All Aboard The Nativist Railroad!!

Looks like the few Republican candidates who weren't already riding the anti-immigrant train are looking to follow the lead of Jan "all undocumented immigrants are drug mules" Brewer and are buying tickets.

The latest is Barry Wong, a candidate for Arizona Corporation Commission. 

He has proposed requiring utilities to check the immigration status of customers before turning on power/water/etc., and denying the same to those who are unable to prove their presence in the country is legal.

It's somewhat surprising that Wong would come up with something as punitive as this.  Prior to this, he was considered intelligent, thoughtful, and hard-working.

From an AZ Republic editorial on Wong's proposal -

We don't think Wong thought this through. But in his willingness to jump on the bandwagon, he has joined the campaign to demonize illegal immigrants: If your electric bill is high, it's all their fault. It is disturbing that someone like Wong, who has had a reputation as reasoned and thoughtful, would end up playing into the current hysteria.

Even a partisan hack like me (writing two years ago during the last race for ACC) thought Wong was very conservative but that he "occasionally show[s] an understanding of issues that went beyond the usual Republican knee-jerk talking points."

Lobbyist Glenn Hamer, President and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, writing an open letter to Wong in the Arizona Capitol Times, took Wong to task for his proposal -

To say that I was shocked and dismayed to read in Wednesday’s Arizona Republic of your proposal to deny utility services to illegal immigrants would be an understatement. Your cynical attempt to ratchet up the rhetoric over immigration to score cheap political points in a bid for office marks a new low in our state’s immigration debate.

It's a rare day indeed when I agree with one of the leaders of the Chamber of Commerce wing of the AZGOP (literally, in Hamer's case! :) ), but in this instance, he is spot on.

Later...

More folks noticing Jan Brewer's penchant for fabrication

Now even Arizona's journalists, not exactly a breed known for challenging the power structure in Arizona, are calling out Jan Brewer on her rather casual relationship with the facts regarding undocumented immigrants and immigration in general.



Brewer likes to refer to herself as a "truthteller", but she has a very flexible definition of the word "truth."

Of course, that may be the recipe for winning an R primary this year.

Rep. John Kavanagh thinks that ethnic profiling is something to joke about

More than three years ago, I wrote about how LD8 State Rep. John Kavanagh (R-Fountain Hills) was little more than a polished version of Russell Pearce, only with a "New Yawk" accent.  During a 2007 community meeting, he dropped a gem of a bigoted stereotype -

After citing a (unverified) statistic that 1/5 of the residents of Arizona are illegal immigrants, he looked around the room and said "everybody in this room looks OK."

Apparently, he hasn't changed.

From the blog of journalist Terry Greene Sterling -

On June 25, in Phoenix, I was honored to participate in a panel sponsored by the Arizona Latino Media Association. The other panelists included Nancy-Jo Merritt, a longtime Phoenix immigration attorney; Antonio Bustamante, an activist and attorney who grew up on the border, and John Kavanaugh, the legislator who sponsored the House version of SB 1070, Arizona’s controversial immigration law. The panel was moderated by New Times journalist Monica Alonzo.

{snip}

At one point, Nancy-Jo Merritt noted that many of her undocumented clients are Canadians.
A spirited discussion ensued.
Rep. Kavanaugh announced that “illegals” who were Canadians could “stay” in Arizona because they have money and buy real estate.
Then he said, several times, that he was just kidding.

 Umm, yeah. 

To Rep. Kavanagh -

Either keep your day job or take some comedy classes.

Actually, just take the comedy classes.  The rest of us will work to make sure that John Kriekard unseats you in November.

Thanks to a friend for pointing this out.  It was a great catch.

Jan Brewer's new motto: "Damn the facts, full distort ahead!"

Of course, her disregard of the facts could torpedo her run at a full term as governor...

EJ Montini of the Arizona Republic published an interesting column in Thursday's paper about Jan Brewer's tendency to spout bigoted but baseless (my term, not his) stereotypes and fabricated statistics (also my term - he used "exaggerated") when discussing immigration.

The example he cited involved her saying, during a debate between the R candidates for governor that the majority of undocumented immigrants were engaged in narcotics trafficking and extortion and that they are responsible for a massive crime wave in Arizona.

As this Think Progress piece from writer Andrea Nill points out, during a period in Arizona's history that has seen an increase in undocumented immigration, there has been an actual decrease in crime in AZ.

Oops, Jan.

This falsehood was pointed out by dark horse R Matthew Jette, but to no avail.

Jan stuck by her misfiring mouth, and continued to spout the same stuff.

In Montini's piece, he began by predicting that Brewer will win the November election because of SB1070.

I'm not so sure (I know, it's not exactly shocking that a Goddard supporter would disagree with Montini's point. :) ).

While the bill was fronted in AZ by nativist demagogue Russell Pearce, she has made it hers, and by doing so, has locked up the support of a significant part of Arizona's electorate, the nativists.

