Let's Talk About Arizona Politics!

(above: Governor HELLBITCH rubs her glasses against her Melanoma-TAN-RIFFIC muzzle)

i wrote something i liked today, and i did it in the comments section of one of my favorite Arizona bookstore's website. You can go to the blog entry i responded to HERE

i won't try to reiterate the post that moved me to froth at the mouth, but i would like to repost my response, because it was pretty fucking good if i say so myself. at least i think so!

Posted by Seth
November 3rd, 2010

i can't bring myself to feel anything other than abject horror and disgust about brewer getting elected. we might as well start literally eating the weak, the poor and the brown. it's hard to be all sunshine lollypops and rainbows when you're talking about arizona politics. this is the state that elected a man- evan mecham- who openly hated gays and blacks, CANCELLED martin luther king day (which voters backed up until threatened with the UNTHINKABLE possibility of losing the superbowl, god forbid), though him and fife symington both ended up getting impeached for illegal financial stuff and fraud, respectively, and now we've got Jan Brewer- Community College Radiology Technician (and amateur collector of imaginary mexican heads- did somebody say death and dismemberment?) RUN AMOK. stay classy, governors of arizona! this is the state that continues to elect joe arpaio even after 20 years of epic, well-documented scandal that has been condemned by GLOBAL human rights organizations, to say nothing of the myriad national and state groups (including the federal government in various forms) that continue to struggle (but SOMEHOW fail) to prosecute and oust him. cumulatively, it's all too much and it's all happened in too small a period of time. arizona should hang its head in shame. profanity and name calling seem like flirtation compared to what's ACTUALLY warranted at this point, the least of which would be for some physical representation of the most rudimentary, bare bones human decency to be burnt in effigy on the front lawn of Jan Brewer's new Barbie Dream Governor's Mansion. my own mother sent me an email forward that actually contained the phrase (in all caps) 'GOD HELP US WHO TOLERATE THE MUSLIM!!!' and you know what i DIDN'T do? i DIDN'T let it slide, and shake my head and say 'oh, i guess we'll have to agree to disagree! that MOM, she's so old fashioned!' i wrote her back and told her that she was engaging in hate speech, and was speaking the language of nothing less than ethnic cleansing, if not the sweet nothings leading up to the unending joys of genocide. after explaining to her that my assessment of her email was a condemnation of her sentiment and not HER, i also invited her to explain to me how she came to arrive at her point of view, as she is an upper middle class white woman who has only ever lived in small town nebraska and a nice little cul-de-sac in Self Satisfied WASP, pennsylvania... she never replied, because there is NO JUSTIFYING IT. anyone selling that crap would BALK at the possibility of being held accountable for their bile, and that INCLUDES THE GOVERNOR ('no more debates since GOD HIMSELF struck me dumb last time!').

seriously, sitting around in a fair trade organic cotton sundress and sending out good vibes with a bumper sticker on your car encouraging your fellow travellers to be the change that they want to see is NOT CUTTING IT. confrontation is not only warranted, it is necessary. i would have to agree that facebook is probably not the venue if you're going to do it intelligently, though. i'd totally go with twitter. don't forget the #hashtags!

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so yeah, that was what i wrote. check out the post i responded to for context.

Ha Ha: Fuck You, Cambridge PD

Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr was accosted by police for going into his OWN HOME last thursday. He is not only a Harvard Professor, but also a former PBS host, and was named by Time Magazine as one of the 25 most influential people in the United States in 1997.

Needless to say, this has not gone over very well.

From The Associated Press via MSN.com:

Charges against Harvard scholar dropped
Cops responding to report of break-in arrested black scholar at home

BOSTON - Prosecutors on Tuesday agreed to drop a disorderly conduct charge against Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. after the noted African-American scholar accused police of racism when he was arrested at his home following a report of a break-in there.

In a statement, the city and police department of Cambridge, Mass., said they had "recommended to the Middlesex County District Attorney that the criminal charge against Professor Gates not proceed."

