How do you get rid of conservatives in government? The Hispanic vote

A lot of political attention will be turned toward Arizona in the next few months leading up to the November election, but it’s not because of its paltry number of electoral votes that resulted from Republicans screwing with the primary date.  It’s because of its growing Hispanic voting population that is becoming stronger and more vocal by the day.  It is also due to the country’s fascination and ridicule of the farcical antics of the state’s inept GOP politicians.

To start, the only way Jan Brewer, a Republican, became Arizona’s Governor is her support and signing of the anti-immigration law, SB-1070, and few if any Latinos will forget that.  The author of that bill was state Sen. Russell Pearce, also a Republican, who was the first state senator ever to be recalled.  All this taken into consideration, a new Fox News Latino poll had some interesting results that should scare the hell out of Republicans.

• President Obama is the overwhelming choice among likely Hispanic voters.  Head to head, the best any of the GOP candidates could do is get 14 percent of their vote.
• This is a nationwide trend resulting in a rejection of the Republican candidates the more they learn about them.
• 80 percent of the Hispanics voting for Obama in 2008 would vote for him again in November.

There are five top states where Hispanics represent a sizeable portion of the eligible voting population and they are New Mexico, 42.5%, Texas, 33.7%, California, 27.1%, Arizona, 21.3%, Florida, 19.2%,  There are a number of eligible voters in New Mexico through Florida who are not registered, as follows: 202,650, 2,154,600, 2,026,500, 405,300 and 638,400, respectively.  That’s 5,427,450 potential voters for the progressive side…in just 5 states.

In this same report, Hispanic News evaluates the Latino population in relation to how it might cast its vote.  New Mexico is rated “open/tossup” for the Senate, “very competitive” for President.  Texas, “open/Rep,” no comment for Pres.,  California is considered a Democratic state, Arizona is “open/tossup for Senate,” no comment for Pres., and Florida is “tossup” for Senate and “very competitive” for Pres. 

In other projections, HN says, “By the 2012 election, Latinos will account for over 10% of the citizen adult population - potential voters - in 11 states.  In another 13 states, Latinos account for 5-10% of the citizen adult population. All told, that's 24 states where Latinos have the capacity to influence electoral outcomes…”  There are others with recent significant Hispanic growth.   In Connecticut, Georgia, Penn., Wisconsin and Massachusetts they represent 5% of potential voters.

HN estimates that 21.5 million Latino citizen adults will be eligible to vote in November 2012. That’s up from 19.5 million in 2008, a sizeable increase of almost 10 percent.  I can only speak personally for Arizona, where the anti-immigration rhetoric is much worse than the rest of the country; a fact I believe will have a big effect on the election.  The hate in Arizona shared by white conservatives for illegal immigrants also extends to Barack Obama.

It is too late for the GOP to reverse their tough stand on immigration and this stance has probably already made up the minds of many if not most Hispanics on how they will vote.  Because we live and die on polls, although on occasion they can be completely wrong, it will be interesting to see the first study after Republicans have an official nominee.  If it heavily favors the President, I look for some robust campaigning by the left on immigration reform.

Arizona can’t seem to expunge its resident bigot…recalled Sen. Russell Pearce

Russell Pearce recalled

With much fanfare, but still with the support of Arizona Gov. Jan Pearce and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, State Sen. Russell Pearce was drummed out of office by voters in his hometown of Mesa in November of 2011. Huff Post reported that it could end Pearce’s political career, but that reporter obviously doesn’t really know this fruitcake. The man does not have the grey matter to realize what a low-life he, being advised by other crackpots like himself.


It was a disgrace to the man, to his family and to the people of Arizona. This was the latest addition to the long list of incidents that have brought the great state of Arizona to its knees recently with ridicule it does not deserve. Add to that Joe Arpaio’s latest escapade into President Obama’s birth certificate issue, followed by Jan Brewer’s tacky and tasteless finger-wagging episode, also with the President, and you can understand why Arizona is the laughing stock of the U.S.






