Blog For Arizona

Three Sonorans Might Actually Have a Point Here

By Tom Prezelski
Re-posted from Rum, Romanism and Rebellion

So, anyway, last week, David “Three Sonorans” Morales posted this on his Facebook page:

At first, I saw this and wanted to respond by pointing out that David’s memory seems to be too short for him to recall the Democratic opposition to SB1070 and HB2281. But then, I realized that, though his comments about Democrats are unfair and not based in historical fact, he may have stumbled upon an ugly truth regarding the outrage over SB1062, the latest manifestation of ugly bigotry from the legislature.

"Emmett Down in My Heart" play for Black History Month

Posted by Carolyn Classen

 

"Tucson Alliance of Dramatic Artists (TADA) presents the winner of their first annual play competition. Sheldon Metz, TADA's artistic director, directs this production, the true story of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old boy who was killed in Mississippi in 1955 for supposedly whistling at a white woman. Emmett's brutal murder triggered unprecedented nationwide coverage, furthered the civil rights movement and inspired Rosa Parks when she refused to move to the back of the bus later that same year".

Featuring Carley E. Preston, Joan O'Dwyer, P.J. Peavy, Candace Bean, Seth Fowler, Victor Bowleg, and introducing André Johnson as Cuz and Kendrick Stallings as Emmett.

February 22 - March 9 Fridays/Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. Sundays at 2:30 p.m.

General admission: $20 Seniors/students: $15 February 21 preview: $15 for everyone

Call for group rates (20 or more) Reservations: Call: 520-722-9553 OR Email: [email protected].

The play is about the intertwined stories of Emmett Till, his grieving mother Mrs.Mamie Till-Mobley, who insisted on an open casket funeral in Chicago "so the world could witness the horrors inflicted on my son", and white school teacher Roanne Taylor, who failed to act when she heard his screams. More about the powerful play at playwright Clare Coss' website: http://www.clarecoss.com/emmett.shtml

Felony disenfranchisement is a vestige of Jim Crow

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Jamelle Boiue writing at The Daily Beast expounds upon Attorney General Eric Holder's call to end felony disenfranchisement of former prisoners who have served their sentence and repaid their debt to society. The Jim Crow Zombie That Won't Die:

Felon disenfranchisement laws are, literally, a vestige of Jim Crow. It’s time for them to go.

Nationwide, five million Americans are barred from voting because of felony convictions. In recent years, a coalition of reformers on the left and right (including former Virginia governor Bob McDonnell and Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky), have moved to either mitigate the effects of this, or push for full repeal of these felon disenfranchisement laws.

And for good reason. As is true of most things in the criminal justice system, this is a status quo with particular harm for African Americans. Thanks to the rampant racial disparities in arrests and prosecutions, blacks—and black men in particular—bear the brunt of these policies. More than thirteen percent of black men are unable to vote because of a felony conviction, with no regards to the nature of the offense or time served.

Indeed, for reasons you can imagine, the biggest impact is felt in the states of the former Confederacy, where disenfranchisement laws are especially draconian, and several states—Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi—have lifetime voting bans.

Let's be Clear: House Tea-Publicans killed immigration reform

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The AP headline in the The Arizona Republic and Arizona Daily Star this morning makes it clear: House conservatives rule out immigration this year:

Conservative Republicans on Wednesday ruled out any immigration legislation in the House this year, insisting that the GOP should wait until next year when the party might also control the Senate.

House GOP leaders unveiled their broad immigration principles last week that gave hope to advocates and the Obama administration that the first changes in the nation’s laws in three decades might happen in the coming months.

Immigration legislation is one of the top priorities for Obama’s second term.

But several of the conservatives were adamant that the House should do nothing on the issue this year, a midterm election year when the GOP is angling to gain six seats in the Senate and seize majority control. Democrats currently have a 55-45 advantage but are defending more seats, including ones in Republican-leaning states.

“I think it’s a mistake for us to have an internal battle in the Republican Party this year about immigration reform,” Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, told reporters at a gathering of conservatives. “I think when we take back the Senate in 2014 one of the first things we should do next year after we do certain economic issues, I think we should address the immigration issue.”

Labrador’s comments were noteworthy as he was one of eight House members working on bipartisan immigration legislation last year. He later abandoned the negotiations.

The Arizona Republic should check with Gov. Brewer on immigration reform: 'throw them out!'

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Arizona Republic, formerly known as The Arizona Republican, the media arm of the Republican Party establishment in Arizona (namely Senator John McCain, see the pushback to the Arizona Republican Party's crazy base censure of McCain on Sunday, Arizona GOP censure riles McCain backers), published a schizophrenic editorial opinion on Sunday extolling the Tea-Publican House "principles" on immigration reform released last week. A step to the middle:

There was a national sigh of relief when the House Republicans released their principles for immigration reform last week. Their plan creates space for genuine debate that could lead to finally reforming fatally flawed immigration policies. The biggest divide is over what to do about 11 million undocumented people. The House principles are a welcome step toward the middle.

In calling for [permanent] legal residency and citizenship [only] for young people who were brought into the country illegally as children, House Republicans have recognized what the nation has long understood: You don’t punish children for the actions of their parents.

In calling for legalization for the larger undocumented population, House Republicans have moved away from the more extremist factions of their caucus who denounce anything short of deportation as “amnesty.”

They now have to find accommodation with Democrats who denounce anything short of a path to citizenship as a sellout.

The key word here is “incremental.”

The NFL Sanitizes The Declaration of Independence

By Tom Prezelski

Re-posted from Rum Romanism and Rebellion

I suppose that I could go on and on about how high-handed, pretentious, manipulative and ultimately hollow the annoying Super Bowl tribute to the troops was (someone else already did that here). Instead, I will point out a glaring omission in their reading of the Declaration of Independence.

As every schoolboy knows, the Declaration features a list of grievances against the Crown, among which is this one, condemning His Majesty for being insufficiently committed to exterminating the natives:

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

The item referred to the alliances that the British and the Loyalists had entered into with many of the tribes on the frontier. Leery of the intentions of the Patriots, many native leaders had thrown in their lot with the Crown. Their weariness was understandable. Britain’s agreements with tribes had long been controversial among colonists eager to expand into the frontier, so joining the effort against the rebellion was a matter of survival.

There's something eerily familiar about Chris Christie

Crossposted from DemocraticDiva.com

 

So it’s been revealed that NJ Gov. Chris Christie probably knew about the lane closures on the George Washington Bridge last year. Shocker! What this means is:

1. It is Christmas in February over at MSNBC

2. There is an important lesson in this for Dems who turn into big, wobbly piles of goo at the slightest sign of decency in a Republican.

Christie famously hugged President Obama after Hurricane Sandy and then bamboozled the public and credulous pundits desperate for a Moderate Republican Savior^TM for months after. He won his reelection for Governor easily – getting one third of the Democratic vote in the state – last November. Since taking that office in 2009, Christie had taken a sledgehammer to unions and public pensions and been a total dick to public school teachers but none of that mattered. Christie’s PR machine worked overtime to portray him as a likable guy with the “common touch”.

