Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Last Friday, the Tea-Publican Arizona House approved legislation to have the head of the state Department of Homeland Security monitor intelligence from various sources to determine if they indicate "any type of warning about dangerous conditions in regard to illegal immigration activities" North of border in Baja Arizona. AZ House OKs warnings for travel north of Mexican line:
It allows the director to put out that information "in a manner that will immediately warn the public of the danger." That can include not only telling the local media but everything from Facebook and Twitter to direct emails to those who have asked to be notified.
Despite the agency's statewide authority, HB 2586 says the potential danger zone where warnings will be sounded will be limited to just 62 miles from the border.
Although no specific lines have been identified, 62 miles would appear to take in some portions of the city of Tucson.
Yet another measure targeted at Baja Arizona, and Pima County and the City of Tucson specifically, by the State of Maricopa and its insurgent Tea-Publicans here in Baja Arizona. The real danger to Arizona comes from our Tea-Publican legislature. Despite numerous recent reports about the substantial decline in illegal border crossings and substantial decline in border related crime, these paranoids are still fear mongering against anyone breathing while brown.
Just listen to Tea-Publican Rep. Peggy Judd, R-Willcox:
Judd said she has started to carry a gun everywhere she goes, "which wasn't necessarily a bad thing." And she said farmers and ranchers in rural areas learn to be prepared.
"But a lot of us don't know exactly for what," Judd said.
"Are we going to have someone knock on our door?" she asked.
"Do we trust since it happened to the lady in the next town that it will happen to us eventually?" Judd continued. "Do we listen to just the media?"
"There are lots of rumors on the border," Judd told colleagues Friday. "This would give us one place to go to have accurate information that is well-vetted."
Judd said informal channels can lead to "hysteria."
Exactly. Just like this paranoid legislation leads to irrational fear mongering and hysteria from Rep. Judd.
Gilbert Orrantia, state homeland security chief, said in an earlier hearing on the proposal that what Judd wants is not as simple as it sounds.
"Threats come from various sources and various means in various ways," he said. "There are threats that are more credible, there are threats that are non-credible."
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On a more practical level, Orrantia pointed out that unlike the federal Department of Homeland Security, his agency is not involved in law enforcement. It is in a support role, serving as the state's liaison to the federal agency and as adviser to the governor, and may not have the latest information.
He also said the kind of warnings Judd wants can have unintended effects.
In a related matter, the Neoconfederate "states' rights" secessessionists in the Arizona Senate passed a resolution on Monday declaring a state of emergency in Arizona because the shared border with Mexico is not secure and the forests have been badly managed, leading to large wildfires. Senate OKs emergency-declaration measure:
State law authorizes an emergency declaration from the governor, which usually occurs with flooding and fires.
The resolution, approved on a 20-8 vote Monday, says the state has the authority to declare this emergency and will be "exercising its right of sovereignty over soil within its boundaries."
This meaningless resolution is just another excuse for Gov. Jan Brewer to poke her boney finger in the eye of the federal "guvmint." Feel better now?
"Arizona State University law professor Paul Bender explained the resolution has no legal effect and the state cannot do anything that conflicts with federal law." That's because there is a little thing called the Supremacy Clause and the 14th Amendment. The Civil War is over Johnny Reb, get over it.
We are 5 miles from the border in Cochise County. You can't swing a cat these days without hitting a Border Patrol agent, truck or helicopter. Less traffic through here than we've seen in years and years. Feds are the biggest employer in the county (especially when you add in Ft. Huachuca), yet the GOP-TPers continue with their Fear Fear Fear! mantra. Only time we see the guv, McCain or other politicos who purport to know everything about it is for brief photo ops during the "Build the dang fence" tour or the "Monument Fire 5 minute photo Op" of last summer.
Posted by: AZterritory | March 06, 2012 at 01:33 PM
"The real danger to Arizona comes from our Tea-Publican legislature."
That's right. Just ignore those drug cartels operating in the Menagers Dam area, the Vekol Valley, Stanfield and around the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation. They are just looking for a better life after all. They're harmless. It's those damn tea-publican racists that will kill you. /s
Posted by: NidanGoju | March 06, 2012 at 01:51 PM