Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has yanked all of her campaign advertising from the local CBS affiliate that has been investigating possible conflicts of interest on her staff. Ms. Brewer, a Republican, became a household name this year after signing Arizona's SB1070, the draconian "Paper, please" anti-immigration law.
As CBS station KPHO-TV has revealed, two of Governor Brewers advisers, Paul Senseman and Chuck Coughlin, have extensive ties to a private prison company called the Corrections Corporation of America, CCA. As a prison operator in Arizona, that company stands to benefit from every person detained under SB1070.
Now the Brewer campaign tells us it has stopped advertising on KPHO because of its ongoing investigations into the governor. Coughlin told us that Ms. Brewer herself was personally involved in that decision. "Absolutely," he told us. "It's her campaign."
Reporter Morgan Loew tells us his bosses shield the editorial staff from advertising concerns, as they should. Governor Brewer's attack on journalism notwithstanding, his digging into the forces behind SB1070 seems bound to continue.
Leave a Comment:
The first and possibly only debate for the Governor of Arizona was held last night. The Democratic candidate, Attorney General Terry Goddard, asked Brew-ha-ha why she lied about "beheadings" along the border. She threw back "you are supported by the Unions!!!!1111" Watch the video ... all the reporters after the debate wanted her answer to that question that she never answered. And she stands there dumbfounded and just says "good night" and leaves. She's a 90-year-old version of Sarah Palin.
http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/elections/brewer-goddard-debate-wrapup-9-1-2010
I suppose she can technically advertise where she likes, but the idea of a canidate trying to "blackmail" a tv station like this is reprehensible.
How is a candidate placing ad dollars with media outlets of her liking and not placing them with outlets, which rightly or wrongly, she feels have been unfair to her in any way wrong? How is this trying to censor the media? Is she obligated to place ads with every media outlet in Az?
Rachel, you have become unwatchable
You have no ethics. You have no objectivity. I just wish I was as certain about my views as you. Than I too could make judgements about people and their motives with no facts. Soul searching would be good because you are guilty of the same tactics that you accuse the right wing of using. The only difference in your mind is that you are on the "right" side of the issues so it is alright.
You & the rest of the talking heads on cable (all cable CNN, FOX & MSNBC) are actually like the reality shows on TV. You have no connection to reality & are extreme cartoon figures masquerading as real people.
Speaking of cartoon figures... Jan Brewer: A noun, a verb and 1070.
And she still hasn't addressed why she has two advisors that are lobbyists for the private prison industry. (Yes, I'm aware Paul Senseman is an ex-lobbyist, but since his wife remains one, the ex part isn't very convincing.)
But considering 1070 doesn't address border security, it isn't necessary to look any further than the lobbyist advisors to see why it was signed into law.
He'll be here all night, folks. Try the veal!
GreyWolf you are blind if you can't see what's going on with Jan and CCA. It doesn't pass the smell test in any form. Your bashing of Rachel is unfounded and proves the right doesn't like facts. Go ahead and vote for her...your taxes will be going to her friends and CCA. Or are you just one of CCA's stockholers or an employee? Maybe both?
Sometimes I wonder if at least some tr0lls are paid agents of right-wing groups. I've seen jobs ads for 'bloggers' and think another work-at-home scam, which they probably all are, but in my more paranoid moments I wonder.
More specifically, yeah, the Brewer campaign has the right to advertise wherever they want, but this action is clearly meant as punishment and intimidation. The trouble is, really, that many Americans--mostly on the right and too often those in positions of power or influence--regard constitutionally-guaranteed inalienable rights as a nuisance, especially the First Amendment which apparently is riddled with asterisks that I am unable to see. A few days ago, on the way to work I caught the end of an angry-but in-agreement-with-each-other sounding exchange between two people in a cafe. All I caught was the very last sentence before the two people parted: "And then you get into that freedom-of-the-press crap." Kinda sums it all up, dunnit?
Now, all y'all, just settle down and think for one moment about what you are writing: about Brewer's campaign, about Rachel's show, about everything.
Of COURSE the campaign has every right to distribute its own funds wherever it wishes to do so and to buy time with any media it feels reaches its target voters best. If it pulls advertising from one outlet and doubles up on another -- that normally would not be cause for comment.
It is this time BECAUSE of the ongoing investigation of the connection between the passage of SB1070 and CCA, and BECAUSE the Governor refuses to answer questions about the involvement of CCA officials in her campaign, as well as wether the decision to pull advertising from the CBS affiliate was retaliatory or not.
Governor Brewer seems to have gotten herself into this mess through her own stubbornness in sticking by her big corporate supporters. I wonder how well CCA will stick by her when the indictments are handed down?
