I guess they have short memories. Maybe they don't remember 1986, when Evan Mecham was elected Governor in a three-way race; the two Democrats split the sane vote, awarding the executive office to a crackpot car dealer with just over 33 percent of the vote. His short but disastrous tenure persuaded the legislature to pass a 50+1 law, so in the future a wacko with loyal minority support (in his case, Mormons) couldn't capture the governorship. I could go on and on about Mecham, who was eventually impeached. (I worked with the Bill of Rights Bicentennial Commission on which he sat. He once said to me, no shit, that he didn't support the celebration because it wasn't a good idea for people to talk about their rights.)
Mecham's infamous MLK holiday recision dumped the state's image and economy in the toilet, which is why many people came together to put the holiday on the ballot, where it eventually passed. The campaign drew from all sectors, including business-friendly groups who were suffering from the financial meltdown caused by a drop in conventions, tourism, border shopping, and companies that chose not to relocate here. A board I served on canceled its annual conference scheduled for Phoenix and moved it to Albuquerque, and that happened a lot.
It's about to happen again.
If Governor Jan Brewer does not veto Senate Bill 1070, the measure that requires authorities to demand papers from anyone they suspect is here illegally, the national boycott from travel and other state-related business could be far more damaging than it was in the late '80s and early '90s, sending our already distressed economy into a steep death spiral. The outrage will be amplified mostly by this little device here, the blogosphere, along with the 24/7 political news cycle, neither of which were much of a factor during the state’s MLK black eye. On top of that, we have Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva telling people and organizations to boycott his state. Just consider baseball’s spring training alone, a sport where perhaps half the players are Latino. How many fans will stay away because they don’t feel welcome? Go to a Dodgers game and you’ll see what I mean. How many teams will Arizona be able to convince to move here from Florida? Not likely.
Brewer has until Saturday to make a decision on SB 1070, which is similar to a bill former Governor Janet Napolitano vetoed twice. Brewer only says she will do the right thing. Right. If she caves to the bullies, which many expect, sure, she'll likely secure the wingnut vote for reelection, which is a large block in the state, and we'll have some guys here who will be national teabagger heroes. At the same time, their misguided politics could make Arizona, to quote Stephen Colbert last night, “a very dry Detroit.”
“Who ARE Those Guys?” - Butch Cassidy
A lot of electronic ink has already been spilled here over MariKafka County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his thugs who travel around the Phoenix area in their big brown bus, rounding up nasty criminals who are washing dishes, mowing lawns, preparing Big Macs, and countless other offenses. As the self-described toughest sheriff in the nation, he’s the media whore most responsible for the climate of hate, never missing a TV opportunity to scare citizens about the crime, diseases, and economic doldrums caused by illegals. But occasionally his racial profiling backfires, and his goons detain someone who was born and raised here — someone whose ancestors called Arizona home centuries before Arpaio set foot in the state. But, hey, that’s the price of vigilance, says Sheriff Joe at the end of this video clip. With SB 1070, “the price” we pay for Joe's bigotry is about to go up. A lot.
For years Joe Arpaio, who is under a grand jury investigation for abuse of power, had his Sancho Panza in County Attorney Andrew Thomas, whose office sanctioned the raids and other reprehensible activities carried out by Sheriff Joe and his henchmen, including the baseless lawsuits and other harassments Arpaio leveled against the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, the elected officials who supposedly manage the county that employs Arpaio. Happily, Thomas has resigned but we may see his mug again (more below).
At the state level, trying to “out-Arpaio” Arpaio, we have Senator Russell Pearce, the main nutjob behind SB 1070. He’s giving Sheriff Joe a good run for "Crazy Man of the Year" award. I wonder what Arpaio thinks about Pearce’s claim on his website:
I am Arizona’s, and the nation’s, most outspoken advocate for stopping the illegal invasion, securing our borders and enforcing our laws.
Uh-oh, do we have a "Who's the Loudest Nativist" battle in the offing? Pearce has got a ways to go, though, when we have a sheriff who brags about his KKK pedigree:
"Why Do You Keep Electing These Yahoos?"
We get asked that a lot. Arizona is not even 100 years old, and in the early days of statehood local and state politics leaned Democratic. Since the '50s, though, when the post-war, air-conditioned boom changed the face of the state, it’s mostly tacked to the right, with the frequent exception of the governor’s seat, people like Raul Castro, Bruce Babbitt, and Janet Napolitano. But the Republicans just a generation or two ago were generally fiscal conservatives, business leaders and other boosters, not the out-and-out crazies you see at the Capitol today. Barry Goldwater cut his teeth on local politics, serving on the Phoenix City Council. A lover of the state's land and heritage, who helped stop development on Camelback Mountain, and whose photographs of Native people grace many museum walls, Goldwater would not recognize, nor would he be welcome in, today’s Arizona Republican party.
The truth is, he and the party divorced some time ago. They even took his name off party headquarters in the mid-90s when he came out in support of gays in the military. Other dorks wanted to strip his name from schools and the airport. I sure didn’t like Goldwater’s politics, but he and Mo Udall could have a drink and discuss issues. He’d be embarrassed, and rightfully so, by the stupid birther bill the Arizona House just passed. Yeah, that’s important stuff! With our budget imploding, teachers being laid off, libraries being closed, and cities canceling services, let’s spend time debating an unconstitutional boneheaded bill. Goldwater would probably soccer punch the lunatics at the legislature who blabber on about Jesus and gay marriage and guns and immigrants bringing diseases and protecting the Constitution (the parts they like) — always going out of their way to remind you that their Minuteman mentality is “not about race.” No siree, it’s the rule of law!