*That* has all but guaranteed her the R nomination, especially since the other contenders are falling fast (Dean Martin has almost no money and won't be getting any any time soon, Buz Mills can't even get the endorsement of the NRA, and he sits on the Board of Directors of it) or never were a factor in the first place (Jette would be a legit dark horse in most other states; in AZ, however, his reasoned yet honest approach will net him less than 5% of the primary vote - Rs will consider his calling out the numbers and stereotypes spouted on the immigration issue as the equivalent of shouting "the emperor has no clothes!" and will close their ears).

However, for SB1070 to guarantee Brewer's win in November's general election, the lege should have passed it and she should have signed it in early October.

Not late April.

As it is, people will have had the time to actually understand the effect of SB1070 on *everybody*, not just those "durn Mexicans."

By the time early ballots go out in October, the law may have (and should be) blocked by a federal court because of its unconstitution overreaching.

At which point, Terry Goddard's approach of going after the cartels and hitting them where it hurts - in the wallet - a less showy but far more effective - and legal! - tactic will look good to the vast array of independent voters in Arizona.

Especially when Brewer's side of the issue is marked by neo-Nazis going on Mexican hunts armed anti-immigrant "patrols" in the desert.

Later...

In 2004, Matt Stone and Trey Parker (the creators of South Park), released a movie called "Team America: World Police."

It was an incredibly funny and profoundly filthy movie (there were a couple of scenes that if they had been shot with human actors would have caused this film to receive an "X" rating). It satirized both the supporters and opponents of the "War on Terror."

Parker and Stone took no political positions, skewering everyone from Sean Penn, Hollywood liberal (far left), to Kim Jong Il, Korean dictator (far right).

Parker and Stone, as is the case with their work on South Park, were equal opportunity offenders.

So it was with a bit of surprise yesterday when I read that the "Team America PAC" had endorsed Sam Crump in the R primary in CD3.

I wasn't aware that Parker and Stone had gotten into the PAC business and were endorsing candidates, so I was very interested to see what kind of platform they were espousing.

Turns out that "Team America PAC' has nothing to do with "Team America: World Police."

Nope, the PAC is the brainchild of nativist former Congressman Tom Tancredo. It is dedicated to supporting candidates who push for Tancredo's version of "immigration reform" (something just this side of "deport or kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out.") The organization is also a haven for people who think like Tancredo, such as Bay Buchanan and this guy.

Not a whole lot of "equal opportunity offending" there - they support candidates like Crump, Jesse Kelly (AZ8) and JD Hayworth (AZ-Sen) while decrying people like John McCain (John McCain!!) as being too liberal.

Not a lot of humor there either, I expect.

The "SB1070 supporters = Nazis" analogy is a strong one, but not an overdone one

Not by a long shot...

Many of the more vocal opponents of Russell Pearce's SB1070 (the "show me your papers" law) have likened him, Governor Jan Brewer, and the other supporters of the law to the Nazis.

Brewer finds this analogy so offensive that it caused her to stick her foot in her mouth, inflating her father's record of service during WW2 in order to bask in some reflected Nazi-fighting glow.
The analogy is such a powerful one that even Pearce himself has taken to "disavowing" any connections to white supremacists or Neo-Nazis. Of course, given his history of anti-immigrant rhetoric (Operation Wetback, anyone?), nativist legislation (SB1070 and many, many, more), and "curious" campaign activities (like emails touting a white separatist website), Pearce's protestations seem more pro forma than substantive.

Even Jewish commentators have objected to the analogy, mostly expressing the idea that the "Nazi" analogy and related rhetoric is overheated in this case and only serves to minimize the evil of the Nazis and the Holocaust.

While I understand the commentators' reluctance to give credence to the analogy (and also why Pearce and Brewer don't want to be equated to the greatest evil of the 20th, and perhaps any other, Century), it fits.

The Nazis started slowly, and legislatively, enacting a series of laws meant to demonize and isolate Jews and other "non-Aryans" from German society, economically, legally, and socially.

To whip up public support for the ever-stronger anti-semitic laws, the Nazis ratcheted up their rhetoric, blaming Jews for all that ailed Germany in the post-WWI era, economically, socially, and intellectually.

There were laws to remove Jews from Germany's civil service, restrict the number of "non-Aryans" in schools (both as students and as professors), forbid Jewish physicians from treating non-Jewish patients, and more, culminating in laws revoking the citizenship of Jews.

And that was just the start, when the Nazis were still attempting to put a civil face (of sorts) on their pogrom.

Here in 21st Century Arizona, the state's nativists, led by Russell Pearce and Jan Brewer (and Joe Arpaio and Tom Horne and Colette Rosati and Ron Gould and so many others), have trod a similar path, starting with laws restricting, underfunding, or even defunding English Language Learner classes in AZ's public schools, blocking the poor from taking advantage of public services and benefits unless they prove their U.S. citizenship first, banning ethnic studies courses, removing teachers with accents from classes, and the now-infamous SB1070 "show me your papers" law.

Now Pearce wants to follow up his recent successes with moves to deny citizenship to babies born to undocumented immigrant parents and to force the children of non-citizen parents to pay tuition to attend Arizona's public schools.

