sent out an e-mail to the members of the legislature:
Dear Members,
Thank you again for voting for the Stop the Free Trade Area of the America (FTAA) Resolution. Relating to the Jefferson quote below we need to rescind the 17th Amendment. Be thinking about it as a resolution to Congress.“[T]he States can best govern our home concerns and the general government our foreign ones. I wish, therefore…never to see all offices transferred to Washington, where, further withdrawn from the eyes of the people, they may more secretly be bought and sold at market.” –Thomas Jefferson
Barbara Blewster
I have a little trouble drawing a logical line from the Jefferson quote to bringing back appointed senators. Those who remember her single term in the legislature will not be suprised that her thinking rarely involves reason or logic.
The only reason that this is worth bringing up though is that this is not the first time I have heard the far right suggest such a thing. It seems to come up on op-ed pages and letters to the editor every couple of years. The argument goes that somehow elected senators are naturally inclined to be spendthrifts who put all sorts of burdens on state governments, and the only way to cure this is to go with what the founders wanted: an unelected, elite senate (George F. Will’s argument for term-limits is similar.) Blewster and others like her love to invoke American history and the founders, but seem to be rather challenged when it comes to the history of our own state and the movements that created it.
The progressive and populist movements had deep roots here in Arizona at the time the state constitution was written. The two movements were very different, but they agreed on one basic thing: the solution to the problems with our democracy can be cured by more democracy. The progressives were the ones who managed to push for the 17th ammendment that provided for direct election of senators. Interestingly, Arizona had direct election of Senators from the moment of statehood. (Technically, before statehood, since the election was held early so the senators could be sworn in when President Taft signed the statehood bill.)
Aside from that, I have to ask, what Senator over the past 30 years would Blewster and those who agree with her would have wanted to ditch? Well, I figured that Dennis DeConcini would have been gone. Who else? Arizona has elected mostly conservatives. I mean, not just conservatives, but conservative icons: Goldwater, Fannin, Kyl, McCain. Who among these are not the proper kind of conservatives? Would Mrs. Blewster, or the others that have talked about this, please tell me?
By the way, Blewster is not just a voice in the wilderness. She’s the president of our state’s Republican Assembly, the ones who love “RINO Hunts”. They are having a convention in Scottsdale in a few weeks. Plenty of material for smart-asses like me.
7 Comments
August 22nd, 2005 at 11:31 pm
It makes perfect sense that Republicans want to appoint Senators.
By controlling the legislatures, they can easily enough gerrymander legislative districts to maintain this control. They also are pretty skilled at gerrymandering Congress. This has allowed them to maintain control of both the majority of legislatures and Congress for over a decade.
Their problem is that they can’t gerrymander state lines. So, even though right now the GOP has more Senators (despite the fact that in the last election cycle for all 100 Senate seats, Democrats got more votes), they aren’t as secure in their control.
For most of us, that wouldn’t be a problem, we would feel that in order to be chosen by the people, you have to earn it. But for control freaks like the far right, such a situation, one which they can’t completely control, is unacceptable.
August 23rd, 2005 at 3:29 pm
I checked out one of the links to the “Republican Assembly” site. I was particularly amused by the little chile peppers with the sombreros. Is this their image of what Mexican culture is about? Are we sure that these peppers are here legally?
August 23rd, 2005 at 4:55 pm
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August 23rd, 2005 at 9:50 pm
http://www.azstarnet.com/vote2000/1004.shtml#7
Back in 2000:
Hull withdraws Blewster endorsement
The Dewey lawmaker gained notoriety last year by sending an e-mail to a constituent about legislation to bar government agencies from offering such benefits as health insurance to the domestic partners of public workers. “The perversion that follows homosexuality is bestiality and then human sacrifice and cannibalism,” Blewster wrote.
That was followed by a comment to Rep. Barbara Leff that she didn’t look Jewish because she “didn’t have a big hooked nose.”
Other legislators also said Blewster told them that Indians were stupid for voluntarily giving up their lands, that the slave trade resulted in only a few deaths and that life for blacks in the United States has been “just fine” since Lincoln freed the slaves. Blewster has denied those comments.
August 23rd, 2005 at 11:21 pm
My boyfriend said about the last comment: “I am surprised that this guy did not include necrophilia.”
August 24th, 2005 at 8:58 am
I bet Brewster is a member of the ‘700 club’ too (since Reverend Pat has now moved up to the point where he has decided that it is OK to ask the government to murder the democratically elected leader of a foreign country because he doesn’t agree with us politically).
August 24th, 2005 at 8:08 pm
Another amusing quote from the article previously cited:
Blewster still has the backing of the Arizona Republican Party. And that, said Nathan Sproul, the party’s executive director, is unlikely to change.
“We’re going to do everything we can to elect Republicans to office,” Sproul said. Asked whether that meant endorsing anyone who carries the Republican banner, he answered: “Within reason.”
Then Republican Party head, Nathan Sproul, apparently considered Barbara Blewster’s remarks within reason. Nathan Sproul went on to become the king of voter fraud in the 2004 election. Google his name.
It’s unlikely that Barb belongs to the 700 Club, she’s a Mormon. 700 Clubbers regard Mormonism as “a satanic cult”.
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