J.T. Ready with Russell Pearce

 But it is Russell Pearce that has most helped Arizona assume the reputation of a racist and bigoted state through his long time suppression of illegal immigrants, culminating in the anti-immigrant legislation, SB-1070. Pearce’s prejudiced views are well known, fostered in part by his past association and friendship with known racist and neo-Nazi J.T. Ready. In another example:


Pearce sent an email to supporters once that included a white nationalist declaration, accusing the media of pushing the view, quote, “a world in which every voice proclaims the equality of the races, the inerrant nature of the Jewish, quote, ‘Holocaust‘ tale, the wickedness of attempting to halt the flood of nonwhite aliens pouring across the borders.”




Sheriff Joe Arpaio

 This would be the man that wants to become a state legislator again, and to confound his critics, there are RP supporters all over the state. The Red Mountain (AZ) Tea Party is one instance, and Joe Arpaio’s never-ending loyalty is another. In Arpaio’s case, he’s just hanging on to the shirttails of Pearce to assure himself of at least those votes when he runs again in November. Arpaio is being investigated by the feds for a number of offenses.


Stephen Lemons of the Phoenix New Times has been on Pearce’s coattails for some time now exposing the corrupt politician for the shameless individual he is. Lemons caught Pearce, a Mormon, in an outright lie in reference to the Mormon Church’s attitude toward his anti-immigration bill. He said the church “green-lighted” his SB-1070 bill. “I got hold of the church headquarters in Salt Lake,” he claimed, “And they said they absolutely do not oppose what Arizona is doing.”


Lemons tried several sources and came up with the same conclusion as far as the Mormon Church was concerned, according to a spokesperson: "We have made our position on immigration clear. The church believes that an enforcement-only approach is inadequate." The reporter then pressed the church on several related comments on the matter by Pearce and received the following answer from Eric Hawkins:


"The church's position on immigration is principle-based and applies universally. Any position adopted by individual politicians or members is theirs alone and does not indicate the endorsement of the church." He continued, "I know of no communication with Russell Pearce.”



And I would be remiss if I didn’t relate another illustration of just how crude Russell Pearce can be, and on national TV. It’s the RP “crushed scrotum” story that occurred during a recent event in Phoenix where GOP hopeful, Rick Santorum, gave the keynote address. It had to do with a wife’s comment over how her husband’s “scrotum” was now “wired together” and working. She meant “sternum” but as Stephen Lemons reported, there were few laughs. Pathetic!

See famous Russell Pearce "crushed scrotum" joke below:

Arizona government…the epitome of how not to run a state

If you think your state has problems, just look at the charade of participants, below, that make up the Republican governor’s office and GOP controlled legislature in my home state of Arizona.  This is a great state and doesn’t deserve the ridicule it receives from the antics of these wingnuts.  It is both laughable and tragic, but makes some of the best non-fiction reading in politics today. 



Jan Brewer finger wagging



The epitome of epitomes, Arizona Gov. Jan brewer wagging her finger in the face of President Obama just minutes after he had deplaned in Mesa, Arizona.  Within days a local music teacher, Leonard Clark, filed papers with Sec. of State Ken Bennett to recall Brewer.  In his words: “The whole finger wagging incident crystallized it.  She is embarrassing our state.”  A lot of Arizonans agree.  See the “Brewer Doesn’t Speak for Me” site. 

The Daily Beast concurs with Harry Reid (below) that this airport tarmac incident was “emblematic of the Arizona GOP’s increasing extremism, and it may be turning off voters.  But that’s not all.  The state GOP created a T-shirt with the encounter image on it with the phrase under it “Just one more year!”  Aside from being tacky, it is in complete bad taste, extending the disrespect pseudo Gov. Brewer showed the President, but indicative of Republican taste in Arizona.

