Rogue Columnist

Stop making sense

[The real-estate developer] gave a "serious foreign policy speech" this week and it actually had much to recommend it. To be sure, it had contradictions. He channeled John Quincy Adams when he said that under his administration, "The world must know that we do not go abroad in search of enemies, that we are always happy when old enemies become friends, and when old friends become allies." He savagely critiqued the Cheney Doctrine. Thoughtful people would be unsettled by "America First," because that echoes the isolationism of Charles Lindbergh. And while he challenged free-rider allies to do more, he said, "We’re going to finally have a coherent foreign policy based upon American interests, and the shared interests of our allies." Perhaps the key word is shared. Because many interests of our allies, especially Benjamin Netanyahu's Israel, do not serve our national interest.

But overall, it was a serious and compelling address, one to make the foreign policy elites squirm. Things such as this make him a very dangerous opponent for the Democrats in the fall.

He has already found the sweet spot for Republican voters, a combination of economic nationalism and xenophobia on Muslims and Mexicans. Most average conservative voters don't really care about the dogma peddled by Ted Cruz and the right-wing elites. Jim Kunstler is willing to write what is forbidden in liberal circles but widely felt elsewhere:

In terms of sheer persona on persona, Trump is not much better (than Hillary Clinton), a walking hood ornament on the faltering beater car that America has become. But at least he recognizes that the beater beneath him needs a complete overhaul, even if he can barely cobble up a coherent list of particulars, or name the mechanics who might be able to fix the damn thing. And, of course, a broad swathe of Americans whose lives have also come to resemble beater cars are very sympathetic to the impulses Trump radiates.

For example, I happen to agree that the nation needs to act on immigration, both on the problem of illegal immigrants and on limiting the quotas of legally admitted newcomers. The Left, sunk in its sentimental sob stories of “dreamers,” and its nostalgia for the Ellis Island romance of 1904, can’t conceive of any reason why the nation might benefit from, at least, a time-out on invitations. The idea undermines their world-saving fantasies. In my little corner of America, the computer chip factory run by Global Foundries (owned by the Emirate of Dubai) has just laid off the majority of its homegrown American technical labor force and replaced them with foreign technicians on H1B visas, thus creating x-number of new Trump voters among the laid-off, and rightfully so, I think.

The number of foreign-born Americans is at a record, higher than even the enormous wave of immigrants from the 1890s to 1920, after which the nation implemented just such a time-out.

 

The Circles jerks

Stewart Motor Co., the Studebaker dealership, in the 1950s.

I knew they would do it, only when and whom the "they" would be. After Circles Records closed in 2010, I worried every time I passed the empty building. The only surprise was the speed with which much of the cherished former Stewart Motor/Circles Records, built in 1947, was demolished.

Aspirant Development, a unit of Scottsdale-based Empire Group, says it wants to build apartments on the site at Central and McKinley. It bought the parcel for $2.65 million. The company had even scheduled a meeting with the Roosevelt Action Association neighborhood groups on the Monday when...ooops!...two-thirds (or less) of the streamline moderne structure was torn down.

In a way, it's a salutary development that there was enough outrage to stop the tear-down and cause Aspirant to hire the ubiquitous Jason and Jordan Rose to handle damage control. Mayor Greg Stanton had this to say on Facebook:

I am angry that in the middle of negotiating a plan to save the iconic Stewart Motor Company building, the developer began demolition. After my office participated in discussions between the developer and neighborhood leaders, I was confident that a resolution would be found. However, sadly, it appears that the developer was acting in bad faith.

BACKGROUND:

The City’s Community and Economic Development Department was in the middle of discussions with the developer, Empire Group. Some of the agreed terms of the discussion stated that the developer would not demolish or remove any portion of the existing building on the Site prior to submitting for construction permits. Empire has plans to build a 19-story apartment building on the 1.24-acre site.

If only such consciousness had been around when hundreds of irreplaceable buildings were bulldozed in the 1980s and 1990s. Yet even now, the unofficial Preservation Police can't be everywhere at once, particularly when so much of the deck is stacked against them.

The developer even apologized. But here's the rub: Aspirant appears to be holding the remains — basically the facade — hostage in order to secure a tax break from the city. Something like a 25-year moratorium on property taxes. In exchange, it would build the 19-story apartment tower with pieces of the old building incorporated into a boring new glass lookalike design. After the developer's behavior, this will be a tough sell to Council.

