Maybe Jan Brewer Sounded Like A Lunatic During Her Debate Because It Runs In The Blood

Digby hipped me to the uncanny resemblance between so many Arizona GOP women and Tim Burton's horrific vision of mankind's enemies

You may have read that Arizona's accidental governor, dingbat Jan Brewer, has made a firm decision. She will not, under any circumstances, participate in another debate between now and the November election. If you don't understand why-- or if you want more of a specific answer than "Republicans don't have anything to offer that goes over well with the general public"-- take a look at the segment Rachel Maddow did the other day; it's fairly self-explanatory:



In fact, the only reason Brewer stumbled into-- let alone through-- the first catastrophic debate was because, according to her campaign, she wouldn't have qualified for the more than $1.7 million in public campaign funding if she didn't debate at least once. Instead, for the remainder of the Inferno State's campaign, she will just speak directly to fellow racists, irrational loons and bigots via Hate Talk Radio and the Republican Party's Fox News.

Brewer said she has been in elective office for 28 years, and Goddard has held office for nearly that long. "I think it's pretty defined what he stands for and what I stand for."

Anyway, Brewer said, she believes the debates help Goddard more than they benefit her.

"Why would I want to give Terry a chance to redefine himself?" she said.

Brewer conceded that her performance in Wednesday's debate, and her refusal to answer a question from reporters afterward, was not well-handled. That includes an opening statement when she lost her train of thought and went silent, and walking away after the event rather than answering questions about her prior statements about headless bodies in the desert.

Brewer blamed part of her post-debate activities on her gaffe in her opening statement. The governor also said she presumed reporters would want to talk to her about some of the issues raised during the hour-long, televised debate.

"All you guys were doing and talking were beheadings, beheadings, beheadings," the governor said. "That is something that has stuck with you all for so long, and I just felt we needed to move on."

Some people who watched the video of Brewer self-destructing before, during and after the debate think it may be because she had Ronald on her mind. No, not Ronald Reagan, Ronald Brewer, her criminally insane son. In fact, she could be feeling guilt pangs for allowing vital services to the mentally ill fall apart on the alter of the budget cuts she was trying to brag about during one of her brain freezes. Or maybe she was feeling distracted and guilty about something else:

Ronald Brewer, 46, is not just mentally ill. He was deemed criminally insane in 1990, following a July 1989 arrest and subsequent indictment for the sexual assault and kidnapping of a Phoenix woman. According to a Phoenix Police Department report dated July 29, 1989, Brewer, then an unemployed 25-year-old, forced his way into a woman's apartment on West Indian School Road and threatened to hurt her "real bad" if she didn't engage in sexual acts, including performing fellatio.

According to a police interview with the victim, the entire ordeal lasted "approximately 20 minutes. During the assault, she feared for her life and thought the suspect was going to kill her if she did not cooperate."  

Those details are not available for public inspection at county Superior Court-- even though in a typical criminal case, they probably would be. On January 9, 2009, Superior Court Judge Pendleton Gaines sealed the entire case file at the request of Ronald Brewer's attorney.

On December 1, 2008, President-Elect Barack Obama nominated then-Governor Janet Napolitano to be the head of Homeland Security. Her successor? Secretary of State Jan Brewer. Brewer assumed office as governor on January 21.

The timing is curious.

This marked the first time that Ronald Brewer's entire file was sealed. Previously, his mental-health files were sealed, which is typical. Criminal cases are rarely sealed, and then, only parts of such a case would usually be kept from the public.

I wonder if he votes.


UPDATE: Very Iffy

Today, after making a monkey out of herself in full public view, Brewer has pulled back from her beheadings mania: "That was an error, if I said that," she said, flatly... very flatly. Welcome to Jan Brewer's dark, dark world! If I thought she would make Joel-Peter Witkin the official state artiste I might consider lending her some support. But, although he certainly captures the little that's in her head, I suspect he's not her, pardon the expression, taste. She strikes me as a more... classical gal.