Arizona will be forever known in the sports world as the place where one of the most prestigious annual college sports events, the Fiesta Bowl, was almost brought to its knees by a corrupt chief executive.  This wasn’t an underling to blame; it’s the top guy, the one who can be credited for much of the bowl’s success.  John Junker was caught with his hand in the political donation cookie jar. 

Junker was charged with reimbursing staff members with bowl money for making contributions to local and state candidates who helped the bowl to obtain financial subsidies.  This is illegal.  Gary Husk, bowl lobbyist and Junker associate, is also being investigated.  Current and former Fiesta Bowl employees have alleged that Husk was involved in the scheme with Junker.  The Fiesta Bowl has since recovered from the fiasco under new management.

National Democrats led by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid say the GOP is now controlled by extremists like Arizona Governor Jan Brewer.  The Gov. is linked with other zealots like former Arizona State Sen. Russell Pearce, who was the sponsor of the state’s anti-immigration bill, and who was recalled from his Senate seat, the first time ever. 

He is joined by Kris Kobach, current Kansas Sec. of State and fierce anti-immigration critic, who actually wrote the Arizona law SB-1070 with the American Legislative Exchange Counsil (ALEC).  Arizona U.S. Sen. John McCain, failed 2008 presidential candidate, says nobody pays any attention to Reid, whom he characterized as not “totally rational.”  This from a man who chose Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate.



Russell Pearce with J.T. Ready



So what does former State Sen. Russell Pearce do when they boot him out of the Senate?  He goes on talk radio, of course.  Pearce is known for his hateful and racist ways, having befriended fellow racist J.T. Ready, who is also a self-proclaimed neo-Nazi.  Stephen Lemons of The Phoenix New Times described Pearce’s show as xenophobic, self-adulation, and delusional in the host’s “radio cafeteria of hate.”  Lemons actually tuned into one of the shows.

Expecting the worst and getting it, it was Pearce at his best ranting and raving over illegal immigration, completely demonizing Latinos.  His phone guest was former Congressman Tom Tancredo from Colorado who described the struggle against immigration as “a matter of the survival of Western Civilization.”  Lemons commented on the two as engaging “in an aural love-fest better left for a room at a Best Western.”  Pearce plans to run again for the Senate in November.



Sheriff "Joe" Arpaio



Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the baddest in the West, has a volunteer posse that he constantly raves over.  Some carry guns, and can even make arrest under the supervision of a regular deputy, but can also be former criminals themselves.  A local TV station, KPHO, investigated the posse and found arrests for assault, drug possession, domestic violence, sex crimes against children, disorderly conduct, impersonating an officer and more.  Most are still on the posse.

Douglas Clark is a posse member as well as constable who rolled a county vehicle at 91 mph in a 45 mph zone, used his siren while not on a call, and used the red/blue lights installed on his personal vehicle to look for his wife’s lost item on the road.  He also detained a driver and passenger at gunpoint who had backed into his car when he was off duty.  The posse does not receive a salary but is covered under county insurance.

There’s more, much, much, more on Arizona that I will cover at a later date to keep you laughing and wondering.  I am also interested in the shenanigans going on in your particular state so please use the “comments” to tell me about it.  Sorry, but no anonymous entries, just use an online name.

Arizona’s hiatus on illegal immigration offers respite for Hispanic voters

In Arizona there is ongoing fear by undocumented immigrants to speak up or participate in the general population because of the racist attitudes of many of the state’s residents.  Not to mention bigots like former state Sen. Russell Pearce, author of anti-immigration bill SB-1070, and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.  This even spills over into the legal immigrant community that isn’t quite sure they are actually safe in a state known for its intolerances.

But the New York Times says that illegal immigration is on the “back burner” in Arizona and that is a good sign to help turn out the Latino vote in the November election.  Russell Pearce was thrown out of office in disgrace and now the feds are stepping up their investigation of practices in Arpaio’s office.  At the same time, Pinal County Sheriff, also a staunch foe of illegal immigration, has been outed as being gay and his lover has filed a million-dollar lawsuit against him.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer slapped a bigot’s label on Mitt Romney just by endorsing him recently since she ranks right up there with Pearce and Arpaio in Jim Crowism.  And it is pretty significant that all the GOP primary candidates have stayed away from the immigration issue, although it is quite clear that Republicans are anti-illegal immigrants.  Most of them just don’t have the guts to admit it since it will certainly cost them votes.

