Clearly the current governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer and many of those in the Arizona state legislature are mean spirited, hate filled, racists driven by the fear of what they see as the southern brown-skinned hoards rushing the border. What they fear is the inevitable: white people will soon be the minority. As a US Census Bureau report indicates, between 2000 and 2006 latinos accounted for "one-half of the nation’s growth," and the growth rate for latinos "(24.3%) was more than three times the growth rate of the total population (6.1%)." Even their most draconian laws can't stop that trend, especially because Arizona isn't listed among the top 5 states experiencing the greatest increase in their latino populations.
But now, as TPM reports, Gov Brewer has a new plan: murdering those crossing the border illegally. Seems she has decided if she can't arrest people looking for a better life, she'll kill them. Certainly I have found her recent actions abhorrent, but even in my most paranoid moments I never imagined she would go this far. Her request that President Obama deploy unmanned armed vehicles to patrol the border between Arizona and Mexico is tantamount to murder. Why else request the use of unmanned drones that are known to be responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent civilians in their present theaters of Iraq and Afghanistan?
To suggest Gov. Brewer is morally bankrupt would be an understatement. She is clearly driven by a kind of hate that rationalizes murder as border protection. At this point, there is nothing other than gender that separates her from former Gov. Wallace or from Bull Connor.
There come times in this country's history when we must recognize the hate and evil that drives some as a national problem. We did this most recently in the late 1950's and 1960's, and as a result congress passed and President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. (Although President John F. Kennedy initiated the legislation, he did not live to see its passage.)
Now is such a time. The actions of Gov Brewer, Rep. Russell Pearce, Sheriff Joe Arpaio and others like them cannot be allowed. What kind of nation are we if we sanction the arrest and murder of those coming across the border in search of a better life? Yes, we are a country of laws. But we should also be a country that differentiates crimes of necessity from other types of crime. Illegal border crossings are almost always driven by a desire to find honest work that means one can provide for one's family. We should be a country that, while recognizing its futility, does not allow the "American Dream" that brought so many of our ancestors to this country become tantamount to terrorism.
Write to, email and call your state and US legislators telling them now is the time to address the issue of illegal immigration and the time to do so with the recognition that many of those who are here illegally are long-standing members of our communities; are law abiding; are tax payers; are essential to our economic recovery. Write to President Obama, to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and to Speaker Pelosi and tell them this as well.
Now is the time.
But now, as TPM reports, Gov Brewer has a new plan: murdering those crossing the border illegally. Seems she has decided if she can't arrest people looking for a better life, she'll kill them. Certainly I have found her recent actions abhorrent, but even in my most paranoid moments I never imagined she would go this far. Her request that President Obama deploy unmanned armed vehicles to patrol the border between Arizona and Mexico is tantamount to murder. Why else request the use of unmanned drones that are known to be responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent civilians in their present theaters of Iraq and Afghanistan?
If you think I am overstating the case here, I ask that you recall Brewer's April 30, 2010 claim that
Arizona has been under terrorist attacks, if you will, with all of this illegal immigration that has been taking place on our very porous border. […] The whole issue comes back, that we do not and will not tolerate illegal immigration bringing with it very much so the implications of crime and terrorism into our state.
Listen for yourself:
To suggest Gov. Brewer is morally bankrupt would be an understatement. She is clearly driven by a kind of hate that rationalizes murder as border protection. At this point, there is nothing other than gender that separates her from former Gov. Wallace or from Bull Connor.
There come times in this country's history when we must recognize the hate and evil that drives some as a national problem. We did this most recently in the late 1950's and 1960's, and as a result congress passed and President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. (Although President John F. Kennedy initiated the legislation, he did not live to see its passage.)
Now is such a time. The actions of Gov Brewer, Rep. Russell Pearce, Sheriff Joe Arpaio and others like them cannot be allowed. What kind of nation are we if we sanction the arrest and murder of those coming across the border in search of a better life? Yes, we are a country of laws. But we should also be a country that differentiates crimes of necessity from other types of crime. Illegal border crossings are almost always driven by a desire to find honest work that means one can provide for one's family. We should be a country that, while recognizing its futility, does not allow the "American Dream" that brought so many of our ancestors to this country become tantamount to terrorism.
Write to, email and call your state and US legislators telling them now is the time to address the issue of illegal immigration and the time to do so with the recognition that many of those who are here illegally are long-standing members of our communities; are law abiding; are tax payers; are essential to our economic recovery. Write to President Obama, to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and to Speaker Pelosi and tell them this as well.
Now is the time.
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