Stop pissing away taxpayer money on lawsuits: Repeal the remnants of SB 1070

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Arizona's lawless legislature does not hesitate to piss away taxpayer money on lawsuits defending their unconstitutional and unlawful extremist agenda in court. It does this all the time, and frequently loses in court. The real losers in the end are Arizona's taxpayers who have to pay the attorneys fees and court costs for these ideological extremists.

Our lawless legislature -- the Tea-Publican leadership -- currently has three lawsuits in court challenging the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC), the citizens initiative that created it, and the 2012 redistricting maps. This is a purely partisan endeavor that the Arizona GOP should be paying for out of its own deep pockets, not the taxpayers of Arizona.

The most recent example of our lawless legislature pissing away taxpayer money on lawsuits defending their unconstitutional and unlawful extremist agenda in court is the continuing litigation over the remnants of SB 1070, most of which was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, which came with a warning from the Court that it would strike down the remainder of the law when a proper case and controversy under the remaining provisions of SB 1070 reached the Court. The writing is on the wall.

This week, the legislature approved using taxpayer money to pay the court costs of Republican politicians -- some of whom are no longer in the legislature -- in response to discovery requests in the litigation over SB 1070. Lawmakers approve funds for SB 1070 defense:

Saying they were protecting the legislative process, the House and Senate voted along party lines Thursday to hire a lawyer to help them fight subpoenas over the state’s controversial 2010 immigration law.

The legislation sets aside up to $100,000 to contest a request by the American Civil Liberties Union for the personal emails and other correspondence between some current and former lawmakers and those who might have helped them craft or line up votes for SB 1070.

The House GOP's sham immigration 'prrinciples'

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Last November I posted Remember in November: Weeper of the House John Boehner kills immigration reform:

Despite the GOP 2012 post-election "autopsy" declaring the policy goal that the GOP has to enact immigration reform, today the Weeper of the House effectively declared that "immigration reform ain't happenin' on my watch, no way, no how -- ever." There's a solution to this problem: elect a Democratic Congress in 2014.

This week the Tea-Publicans in the House announced a set of "principles" for immigration reform in the House. The "principles" are available online here (pdf) -- a one-pager.

It's important to note that these "principles" are not a plan for legislative action. There is no bill, nor any promise of a bill. The "principles" were negotiated entirely within the GOP Caucus between the establishment GOP wing that wants immigration reform, and the nativists and racists of the anti-immigrant wing.

So does this mean that Jan Brewer is running for governor?

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Accidental Governor, Jan Brewer, was on her way to becoming a footnote in history in 2010 until she embraced SB 1070 and churned up anti-immigrant hysteria to ride to victory.

As Brewer's PR guy Howie Fischer frequently reminds readers, Jan Brewer has not yet declared if she will be a candidate for governor this year (which would require a legal challenge to Arizona's term-limit provisions).

Jan Brewer is embracing SB 1070 again. So does this mean that Jan Brewer is running for governor? Howie Fischer reports, Brewer asks Supreme Court to allow expanded SB 1070 enforcement:

Gov. Jan Brewer is asking the nation’s high court to let Arizona enforce a 2010 law making it a crime to knowingly transport or harbor illegal immigrants.

Legal papers filed Monday on the governor’s behalf at the Supreme Court contend there is nothing improper about the state having its own laws aimed at controlling immigration. John Bouma, Brewer’s chief legal counsel, said the fact that there are federal laws criminalizing the same conduct does not pre-empt state action.

* * *

The law in question makes it illegal for someone to transport, conceal, harbor or shield anyone unlawfully present in this country or “encourage or induce the alien to come to or live in Arizona.”

It is part of SB 1070, a broader package of measures designed to give police more power to question and detain those they believe are in the country illegally. Several provisions already have been voided by courts, including three by the Supreme Court itself, as preempted by federal law.

Fruity or Oaky? Rambling Thoughts on White People Problems

by Pamela Powers Hannley

My coffee table book is too large for my coffee table.

My Internet connection is too slow.

My dishwasher doesn’t really get the dishes clean.

iPads should have a USB connection.

I can’t remember all of my passwords.

Will Wall Street gambling hurt by 401K’s performance?

My car is annoying. The on-board computer tells me when to add air to the tires, when someone’s seatbelt is undone, and when it needs to go to the shop for service.

I hate it when I find a good recipe on the Internet and then can’t find it again.

Cable TV is too expensive for what your get. NetFlix is the way to go– or just plug the laptop into the flat screen TV.

I give my dog a daily dab of Greek yogurt with her dog food because she farts too much.

Self-Actualization, White People Problems, & the War on the Poor

by Pamela Powers Hannley

As one year comes to a close and another begins, people often look back at events to reflect and perhaps resolve to improve their lives or change their behaviors in the coming year. In 2013, the Do-Nothing-at-All Congress-- led by the nose by Teapublicans-- continued its war on the poor-- fighting for cuts to food stamps and unemployment and fighting for austerity for the 99%, while disingenuously padding the pockets of their corporate benefactors.

As Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs teaches us, people must satisfy their basic needs before they can become fully self-actualized, before they can reach their full potential. To put this simply, if you don't have food, water, and shelter, your time, energy and resources will be spent obtaining those basic needs. Until you have security and the necessities of life, you will not have the luxury to worry about trifles-- Christmas gifts, video game releases, wine selections, fancy coffee, designer-label clothes, insignificant social snubs, political differences-- in other words, "white people problems".

Since our country is governed by the  Congressional millionaire's club, it's no wonder that they can't relate to the poor (or even the struggling middle class).

The Real Welfare Queen

Remember that "welfare queen" from Chicago with all the dead husbands and the fake Social Security numbers whom Ronald Reagan made famous in 70s and 80s? It turns out she wasn't a figment of his overheated imagination after all. I'm not going to give more away than that because Josh Levin's investigative report about her in Slate is so beautifully written and the story itself is so shocking.

Anti-Atheism

Posted by Bob Lord

I wanted the title to read "Anti-SemitAtheism," but couldn't get the strikethrough function to work for the title.

This is anecdotal, so take it for what it's worth, but there's quite a parallel here, which I think actually is consistent with a change in our culture. A sideways change, if you will. 

I'm an Atheist. I've never believed in a supreme being. Even as a kid in religious school I'd laugh at the stuff we were supposed to believe. But I was born Jewish and still identify as a Jew to some extent culturally.

Since neither my last name nor my appearance give away my Jewishness (or Atheism), I get to hear the slurs first-hand, sometimes.

And ignorance in America seems to have evolvedchanged. 

A decade or so ago, I was having a conversation with an older guy. He expressed concerns about his daughter-in-law. When I inquired why, his explanation started with, "Well she's Jewish," before he pivoted to her various character flaws. The obvious implication was that those character flaws were tied to her Judaism. 

Fast forward to last week. I had a conversation with a much younger guy, who was telling me about a cousin of his. He started with "Well, she's Atheist," before pivoting to her various character flaws. It was as if you took the older guy, knocked a few decades off him, and replaced "Jewish" with "Atheist." 

Looks like Atheist is the new Jew, or so it seems. 

