Liberal Democrats Tar Republican Jerry Lewis, Borrowing a Page From Extremists They Claim to Loathe

candey8111

Well arent you the pot calling the kettle black? It's okay for you to slam people and make up stories but not okay for anybody else? It's okay for you to call decent people names and insinuate they are affiliated with someone they're not. You are not the be all end all god of who's right and wrong in politics. While I think Jerry Lewis is a good guy, he's a repug first of all. Politics is dirty and you are one of the dirtiest so it's funny to see you come on here and cry foul when you are the foulest of them all.

loosecannonsbluesban

Mr. Lemons wrote:

"Of course, I don't agree with most of Lewis' votes. I certainly can understand why a Democrat would not want to vote for him."

While I want to make it clear that I am upset at Mr. Lemons for writing such a partisan article - I am even more upset that he is so hypocritical in his criticism of Democrats when in the above statement, he logically declares himself line up philosophically with the Democrats. I would not want to vote for for Lewis either - I oppose his philosophy and therefore would not want him serving as my representative. In order for that to occur, logiclally I would vote for Lewis' opponent, Ed Ableser. I DO NOT want a even one more Republican in the Arizona Legislator whose philosophy about government reflects the philosophy of the Tea Party here. Lewis' votes for 99% of the bills presented by the admittedly Tea Party Republicans in our State House belies his, and Mr. Lemons', claim that he is not an adherent to the philosophy of that group of radical right wing nut cases.

bgray59

An amazing piece of writing for this rag. You actually gave a semi fair assessment of a Republican.

fairymagic13

@bgray59 I agree with the "semi-fair" assessment - Mr. Lemons correctly identified Mr. Lewis' policy positions as lining up with the Tea Party Republicants in Arizona 99% of the time. I think Mr. Lemons is just particularly impressed with a polite and well-mannered Republicant politician, regardless of whether his politices line up with the Tea Party or not. I don't blame him very much though - I'm just as shocked as he is that a member of the Republicant party which votes for the Tea Party agenda here in Arizona 99% of the time can actually be affable. However, rude and disrespectful behavior is not the defining characteristic of an adherent to the policies of the Tea Party in Arizona - it's how they vote - so charming smile aside - Mr. Lewis has been correctly described by Ed Ableser as a Tea Party proponent due to his policy positions which mirror almost perfectly the policy positions of the Tea Party. Come on Lemons, grow a pair!

Disappointed

This passes for journalism?

ExpertShot topcommenter

We should be a little upset with Mr. Lemons. He has decried the lack of spine in the Democratic party over the years countless times. Here, we see a Dem willing to display that spine and Mr. Lemons asks: "Why are Dems so hot to vote for this guy?". Um, because Mr. Lemons said we should vote for Dems that show some gumption!

I'm guessing that with the change of ownership at Village Voice media we'll see a lot more of this Faux News type "Fair and Balanced" reportage coming from Mr. Lemons and his collegues at New Times, just to prove they are journalists. However, I think that the most important sentence in Mr. Lemons article is the following:

"Of course, I don't agree with most of Lewis' votes. I certainly can understand why a Democrat would not want to vote for him."

This gives me hope that Mr. Lemons has pulled away from the "Dark Side" and will display his usual high level investigative journalism at a higher level in the future.

Whether you think that the Tea Party and the Republican Party are one in the same in Arizona or not, you have to agree that having voted over 90% of the time with the Tea Partiers does make one "bedfelllows".

Dogbiter

It's only investigative journalism if it goes your way, eh? Such idiots. And, BTW, Lemons is a columnist, which means he is paid to express opinions. The ownership of New Times has nothing at all to do with this. You better hope it hasn't gone all Fox News, because it is all you have in this state media-wise. What a bunch of sensitive sissies, democrats are. Roll with the punches, mofos!

Iron_Mane

@ExpertShot " Um, because Mr. Lemons said we should vote for Dems that show some gumption! "

Is your definition of "gumption" a party hack who misses 40 percent of his votes?

The one who has displayed "spine" is Jerry Lewis. More spine than you or Eddie has.