Combine that with an escalating anti-immigrant (mostly anti-Hispanic immigrant) rhetoric (like blaming undocumented immigrants for crime in Arizona, even though actual statistics show that those claims are false), such as that which resulted in demands that the faces in a mural at a school in Prescott Valley be lightened because they weren't white enough.

Update: During the writing of this piece, news started hitting the internet that the decision to force the artist to lighten the faces has been reversed. Apparently, being the epicenter of worldwide outrage over a blatantly bigoted decision was too much for the powers-that-be in Prescott. (Further background from Prescott eNews here)

The laws, proposed and enacted, and the rhetoric both demonize and isolate Arizona's immigrant community, just as the Nazis' Nuremburg and eugenics laws did more than seven decades ago.

I understand the reluctance of many observers to accept the Nazi/SB1070 analogy - no one wants to believe that their friends and neighbors (or even themselves) are capable of great evil.

And to be sure, Arizona's nativists haven't racked up the body count the way that Germany's Nazis did.

Yet.

One should remember that the Nazis were in power for more than a decade before their "Final Solution" of assembly-line efficient genocide was fully up to speed; Jan Brewer ascended to the Governor's office less than a year-and-a-half ago.

And one should not confuse "lack of time" with "lack of desire."

Supporters of SB1070 showing their true colors

From AZFamily.com -

Rallies were held for supporters on both sides of Arizona's immigration law on Saturday. The "National Day of Action against SB 1070" rally took place in downtown Phoenix Saturday morning. And the "Stand with Arizona" pro-SB 1070 rally was held at Tempe's Diablo Stadium Saturday evening.

Both events were peacful, passionate gatherings of like-minded individuals in support of their respective positions. However, a few supporters of Arizona's new immigration law were also on-hand at the anti-SB 1070 rally.

Two men carrying loaded weapons and waiving a confederate flag said they were there to support SB 1070. One man was carrying a loaded shotgun and wearing a White People's Party shirt. The other said he was a big fan of Hitler, calling him a "great White civil rights leader."

The video at the story link shows that the vocal fan of Hitler quoted in the story is someone familiar most readers of this blog - J.T. Ready, neo-Nazi and friend of the author of SB1070, Russell Pearce.

Perhaps we should judge SB1070 by what it *doesn't* contain

Much of the furor over the passage of SB1070 (and its modifier, HB2162) has been rooted in fears that the new law creates a legal cover for ethnic profiling and discrimination on the part of Arizona officialdom.

Defenders of the measure try to deflect such concerns by citing the line in SB1070 that reads -

A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL OR AGENCY OF THIS STATE OR A COUNTY, CITY, TOWN OR OTHER POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THIS STATE MAY NOT SOLELY CONSIDER RACE, COLOR OR NATIONAL ORIGIN IN IMPLEMENTING THE REQUIREMENTS OF THIS SUBSECTION EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY THE UNITED STATES OR ARIZONA CONSTITUTION.

Sounds good, doesn't it?

That clause *does* sound good, until you compare it to the other clauses in the measure, the ones that have caused so much angst across the country and across the globe.

- There are the commandments (explanation of the use of the word "shall" by David Safier at Blog for AZ here) for all police officers and other government officials, no matter their level, to enforce immigration laws and to verify the immigration status of any member of the public with whom they have contact, followed by the section that allows any resident of AZ to sue if he or she doesn't think that an official/political subdivision is enthusiastic enough in toeing the nativist line -

A PERSON WHO IS A LEGAL RESIDENT OF THIS STATE MAY BRING AN ACTION IN SUPERIOR COURT TO CHALLENGE ANY OFFICIAL OR AGENCY OF THIS STATE OR A COUNTY, CITY, TOWN OR OTHER POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THIS STATE THAT ADOPTS OR IMPLEMENTS A POLICY OR PRACTICE THAT LIMITS OR RESTRICTS THE ENFORCEMENT OF FEDERAL IMMIGRATION LAWS TO LESS THAN THE FULL EXTENT PERMITTED BY FEDERAL LAW.

There are civil fines created to serve as punishments for entitities, with the monies collected and reserved for anti-immigrant activities by the Department of Public Safety.

- There are also a myriad of felony and misdemeanor violations created for various acts and missteps by immigrants (failure to carry the proper paperwork at all times, roadside solicitation of unemployment, etc.) and anyone who attempts to aid one in any way (even taking an injured undocumented immigrant to the hospital is a crime), each of which comes with its own punishments.

So what does the measure *not* have?


Any sort of penalties for the violation of the "no profiling" clause, or for falsely arresting someone for a violation, or incorrectly deporting someone, or...


Why do I not think that this particular omission was an accident?

Jan Brewer wants to "rebrand" Arizona's image

Arizona's unelected governor, Jan Brewer, has finally realized the furor over the police-state bill that she signed into law, SB1070, won't die down. Arizona's image across the country and the world has become that of a virulently redneck place where minorities and outsiders are only welcome in our prisons and jails.