Mythbusters: No, 'illegal immigrants' are not voting in Arizona elections (but you already knew that)

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

In the reality-based community where facts matter, this is old news. But in the conservative media entertainment complex world of conspiracy theories, where Tea-Publicans routinely demonize Mexican immigrants and falsely claim that they are voting in elections to support voter I.D. requirements that have a disparate impact on the elderly, the poor, minorities and college students -- a form of voter suppression -- this is "new" news. The Arizona Republic today reports, Illegal immigrant vote-fraud cases rare in Arizona:

Arizona has spent enormous amounts of time and money waging war against voter fraud, citing the specter of illegal immigrants’ casting ballots.

State officials from Gov. Jan Brewer to Attorney General Tom Horne to Secretary of State Ken Bennett swear it’s a problem.

At an August news conference, Horne and Bennett cited voter-fraud concerns as justification for continuing a federal-court fight over state voter-ID requirements. And some Republican lawmakers have used the same argument to defend a package of controversial new election laws slated to go before voters in November 2014.

But when state officials are pushed for details, the numbers of actual cases and convictions vary and the descriptions of the alleged fraud become foggy or based on third-hand accounts.

An examination of voter-fraud cases in Maricopa County shows those involving illegal immigrants are nearly non-existent, and have been since before the changes to voter-ID requirements were enacted in 2004.

In response to an Arizona Republic records request, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office provided a list of 21 criminal cases since January 2005 in which the suspect was charged with a felony related to voter fraud. A search of court records found 13 other cases.

Of the 34 Maricopa County cases, two of the suspects were in the country illegally and 12 were not citizens but living in the U.S. legally, court records showed. One of the suspect’s legal-residency status was unclear from the records.

Remember in November: Weeper of the House John Boehner kills immigration reform

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The GOP has long practiced the political tactic of "decapitation" -- a strategy of taking out the other party's top leadership. Former Democratic House Speaker Tom Foley (D-WA) lost his seat in the Gingrich Revolution in the 1994 election. Former Democratic Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle lost his seat in 2004.

The Septegenarian Ninja Turtle, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, is already in jeopardy of losing his seat in 2014. But no one is more deserving of losing his seat than Weeper of the House John Boehner, the "Worst. Speaker. Ever." of the "Worst. Congress. Ever." While there are rumors that the TanMan does not intend to return to Congress, Democrats should plan to go all-out with a strong candidate to make an example out of this pathetic loser of American politics.

Despite the GOP 2012 post-election "autopsy" declaring the policy goal that the GOP has to enact immigration reform, today the Weeper of the House effectively declared that "immigration reform ain't happenin' on my watch, no way, no how -- ever." There's a solution to this problem: elect a Democratic Congress in 2014. John Boehner just put immigration reform on life support:

John Boehner, at a presser just now, just said something that pushed immigration reform closer to death than anything he has said thus far:

House Speaker John Boehner says he will not allow any House-passed immigration legislation to be blended with the Senate’s sweeping reform bill, further quashing the chances of comprehensive immigration reform legislation being signed into law anytime soon.

“We have no intention of ever going to conference on the Senate bill,” Boehner told reporters Wednesday.

House GOP: Congress just doesn't have time to take up immigration reform this year

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The 112th Congress was the "less than do nothing" Congress, the least productive Congress in history. The 113th Congress is on pace to do even less than the "less than do nothing" Congress according to Pew Research earlier this year. And the 113th Congress announced it will be in session fewer days in 2014 (See, 2014 House Calendar).

Imagine my surprise (not) when House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy used a Friday news dump to announce that, "meh, Congress just doesn't have time to take up immigration reform this year." Here's an idea: less vacation days, more work, you lazy SOBs. ImmigrationVote Unlikely This Year, Lawmaker Says:

A top Republican lawmaker told protesters he met with in his home district in California this week that the House of Representatives would not have time this year to vote on any immigration measure.

Representative Kevin McCarthy, the majority whip, told demonstrators in his office in Bakersfield on Wednesday night that the 16 days remaining on the House calendar in 2013 were too short a window for the House to take up the complex issue. But he said he was committed to moving on immigration votes in the House next year. [When the House is working even fewer days.]

The comments were reported by Angelica Salas, the executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, who was one of the protesters who occupied Mr. McCarthy’s office for 10 hours on Wednesday. Mr. McCarthy came to the office to speak with the protesters after 11 o’clock that night. His office confirmed the conversation on Friday evening.

Mr. McCarthy’s comments cemented what lawmakers were already broadly assuming on Capitol Hill. But they came after a week when an array of groups who want to see a broad immigration overhaul intensified protests across the country hoping to push Republican leaders to hold a vote before the end of the year.

Some people want Florida high school to keep name of Confederate General/KKK Grand Wizard

by David Safier

I'll see your "Washington Redskins" controversy and raise you one. Florida's N.B. Forrest High, a school with a majority African American student body, is named after Nathan Bedford Forrest, who was a general in the Conferate army responsible for the massacre of huge numbers of African American troops during one of the most despicable incidents in the Civil War, then after the war became one of the early members of the newly formed Ku Klux Klan and its Grand Wizard. And yet there's debate over whether the school should change its name. As of now, it hasn't come up for a vote.

The Jacksonville paper carrying the story said some people question whether Forrest was really the bad guy he's made out to be. Let's say for the sake of argument he wasn't such a bad guy. Let's say, even though he was a rich slave owner and slave trader, he wasn't responsible for a massacre during the Civil War, and the KKK was just a "gentlemen's club" when he joined. That still leaves plenty of reasons to rename the school. But it looks like Forrest deserves every bit of his bad reputation.

I'm no historian. But biographies on Wikipedia and civilwar.org tend to agree on the main facts, as do other websites. First, Forrest was a self made millionaire, making his fortune on the backs of slaves, as a plantation owner and a slave trader. Next, he volunteered to join the Confederate Army and soon moved up to general because of his military skill. At the Battle of Fort Pillow, Forrest's troops outnumbered the Union soldiers and killed a huge number of the soldiers, many of whom were escaped slaves. Forrest claimed the Union troops never officially surrendered, but Union and Confederate soldiers disagreed. This is from a letter a Confederate soldier sent to his sister after the battle.

"The slaughter was awful. Words cannot describe the scene. The poor, deluded, negroes would run up to our men, fall upon their knees, and with uplifted hands scream for mercy but they were ordered to their feet and then shot down. I, with several others, tried to stop the butchery, and at one time had partially succeeded, but General Forrest ordered them shot down like dogs and the carnage continued. Finally our men became sick of blood and the firing ceased."

One's personal religious beliefs is not a license to discriminate

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

On a host of social issues, from contraceptive coverage in the Affordable Care Act to access to safe and legal abortions, from the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA) to marriage equality for gays, there is one recurring theme: religious organizations who are opposed to these measures want to be exempt from complying with the law because it conflicts with their religious beliefs. More importanty, they are arguing for an individual exemption, i.e., that one's personal religious beliefs should exempt them from complying with the laws.

Religion has long been used as justification for the most inhumane treatment of one human by another. Just look to our own American experience.

European settlers viewed the Native American cultures as inferior to their own. Some considered the native peoples subhuman. This mindset fueled the justification that Native Americans could be enslaved, forced to live in confined communities, or converted to Christianity under the concept of the white man's burden (the supposed or presumed responsibility of white people to govern and impart their culture to nonwhite people). In many other cases, entire native civilizations were simply wiped out by acts of genocide.

