Pass the popcorn, folks—or maybe the nachos and beer, depending on your choice of couch-side refreshments as you watch your favorite sport. For political junkies like me who prefer political sparring to sports, this looks like the first few minutes of a classic matchup.

Ed Supe Diane Douglas fired two Board of Education employees. Then Ducey reinstated them and the Board of Ed agreed, with Douglas casting the only dissenting vote. Douglas made a semi-conciliatory statement in a press conference, and some people reported that as a sign she was backing down. How they got that impression after reading her bare-knuckles press release accusing Ducey of refusing to take her calls, saying he'd created a "shadow faction of charter school operators" and claiming he was hoping for low state test scores to drive students to charters, I'll never know. Them's fighting words, not the statement of someone who's making nice.

The reinstated employees returned to work Tuesday. Douglas could have blocked the door like George Wallace when he tried to stop school integration, or she could have barred them from their computers, but she didn't. Instead, she let the board employees in, then insisted that they couldn't discuss education matters with the rest of the staff and, more important, had to report directly to her, not to the board. That's not backing down. Backing down would have been if she tried to block their way and failed. That's changing tactics in an attempt to better her position.

It turned out to be a clever tactical move, because it forced the Board of Education to react.

In a response delivered Tuesday evening, attorney Mary O’Grady, who represents the board, told Douglas attorney Steve Tully that the board has concerns with Douglas’ requests of the two employees. She emphasized that Thompson and Vazquez work for the board and that Douglas cannot direct their work in a way that undermines the board’s duties and authority.

“Just as you noted that you will oppose efforts to undermine the Superintendent’s statutory authority, the Board will also oppose efforts to undermine its authority or any failure to adhere to the Superintendent’s responsibilities to implement the policies established by the board,” O’Grady wrote.

O’Grady emphatically rejected Douglas’ insistence that Thompson and Vazquez must report directly to her.

“The Feb. 16 letter asserts that Ms. Thompson and Ms. Vazquez ‘report to Superintendent Douglas.’ No, they don’t,” O’Grady said, referencing Tully’s letter to her on Monday.

Among the many inflammatory statements in the press release Ed Supe Diane Douglas shot off after the Board of Education employees she tried to fire were reinstated by Ducey, was this line:

"Clearly [Ducey] has established a shadow faction of charter school operators . . ."

Sounds very conspiratorial, which fits with Douglas' Tea Party mindset. But here's the question. To paraphrase Hillary Clinton's assertion during the 90s: Is there a Vast Charter School Conspiracy in Arizona and around the country? Well, if hundreds of millions of private dollars spent creating astroturf groups pushing charter schools, more millions spent on election campaigns to buy candidates' loyalty and still more millions spent directly on financial support of charter schools to give them a financial edge over "government schools" amount to a conspiracy, the answer is yes. And if the troika who formed Ducey's education transition team is any indication — all very pro-charter, none of them a strong advocate for the school districts which educate 80 percent of our children — Ducey is deep in the bowels of the conspiracy.

Some charter schools are perfectly legit and are spending every dollar of their resources to educate their students the best way they know how, and doing a good job of it. But other people running charters are making a killing off the tax dollars they receive from the state to run their schools, and the moneyed and politically influential people who cheerlead for charter schools are aiding and abetting these profiteers by trying to hush up stories about the money machine and making sure the regulatory system is as weak and ineffectual as possible.

Here's one example which came to my attention through a long conversation thread I participated in on a Facebook post: Primavera Online High School (not to be confused with Primavera Foundation of Tucson. There's no connection between the two). Primavera Online High is one of those virtual schools without buildings, where students work on computers out of their homes. The student-teacher ratio is 40 to 50 students per teacher. Should online schools with half as many teachers as most other schools and no school buildings get more-or-less the same amount per student from the state as other charter schools or district schools? Well, they do, and that leaves them with a lot of money left over to play around with.

Here in Tucson, we hardly acknowledge Presidents' Day. That's why I was particularly surprised (and so, so delighted!) to hear this story on NPR on my drive to work.

They were talking about Brian Abrams' new book (with illustrator John Mathias) Party Like a President: True Tales of Inebriation, Lechery and Mischief—I know. History, booze and general mischief? Our favorites!

From NPR:

Known as the president who repealed Prohibition, Franklin D. Roosevelt fancied himself the mixologist-in-chief, Abrams says, but many of his colleagues disagreed.

"A lot of his friends and colleagues said that he was an awful bartender," Abrams told NPR's David Greene on Morning Edition. "I think that he really had a fondness for the mixology culture that was born in the Prohibition years."

Abrams says Plymouth martinis were FDR's specialty: He'd toss in interesting ingredients, such as a combined garnish of olives and lemon peels. Sometimes he added a few drops of absinthe. Guests often complained he used too much vermouth.

"There was a Supreme Court justice [Samuel Rosenman] who poured his cocktails in a potted plant almost every time," Abrams says.

FDR's "deplorable invention," according to his son James Roosevelt, was the Haitian Libation, which consisted of orange juice, dark rum, an egg white and a dash of brown sugar on the rocks. Yuck.