So in typical Jan fashion, she's forming a commission of business types and giving them some of the state's ever-more scarce financial resources ($250K!) to get the message out that Arizona really is a swell place to visit, gosh darn it.

From the AZ Republic article -

Acknowledging that Arizona has developed a serious image problem because of its tough new immigration law, Gov. Jan Brewer and tourism-industry leaders said Thursday that they will launch a new effort to stanch the flow of lost trade and convention business in the state.

{snip}

A new task force is charged with rebranding and repositioning the state as a unique destination spot.

That is sure to be a tough task after weeks of talk-show comedians, celebrities, politicians and others making Arizona a punch line, calling the law racist and drawing comparisons to fascism and Nazi Germany.

{snip, for the big whopper of the piece}

The governor said much of the furor is caused by what she characterized as "mistruths" about the new law.

As an example, Brewer said it has been erroneously reported that the new immigration law would allow racial profiling and that visitors can't come to Arizona without ID or they'll be arrested.

"You aren't going to be asked for ID unless you first commit a crime," she said.

To address the lie first - SB1070 contains the following section:

FOR ANY LAWFUL CONTACT MADE BY A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL OR A LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY OF THIS STATE OR A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL OR A LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY OF A COUNTY, CITY, TOWN OR OTHER POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THIS STATE WHERE REASONABLE SUSPICION EXISTS THAT THE PERSON IS AN ALIEN WHO IS UNLAWFULLY PRESENT IN THE UNITED STATES, A REASONABLE ATTEMPT SHALL BE MADE, WHEN PRACTICABLE, TO DETERMINE THE IMMIGRATION STATUS OF THE PERSON...

That section was adjusted with the passage of HB2162 with this language -

For any lawful contact STOP, DETENTION OR ARREST made by a law enforcement official or a law enforcement agency of this state or a law enforcement official or a law enforcement agency of a county, city, town or other political subdivision of this state IN THE ENFORCEMENT OF ANY OTHER LAW OR ORDINANCE OF A COUNTY, CITY OR TOWN OR THIS STATE...

Not really an improvement that. The law has gone from "arrest immigrants and tourists for asking a police officer for directions or the time of day" to "arrest immigrants and tourists for merely being in the vicinity of a noise ordinance or sign code violation (think that there will be any of those in an election year?)".

No crime has to be committed by a person for the police to demand to see their papers, they only have to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Victims, witnesses, and even completely uninvolved bystanders are at risk for arrest. And the kicker is, if the law enforcement officer understands that and doesn't demand to see the papers of everyone he has contact with, he will get sued by anybody who so desires. In short, the law is written in such a way as to condition law enforcement officers to go after everybody, even if it is counterproductive to public safety or justice.

Anyway, if Jan and her clan want to improve Arizona's image, here are a few suggestions to her from someone who is sick of starting conversations with outsiders with "Hi, I'm from Arizona, and no, we aren't all nuts" -

1. People won't boycott AZ over bigoted police state laws if you don't sign them in the first place.

Duh.

2. Quit enacting laws like the "anybody can carry a concealed weapon without training or a background check" law. Not only do outsiders think that we are bigots, they think that we are bigots who are heavily-armed and trigger-happy. And who can get our drunk on earlier than ever before.

3. Stop lying about the problem, and instead focus your energy on fixing it.

Later...

Short Attention Span Musing

Just a mish-mash of (mostly) lege-related stuff...

...Governor Jan Brewer has vetoed HB2462, Rep. Ed Ableser's proposal to rein in predatory towing companies. In her veto letter (linked above to the word 'vetoed'), she cited a few reasons she was opposed to this bill, including that she felt that it added responsibilities to the Department of Public Safety (DPS) while not funding those new activities. What she didn't cite, in the letter anyway, was the fact that Rep. Ableser is known as one of the most progressive members of the Democratic and is vocal about his positions.

Including his opposition the Brewer's proposed sales tax increase (voting closes next Tuesday).

According to sources, one of the big motivations behind the veto was Ableser's vocal opposition to the tax hike because of its regressive nature.

Now to be fair, it probably wasn't her only reason for the veto - most Ds voted against the referral of the sales tax increase to the ballot, but there have been a *few* D-sponsored bills signed by Brewer.

Still, an aroma of "payback" is surrounds this veto.

...There's also a whiff of hypocrisy surrounding it, too. In her letter vetoing the bill, Brewer also cited a concern for maintaining local control of local matters.

This the same day she signed HB2281, barring local school districts from offering ethnic studies courses to their students.

...There is a rumor that there will be yet another special session of the lege (8 and counting so far). The plan for this one, if it goes off, will be to pass some version of the Republicans' corporate bailout bill (HB2250 in the regular session).

They'll want to do this ASAP, in order to maximize corporate spending on their campaigns, but this move may be bad tactically. They should have passed this *before* passing SB1070, Russell Pearce's "show us your papers" anti-immigrant bill. If they had, their corporate tax cuts would have been lost in the uproar over their scheme to suspend Bill of Rights protections for people with brown skin.

