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Pro-immigrant activist Dennis Gilman's video of the nativists' May Day clambake.

Dennis Gilman, the bad-boy of the local pro-immigrant community, recently posted the video above of Rusty Childress' 2008 May Day demonstration at the state capitol, one I blogged about, here. This gathering of some 50 persons was attended by members of hate groups like Riders Against Illegal Aliens and United for a Sovereign America. It was supposed to be a counterdemonstration to a pro-immigration march, though there was no such march scheduled. (Whoops.) The demo was also meant as a sort of kick-off wing-ding for the recall of Mayor Phil Gordon by the PHX's anti-immigrant moonhowlers.

Gilman crashed the event, lending some tension to the otherwise dull happening. In fact, Gilman got the knuckledraggers so riled that the capitol police had to pull him aside at one point, likely for fear that the nativist knaves were about to jump him.

In his video, Gilman rightly wonders why anyone with two licks of sense would sign a recall petition circulated by these aggro losers, especially considering the way they were carrying around a sign with Gilman's name, address and phone number on it. (What do you think they might do with your address, should you sign their petition?) The video's almost like an episode of The Beverly Hillbillies, minus the mansion. What kills me is the way these goons wrap themselves in Old Glory to help rationalize their xenophobia and hatred. The Confederate battle flag would be more appropriate for their cause.

The portly, hirsute guy in the red-white-and-blue do-rag who's pointing to the placard with Gilman's address on it is Buck Young, founder of the anti-immigrant bike group Riders Against Illegal Aliens. According to Childress' immigrationbuzz.com, Young was killed in a motorcycle accident just days after this video was shot, ironically on the evening of Cinco de Mayo. The immigrationbuzz.com item links to news reports about the collision, though these reports do not mention names. Apparently, Young was pinned under the car he crashed into, and died at the scene. Each news item mentions that neither Young nor the other driver were impaired in any way.

The guy was certainly a character, and I had relatively civil conversations with him on a couple of occasions. What he chose to stand for, however, was particularly pernicious. I mean, just look at the cartoon on his site, where a motorcyclist is chasing a brown guy with a bandanna on. Reminds me of that line from The Bard, "The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones."

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Check out a playlist of clips from Alex Jones' interview with Mesa conspiracy kook Karen Johnson, here.

Like you needed more proof that state Senator Karen Johnson is nuttier than Paula Abdul, Tom Cruise and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright combined, the Mesa Republitard recently appeared on Texas conspiracy king Alex Jones' radio show, fawning after the crackpot AM a-hole like a gushing schoolgirl and signing on to nearly every conspiracy theory since the assassination of Lincoln.

Johnson, of course, has penned op-eds of late defending some of the sicko lunacies of the 9/11 conspiranuts, who despite mountains of evidence to the contrary, persist in this insane notion that the Twin Towers were rigged with explosives. Many of them also subscribe to a host of other freaky fantasies, such as, the Pentagon was hit by a missile, Flight 93 was shot down or diverted to Cleveland (its passengers executed), a laser beam helped bring down the World Trade Center buildings, calls made from Flight 93 were faked using voice morphing technology, and on and on.

On Jones' show Johnson established she's battier than a vampire convention, stating that, "I've been a conspiratoriast [sic] for a long, long time," and that when 9/11 happened, she "questioned immediately -- is this another false flag [operation] like the Reichstag [fire]?"

See, Johnson, like other tinfoil-hatted "troofers," buys the line that 9/11 was an inside job, an attack staged to draw America into a war abroad and to establish dictatorial rule at home. In 9/11, Johnson perceives the hidden hand of a shrouded, nefarious organization.

"When you've got a cabal at the head of our country," she told Jones, "and has been there for years pulling the strings behind the scenes, I mean, whatever it takes to get what they want is what they do."

