Republicans: "Damn the facts! Full speed ahead!"

Probably not surprising given how enthusiastically, and violently, that most Republicans have embraced Cheeto's Big Lie about the 2020 election.

The latest thing that has been debunked but that Rs have embraced is the idea the the Biden administration intends to pay immigrant families that were "separated" by the previous presidential administration.

In a word, the idea is garbage.  Rs know that, but they have their talking point and are running with it.

The latest example of this is H. R. 5854, a bill introduced in Congress by a Trumpkin member of Congress and cosponsored by most of the R caucus (including ALL R members of the Arizona delegation to Congress).

Of course, AZ's Debbie Lesko wanted to independently assert her own fealty to Cheeto and lies, and did so by introducing H. Res. 768, condemning the Biden administration for paying immigrants, and other things.

Adam Kwasman mistakes bus full of YMCA campers for children fleeing violence in Central America. Goes full weasel when the truth is pointed out.

Edit, and an apology, on 7/23/2014 -

It has been pointed out to me that the story that serves as the basis of this post was done by Brahm Resnik, not William Pitts, as I originally wrote.  The name has been corrected.  

My apologies to Brahm Resnik, and William Pitts also - both do some great work and merit proper credit for their work.

End edit...

Adam Kwasman, a candidate for the Republican nomination in CD1, journeyed to Oracle, Arizona on Tuesday.

He was there to participate in a protest over immigration (OK - a bunch of nativists got together to try to scare some children who are refugees from rampant violence in Central America.  They heard a rumor that some of those children would be bused to a facility in Oracle and got their hate on) when a busload of children came by.

He moved in to let the children know what he thought of children fleeing violence.  He even tweeted about it (courtesy Arizona Republic) -

He left shortly thereafter and drove to Phoenix.

While there, Brahm Resnik, a reporter from KPNX (Phoenix channel 12) interviewed him briefly.  Kwasman doubled down on his "abrogation of the rule of law" theme from the tweet.  He was droning on and on about how scared and sad the children were.

Until he took a breath, and Resnik took the opportunity to inform Kwasman that his busload of "immigrant kids" was actually busload of "YMCA camp kids".

Kwasman's response?

"They were sad too."

Full video of Kwasman's weasel moment -

BrewerCare Body Count: 2

From the Arizona Senate Democratic Caucus (the full story is at the Arizona Guardian, but that's behind a subscriber firewall) -

Today, University Medical Center in Tucson has confirmed that a UMC patient, who was awaiting a transplant, but was refused the life saving procedure because of Republican budget cuts, has died.


“It’s time to put politics aside and restore the transplant funding,” said incoming Senate Minority Leader David Schapira. “Gov. Brewer and the Republican leadership at the legislature need to join us and take immediate action to fix their mistake. Failure to restore this funding is a death sentence for people who have committed no crimes.”

So what are Brewer and company doing while people are dying?

...Giving out medals to commemorate her inauguration, while ignoring public records requests seeking information about the cost of those medals and the rest of the inauguration-related costs...

...Trotting out legislation attacking brown-skinned babies...

...Preparing for a high-dollar fundraiser in Paradise Valley, where almost the entire directory of Arizona lobbyist will pay $250 or more for the (dubious) privilege of cozying up to Senate President-elect Russell Pearce...

...Balancing the state's budget...oh, wait, that's the one thing that they *aren't" doing...

How many have to die before they are sated?

BTW - some readers may think that last sentence is too much, but it's a lot milder than what I originally typed -

Jan and her clan - rolling back Arizona's population growth, one poor person at a time.

Tennessee legislator calls children of undocumented immigrants "rats"

...and to the surprise of absolutely no one, he's got a LOT in common with Arizona's own Shadow Fuhrer, State Sen. Russell Pearce (R - National Alliance).

From Tennessean.com -

State Rep. Curry Todd, a Col­lierville Repub­li­can prob­a­bly best-known in these parts for his spon­sor­ship of gun leg­is­la­tion, is the hit of the Inter­net today after a clip of a leg­isla­tive hear­ing Wednes­day was posted in which he com­pared ille­gal immi­grants to mul­ti­ply­ing rats.