Political consultant Chip Scutari said: “Many of the voters who support 1070 also support an earned path to citizenship.  I think border issues are in the mix. But because there’s been such a quagmire, it’s lost some of its sex appeal.”  This bothers the anti-immigration group—the economy and jobs are in the forefront now—but they think this will change when illegals start crossing the border again looking for work.



Many pro-immigrationists are convinced the GOP has done irreparable damage in the Hispanic community, which will translate into record voter registration for Latinos in November, most of which will probably vote for Barack Obama.  And although Arizona hasn’t yet suffered the disastrous effects Alabama’s anti-immigration law had on that state—crops are rotting in the fields—the Sunshine State has made budget cuts that have significantly affected residents.

I did an article for Phoenix Examiner.com last December that looked at the issue from the standpoint of how Arizona could have a positive impact on the Hispanic vote in November.  With all the opposition, the Latino voting-age population has jumped from 455,000 nine years ago to 845,000 today, 19 percent of the state’s population eligible to vote.  One recent show of force was indicated by Latino firefighter Daniel Valenzuela beating a white businesswoman for a spot on the Phoenix City Council.
Democrats are hoping to register approximately 300,000 new Hispanics to vote prior to November 2012.  Add to that the 455,000 already registered and you have a potentially formidable force.  If they can be convinced to vote.  Colorado may be a forewarning of what is to come.  The state was able to sign up 225,000 new Hispanics who voted in the 2008 election turning the state from red to blue, thanks to the alienation of former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo.

Then closer to home, Within 6 months of Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signing anti-immigration law SB-1070 in 2010, 43,000 new Latinos were registered to vote in Colorado.  As the sayings go, ‘the monkey is on your back’ or, ‘you’ve got the ball, now run with it.’  The question is which way will the Latinos run, whether many of them will run at all, and just how much Arizona’s results will jolt the rest of the country.

Aides finally muzzle Arizona Governor Jan Brewer



NY Sen. Chas. Schumer



First Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer was invited to testify before New York’s Democratic Senator Charles Schumer’s Senate Judiciary’s Committee’s immigration subcommittee.  She was invited the day before the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on the state’s anti-immigration bill SB-1070 on April 25.  

Schumer said to Brewer that she was always asking President Obama to come to the border to discuss immigration problems; why not come before his committee and air her concerns.  She declined, saying that it was a publicity stunt.

Talking of the new increased security at the border that has drastically decreased border crossings, Schumer wanted to know: 1) why you signed SB 1070 in 2010; 2) whether you still believe SB 1070 is necessary in light of the substantially increased security situation along our southern border; and 3) whether you favor SB 1070 being made a permanent law irrespective of whether conditions further improve along the southern border," as reported in the Huff Post.



President Obama in OZ



Next, just a few days later, Brewer declined an invitation from Obama to attend the G honoring the nation’s governors just before the Nat’l Governors Assn. conference, which Brewer attended on Feb. 27.  She told her staff that she didn’t want to “participate in a ‘social’ event.”  But when quizzed about not attending the dinner, aides whisked her away before she could speak and mouthpiece Matthew Benson answered questions.

Someone is finally waking up to the fact that every time Jan Brewer opens her mouth she puts every resident of Arizona’s foot in it, not just hers.  It has become so embarrassing that those around her that have propped her up in the past are at last realizing they must put a muzzle on her to try and prevent more ridicule of the state of Arizona.  Unfortunately the country’s most incompetent governor doesn’t even realize what’s going on and simply muddles on.

