Hate the Law, Not Arizonans -- by Meghan McCain

[DearAbby]

My home state’s new immigration law may be seriously flawed, but it’s trying to solve a serious problem.

Although I live in New York City, I still consider Arizona, where I was born and raised, to be my home. So for the past week, when it seems that my entire state came under fire from the national media because of its controversial new immigration law, I’ve found myself very protective of Arizonans, as I try to reconcile not only the politics but the emotions behind that law.

Let me say upfront that I do not support the bill that was signed by Governor Jan Brewer. I believe it gives the state police a license to discriminate, and also, in many ways, violates the civil rights of Arizona residents. Simply put, I think it is a bad law that is missing the bigger picture of what is really going on with illegal immigration. The concept that a law-enforcement official can stop an individual when “reasonable suspicion exists that a person is an alien, who is unlawfully present in the United States” is essentially a license to pull someone over for being Hispanic.

I think unless you are from a border state and have actually seen firsthand the effects illegal immigrants have on your community, you can't truly appreciate the complexities of the problem and how it should be litigated.


More at:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-04-25/hate-the-law-not-arizonans/

[RandomThoughts]

1. I agree completely, hate is not good, and the legislation is bad.

And I always liked Meghan McCain.

But she said something.

But I also understand why this law came into existence in the first place. Due to the continued failure of the federal government to secure Arizona’s borders


Why is that? Why? Why?


Because business lobbyist did not like any enforcement of that because of the cheap labor of a second class citizens of illegals.

Why did it happen, because profit motive has been setting social policy, not making and delivering goods and services. And that has been done by the support of many people in Arizona for decades.


The country did it to itself. And now they want to cast a wide net that disenfranchises many people of color, and also tries to set a police state rule in place. What about the illegal population that was allowed to live here if they did the cheap labor work, but were not citizens?

Not to mention, lack of enforcement makes a law null and void, so there is very little argument to call them illegals anyway.

And then there is the fact that some tacticians on the right like the division to rally their base.

[Bitwit1234]

36. Correct about the hate part...But remember this

the people of Arizona voted the people who conceived and passed this law into office. SO I CAN HOLD MOST OF THEM AS RESPONSIBLE FOR IT AS THE LEGISLATURES.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

2. Oh that evil Obama, calling the law "misguided" How PARTISAN

:eyes:

[Better Today]

3. As I commented on a similar thread, Arizonans have had at least

a decade of Arpaio and his insanity. He is still in place and the laws have followed his lead. I will hold Arizonans responsible. They voted these legislators into office (I realize the Gov not so much), and Arizonans are responsible for the laws they make.

Boycott Arizona and all things Arizonan until they get their priorities straight.

[SargeUNN]

23. Nice to see you don't generalize

Yeah boycott all things Arizona, boycott helping Katrina Survivors because Arizonans have and still do. Boycott any progressive radio program that tells you the suffering of those in Arizona who are scared stiff of what they face and some progressive people are trying to tell the story, but hey why let those voices out after all they are in Arizona.

I earlier posted a topic that is on my journal that I think you need to read and maybe you will see why your attitude is considered bad to me. I know the law stinks and like others here we are working our asses off to get rid of it, but people like you just adds to the problems. If you really care about the people affected get over your anger enough to direct it functionally to helping us not being part of the problem. Sure boycotting some things from here is great, but watch out not to boycott the very things that need help to continue to fight this horrendous bill. You care enough there is a way to hear one person talking about the fear and danger this stupid law has caused them but I guess I won't bother to post the link since it is from Arizona. Shame you will just have to miss it because of your attitude. Oh well, we will still stop this law without your help.

[Better Today]

41. Bad to see that Arizonans let it get to this point. Quit whining about your

unfair treatment on here, and go do something about it, k? And if you don't know what to do, then get that education. Ya'll let the law happen, ya'll fix it.

[Sebastian Doyle]

4. Sorry Meghan, you lost me after "Although I live in New York City...."

Clearly there's a reason she doesn't want to live in Arizona right now, and I'd guess it's the same reason I don't. And that being a bunch of reactionary racist fucks who are probably even gonna stab her daddy in the back because he's not hateful enough for them.

So while she's not supporting the bill, she seems to be OK with the mentality behind it - at least as long as she's in Manhattan.

I love a lot of things about Arizona, and a lot of people there. But I'm not even going to attempt to justify this shit.

