Jan Brewer and failed leadership: This week's lession

Jan Brewer has staked out "border security" and immigration as her signature issue during her campaign for a full term as governor of Arizona, hence her now-infamous signing of SB1070.

She hasn't anything substantial on the matter (even SB1070 turns out to have been somewhat unconstitutional), but her speeches on the subject have been paragons of bluster and bloviating, which was likely the real purpose of the whole "sign SB1070"/"embrace the nativists" two-step.

And when she has the chance to engage is something a little more substantial than speeches as local Republican organizations, well, she doesn't.

From the Arizona Republic -

Brewer not at U.S, Mexico governors meeting

SANTA FE, N.M. - U.S. and Mexican border governors are gathering in Santa Fe to focus on border security, economic development and energy.

Gov. Bill Richardson and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are co-hosting the event scheduled to begin Sunday.

{snip}

The governors of Arizona and Texas have said they will not attend.

Contrary to the rumor circulating around the internet (a rumor that I may be starting right now :) ), she didn't pass on the conference because New Mexico has border checkpoints* to keep the riff raff out.   She didn't want to be embarrassed when she failed the literacy test by failing to correctly spell "Albuquerque."

Nope.  This conference was originally scheduled to take place in Arizona.  Some of the Mexican governors who were scheduled to be in Arizona expressed objections to SB1070 and were going to boycott the conference.  Brewer objected to their objections and cancelled the conference.

And now that they are holding it anyway, she refuses to attend, even to discuss economic issues, something that the [alleged] leader of the 2nd-poorest state in the nation should pay attention to.

Or would, if she had any "leader" in her personality.