I mean, if FDR offered me that, I'd drink it.

NPR points out that Presidents' Day is hardly a party holiday—Well, in Tucson it's barely even a holiday. So, let's start a new tradition. When you get home from work (because I know you didn't get the day off) grab a bottle of vermouth and get creative. I'll be the one with a martini wiggling to Bad, Bad Leroy Brown.

It's a variation on the old joke. "An Arizona Republican walks into a Fox News studio. So, he says to the bartender newscaster..."

Mark Brnovich went on "Fox and Friends" on January 13 talking about Obama's executive action on immigration, and in the course of the interview he said,

"I know in states like Arizona it's estimated that 10 percent or more of the students in our public schools are here in the country illegally."

Big number, 10 percent. One in ten students. The Republic put the assertion to the test in one of its Fact Checks and gave it No Stars: Unsupported. Most probably our attorney general, whose job description, I'm guessing, includes being factually accurate, mixed up the immigration status of children with the status of their parents.

For Arizona, the [Pew Research Center] report estimates children with at least one undocumented immigrant parent make up 11 percent of the public-school population.

According to the Republic, the progressive Urban Institute puts the number of undocumented students in Arizona at closer to 2.2 percent. The conservative anti-immigration group, Federation for American Immigration Reform, puts it at about 5 percent. If Brnovich's number is twice what the mad dogs at FAIR say, that means he's got it really, really wrong.

But, you know, he said it on Fox News, so it's sure to become part of the legend repeated ad infinitum by the right. "On Fox News they said..." "Our attorney general said..." So it's gotta be true.

The DarkMatter workshop was a success—if success can be defined as evoking thought and emotion from participants. 

Entitled "Protect me from what I want: a workshop on race, capitalism, and desire," the just-over-an-hour workshop was well-focused on these topics, never getting too tangential. The queer transgender South Asian artist duo that comprises DarkMatter, Alok Vaid-Menon and Janani Balasubramanian, continuously challenged attendees to find the link among them.

Unfortunately, the group took a little while to feel comfortable sharing their deeper mediations. Just as the discussion was starting to really get interesting, the workshop was over. The short time didn't allow for full-fledged conversations about any of the topics, but rather short bursts of insight. Both Alok and Janani seemed to be aware of this, as they repeatedly mentioned that one workshop wouldn't result in everyone becoming political and social self-actualized leader activists. To be fair, the workshop had been heavily cut from the original length Alok and Janani usually run it for, per the organizer's budget restraints, I imagine.

Writing prompts with sometimes silly questions—"Describe your ideal milkshake or smoothie, with milkshake and smoothie being loosely defined"—managed to bring about spirited discussion about desires, what we like about them, and what we would want to change, which in turn led into questions about guilt, power and privilege.

[Keep reading for what Cali Nash took away from the workshop and a Q&A with one of the minds behind DarkMatter]

Man, have there been a lot of stories about Douglas firing Board of Education employees and Ducey reinstating them! It's a rock-'em, sock-'em, Republican-on-Republican cage fight with constitutional overtones. What's not to love if you're in the media?

I want to make a few observations about Diane Douglas. We pretty much know what to expect from Ducey, but unless you were looking hard for information about Douglas during the campaign, or unless you're one of those right wing supporters she talked to while she shut everybody else out, you probably don't know much about where she's coming from. My sense is, she's a lot like Pima County Supervisor Ally Miller, though a bit smarter, with some Ted Cruz thrown in.

So, a few observations about Douglas.

1. Douglas believes what she says. Douglas isn't a politician, she's an ideologue, a true believer. Her measure of what she should say and do isn't what's doable or what will help her work with others in government. It's whether it's right or wrong, based on her ideology and overall belief system. And when it comes to education, she believes Common Core is wrong, along with the high stakes tests which accompany the Core.

2. Douglas doesn't consider herself part of the Republican establishment. Douglas doesn't want to fit in with other Republicans unless she happens to agree with them. She's not a party loyalist who has a vested interest in Ducey's success. That's one reason so many Republicans broke ranks and supported David Garcia over Douglas—former Republican Superintendents of Education Lisa Graham Keegan and Jaime Molera, the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and others. They were afraid Douglas would do exactly what she's done over the past few days, and they preferred the idea of having a progressive educator like Garcia, someone who they knew would be reasonable and sensible even if they didn't agree with him, over a loose cannon like Douglas. Ducey endorsed Douglas—what else could he do?—but I'm betting in his heart of hearts, he wasn't happy with his choice.

3. Douglas will say whatever the hell she wants, whenever the hell she wants to. This is another reason why the Republican establishment is afraid of Douglas. She's willing to go all Ted Cruz on anyone she's mad at. Some of the things she said the past few days filled me with glee, like when she called out Ducey for refusing to meet with her and said he's in bed with the charter school operators and wants nothing more than bad student test scores that will move more students into charter schools—not to mention criticizing him for not pushing the legislature to pay schools what it owes them. Ducey, et al, are fine with taking statements like that from the likes of me, from Democratic legislators and even the odd Republican legislator. But from the Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction? That spells nothing but trouble.