"The City of Cambridge, the Cambridge Police Department, and Professor Gates acknowledge that the indicent of July 16, 2009 was regrettable and unfortunate," the statement continued. "This incident should not be viewed as one that demeans the character and reputation of Professor Gates or the character of the Cambridge Police Department. All parties agree that this is a just resolution to an unfortunate set of circumstances."

Earlier, Gates' supporters said he had been the victim of racial profiling.

Gates had forced his way through the front door of his home because it was jammed, his lawyer said Monday.

Cambridge police say they responded to the well-maintained two-story home near campus after a woman reported seeing "two black males with backpacks on the porch," with one "wedging his shoulder into the door as if he was trying to force entry."

The woman, Lucia Whalen, is the circulation and fundraising manager at Harvard Magazine, a news and alumni magazine affiliated with the school. The magazine's offices are down the street from Gates' home.

By the time police arrived, Gates was already inside. Police say he refused to come outside to speak with an officer, who told him he was investigating a report of a break-in.

"Why, because I'm a black man in America?" Gates said, according to a police report written by Sgt. James Crowley. The Cambridge police refused to comment on the arrest Monday.

Gates — the director of Harvard's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research — initially refused to show the officer his identification, but then gave him a Harvard University ID card, according to police.

"Gates continued to yell at me, accusing me of racial bias and continued to tell me that I had not heard the last of him," the officer wrote.

Handcuffed on porch

Gates said he turned over his driver's license and Harvard ID — both with his photos — and repeatedly asked for the name and badge number of the officer, who refused. He said he then followed the officer as he left his house onto his front porch, where he was handcuffed in front of other officers, Gates said in a statement released by his attorney, fellow Harvard scholar Charles Ogletree, on a Web site Gates oversees, TheRoot.com.

He was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge after police said he "exhibited loud and tumultuous behavior." He was released later that day on his own recognizance. An arraignment was scheduled for Aug. 26.

Gates, 58, has refused to speak publicly, referring calls to Ogletree.

"He was shocked to find himself being questioned and shocked that the conversation continued after he showed his identification," Ogletree said.

Ogletree declined to say whether he believed the incident was racially motivated, saying "I think the incident speaks for itself."

Some of Gates' African-American colleagues say the arrest is part of a pattern of racial profiling in Cambridge.

Allen Counter, who has taught neuroscience at Harvard for 25 years, said he was stopped on campus by two Harvard police officers in 2004 after being mistaken for a robbery suspect. They threatened to arrest him when he could not produce identification.

"We do not believe that this arrest would have happened if professor Gates was white," Counter said. "It really has been very unsettling for African Americans throughout Harvard and throughout Cambridge that this happened."

Sharpton: 'New low'

Civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton said he will attend Gates' arraignment.

"This arrest is indicative of at best police abuse of power or at worst the highest example of racial profiling I have seen," Sharpton said. "I have heard of driving while black and even shopping while black but now even going to your own home while black is a new low in police community affairs."

Ogletree said Gates had returned from a trip to China on Thursday with a driver, when he found his front door jammed. He went through the back door into the home — which he leases from Harvard — shut off an alarm and worked with the driver to get the door open. The driver left, and Gates was on the phone with the property's management company when police first arrived.

Ogletree also disputed the claim that Gates, who was wearing slacks and a polo shirt and carrying a cane, was yelling at the officer.

"He has an infection that has impacted his breathing since he came back from China, so he's been in a very delicate physical state," Ogletree said.

Lawrence D. Bobo, the W.E.B. Du Bois Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard, said he met with Gates at the police station and described his colleague as feeling humiliated and "emotionally devastated." He said he hoped police would drop the charges.

The Middlesex district attorney's office said it could not do so until after Gates' arraignment. The woman who reported what she thought was a break-in did not return a message Monday.

Gates joined the Harvard faculty in 1991 and holds one of 20 prestigious "university professors" positions at the school. He also was host of "African American Lives," a PBS show about the family histories of prominent U.S. blacks, and was named by Time magazine as one of the 25 most influential Americans in 1997.

"I was obviously very concerned when I learned on Thursday about the incident," Harvard president Drew Gilpin Faust said in a statement. "He and I spoke directly and I have asked him to keep me apprised."