Now, the AZ lege is under a nationwide microscope, and anything they do will be dissected.

If more of the Rs had attended last week's Project Civil Discourse Town Hall on the sales tax (only House Republican leader John McComish was there), they might be rethinking their plans.

While there was a variety of perspectives on the sales tax proposal, one thread seemed to run through all the comments, whether supporting or opposing the referendum - almost nobody trusts the legislature to handle things properly.

...The Arizona Democratic Party has come out in opposition to the calls for a boycott of Arizona over SB1070. They feel a boycott will hurt the average Arizonan, most of whom have nothing to do with the bill, and prefer to rally support and change the composition of the legislature. (my paraphrase, so if any nuances have been missed, the fault is mine)

I understand the reasoning and even would agree with it, except that this is Arizona.

Here, the Republicans refuse to hear any of the voices raised in protest to their anti-immigrant law, but they will hear (and have heard in the past) the sound of closing wallets.

Until the ADP implements a "30 District" strategy to contest every seat in the lege and sticks with it, and either gains control of one or both chambers of the lege (or at least makes the Rs learn that they can't take control of the lege for granted), the Rs aren't going to change.

As such, while I agree that a boycott will have negative effects on many Arizonans that weren't involved in the passage of SB1070, those effects will be less bad than the effects of the law if it goes unchallenged.

...It looks as if even national Republicans are embarrassed by their Arizona counterparts. In what comes as a bit of a surprise, the GOP has bypassed Phoenix and awarded its 2012 convention to Tampa, Florida.

Tampa???? Phoenix was stood up for Tampa?? Thank you Russell Pearce and Jan Brewer...

Hmmm....wouldn't it be sweet if the Democratic National Committee now decides to hold its convention here? You know that the R whackjobs would crawl out from under every rock in the Southwest to make their presence known...colorfully...in front of half the TV cameras in the known universe.

Just randomly musing... :)

...Yesterday, I got a dirty look from a signature collector for one of the three Democrats who recently jumped into the race to challenge for John McCain's Senate seat. When she approached me for a sig, I advised her that I couldn't sign the petition because I had signed another candidate's paperwork (Rodney Glassman). The dirty look came when I further advised her that she and her candidate should have begun collecting sigs months before the deadline, not three weeks before.

The sad part is that I was trying to be helpful. I think a couple of the candidates are interesting, even intriguing. However, a candidate for a U.S. Senate seat can't make the run/don't run decision on the spur of the moment, and it looks like these three did so.

May 2010 is the time to start building the foundation for a 2012 run at Jon Kyl's seat, not for a 2010 run at John McCain's seat.

Later...

Found a good way to tick off nativists

Remind them that legislators are elected to represent *all* of their constituents, not just the white ones.

Yesterday, the Arizona Republic ran an article speculating that Arizona is primed to gain one or even two seats in Congress after the 2010 Census.

Given the combination of the economic downturn in AZ, the raging paranoia of the "head for the hills, it's the Black Helicopters!" crowd in AZ, and the intimidation of Hispanic residents into not responding to the Census, I think we'll be lucky to gain even one seat, and losing one isn't beyond the realm of possiblity.

Anyway, the comments section of the article was interesting. One commenter, "WVWhiteGuy," took issue with Congressman Raul Grijalva's criticisms of the recently-enacted police state law targeting Hispanics.

I responded with -

"Grijalva's job is to represent the interests of his constituents. And even though you and Russell Pearce and the rest of the nativists may disagree, that includes the interests of constituents born with skin that is darker than lily-white."

Apparently, this concept offends a certain element of Arizona society.

The replies to my comment included pearls of wisdom and tolerance like "Grijalva thinks his constituents are Mexican nationales" and he "gives far more support to illegals than he does to ALL of his district constituents."

And in what I think is a personal record for one of my comments, the comment has received 24 "thumbs down"...and counting. :)

Ahhhh...ticking off nativists. A good way to start a week.

:)

Good news, bad news

Today was one of those days, every piece of good news was accompanied by a piece of bad news...

Good news: The Arizona legislature has adjourned sine die. It'll be another eight months (at least) before the Republicans' next all-out assault on the 4th Amendment in the name of ethnic purity "border security".

Bad news: There may be yet another special session later this year to deal with budget issues, especially if one or more budget-related referenda fail at the ballot box (sales tax hike in may, overrides of Voter Protection Act protections on voter-mandated spending in November).

Good news: It looks like Joe Arpaio will run for governor. As such, he will have to resign as Maricopa County Sheriff. Note: Arpaio says that the report saying that he will definitely run is "just speculation."

Bad news: The possibility of "Governor Arpaio."

Good news: The MLBPA (Major League Baseball Players Association) has noticed and come out strongly against Arizona's new anti-immigrant law.

Bad news: This could be the first step in Phoenix losing the 2011 baseball All-Star Game.

Later...

A busy couple of days

A mish-mash of stuff, some immigration-related, some not.