Europeans settlers held similar views of Africans, whom they viewed as inferior because of the color of their skin. A prevailing religious theory at the time taught that white represented light and godliness, while black represented evil and the malevolent forces of the underworld, allowing them to justify  slavery of Africans. A New World: Colonial Societies. As with Native Americans, Europeans viewed Africans as subhuman, and thus, well-suited for mindless, grueling labor. The few critics of slavery focused on the inhumane treatment of Africans and not the practice of slavery itself. This led to the establishment of black slavery as lifelong and hereditary.

Comprehensive immigration reform the next battle in Congress

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

"President Obama, fresh off a trouncing of congressional Republicans over the government shutdown, plans to renew his push for immigration legislation in the House while also pressing ahead with climate change policies and efforts to fix problems plaguing his signature health-care program." Obama plans to renew immigration, climate change efforts.

Earlier this month, House Democrats introduced their own immigration reform bill sans the "border surge" of the Senate's "Gang of Eight" bill, with a positive reception from some Republican House members. House immigration bill — minus the surge - Politico:

The legislation released Wednesday is meant to build pressure on House Republican leaders who have so far shown little public urgency on the issue of immigration reform. And already, some GOP lawmakers — particularly those who hail from competitive districts or areas with large concentrations of Latino residents — are expressing some openness to the Democrats’ proposal.

Their plan is to take the comprehensive immigration reform legislation that passed the Senate with wide bipartisan margins in June, but without the so-called border surge amendment added in the final days of the floor debate. In its place, Democrats have inserted a bipartisan border-security bill whose chief sponsor is House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mike McCaul (R-Texas).

[That bill, crafted by Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mike McCaul (R-Texas), passed with unanimous bipartisan support in the House Homeland Security Committee in May. It gives the Department of Homeland Security two years to come up with a plan to apprehend at last 90 percent of individuals who cross the border illegally.]

“The biggest issue I had with the Senate bill was the border-security piece. I support the McCaul bill,” said California Rep. Jeff Denham, one of a handful of House Republicans who have voiced support for immigration reform. “It sounds very positive, but I will always wait to see what those details are.”

Not 'The Party of Lincoln' - the GOP is the 'New Confederacy'

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

I posted about Republicans on the modern GOP: An anti-government, Neo-Confederate insurrectionist party of radicals, and the Washington Post's Colbert King penned an excoriating opinion, The rise of the New Confederacy.

The Tea Party Queen, the Quitta from Wasilla, Sarah Palin, and Senator General Ted "Custer" Cruz, led a  protest (CNN Poliitcal Ticker) in Washington, D.C. today at which the Birthers-Birchers-Secessionists of the Tea Party broke out their Confederate battle flags, flying their true colors.

John Aravosis at Americablog.com writes Sarah Palin joins Ted Cruz, confederate flag, as new face of shutdown:

Sarah Palin joined GOP Tea Party Senator, and shutdown leader, Cruz and other Tea Party supporters of the GOP’s shutdown of the federal government in a “million vet march” to protest the fact that the government has actually been shut down.

Point of fact: Neither Palin nor Cruz have actually served in the military, and both support the GOP government shutdown which closed the WWII memorial.  But don’t let that get in the way of a good visual.

Palin on the shutdown not two weeks ago:

“Let government chill for a little bit.”

Palin said Republicans should not “fear some kind of government shutdown.” She then emphasized that Republicans must “stand firm,” “not blink,” and not “allow the media to drive this whole narrative” that a shutdown would be bad for Republicans.

Palin said that a shutdown would allow the American people to realize “how irrelevant the federal government could and should be in our lives.”

And now she’s leading a protest of the shutdown she supported.

Adorable.

“Veterans” – basically Tea Partyers – led by Palin and Cruz, marched today on the World War II memorial in Washington, DC, stole the National Park Service’s protective barriers, and then threw them at the White House.

Here is the CNN video:

Yes, that is a Confederate battle flag prominently displayed in the video.

Arizona makes 'This week in the laboratories of democracy'

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Charles Piece at Esquire does a weekly post he calls "This week in the laboratories of democracy" in which he takes a look at what is going on in the states. (When it comes to Arizona, Jon Stewart at The Daily Show more accurately describes Arizona as "the meth lab of democracy"). This Week In The Laboratories Of Democracy:

Welcome back to our weekly survey of what's goin' down in the several state where, as we know, the real work of governmentin' gets done and where to live outside the law you must be honest.

The week was highlighted by a lovely lady state representative from where-the-fk-else? Arizona, who took advantage of a nearby microphone to beat Mr. Godwin into a fine powder, and to question the existence of testicles among local law-enforcement.

"Someone is paying the National Park Service thugs overtime for their efforts to carry out the order of De Fuhrer," Barton wrote. "[W]here are our Constitutional Sheriffs who can revoke the Park Service Rangers authority to arrest??? Do we have any Sheriffs with a pair?"

Arizona GOP voter suppression efforts follow the lead of Kris Kobach

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Nativist anti-immigrant lawyer Kris Kobach, the athor of Arizona's Prop. 200 (2004) and SB 1070 (despite disgraced former Sen. Russell Pearce's claims of authorship to the contrary), has a plan to get around the U.S. Supreme Court decision in June striking down the proof of citizenship requirement to register to vote in Arizona's Prop. 200 and a similar law in Kansas, where Kobach unbelievably is now Secretary of State. Kris Kobach's Bold New Plan to Keep People From Voting:

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who has become a national figure by advising other states on how to implement anti-immigrant and voter suppression measures, has come up with a new creative way to make it harder for Kansans to vote: barring those who register to vote with a federal form from casting ballots in state elections.

Back in June, the Supreme Court struck down an Arizona elections law that required those registering to vote to show proof of citizenship beyond what is required by federal voter registration forms. In Kansas, Kobach has been struggling to deal with the implementation of a similar proof-of-citizenship law, which has left the voting status of at least 12,000 Kansans in limbo.

These voters, many of whom registered with the federal “motor voter” form at the DMV, were supposed to have their citizenship information automatically updated, a process that was delayed by a computer glitch. Kobach then suggested that these 12,000 voters be forced to cast provisional ballots – a suggestion that the state elections board rejected.

Now, the Lawrence Journal-World reports, Kobach has a new idea to deal with the problem that he created. The paper reports that Kobach is considering a plan to circumvent the Supreme Court’s decision in the Arizona case by creating two classes of voters. Under this plan, those who register with a federal form would be allowed to vote only in federal elections until they produced the state-required citizenship documents. Those who meet the state registration requirements would then be allowed to vote in state-level elections.

Department of Justice aggressively pursues voting rights cases against GOP voter suppression

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Washington Post reports that GOP-led states are moving aggressively on voting rules:

Emboldened by the Supreme Court decision that struck down part of the Voting Rights Act, a growing number of Republican-led states are moving aggressively to tighten voting rules. Lawsuits by the Obama administration and voting rights activists say those efforts disproportionately affect minorities.