You're like people who watch nothing but Fox News and listen every day to Limbaugh. You want Lemons to write what you want. When he doesn't do that, you bag on him.

fairymagic13

@Iron_Mane @ExpertShot You and Lemons fell for a pretty face and warm smile from an unexpected source - a Tea Party poilcy adherent (even Mr. Lemons admits he votes in line with the Tea Party 99% of the time), nothing more, nothing less. Jerry Lewis doesn't have any more spine than the 10s of 1000s of activists and voters who, worked hard to get rid of Russell Pearce. Did you think Mr. Lewis would have run against Pearce if he didn't have the backing of all that left-wing weight behind him? NO! He would have pussied out - he had to be roped into the race for gosh sake. He didn't seek out the office on his own. He's a politician and knew on which side his bread was to be buttered - so he buttered them up

teknik

I've never had much trouble voting both sides of the ticket. I know I'm fairly left minded and I'm also a bigger socialist than Obama. However, I understand hard work and innovation and can't stand folks who try to take me for a ride. I have trouble checking the box for most of the dems I vote for also, so I vote both parties. I'm socially liberal and a fiscal conservative.

Jerry Lewis has my vote.

JoeArpaioFan topcommenter

I hope Steven Lemons catches cancer or Aids and croaks.

Dogbiter

1 Like

@JoeArpaioFan You know what, asshole, you're the one who is subject to having something bad happen to you. All that bile will eff you up.

JoeArpaioFan topcommenter

1 Like

When Romney is elected one of his first orders of business will be to dump the DREAM Act so all you Dreamers you better beware. Even Obama said it was a temporary thing.

Mary Doe

Peace! Tea-baggers kick ass at being asses. Now everybody is happy.

Mary Doe

Fine. 'Come to his defense.' Who is stopping you? Please explain the logic behind anti-choice Rep voting to defund Planned Parenthood knowing that only 3% of its operations are abortions and which do more to prevent unwanted pregnancies (which may end as abortions)than the whole Mormon Church. Is he a tea-bagger? No. Will he be used by tea-baggers or the projects like defunding PP? Of course he will.

Sande Alan Weinstein

Right....Teabaggers don't kick asss; they just make themselves look like asses.

Arizona Luke

Aint no party like a TEA Party baby! By the way, what ever happened to your precious 'Coffee Party'?, OWS?, No Labels? Oh yeah, we kicked your ass.

Wadeo

Spelling correction "German"

Wadeo

It appears the tea party has everyone's panties in a wad. Left wing politicians and writers act like the tea party adherents have no right to their political beliefs and that they should be banished from society. They attempt to marginalize those that don't follow the Socialist mantra. This is the same method a certain Germain dictator used 70 plus years ago. They are not succeeding, in fact they are losing and will lose big come Tuesday.

Iron_Mane

1 Like

@Wadeo They don't get it. It's "Vote Democrat or you're evil!" That's a child's philosophy. And if Republicans do it we get nowhere. The fact that they cannot see that Lewis is a moderate in spite of the votes they do not agree with shows you how shortsighted they are. They read Lemons but because it doesn't tell them what they want to hear hes automatically wrong.

ExpertShot topcommenter

@Iron_Mane @Wadeo Hmm- I believe that's how the Republicants got in power in Arizona and have kept it for over 30 years. NOTHING in this State can be blamed on Democrats - it was the Republicants all the way.

fairymagic13

@Iron_Mane @ExpertShot @Wadeo Yes. Does it matter if Pearce was beat by Lewis? NO! Anyone could have run and beat Pearce - BECAUSE Lewis was supported by 1,000s of volunteers who logged 10s of 1000s of volunteer hours to defeat Pearce. Lewis is not the reason for Pearce's defeat - WE ARE! We handed Lewis that seat, not because Lewis was a better person than Pearce but because he was a warm body. Lewis would not have defeated Pearce without the support of the people who opposed Pearce - Lewis did not recruit them, they recruited Lewis! Give me a friggin break. Maybe Mr. Lemons could remind us how Randy Parraz is more responsible for Mr. Pearce being defeated than Mr. Lewis was.

This whole line of reasoning is so specious - why are we even going there? Pearce was the Senate President. There are a gaggle of people, mostly Republicant, in the Senate with very similar views to Pearce. They weren't being recalled, only Pearce. Pearce was recalled because he was the Senate President and we wanted to get him the fugk out of that position. Hell, Lewis votes like Pearce did 99% of the time so we know he's no different on the majority of the issues that matter to progressives. We didn't try to elect Lewis because he and Pearce were so different, we did it because the asshat Pearce was controlling the Senate in a manner which was extremely destructive to our communities.