Satirist Fran Lebowitz, who appeared recently in Scottsdale, AZ, talking about Brewer’s finger pointing at the President said: “Arizona has not endeared itself to me. I have to say, truly, the president of the United States deserves respect… On top of everything else, it's morally crass. Not just from an etiquette standpoint, but it shows a kind of moral vulgarity.”

Brewer spokesperson Matthew Benson said to the Washington Times, “It doesn’t appear that this would be the most productive hearing for Governor Brewer to attend,” talking about Sen. Schumer’s committee hearing.  My take is that Jan brewer is always willing to shoot off her mouth when she won’t be pressed for hard answers, or can just walk away from a media event as she has in the past.  But she can’t walk away from Schumer, fully realizing she will be in way over her head.



Russell Pearce RECALLED



But it all fell into place when disgraced recalled Arizona Sen. Russell Pearce, who is known as one of the state’s biggest racist bigots, offered to replace Brewer at Schumer’s hearing.  He agreed to go to Washington on April 24, as a replacement for Brewer saying he knew more about SB-1070 than the Gov since she “…only signed the bill that was sent to her.”  That in itself is an insult from the man known as the de facto governor since Brewer was elected.

Charles Schumer press aide Brian Fallon comments, noting Pearce’s offer: “It is interesting that other Arizona officials responsible for this law are willing to come and defend it, but not Gov. Brewer."  Fallon is simply being diplomatic, knowing full well that Brewer’s former 16 seconds of silence could easily turn into hours, starting with the first question of Sen. Schumer’s committee.

Arizona mock Gov. Jan Brewer takes racism back to pre-1964

It was July 2, 1964, when President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act that outlawed major forms of discrimination against African Americans and women, including racial segregation. 



AZ Gov. Jan Brewer



It was bad enough that a troubled, less-than-capable head of state Jan Brewer greeted the President of the United States to Arizona with a finger-wagging in his face in an attempt to dominate him.  That was more than adequate to prompt charges of bigotry against the leader of a state known for its racists and an intolerant conservative legislature that, along with much of the state’s population, also hates Hispanics.

Now Brewer is not the greenest saguaro in the desert but Politico thinks she has ignited a “firestorm” around the potential of race becoming an issue in the 2012 election.  And there is no state better than Arizona to coddle this movement with known racist, bigot and recalled state Senator Russell Pearce and his buddy J.T. Ready, another racist and also a neo-Nazi, to fan the flames.  However, jaundiced Jan didn’t stop with her finger in the face of Barack Obama.

Following the incident and on Fox News and various other media outlets, she offered up several versions of the incident.  She accused Obama of being “thin skinned,” and said that she felt threatened by his attitude.  Harry Shelton, Sr. VP for the NAACP commented: “What were you afraid he would do, steal your purse?”  Although there are those who support her in Arizona, she and other state politicians like her continue to bring unbridled ridicule to the state.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson pointed out that we are celebrating the 150^th anniversary of the Civil War but are seeing an awakening of the States’ Rights movement of the 1940s, that fought the federal government because of its opposition to federally mandated racial desegregation.  I grew up during that movement and experienced several Dixiecrat Party political rallies in Tennessee that opposed integration.  The party was formed in 1948 and dissolved in 1948.    

PoliticusUSA says the fact that we have a black President doesn’t indicate any progress toward race equality.  Further, “The racism in America is not limited to hatred of African-Americans, and the past year’s negative rhetoric against immigrants, the poor, and Muslims has been a display of white supremacy that has permeated the general population and many of our politicians.” 

In other words, the feeling of superiority over others knows no bounds when they are different than we are.

PoliticusUSA also said, “Conservatives’ attacks on ACORN, NAACP, and the Southern Poverty Law Center were not for their activism or defense of civil rights, but an attack on African Americans.”  Their concern is rooted in the fact that blacks, Hispanics and other minorities will eventually organize and use their voting power to oust the conservative bigots and make equal rights mean what the Constitution originally intended.