Last week, a three judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas ruled 2-1 to allow the Department of Justice to intervene in the Texas redistricting lawsuit. The Court ruled (.pdf) that "after Shelby County, circumstances changed significantly, since §3(c) became an issue for the first time."

"The parties recognize the importance of the §3(c) claims. Certain Plaintiffs “posit that this particular VRA claim will be critical in resolving the issues in this litigation.” Docket no. 788 at 2. Plaintiffs’ and Defendants’ briefing on §3(c) illustrates the fact that issues concerning the proper construction and application of §3(c) are unsettled and highly disputed. And the parties recognize that “there is limited judicial guidance available on the application of Section 3(c).” Docket no. 788 at 9. The United States has a direct interest in the construction and application of §3(c) that was not present until after the Shelby County ruling. Therefore, the interest that the United States seeks to protect is not the same interest that was present from the inception of the litigation."

Today, the Department of Justice sued the state of North Carolina in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina over "the worst voter suppression law" in the nation. Read the complaint Here (,pdf).

Governor Brewer Proves My Point

By Tom Prezelski

Re-blogged from Rum, Romanism and Rebellion

Yesterday, I wrote here about how the Martin Luther King Jr. of the public imagination has been reduced into a cuddly Care Bear to make him palatable to the picket fence crowd, enabling movement conservatives claim his legacy by forgetting nearly everything he stood for. In fairness, I was not the only one who did so, Salon’s Joan Walsh said more or less the same thing, in a beautiful case of great minds thinking alike.

It was only later that day that I read that Governor Jan Brewer had issued a call for Arizonans to ring bells in honor of the 50th anniversary of The March on Washington.

Old timers may remember that this is the same Jan Brewer who, as a State Senator, supported the  notorious Governor Evan Mecham and voted against the MLK holiday twice.

Ignorance of History

By Tom Prezelski

Re-blogged from Rum, Romanism and Rebellion

In retrospect, inducting Martin Luther King Jr. into the Pantheon of American Heroes may have been a mistake and a disservice to what he fought for.

Back during the late 1980s and early 1990s, one of the big arguments here in Arizona was about the Martin Luther King Holiday. It was debated on the floor of the legislature, was an issue in political campaigns, and prompted marches and public demonstrations across the state. Everybody in public life, even Alice Cooper, was asked their opinion about the issue.

Opposition to the holiday was an article of faith on the right. Their argument was that King was a radical left winger, perhaps even a socialist, and a figure this controversial was not the sort of person who should be honored with a holiday.

The response of holiday supporters was to say that this was laughable bunk. King was no radical, they said, just a very nice man who wanted everyone to hold hands and sing, or something like that.

It's All Fun And Games Until One Of Your Deputies Gets His Eye Put Out

By Tom Prezelski

Re-Blogged from Rum, Romanism and Rebellion

Folks who claim that our modern border militiamen are part of a proud Arizona tradition would do well to read what Captain John G. Bourke, an officer who accompanied General George R. Crook during the pursuit of Geronimo, had to say about their 19th century antecedents. Bourke characterized them as "rum-poisoned bummers" and "senseless cowards who sought to kill a few peaceable Indians and gain a little cheap notoriety." The captain went on to describe how their gun-happy amateurishness did nothing but make a bad situation on the frontier even worse.

The latest manifestation of the worst of the wild west spirit comes, of course, from Maricopa County, where a member of one such band of self-styled "militia minutemen" is in serious trouble for having pointed a rifle at a uniformed Sheriff's deputy in the desert near Gila Bend.

Colin Powell blasts North Carolina's 'worst voter suppression law' in the nation

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell was the keynote speaker at a CEO forum in North Carolina, and had some pointed comments to make about that state's "worst voter suppression law" in the nation. Speaking in Raleigh, Colin Powell blasts North Carolina voting law:

Moments after Gov. Pat McCrory left the stage, former Secretary of State Colin Powell took aim at North Carolina's new voting law Thursday, saying it hurts the Republican Party, punishes minority voters and makes it more difficult for everyone to vote.

"I want to see policies that encourage every American to vote, not make it more difficult to vote," said Powell, a Republican, at the CEO Forum in Raleigh.

"It immediately turns off a voting block the Republican Party needs," Powell continued. "These kinds of actions do not build on the base. It just turns people away."

U.S. Department of Justice sues Texas over Voter ID

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The U.S. Department of Justice has previously filed a Section 3 claim under the Voting Rights Act against the State of Texas for its discriminatory redistricting maps.

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice dropped the other shoe, as anticipated, suing the State of Texas for its Voter ID law. You can read the DOJ complaint Here.

The Washington Post reports Justice Department sues Texas over voter ID law:

The Justice Department on Thursday redoubled its efforts to challenge state voting laws, suing Texas over its new voter ID measure as part of a growing political showdown over electoral rights.

The move marked the latest bid by the Obama administration to counter a Supreme Court ruling that officials have said threatens the voting rights of minorities. It also signaled that the administration will probably take legal action in voting rights cases in other states, including North Carolina, where the governor signed a voter ID law this month.

Valdez: 'Let's roll House Speaker John Boehner'

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Arizona Republic's Linda Valdez joins the discharge petition movement today. Roll Boehner for immigration reform:

It’s called the discharge petition.

Under House rules, you need a majority of the 435 members to bring a measure directly to the floor. With 200 Democrats currently in the chamber, only a few Republicans are needed.

* * *

President Obama says he’s “absolutely certain” the Senate’s comprehensive immigration reform bill would pass the House if it came to the floor. Arizona Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick told The Arizona Republic editorial board this week, “It would pass.”

So let’s roll Republican House Speaker John Boehner.

If Kirkpatrick and president are wrong, and the Senate bill fails, we can start over in two years.

This might not be a complete disaster.

For one thing, the GOP will get the blame, and — as GOP Sen. Marco Rubio suggested — Obama can extend deferred deportation to the parents of the Dreamers. This will help Democrats in 2014 and anoint Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Rep. Matt Salmon on immigration reform - 'no citizenship for you!'

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

At least one editor of The Arizona Republic appears to be OK with the Republican National Committee (RNC) position of "no citizenship for you!" in immigration reform. The Republic editorials have previously been supportive of the "Gang of Eight" comprehensive immigration reform bill sponsored by Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake.

Joanna Allhands, writes Does Salmon have the right immigration answer?

It’s becoming increasingly clear that the immigration reforms most likely to pass the U.S. House won’t involve a path to citizenship for adults. Too many in the GOP simply won’t go for it.

But can reform still be meaningful without that piece?

U.S. Rep. Matt Salmon, one of the Republicans who remains against the path to citizenship, is pressing to grant undocumented adults a type of provisional status that they can renew every few years. It would allow them to get driver’s licenses and work here legally as long as they are employed and don’t break the law. But it would just be that: presence, not belonging.

When asked Wednesday during a meeting with The Republic‘s editorial board if such a status would create a second class of citizens, Salmon answered with a question: “Well, what are they now? … They’re not really anything.”

Offering legal presence, he said, at least moves the ball up the field.

Arizona GOP leads anti-immigrant stance of the RNC

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The media fixated on the Republican National Committee Summer meeting in Boston last week passing a resolution barring CNN and NBC from hosting GOP presidential primary debates in 2016 because, of course, it was about the media.

