Governor Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes’ time in office now exceeds 6 months. They have excelled regarding their support for the agenda of the present-day radical Democrat Party, but they have done more harm than good for the people of Arizona who care about election integrity and the welfare of children.
Governor Hobbs has vetoed 99 bills, more than any Arizona governor before her. Had those bills become law, the soundness of future elections would have improved: early ballots would be counted at polling sites rather than transported to a center; tabulation equipment would meet the U.S. Defense Department standards; members of both parties would be allowed to challenge election workers’ decisions regarding the validity of ballot signatures; artificial intelligence would be banned from voting machines; and, more.
It would seem the governor would want to sign bills that would help assure the public that the 2024 election will be beyond reproach with machines not breaking down and procedures in place that guarantee fool-proof handling of the ballots. It is bad enough that she refused to recuse herself from managing the 2022 election as secretary of state while running for governor, as members of her team advised her to do. She allowed sloppiness, whether intentional or not, that has made the outcome of that election highly questionable.
Governor Hobbs claims to care about children. However, she has vetoed bills that would have outlawed sexually explicit books in school libraries, salacious cabaret performances on school grounds, and girls’ bathrooms available to biological boys. In addition, she refused to sign a bill that would have mandated schools to set up a process for parents to make complaints regarding incidents involving their children.
Ironically, she speaks adamantly against empowerment scholarships that provide parents with funding to enroll their children in schools and programs outside of the public system. At the same time, she opposes absolutely any bill or suggestion that would make the schools more acceptable to parents. Thus, she can only blame herself for parents’ choosing to pull their children out of public schools.
The governor did not have to go on a veto spree to get her way. Attorney General Kris Mayes has made it clear that she will only enforce laws that the two of them like. They see no reason for the district schools to follow the English for the Children law, passed by 63% of the voters in 2000, and they most definitely will not do anything about doctors who break the law that outlaws the aborting of babies past fifteen weeks in the womb.
Why bother to have a legislature or deal with elections anymore? These two women consider themselves to be in total control of the government. They have shown only contempt for the voters and elected officials who do not belong to their party.
When I taught in Germany from 1970 to 1971, I met many people who had experienced life under Adolph Hitler and told me about it. Like Hobbs and Mayes, Hitler believed he knew best and either ignored or eliminated the opposition. The people had no choice but to fall in line.
Perhaps the next step will be for our two ladies to demand people address them as “Heil Hobbs” and Heil Mayes”! However, should they insist we click our heels and salute them, I say that is asking too much.