[fishwax]

47. lol -- reminded me of the old "This stuff's made in New York City!?" Old El Paso ads

I agree with you--no credibility left after that line ...

[JI7]

5. but how about the people in Arizona who support the Bill ?

i'm in California and i think many and probably most people here are "morans".

[SemiCharmedQuark]

6. Her main concerns seem to be that Arizon is getting criticized and Hispanics will be mad at the GOP

[JI7]

13. mosty 1 GOP member who is up for re-election this year

[lame54]

34. And Arizona ranchers are being shot and killed...

although only one rancher was shot and killed by someone who was BELIEVED to be an illegal immigrant

one isolated incident does not = a rampant problem

[fishwax]

49. and partisan politics -- like Obama calling the law "misguided"

"And when a flawed law is magnified through the prism of extreme partisan politics, it only looks worse. With President Obama calling the law “misguided” and the mainstream media painting Arizona out to be a rogue state, all it does is make people go to greater lengths to defend their position."

Obama calling a bigoted, unconstitutional disgrace of a law "misguided" is "extreme partisan politics"? :eyes:

[fishwax]

48. agreed n/t

[Blue_Tires]

56. +1

[EFerrari]

7. This law is not "trying to solve a serious problem". It's a political POS

that is going to hurt a lot of Americans.

[old mark]

8. I do hate the law, but I reserve the right to hate anyone I so choose, including

most of the GOP and ALL of the RW fundamentalist/Nazis who thought up this illegal law.

m

[DearAbby]

9. I just don't understand why they are treating the symptom

instead of the illness, the illness is allowing companies and businesses hire illegal workers, which is clearly against the law. I wonder how much money goes into Arizona GOP coffers from said Companies and businesses? Its like treating the sniffles and not the cold.

[bulloney]

27. Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner. I've said the same thing for years.

It's too easy to villify people of color, in this case, Hispanics, than it is to go after Big Business which encourages illegal immigration by taking advantage of people who will literally work anywhere for next to nothing.

Crack down on the major meatpacking companies and others who exploit the Hispanic immigrants and you solve a lot of the problem. Another help would be to reopen NAFTA and make it into an actual trade agreement and not a conduit for big business to exploit differences in wage scales, currency exchange rates, workforce safety and environmental laws and other things between the U.S. and Mexico.

[icnorth]

31. Underground labour market produces

higher above ground profits transferred to offshore tax havens for onshore fraudsters. Just the usual publican prerequisites to acquire as Tom T. Hall said in his song: faster horses -- younger women -- older whiskey -- more money! Oh and Tom, younger boys, mustn't forget the boys. :rant: off

[Javaman]

38. Because it's more fashionable in America to blame the victim rather than

the perpetrator.

It's all part of that republican "ownership" society they are always squawking about.

people = bad. business's making money off the sweat and toil of humans = good.

Illegals are just replacement humans to the corps. The INS sweeps in, deports all the illegals, slaps the corps on the wrist and goes away. The corps hire more illegals and the grand tango of bullshit continues.

[fishwax]

50. .

:thumbsup:

[pinboy3niner]

10. I'll give her credit for denouncing the law

I don't agree with everything she says, but her denunciation is what's most important--and what's most likely to be highlighted by the media. If only her dad had put principle before expediency and joined her in her denunciation . . .

[divvy]

11. So, the "law" is bad, and not the Republicans who wrote it?

How about the Republicans who knew the bill in detail and still voted for it? To me, her argument reads "Don't hate the Republicans, this bill just sort of happend to us before anyone really noticed".

This law should be made to be the prominent jewel in the Republicans crown of thorns.

[EFerrari]

12. AZ just passed a hate law and Meghan is worried about

the poor racists who passed it. What a humanitarian she is. lol

[SemiCharmedQuark]

15. Yep. her only concern is her father losing the Hispanic vote.

[myrna minx]

40. Exactly. n/t

[fishwax]

51. yes -- clearly the real victim here are those poor arizonans facing disapproval from other states

:crazy:

[BlooInBloo]

14. Shorter McCain: Won't somebody please think about the white folks!

Hey McCain - go fuck yourself.

[saltpoint]

16. There's kind of a tradition of clueless daughters trying to bolster their

dads' presidential creds. In this case, their dad's Senatorial creds.

I think of Julie Nixon. And the misguided Cheney woman.

And now the daughter of the Maverick himself.

The piece isn't all bad. But it's nowhere near good enough. Plus, there is the vested interest of John McCain's Senate primary.

