Come a little bit closer You're my kind of man.....

Brian Miller.
Pima County Republican Party Chairman

Brian Miller is a good man. He really is. I have met him personally and he is a man of principle, has a great family and is polite and pleasant, sincere and straightforward.

But, I am wondering if he has any discretion whatsoever.

Last year, we took the kids to a primary debate between congressional hopefuls Jessie Kelly, Jonathon Paton and Mr. Miller. During this debate, the candidates expressed why they would be the best for the job, most likely to win and their unique views. Since they held similar views, none of them really stood out based on their particular ideologies.

One candidate, Brian Miller, did stand out, but not because of his political views. He stood out because he began to rant about how Jessie Kelly's supporters were known to have been urinating on his campaign signs. He spent a good portion of his time talking about how his supporters didn't pee on signs and so, they were better people, which was somehow supposed to convince us that we should vote for him.

Why he brought this up to begin with is beyond me. The way he was unable to let the issue drop, describing in detail how he was being mistreated by Jessie Kelly's supporters, was simply absurd. I began to think that this man had no discretion at all.

Recently, members of the Pima County Sheriff's Department served a legally authorized warrant (in accordance with the constitution, state laws and department policies). Upon service of this warrant and after identifying themselves extensively, they found an individual waiting for them inside the door. When they began to enter, he pointed a rifle at them, and the inevitable happened.

Mr. Miller, in response to this, sent out an email from the party stating that we were all "______ ______", insert name of the man who pointed the rifle at the cops. He also has stated that the SWAT team murdered the man and violated a laundry list of his constitutional rights.

I understand that Mr. Miller may not agree with the practices of the department, but it shows a complete lack of sense and understanding on his part to immediately say the things he is saying. To me, this seems to confirm the conclusions I reached during the debate.

I am a registered Republican. I have long been a supporter of the party, to include being a convention delegate, helping with campaigns and the like. But I am very disappointed that the local party, through the official communique's of the chairman, would so boldly support a criminal that threatened the police and so quickly condemn the officers that acted in a hurried moment to defend themselves and their comrades. It is embarrassing.

If you have questions about this event, here are two people, on local radio interviews, giving reasonable explanations of what happened. The first is the Deputies Association president and the second is the association attorney explaining, in detail, what happened on the day in question.


SGT Joe Cameron

Mike Storie

And, let me remind you once again, that politics is not going to "fix" our society. It is not the remedy to what ails us.

Extra Credit if you figure out the reference in the title of this post.