If you want a demonstration of Arizona racism, you must see the following Russell Pearce and J.T. Ready video:



Politico reports, “An AP-Ipsos poll taken just before the 2008 election showed that Obama’s support would have been as much as 6 percentage points higher had he been white.”  Because of the concerns over the economy, this “racial bias” will be played down in 2012.  Although the racial effects were there in 2008, they didn’t decide the election, according to Tammy Frisby, a research fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution.



Getting along



If you must have your specific illustration of racism against Barack Obama, Politico says it is “visceral,” providing the following example: “That was true in 2008 — when a handful of rabid Obama haters sent out emails that included crude caricatures of Obama as a Muslim, a monkey, Buckwheat or worse.

Mary Frances Berry, former chairwoman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, thinks we should focus on how the President handled the tarmac finger wagging and ignore Jan Brewer’s motives.  Obama characterized the moment as “no big deal” and moved on from there.  Unfortunately, Arizona, and much of the rest of the nation, isn’t able to do the same.

2 confirmed racists, one a neo-Nazi, run for high Arizona offices

It’s not enough that the valley of the Sun has its “affected” Gov. Jan Brewer, but now there are two other nutcases, one of them recently forced out of office, that aspire to help run the great state of Arizona.  And it is a great state.  Former Governor Carl Hayden once said, "I built this state. Don't let the GOP destroy it!”  Unfortunately, this statement turned into factual intuition on the part of the author.



Russell Pearce recall



Former state senator Russell Pearce, who is a Mormon and the first Arizona legislator ever recalled (last November), has been elected to the top Arizona GOP Party post of 1st Vice Chairman.  In the face of those folks who unanimously voted to oust Pearce from office, state Republicans decided he was fit to be in the party’s No. 2 leadership role, according to spokesman Shane Wikfors.  On Saturday, Wikfors commented, "I will tell you that the two biggest generators of applause at today's meeting was Russell and Sheriff Joe (Arpaio),"  Pathetic.

Democratic Party chairman Andrei Cherny said, "Arizona has moved past the divisive and corrosive politics of Russell Pearce -- but the Republican Party hasn't," sealing the fact that this pack of fruitcakes does not learn from experience.  There was a movie back in 1948 named The Snake Pit, which portrayed a woman who finds herself in an insane asylum.  I remember scenes from the film as a teenager at the time that depicted patients completely out of touch with reality constantly babbling incoherently.

Following is a must-see Russell Pearce video:

Bingo!  The GOP dominated Arizona state legislature.  These vipers have proceeded to pass laws and practice a type of political suicide that has made the state laughable, placing it at the top of the ‘Who do we ridicule today’ list.  The state’s five Republican congressmen attended the meeting, apparently placing their sign of approval on Pearce’s appointment. 

Russell Pearce was fired from Arizona Motor Vehicles in 1999 for allowing subordinates to tamper with a woman’s driving record.  In 1980 Pearce’s wife Luanne accused him of beating her and said she wanted a divorce.  His two sons have been accused of domestic violence, one, Josh, who allegedly fractured his daughter’s skull and sports a Nazi eagle tattoo on his neck/chest.  Sounds like the perfect Mormon family.

JT Ready 2nd from right

But an even better story is Russell Pearce chum, racist and neo-Nazi J.T. Ready running for Arizona’s Pinal County Sheriff…as a Democrat.  Once a registered Republican, Ready’s answer to why he switched was, "It's the party of Jim Crow, [late U.S. Senator and one-time KKK member] Robert Byrd, and [late Alabama Governor and one-time segregationist] George Wallace.  Exemplary company.  I once asked Ready if he was a member of the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) and he replied he was but behind on his dues.

However, it is Stephen Lemons Feathered Bastard column in the Phoenix New Times that captures the essence of J.T. Ready.  He supports legalizing marijuana and has referred to Adolph Hitler as a "great white civil rights leader."  He once was a member of the National Socialist Movement (NSM) and still marches with them.  As a one-time close buddy of Russell Pearce, Ready is known for his armed patrol in the Arizona desert looking for illegal immigrants.  His committee chairman is NSM member Harry Hughes, another neo-Nazi racist.



