The Latest Sign That The Wingnuts Have Taken Over The AZ Legislature

(H/T Random Musings.)

...and plan to force their vision of a theocratic utopia

From The Phoenix Business Journal -

Peter Gentala, head attorney for the socially conservative Center for Arizona Policy, is leaving that post to become general counsel for the Arizona House of Representatives.


Mr. Gentala has long been one of the far right's shock troops in its culture war against social progress in America.

From a 2003 (I think) profile of Gentala on the website of the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) (emphasis mine) -

Drawn to ADF because of the people, Peter appreciates the opportunity to "learn the ropes of litigation from the best in the business" and has a great desire to see the legal system reclaimed for Christ. "I see myself as a sort of domestic missionary. In many ways the United States has become a post-Christian culture. The gospel still has life-changing power, but it is no longer safe to assume that your neighbors are Christians.

{snip}

Peter's personal heroes include: Dr. James Dobson "because he has been able to communicate biblical truths to the world on an unprecedented scale, he is a student of history, and he doesn't compromise." George W. Bush, "I sincerely appreciate the decisive leadership of President Bush."


The "ADF" referenced in the previous quote is the Alliance Defense Fund; more on the ADF from Media Matters for America here. Essentially, it's a somewhat less Arizona-centric version of the Center for Arizona Policy.

His law degree is from Regent University School of Law, which some readers may remember from one of the Bush Administration Justice Department's seamier scandals, the one where a number of DOJ hires with substandard academic and professional qualifications were given jobs because of their ideological purity.

His discontinued blog is here.

This move signals the intent of the Republicans in the AZ Lege to mount an all-out attack on women's reproductive rights, the LGBT community and religious freedom (other than the freedom to worship as a Christian.)

More moves like this should come down over the weeks leading up to the next session of the lege.

My favorite line from the research on Gentala comes from the profile on his blog -

Frequent visitors will find that I tend to do more linking than thinking.