Tag Archives: flake

If Jeff Flake has taken up your cause, your cause is in danger

by Marko23Dha Posted on October 15, 2018

This weekend, someone — specifically, George Stephanopoulos — saw fit to ask Arizona Senator Jeff Flake what he thought of the Republican party’s position on climate change. Senator Flake, an active member of the party controlling our nation’s legislative branch (as well as its executive and judicial branches), said that he thinks the government should do more to combat warming.

You can always count on Flake to say something vaguely ethical and then do whatever will most directly undermine it. Most recently, you may remember him for giving an impassioned soundbite in support of Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of assault, … and then immediately voting to confirm Kavanaugh to the court. You may also recall him speaking out against the Republican tax reform effort last December … and then immediately voting to make it law.

Conflict-resolution theory, according to Kim Kardashian West’s makeup artist, dictates that when you are disappointed in someone’s behavior, you should mention some of their good qualities so that it’s clear you are viewing them in a balanced way. Here we go: Jeff Flake has very nice teeth. On Sunday, Flake showed off his excellent chompers while giving the following vacuous reaction to the recent, upsetting U.N. climate change report to Stephanopoulos on ABC’s The Week:

“There’s been more recognition [of the need for climate action] among Republicans, but the administration hasn’t taken the view of some of us that this is something we really need to deal with along with the rest of the world and address this. It’s going to be challenging — obviously, that report that came out was pretty dire. But I think there’s things we can do and should do, and Republicans need to be at the forefront if we want to keep our place and keep our seats.”

It is true that Republican officials have not been particularly proactive on the matter of climate change, to say the least. Just this weekend, in the aftermath of the “dire” IPCC report, President Trump’s economic advisor Larry Kudlow stopped just short of calling the assessment a “scare tactic.” And Flake’s colleague Marco Rubio, who represents Florida, where Hurricane Michael made its devastating landfall this past week, said he did not want to “destroy our economy” to combat climate change.

As a U.S. senator in a majority party, Jeff Flake is one of the one hundredth of one percent of humans in the world who can have a real, direct, tangible influence on slowing climate change. While he’s not seeking re-election this year, here is what he’s done with that position of power: He voted to confirm Rex Tillerson, Rick Perry, and Ryan Zinke to Trump’s cabinet. He voted against restricting methane pollution, incentivizing energy-efficient homes through the mortgage market, and banning fossil fuel drilling in the Arctic Refuge. He has a 8 percent pro-environmental voting record, according to the League of Conservation Voters.

Now that he’s made public comments about the need to take on climate change, I look forward to Jeff Flake’s upcoming vote to build more coal plants on top of whales.

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If Jeff Flake has taken up your cause, your cause is in danger

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Trump’s Supreme Court Nominee Has Little in Common With Most Americans

by AlbertiGoin Posted on March 22, 2017

Mother Jones

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One of the main jobs of Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee this week has been to deflect attacks on Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch by Democrats, who are trying to paint him as a tool of corporations and a foe of the little guy. To that end, Republicans have tried both to humanize the federal judge and to highlight the parts of his background that might make him more relatable to the average American. They’ve got him talking about the Denver rodeo and mutton bustin’ and quoting David Foster Wallace.

But those humanizing efforts are falling a bit flat. That’s largely because when it comes to demonstrating all that he has in common with the regular folks who might come before the court, Gorsuch is his own worst enemy. A graduate of Georgetown Prep, Columbia University, Harvard Law School, and Oxford, Gorsuch is the son of Ronald Reagan’s Environmental Protection Agency chief and spent most of his formative years inside the Beltway, including a stint as a clerk on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. His nomination to the 10th Circuit Court was championed by the secretive billionaire Phillip Anschutz, his former client, and Gorsuch co-owns a Colorado mountain cabin with two of Anschutz’s top deputies.

On Tuesday night, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) asked Gorsuch about how he “liked to get his hands dirty.” If Flake was hoping to reveal a nominee who subscribes to Family Handyman and loves power tools, he was disappointed. The judge responded by reminding the committee how much he loves to ski. (Gorsuch was on the slopes when he learned about the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, whose seat he’s been nominated to fill.) “I always say the family that skis together stays together,” Gorsuch had said earlier in the hearing. Gorsuch told Flake that his daughters were “ferocious double-black-diamond skiers,” and at that very moment, one of them was doing some backcountry skiing near Telluride.

The exchange was unlikely to help most Americans relate to the judge. Today, skiing is largely a sport of the wealthy. A one-day lift ticket at Winter Park, the Colorado resort where Gorsuch said he liked to go, costs $144. A single day of skiing for a family of four could cost nearly $600, not including all the gear and lunch at the lodge. And teaching kids to ski so they can become “ferocious double-black-diamond skiers” is an enormous investment. A single day in the Winter Park ski school will set you back $189 for one child, not including equipment rentals. For most of the country, even with discounts for locals, those costs put skiing largely out of reach.

Earlier in the hearing, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) had asked Gorsuch about his experience in politics. “Are you a lawmaker?” Lee asked. “Have you ever held a position as a state legislator? Have you ever held a position as a member of Congress?” Gorsuch responded with a chuckle, “I’ve served on my kid’s school board.”

The following day, Flake asked Gorsuch about his civic involvement outside of the court, mentioning his school board service. “Boy, that I found taxing, and loved every minute of it,” Gorsuch said. Flake nodded appreciatively, telling Gorsuch, “That typifies the West. People get along. They have to. On a school board there’s no passing the buck there. You’ve gotta make decisions. Local government is like that.”