Who's in this cabal, one wonders? Neocons? The illuminati? Shape-shifting aliens from the planet Zatar? Johnson doesn't say. But she assured listeners that because of these sinister plotters, America will cease to exist by 2010, when it will have merged into a fabled North American Union with Mexico and Canada. And by gum, the Arizona State Legislature is threatening to pass a resolution opposing the NAU, one sponsored in part by the local nutbars at the John Birch Society. Thing is, there's not a shred of evidence this wing-nut nightmare is the impending reality these meshuggah-nauts claim it to be.

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Diablo Joe, pre-baton: The horns suit him.

Well, Monday was a thrilling Cinco de Mayo here in the Valley, with hundreds of anti-immigration nutbars baying at the moon and frothing at the mouth, all over three pinatas filled with candy. The pinatas -- two bearing the visage of our corrupt top constable and one of a Sheriff's truck -- were beaten to a paper mache pulp Monday evening as part of the kickoff celebration for the PUEBLO Center for Legal and Human Rights, a new pro-immigrant organization focused on youth activism.

PUEBLO's Ray Ybarra gives Diablo Joe the A-Rod treatment.

Knuckledraggers Phoenix-wide gnashed what few teeth they have left in common over radio reports that their Hispanic-tormentin' hero was to be bashed in effigy until that effigy's split innards bled candy. The rants of racist blowhards filled the airways and online forums. But the affair was actually a festive one, intent on fundraising for the new organization and its facility on the northeast corner of 13th Street and Van Buren. Folks bought raffle tickets for the chance to take a whack at a midget Devil Joe, or a bigger, black-clad Nickel Bag Joe. The MCSO truck was cool, too, but it didn't seem to inspire quite as much vigor on the part of participants for some reason.

The end result...

Asked about all the nativist hubbub on sites like those for KTAR 92.3 FM, home to bigoted morning lip-flapper Darrell Ankarlo, PUEBLO organizer Ray Ybarra was unapologetic.

"It amazes me that people are outraged if you put a picture on a pinata," said the Stanford Law School-educated 29-year-old. "But when somebody's separated from their family, when someone's going to the store, and they get pulled over, and the next thing you know is their children come home to an empty house, no one is outraged about that."

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I just got off the horn with former New Yorker and Republican activist Bob Haran, who today has severed ties with Anna Gaines' group American Citizens United, which yesterday announced a drive to recall Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon.

Haran, who was the group's President, said he never agreed with Gaines' idea of recalling Phil and characterized the effort as futile, considering Gordon's landslide reelection victory last fall. Indeed, the first the ex-Marine heard that the recall was a reality, was through the media, he explained. In his statement, he labels it a divisive issue, writing,

"I fear that if this recall makes it to the ballot based on the issue of immigration it will be like pouring gasoline on a fire that is already dividing people by their skin color and I want no part of it."

Haran said the original idea behind American Citizens United was to create an organization that would have nothing to do with the racists and neo-Nazis infiltrating the anti-illegal immigration movement. But he charged that the group, under Gaines' watch, was now allowing anyone into its ranks.

"She's not a bad person," he told me, praising her patriotism and courage. "Naive might be the right word."

Haran's statement is below. I think it pretty much speaks for itself. After this, can we all agree this recall effort is dead in the water?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Statement by Bob Haran, former President, American Citizens United.

As the President and the person that came up with the name, American Citizens United, and the author of it's mission statement, I do hereby sever any connection with the group of people attempting to recall Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, calling themselves "American Citizens United."

The original name of the organization was, "Arizona Patriots Supporting Enforcement of Immigration Laws," and was founded by Anna Gaines and the web site was www.azpseil.cloverpad.org

While the organization was still using the name "Arizona Patriots Supporting Enforcement of Immigration Laws," it was agreed that Anna Gaines would be the Chair and Chief Executive Officer and I would be the President and Chief Operating Officer.

I came up with the name "American Citizens United" on April 19, 2008 and Anna Gaines, as chairperson, approved the name change on April 20, 2008, I wrote the organizations mission statement, which Gaines approved after minor changes on April 21, 2008. The mission statement was published under "about us" by Gaines on the azpseil web site the next day and listed me as President of the American Citizens United.