Dept of Justice boots Arpaio



And it wouldn’t be right not to give a nod to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who is up for reelection in November.  When you talk about racism along with anti-immigration policies, Sheriff Joe ranks right up there at the top.  The U.S. Dept. of Justice has charged the Sheriff with human-rights violations and the Phoenix Human Relations Committee has just unanimously voted to ask Arpaio to step down. 

This basically completes the inner circle of Arizona’s notoriously best known bigots in politics.

Arizona can thank National Football League for Martin Luther King holiday

Russell Pearce, JT Ready

Racism is still rampant in Arizona evidenced by the anti-immigration law SB-1070 passed in 2010 by deposed State Sen. Russell Pearce.  The state finally got rid of the likes of him, surrounded by his buddy J.T. Ready, racist and neo-Nazi from Pearce’s hometown of Mesa, AZ.  Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a Pearce supporter, has his own problems with racial discrimination from his raids on towns in his county for the sole purpose of harassing Hispanics.



Russell Pearce, Sheriff Arpaio



The people of Arizona must agree with this dogma because they elected Arpaio Sheriff in 1992 and he is still in office.  Pearce was elected to the Arizona legislature in 2000 and served there eleven years before he was recalled in November of 2011.  They both come from solid Arizona roots dating back to 1987 when Gov. Evan Mecham rescinded the former Governor Bruce Babbitt’s decision to honor Martin Luther King with an Arizona holiday.

That was almost 25 years ago but the Rev. Warren H. Stewart still remembers the struggle that eventually ended up with a MLK holiday in Arizona.  Stewart, a prominent Phoenix pastor who was the face of the movement then, says the state legislature viewed King as a Black hero but also as an agitator.  In those days African-Americans represented only 3 percent of the population.  But in 1990 voters went to the polls to decide whether or not King should have his holiday.  The proposition failed and Stewart felt he had done all he could.

Below is a must see video of Evan Mecham racism and other stupidity:



But then the football hit the fan.  By now Arizona had a reputation for being a racial battleground.  The state was boycotted by well know musicians and national conventions decided to take their business elsewhere.  However, it was the cancellation by the NFL of the 1993 Super Bowl scheduled to be played in Sun Devil stadium that broke the racists’ backs.  The game was moved to Pasadena, California. 

Rev. Stewart set things in motion again but didn’t like the idea that the change of the state’s attitude was due almost entirely to the loss of the Super Bowl.  Stewart took his dilemma to apartheid activist Leon Howard Sullivan who lived in Scottsdale and who said the Reverend had piqued the consciences of the business community, followed by his admonition to take their money because it was for a good cause. 

Stewart did and ran a campaign resulting in MLK Day being approved by a vote in 1992.  Arizona was the only state that had to put this holiday to a vote after a 1986 decision by President Ronald Reagan naming it as a national holiday.  On the first King Holiday in January of 1993, 19,000 Arizonans celebrated, joined by civil-rights activist Rosa Parks and musician Stevie Wonder.  Phoenix won the Super Bowl for 1996.

Rev. Stewart still believed the King Holiday was only a symbol and much still needed to be done for Arizona to move “from symbol to substance” in the treatment of all races and ethnicities.  Just recently he said that after 20 years this still has not happened.  He mentioned the anti-immigration bill SB-1070 and said the incivility of politics today is turning Martin Luther King’s dream into a nightmare. 

My gut tells me that if Arizona doesn’t wake up soon from this horrible dream and get rid of those in state government that harbor those prejudices, there won’t be enough advertising possible to draw tourists and new business back to the state.

Arizona tough Sheriff Joe Arpaio under fire from all directions

The federal government issued a harsh report recently that illustrates the scope of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s civil rights violations against Arizona Hispanics.  It includes a history of racial profiling and discrimination, emphasizing the regular raids that Arpaio conducts to find illegals.  The investigation has been going on for three years according to the Associated Press, and exposes a culture of bias that starts with the Sheriff and works its way down through the agency.