...Congressman Harry Mitchell is having an active week, what with the Senate approving his bill to block this year's automatic pay raise for Congress and the VA ducking and running from a Mitchell-chaired hearing that had been scheduled to look into the VA's lackluster efforts to address the epidemic of suicides and attempted suicides among veterans of the U.S.'s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (Mitchell press release on the matter here).

Can't wait until one of the Rs running against Rep. Mitchell tries to label reining in Congress' pay and protecting America's veterans as being "too liberal."

...In signs that Arizona isn't the only place with whackadoodle nativists (we do seem to have the highest concentration of them, though) -

- A GOP candidate for Congress wants to implant microchips into undocumented immigrants (I'm OK with this...as soon as we find a way to implant souls into extreme GOPers)

- A GOP congressman from California, Duncan Hunter (the younger), wants to deport natural-born American citizens if they were born to undocumented immigrants...because their souls aren't American enough. (I'll concede the Congressman's evident expertise on that subject of souls that aren't "American enough")

- However, there is a least one ray of sanity breaking through the cloud of bigotry that has seemed to sweep over Arizona - Sheriff Clarence Dupnik of Pima County has called the newly-enacted law "stupid" and "racist." (Probably too much to hope for, but if he moves to Maricopa County and challenges our would-be tin horn despot, I'll campaign and vote for him.)

...In a potentially scary development, and one that I hope I'm misreading and overreacting to, a co-worker of mine of Latino descent recently visited an office at an East Valley hospital and was asked for ID.

Not a big deal, except that this co-worker has been going to this office for years (literally) and was well-known to the staff there.

Even worse, this person was the only Latino in a full waiting room, and was the *only* one there asked for papers.

I've got an email out to the hospital in question. I'm hoping that this is a case of misreading the situation. As such, I'm not going to name the hospital until I see a pattern of bad behavior.

I'll update if I get a response, or if the behavior is shown to be part of a pattern.

BTW, because some nativist is going to ask: the co-worker is a third-generation Arizonan and has lived their entire life here. Not that it really matters to the nativists who are totally gaga over Arizona's "breathing while brown" law.

...It turns out that the Rs raging bigotry could cost Arizona some national influence. Not in a "Arizona will spend a decade as the nation's punch line" sort of way, but in a "they've intimidated Latinos into not responding to the Census, so Arizona won't be properly represented in Congress" sort of way.

There's more to be snarky about, but I have to head to bed.

Later...

Jon Stewart nails it...Arizona is the meth lab of democracy

Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, one of the great thinkers of his day, observed that state legislatures are the "laboratories of democracy." (New State Ice Company v. Liebmann, 1932, FindLaw cite here)

Jon Stewart of The Daily Show, one of the great wiseasses of his day, observed that "Arizona is the meth lab of democracy." (4/26/2010, video on this posting at Talking Points Memo)


Justice Brandeis offered another quote, one that the nativists should keep in mind when they take their shoes off and start pounding on the table and start screaming about "respect for the law!" (source BrainyQuote.com) -

If we desire respect for the law, we must first make the law respectable.

Of course, that won't happen in Arizona (making the law respectable) until we get some respectable lawmakers in Arizona.

Find a candidate, volunteer to help their campaign, and remember to vote in November.

"Hola officer!"

Much of the furor surrounding the enactment of SB1070, Russell Pearce's anti-immigrant police state bill, including my own, has stemmed from a worry that the language of the bill will allow/compel law enforcement officers to ethnically profile Arizona's Hispanic residents and visitors ("Where are your papers!").

Language has been put in the bill that purports to bar such profiling, but the rest of the measure was written is such a way (i.e. - saying that LEOs can stop people and question their immigration status based on "reasonable suspicion", without explicitly defining that term) as to render the language barring profiling utterly meaningless.

As such, there is a "trust" gap that has developed between the law enforcement and the non-nativist communities.

Anyone who isn't a hardcore R nativist is worried that they could be stopped at any moment by a LEO and if they aren't carrying proof of citizenship/legal entry into the US, they will be arrested.

While there are certain to be a few Arizona LEOs who abuse the new law (like those who work for Joe Arpaio, Paul Babeu, or in Chandler, for starters), most of Arizona's law enforcement officers are honest, hardworking men and women who are dedicated to serving and protecting the community.

To let them know that we appreciate what they do for us, and that we won't hold the actions of a few bad apples against all of them, when you encounter a police officer, greet them with a warm and hearty


¡Hola Officer!


This idea was inspired by something that I read on Facebook earlier today. I tried to track down the originator to give full credit, but was unable to find it again. My thanks to the originator, and apologies for not finding the original reference.

Speculation on SB1070 and its impact on professional baseball in AZ

Well that didn't take long...

Because of the huge presence of professional baseball in Arizona and Arizona's economy - the Diamondbacks and Spring Training (which most people are aware of), as well as the Arizona Fall League, Arizona Rookie League, Arizona Instructional League (less a league than a post-season version of spring training) and next year's All Star Game, I gave the MLB Commissioner's Office a call at 12:11 p.m. AZ time.

