Phoenix News Blog

Could J.D. eat McCain's lunch? The Rasmussen poll suggests that it's a possibility.

A new Rasmussen Reports poll just out shows KFYI lip-flapper and former congressman J.D. Hayworth in a dead heat with U.S. Senator John McCain for the 2010 GOP primary nod. Hayworth is within the 4 percent margin of error, trailing McCain 43 to 45 percent with likely Republican primary voters.

That's a little too close for comfort for McCain and for anyone who remembers Hayworth's buffoonish performance as a congressman from Arizona's fifth district until he was bested by Democrat Harry Mitchell in 2006. Hayworth's Southern accent, which he has labored unsuccessfully to lose over the years, earned him the nickname "Foghorn Leghorn," by detractors. The former sportscaster was born and raised in my home state of North Carolina, you see.

Hayworth is a committed right-wing extremist, and a darling of Arizona's anti-Mexican nativist knuckledragging crowd. He regularly bashes the undocumented on his afternoon drive-time radio show, and hosted the popular hate-Obama tax day tea party at the Arizona Capitol earlier this year. In 2007, he spoke at a nativist rally where neo-Nazi J.T. Ready also spoke. In his remarks, Ready called Hayworth and now state Senator (then state Representative) Russell Pearce "statesmen."

Dennis Gilman's outdone himself yet again in his latest video, this time focusing on the November neo-Nazi march to the state Capitol, and the links between the Nazis and the nativists. It's a creepy, almost apocalyptic vision of Arizona dominated by racist politicians such as state Senator Russell Pearce, done to the tune of Tom Waits' Rain Dogs, electronic music by local composer D.warf, and some guitar by Gilman himself.

Gilman's latest: Nazis and nativists in Sand Land

Thanks to New Times Web Editor Jonathan McNamara, you can now watch Phoenix muralist Francisco Garcia creating the Blue Boy image that so freaked out the little town of Pine-Strawberry, Arizona, that he was ordered to take it down and replace it with the image of a cabin. McNamara squeezed four hours of video into about a two minutes, so it's an easy watch.

Francisco Garcia Paints "Blue Boy" from Jonathan McNamara on Vimeo.

Garcia's mural, of which the Blue Boy was just a part, is the subject of an item in my Bird column this week. School officials insist the move was not racist. But statements they made in e-mails to Garcia reveal that race and ethnicity were issues in the decision for the school, which only has one African-American kid, and a few Latino children.

You can check out more of Garcia's work at his Myspace page myspace.com/grafftruth. He's a talented cat, and he tells me that he's planning to make prints of the Blue Boy image to sell online. Hey, why not T-shirts, with slogan like, "Too blue for Pine," or "Censored in Strawberry"?

I'll post some of the other images from the mural shortly.

from Stormfront.org

Trouble in Hitler-land? David Irving's gal friday sounds like she's ready to bolt

I haven't given much thought to Holocaust-denier David Irving since July, when I covered his appearance at the Phoenix diner Jerry's. There he spoke to a group including local neo-Nazis such as Harry Hughes, J.T. Ready, and Jesse Curnow, as well as Mexican-flag-burning lesbian nativist Laine Lawless. Though the event was meant to be secret, it was successfully protested by cluster of Phoenix anarchist, led by the activist "Ghost."

I followed up that same month with a piece on Irving's statuesque assistant Jaenelle Antas, who regularly posts to the white nationalist site Stormfront.org. The precise nature of the relationship between Antas and Irving has remained a mystery. Though no one, not even I, would begrudge the failed historian and peddler of Hitler memorabilia a fetching sidekick.

Anyway, Irving's been on the road again in the U.S., this time on the East Coast, and the tour has been even more troubled than the Western leg this summer. As has been admirably reported on by my colleague Thomas Francis of our sister paper Broward-Palm Beach New Times, Irving's October 26 lecture at a Ritz-Carlton there was the occasion of a stabbing between two attendees Christopher Nachtman and John Kopko. You can read Francis' most recent report on the assault, here.

Even more intriguing has been the recent hacking of David Irving's e-mail account by anti-racist activists seeking info on his New York appearance. The hackers posted a treasure trove of info on the site WikiLeaks, everything from Irving's credit card accounts and cell phone number to private correspondence and his full e-mail contact list. The list includes e-mail addresses for Arizona Irving admirers Laine Lawless and Harry Hughes.

One of the more interesting back and forths in the e-mails posted is between a clearly frustrated Antas and querulous, fussy Irving. At one point declares to Antas that "I love you far more than Kevin ever will," Kevin apparently being someone else in Irving's employ. But other than that, their discussions are argumentative, with Antas threatening to abandon the 71 year-old geezer.