Shortly after agreeing on the name change and mission statement, Ms. Gaines first touched on the subject of recalling Phoenix Mayor Gordon. I explained to her that it was more important for the American Citizens United to get organized and build a strong foundation and write a set of by-laws to govern ourselves before we attempted any project as large as recalling the mayor of Phoenix. I didn't see any point in resorting to a recall that not only would be extremely difficult to get on the ballot and close to impossible to win, given the fact that Gordon had just been re-elected with 77% of the vote and would be sure to be well financed in a recall election. In short I thought the idea of a recall was ill conceived and a waste of time and effort with little chance of success.

I'm no supporter of Phil Gordon, I think he has been trying to pander to some extent to both sides of the immigration issue. He doesn't want to look like a supporter of illegal immigration but he also doesn't want to alienate Hispanic voters and therefore he has really done nothing but attempt to obstruct the enforcement of immigration laws by the Sheriffs Office. Would that be a cause for a recall, maybe. Would a recall at this time be beneficial to the people of Phoenix or to the immigration control movement, absolutely not. The have a recall election centered on the immigration issue in a city that is over one third Hispanic is dangerously divisive to the community at large and irresponsible to say the least.

One of the reasons American Citizens United was formed was to turn the immigration debate around from becoming an issue of race. Both Anna Gains and myself have been disturbed by those opposed to enforcement of our immigration laws attempting to label anyone who is pro-enforcement as racist, and we have also been troubled by white racist trying to hitch-hike on the immigration issue to advance their racist agenda. We wanted to form an organization that not only advocated illegal immigration control but also opposed racism and turning the immigration issue into a brown versus white issue. I fear that if this recall makes it to the ballot based on the issue of immigration it will be like pouring gasoline on a fire that is already dividing people by their skin color and I want no part of it.

The effort to recall Mayor Gordon by Anna Gaines and her fellow travelers has not been well thought out and is just an impulsive action that cannot lead to anything positive and at best would just be a wasted effort and at worst it would further divide the people of Phoenix over the issue of immigration based on a their ancestry.

With all due respect for Anna Gaines' patriotism and courage, recalling the mayor of Phoenix is a bad idea.

The mayor of Phoenix may be showing a lack of leadership on the immigration issue, but those calling for his recall are showing even less.

BOB HARAN

For more on this story, please see: "Wing-nutty Hobbit lady Anna Gaines attempts recall of Mayor Phil Gordon;" and, "Patriots Border Alliance's neo-Nazi love-fest; and why Anna Gaines' recall of Mayor Phil Gordon is doomed."

The photo from the PBA Web site honoring wheelchair-bound neo-Nazi Elton Hall.

What is it with nativist nutbars and neo-Nazis? Anti-immigrant a-holes always pitch a fit when referred to as racists. Yet their knees turn to jelly for swastika-lickers, no matter how ancient or feeble the National Socialist.

Take 74-year-old Elton Hall. (Please, take him.) An Arizona organizer for the American Nazi Party back in the day, he's now so radioactive that even Rusty Childress' hate-group United for a Sovereign America pretends the geriatric goosestepper no longer exists. Nevertheless, the neurosurgeons at Patriots Border Alliance, a group of minutemen who broke free from the leadership of Minuteman Civil Defense Corps honcho Chris Simcox last year, have a pic on their Web site showing the crackpot Hitler-lover in a wheelchair, surrounded by fawning fans.

The header and caption for the image read, "PATRIOTS' BORDER ALLIANCE HONORING ELTON HALL: In appreciation for your deactivated service, devotion, commitment to securing American borders and promoting THE RULE OF LAW." Sniff. Gets you all teary-eyed, don't it? All this affection for a dood who once bowed to ANP founder George Lincoln Rockwell, and who has no remorse for it, nor for his current icon-like status with kid skinheads.

The photo features an obviously injured Hall, presumably recovering from his hospital stay after being hit during a two-car collision at Bell Road and 25th Street, where he was protesting, along with other U.S.A. types, the nearby Macehualli Work Center. Encircling the old kook are all the usual suspects, folks you regularly see at nearly every anti-immigrant meet-up in the Valley. Among them, natch, is alleged public urinator Buffalo Rick Galeener, who commonly refers to nonwhites as "monkeys."

