Soldier in the tea party's shadow army
"Warrior" that I am, I'll certainly be there Saturday night! Stephen Lemons at
New Times reports that the Arizona Tea Party is holding a meeting this weekend to recruit a "shadow army" of equally shadowy "warriors" who can go "toe-to-toe" with voters who intend to sign the petition to recall Sheriff Joe Arpaio. They're looking for a force of about 400 brave warrior souls. Hell, Napoleon retook France with only 1,000 men; with 400 shadowy figures, stopping the recall should be a piece of cake.
The petition's signature gatherers themselves are not in the shadows, but at sunny public places across the county—flea markets, libraries, downtowns, campuses, just about anywhere people congregate. If you're interested in the recall, which the tea party says is coordinated by "paid progressive socialists," here's a link to Respect Arizona's website.
The New Times article quotes the invitation to this Saturday's tea party recruitment gala in its scatterbrained entirety; here's a snapshot:
The purpose of the meeting is to muster and organize a "shadow army" of "shadow warriors" that are willing to volunteer their time to stand toe-to-toe at the majority of the locations here in Maricopa County where the paid progressive socialists are collecting petition signatures to recall Sheriff Joe....
We need to make sure this abusive and egregious attempt attacking Arizona's Constitution, voter sovereignty and the will of the people here in Arizona and around the Country fails in getting enough signatures.
Randy Parraz, Chad Snow and the special interest groups that are behind this recall effort are nothing more than domestic terrorists who are attempting to turn Arizona dark blue so they can further their liberal agenda. These are the same thugs who wrongfully recalled Russell Pearce. We need to stop these people now.
Someone should point out to these nitwits that the "egregious attempt attacking Arizona's Constitution," i.e., the recall, is
provided for right there in the Arizona Constitution! If anything, stopping people from exercising their right to sign a petition is the "abusive" thing that's "attacking Arizona's Constitution."
Dog whistle alert! The "domestic terrorists" and "thugs" who recalled SB 1070 author Sen. Russell Pearce in 2011 (though not "wrongfully") were teachers, priests, seniors, librarians, business leaders and Republicans! Chad Snow, one of the Pearce recall organizers mentioned in the invitation, is a Republican. And the district in Mesa that Sen. Pearce had represented for six terms was heavily GOP and Mormon. Terrorists! Thugs! If anything, Pearce's campaign team practiced thuggery—recruiting a sham candidate to syphon votes away from the eventual winner, Republican Jerry Lewis.
Join me below the fold to learn more about this invitation from crazy.
Stephen Lemons requested some clarification of the militant language in the emailed invitation, and here's part of the reply he received from a tea party consultant:
Some Arpaio supporters have taken it upon themselves to actively engage voters who are being asked to sign this recall petition. It is their right to do so and we are happy to assist them in their efforts. Voters have a right to know that this effort is an abuse of the process; will cost the taxpayers millions; and attempts to overturn the will of the people which was just expressed a few short months ago.
You gotta wonder what "actively engage voters" means to the shadowed intimidators, in a state where it's perfectly legal to pack heat in public. Maybe they'll take a page out of Arizona's proud history of voter suppression, like when future Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist, as a young Phoenix attorney in the 1960s,
would challenge black and brown voters at the polls.
If this tea party crony wants to play the "cost taxpayers millions" card, how about the tens of millions of dollars that Sheriff Arpaio has cost citizens of Maricopa County for his illegal arrests, fraudulent political vendettas, even jailhouse murders? A million or so to blow away the cloud of hate that has shrouded Maricopa County for decades is money happily spent.
As for the bullshit about "the will of the people which was just expressed," Sheriff Arpaio benefitted from GOP coattails in a presidential election and competitive Arizona senate race. Republicans were energized to turn out, but not for Arpaio, who only received 50.7 percent of the vote. A study by Arizona Capitol Times after the November election showed that the sheriff received very few votes from urban areas, and his support in heavily GOP suburbs is decreasing fast. Many Romney Republicans representing the Wall Street wing of the party, not the tea party cesspool, probably voted a straight ticket out of habit. However, some of them consider Arpaio a joke, and they're not likely to go to bat for the asinine coot in a recall.
I'll report back later in the week after I've enlisted in the Shadow Army. I'm having problems with the VA bureaucracy anyway, and their endorsement will no doubt grease the skids.