"The law was made for man, not man for the law"
-Jesus of Nazareth-
-Jesus of Nazareth-
He's "not going to put up with any civil disobedience" said the notorious Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff on Good Morning America. No doubt he expects to see some, as the infamous Arizona "show me your papers" law goes into effect tomorrow. Protest is all "hype" anyway and it's "a crime to be here illegally and everyone should enforce" it. Everyone?
It sounds like fun and I can't wait to start enforcing the law myself -- I mean all the laws, of course and since I have the firepower, why not stop every blond person I see and make him prove he's not Canadian? It's all a cowboy movie to sheriff Joe Arpaio, so why shouldn't I play along? But, of course, it's not the law in general that we should all enforce, it's the infamous Arizona law reducing the rights of anyone looking to any Arizona Cop like he has Native American ancestry.
But why pick on this comic book villain? The idea is widely popular, particularly in the old Confederate states, where good manners, big hearts and small minds go hand in hand. Civil disobedience is, in fact, just what we need to clog up the courts and disable and embarrass the damned fools who pretend it's all about the law and not a distraction to hide another expansion of police power. We need just what was so effective in the 1960's; thousands and thousands of people to flood the streets of Arizona looking illegal. We need a spectacle: sit-ins, marches, civil disobedience, dogs, water cannons and an impotent, sputtering, apoplectic, beer-belly Joe looking like the Dukes of Hazzard relic he is.
Now, before you reach for some more canned rage: no, I'm not in favor of allowing undocumented workers to remain, or letting people overstay their visas, just don't tell me we have to become a brutal, inhumane police state to correct the problem and if it isn't all based on racial purity, tell me why we don't know or care how many Canadians or Englishmen are working here and living here without benefit of citizenship.
Captain - Englishmen ... working here and living here without benefit of citizenship"
ReplyDeleteLike Tony Hayward, for instance? I admit, that was low. Perhaps it should be mentioned, Arpaio is not about law enforcement but about white supremacy. His friends are neo-Nazis with whom he meets in secret.
1:10 PM - CNN is announcing that a federal judge has issued an injunction on parts of the Arizona law, the most controversial parts, that prevents those provisions from being enforced.
ReplyDeleteNo, no, citizenship is for the proletariat, Corporations can do and say what they please. They can make a fortune from selling our resources to others and pay no taxes on it and we pay them to do it.
ReplyDeleteYes, I caught that news item. It's going to be a boon for the bigots because now they can howl about big government interference -- just as they did when Big Government integrated the South.
It's prefer to see riots and demonstrations and the severe economic consequences of their actions. I'd prefer to see the country ashamed to have Arizona as part of it.
Racism is more American than apple pie.
ReplyDeleteIt's difficult but members of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Department are required to remain on active duty into their third trimester.
ReplyDeleteThese drug cartels are practically running Mexico. We should get tough before they think they can rule Arizona.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that; isn't it explicit in the Constitution that Congress has the right to pass laws affecting immigration?
Isn't the sheriff a stereotype of a red-neck, racist, southern cop?
Very well said, Captain. I'm posting the link to this entry on my Facebook page. It'll save me the trouble of trying to respond to all the pitiful excuses for human beings who keep explaining why they love Arizona's new law.
ReplyDeleteJoe Arpaio seeking "racial purity"? I don't have the manifest handy but I'm pretty sure there weren't any Arpaio's on the Mayflower. What's Joe Ahole's background anyways? How do we know his people ain't illegals who used him for an anchor baby (although, based on his shape, he coulda been a mooring).
ReplyDeleteThat such a foul human being is allowed to remain in office is much more an indictment of the county's voters than it is of Arpaio.
Pitiful excuses indeed, but I have no pity. There is no end of anger at "Liberals" and the ACLU here because of yesterday's court decision. "It's only opinion, not the law" but of course it's the law, it's the constitution.
ReplyDeleteBut as I said, it's going to take some serious and obvious abuse to make the pea-brains and the Tea-brains and the Beck Bastards understand that no, this is not a country sliding to the left, but hell-bent for Fascism.
I'm shopping for a condo in the Bahamas.
I am glad to see the feds stepping in to thwart this madness and I can only hope that the issue of illegal immigration gets some much needed rational consideration and that humane measures - the kind that REAL Americans would support -be instituted.
ReplyDeleteI am so tired of hearing the screed of pseudo-patriots I don't listen to it anymore. It's to depressing.
I don't see this as a partisan matter but a constitutional one. The Arizona law insults an entire segment of that state's population out of racism (conscious or latent), and if such a plan were put into effect nationwide, it would turn a relatively free country into a police state. All it does is allow paranoid, ignorant, bellicose white people to feel as if they are "dealing with" the supposed threat constituted by the country's changing demographics.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that a majority of Americans don't see the problem with the Arizona law is a wonderful illustration of why we should be thankful that we don't have direct democracy – the people aren't constitutionally adept enough to know whether they are harming or helping themselves in a case like this – they just want something done about illegal immigration, and they apparently can't be troubled to look into the details of the solution.
That's not good enough – we need a national policy that's both humane and respectful of our own immigration laws, and the extreme frustration that has led to support for Arizona's teabagger-inspired abomination is no substitute for that policy.
The country's current problems weren't caused by immigrants (with or without papers) -- they were caused largely by irresponsible conduct in the financial sector, conduct that was at the very least tolerated (and at worst encouraged) by the very people who should have put a stop to it.
I heard a very interesting remark on the radio recently. During a discussion with an undocumented worker harvesting fruit in California the worker mentioned as how he had been working in the United States for a good many years picking soft fruit in California, asparagus in Washington, etc. following the crops he had never worked alongside an Anglo.
ReplyDeleteFrankly undocumented workers are preferred. Cheap. Easy to intimidate and all in all much more suitable for employers looking to keep costs in line and their industries profitable. And those industries have enough clout to stall any actual reform in immigration and guest worker programs.
We need people to do the work in this country most of us no longer do. And we need to start treating them with dignity and fairness. Disappear all the inexpensive migrant labor tomorrow and listen to the 'Real Americans' squall.
If we've learned on thing over the past couple of years of rampant criminality in this country it's that a guy picking grapes or a woman cleaning hotel rooms contributes far more to society than a bright young MBA peddling credit default swaps.
I have no idea whether there are really enough illegal aliens in some areas to constitute a problem, but I do know that the number has little to do with the vehemence and volume of the outrage.
ReplyDeleteA few years ago I built a couple of houses - one of them I now live in and the only roofing crews you could get to work in the summer were Guatemalans, all of whom spoke passable English and were here legally. My gardeners are all Guatemalan, speak English and are citizens. I don't think I've met an illegal, although you never know who's peeling potatoes in that fancy French restaurant. I welcome the new Guatemalan bakery town the road and the ethnic restaurants I enjoy, but no, the locals cheer when one gets hit by a car or when two Mexican kids drowned in the river.
Yes, sir, let's wave the flag, 'cause we're the GREATEST!