And if you think this neo-Nazi love-fest is wacky, check out the pics on the PBA site of the group's 2008 conference in St. Louis, Missouri. Looks like someone saw Mel Gibson's The Patriot one too many times. I'd have thought Civil War reenactment would've been more their bag, with PBA-ers done up like Confederates.

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Anna wowed 'em in Lord of the Rings...

Expect it to look like The Best of Jerry Springer down at City Hall Thursday morn, as anti-Hispanic Hispanic Anna Gaines and a pack of her nativist 'tard buds will be holding a press-conference at 9 AM to announce their intent to gather sigs for a recall of Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon. Gaines is a Hobbit-like lady who never waivers in her belief that the borders should have closed after she crossed over into El Norte. She's been closely affiliated in the past with the F.A.I.R.-sponsored offshoot You Don't Speak for Me, headed up by Al "StepinFetchit" Rodriguez, and until recently she was a fellow-traveler of bigot-boy Rusty "Crusty" Childress' anti-immigrant posse United for a Sovereign America, which has accepted such neo-Nazis as Mesa's Zeppelin-esque J.T. Ready and goosestepping geezer Elton Hall into its ranks.

Indeed, it was over the presence of Hall, as reported in last week's Bird column, that Gaines supposedly broke with U.S.A. to found her own group, which is either called American Citizens United, or AZPSEIL, Arizona Patriots Supporting Enforcement of Immigration Laws, depending upon which part of the Web site you're perusing. The curious thing is that Gaines' press conference is heavily publicized on Rusty Childress' hate-site immigrationbuzz.com, which certainly makes you wonder if Childress might be behind Gaines' new effort, or at least helping out. One of the worries U.S.A. members have had is that they've been tarnished by the neo-Nazi leanings of some of their colleagues, and the recent, alleged incident of public urination by U.S.A. member Buffalo Rick Galeener. Their great fear's been that they would be asked about such embarrassments by members of the Fourth Estate when they set about recalling Mayor Gordon, which this kooky crowd's been planning to do for some time.

Gaines' new group, whatever it calls itself, is not yet sullied by such dubious affiliations, though Gaines certainly mingled for some time with various far-right ne'er-do-wells at U.S.A. meetings before up and deciding that the 74-year-old Elton Hall, once an organizer for the American Nazi Party, offended her not-so-delicate sensibilities. Of interest also is the fact that the post on Childress' site pertaining to the press conference lists none other than anti-Mexican hot-head Keith "Loose Screw" Lefebvre as the contact person for American Citizens United. Regular FB readers may remember Lefebvre as the guy who outed himself as the poster "Smooth" on this site, then levied what reads like a threat at another poster.

"And I promise, you will be worth the assault charge, punk," Lefebvre told a foe in one entry. In another, he wrongly contended that, "Operation Wetback worked and it should be implemented IMMEDIATELY at a national level." There's a "Keith LeFevre" [sic] listed as state media coordinator on the ACU site. Can we assume it's the same class act?

To conclude, it's difficult to understand the motives of a self-loathing Latino such as Gaines, but think of her as the Clarence Thomas of the local nativist movement, minus the education, the status, or the Johnson. In any case, she's not to be regarded seriously. Even with the assistance of her fellow fruitcakes, her recall drive is doomed to failure. They have to score 23,751 valid sigs, 120 days from jump, and that ain't gonna happen. Back to Middle Earth for you, Anna. Give our regards to Gandalf, will ya?

According to records recently released by the Sheriff's office, the MCSO used more than $200,000 in RICO funds to pay for facial recognition technology, software and service from Darcomm Network Solutions and Hummingbird Defense Systems, Inc., two Phoenix-based companies that reportedly work closely together on the sophisticated systems. Internal MCSO memos mention that the technology is being used for massive databases of photographs held at the Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center (ACTIC), and to establish a "Honduran unit" with the help of the Federal Police of Honduras to collect photographs of individuals throughout Central America.