Thomas Perez, head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division says that Arpaio stimulates this environment of hostility and bias by sending “racially charged letters” to top aides and even saved them.  DOJ’s expert on racial profiling said, “it's the most egregious case of racial profiling in the nation that he has seen or reviewed in professional literature.”  As an example here is an excerpt from the report:

“The investigation found a number of instances in which "crime suppression activities" were initiated on complaints that ‘described no criminal activity, but rather referred, for instance, to individuals with 'dark skin' congregating in one area, or the individuals speaking Spanish at a local business.’"

And then there’s Arpaio’s botched sex crime investigations where 432 cases had fallen through the cracks and were not investigated.  A now-retired detective left a “poor paperwork trail” which resulted in these unprosecuted sex crime cases.  The Sheriff tried his usual cover-up strategy by saying Phoenix police had a much larger caseload of similar cases.  Phoenix police countered that, unlike Arpaio’s inaction, they immediately assigned a task force to the issue.

The Sheriff’s latest headache is a Mexican woman, an inmate in the county jail, who claims sheriff’s officers mistreated her during and after a pregnancy which included shackling her while in labor and following a Caesarean delivery.  Miriam Mendiola-Martinez has filed suit against the Sheriff, his agency and deputies, which follows right on the heels of the federal report.  The Arizona Dept. of Corrections, the U.S. Marshall’s Service and the FBI have eliminated the practice of using shackles on pregnant women.

Arpaio giving up right to detain illegals

But that’s still not all.  On the day before Christmas, a judge ruled that Sheriff Joe Arpaio could no longer detain people for being in the country illegally.  The ruling is a direct result of a 2007 lawsuit against Arpaio and his officers of racially profiling Latinos in traffic stops that occurred during Arpaio’s infamous immigration sweeps.  At the same time the judge sanctioned the Sheriff for destroying documents related to the case.

The feds report had a number of other interesting revelations.  It found that Arpaio and his staff had tried to silence people speaking out against him and the department.  Hispanics are 4 to 9 times more likely to be detained in traffic stops than non-Hispanics.  From 2006 to 2009, 20 percent of traffic stops handled by Arpaio’s immigrant smuggling squad were done without reasonable suspicion and involved almost 100 percent Latinos.  Deputies were encouraged to make high-volume traffic stops in “targeted” locations, often arresting Hispanics who were in the country legally.  And there’s much more.

Another quote from the report:

“Investigators believe the sheriff's office followed a pattern or practice of unconstitutional treatment of Hispanics both inside the jails and in traffic stops, especially by the sheriff's human smuggling and work-site enforcement units.”

The Tucson Citizen newspaper commented: “Arpaio is equivalent to ‘Bull’ Connor and our Arizona Governor Jan Brewer is equivalent to Alabama’s George Wallace.”  “Bull” Connor was the bigoted Birmingham, Alabama Commissioner of Public Safety with control over a police force that directed the use of fire hoses, and police attack dogs against peaceful demonstrators, including children.  George Wallace was the Governor of Alabama and an avid pro-segregationist.  Both are very accurate comparisons to the people who run the state of Arizona.

Racist JT Ready with Russell Pearce

But wait, that’s still not all.  Randy Parraz, president of Citizens for a Better Arizona, the guy who was responsible for removing racist Arizona State Sen. Russell Pearce from office in a recall election, is asking the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to pass a resolution to dump Arpaio.  Parraz has said in the past that he might consider a recall for Joe Arpaio as well as Arizona’s bogus Gov. Jan Brewer.

Unfortunately Arizona has all of a sudden discovered it is in the hands of a gang of bigoted, extreme conservatives that have almost brought the state to its knees.  Being the great place Arizona is, the question is will its people find their way once again and return to a sane environment to live and visit.