If Molly Ivins were still with us, I would look forward to her column on the racist bill Gov. Brewer just signed in Arizona.

[EFerrari]

17. Can't you hear her? " I hope those sheets are relaxed-fit,

Egyptian cotton."

lol

[saltpoint]

18. I'm groggy, EFerrari. Not sure what you mean... ?

[EFerrari]

19. AZ Senate-wear as described by Molly Ivins.

[saltpoint]

20. Ah! Got it.

I should probably get some coffee goin'.

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[nomorenomore08]

22. OMG THEYRE TERRORIZING GOOD WHITE AMERICANS!!!

Next thing you know they'll be marrying our daughters! :rofl:

[saltpoint]

24. It is also democratic for anyone here or there to raise a strong voice

against an ugly bill.

Keep a close eye on the courts in Arizona this week. You are likely, IMO, to see 1070 under serious challenge.

And properly so.

[ET Awful]

25. Ah yes, because all brown people are criminals, I see your logic.

Have to keep those brown people in check or we've got problems. Right?

I bet you complain about them "not paying taxes" at the same time you drive over to the reservation to buy tax-free cigarettes don't you? Yeah, I know you do.

[saltpoint]

26. One might argue, using the historical record, that it is authoritarian

rule which creates social deterioration.

If you extend Control to its farthest conclusion, you get fascism.

There's a pretty strong whiff of that end of the spectrum in the bill the cowardly Governor Brewer signed.

[pinboy3niner]

28. More than a pretty strong whiff--it reeks of fascism

If this goes to SCOTUS, and is upheld, we'll really have a crisis in this country.

[saltpoint]

30. There'll be the Far Right haters out in force to support it. I'm getting an

uncomfortable flashback of Lester Maddox standing with an ax in his hands in front of all-white schools in the still-segregated South. That attitude is still out there and still ready for political manipulation.

Governor Brewer absolutely disgusts me with her cowardice on this bill.

[mikeSchmuckabee]

29. Oh, hate goldman sachs, not the folks who run it?

You cannot divorce yourself from the consequences of your actions. Own up to what you have done, or get to work undoing it.

BTW, who the hell is meghan mccain and why should I give a rat's ass about her opinion?

Shut up and go home to pick onions and clean hotel rooms because they will be doing lots of hiring come July.

[Kolesar]

32. "the continued failure of the federal government to secure Arizona’s borders"

But I also understand why this law came into existence in the first place. Due to , along with the rampant drug smuggling that has gotten increasingly worse over the years, emotions have been running high. However, the issue seemed to hit a fever pitch when a prominent Arizona rancher, Robert Krentz, was shot and killed last month by someone who was believed to be an illegal immigrant. I was in Arizona when Mr. Krentz was killed and it was major news, bringing the issue of drug smuggling and illegal immigration front and center in state politics. The murder eventually led both Gov. Brewer and my father to call for federal officials to send more National Guard troops to the Mexican border.

The border could be "secured" if there was an earnest system of work permits.

Republicans issued death threats to Republican congressmen when they attempted immigration reform during the reign of King George II.

[SkyDaddy7]

33. Is there any polls that show the % of of support...

within Arizona?

[sweetloukillbot]

43. Sadly yes...

Rasmussen polled support for SB1070 at 70%. Although the majority also felt that it violated civil rights. The stupid, it burns...

[SkyDaddy7]

44. I know...It does burn!

However, Rasmussen Polls are always skewed to the "right" but 70% is a lot!

Americans are delusional!

[sweetloukillbot]

45. True, and the sample of this poll was questionable

But whenever anything related to illegal immigration comes up in Arizona the voting public sides with the racists. Sad but true. Joe Arpaio keeps getting reelected because he rounds up the illegals despite the fact that even the idiots who vote for him acknowledge he violates civil rights. They're now talking about putting SB1070 on the ballot - sad thing is, it'll pass there too.

[GoCubsGo]

35. Hey, Meghan, you forgot something....

House and Senate controlled by GOP: 1994-2006 *
Presidency held by GOP: 2000-2008
Years when GOP controlled all of our government: 6
Number of immigration bills passed during that period: 0


More disingenuous bullshit from hypocritical republicans who whine about the federal government not doing enough.


* During 2006-2008, the Senate was essentially tied.

[Bluenorthwest]

37. Pathetic young woman.

Disgusting that she tries to rationalize this hate law, and just so pitiful that she deems to do so from the Upper West Side of Manhattan. She had a couple of months where she seemed less of a shill for pops and the right than she turned out to be. Sad.