(ACTIC is an anti-terrorism task force that brings together law-enforcement entities throughout the state and federally. The MCSO is a part of ACTIC, but the facial recognition technology iteself belongs to the MCSO, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety, which oversees the program.)

The stated rationale for going into Honduras was to gain intelligence in an attempt to combat the notorious Salvadoran-American street gang MS-13, though there's little evidence that MS-13 has a significant presence in Arizona. Indeed, a 2005 study by the US Justice Department, the National Gang Threat Assessment, does not mention Arizona in regards to MS-13, which was founded in Los Angeles by Salvadorans and has since migrated to the East Coast and set up operations in Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and New York.

Nonetheless, in a memo dated August 20, 2007 from Deputy Chief Ray Churay to Chief Deputy David Hendershott, the mastermind behind the Honduras project, Churay cited the MS-13 threat in a request for payment in the amount of $122,144.89 to Darcomm for equipment and software to be used in Arizona and in Honduras.

Although Channel 12 news has reported that top Honduran cop Jorge Rodas insisted no images have yet been given to the MCSO (despite Sheriff Joe's claim of "millions" of photos obtained), Churay's memo stated the MCSO had received photos from Honduras for the MCSO's facial recognition program.

Churay wrote that the Honduran Government had provided the MCSO with "all of their criminal booking photographs, as well as their drivers license photographs," and that the Honduran Federal Police would attempt to obtain mug shots from other Central American nations. "These photographs will be placed in the Honduran Unit and in turn be provided to the ACTIC unit."

The memo also indicates that the Maricopa County Attorney's Office was helping fund the effort.

"This information was provided to Phil J. MacDonnell, Chief Deputy County Attorney, Maricopa County Attorney's Office," wrote Churay. "And he pledged $60,000 of their office RICO funds to help defray the costs of equipment and software to enhance the ACTIC Unit and construct the Honduran Unit...the MCSO RICO fund would have to provide the remaining $62,144.89."

Attached to the memo is an invoice from Darcomm for the full $122,144.89. The invoice references both Hummingbird Defense Systems CEO Steve Greschner and Darcomm president and chief executive Michael Ciavarella. The memo bears what appears to be Chief Deputy Hendershott's initials with the notation "apprvd."

Hummingbird's Greschner is also mentioned in an August 28, 2006 MCSO memo as advising the MCSO on the purchase of servers from Darcomm costing more than $32K. I've placed calls to both Greschner and Ciavarella, and have so far received no reply.

As an aside, it's interesting and a little scary that another memo from Ray Churay to Hendershott notes that the ACTIC's Facial Recognition database includes "approximately 5.7 million" Arizona drivers license records, as well as 2.8 million Arizona mug shots. That means we are, all of us, on file with this Orwellian system.

Hard to know how much of the more than $200K spent on this facial recognition technology should be added to the more than $157K spent on the Honduran project overall. Given reports from Channel 12 that Hendershott pitched this facial recognition technology to a representative of the European Union in Honduras, and that Hendershott's buddy-buddy with an unnamed exec of Hummingbird, one can't help but wonder: Was Hendershott motivated in this project by some possibility of personal gain or a desire to help his cronies?

In addition, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has also given the MCSO a $264K grant to purchase facial recognition technology, though the money is supposed to be spent in Maricopa County. According to my sources at Homeland Security, that money has not yet been spent. Still, was or is the MCSO planning to divert that money to the Honduras project?

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It ain't hard proving state Representative Russell Pearce is a bigot when the guy does the job for you on a regular basis. As Feathered Bastard readers know, the prejudiced Pearce has been photographed arm-in-arm in the past with Mesa neo-Nazi J.T. Ready and has been caught forwarding e-mails to his supporters from the neo-Nazi National Alliance. Recently, I blogged about how Pearce's contributor list has included such anti-immigrant ne'er-do-wells as Don "Goofy" Goldwater, Rusty "Crusty" Childress, Minuteman Chris Simcox, and Al "StepinFetchit" Rodriguez.

