By: Daniel Nardini
In yet another act that has put Arizona on a collision course with the federal government, the Arizona state legislature has approved a law that requires all presidential candidates to “prove” they were born in the United States to be on the presidential ballot in Arizona. Besides violating a whole list of state privacy laws, this law also violates federal electioneering laws. This law is obviously aimed at U.S. President Barack Obama. It seems that the birthers movement—those claiming that Obama is not a U.S. citizen because he was “not born in the United States”—is alive and well in Arizona.
Even with the overwhelming evidence to prove Obama was indeed born and raised in the U.S., there seems to be extremists in the Arizona legislature who believe that there is a federal government conspiracy to hide Obama’s “true origins” to make sure he became president. Even with well known news agencies such as CNN, Reuters and Associated Press having seen all of the documentation proving that Obama was indeed born and raised in the U.S., you have these birthers who are trying to undo a ton of evidence. In that sense there is indeed a conspiracy—the conspiracy of those in power in Arizona to use this non-sense as a smokescreen for their own extremist ideas.
Chief among these extremists is Arizona State Senator and President of that State Senate Russell Pearce. The architect of Arizona’s anti-immigrant law SB 1070 and also of this new ballot birther bill, Pearce is a neo-nazi extremist in sheep’s clothing. Three important things stand out about Pearce. In one instance he had sent an article by e-mail to political colleagues that had been published by the neo-nazi organization National Alliance. When this information became public knowledge, Pearce disassociated himself from the article. In yet another instance Pearce has been known to associate with the well-known Arizona neo-nazi leader J.T. Ready. And in still another instance Pearce once remarked about Barack Obama, “good thing he is not visiting Arizona because we would check his papers.” This is calling the President of the United States illegitimate and not a U.S. citizen. Worse, the statement is extremely racist and shows Pearce’s extreme hatred for “non-whites.*
But Pearce is among the people who seem to run Arizona, and we have to face the fact that they have their eyes set on bigger sights—Washington, D.C. All of the legislation that has been passed in Arizona seem to add up to a determined group of neo-nazis and racists trying to roll back 60 years of progress on civil and human rights in the United States. They want to bring back “separate but equal” and racist laws that allowed public and private institutions to put up signs that said, “no dogs and Mexicans allowed.” We must fight them in Arizona and anywhere and everywhere in the United States where they crop up.
Madman of the Arizona Senate
By: Daniel Nardini
In yet another act that has put Arizona on a collision course with the federal government, the Arizona state legislature has approved a law that requires all presidential candidates to “prove” they were born in the United States to be on the presidential ballot in Arizona. Besides violating a whole list of state privacy laws, this law also violates federal electioneering laws. This law is obviously aimed at U.S. President Barack Obama. It seems that the birthers movement—those claiming that Obama is not a U.S. citizen because he was “not born in the United States”—is alive and well in Arizona.
Even with the overwhelming evidence to prove Obama was indeed born and raised in the U.S., there seems to be extremists in the Arizona legislature who believe that there is a federal government conspiracy to hide Obama’s “true origins” to make sure he became president. Even with well known news agencies such as CNN, Reuters and Associated Press having seen all of the documentation proving that Obama was indeed born and raised in the U.S., you have these birthers who are trying to undo a ton of evidence. In that sense there is indeed a conspiracy—the conspiracy of those in power in Arizona to use this non-sense as a smokescreen for their own extremist ideas.
Chief among these extremists is Arizona State Senator and President of that State Senate Russell Pearce. The architect of Arizona’s anti-immigrant law SB 1070 and also of this new ballot birther bill, Pearce is a neo-nazi extremist in sheep’s clothing. Three important things stand out about Pearce. In one instance he had sent an article by e-mail to political colleagues that had been published by the neo-nazi organization National Alliance. When this information became public knowledge, Pearce disassociated himself from the article. In yet another instance Pearce has been known to associate with the well-known Arizona neo-nazi leader J.T. Ready. And in still another instance Pearce once remarked about Barack Obama, “good thing he is not visiting Arizona because we would check his papers.” This is calling the President of the United States illegitimate and not a U.S. citizen. Worse, the statement is extremely racist and shows Pearce’s extreme hatred for “non-whites.*
But Pearce is among the people who seem to run Arizona, and we have to face the fact that they have their eyes set on bigger sights—Washington, D.C. All of the legislation that has been passed in Arizona seem to add up to a determined group of neo-nazis and racists trying to roll back 60 years of progress on civil and human rights in the United States. They want to bring back “separate but equal” and racist laws that allowed public and private institutions to put up signs that said, “no dogs and Mexicans allowed.” We must fight them in Arizona and anywhere and everywhere in the United States where they crop up.