The home state of the once-maverick Republican John McCain has increasingly become a hotbed of conservative fundamentalism. On Tuesday, the Arizona State House of Representatives voted 31-22 to require all presidential candidates to produce a birth certificate in order qualify for the state's presidential ballot. This legislation is an obvious shot at President Obama, who some still believe is not a natural born citizen. While there have been no reports on whether Governor Jan Brewer will sign or veto the bill, the mere fact that this bill passed the House is a birther-fueled abomination in itself.
In other Arizonan news, the State Senate recently passed a bill that would require any immigrant in Arizona to carry proper immigration papers and would require police, if they had a doubt about a person's immigration status, to determine whether they were a legal citizen or immigrant. If an officer has a "reasonable suspicion," they may demand proof that they person is in the country legally. This bill, if signed by Governor Jan Brewer, will result in blatant discrimination and racial profiling for anyone who looks remotely like they could be from another country.
Arizona's stance against illegal immigrants is notorious. Past bills have banned employers from knowingly hiring illegal immigrants and have made human smuggling a state crime.In particular, Maricopa County Sheriff, Joe Arpaio is one of the most outspoken proponents of legislation which cracks down on illegal immigrants. Arpaio is known for his questionable actions against illegal immigrants, such as conducting widespread sweeps in areas where immigrants are concentrated to round up illegal immigrants.
On the national political level, Arizona Senator and former presidential candidate (born on a US Naval Base in Panama) John McCain is fighting to hold onto his Senate seat. His challenger, former Congressman JD Hayworth, has dubbed himself, "The Consistent Conservative," and has gained the endorsements of Glenn Beck, Sheriff Arpaio, a number of conservative talk-show hosts (for, after all, that is his newest profession) and numerous elements of the Tea Party Movement. Hayworth, who has compared gay marriage to a human marrying a horse and has been the winner of Washingtonian magazine's "Best and Worst of Congress" titles of "Biggest Windbag" and "No Rocket Scientist," is running only 5 percentage points behind McCain as of last Friday.
While McCain has drifted towards the right from his former position of center-right maverickism, Hayworth represents a new level of right wing ideology. If elected, Arizona and the Senate will lose one of the most respected and experienced representatives in the Senate and will face the dangerously radical views of JD Hayworth. Neither the Senate nor Arizona will stand to benefit from this.
Arizona voters need to act in order to prevent isolation by the rest of the country and the risk of being known as the first Tea Party State.
Below is a pro-McCain advertisement which mocks Hayworth's radical views and general absurdity.
It is a bit surprising that Arizona, of all places, is like you said, going to be known as the first "Tea Party State." One would think that such legislation would be passed in states such as Texas, Oklahoma, or Mississippi before Arizona.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, this shouldn't come as a complete surprise, as John McCain has essentially been the face of the state for years, despite the fact that he is about to lose his senate seat. It is a bit ironic that he is about to be replaced by a conservative who holds values closer to Sarah Palin's than McCain's.
I could not agree more with your initial statement: "Arizona has a lot of issues." Instituting a mandate to provide a birth certificate seems silly, especially because it really is in retaliation again Obama. I wonder if it comes against Obama simply because he expresses views with which many Arizonians disagree or if it is because of his race. Either way, it is ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteI am also appalled that legislation to openly racially profile and discriminate passed. How is this legislation not unconstitutional? An interesting response to the Arizona bill is the suggestion that all Arizonians who oppose the bill write on their back windshields "Pull me over, I'm an Illegal" as an effort to distract and irritate the police. I do think that illegal immigration is a serious problem in this country, but racial profiling is not a method of solving it.
Honestly being from Arizona, the fact that the immigration law passed is not that surprising. It's hard to believe, but Arpaio is extremely popular. He even has his own "posse" made up of civilians who just want to volunteer for him and do his dirty work. He also has convicts parade around one of the prisons, "tent city", in pink underwear. Although, in the last presidential election AZ went a lot bluer than expected so maybe that's why this has come as such a shock. I am surprised that the law now permits concealed weapons, though. That's pretty frightening.
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