Todd made his remark after being told by Cov­erKids admin­is­tra­tors that they could not require women to pro­duce proof of cit­i­zen­ship before receiv­ing pre­na­tal care because their unborn chil­dren would, by law, be con­sid­ered Amer­i­can cit­i­zens. Todd appeared upset over the opin­ion, mum­bling that it meant “they can go out there like rats and mul­ti­ply then, I guess.”

Hmmm....

Such a perceptive and insightful observation!

Surely he can't have anything in common with our very own Russell???

...Like sponsoring anti-immigrant bills that would let any resident of the state sue a state agency or political subdivision (municipality, county, etc.) that they feel isn't sufficiently energetic in toeing the nativist line?

...Like sponsoring bills (and here) that would require proof of citizenship, with specified forms, of all people registering to vote, whether or not they were financially able to obtain the specified forms (Note: a similar law in AZ was recently found to be illegal by a federal appeals court)?

...Like sponsoring bills that are nothing more than love letters to lobbyists, easing rules regarding reporting requirements, increasing the allowable values of bribes "gift" to legislators from lobbyists, and reducing the number of lobbyists who have to register as lobbyists, even though they engage in professional lobbying activities (here, here, and here).

...Like sponsoring bills that allow/encourage the carrying of guns in bars.

...Oh wait.  Russell Pearce has done all of those, often before his counterpart in Tennessee did so.

Well, there can't be any other similarities, right?

....Like being involved with the Corrections Corporation of America (accepted campaign contribution 10/14/2010 and 11/24/2009 in the amount of $500)

...Like being involved with the American Legislative Exchange Council - Todd is listed as ALEC's state chairman for Tennessee and is a member of its national board of directors (he also paid $1000 out of his campaign funds on 4/23/2009 for "dues/subscriptions" for the ALEC Convention and $175 on 12/27/2006 to the ALEC Convention under the heading of "conference.")

Note: details on the Pearce/ALEC/CCA ties here and here from NPR.

Who am I kidding?  They're peas in a pod; they've even got the same mush-mouthed speaking style.

There are probably even more similarities, but the Tennessee legislature's website absolutely sucks for searching bills by the name of the sponsors.

Maybe during last week's "Over/Under" post, I should have added a line about "Percentage of American state legislatures that will be caught up in the Pearce nativism pandemic in 2011:  70 percent"...

It's getting Ugly out there...

As we approach Election Day, any Republican facade of civility is sloughing off in the heat of the races.

Witness recent developments:

- A conservative astroturf group, "Latinos for Reform" released a Spanish-language TV spot that attempted to suppress Latino voter turnout...

- GOP/tea party operatives are running voter suppression efforts in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, and elsewhere that are specifically targeted at Democratic-leaning minority communities...

- Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce (R-National Alliance) has announced his latest effort to inflict his vision of ethnic purity on America - he's targeting the 14th Amendment and its provision that grants citizenship to children born in the USA.

It won't succeed, and I suspect Pearce knows that, but it keeps the conversation on a topic that the Rs think they can win on - demonization of the "other" - and may provide the fading Jan Brewer an SB1070-like bump at the polls.

- A Pearce clone in Florida, State Rep. William Snyder, has proposed a version of the infamous SB1070, one that carves out an exemption for white people in the form of a presumption that anyone from Canada or a "visa waiver" country is in the U.S. legally. 

The vast majority of the countries that are part of the visa waiver program are European; none are Latin American.

- Then just yesterday, Congressman Raul Grijalva's Tucson office was shut down and evacuated after someone sent it a swastika-covered package containing a toxic substance.

Lies, hatred, threats of violence - the Rs are pulling out all the stops this year, and the only way to stop them is to urge your family, friends, and neighbors to stand strong for their community against the Republicans, their contempt for civility, and their fear-mongering.

Everybody who can vote, *should,* and they should be able to exercise their rights free from intimidation and fraudulent attempts to stifle their participation America's political process.


Note:  The Arizona Humanities Council will present a screening of the documentary 9500 Liberty on Tuesday evening at the Arizona Historical Society Museum in Tempe.  9500 Liberty covers the effects (and failure) of an SB1070-like law in Prince William County, Virginia.