Now the Arizona Republic has revealed in a brief item today that Pearce is seeking $5 donations from fellow racists on anti-brown clown Glenn Spencer's Web site, americanpatrol.com. Spencer is one of the worst bigots in the Southwest, and fronts an anti-immigrant hate group in Sierra Vista called American Border Patrol. He's been denounced by both the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center. By his own admission, he's participated in conferences sponsored by such wacko groups as the Council of Conservative Citizens and American Renaissance. And Spencer's made plenty of outrageous, dumbass statements during his career as a hatemonger. Like in 1996, when he reportedly wrote the Los Angeles Times, stating,

"The Mexican culture is based on deceit. Chicanos and Mexicanos lie as a means of survival. Mexicans who have truly become Americans have shed themselves of this survival mechanism."

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The incessant criticism of Sheriff Joe from other politicians, the media, law enforcement officials, activists, and ordinary citizens must be taking its toll on our corrupt top constable. His big interview in Sunday's Republic is obviously part of a media campaign to polish his tarnished image, one he continued on KTAR 92.3FM host Jay Lawrence's Sunday evening program. Lawrence is probably the closest thing KTAR has to a liberal. That is to say, he's a conservative, but not a bug-eyed, bloviating lunatic like KTAR's bigoted morning hate jock Darrell Ankarlo.

On Lawrence's show, Joe spent most of his time defending his sorry, anti-immigrant sweeps and alleging "a little conspiracy" amongst those who're complaining about him to the U.S. Justice Department. (The latest letter-writer asking for an investigation of the MCSO is Joe-foe and tort titan Mike Manning -- read his stinging missive to the feds, here). The Sheriff also took some calls, bantering with KTAR listeners and trying to make himself seem human. This being KTAR, most of the calls were attaboys from Joe supporters, but there was one caller, an American guy of Mexican descent who challenged a traffic stop MCSO deputies made of him recently while he was on his way home from work.

The man said he doesn't speak a lick of Spanish, and has a valid Arizona driver's license. Yet, when deputies pulled him for an inoperative tail light, they questioned him about his residency. Even after he told them he was born here, they asked him who his parents were, and other questions aimed at determining nationality. They also informed him that they had to search his car, and proceeded to do so.

The chap then asked Arpaio what all this had to do with a minor traffic stop. Arpaio asked the guy if he got a ticket. The man said no. "So what are you complaining about?" wondered the Sheriff. I'm going from memory here, but Lawrence asked Joe if he thought such treatment was "untoward." Joe replied in the negative, saying his officers are trained by ICE, yadda-yadda-yadda.

Maybe the caller didn't get a ticket, but at the very least what the MCSO did was harassment, harassment done because the guy was a Hispanic. Joe, apparently, doesn't see anything wrong with that, even though it's an obvious example of racial profiling.

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Janet, while being grilled by activists outside the Wyndham (photo courtesy of Eduardo Barraza of Barriozona.com).

UPDATE, MONDAY, APRIL 28, 3:09 PM : In what can only be described as a triumph for local pro-immigration activists, Governor Napolitano saved her fellow Dems' asses in the state Legislature and vetoed HB 2807 this afternoon, calling it "an unnecessary, unfunded mandate to law enforcement." Saturday's demonstration at the state Democratic convention had its intended effect, and the demonstrators are to be applauded for it. Others were pressuring Napolitano to veto the measure, but a little in-your-face confrontation never hurts. You can read the Governor's veto letter in its entirety, here.

You know, I really appreciate the Arizona Republic. They send reporter Anne Ryman to cover the state Democratic convention at Phoenix's Wyndham hotel this Saturday, and she misses the most significant event of the day -- a protest during Governor Janet Napolitano's speech urging her to veto HB 2807, a bill now on her desk that would require all local law enforcement agencies in the state to develop their own immigration policies. There was no mention of it in Ryman's news item on the convention in Sunday's paper. That's like a scavenger approaching some road kill and leaving behind the choicest bits as leftovers.

