July 7, 2010 – Daily Brief

Okay, I am not a major fan of the Arizona law, but I find it ironic that the feds are suing Arizona over a law that technically supports the federal law, but does nothing about so-called sanctuary cities where the federal law is clearly being broken.

OK, so now the investigating officer says there is video that “clearly shows the driver of the Infiniti ran a red light.” What is the over under on when we can expect charges to be filed and the driver to surrender to authorities?

“Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow.” Deuteronomy 27:19

Ok, build a fence spanning the entire border. I even have a name for it and an outline for the posting of guards. Just look up THE IRON CURTAIN! Because humans really like a fence keeping them in their place. We can even have a Brewerburg Gate to honor the shriveled liar of a governor in Az.

I was sent this interesting take from an Arizona music retailer: A PLEA FROM ARIZONA FOR AN END TO THE BAND BOYCOTTS My hope in writing this is to be able to clarify a few things for the bands across the country that are boycotting Arizona in an attempt to voice their opposition to racism and the loss of civil rights, but that are mistakenly thinking they are helping the situation by canceling shows here. Obviously SB1070 is an appalling piece of legislation, but the complexity that surrounds the issue of immigration stems from social, economic, and cultural diseases that are not currently being addressed. We are at a critical time in a nation with a long history of ugly racial biases and untold tragedy. A symbolic boycott of this state is unproductive. So, where do we go from here? Those who are boycotting Arizona are well intentioned, we know, and while there is talk about the boycott being a blunt instrument, it is, in fact, nothing but a symbolic gesture being made by misinformed folks. Nothing blunt about it really; economically, it’s more like being in a pillow fight. Google “Buycott” and one will see literally hundreds of right-wing websites that have popped up all over the country to support Arizona. The Tea Party is pouring money and information into Arizona at a rate that literally dwarfs any attempts by bands and municipalities to boycott us combined. I know this first hand, because I run the state’s Buy Local coalition, called Local First Arizona. We have had over 50,000 people come to our website over the past few months from all over the country to spend money here because they support what our legislature is trying to do. We have heard from coalitions of sheriffs, soccer moms, law enforcement folks, office workers, business owners, truck drivers — all coming to our “rescue” because cities and bands are making such a grand and hollow stance with their boycotts. The boycotters are weighing in against something we all inherently know is wrong, but they still don’t have the complete picture. Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes recently stated, “The Boycott has to be so widespread and devastating that the Arizona State Legislature and Governor have no choice but to repeal their unconstitutional, immoral and hateful law. It has to hurt them in the only place they feel any pain, their pocketbooks.” I completely understand his theory, but what he describes here is not possible. The amount of money pouring in from the supporters of the legislation will quite easily prevent those who are in power here from ever hitting the bottom. And in the meantime, the boycotters will contribute to the absolute economic collapse of the businesses within the state, which will allow the Tea Party to come here to rebuild. I’ve read a lot about boycotts. I understand effective boycotting as I’m sure you do. Cesar Chavez, Martin Luther King, Jr. — both men were incredibly successful with targeted boycotts that achieved two things: They empowered the people who were being demonized, and they created a strong economic blockage that brought a specific industry to its knees. This boycott of Arizona is accomplishing the opposite on both points. Boycotters are not empowering Latino people here. In fact 260,000 Latinos have left Arizona in the past 18 months, partly out of fear and partly because of a lack of jobs. By not doing business here, boycotters are eliminating jobs. Secondly, what blockage are they creating exactly? Who is “the man” they are supposedly bringing to his knees? One would have to fully understand Arizona economics to launch a boycott that has impact or is successful on any level. I have several ideas about how one might go about doing that but, sadly, no one called ahead to see if the blanket economic or cultural boycott ideas would work, or to see if those of us here on the ground have any thoughts on the matter. Like the Tea Partiers, the boycotters are simply folks from the outside throwing their measly two cents into the mess. And while we are all distracted with the grand posturing, the extreme right is making plans to “take back America” one state at a time. There are currently as many as 14 other states that are preparing legislation just like SB1070. Here in Arizona, the bill is in the hands of the courts. There is absolutely no amount of protest, no march vast enough, to overturn the bill at the present time. The courts will decide if it’s constitutional. Should they decide the law is, in fact, constitutional, there will immediately be at least 10 other states working to pass the same type of legislation. I wonder if the boycotters are prepared to boycott them too. Wouldn’t we be smarter to get organized and make a national plan to prepare for what’s next? And if the law is found unconstitutional, most people will go back to their normal lives and the bands will hope to come here and play a show and pretend that none of this ever happened. At the same time we Arizonans will have to spend at least the next decade trying to recover from being the scourge of the earth. Even though the man who wrote the bill was from Kansas. And even though we didn’t elect the governor who signed this into law. And even though the Arizona I know is a diverse state that celebrates culture. No matter that there are good people here doing great work, we will spend a decade apologizing for the fact that we happened to be the chosen ones — the ones the Tea Party picked to stake their flag in the ground — and all the while the people we would normally look to for help have turned their backs on us. The extreme right has social media and Fox News on their side and now good, hard-working, decent people of every ethnicity are either in support of SB1070 or they are sitting quietly on the sidelines, thinking this won’t affect them. This is not just an Arizona issue, and to mistakenly think a cultural or economic boycott is helping is fundamentally wrong. Boycotters are actually compounding the disaster. The Tea Party is gaining strength every day and in every state. To turn your back on Arizona is to deny yourself of the first-hand knowledge we have of how this kind of manipulation works. We have seen it with our own eyes. Please don’t weaken those here (small business owners, music fans, progressive people of all kinds) who could actually be gaining strength to work for change at ground zero. Trust me, your state could be next. Our unelected governor is on the national news talking about “the beheadings” though no one can find a beheading in Arizona’s history. She also stated that most people who are coming here are “drug mules who come here to terrorize families”. Fox News broadcasts these comments with no concern for the facts. Check out the number of Tea Party websites repeating these false statements over and over to people everywhere, causing the line to blur between the cartels and decent, hard-working families looking for a way to survive. In truth, Arizona’s violent crime rate, according to the FBI, is at its lowest since 1967. Property crime is at its lowest since the mid-80′s. The political right has completely manufactured mass hysteria in under three months, and they have done so rather effortlessly. Are you scared yet? Do you understand why the boycotts are counterproductive? We should be implementing “go-cotts” to encourage bands to come here and strategically target their spending to create funds for good causes, to let their voices of reason be heard. Together, we may be able to affect some change. Joey Burns from Calexico is spearheading an effort called Viva Arizona to do just that. But I would go further. The solution is going to take every single one of the rational, moderate people from both sides of the political spectrum to calm this down. Right now the only voice our youth can hear is one of hysteria, misinformation, and fear. The mistrust and hate that has sprouted here is spreading like wildfire across the country and we are merely standing on the si