Jan Brewer is a despicable creature and a travesty as governor of Arizona.
She is NOT, however, required to fund people investigating her allegedly illegal activities. This is NOT retaliation, and there's nothing wrong with it.
Those of us on the left need to avoid the trap of those on the right who see persecution in market decisions. I find the governor's decision to stop her advertising on KPHO parallel to the decision of some companies to stop advertising on Glenn Beck's program following his comments accusing President Obama of being racist. They don't want to be associated with his racism. Governor Brewer doesn't want to be associated with KPHO's investigative reporting.
Both decisions make sense and are completely appropriate.
Now, if Governor Brewer were to take official, governmental actions against KPHO (such as denying press credentials to cover events or awarding government contracts to other TV stations instead of KPHO), then there would be a story. So far as I know, nothing of that kind has happened.
In other words, this "breaking news" that led off the show was really no news at all.
On a side note, if I were KPHO, I'd have an entire ad campaign developed around this episode.
Imagine the commercials, "Watch the station that's too tough for the governor."
Does it not bother anyone that with no facts that the bill was passed & signed with any evil intent or to benefit anyone financially; the Governor is being condemned? innocent until proven guilty I guess is out of date if you disagree with the other persons view. I have seen no facts, just associations.
The provisions in the law about asking for ID & papers are almost identical to the federal laws. It is federal law that all non residents here legally are required to have their paper on them. The federal lawsuit does not question the provisions of the law but that it infringes on federal jurisdiction.
MechTrek
A simple explaination of Ethics to me is that you could exchange places with the opposite party in a transaction or a debate or any other type of interaction and feel that you are being treated fairly.
Do you think that in today world of politics and Cable News shows that holds true?
I don't believe so!
Gobbledygoo.
The advertising dollars will come from another source. Perhaps her opponent, or perhaps a group that opposes her and is willing to shell out the dollars. I have no doubt that KPHO news station will recoup the dollars from elsewhere.
Interesting show on Gov Brewer vs KPHO but you kept making a huge error. You kept referring to KPHO as a "network". It is NOT a "network", it is a "TV STATION". It is an AFFILIATE of the CBS NETWORK (which you mentioned a couple of times) but the key work is Affiliate---not Network.
I know, it's picky---but it really does matter
You are right but being an affiliate of CBS who happens to capture the older market (voters) she just may have shot herself in the foot. Lets hope so because if you run from questions you have something to hide and in an election year it will cost you votes.
Bravo for your report on this, Rachel! I think I'm going to start calling her "One-Lane-Jane" because she's stuck on SB1070 and has nothing else to discuss. She changes the focus of any discussion back to 1070; even refusing to discount her comments about the "beheadings in the desert" after proven to be completely false. I'm sure people will vote for this "know-nothing-broken-record", but if the votes are correctly counted this time, and Goddard takes full advantage of her foibles, we have hope for new governance here in AZ.
In a world based on reality, the Brewer meltdown might be fatal to her electoral ambitions Not this year, not on the mountain we have been on since the Black guy got in the White House. As Frank Schaeffer, Jr. says, "Barack Obama was elected and it broke their brains." On the planet known as Broke Brains Mountain, the voters of Arizona will merely bond ever tighter with Jan Brewer -she has stood up to Washington and made Arizonan's safe from everything but Republican insanity. She is as crazy as they are. She is one of them.
She lied about 'headless immigrants' but so what? Obama is a socialist. She has a conflict of interest and is shilling for developers of prisons by adopting laws that creates more prisioners. So what? Obama bailed out the banks. Brewer had a TIA in her opening statement during the debate with her opponent. So what? Obama has tripled the national debt in his first 20 months in office. Brewer's fear mongering drives away trourists from Arizona. So what? The liberals and Obama are killing grandma and taking over health care. In short, Republicans and ultra-right wing nut jobs are merely a righteouus, godly counterbalance to the fearful fantasies that they are told to believe about our Kenyan President and his demonic minions. Huddled together and cowering, the Republicans face a fearful future as a tight knit cohort while Democrats scratch their heads and ogle this curious idiocy.
The Republicans know exactly what we are thinking, "the Republicans are nuts!" This proves how evil we are and condescending, too.
It can be summarized like this: "We may be nuts, but the other guys are evil and that's lots worse."
The frustrating thing is you cannot overcome mental delusion with argument. You cannot change the mind of an authoritarian by exposing his talking points as lies and fantasies because holding to them make the authoritarian feel good about himself. You cannot cure mental illness with research, facts and logic. The world is scary. The lies may be untrue but they do give voice to the emotions the authoritarians are feeling and that makes them feel true.
