🎤 Media Mayhem: Andy Biggs and Dan Shearer's Tucson Showdown
When politics and media collide, expect sparks and stark revelations.
Based on the Wake Up Live with Chris DeSimone for 2/12/25.
🙊 Notable quotes from the show
"We're going to basically harvest the medical data of everyone in the United States and then run it through AI" - Libertarian discussion about Project Stargate
"They're literally telling you it's half of a penny" - Christopher DeSimone on Prop 414
"We have a chance to actually make some changes in the state" - Andy Biggs on his gubernatorial run
"When seconds count, emergency services are a couple of minutes away in this town" - Alisa Abrams discussing 911 center failures
👥 People of Interest
Christopher DeSimone
Host of Wake Up radio show
Memorable for his passionate critique of local taxation
Quotes: "They're literally telling you it's half of a penny"
Andy Biggs
U.S. Congressman
Announced gubernatorial run
Known for heated exchanges and conservative policy positions
Quotes: "We have a chance to actually make some changes in the state"
Dan Shearer
Green Valley News Editor
Highlighted for challenging political narratives
Famous for confrontational interview style
Tara (Libertarian)
Local activist
Investigated TUSD conflicts of interest
Raised concerns about AI and school district management
Peter Norquist
Libertarian Party member
Discussed Project Stargate and government overreach
Ravi Shah
TUSD clerk
Involved in potential conflict of interest controversy
Katie Hobbs
Current Arizona Governor
Criticized by Andy Biggs for her leadership
Tim Shah
Former spouse of Ravi Shah
Involved in TUSD contract controversy
Additional potential subjects of investigation include local tech projects, municipal governance, and the intricate web of local political connections.
😽 Keepin’ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
👧🏾✊🏾👦🏾
📻 This story is about a big debate on the radio between a journalist named Dan Shearer 📰 and a politician called Andy Biggs 🏛️. They talked about how news and politics mix in confusing ways 🤔. Sometimes politicians try to control the story, and journalists try to tell the real story 📢. But things got heated 🔥, like when teachers argue about what should happen in school 🏫. It's a bit like when you want to watch one show on TV 📺, but your friend wants something else, and you have to find a way to agree 🤝.
🗝️ Takeaways
🎤 Media Dynamics: Dan Shearer challenges the local conservative media echo chamber.
📰 Journalistic Integrity: Shearer criticizes the media's submission to political power.
🤯 Political Theater: Andy Biggs' performance highlights fragile political masculinity.
🚩 National Issues: Discussion reveals manipulation of media access under Trump.
🏛️ Power Plays: Revealing how political figures aim to control narratives and perception.
📉 Institutional Failures: Critiques of the Tucson Unified School District's systemic problems.
💰 Economic Debates: Proposition 414 coverage showcases typical conservative economic narratives.
🚑 Emergency Response Critique: Alarm raised over Tucson's failing emergency systems.
Desert Dispatch: Unmasking the Conservative Echo Chamber of Tucson
¡Ay, Dios mío - another morning of conservative verbal gymnastics served up hot and steaming from the KGVY studios. On February 12th, 2025, Wake Up with Christopher DeSimone transformed local airwaves into a conservative carnival of half-truths, performative outrage, and municipal mud-slinging.
[Internal monologue: Another day, another opportunity to dissect the machinery of local power that continues to grind down our community's most vulnerable.]
Picture the scene: A predominantly white, male panel of local media and political figures, each competing to out-conservative the next, while completely missing the lived experiences of Tucson's working-class residents, immigrants, and marginalized communities. It's not just a radio show - it's a masterclass in systemic gaslighting.
🎤 Dan Shearer: The Local Journalist Caught Between Integrity and Irrelevance
Dan Shearer, editor of Green Valley News, epitomizes the local journalist struggling to maintain relevance in a media landscape rapidly being consumed by algorithmic rage and partisan echo chambers. [Whispers to self: Is he a truth-teller or just another gatekeeper?]
