Inside the Belly of the Beast: a week in Arizona (I know, I know...)

[branders seine]

millions of road signs for the upcoming primary.

"The Conservative"
"The Proven Conservative"
"The Real Conservative"
over and over and over...

also lots of gun, football and Sheriff Joe sloganeering.

I only saw one brave idiot who actually used the word "Republican." He has no chance.

I kept waiting for a sign that said, "The Conservatively Conservative Conservative's Proven, Authentic Conservatively Conservative Conservative."

:puke: :puke:

I saw only one incident that remotely looked like enforcement of the stalinist anti-brown people law.

Nearly everyone I spoke with (and all the public discourse locally in papers and on TV) is fiercely defensive of the law and can spout the talking points and the lies about immigrant violence. This includes people of diverse political persuasions.

The populace is a) cartoonishly (a *scary* cartoon) conservative; b) irrationally entrenched in favor of the fascist law; and c) grotesquely ignorant.

It's worse than rural Alabama. Irrational fear rules the day.

[SteveM]

1. Stay in New Mexico, much better sense...

And they have plenty of guns, too. If Arizona wanted to do something about illegal immigration, they would:
(1) Change trade laws which allow border industries which pay crap wages;
(2) End the War on Drugs, Inc.

Those Mexicans are literally fleeing a true war, the creature of U.S. drug policies.

[panader0]

2. Unrec

As an Arizonan, I can say that this state is not "the belly of the beast". I notice you have no profile to identify the state you live in. There are many liberals here. Do you recall uor previous governor? She is now head of homeland security, Janet Napolitano.
I suppose if President Obama had not appointed her, Brewer would not now be governor. While I personally oppose the immigration policies of Brewer and Arpaio, recent polling show that 53% of US citizens support it.

[peacebird]

3. Brewer is beyond fruity - as the WaPo stated today, her arguments FOR the policy are based on LIES

Most Americans have heard the horror stories of headless corpses, etc - all of which are total BS. If more of the press actually did its job and reported the FACTS, instead of repeating the lies Brewer keeps spouting then I think the number supporting the law would be much lower.


Rec'd to counter your unrec.

[branders seine]

4. FYI, I live in several places at different times of the year:

including New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Tennessee and overseas. About a third of the year is on the road.

Due to family and friend celebrations, birthdays, and other events, I saw a few hundred Arizonans, of all stripes, over the last week. I'm just callin' 'em like I see 'em. Very few openly opposed the law, and most were able to spout the wingnut party line. Even those who admitted the law was shit were pretty stubbornly opposed to the idea of outsiders telling them what they can and can't do.

And the roadside signs were hysterically conservative. One might say they were quite liberal in their use of the word "conservative."