Guests - Laurie Moore, Mark Griffith
Winn Tucson: Confronting Leftist Ideology, Crime, and Tucson's Urgent Challenges
Substitute host Dave Smith opened the program by noting Kathleen Winn and co-host Betsy were en route to the National Rifle Association conference in Houston. He used the airtime to confront the political distractions of the moment, particularly the Swalwell scandal, while insisting that real progress demands more than outrage. “You want to drain the swamp, you need votes, you need people to support your party, your party needs to follow up on what they say they’re going to do,” Smith declared. He warned against becoming transfixed by singular events and pointed instead to the visible decay in Tucson—homeless encampments lining the streets and the general deterioration that greets drivers every morning.
The Broken Windows Theory and the Ideological Roots of Crime
Smith traced the city’s crime and disorder problems back to deeper philosophical failures. Drawing on his background in criminology, political science, and sociology, he contrasted the classical school of criminology—which holds that crime is an individual choice driven by emotional rewards—with the leftist social-conflict theory that dominates law schools and Democratic thinking. Under the latter view, crime is not a personal failing but a product of systemic oppression created by the “bourgeois” power structure. Smith called this outlook dangerously simplistic and inconsistent.
He reminded listeners that the same leftists who embraced authoritarian measures during the pandemic—closing businesses, parks, and mandating vaccines—later turned against law enforcement after the death of George Floyd. “They love law enforcement until Saint George dies in Minneapolis,” he observed, “and then we have the whole BLM issue and everyone hates the police.” This flip-flopping, he argued, is not childish inconsistency but a calculated pursuit of power through bureaucracy, which he identified as the root of fascism.
Smith repeatedly cited sociologist James Q. Wilson, whose work on crime and the broken-windows theory remains the proven antidote. Wilson demonstrated that visible disorder signals a neighborhood no one cares about; fixing small problems prevents larger ones. Smith noted that Wilson’s ideas underpinned successful policing strategies like stop-and-frisk, which dramatically reduced crime until they were politically dismantled. “If you’re wearing a hoodie in the middle of Tucson at 106 degrees, that ain’t right,” Smith said, defending the commonsense practice of officers stopping and frisking suspicious individuals.
He lambasted the media for never exploring the ideological origins of policies pushed by figures like Pima County Supervisor Rahena Romero and Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva. Laws, in the Marxist framework they implicitly accept, exist only to oppress the underclass. Smith rejected this outright: crime is an individual act, and the only proven way to reduce it is consistent punishment and visible order.
A Call to Action: Reject Helplessness and Get Involved
Smith refused to leave listeners in despair. He urged Tucsonans to reject the narrative that “the social Democrats have won” and instead become active participants in their own future. “Quit griping. Act,” he said, echoing Abraham Maslow’s observation that humans are “griping creatures” precisely because they can envision a better tomorrow. Practical steps include donating to favored candidates, placing yard signs, attending meetings, and supporting Republican and independent voices. With the nation approaching its 250th anniversary, Smith called on citizens to defend the constitutional republic one local election at a time.
Activist Laurie Moore on Pima County Board Battles and Immigration Realities
Longtime activist Laurie Moore called in to share her front-line efforts at Pima County Board of Supervisors meetings. She described herself as a “party of one” who uses sarcasm, truth, and optics to reach people. One of her signature tactics is affixing large magnets to her car—one featuring a male gorilla in a bride’s dress with the caption “A male gorilla in a dress is still a male gorilla”—to spark conversations about biological males in women’s sports. “I get lots of people taking pictures,” she said, “and I’ll say, well, go take pictures, but send them to a hundred of your friends.”
Moore recounted her recent public comments at the board, inspired by Smith, in which she read Arizona’s immigration law aloud during the two-minute call-to-the-public segment. The post received over 3,000 likes on Facebook. A second statement by her friend Susie about the Mexican flag still hanging in the board lobby—and positioned higher than the American flag—also went viral. Moore argued that local officials’ allegiance to Mexico enabled the border crisis. “They could not have successfully allowed illegals to invade our border without the help of Mexico,” she stated. “Mexico did not keep illegals in Mexico. They walked them right up to our border.”