Disgraced historian David Irving at Jerry's diner back in July

from NSM's Web site

Mike Harris to the right of the blonde in a neo-Nazi group shot

The lead item in my Bird column this week, titled "SS IGNORANT," is about 2006 Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Harris and his flirtation with white supremacy. Read the article for all the gritty details. I didn't have room in the column for the photos of Harris, screenshots of his NewSaxon profile, and other visual evidence of his crossover to the dark side. So I'm posting some here for your perusal.

from NewSaxon

Harris' NewSaxon profile, which he recently deleted

Joe claims ABC just happened to be in town when the sweep started in this Channel 3 piece

Following up on my blog post of yesterday, wherein I quoted sources telling me that Arpaio's latest anti-immigration sweep was done with an out-of-town film crew in mind, specifically one from ABC national news, I finally got a rep from ABC on the horn. She confirmed that a crew from ABC Nightline was in Phoenix for the sweep, but denied that the dragnet had been staged for ABC's purposes.

"No, not at all," replied Nightline spokeswoman Alison Bridgman of the allegation. "We were already there. We've done profiles of Sheriff Joe in the past. This was already arranged."

Bridgman explained that an interview with Arpaio had been scheduled for Monday, and that the news show learned of the sweep while on the ground in Phoenix. She said Nightline correspondent Martin Bashir did the interview with our corrupt top constable. So far, there's no air date for the piece, according to Bridgman.

During his press conference yesterday, Arpaio copped the same line when someone asked him about ABC being along for the ride.

from Joe's Twitter

Well, it's only saying what everyone thinks...

"Oh, so I arranged this because ABC is here?" asked Joe, rhetorically. "The answer is no, we happened to be here. And they're smart enough to know that they may want to film the sheriff."

Biden: Too cool to meet with that fool Joe, we hope...

Sounds like Joe Arpaio's been fibbing on Twitter, at least according to the White House. Vice President Joe Biden was in town for a meeting with local Dems in downtown Phoenix, and according to Biden's deputy press secretary Annie Tomasini, Joe just showed up, desperate for publicity as always.

Another Arpaio media stunt; and Arpaio meets with Veep Joe Biden?

Sheriff Joe's PR flacks are working overtime. They just sent out a press advisory on a new countywide anti-immigration dragnet beginning today. What they don't tell you in the statement is that Arpaio and Co. have set up the sweep for an out-of-town camera crew from a major broadcast network, according to my sources.

My sources alerted me this weekend that the sweep would be happening today, and that it was being done at the behest of a national news show. I've not yet been able to confirm the news show involved. (UPDATE 11/16/09 2:10PM: I now have two sources telling me that the news show involved is ABC national. They have yet to return my call for a comment.)  

If true -- and the fact that the source was solid on today's sweep suggests that it is -- it would come as no surprise. Arpaio's sweeps are generally publicity stunts, dog-and-pony shows meant to garner Arpaio publicity. Though disruptive and terrifying to members of the Latino community, they rarely result in the arrest of very many illegal immigrants, certainly not by contrast to a drop house raid done by the Phoenix PD.

The face of nativist hate...

Who're worse, behavior-wise, the nativists or the neo-Nazis? Sure, neo-Nazis are nefarious and nuts. But the nativists make the neo-Nazis look urbane by comparison. And in some ways the nativists are more violent, despite the fact crazy old crones with canes and old dudes in mobility scooters are overrepresented in their ranks. Plus, the nativists are far more hypocritical.

Motorcycle thugs on the lawn of the state Capitol

Saturday's anti-amnesty tea party at the Arizona state Capitol was no exception to the rule. Around 80 lumpen losers turned up to bag on "anchor babies" (otherwise known as American citizens born on U.S. soil to undocumented parents), and to scapegoat Mexican immigrants for everything from the H1N1 virus and the financial crisis, to the collapse of the housing market and Arizona's budget mess.

Their big speaker? Minuteman and joke-of-a-Senate-candidate Chris Simcox, who is running as an asterisk in the GOP primary against U.S. Senator John McCain. Hobbled by multiple personal scandals, as well as charges of financial impropriety from former members of the Minutman Civil Defense Corps he founded, Simcox is as likely to beat McCain in a primary as Miley Cyrus is of winning an Oscar for Best Actress.