Media Autopsy: Dissecting the Dying Legacy Press
Shearer's most revealing moment came during a candid discussion about media's existential crisis. His words dripped with a mixture of defensiveness and nostalgia:
"We are not dying. We're struggling, but we're not dying."
[Internal commentary: Oh, honey. The struggle is real, but so is the irrelevance.]
The real meat of his critique emerged in his nuanced takedown of national media dynamics. He specifically called out the problematic relationship between media, political power, and access. When discussing Trump's press conferences, Shearer didn't just critique - he anatomized the entire performative dance of political communication.
The Trump-Media Tango: Petty Power Plays Exposed
[Internal eye roll] Just when you thought media criticism couldn't get more meta, Dan Shearer dropped a journalistic truth bomb that cut through the typical conservative media narrative.
The scene: A recent Trump press conference that wasn't just a press event, but a masterclass in petty political theater. Shearer zeroed in on a microscopic yet revealing detail that speaks volumes about power, media access, and presidential ego.
"Yesterday's news conference, he kept the Associated Press out. The reason he kept them out is because they are declining in their style book to use the term 'Gulf of Mexico'."
[Muttering] ¿En serio? A national news organization gets banned from a presidential press conference over a geographical terminology dispute?
Shearer didn't mince words, calling it "flat out wrong" and "not very presidential." He emphasized the significance: the Associated Press is "arguably the most important media organization in the country." Yet here we are, watching a former president play linguistic whack-a-mole with professional journalists.
[Internal monologue: This is what happens when fragile political masculinity meets editorial style guidelines.]
The most telling moment came when Shearer articulated a crucial media dynamic:
"The people you see in front of him, that's not the whole show. Sometimes he is axing people and he's done this before."
Translation for the cheap seats: What you see isn't the full story. Power isn't just about who's in the room - it's about who's been deliberately excluded.
Christopher DeSimone attempted a both-sides defense, arguing that "a plethora of mainstream media outlets" still got to ask questions. [Sarcastic Spanish whisper] "Ay, claro, porque eso hace todo mejor."
But Shearer wasn't having it. [Chef's kiss] Sometimes, local journalists remember their actual job is holding power accountable, not just performing neutrality.
The real story isn't about the Gulf of Mexico. It's about how easily democratic access can be manipulated by a tantrum with a press pass. ¡Basta ya!
🇺🇸 Andy Biggs: The Gubernatorial Hopeful's Performative Political Ballet
Congressman Andy Biggs arrived with the swagger of a politician who believes his own press releases. His gubernatorial announcement was less a policy platform and more a conservative greatest hits compilation.
Border Hysteria and Economic Fairy Tales
Biggs's talking points read like a MAGA Mad Libs:
Border security (read: continued criminalization of migration)
Economic development (translation: tax breaks for corporations)
School choice (code for dismantling public education)
[Muttering in Spanish] "Ay, otra vez con estos cuentos."
"We have a chance to actually make some changes in the state," Biggs proclaimed, his voice dripping with messianic certainty.
The most telling moment? A heated exchange with Dan Shearer that revealed the fragile ego beneath the political performance. [Internal eye roll] Men and their power dynamics - always predictable, never profound.
💥 Political Thunderdome: When Local Media Meets Political Power
[Internal monologue: ¡Ay, Dios mío!] Just when you thought local political discourse couldn't get more performative, Dan Shearer and Andy Biggs decided to turn a radio show into a testosterone-fueled debate that would make C-SPAN blush.
The Inspector General Showdown: A Masterclass in Bureaucratic Chest-Beating
The battle began with a seemingly dry topic - the firing of inspectors general - but quickly escalated into a verbal cage match that exposed the razor-thin veneer of political civility.
Shearer, channeling his inner investigative journalist, came out swinging:
"He broke the law. He broke the law."
[Whispering to myself] "Somebody call the political burn unit."
Biggs, not one to back down, responded with the practiced condescension of a career politician:
"Dan, you're citing a law that is when you go through the ethics board that makes a recommendation, then they have to give 30 minutes when it goes to the board. You're not citing the law accurately."
[Internal commentary: Nothing says "I'm right" like mansplaining legal minutiae on live radio.]