Stanton's dilemma

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton gave a fine State of the City speech this week (you can watch it here). One could quibble with his "Not even a decade after the Great Recession shook us to our knees, Phoenix has emerged stronger and more resilient than ever before with an economy that is breaking free from the chains of the boom-then-bust cycle." Phoenix has far under-performed its peer cities in this recovery. But Stanton is an upbeat guy and Phoenicians have a hard time with reality.

He deserves credit for the courage to call out the Kookocracy's war on cities.

Now, the hard stuff. Outside the prepared remarks, the mayor supports building a new arena to be shared by the Suns and Coyotes, with at least some taxpayer money involved. The Arizona Republic reported, "Phoenix already has a permanent tourism tax on hotel and motel stays and car rentals. It is in the process of selling the city-owned Sheraton hotel and the Translational Genomics Research Institute building downtown, projects supported by the tourism tax. By getting those buildings off its books, the city could potentially free up revenue to help pay for a new stadium."

Not surprisingly, this produced its share of criticism. For example, E.J. Montini columnized about rich team owners asking for welfare:

So, politely as possible, I would suggest that all of us collectively send a little note to these guys:

"Dear Suns, Coyotes (and Diamondbacks),

"Build your own damn sports complex.

"Respectfully,

"Phoenix."

Carolina on our minds

A restroom sign at Safeco Field in progressive Seattle. You won't find this in Red America.

Living on the ring of fire, I think of earthquakes, try to prepare for them. The U.S. Geological Survey explains their cause, “The tectonic plates are always slowly moving, but they get stuck at their edges due to friction. When the stress on the edge overcomes the friction, there is an earthquake that releases energy…”

Our whole country consists of tectonic plates that have been stressing against each other for decades, ready to let loose The Big One.

The last time we were this divided was the eve of the Civil War. This time, the sectionalism remains — it has even grown — but there’s little chance of secession. So we will grind on until some event precipitates the big break.

I think of this watching the controversy over North Carolina's House Bill 2, otherwise known as the “bathroom bill.”

The Republican governor, Pat McCrory, was Charlotte’s mayor when I was business editor of the Charlotte Observer. I knew him as a not-very-useful source. He was good looking, one lapel shy of being an empty suit, no Rhodes Scholar.

Jim Newcomer, an appreciation

Like the elves departing Middle Earth they are now leaving us, the gifted teachers who helped make us the men and women we became. No loss has been tougher than the recent death of James E. Newcomer.

He was a towering figure among the giants assembled by Eugene Hanson at the Fine Arts Department of Coronado High School in Scottsdale, including Robert Frazier and Joseph Gatti. In those days, Scottsdale taxpayers happily funded public education. Coronado built one of the most respected fine arts programs in the nation. While other schools had a "senior play," we had seven or eight productions a year in the glory days of the 1970s, when I was blessed to be a student. These included a major musical and spring repertory, with productions at a level of sophistication and skill that could match university or professional theater. This was in no small part because of Jim Newcomer.

He drove a little red Beetle — one always knew he was on the job when it was parked behind the big roll-up door at the rear of the auditorium, even on weekends. He kept company with an enormous St. Bernard named Hildegard.

As the senior theater arts teacher, he taught acting as well as technical theater (lighting, set design and construction, props, costuming, makeup, etc.) Working in the stunning performance space designed by famed Phoenix architect Ralph Haver, we were repeatedly told by Newcomer that we might never again work in such an excellent facility. He was right. Most Broadway theaters were dumps. Plays at ASU were performed in the former college boiler room, the Lyceum Theater.

Newcomer was charismatic and striking, a tall man with a booming voice and laugh, a beard and long legs that splayed out whenever he sat down. Even the shyest student could find a place in Coronado theater, be it in property management or costuming. Yet all were a part of an enterprise that was demanding and professional. Excellence was Newcomer's true north and he got it.

The Kooks back down (a little)

Last week, in an unprecedented move, Republicans who control the Arizona House of Representatives banned reporters from the House floor. Then they said the press would have to undergo extensive background checks. They finally relented on Tuesday, saying the floor would be open to journalists — at least for the rest of this session.

As usual, this embarrassment has a back story. Earlier this year, Hank Stephenson of the Arizona Capitol Times, revealed that House Speaker David Gowan had used a state vehicle to travel to events for his congressional campaign. Even in compromised Arizona, this action has left Gowan in deep doo-doo.