So, Jan Brewer's meltdown in Arizona is not going to matter.
Not this year. Not here on Broke Brain Mountain.
Your bigotted infintesimal brain is most certainly broke. It's probably the size of a pee. I can't believe people like you still exist.
Another moron that doesn't know or remember that GEORGE BUSH BAILED OUT THE BANKS WITH THE HELP OF ALAN GREENSPAN. Shi^ for brains. Obama gave you a tax break and the stimulus which worked and continues to keep even higher unemployment from being the norm. Thank your idiot ex-furor for that too (massive unemployment).
@Chick Dante - You make some really excellent points. It is a huge mistake to avoid monitoring the shenanigans on the part of our friends on the right. I assumed the birthers were an isolated group of people who had a very small group of loyalists. Not so! The uproar over the "Ground Zero Mosque" (that isn't) has caused a lot of the maggots to crawl out from under their rocks. I just left a site where the people are chatting about why they hate Obama. The contributions range from "Because he is an agent of Satan" to "Because he is a Muslim" to "He is a Godless person and a traitor whose goal is to destroy this country". These people can't all be stupid! A neighbor of mine is a teacher in elementary school, with TWO master's degrees. She is a Tea Bagger who never misses Rush Lardbaugh. Where is the intellectual disconnect happening? Does it begin with racism? Of course, some are polarized around Brewer and her hated of Mexican immigrants. But it doesn't end with immigration, either: There are plenty who desire to dismantle the Dept. of Education!!! I grew up in a neighborhood where most of the parents were not college grads, but by golly they were going to see that their kids got an education! What has happened to this country? Where is this pro-corporate bias coming from? One would think that pro-consumer candidates would draw supporters from both sides. But even that is not a given. What have corporations done for ANYONE other than make themselves richer?
Is Jan Brewer wanting to fill up prisons any different from Obama promising over 20million illegals amnesty behind our backs, then making sure they get to stay here so he can grant backdoor amnesty because he wants to keep his campaign promises? Is this any different than Obamas administration lying about the numbers of illegals coming here and how many he's deporting, when he lets half go? How bout Obama not letting ICE and the border patrol do their jobs so it looks like less are crossing the border every day? How bout MSNBC and Obama plants spending millions to dig up dirt on Brewer because she is against Obamas tactics and fighting back. Brewer has gone against Americas largest voting block, putting her career on the line to uphold the law, while Obama is fighting against us. You snickering Dems are petty. Since you love illegals here they are. There isn't much that the Dems or this administration has done that makes me proud or want to vote for them this year. This Madden woman may be brilliant but she has no common sense, mainly just maintains a smart-aleck attitude.
Who would be so petty as to make Brewers remarks about severed heads such a big issue? She should just say she made a mistake and move on. Why is this such an issue, like none of you ever said something you thought was true, then turned out not to be. I bet none of you ever lied either. Naaa, you're all so perfect you can find something this petty to feel superior about and do mob badgering because of a glimmer of superiority. Why should she answer such a stupid, small-minded, harassment. The reporters sounded so catty it was shocking but the ilk of this reporter loves the nastiness.
Yeah, what's a little lie about severed heads among friends? And the fact is that more immigrants are being deported by Obama than were under Bush. But never let little things like facts get in the way of a good rant. It robs you of excuses to open your mouth.
Yeah, and certainly none of those potential severed head folks would have families who might have an interest in the truth. And if there is no truth in it...geeeeze that's the kindo Gov I want runnin' mah town...
It is a character issue. She should just admit she misspoke and move on. The inability to admit a mistake is common among politicians. This wasn't just an innocent slip, though. It was said for effect. The right trades in making untue statements to whip up fear and hatred. (The costant drumbeats about Obama being a secret Muslim, for example). They never seem to be able to face up when they are caught knee deep in the stinky brown stuff, however. I guess it is a tough spot when you have to say: "Oops. I lied. Let's move on."
Hey, maybe she will be a guest at one of her privately owned prison complexes!
MORE reason to have a relentless and aggressive campain to pull this goffer out of her hiding hole into the sunlight for extensive investigation and question answering!!! She refuses to debate anymore, she refuses to co-operate with news investigations of her contacts etc. Private Prisons, Lies about AZ budget, Lies about the level and kinds of violence on the AZ border.. When will it stop?
I call on MSNBC to help us in AZ.. Jan brewer is a liar and corrupt and my alligations have nothing to do with SB-1070. Get the facts about our states budget and see how she lied about it being balanced.
Jan Brewer Debate Meltdown Cartoon!
Arizona Governor has a major malfunction.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGpJK78hft8