It's been a rough week for journalism. We lost Bob Simon and David Carr. Brian Williams' life is kind of a mess.

And Jon Stewart is breaking our hearts and leaving the Daily Show. Looking forward, it's tough to imagine the Daily Show without Jon Stewart. He's been such a huge part of our culture since I was a child—so huge, I only seem comfortable saying his name in its entirety.

Two summers ago, John Oliver and his Danger Dance showed us that the Daily Show can be damn good with a different host. But it's pretty unlikely Oliver will be stepping into that seat again. Recently, when Stephen Colbert abandoned his Report, Larry Wilmore and the Nightly Show brought the first black host to late night TV.

Now, it's time to bring a female voice to the late night scene.

From Huffington Post:

There are exactly ZERO women hosting late-night TV shows right now. Despite the significant amount of recent late-night turnover — James Corden is succeeding Craig Ferguson, Stephen Colbert's exit to take over for David Letterman made way for Larry Wilmore, Seth Meyers took over for Jimmy Fallon, and Jimmy Fallon replaced Jay Leno—not one woman has been included in the shuffle. It looks as though NBC will actually air a sitcom about a woman in late-night before they hire a woman for late-night programming.

This egregious gender gap has nothing to do with a lack of talented women out there. (Jessica Williams! Samantha Bee! Kristen Schaal! Aisha Tyler! Lizz Winstead! Amy Poehler! Tina Fey! Sarah Silverman! Ellen Degeneres! Mindy Kaling! Kristen Wiig! The list goes on... and on... and on.) I've lost count of the number "___ People Who Could Replace ____ Who Aren't White Men" lists that have been published over the last few years, so clearly there are plenty of awesome potential choices.

Man, all of those suggestions sound great, but Jessica Williams and Samantha Bee are my top picks. They're both frequent, smart contributors to the show, and they're hilarious.  

Jessica Williams might be too new to the Fake News scene, but I've been a big fans of hers since her first show when she announced she had left college to join the Daily Show. Amusingly, a Hot Tub Time Machine 2 clip dated 2025 shows Williams as the new Daily Show host (and gives me hope for the future of a Jennifer Lawrence/Meryl Streep biopic called "Streepin' it real.")

Meanwhile, I can see hilarity and gender role hijinks if Samantha Bee takes over the hosting seat and has her husband Jason Jones remain a lowly (but beloved) Daily Show correspondent.

Who can best help the Daily Show succeed after Jon Stewart jumps ship?

Radio host John C. Scott is dedicating his entire radio program Thursday, Feb. 12 to help Habitat for Humanity Tucson raise funds for its work to end poverty housing.

Scott is having several guests come by during his live show from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., where they will discuss Habitat's work and why people should support it. Among the guest voices will be Habitat's CEO T. VanHook, who will be co-hosting that afternoon. Other guests include Capt. George Rodriguez of the Tucson Police Department South Division, who will talk about the community building he has seen take place in the Copper Vista neighborhood in the Drexel and Campbell/Park area, where Habitat has been lending its helping hands building affordable housing.

Habitat for Humanity builds and renovates houses for low-income families and veterans, as well as fix up schools and other facilities in low-income neighborhoods. This happens locally, nationally and internationally.

The radio fundraiser this week is for the Tucson area only, of course.

Tune in on 1210 AM or stream it online on PowerTalk1210.com, Thursday Feb. 12 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The BBC Pop Up crew left us behind at the beginning of the month, but the last of their Tucson coverage has still been been rolling out. This is what they told the world about Tucson:

We may have left Arizona, but that doesn't mean we've forgotten about this place! A timelapse from the #GrandCanyon. https://t.co/aj5mhgzWMp

— Benjamin Zand (@BenjaminZand) February 4, 2015

What a crazy week. Sadly, we've now left Tucson. I will remember it as the city of orange trees & beautiful sun sets. pic.twitter.com/knJcpOG5cB

— Benjamin Zand (@BenjaminZand) February 1, 2015

If you want to keep up with the crew on the next leg of their journey, you can do so all over the Internet. 

At the end of January This American Life, my favorite NPR program, produced a show that I think everyone allowed on the Internet should have to listen to.  

I found this particular episode through a piece Lindy West, the woman running the first segment, wrote for the Guardian. West is a feminist, body positive writer who gets a lot of hate for doing just that. One day, amongst the piles of harassment, she found an a tweet purportedly from her dead father. 

The name on the account was “PawWestDonezo”, because my father’s name was Paul West, and a difficult battle with prostate cancer had rendered him “donezo” (goofy slang for “done”) just 18 months earlier. “Embarrassed father of an idiot,” the bio read. “Other two kids are fine, though.” His location was “Dirt hole in Seattle”

West blogged about the horror of seeing her dead father's face attached to the account with one of her trolls, and the guy behind the account got back to her, apologizing for acting like a terrible human. In the This American Life episode, they talk on the phone for the first time.

For the most part, our commenters here on the Range keep it in line—I recently spent an afternoon clearing out years of reported comments. Ya'll aren't so bad. But I think it's a good thing to remember, no matter where you're off commenting. The Internet can give you anonymity, but it's still okay to behave like it doesn't.