She detailed the staggering local spending: new phones, clothing, backpacks, airfare, cabs, room and board, and $5,000 cash cards issued to every migrant, none of whom were properly vetted. Moore warned that Pima County may have inadvertently funded child sex trafficking by supporting military-age men traveling with unrelated children. When federal money was withheld because officials could not account for the whereabouts of 600,000 migrants, the county still refused to track names or destinations. “They paid for everything,” Moore emphasized, “and a lot of people writing back to me are people that live in Southern Arizona in Pima County. And they will say, where’s my $5,000 check?”
Moore’s motto captures her philosophy: “Are you Paul Revere or are you sitting on your rear?” She plans to reach out to churches next, arguing they must vote their values or lose the country. “There is nothing that is more harmful to us and the people involved… to have an abortion when they can prevent a pregnancy,” she said. “Learn biology.”
Businessman Mark Griffith Runs for Tucson Mayor: A Management-First Vision
Mark Griffith, owner of Griffith Automotive and a longtime Tucson resident, joined the program to announce his candidacy for mayor. Born in Tucson and raised in Nogales, Griffith has operated in the automotive field for nearly 28 years. He and his siblings started at Precision Alignment & Brake; today his shop draws customers from El Paso, Las Cruces, Chandler, and Phoenix because of its reputation for honesty. “If you find a mechanic you trust, you know, keep him like the best dog you ever had,” Smith quipped.
Griffith described his upbringing under a World War II veteran father who instilled hard work, patriotism, and personal responsibility from age nine. He and his wife have six children, including a son who graduated high school early, trained as an aviation technician in Colombia and Phoenix, and another who enlisted in the Navy. Their daughter participates in JROTC. Griffith credited his wife with 90 percent of the home effort while he focused on the business.
His decision to run stems from daily observations as a business owner and father. Driving Tucson’s streets, he sees the same potholes that damage customer vehicles—repairs that many families cannot afford. “There’s not one street that you can’t drive on,” he said. He criticized “road diets,” bike lanes in high-speed corridors, and endless construction that kills small businesses without delivering results. “We’re putting money in the wrong places,” Griffith stated. “We’re spending money that doesn’t need to be spent.”
Homelessness remains a core issue. When the city cleared an encampment near Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, displaced individuals simply moved to washes near Griffith’s shop. The city’s response—concrete barriers and thin metal rope—proved ineffective. “I can just walk over it,” he noted. Griffith insists solutions must go beyond band-aids: proper budgeting, accountability, and management.
Public safety is non-negotiable. Tucson once boasted rapid police and fire response times. Today the department is understaffed, response times have suffered, and insurance companies struggle without police reports at accident scenes. Griffith pointed out that Tucson firefighters and officers are routinely cherry-picked by other agencies because the city fails to pay or equip them adequately. “When you make that call to 911, you want fire, you want ambulance, you want TPD to show up,” he said. “You don’t need somebody without the experience showing up.”
Griffith rejected ideological governance. “We need to be past labels,” he emphasized. “We’re human. We all have the same needs.” As mayor he would apply the same principles that keep his shop running for 28 years: the right team, disciplined budgeting, and daily presence. “If I don’t show up to my job on a daily basis, it’s not going to run right,” he explained.
He invited supporters to the campaign kickoff on April 26 at St. Philip’s Plaza at 6 p.m. and urged donations and sign-ups at markgriffithformayor.com. Even residents of Marana or Oro Valley who work in Tucson have a stake, he said: “You spend eight hours or 14 hours of your day in this city. Let’s make it a better place for all of us.”
Smith closed by praising Griffith’s track record: successful businessman, dedicated father, and manager who understands systems rather than slogans. In a city run too long by activists and grievance politics, Griffith’s platform offers a pragmatic, results-oriented alternative focused on safe streets, functioning infrastructure, and accountable government.