What received little or no attention was another resolution passed by the RNC Summer meeting, a resolution on immigration reform authored by Arizona GOP national committeeman Bruce Ash. Zeke Miller at Time's Swampland blog noticed. Exclusive: RNC Ups Immigration Reform Pressure On Congressional GOP — But Rejects Path To Citizenship:

The Republican National Committee passed a resolution Friday calling on Congress to pass an immigration reform bill by the end of the year—but it stopped well short of the bipartisan compromise passed by the Senate earlier this year, omitting a “path to citizenship” for any class of illegal immigrant.

The resolution calls on Congress to create a special legal status for illegal immigrants brought to America as minors—or “DREAMers,” as immigration activists call them, for the eponymous bill to provide them legal status—which would include a renewable five-year work permit. They would have to provide proof of employment or enrollment to retain the status.

For illegal immigrants who came to the United States above the age of 18, under the plan advocated by the RNC they would be eligible for two-year renewable work permits, but no path to citizenship.

It also calls for the completion of a border fence and increased law enforcement patrols.

The measure puts the core of the Republican Party at odds with the Senate Gang of Eight legislation that passed with the support of a broad array of Republicans, and was spearheaded by lawmakers including Sen. Marco Rubio and Sen. John McCain.

The man who would kill comprehensive immigration reform

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Steve Benen reports Key House Republican looks to kill immigration reform:

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) rejected comprehensive reform in February, but left himself some wiggle room ever since.

That is, until yesterday.

Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) didn't breed much optimism on Monday about his plans for comprehensive immigration reform, telling a town hall crowd that the House would act, but not on a "special pathway to citizenship" that Democrats support. [...]

Goodlatte said he sympathized with young undocumented immigrants who wanted to gain legal status so they can work and attend college more easily. But he said he would not support moving forward before other border security and enforcement mechanisms were in place. He said he also opposes allowing a special pathway to citizenship for other undocumented immigrants -- such as Dreamers' parents -- that he feared may encourage more unauthorized immigration.

'North Carolina’s new voter suppression law shows why the Voting Rights Act is still necessary'

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Professor Richard L. Hasen is Chancellor’s Professor of Law and Political Science at the University of California, Irvine. Hasen is a nationally recognized expert in election law and campaign finance regulation, and is co-author of a leading casebook on election law. He is editor of the Election Law Blog.

Hasen writes at Slate today that "North Carolina’s new voter suppression law shows why the Voting Rights Act is still necessary." Supreme Error:

Usually it takes years to judge when the Supreme Court gets something very wrong. Think of Justice Kennedy’s opinion for the court in the 2010 campaign-finance case, Citizens United, freeing corporations to spend money on elections. He wrote that the “appearance of [corporate] influence or access will not cause the electorate to lose faith in our democracy,” a point that remains hotly debated even as the amount of money in federal elections skyrockets.

But the conservative justices’ decision this past June in Shelby County v. Holder, striking down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, has already unleashed in North Carolina the most restrictive voting law we’ve seen since the 1965 enactment of the VRA. Texas is restoring its voter ID law which had been blocked (pursuant to the VRA) by the federal government. And more is to come in other states dominated by Republican legislatures.

Hillary Clinton defends the Voting Rights Act

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered a forceful and impassioned defense of the Voting Rights Act on Monday, condemning laws and other moves in some states that she said are reviving “old demons of discrimination.” Clinton defends Voting Rights Act:

“Anyone that says that racial discrimination is no longer a problem in American elections must not be paying attention,” said Clinton.

Clinton’s address to the American Bar Association’s annual meeting in San Francisco was the first in what she said will be a series of major addresses this fall about the challenges undermining Americans’ faith in government.

“We do — let’s admit it — have a long history of shutting people out: African Americans, women, gays and lesbians, people with disabilities,” she said. “And throughout our history, we have found too many ways to divide and exclude people from their ownership of the law and protection from the law.”

Clinton criticized the Supreme Court’s recent decision to strike down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, urging Congress to reconsider the 1965 landmark law and calling on citizen activists to mobilize in their communities.

GOP Voter Suppression, Tar Heel Style

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Republican Gov. Pat McCrory of North Carolina on Monday signed into law "the single worst voter suppression law in the country."

Ari Berman of The Nation reported the new state law imposes voter-ID restrictions never needed before in North Carolina, narrows the early-voting window, places new restrictions on voter-registration drives, makes it harder for students to vote, ends same-day voter registration during the early voting period, and makes it easier for vigilante poll-watchers [i.e., the Tea Party's True The Vote] to challenge eligible voters. North Carolina Republicans Push Extreme Voter Suppression Measures.

The new law was immediately met with legal challenges in federal court questioning its constitutionality. Lawsuits filed after Gov. Pat McCrory signs voter ID bill:

Just hours after McCrory signed the bill, two separate lawsuits challenging the law were filed in federal court in Greensboro. A third lawsuit is expected to be filed in state court Tuesday. Congressman G.K. Butterfield also asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to “take swift and decisive action by using any legal mechanisms” to protect North Carolina’s voting rights.

“With one stroke of the pen, McCrory has effectively reversed 30 years of progress and reinstated practices similar to the discriminatory ‘Southern Strategy’ adopted by the Republican Party in the ’60s and ’70s,” said Butterfield, a former N.C. Supreme Court justice. “Without question, today is a shameful day for Republicans in North Carolina.”

GOP Voter Suppression, Texas Style

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

If you do a Google search for Texas + secession, you will be shocked at the number of hits (or maybe not).

The question is not whether Texas can secede -- it can't -- but rather can the rest of America kick Texas out of the Union for ignorant racist crap like this?

Adam Serwer reports, Texas on voting rights: It's not about race, just politics:

Texas didn’t discriminate against minority voters. It was only because they were Democrats. And even if it did, the racial discrimination Texas engaged in is nowhere near as bad as the stuff that happened in the 1960s.

These are some of the arguments the state of Texas is making in an attempt to stave off federal supervision of its election laws.

* * *

Shortly after the Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act decision, Texas moved to reinstate restrictive voting laws that had previously been blocked by the feds. As far as it’s 2011 redistricting plan goes, the state’s brief argues that’s all in the past, and it was a partisan issue rather than a racial one anyway.

ALEC’s Legacy of Destruction: PDA Members Join Anti-ALEC Protesters in Chicago (video)

by Pamela Powers Hannley

Inside the 40th annual meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in Chicago, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and other right-wing big-wigs addressed ALEC members and on-the-dole politicians.

Outside, the people, who have been cut out of the legislative process by ALEC and big money donors, protested in the streets. (Photos here.)

In its 40-year history, ALEC has done more to destroy the American Dream than any other group. According to a report by the Center for Media and Democracy, 466 ALEC bills were introduced in 2013, and 84 of them became law. Every state and the District of Columbia considered ALEC bills this year. Read the highlights of this ALEC legislative report and watch a video of Chicago protesters after the jump.