What Flake seemed to have missed, though, is that Gorsuch never served on a public school board. He was on the board of the Boulder Country Day School, a small private school with tuition that runs from $15,000 to $20,000 a year. That’s a big difference from serving on a public, elected school board just about anywhere in the country.

In fact, Gorsuch is among the most privileged individuals to be nominated to the Supreme Court in recent memory. Justice Clarence Thomas grew up poor in Pinpoint, Georgia, speaking Gullah. His idea of a good time is camping in a Walmart parking lot in his RV en route to a NASCAR race. Sonia Sotomayor hails from a Puerto Rican family and grew up with a single mom in a South Bronx tenement. Samuel Alito is a Jersey boy, the son of Italian immigrant teachers, who graduated from a public high school. At first glance, Gorsuch’s background somewhat resembles that of Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., who likewise comes from a tony private-school background—except that Roberts worked summers in a steel mill to pay his way through Harvard.

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Trump’s Supreme Court Nominee Has Little in Common With Most Americans

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A Senator Just Asked Trump’s Supreme Court Nominee A Question That Is Going To Make The Internet Explode

by Ted30R9906123452 Posted on March 21, 2017

Mother Jones

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Jeff Flake’s son is about to be the most popular person on reddit.

Would you rather fight 1 horse-sized duck or 100 duck-sized horses? This is a famous internet question. Hard to answer! Who knows! Large duck would be quite hard to fight! But also 100 mini horses would not be a walk in the park either. In reality, man is a delicate thing. Our flesh is soft. If it weren’t for our opposable thumbs we’d have been eaten by venus flytraps long ago. What I’m saying is, no matter which answer you choose, you’re going to lose that fight, my friend. Real question is how do you want to die? Both sound bad! Being eaten by a horse-sized duck seems awful, but being attacked and devoured by little duck-sized velociraptors horses? Well, that doesn’t seem like the way I want to go out.

Anyway, I don’t know the answer. Stupid question. Stupid internet. But it is a famous question! Obama said he’d fight the horse-sized duck.

Sen. Flake asked Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch the question on behalf of his son (who must be dying right now).

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A Senator Just Asked Trump’s Supreme Court Nominee A Question That Is Going To Make The Internet Explode

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Parachute Drops, Cheerleaders, and Giant Flags: How the Pentagon Paid Pro Sports for PR

by ElviaY85qvu Posted on November 6, 2015

Mother Jones

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If you’ve been to a pro sports game recently, you’ve almost certainly seen tributes to the military, from unraveling giant American flags showing to photos and videos of servicemen and women on the Jumbotron. A new senate report by Arizona Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake, released yesterday, finds that many of these seemingly voluntary displays were in fact paid for by the Department of Defense. Between 2012 and 2015, the Pentagon paid sports teams $53 million for marketing and advertising, including at least $6.8 million for what the report dubs “paid patriotism.”

The senators obtained 122 Pentagon contracts with sports leagues and teams for what they described as “marketing gimmicks.” Among the top recipients of military money were NASCAR ($1.6 million over four years), the Atlanta Falcons ($879,000), the New England Patriots ($700,000), and the Buffallo Bills ($650,000).

Last year, the Pentagon spent millions on advertising with sports teams as it was simultaneously requesting funding from Congress to cover a $100 million budget shortfall to pay its troops, according to the report.

Here are a few team-specific promotional deals that stuck out in the 150-page report:

Charlotte Hornets: “One parachute drop-in” by an Air Force member at each home game
Dallas Mavericks: Letting the Texas Army National Guard “bring out their mechanical bull and/or rock wall for fans to enjoy”
Minnesota Wild: A color guard ceremony and letting a National Guard soldier “rappel from the catwalk to deliver the game puck”
Indianapolis Colts: “For use of a luxury suite, autographed items, pregame field visits and cheerleader appearances.”
Milwaukee Brewers: $49,000 to recognize the Wisconsin Army National Guard during performances of “God Bless America” at each Sunday home game
Atlanta Falcons: Recognition of the Army National Guard “birthday,” the opportunity for a National Guard soldier to perform the national anthem, and the opportunity for soldiers to “hold a large American flag on the field during a military appreciation game.”
Green Bay Packers: A “party deck” for 200 National Guard soldiers and their families
Minnesota Lynx: A military night featuring a “soldier rappelling from the arena catwalk while another soldier performed the national anthem”
NASCAR: A ride-along with Richard Petty and appearances with Petty and Aric Almirola.
Iron Dog: VIP passes to the Alaskan snowmobile race
Alamo City Comic Con: Admission for 20 soldiers and their family members. (We know, comic book conventions aren’t sporting events, but this is too weird not to include.)

The issue of paid patriotism first emerged this spring, when Sen. Flake questioned the military tributes at New York Jets games. Since then, the Pentagon has banned paying for these salutes to the troops, and the NFL has called on its teams to stop accepting payments for them.

According to a Pentagon memo included in the report, the department maintains that the advertising helped with recruiting, especially since youth “have grown less positive about the associations they make with military service.” Senators Flake and McCain counter that “If the most compelling message about military service we can deliver to prospective recruits and influencers is the promise of game tickets, gifts, and player appearances, we need to rethink our approach to how we are inspiring qualified men and women to military service.”

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Parachute Drops, Cheerleaders, and Giant Flags: How the Pentagon Paid Pro Sports for PR

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