I wanted to ask them about any impact of the new anti-immigrant law here ("Hand Over Your Papers!") on MLB's plans in AZ.

After being referred to the voicemail of someone with their PR organization, I left a message identifying myself, my blog, and my question. No one has gotten back to me yet (it's only been 120 minutes at this writing, so that isn't a criticism), but within 4 minutes, by 12:15 p.m. AZ time, this blog had received a hit from, you guessed it, Major League Baseball.

The info -

Search Engine Phrase random musings
Search Engine Name Google
Search Engine Host www.google.com
Host Name
IP Address 64.95.235.19
Country United States
Region New York
City New York
ISP Major League Baseball

Anyway, while it may be too soon for MLB to have formulated a position on the new law, they probably will have to, and do so very soon.

While the impact of the law on the Diamondbacks and Spring Training may be significant (look for screaming the first time someone from MCSO stops Albert Pujols or Miguel Cabrera on the street outside of Chase Field and demands to see his papers), there isn't much that can be done over the short term, at least until MLB can figure out how to break leases and agreements. (Look for them to do so when they realize how onerous and oppressive this new law is)

The Arizona Fall League and the Arizona Instructional League shouldn't see much of a short-term impact either - Latin players who are good enough for the AFL tend to be in demand for their countries' winter leagues, and those leagues have first dibs on players from their leagues, and there are enough MLB-sponsored baseball academies in Latin America to handle instructional duties. In addition, they don't have a significant economic or cultural presence in AZ. If MLB moves those operations, only hardcore fans will notice.

The Arizona Rookie League could be a disaster in the making for MLB. It is a league for young, frequently first-year, players. A significant portion (guessstimate: slightly >50%) are 17 and 18-year old Latin players journeying out of their home countries for the first time. Many speak little or no English, and the ones that do, do so with an accent.

In others words, prime targets for dedicated Hispanic hunting squads MCSO sweeps.

Given the inroads that MLB has made into Latin American countries in recent decades (>30% of MLB players are Latin, and the number is still growing), how well will pics of their native sons languishing in one of Arpaio's cells or restraint chairs play there?

Of course, given the low visibility of the League and its players in AZ, and the open bigotry of too many of Arizona's "leaders", there won't be much of a furor in AZ, and if anything, the Pearces and Brewers of AZ will be happy at the idea of imprisoning Dominican (and Venezuelan and Mexican and so on) teenagers and will view international criticism as a source of pride.

That league, the Rookie League, starts play in late June and continues into August, well after the law is expected to go into effect (90 days after the lege adjourns for the year).

In other words, but the end of the summer, potentially a significant percentage* of the next generation of MLB players could find themselves in jail or detained by police to be grilled over their immigration status, all for daring to be born on the wrong side of a line on a map.

That leaves MLB's big club, if they choose to use it.


Next year's All Star Game, planned for Chase Field in Phoenix on July 12. 2o11.


The direct impact of the game and related activities on Phoenix's economy is expected to be in excess of $60 million, with millions more in less-direct economic impacts.

By doing this (enacting an anti-immigrant police state law) more than a year out, the nativists in the lege have created a window of opportunity for MLB to move the game if it so chooses, though it will have to be soon to allow the new site time to adequately prepare (Southern CA might be a good choice - great facilities, experience with big events, and, if MLB wants to send a message, a large Latino population).

Now we wait who MLB wants to keep happy - a few thousand nativists in Arizona, or the hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of its players and fans worldwide who don't think that Latinos, whether or not they are baseball players, should be oppressed because of their ethnicity.


*Note - There are 6 North American-based leagues that are primarily made up of first year pros - Arizona, Gulf Coast, Appalachian, Pioneer, Northwest and New York-Penn (Northwest and NY Penn tend to have college age players, the others tend to be younger). There are also MLB-sponsored summer leagues in Venezuela and the Dominican Republic, but those players tend to be 17 or younger and solely from those two c0untries. Usually, players who graduate from the Venezuelan and Dominican summer leagues move into the Arizona or Gulf Coast leagues for a season to acclimate to the United States before moving into a full-season minor league.

Why don't I think this will lessen the calls for an economic boycott of Arizona?

Should've covered this last week, but I was busy at the time the news broke (as were most of us). However, the SPLC picked it up and refreshed my memory...

From the Arizona Daily Star -

Tired of watching smugglers and other illegal border crossers walk past, the Cochise County Militia is planning to form a paramilitary squad with permission to confront them.

Bill Davis, who founded the group in 2001, said in an email to supporters Monday that the militia would be forming a "private military company."

" We will be forming a PMC - (Private Military Company) - completely legal!!! - We can be considered paramilitary, but not vigilantes, mercenaries, etc."

Probably not a coincidence that Cochise County is where Russell Pearce wants to appropriate state money to fund a "volunteer security force" to hunt immigrants (HB2162, up for final approval in the Senate today).

