If that's what she's saying, I don't know where she's getting that from. Did somebody in this thread say ALL people that live in Arizona surely must be haters?

Then there are the AZ Death Panels. Yes, Sarah P., they do exist, and they are headed by heartless, soulless, all that matters is money and fuck the human consequences Republicans.

AZ recently cut funding for certain types of transplants. 98 people in the state are affected by this policy change, plus the state lost millions in Medicare matching dollars as a result of this decision. The numbers that I have are $5M cut for transplants resulted in $15M lost in matching funds, but I haven't had time to verify the information. Keith Olbermann highlighted two families affected by this, including one man who was being prepped for the transplant operation when he was told the the funding for his surgery had been pulled.

Now, someone has died. linkyloo Brewer refuses to call a special legislative session to deal with the matter.

As long as they don't vote, that's fine. I have a serious beef with low-information voters.

No, nobody in the thread said that. :)

However - the majority of the people that live in Arizona must be. The evidence of this is easy enough to find, that awful Brewer woman got elected this November (evidence 1) and public opinion polls show that the majority of Arizona residents are in favour of her shitty bill (evidence 2).

So while OBVIOUSLY the people responding to this thread DO GET that not every single person who lives in AZ is a racist douchebag - the fact remains that THE STATE of Arizona (the State being Arizona's politicians, policies, police force, people in charge and popular vote) IS indeed racist. That is the name that Arizona has made for itself.

It's like when I say "America is a bully". I obviously don't think that Nat, Aj, Snow, or my American spouse are bullies - but I DO think that America (her military reach, her foreign policy, her talking heads, her most vocal voters) IS a bully. That is the place that she's carved out for herself in the world.

Actually, that only proves that the majority of people who VOTED are in favor of her and her b.s. And opinion polls -- please. They only accurately reflect the people who ANSWER them, not the population as a whole.

People who do not vote are complacent and deserve everything that they get. :)

Nice...
 

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4G-0g9PRrE"]YouTube - POLICE STATE - TSA, Homeland Security & Tampa Police Set Up Nazi Checkpoints At Bus Stations[/nomedia]
Viper team security check points at Tampa area bus stations.
The inter viewed agent admitted they were looking for cash. They get to keep whatever they find, plus they make a little off of illegal immigrants they catch as a bonus. http://www.thegeogroupinc.com
click link and ceo talks to you about how illegals make money for geo group.

QoS:

I'm not sure why you think that anyone is saying that you should claim the hatred or discrimination just because of your locale. I DO think that it is incumbent upon people in Arizona to be aware of what is happening (but that is because I think it's incumbent upon all citizens to be aware of what is happening) but that is quite a far cry from saying you should claim that hatred.

It seems to me that the AZ residents are taking some of this overly personal. No one is saying that you or Cody are personally in favor of this law--unless and until you give us reason to believe that you are. The people who wrote this law are responsible. The people who voted for Ms. Brewer or any other politician who supports it are responsible. Anyone who didn't vote is responsible. However, I think that we Americans are too quick--far too quick--to try to get out from under our responsibilities. As Chris Hedges, a former reporter for the NY Times, points out in his latest book "The Death of the Liberal Class" between 2000 and 2004 Americans could be forgiven for the wrong-doing of the Bush administration but once the 2004 election happened and he was re-elected (and clearly he was) we the American people endorsed his policies. Does that mean that every single American did? No, but it doesn't have to for us--as Americans--to be responsible for what was done in our name.

As far as the boycott is concerned I think it is appropriate to the degree that it is possible (for example, our dog requires a special diet and the one place we can get the wet food that doesn't make him break out is available at Petsmart--so we don't really have any choice in the matter). That doesn't mean that you should join a boycott (and it would be impractical for you to do so since you live in Arizona) but a boycott may be effective. It may not hurt your governor but it WILL hurt her well-heeled sponsors and puppet-masters who own hotels, restaurants, gas stations, etc. Eventually, they will put the pressure on her to repeal the law if they feel sufficient economic pain.