In Light of Local Poverty, Tucson Needs Creative Direction & Progressive Economic Ideas

by Pamlea Powers Hannley

Business friendly? Tucson’s been there, done that, … and got the t-shirt at Goodwill. As former City Councilwoman Molly McKasson said, we put all of our eggs in the development basket and look where it got us.

Twenty percent of Tucsonans are living in poverty.

Thirty percent of Tucson children are living in poverty.

Fifty-two percent of Tucson children live in a one-parent household.

Seventy-one percent of Tucson Unified School District students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. (Statistics from the Arizona Daily Star.)

How did we get here?

The Back Story on Tucson’s Poverty Rate

In a November 2011 “What If?” article published just a few days before the last mayoral election, former Arizona Daily Star reporter Josh Brodesky interviewed activist, writer, and artist McKasson and mused about how Tucson would be different today if she had beaten former Mayor Bob Walkup back in their 1999 match-up.

I remember that election well. Walkup– a former Hughes Aircraft executive and former head of the Greater Tucson Economic Council– was the quintessential business candidate. Bankrolled by Tucson’s business community, Walkup’s campaign successfully painted McKasson as a flighty hippie artist whose no-growth, tree-hugging, water-conserving policies would be bad for Tucson (ie, bad for business and bad for growth). Meanwhile, Walkup was championed as a business savvy savior who successfully ran a business, and, therefore, (of course!) could successfully run a city.

As mayor, the glad-handing, ribbon-cutting Walkup promoted business development, Rio Nuevo, and ill-conceived, taxpayer-funded private projects like the downtown hotel (which went down in flames, thank goodness). Except for his pro-business, pro-growth cheerleading, Walkup was a do-nothing mayor who depended upon defense funding, the occasional TREO call center moving to Tucson, and housing boom construction jobs to bolster Tucson’s chronically low-wage tourist economy. The Tucson Weekly’s endorsement of McKasson (here) eerily  predicts what happened to Tucson under three terms of Walkup. Read it and more background and new ideas after the jump.

Richmond, Calif to Try Eminent Domain to Reduce Foreclosures

The banksters are pissed. How dare the City of Richmond, California try to use its power of eminent domain to stop housing foreclosures in its city?

Generally, governmental bodies use eminent domain to force people to sell their land and/or homes to make way for projects (like freeways) which are for the common good. Long ago, the Occupy Wall Street movement suggested that cities could use eminent domain to buy up mortgages and reduce homeowner debt– before the homeowners are forced out of their underwater mortgages by the banksters.

Remember the old Occupy chant? “Banks got bailed out. We got sold out.” The US government bailed out the Wall Street gamblers who crashed the worldwide economy, created and burst the housing bubble, caused businesses to close and lay off workers, and plunged millions of Americans into homelessness or rental units when they lost their homes. The federal government has done almost nothing to help the millions of beleaguered homowners who have lost their homes or are on the verge of it. Check out Richmond's plan after the jump.

GOP voter suppression in North Carolina

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Hey, Chief Justice Roberts. Yeah I'm talking to you. Does this look like race-based GOP voter suppression -- the Southern strategy -- is a thing of the past to you? Ed Kilgore writes at the Political Animal blog, Supreme Court Decisions Have Consequences:

So do you think the Supreme Court decision largely invalidating the preclearance requirement imposed by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was no big deal, since southern discrimination is largely a thing of the past and other anti-discrimination measures are available?

Check out what the North Carolina legislature is about to do, per this depressing report from The Nation’s Ari Berman:

This week, the North Carolina legislature will almost certainly pass a strict new voter ID law that could disenfranchise 318,000 registered voters who don’t have the narrow forms of accepted state-issued ID. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the bill has since been amended by Republicans to include a slew of appalling voter suppression measures. They include cutting a week of early voting, ending same-day registration during the early voting period and making it easier for vigilante poll-watchers to challenge eligible voters. The bill is being debated this afternoon in the Senate Rules Committee.

Sen. John McCain calls for review of Arizona's 'stand your ground' law

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Careful, Johnny. Arizona's "Ms. NRA," Governor Jan Brewer, will be sticking her boney finger in your face next like she did to President Obama. Brewer: Fla. case doesn't change her mind on 'stand your ground'.

Appearing on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Sen. John McCain joined President Barack Obama's call to review so-called "Stand Your Ground" laws in the aftermath of the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the 2012 shooting of black teen Trayvon Martin. NBC reports, McCain joins Obama in calling for review of 'Stand Your Ground' laws:

Sen. John McCain, Ariz., a prominent Republican who's been known to break ranks with fellow members of the GOP at times, urged state legislatures to review Stand Your Ground laws in the wake of the Zimmerman trial, which became a national flashpoint for race relations in America.

"I can also see that Stand Your Ground laws may be something that needs to be reviewed by the Florida legislature or any other legislature that has passed such legislation," McCain said on CNN.

Asked whether his home state legislature should consider revising its own similar law, McCain said yes. 

"I think that, yes, I do, and I'm confident that the members of the Arizona legislature will because it is a very controversial legislation," he said.

President Obama asks the pertinent question

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

In all the media coverage of the George Zimmerman trial, I do not recall anyone posing the pertinent question: "What if Trayvon Martin had been carrying a firearm? Would he have been justified in using deadly force to 'stand his ground' when he was lawfully where he had a right to be and was accosted by George Zimmerman?"

In President Obama's remarks today on Trayvon Martin, he posed the pertinent question. Lawyers are like that.

President Obama: 'Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago'

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Making a surprise appearance in the White House press room today, President Obama discussed his views on the Trayvon Martin verdict in a remarkably personal manner, speaking extemporaneously, and described how it feels as an African-American to have these "inescapable" experiences.  "I think it's important to recognize that the African-American community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history that -- that doesn't go away," he said. Video below the fold. Full transcript (excerpt):

The reason I actually wanted to come out today is not to take questions, but to speak to an issue that obviously has gotten a lot of attention over the course of the last week, the issue of the Trayvon Martin ruling. I gave an -- a preliminary statement right after the ruling on Sunday, but watching the debate over the course of the last week I thought it might be useful for me to expand on my thoughts a little bit.

First of all, you know, I -- I want to make sure that, once again, I send my thoughts and prayers, as well as Michelle’s, to the family of Trayvon Martin, and to remark on the incredible grace and dignity with which they’ve dealt with the entire situation. I can only imagine what they’re going through, and it’s -- it’s remarkable how they’ve handled it.

The second thing I want to say is to reiterate what I said on Sunday, which is there are going to be a lot of arguments about the legal -- legal issues in the case. I’ll let all the legal analysts and talking heads address those issues.

The judge conducted the trial in a professional manner. The prosecution and the defense made their arguments. The juries were properly instructed that in a -- in a case such as this, reasonable doubt was relevant, and they rendered a verdict. And once the jury’s spoken, that’s how our system works.

Arizona GOP all-in on 'states' rights' voter suppression

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Well isn't this special. Governor Jan Brewer, who supported the U.S. Supreme Court striking down the preclearance provisions of the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County v. Holder, nevertheless is still smarting from that same court striking down Arizona's Prop. 200 proof of citizenship requirement to register to vote in Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona.