Iron_Mane

@ExpertShot @Iron_Mane @Wadeo Simple question: does it matter that Pearce is out of power? Yes or no.

JoeArpaioFan topcommenter

1 Like

@Iron_Mane Actually you are wrong, very wrong! Do not vote Democrat. Any vote for a Democrat is a vote for disaster. When Democrats do it we go farther into debt.

fairymagic13

@HaddieNuff @JoeArpaioFan Don't waste your fingers on JAF, he's a paid agitator for the Koch brothers and the multinational corporate plutocracy..

HaddieNuff

@JoeArpaioFan

That's not what the figures say. This is a link to Snopes which takes a look at the national debt under every president from Reagan to Obama. It's also a fairly good primer on the federal debt, and how it's figured, what it represents, etc.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/politicians/nationaldebt.asp

Iron_Mane

What big babies these libs are. You all should get fitted for diapers. Lemons is practically a commie as far as I'm concerned, but at least he has the balls to call his lib-nut buddies on their bullshit.

NotinLD26

Lewis doesn't have to do hit pieces on Ableser -- he obviously has Lemons here to do it for him.

Lewis voted against Lesko's bill so he could use it in his re-election bid as a "see, I'm not an extreme Tea Partier. I'm Mr. Moderate." excuse.

Ooooh, he voted against the Republicans a time or two. But the bottom line is that he voted FOR 11 of the 12 bills from Herrod's CAP organization. Anyone who so closely votes with Herrod is definitely an extremist, and should be voted out of office.

I think Lemons just got his fee-fees hurt when he read this post...

http://stevemuratore.blogspot.com/2012/10/hitting-nerve-7-days-until-election-day.html

Dogbiter

Nobody reads Steve Muratore. He's just a sawed-off gadfly. I agree with him most of the time, but even his sainted mom would have a hard time getting through his boring tripe.

roscoe

@Dogbiter I thought "nobody reads Steve Muratore." Are you a nobody?

Iron_Mane

@Dogbiter Muratore was great in Lord of the Rings. Can't wait to see him in The Hobbit.

Susurro_Perforado

1 Like

@NotinLD26 Let me see if I get this right: Ableser & the independent campaigns supporting him tell absurd, easily debunked lies about Lewis. Lemons points this out. And so you say that "Lemons is doing hit pieces on Ableser." Duh. What planet are you from?

NotinLD26

@Susurro_Perforado Is that the only response you could come up with? What planet am I from? I see that the Republican tactic of distract and belittle is your only reponse to what is otherwise an accurate post.

I honestly don't care who is saying what; I research the candidates and make my own decisions on who to vote for; I don't listen to political ads from either side, since they all tend to exaggerate and take quotes out of context during an election.

The bottom line is that it's Lewis' 11 out of 12 votes for CAP bills that has convinced me that he's not as moderate as he claims to be.

Susurro_Perforado

1 Like

@NotinLD26 Sounds like you're the one who's "all in" for a candidate. You can't even acknowledge or even address the validity of the actual content of the article.

NotinLD26

@Susurro_Perforado When a supposedly impartial journalist goes all in for one candidate, I would call that a hit piece.

If Lemons' wants readers to take him seriously again, he should focus some of that energy on other campaigns in this state, and not just the one his good friend is running in.

Susurro_Perforado

@NotinLD26 I was focusing on your characterization of Lemons' article as a "hit" on Ableser. Ableser should be held accountable for telling outrageous lies about Lewis. I have no problem (though I disagree with you) with your other points. Feel free to try and make your points about policy; that's what Ableser should be doing instead of lying about Lewis.

johnnyamerica837

It is ironic that Obama wants to delve into Romney's past history but has spent millions to hide his own past- He even surrendered his law license to avoid investigation- Obama is a master con-artist who preaches to the poor and tells them what they want to hear-like he and the DEMOCRATs are for them and those mean nasty REPUBLICANs are for the rich but in fact-the rich own Obama totally and spent millions to hide his past and spent many more millions in keeping his past history out of the news-media- yet not one of the (over) 60 lawsuits against Obama's eligibility to be president even got the last line of any news-paper- does this seem strange in the land of the free? Obama’s past secretive history is used as a ransom to control him- that is why gas is $4.23/gal after the USA has produced more oil than anytime in history- After the election gas will shoot up over $6.00/gal- In yesterdays paper it says that the USA produces 11.4 million barrels (per day) in oil & bio fuels while Saudi Arabia produces 11.6 million barrels. Is this a rape of America or what? The big guys who installed Obama and hid his past are into oil- Good for Trump for having the guts to tell the truth-

ExpertShot topcommenter

@johnnyamerica837 You do realize that Big Oil is dumping BILLIONS into Romney's campaign to defeat President Obama don't you? What a loser!