Anyway, calls for organizing an economic boycott of Arizona may not be necessary - between the newly-enacted laws turning AZ into a police state ("Gimme your papers!"), into a place where maniacs can carry concealed weapons without a permit, background check, or even basic safety training, and the above, the formation of paramilitary hate groups operating under the imprimatur of state approval, most potential visitors will consider AZ an unsafe place for their companies, families, and selves, and they'll reach that understanding on their own.

AZ lege's Republicans: "brown skin" equals "probable cause for arrest"

To the joy of nativists all over the country, the Arizona House of Representatives passed SB1070 on Tuesday, which if passed into law would bar sanctuary city policies, require local law enforcement officers to enforce federal immigration laws, radically lower the probable cause threshold for traffic stops, make it a crime for an immigrant to not present "their papers" to a law enforcement officer upon request (and make it grounds to detain anyone, even if they're citizens or legal residents, who doesn't have documentation until their identities are verified) and worse. (AZ Republic coverage here)

In short, Arizona is about to become the Mecca for nativists, Nazis, Klan types, and other vicious bigots who thrive on the demonization of "different."

Oh wait - they might be offended by the term "Mecca"...that's a place where some "durn furriners" hang out.

How about " Arizona is about to become the Ft. Lauderdale at spring break for nativists, with fewer babes in bikinis and more skinheads in jackboots"?

Anyway, it's hardly a new development in this country's history, though something of a disappointment.

Time for a repost of my very first post here; it's as relevent now as it was four years ago.

Unfortunately.

The post (a little rough around the edges, but it still works) -

Hi everyone! My first real post (i.e. – a post other than “test”) is inspired by something I found while doing research for a class that I am taking this semester. While what I found wasn’t useful for class, I still found it very illuminating.

I found a letter, at http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/americavotes/knownothing.html, that proves, at least in relation to anti-immigrant fervor, that not much has changed in the last 150+ years. The letter sets out the presidential campaign platform of the Know-Nothing Party, circa 1856. Here’s what it says (with the blank line at one word that I couldn’t make out):

1. Repeal of all naturalization laws

2. None but native Americans for office.
3. A pure American common school system.
4. War to the hilt, on political Romanism.
5. Opposition to the formation of military companies composed of foreigners.
6. The advocacy of a sound, healthy and safe nationality.
7. Hostility to all Papal influences, when brought to bear against the Republic.
8. American Institutions and American Sentiments.
9. More stringent and effective immigration laws.
10. The amplest protections to Protestant interests.
11. The doctrines of the revered Washington.
12. The sending back of all foreign _____.
13. Formation of societies to protect American interests.
14. Eternal enmity to all who attempt to carry out the principles of a foreign church on state.
15. Our country, our whole country, and nothing but our country.
16. Finally, American Laws, and American…..

Other than the blatantly anti-Catholic parts (haven’t heard any serious rants about ‘Papists’ since JFK was running for President), this could have been written today, with very little need to edit for modern language and concerns.

From the Minuteman Project’s website (http://www.minutemanproject.com/):

“We have seen defiance of the rule of law by foreign nationals. We have seen protests across America with disdain for American sovereignty. Defiance of the law supported by protest is outrageous to those who are lawful and proud of America.”

“It is now time to stop complaining and start reclaiming America!”

Found at http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?sid=174:

“The Mexican culture is based on deceit. Chicanos and Mexicanos lie as a means of
survival. Fabricating false IDs is just another extension of that culture ... [which] condones everything from the most lowly misdemeanor to murder in the highest levels of government." - VOICES OF CITIZENS TOGETHER
(I couldn’t find a link for a group by that name, though a Google search for that group did bring up a site for something called "Glenn Spencer’s American Patrol Report" that was full of writings in the same vein. I didn’t search the entire site for a direct quote. That stuff’ll stunt your growth, LOL.)

The parallels between the anti-Mexican rhetoric today and the anti-Irish (and, to a lesser extent, anti-German) rhetoric of the 1840s and 1850s are striking. The Mexican immigrant tends to take jobs that most Americans don’t want, particularly menial labor; the Irish immigrant did the same 150 years ago. Mexicans usually live in the same neighborhoods; so did the Irish. Both groups are/were proud of their history, and still have/had strong family ties to the “old country”. And so on… All of which is used by the anti-immigrant crowd to whip up sentiments against ‘them durn furriners’.

On the one hand, it’s scary that a country founded on immigration could harbor such hypocritically virulent bigotry toward immigrants (hey, it’s hypocritical because ALL of us have immigrants somewhere in our family tree), even today. (BTW – I’m the grandson and great-grandson of immigrants. Port of Boston, late 1800s, and the 1910s)

On the other hand, the Know-Nothings, while they had a bit of electoral success in the late 1850s, particularly at the state level, were pretty much a complete non-factor politically by the mid-1860s. Gives me a little hope that the hysteria will die down soon.

Personally, I think that it will die down on November 8th, with a strong likelihood of resurrection as a polarizing/motivating issue if the Republicans feel that they will have their asses handed to them in the 2008 elections.

Not that I’m a cynic or anything.