While it is a certainty that Governor Brewer does not support amendments to the Voting Rights Act which would reinvigorate its preclearance provisions, she does support an amendment to federal law to require proof of citizenship to register to vote for all Americans, not just Arizonans. Arizona's GOP voter suppression knows no limits. Brewer backs Salmon’s voter-ID bill:

Gov. Jan Brewer wants Congress to allow states to require citizenship documents from all prospective voters before they can cast a ballot.

Brewer sent a letter Wednesday to U.S. Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz., expressing support for a bill the Mesa congressman introduced in response to a recent Supreme Court decision on the issue. The court ruled Arizona could demand proof of citizenship from would-be voters only when they register using state registration forms, not federal ones.

“The responsibility of state and local governments to protect the integrity of the voting process is essential to maintaining the democratic process and protecting the freedom and power of every citizens’ vote,” Brewer wrote. “I commend your efforts to improve federal law so that only United States citizens are voting. ... As a Governor, I particularly appreciate the respect for states’ rights inherent in this legislation.”

House GOP demonstrates its hostility to the Voting Rights Act

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

You know the game is rigged when the House GOP invites the guy notorious for GOP voter suppression efforts, Hans von Spakovsky, as its chief witness to Thursday's House Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice committee hearing on the Voting Rights Act. See Hans von Spakovsky: A familiar face behind voter suppression, and Hans Von Spakovsky 101: How To Suppress The Vote Like A Pro for a quick background.

Ari Berman at The Nation reports, Rep. John Lewis: 'The Voting Rights Act Is Needed Now Like Never Before':

The House Judiciary Committee just concluded its first hearing on the VRA, where it was clear that no consensus exists between the parties on whether to fix the VRA or how to do so. The Republican congressmen and witnesses maintained that existing parts of the VRA, notably Sections 2 and 3, were sufficient replacements for Sections 4 and 5 and thus, in the words of Hans von Spakovsky of the Heritage Foundation: “there’s no reason for Congress to take any action.”

Attorney General Eric Holder's speech to the NAACP convention

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Attorney General Eric Holder addressed the annual convention of the NAACP on Tuesday, and in the wake of the George Zimmerman trial in Florida, he addressed the legitimate concerns of African-Americans that simply being a black male in America renders them a "criminal suspect." Attorney General Eric Holder denounces ‘stand your ground’ laws:

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. strongly condemned “stand your ground” laws Tuesday, saying the measures “senselessly expand the concept of self-defense” and may encourage “violent situations to escalate.”

* * *

“These laws try to fix something that was never broken,” Holder told cheering delegates of the annual convention of the NAACP, which is pressing him to file civil rights charges against Zimmerman. “The list of resulting tragedies is long and, unfortunately, has victimized too many who are innocent.”

The attorney general, who is the first African American ever to hold that position, drew parallels between his own life and the claims of many here that Zimmerman racially profiled Martin after spotting the teenager walking through his father’s neighborhood in a hooded sweatshirt. Martin was African American. Zimmerman’s father is white, his mother Peruvian.

Holder recalled being pulled over twice by police on the New Jersey Turnpike as a young man and having his car searched, “when I’m sure I wasn’t speeding.” Another time, he said, he was stopped by law enforcement in Georgetown while simply running to catch a movie after dark.

Help! Those People Are Talking Mexican About Me!

By Tom Prezelski

Re-blogged from Rum, Romanism and Rebellion

The Tucson Sentinel reports that a former Pima Community College student is suing the school for allegedly having kicked her out when she complained about her classmates using Spanish when speaking about each other in the classroom.

Pima officials, doubtless on the advice of attorneys, are circumspect regarding the specifics of the case. However, the gist of Pima’s side of the story is that she complained constantly about Spanish being spoken on campus, was argumentative and “displayed intimidating behavior toward students, staff, and faculty.” Given the criticism that Pima took after the press looked into Jared Loughner’s academic record, it seems understandable that officials there followed a strict policy regarding disruptive behavior on campus, and what exactly preceded her expulsion will certainly become clearer if this matter goes too much further.

The student’s sentiments are familiar to most of us in this bilingual town. We all know folks who are remarkably thin skinned about Spanish being spoken in their presence, and this is not the first lawsuit or official complaint from someone objecting to something other than English being used in the workplace, even in private conversations among co-workers. There are even those who regard Spanish billboards and Spanish conversations in the grocery store as a sign that General Santa Anna’s army is assembling to re-take the province. Unfortunately, we trust some of these people to make public policy.

In the press conference announcing the suit, the student brought a Spanish-surnamed relative, doubtless to show folks that she meant no malice against Mexican-Americans and that she is not a racist. Perhaps she is quite sincere about this, but this message is undermined by the other friends she has chosen to associate with.

The race-baiters at FAUX News

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

We are all familiar with the race-baiting at FAUX News, from the phony ACORN scandal, to the phony New Black Panthers scandal, to guests and FAUX News hosts referring to the President of the United States as a "gangsta" and a "thug" in an attempt to portray him with the racial stereotyping that all black men are criminals.

With respect to the George Zimmerman trial, we have recently been treated to this race-baiting on FAUX News programming:

On Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace claimed that though “local authorities originally decided not to prosecute,” Florida prosecutors decided to after civil rights groups and “even the president stepped into the case.” Congressman Steve King (R-IA) suggested Sunday that George Zimmerman should never have even had to stand trial for killing Trayvon Martin, blaming President Obama and his Department of Justice for the case. Congressman Blames Obama For Zimmerman Having To Stand Trial For Killing Trayvon Martin.

Republican strategist Karl Rove, also appearing on Fox News Sunday, accused President Barack Obama of tearing the country apart by sympathizing with the parents of slain teen Trayvon Martin. Rove: Obama 'Ripped Us Apart' by Sympathizing With Trayvon's Parents.

A license to kill

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

No, I am not referring to James Bond, 007. Any American living in a state that has lax gun laws and stand your ground laws, and which permits its citizens to engage in vigilante justice (like Arizona) has the tacit approval of the state for a license to kill. It is a sickness in our culture.

There are two good opinions on this topic that I have read. The first is Ed Kilgore at the Political Animal Blog, who writes, Licenses to Kill:

[T]he more I think about it, the real aberration in law and society that’s been exposed by this case involves the incentives offered to Zimmerman and people like him—not just in Sanford, Florida, but in much of the country. At TAP, Scott Lemieux nails it:

Carrying a deadly weapon in public should carry unique responsibilities. In most cases someone with a gun should not be able to escape culpability if he initiates a conflict with someone unarmed and the other party ends up getting shot and killed. Under the current law in many states, people threatened by armed people have few good options, because fighting back might create a license to kill. As the New Yorker’s Amy Davidson puts it, “I still don’t understand what Trayvon was supposed to do.” Unless the law is changed to deal with the large number of people carrying concealed guns, there will be more tragic and unnecessary deaths of innocent people like Trayvon Martin for which nobody is legally culpable. And to make claims of self-defense easier to bring, as Florida and more than 20 other states have done, is moving in precisely the wrong direction. And, even more importantly, no matter how self-defense laws are structured the extremely unusual American practice of allowing large number of citizens to carry concealed weapons leads to many unecessary deaths. (All 50 states, it’s worth noting, permit concealed carry.)