Dogbiter

1 Like

@johnnyamerica837 What's this got to do with this story, troll? Also you are completely full of shit!

godhatesdems

1 Like

Liberals are like old Christmas lights, half of them dont work and the other half are dim.

rhall528

1 Like

@godhatesdems Conservatives are like ostriches head in a hole and never see and learn anything that does not agree with my beliefs

fairymagic13

1 Like

Can't believe that, after all that complaining about the Dems not being able to get enough representatives elected, he's taking the ink of the Phoenix new times and sliming one in favor of a Republicant. AMAZING hypocrisy Lemons, simply amazing!

Portnoy77

@fairymagic13 this isn't the way you win people to your side:

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/bastard/2012/11/democrats_up_the_sleaze_ante_a.php

Susurro_Perforado

2 Like

@fairymagic13 UH.....all he did was call out the obvious lies by Ableser and say that lying is undignified. What's your point?

HaddieNuff

@Susurro_Perforado @fairymagic13

I have to agree with the "lying is undignified" part. It's also insulting to the voter's intelligence, and I resent the hell out of it...no matter which side is doing it.

I'm also extremely grateful to Jerry Lewis for ridding us of Adolph Satan (i.e. Russell Pearce), despite the extremely sleazy and dirty campaign against him. Still, these days it would take a lot to make me vote for any Republican. The entire party is insane, and they'll undoubtedly end up primarying Lewis eventually unless he does vote with collective Rs.

Fortunately, I don't live in that district, so I don't have to make that decision.

rhall528

@Susurro_Perforado @fairymagic13 no lies, the repugs have lied about everything and defiled every Democratic candidate. We are sick and tired of the filth the repgs have spread and if that is what it takes to bring the truth out in open then so be it

rhall528

@roscoe @fairymagic13 so what ? it seems to be OK when the drepugs do it but not when the Democrats fight back.

roscoe

@rhall528 @fairymagic13 One lie is that Ed's mail pieces were negative attacks against Jerry's character, when they were attacks on his voting record as well as the D26 Republican slate positions.

There were 2 negative mailers attacking Ed's character. accusing him of being absent, when he made 98% of the substantive votes (there are hundreds and hundreds of technical correction bills and he did get permission to to miss some of those so when could deal with family issues).

Also, Lewis misrepresented (lied?) on his FB page, stating he was the Senator of LD26 (the new district) and that he represented the citizens of Tempe and Mesa (he never represented Tempe). Also, he implied ASU Prez Crow had endorsed him, using a quote sent to a legion of senators, on a mailer and his campaign website.

Enough?

Susurro_Perforado

@rhall528 @fairymagic13 I get the general feeling you're expressing. But please give an example of one single lie Lewis has told about Ableser. Seriously--there aren't any, because Lewis hasn't even talked about Ableser, much less told any lies about him.

fairymagic13

2 Like

Look people, this state needs a Republicant in office like we need a bullet in the head. And believe me, we don't need a bullet in the head. We need to stand up to the teabaggin Republicants and say NO - you can't take away a Woman's right to privacy. NO - you can't discriminate against Latinos. NO - you can't create a Prison Industrial Complex and definately NO - you can't cut another dime from our education budget. Lewis will vote for the teaparty agenda because he has to to get re-elected. State Representative Ed Ableser will represent us a LOT better - he knows what's important and what's not (like useless votes on bills he knows will pass with or without his votes).

Portnoy77

@fairymagic13 "Ed Ableser will represent us a LOT better" 60 percent of the time

loosecannonsbluesban

@Portnoy77 @fairymagic13 That's a HECK of a lot better than electing someone who will represent my viewpoints 1% of the time. Lewis' votes reflect the Tea Party Agenda in Arizona 99% of the time.