I think the most effective move, however, is for Hispanics to leave the state. If the majority of Arizonans don't want them there (and a majority of voting Arizonans have given either their explicit or tacit approval to SB 1070) then they should leave. There is historical precedent for this. Google "The Great Migration" or, better yet, get hold of the book 'The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration' by Isabel Wilkerson. I suggest this because, what a lot of (white) Americans don't know is that in the middle third of the last century blacks left the Deep South in a flood. This actually had a number of effects on the culture and economy of the South which, in turn, led to the southern states progressing on racial issues. My parents left the South at the very tail end (1968) because they didn't want their kids raised in a part of the country where we would be considered only marginally human. I think it would, in fact, serve Arizona right if in 5 years finding a Hispanic resident in that state was like finding an unicorn.

Again, let me make it clear that I’m *not* saying you or Cody or any other Arizona resident here wants Hispanics out of the state. I am saying that if Hispanics are not welcome, it would behoove them to leave and to do so sooner rather than later.

Cheers
Aj

I'm curious, at what point are bystanders complicit? Is there any point? Or is it the case that provided that you never pull the trigger yourself, even if you just stand by and watch it repeatedly, you're still not in the least bit complicit?

Cheers
Aj

http://http://www.npr.org/templates/...ryId=130833741

On my way to class right now but wanted to share this link (if it hasn't already been shared previously)...some scary shit!

Huh? Who is saying that only people who reside in Arizona can comment? Where is this coming from? The good people of Arizona elected, with full knowledge of where they stood, politicians who support a law that is an invitation to racial profiling. They also elected a governor who told blatant lies about beheadings in the desert as a means of creating the impression that Hispanic immigrants are a grave security threat. Now, did every single Arizonan do vote for Ms Brewer? No. That doesn't change the fact that she was elected in a vote that was, as far as I am aware, was free and fair and would pass UN muster.

At some point, Americans have to recognize that we ARE, in point of fact, responsible for what happens in our nation and even if we do not see ourselves as responsible that doesn't mean that others are obliged to enable our illusions. Were ordinary Germans--not SS, not SA, not Gestapo, not Wehrmacht just the average tinker, tailor, baker, etc.--responsible for what happened in their country between 1933 and 1945? Yes, as a matter of fact they were. Were ordinary Russians responsible for what happened in their country between 1917 and 1990? Yes, again, they were. Are ordinary Americans responsible for what happens here? Yes, we are. If someone voted for Ms Brewer, they gave their tacit approval of her policies including SB 1070. If someone didn't vote at all, they gave their tacit vote to Ms Brewer (because in not voting you vote for whomever ends up winning by default). If someone voted against Ms Brewer they clearly registered their protest.

This seems relatively straight-forward. We actually ask very little in way of civic participation in this country. The only thing you *have* to do is pay taxes and serve on juries. That's it. You don't have to vote. You don't have to do any kind of national service--military or civil. One result of this is that we have a stunningly unengaged polis and our politics actually reflect that. SOLELY on the basis of her paranoid and fantastic lies about beheadings in the desert, Ms Brewer should have been humiliated at the voting booth but that's not what happened. She won and did so handily. Why? Because only 47% (rounding up, the actual number is 46.494%) of registered voters actually bothered to vote. What's sad is that for a mid-term election that's a little above the national average! What's pathetic about it is that there was no real danger to voting. In Iraq, in 2005, 2006, 2007 elections were held and each year there were real and credible threats to people who turned out to vote. Car bombs were a daily part of life in the major Iraqi cities and still people turned out to vote. Their voting percentage was in the upper 80% range! We, as Americans, should be deeply embarrassed by this. A nation with NO democratic tradition, under credible--hell likely!--threat of violence manages to turn out almost their entire eligible voting population. Our nation, with a 200 year democratic tradition and no credible threat of violence can't turn out half. And we wonder why our nation is so screwed up.