Like too many states in the West, we have our militia goofballs out in the hinterlands, people living in small trailer parks surrounded by camouflaged chainlink fences, where you don’t even want to know WTF is going on. But most of the bigotry that keeps electing these yahoos is centered here in Maricopa County, which includes the massive Sun City retirement communities, the Mormon stronghold in Mesa, and the “I’ve got mine” crowd in the Biltmore-Scottsdale area. That’s not to say all retirees, Mormons, or gated-community dwellers are racist bumpkins, but it’s no coincidence that these districts have sent to Congress men like Trent Franks, Jeff Flake, and John Shadegg (and earlier JD Hayworth). Now there's a barbershop quartet from hell.
Voters certainly aren’t reelecting these fools because they run a tight fiscal ship. Hell, Arpaio alone has cost the taxpayers of Maricopa County more in lawsuits than the next ten large county sheriffs combined. Most of the suits were brought by the families of people who were tortured, or even died, while in his custody – some just awaiting trial in their pink underwear. If conservatives were really keen on fiscal responsibility, they’d have voted Arpaio’s ass out years ago. That just goes to show how deep prejudice runs, when voters will steal from their own pocketbook to feed their racism. SB 1070 will reach even deeper into their pockets.
Nor do they keep electing the Arpaio, Thomas, Pearce triumvirate because they’ve actually done anything to improve the state. You really have to think hard to name a bill or program they’ve enacted that works for something – better schools, social programs, parks and libraries, healthcare. No, their careers are devoted to working against a group of people – the scary brown folks from the south who supposedly are responsible for the fiscal black hole that’s swallowed the state.
And, so they say, all of our crime is caused by illegals: drugs, rape, muggings. Which is why, rather than spend their time and resources going after real felons, Joe and his thugs devote our tax dollars to rounding up dishwashers at McDonalds. (Of course, to nourish the culture of fear, as well as the warm-blanket security that Joe is protecting us, his PR office always tips off the TV stations about the raids so the cameras will be rolling.) I live near an INS building and occasionally see busloads of Mexican teenagers being deported; I feel so much safer now that Joe has nabbed this girl’s parents at a carwash:
If you listen to Arpaio and the other wackjobs (and increasingly that includes Senators Kyl and McCain), our problems have nothing to do with know-nothing politicians, whose misguided policies have gutted our economy, ruined our environment, and ravaged the social infrastructure. Arizona is the poster child for the foreclosure fiasco, because our development-friendly legislature passed way too many banking and construction deals that fed the “grow at any cost” mantra that’s dominated policy here since WWII. It bit us in the '80s with Keating and the S&L boondoggle, and now we’re paying for it again. However, few leaders blame the bankers, home builders, chambers of commerce, the media, or politicians – it’s those immigrants! You know, the ones our economy absolutely depends on, and to which they contribute more than they take.
I don’t doubt that some of our problems can be traced to illegal immigration, but I know the shitheads at the state legislature have screwed over our state much more than any truckload of undocumented kids ever did. If anything, SB 1070 should require law officials to detain legislators they suspect are acting idiotically, because that would benefit the state more than arresting illegals. It would also be easier to prove.
Can It Get Worse?
It’s rumored that Joe Arpaio may seek the governor’s office and Andrew Thomas may run for Attorney General. They could win. And then there’s that other wacko in the mix who could make this year’s election the perfect storm of wingnuttery. Senator Russell Pearce, the chief sponsor of SB 1070, has suggested he might like to replace Arpaio if Sheriff Joe enters the governor’s race. And you thought it was bizarro world now!
A former lawman himself, Pearce has represented the 18th District of Arizona, which is mostly Mesa, since 2001. If you visit his website, his resume reads like a teabagger’s wet dream: low taxes, small government, gun rights, “family values,” anti-choice, property rights, and no judicial activism (except his judges). You get the picture. Here are a few accomplishments he touts:
I was a Chief Deputy for 23 years with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, the fourth largest Sheriff’s office in the nation, and was responsible for many innovations including “Tent City” for inmates.
In 2009 I was recognized as the number one legislator, “Hero of the Taxpayer” by the Americans for Prosperity, a taxpayer’s watchdog group.
As a State legislator I was recognized by the Goldwater Institute as the number one legislator who proved to be the strongest ally against government encroachment on liberty.
Even if you don’t know this guy, you know this guy. You’ve seen him at tea parties with a misspelled sign, you’ve seen him spitting in the face of congresspeople at last summer’s town halls, he’s that crazy uncle who sends you “Obama Is Hitler” emails. In Arizona, that crazy uncle just happens to sit in the state legislature, the powerful chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Okay, we’re not supposed to call right wingers Nazis, but what do you call the goons in this video? The man in the fancy flag shirt is a sitting state senator, Russell Pearce, palin’ around with J.T. Ready, a white supremacist who’s followers have taken to wearing, not flag shirts, but brown shirts and other nifty paraphernalia. In his speech, J.T. calls his pal Pearce a “statesman.” Ahem, takes one to know one I guess.
As you watch this, if you can handle the first minute or so, remember that these are the Arizona “statesmen” behind SB 1070, a bill that will drive our economy off a cliff. Sheesh, suddenly Ev Mecham looks like a piker.
The historian and novelist Wallace Stegner once said, what we need in the West is a society to match our scenery. The bigots are destroying both. Among many petitions floating around out there, here is one from the United Farm Workers. Thanks.