The tension ratcheted up faster than gentrification in a historic neighborhood. Biggs accused Shearer of "acting like a child" - a classic move when your argument is thinner than a developer's environmental impact statement.
The OSHA Pivot: When Deflection Becomes an Art Form
The argument escalated to the point where Biggs accused Shearer of "acting like a child" and Shearer suggested Biggs was blindly following Trump.
When Shearer tried to bring up another topic (OSHA), Biggs attempted to deflect, leading to this exchange:
Shearer: "Why don't we talk about your plan to kill OSHA?"
Biggs: "Let's talk about OSHA, Dan."
[Muttering in Spanish] "Ay, estos hombres y su poder."
Christopher DeSimone, playing the reluctant referee, described the exchange as "Mommy and Daddy fighting" - because nothing says mature political discourse like a dysfunctional family metaphor.
The Deeper Truth: Power, Performance, and Political Theater
Beneath the posturing, a critical moment emerged. Biggs defended the firings with a classic bureaucratic dodge:
"I haven't seen what their predicate was, but we do know that there were inspectors general who were abusing their power."
[Internal eye roll] "Ah yes, the classic 'trust me' defense of political power."
¿Y Ahora Qué?
What we witnessed wasn't just an argument. It was a microcosm of our broken political system - where ego, power, and performative outrage matter more than substantive change.
[Sighing in Spanish] "Otra vez, el circo continúa."
The real losers? Not Shearer or Biggs. It's the community watching this political theater, desperately hoping for actual representation.
🗽 Libertarian Wild Ride: Conspiracy, Concern, and Controlled Chaos
Peter, Tara, and Ken brought a delightful chaos to the show - part investigative journalism, part X-Files fan fiction.
Project Stargate: When Conspiracy Meets Technology
Their deep dive into the alleged $500 billion AI project was chef's kiss - a perfect blend of legitimate concern and speculative fever dream.
"We're going to basically harvest the medical data of everyone in the United States and then run it through AI,"
[Internal monologue: Is this dystopian surveillance or just another Tuesday in late-stage capitalism?]
The discussion touched on critical issues of data privacy, medical ethics, and technological overreach. Gracias a Dios someone is paying attention, even if their methodology is... let's say, unconventional.
🏫 TUSD: The Continuing Saga of Institutional Failure
The Tucson Unified School District segment was a masterclass in bureaucratic dysfunction:
AI implementation that feels more like tech performative activism
Potential conflicts of interest that would make a corruption investigator weep
Continued systemic failure in serving our community's most vulnerable students
[Sighing in Spanish] "Otro día, otra decepción."
💰 Prop 414: The Sales Tax Shell Game
The show's critique of Proposition 414 revealed the classic conservative playbook: frame economic policy as a burden on "working people" while conveniently ignoring how corporate welfare actually destroys community infrastructure.
"They're literally telling you it's half of a penny," DeSimone ranted, his outrage a performative dance of economic pseudo-populism.
[Internal commentary: Watch the shell, not the pea, folks.]
🚨 911 Center: A Microcosm of Municipal Incompetence
Discussions about Tucson's emergency response system painted a damning picture of institutional breakdown. Response times measured in hours, not minutes. Systemic failures that quite literally can mean the difference between life and death.
[Whispering to the universe] "Is this governance or organized neglect?"
Final Provocation: ¿Y Ahora Qué?
As another morning of conservative commentary fades into the Arizona heat, we're left with more questions than answers. But isn't that the point of true journalism? Not to provide comfort, but to provoke thought.
Suéltalo, Desert Warriors!
How does Project Stargate represent the next frontier of technological colonialism?
In a system designed to protect capital over community, who truly benefits from propositions like 414?
When our emergency systems fail, who pays the real price?
Drop your truth bombs in the comments. Estamos vigilantes - we're watching, always watching.
Hasta la revolución, mis compañeros críticos.
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My only comment is on the typos re: Ravi SHAH ( Shaw is the GOOD board member) and he is indeed the clerk, the one who cannot read a less than 3 minute CTA in less than three minutes depending on who it comes from….