Neo-Nazis Harry Hughes (left) and J.T. Ready: Quite civil by comparison to the nativists

The other "big name" who had been promised for the hate-fest was state Senator Russell Pearce. Pearce, however, was a no-show. The word was he had a funeral attend. Although, you have to wonder if he knew his former pal and persistent political albatross, neo-Nazi J.T. Ready, was going to be present. The pair worked a larger, more significant crowd of nativists on the state House lawn back in 2007.

At that time, they were as tight as a pair of Sith. But Pearce was reluctantly forced to distance himself from Ready during Pearce's state Senate primary run against fellow Republican Kevin Gibbons. Ready still sounds hurt by Pearce's stab-in-the back, though Ready's gone on to become a hero of sorts in white supremacist circles.

"I don't think [I'm] mad," said Ready wistfully, as he held a large cloth portrait of Adolf Hitler, while standing on the sidewalk facing his former nativist buds."[I'm] disappointed that he didn't have more backbone. He likes to parade around the fact that he has a half-Hispanic [grandchild]. What about the other 99 percent of his family? But you know what, he was like a father figure to me, and I appreciate that. A lot of guidance and close family friends. I'll always cherish those memories."

Videographer Dennis Gilman surrounded by vicious bikers

Two years ago, many of the same anti-immigration types present cheered on Ready as he whipped them into a fervor with a practical blueprint for American fascism: Marine divisions on the four sides of the Lower 48, moving in toward the center to mop up the unwanted while securing the border. Saturday, these same people wouldn't allow him on the Capitol lawn with them. (Permit holders for the lawn can exclude folks from the area under their control, according to the Capitol police.)

This, of course, was highly ironic considering the fact that, aside from such symbols as swastikas, the nativists and the neo-Nazis share the same views on immigration. It's an irony not lost on the wannabe Ernst Roehm of the East Valley.

If only the nativists would do the latter

"They say they're for legal immigration," observed Ready. "It doesn't matter if they're Mexicans or anything. If they're for [everything being] legal -- you know what? -- when Obama passes amnesty, that is legal. That [will be] the law. What are they going to say then? They either have to acknowledge they want a European-American homeland or not...They're caught in a conundrum that I'm not. They're stuck with trying to say they're not racist. While at the same time trying to preserve European culture. They can't do both. At least I'm intellectually honest."

Ready has a point. The nativists are xenophobic, bigoted, and in many cases straight-up racists, yet, they don't want to be labeled as racists. Unlike the neo-Nazis, they are hypocrites. And they are more likely to become violent when confronted face-to-face with folks who don't buy the line they're selling.

Bob the Contractor: He acted like he wanted to swing, but punked out

During last week's tense neo-Nazi march to the Capitol, there were no real physical altercations, and even the threat of violence on the part of the Nazis seemed like posturing more than anything else. But at the nativist rally, there was a constant threat of violence coming from the nativists. 

screenshot from americanprogress.org

Janet Napolitano, speaking at the Center for American Progress

In a speech today before the Center for American Progress, the think-tank that essentially acts as the Obama administration's gray matter, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano spoke about comprehensive immigration reform, mostly from a law-enforcement perspective. Afterwards, Napolitano fielded questions about her old Arizona political ally Sheriff Joe Arpaio, even going so far as to defend his freedom of speech.

"I'm not here to curtail any sheriff's First Amendment rights to say whatever they want to say," Napolitano responded when asked by a reporter from the Orange County Register if she would do anything regarding Arpaio's boast that he will continue to enforce immigration law, even without 287(g) authority in the streets.

You'll recall that ICE recently stripped Arpaio of his federal 287(g) authority in the field, the authority he used to bolster sweeps of immigrant communities in Maricopa County. But ICE let him keep it in the jails.

Nappy then evaded the question by yammering on about ICE's "secure communities" program, which checks the immigration status of everyone booked into participating jails. The OC Register reporter stayed on her case, however, asking if Napolitano was going to do anything to stop Arpaio's raids and sweeps, since ICE no longer does those sort of operations, for the most part.

"Well, the Department of Justice is actually looking into those raids from a civil rights perspective," replied Napolitano. "And I think it's fair to say that I do not believe that raids are the most effective way to conduct law enforcement except from a media perspective."

Of course, the media perspective is the only one that matters to Arpaio. Napolitano continued, stating that there are other sorts of law enforcement things you can do if "you're really focused on public safety." And we all know how committed Arpaio is to public safety.

"He is acting under Arizona state law," Napolitano offered of Joe's sweeps,"not under federal law at this point. He has an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security, but that is only with respect to identifying illegal aliens that are in his jail."