Republicans and Democrats joined in a rare bipartisan vote to censure extremist Rep. Wendy Rogers. Rogers, a MAGA zealot, took part by video in a white nationalist conference where she called for “public hangings” of high-level officials and used anti-Semitic slurs.
During the conference, speakers made racist remarks and cheered on Russian President Vladimir Putin, comparing the Russian leader favorably to Adolf Hitler.
Rogers, in her remarks, praised Fuentes — an outspoken racist who has said he does not believe women should have the right to vote — as “the most persecuted man in America.”
Republican leaders joined Democrats in voting to censure Rogers.
Thirteen Democrats and 11 Republicans voted for the censure language read on the Senate floor. It was the first time in three decades senators publicly censured one of their own members, and the move was applauded by Gov. Doug Ducey — who just days ago was criticized for his support of Rogers.
Arizona Republic columnist Laurie Roberts commented on the hypocrisy of Governor Doug Ducey, who first defended Rogers, then praised her censure. Ducey raised $500,000 to elect Rogers.
Well, it took a while – far, far too long, in fact – but the unmasking of state Sen. Wendy Rogers has finally begun and what a sight it is to behold.
At long last, a few Republican leaders are beginning to speak out about the far right rock star from Flagstaff, a first-term state legislator who has built a national following as she rants about election conspiracies and George Soros and the cabal of Jews, journalists, political elites and other nefarious characters who plot to create a New World Order.
The Senate on Tuesday actually voted 24-3 to censure her for inciting violence at a white nationalist conference on Friday and conduct unbecoming a senator … or any decent human being.
Gov. Doug Ducey isn’t speaking out, of course. Oh, he issued a statement after the censure vote, saying that “antisemitic and hateful language has no place in Arizona.”
Since Ducey’s comment, Rogers has gone on to speak to white nationalists at the America First Political Action Conference where she heaped praise on conference organizer Nick Fuentes, a Holcaust denier who has warned that America needs to protect its “white demographic core” and on Friday noted that people are comparing Russian President Vladimir Putin to Adolph Hitler, “as if that isn’t a good thing…”
During her pre-recorded speech, Rogers lauded the white nationalists as “patriots” and complained that the country is “forcibly vaccinating people with a bioweapon.” She followed that up with a call for public hangings.
“When we do take back our God-given rights, we will bring these criminals to justice,” she said. “We need to build more gallows. If we try some of these high-level criminals, convict them, and use a newly built set of gallows, it’ll make an example for these traitors who have betrayed our country. They have yet to be justly punished for the crimes they have committed.”
She was just getting started.
Over the weekend, Rogers took to Twitter to fire off post after post of antisemitic and just plain unhinged tripe, decrying the West’s treatment of Russia and calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “a globalist puppet for Soros and the Clintons”. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arder, she said, “all report to the same Satanic masters.”
“I stand with the Christians worldwide not the global bankers who are shoving godlessness and degeneracy in our face,” Rogers wrote.
No matter what Rogers said, no matter how foul, Ducey remained silent.
FYI, Trump has endorsed Ducey’s opponent, because Ducey was in sufficiently loyal to him.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
A little light in the darkness
The decline in civility is appalling and shocking. Disagreement is part of the political process. If some people cannot take the heat, they should “not be in the kitchen.” Making threats should be dealt with swiftly and with enough consequences to discourage others from following suit.
Bob Shepherd, while you are correct, it’s going to take a lot more than a little light to save this benighted state. I have watched the loonies and morons being elected to the AZ legislature increase over the years and my sense of embarrassment and outrage at their actions grows exponentially day by day! #NoMoreGOP
I cannot be the only one who recalls a time when such idiots would be relegated by societal reason to the back alleys of intellectual life.
But that was before the Republican Party decided that the only way to capture the reins of political power was to rouse the foolish voter in everybody. If you cannot get elected without playing up to the foolish, maybe you need to change your ideas.
Ignoring Rogers’ intellectual characteristics, with her election, Ducey met the need for female politicians. A GOP that is 100% male looks bad. The number of women willing to vote for an anti-woman party has limits. Ducey can rely on GOP votes from the 63% white Catholics (Trump statistic in 2020), half or more of whom are likely women. He
can get the evangelical and Mormon women, the ones who are 2nd class citizens in their churches and homes to vote GOP but, he’s got to pick up female votes elsewhere.
63% who attend church regularly.
At his government website Ducey describes his religion’s impact on him and how the religious schools he attended shaped him.
One of the two GOP who didn’t vote for Rogers’ censure introduced one of the recent anti-abortion bills.
I surmise the one problem Ducey has with Rogers is that she stated her opinions out loud in a media-access forum.
Rogers said that she wouldn’t apologize for being white. I think she should apologize for having a despicable, hateful character. Then, I would suggest getting mental health help.
She has a crazed look in her eyes.
She comes by the crazed look honestly. She is beyond help. Another continuing embarrassment for benighted Arizona.
Not sure why someone who espouses Christianity doesn’t act like Jesus. No even a little.
“Not all who say Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven..”
Look at the website of the Harmel Academy of Trades (Grand Rapids, Mich.), a residential Catholic post secondary program that received funding from the Koch Foundation in 2021.
Promoting conservative religious schools for K-12, higher ed, and trade schools- it’s the libertarian way.
Georgetown Catholic University hired Koch’s Ilya Shapiro who was made famous by his tweet about lesser, Black female jurists. The candidate Ilya prefers, guess the demographics.
Harmel’s first class- 2020. “A residential Catholic trade school for men…learn…skilled trade, while also being personally developed in their Catholic faith.”
Harmel featured in a podcast at Acton Institute for Religion and Liberty.
Fyi- 30% of the Catholic secondary schools are single sex.
Meanwhile, Senator Rick Scott of Flor-uh-duh has issued a proposal calling for the poorest of people in the U.S. to be taxed because “everyone should have skin in the game” and for the “sunsetting” after five years of all laws passed. This would include Social Security and Medicare. McConnell is furious because Scott said the quiet part out loud. But make no mistake about this: McConnell was making the rounds of the talk shows a year ago to talk about how we need to scale back entitlements (i.e., Social Security and Medicare). And, Scott calls this assault on the poorest and most vulnerable Americans his “Rescue Plan for America.”
Even though Social Security is not actually an entitlement since we all pay into it and medicare has been wildly successful. But that is the Republican way, tell only the facts that are to your advantage.
I seem to remember money for Medicare coming out of my paycheck, too, and I still have to pay for into it in retirement.