The ban was an explicit retaliation. It included a provision that if a reporter had been convicted of even a misdemeanor, he or she could be kept off the floor for a decade. Conveniently, Stephenson had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor trespassing in 2014, apparently after a bar fight in Wickenburg (my kind of reporter).

Gowan is a typical Kook mediocrity. He's connected to the extremist "Oath Keepers." A-plus rating from the NRA. As usual, he wants to perpetuate his sucking at the gub'ment teet by moving up in gub'ment. With incumbent Ann Kirkpatrick (to my mind misguidedly) challenging wealthy Republican John Sidney McCain III for the U.S. Senate, the First Congressional District seat is open.

Questions for nominee Sanders

Outside the social media echo chamber of #FeelTheBern, Sen. Sanders is even less competitive than he appears in the race for delegates. But the willingness to burn down the party if he doesn't get what he wants, something discussed in an earlier column, has become even more apparent.

Earlier this week, Sanders said Hillary Clinton is not qualified to be president. Also that she is willing to destroy the party to attain her ambitions. Her response was appropriate. He also lied about Clinton saying the same about him. By the end of the week, he walked back the assertion but the damage was done. A quarter of Sanders supporters said they would not support Clinton if she is the nominee, compared with 14 percent of Clinton backers if Bernie is the standard bearer.

So, assuming Sanders wins the nomination, I have a few questions. These are serious inquires and I hope they will draw out equally serious responses in the comments section.

1. After the vicious campaign against Hillary Clinton, which involved recycling Republican attack points as well as questioning her integrity, intelligence, and fitness for office (and ascribing the worst possible motives to her supporters), how does the Sanders campaign plan to unify the Democratic Party for the general election?

2. Does the Sanders campaign realize that the United States is closely divided between red and blue — the Cold Civil War — with an edge to the Republicans because of their control of statehouses and increasing voter suppression measures? What is the general election strategy to reach 50.01 percent and win the Electoral College?

3. A "political revolution" is not a political program unless you are advocating bloodshed and extra-constitutional means. Sanders has raised no money for down-ticket Democrats and has been coy as to whether he will at all. So what's the plan to assemble a House and Senate solidly controlled by lawmakers who would actually pass the bills to create Sanders' social democracy?

Phoenix Confidential: the mob's master of the skim

The most notorious gangster of mid-century Phoenix was Gus Greenbaum, but most people only know the end of the story. Where, in 1958, he and his wife were cooking steaks at their Palmcroft home on Monte Vista Drive when hitmen killed both.

Greenbaum's body was found in a bedroom, nearly decapitated in having his throat slit. His wife Bess' throat was cut, too. She was on a sofa facing the fireplace in the living room, trussed from behind and badly beaten in the face with a heavy bottle. Police discovered her propped face-down on pillows, which prevented blood from dripping on the carpet. They also found evidence that the assassins stayed on that December evening and ate the steaks.

Phoenix as a back office to Las Vegas and second home for Chicago Outfit mobsters (Willie Bioff, the notorious movie-industry hustler and Mafia turncoat for example), is often traced to Greenbaum. But he was actually sent to Phoenix in 1928 to run illegal liquor and betting; the latter eventually became southwest hub of the Outfit's gambling wire service, the Trans-America Publishing and News Service (Western Union would have frowned on accepting illegal telegraphs). This proprietary circuit also gave the Outfit an edge in national bookmaking rackets over rivals in New York and Detroit.

Gambling wouldn't be legalized in Nevada until 1931. Las Vegas was a village on the Union Pacific's main line from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles, population little more than 5,000. Legalization came because Nevada, whose population was centered around Reno and Carson City, was losing people and economic power as its mines played out and were destroyed by falling demand from the Great Depression.

Gus Greenbaum, a protege of the infamous Meyer Lansky, was 34. In Phoenix, he found a city of almost 48,000 and wide open. Gambling and prostitution flourished, with city commissioners and detectives taking a cut. The police department was deeply corrupt. Rail connections to Chicago were plentiful on the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific. Before the end of Prohibition, liquor was plentiful, too, thanks to Al Capone. Rising local leaders such as the Goldwater and Rosenzweig brothers and contractor Del Webb befriended Greenbaum. No wonder the Outfit thought it was the ideal home for Trans-America.