I hope Arizona counter sues the Federal Government for non performance.

Does Arizona have their entire states National Guard on the border? Must not be that big a deal! Same for all the gulf states. Their failure to commit their resources is not Obama’s problem. Waahhhh!

I see a slew of examples of that old adage “If you tell a lie long enough” regarding the current administration and immigration enforcement. I see and hear from the misinformed that President Obama isn’t enforcing the immigration laws, which is complete BS. Here are some actual facts. Since 2007: The Obama Administration announced a Southwest Border Initiative that has increased the resources the government is dedicating to combating drug cartels, and the smuggled cash and illegal weapons they thrive on. The Border Patrol has increased its forces to more than 20,000 officers, and DHS has built more than 600 miles of border fencing. The administration expanded the Secure Communities program, which identifies illegal aliens being booked into local jails. Immigration and Customs Enforcement audited more employers suspected of hiring illegal labor in a single day in July than had been audited in all of 2008. That’s just a slice of the examples of being done. Is it enough? Don’t know. But to say that Obama is doing nothing and not enforcing the immigration laws is a flat out lie perpetrated by those who are sore that they lost an election. You don’t like him so you sh*t all over everything he does and then call yourselves “proud Americans”. The Arizona immigration law thwarts the efforts made not only by this administration, but previous administrations as well and that local law will have no long term effect.