Details:

Tuesday, October 26, 2010


6:00-8:00 pm

Arizona Historical Society Museum

1300 N. College Avenue

Tempe, AZ 85281
 
 
Later...

Jon Kyl: Republican campaigner-in-chief

I don't like Jon Kyl - his politics are repugnant and he is far more interested in protecting the interests of Big Business than in protecting and representing the his constituents, the people of Arizona.

However, that doesn't mean that anyone should discount his intelligence or political acumen.

He knows that the one issue that the Rs can win on this fall is immigration, and as long as the average American is distracted by undocumented immigrants and not paying attention to the Republicans' efforts to obstruct an economic recovery for the middle and working classes, cut taxes for corporations and the wealthiest Americans, to foment a full-fledged return to the disastrous Bush-era policies that created the mess that we're in, they stand a very good chance of gaining control of one or both chambers of Congress in November.

So the following story in the Arizona Republic should come as no surprise -

U.S. Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl on Sunday expressed support for hearings on the 14th Amendment's guarantee of birthright citizenship to U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants.

{snip}

"Well, actually there is a constitutional provision in the 14th Amendment that has been interpreted to provide that if you are born in the United States, you are a citizen no matter what," Kyl, R-Ariz., said Sunday on CBS' Face the Nation. "Now, there are limitations on that. For example, for the children of diplomats and so on. So the question is, if both parents are here illegally, should there be a reward for their illegal behavior?"

The quote from Kyl came Sunday on CBS' Face The Nation.  CBS News coverage of Kyl's appearance here.

The part of the Constitution under attack from Kyl (and Russell Pearce, and the rest of the nativist of the GOP) is the first clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which reads -

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

In his appearance on Face The Nation, Kyl alluded to the fact that the amendment doesn't apply to those, such as diplomats, who are immune to (not "subject to the jurisdiction" of) American laws.

Since the ability of Joe Arpaio et. al. to arrest, detain and harass brown-skinned people continues unabated, and I expect that lawyer-by-education-and-experience Kyl is cognizant of that fact, Kyl's intended targets for selective application of the Constitution are obviously *not* immune from American laws.

As such, no matter how much the nativists wish otherwise, the Fourteenth Amendment applies to undocumented immigrants.

Unless, of course, he wants to propose granting them diplomatic status...

OK - probably not. :)

Anyway, if any of Kyl's proposed hearings take place, you can be certain that Fox News and the rest of the R echo chamber will do everything that it can to ensure that the cacophony surrounding them drowns out discussion of any issue other than immigration.

BTW - I'm not sure that a minority party Senator can call hearings on a given topic.  However, the Senate's rules can be rather arcance and antiquated ("antiquated" as in "harkening back to the time when there was less pure partisanship in D.C.") - so anything is possible.

The Witch Hunt Begins...

...and apparently, Utah is trying to bump Arizona off the top of the list of "places most friendly to nativists" because the witch hunt is starting there...

From the story on  MSNBC.com -

Advocates of tougher immigration enforcement joined civil rights activists in condemning circulation this week of a list of alleged illegal immigrants to Utah state agencies and news organizations, saying it sent the wrong message to violate privacy laws in seeking to enforce immigration laws.

The 30-page document included addresses, phone numbers and birthdates for about 1,300 people it said were in the country illegally. Some of the names — almost all of which were of Latino origin — also were accompanied by Social Security numbers and medical information, such as “baby due 4/4/10.”


A cover letter demanded that the people on the list be “deported immediately” with a call to “DO YOUR JOB AND STOP MAKING EXCUSES! WE DEMAND ACTION.” It identified the senders as Concerned Citizens of the United States, a previously unknown group.

The news isn't all bad, not yet anyway.  So far, major news outlets have refused to publicize the list. (Note:  I frequently pick on the MSM for many things, but on this one, they have my respect)

However, the possibility that the list could be publicized has people of Hispanic descent in Utah, including those who are there legally (or are even citizens) absolutely terrorized.

Which was likely the idea behind the list's creation and release.


There's no doubt that crossing the border into the US without proper documentation is illegal, but this is evil.

And no matter what Russell Pearce, Jan Brewer, and their supporters say, "evil" is far worse than "illegal."