I've been holding off on commenting on the controversial Arizona immigration law issue simply because the magnitude of what it's all about has overwhelmed my sense of pride in what I thought America stood for and my sense of respect and empathy for alot of people who incrementally I am beginning to feel shame for calling my fellow citizens.
Let me start with a few factual observations.
The illegal immigration issue in the United States southwest, California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas is not a new issue. These states have shared a border with our poorer neighbor Mexico for their entire history. It is a 1700+ mile long border across and through some of the most inhospitable and uninhabited terrain there is. It is literally impossible to monitor every square inch of that expansive border in perpetuity. And for those who believe building an end-to-end Berlin Wall type of fence is a feasible, effective option, all I have to say to you is you are a hideously uninformed ignoramus.
Secondly - it is estimated there are approximately 500,000 illegal immigrants in the state of Arizona at this time. Statistics I have seen do not indicate an immeasurable increase in that number in the past 5 years. In fact, recent trending shows a slowdown and potential reversal in the numbers due quite simply to the impact of the economic downturn and busted housing market in the southwest.
Thirdly - the LEGAL hispanic population has been increasing steadily the past two decades. This demographic transformation has slowly seen traditionally white, conservative and Republican Arizona slowly shifting from deep red to, at some point in the not too distant future, a blue political status - particularly in federal elections. Hispanics, like most other minorities, do not see a modern day Republican party that gives a rat's ass about their issues, so they tend to vote Democratic by a comfortable majority.
Are you starting to get the picture now?
So given the reality that illegal immigration is not a new problem, is not an escalating problem and has a by product which will hasten the future demise of of the conservative and GOP stranglehold on the Arizona state political machine, the impetus behind the "show me your papers" immigration law begins to crystallize quite clearly.
What's that? Still don't understand the relationships outlined above? Ok -- let me throw one more factor into the mix.
A black man was elected President 16 months ago. Do you get it now?
Still not convinced huh? Sigh . . . ok -- I didn't want to do this, but you've forced my hand.
Arizona state Senator Russel Pearce, who authored the draconian immigration law and marshaled it forward to the desk of (non-elected, she was appointed when Democrat Janet Napolitano joined Obama's cabinet) GOP Governor Jan Brewer for her signature, has a wee bit of an issue with humans whose skin color is so much as a half shade darker than his own. You see -- the unadulterated fact of the matter is that Sen. Pearce is actually quite chummy with some folks who like to parade around in Nazi brown-shirt uniforms while wearing prominently displayed Nazi Swastika armbands and waving Nazi flags. You don't believe me? [ CLICK HERE ]
Combine that sordid bit of business with the fact that while Sen. Pearce's "show me your papers if you have brown skin" law was snaking it's way through the Arizona legislature, a companion bill was slithering along side it. This bill has as a primary aim, a requirement for Barack Obama to prove he is a natural born citizen.
You really have to be a fucking moron to not see what this Arizona immigration bill is really all about. And it IS NOT to say in any sense that an illegal immigration problem does not exist in the United States. George W. Bush attempted, to his credit, to fairly address the issue while he was President, but the hard-core conservatives - the same unreasonable fuckheads responsible for the Arizona law, slapped him down.
It's a sad spectacle, but when you get right down to it, something I and many others have been predicting and warning about for quite some time is finally coming to fruition. The Birther, Racist, Teabagger, Christian-Taliban, Xenophobic, fascist nutcases are in the final throes of solidifying their grip of control on the once proud and sane Republican party.
Time will tell whether these goose-stepping assholes will regret the damage they have wrought to the world's greatest democracy. My fervent hope is not only will they come to regret it, but that they and their lizard-brain movement will once and for all be consigned to the dustbin of history.
----k
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