[Mike Daniels]

39. Who cares what this twit has to say?

If her last name wasn't McCain she'd be blogging to an audience of her family and friends.

For all her concern about the direction of the Republican party I notice that she still refuses to put any blame on her father who was the one most responsible for unleashing Sarah Palin and her uneducated reactionary views on the American public.

[tavalon]

42. I'm proud as all get out of the way Arizonians have been hitting the street

showing that they will not tolerate this travesty. The AZ government is the lowest of the low but the citizens rock!

[leeroysphitz]

46. Most Arizonans aren't bigoted fascists. Just the people they vote for.

:eyes:

[workinclasszero]

52. So the law is bad and the racist teabaggers that wrote it are good?

NO SALE! :grr:

[Mz Pip]

53. Arizonans elected the representatives

who crafted this nasty piece of legislation. Where were the protests of the Republican Arizonans while this bill was going down?

Where were the tens of thousands of Republican faces camped outside the governors office voicing opppsition to her signing this?

Rarely are laws that stem from emotion good laws. Laws crafted out of anger do more harm than good as Arizonans are just now learning.

[fishwax]

54. what bullshit -- I should keep this column in case anyone is tempted to take her seriously

Although I live in New York City ...

New York City!?! :rofl:

And I hate to say it, but based on the horrible logic portrayed in the rest I must conclude that, since she is in New York City, somewhere in Arizona a village is missing its idiot.

... I’ve found myself very protective of Arizonans, as I try to reconcile not only the politics but the emotions behind that law.

I've found myself feeling more protective about the thousands and thousands of innocent folks for whom, because they have brown skin or hispanic sounding names, the Arizona government is intimidating and harassing simply by passing this bill. Let's not lose sight of whose constitutional rights are being threatened here, okay?

Although, reading through this article a second time, the "very protective of Arizonans" line seems ambiguous. At first, it appears she means to say she's feeling protective of them from the criticism they're receiving from the rest of the country. But as you read through the rest of the article, where she subtly fans the flames of anti-Hispanic hysteria by claiming "In the meantime, Arizona ranchers are being shot and killed ...," maybe what she's really feeling protective towards Arizonans about is the threat of the Other.

However, the issue seemed to hit a fever pitch when a prominent Arizona rancher, Robert Krentz, was shot and killed last month by someone who was believed to be an illegal immigrant.

Key word: "believed" to be. In reading the article that she links to with that claim (Fox News, of course), it appears the only evidence to support this is that the dying rancher said "illegal immigrant" on his radio before he died. Most of the evidence seems to point, instead, to drug smugglers--they found 290 pounds of marijuana on the property, the ranch is on a known corridor for drug running, and the rancher's brother had reported drug smuggling activity to the authorities the day before the guy was shot.

Now, I know that the issues of drugs and immigration are related, since both relate to porous borders and since the smuggling of immigrants often involves similar or related networks to the smuggling of drugs. But they're far from the same issue. And stopping immigration isn't going to stop the illicit drug trade, nor prevent its violence from spilling over onto folks like Robert Krentz. So clearly this law isn't about something else: punishing Arizona's non-white population.

And when a flawed law is magnified through the prism of extreme partisan politics, it only looks worse. With President Obama calling the law “misguided” and the mainstream media painting Arizona out to be a rogue state, all it does is make people go to greater lengths to defend their position.

Wait, what? Earlier in the article, she said "Simply put, I think it is a bad law that is missing the bigger picture of what is really going on with illegal immigration" -- but Obama calling this law "misguided" is extreme partisan politics? I think that reveals where the real partisan politics is coming from. :eyes:

In the end, the saddest part for me is that we are all losing with this immigration law. Arizona is being shown in a negative light in the media, and once again Hispanic voters in Arizona have yet another reason to distrust the Republican Party.

Amazing how she has managed to capture the two fundamental tragedies of this law: Arizona is getting some bad press and Hispanics are having second thoughts about the GOP. :rofl:

In the meantime, Arizona ranchers are being shot and killed and very little has been done to prevent it from happening again.

Fanning the flames, as noted above ...

[ecstatic]

55. I'm getting the impression that Arizonans live in denial

The first step to correcting any problem is to acknowledge the situation for what it is. When you can't or won't do that you are a part of the problem!!

I live in a disgustingly red state, but in many ways, I see Georgia as being superior to Arizona at this point when it comes to civil rights and equality.