When Napolitano took the podium, about a third of those present in the meeting hall rose and held signs urging the Governor to veto the proposed law, which received bipartisan support in the legislature. The Governor was forced to acknowledge their existence early on in her pep-rally-like address.

"You can sit," the Guv told the protesters. "I got it. I got it. Thank you very much. I got it."

"But are you going to do it?" shot back one of the demonstrators.

Napolitano overlooked the question, and continued with her rah-rah oration, during which she spouted such lame lines as, "We’ve got to take that White House, are you with me? Come on!" She also spoke of the need for Dems to gain seats in the Legislature, in Congress, and on the Corporation Commission. Not a peep about replacing Sheriff Joe Arpaio or Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas. I know they're county races, but it's not like she's uninvolved. It's well known she's backing her former counsel Tim Nelson in his primary race against Gerald Richard.

Afterwards, the Guv beat a hasty retreat, slipping out a back door. However, a cadre of local activists managed to confront her before she hopped in her vehicle, waving signs at her, and pressing her to veto the bill. She replied that she would be making her decision Monday. If she fails to act, the bill will become law without her signature.

The protest was so large because local pro-immigrant activist Sal Reza and others enlisted the help of numerous Democrats present to vote on delegates to the national Democratic convention, slated to begin August 25 in Denver. The demonstration before Napolitano capped a day of excuses, rationalizations, and finger pointing on behalf of legislators who voted for HB 2807. Some claim they were misled, others say they weren't paying attention when they voted for the bill. Still others insist the bill is a watered-down version of the original, and will have no significant impact.

The bill transmitted to the Governor on April 22, states that,

"County sheriffs and police departments of cities and towns shall implement a program to address violations of federal immigration laws by training peace officers or detention officers, embedding United States immigration and customs enforcement agents within the agency, or establishing operational relationships with the United States immigration and customs enforcement to implement the provisions of this section."

This version passed the state House unanimously, with the Arizona Hispanic Legislative Caucus and tres liberal members such as state Representatives Kyrsten Sinema and Tom Prezelski joining right-wingers like Russell Pearce and Andy Biggs in voting yes. The vote didn't sail through the Senate as easily, passing 20-9 instead. But now many who supported the measure are regretting their yes votes, Sinema among them.

"Legislators don't read bills," confessed state Rep. Kyrsten Sinema.

"Mistakes happen all the time," Sinema informed me. "Which I know that the public probably doesn’t like to think about, but we make mistakes."

Sinema schooled me on the way the legislature does business, admitting she hadn't read the bill before voting for it, despite the fact that you could read it in about two minutes or less.

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Pearce pre-rug...

Pearce post-rug. The new look failed to fill the campaign coffers...

Remember when Paleolithic Republican state Rep. Russell Pearce was gonna run for Congress against GOP golden-boy, Congressman Jeff Flake? Pearce had an exploratory committee, and even started sporting a toupee in a failed attempt to look young -- at least he seemed to be wearing a rug in the banner for the committee's Web site. But Pearce finished exploring in early January, and decided not to challenge the popular, well-respected Flake.

"Ultimately, it came down to this," Pearce penned in a press release at the time. "I know that I will be more effective and have a greater influence on public policy issues important to Arizona as one of 30 in the state Senate rather than one of 435 in Washington, DC."

Thing is, Pearce's January 31, 2008 campaign finance report for money solicited from November 28, 2006 to December 31, 2007 shows a paltry $24K raised. The report is on file with Secretary of State Jan Brewer's office. Pearce has since transferred much of this money to some sort of state exploratory committee, according to the S.O.S., and Pearce will not have to account for it until the next reporting deadline in June.

On the federal level, the FEC has a letter from Pearce dated November 29, 2007, wherein he stated that he has raised in excess of $5K. Pearce told the feds at that time that he had not yet decided whether to be a candidate for Arizona's Sixth District Congressional Seat. There's nothing on file other than that. The FEC's backgound material for the press on "testing the waters" committees states, "An individual who merely tests the waters, but does not campaign for office, does not have to register or report as a candidate." Did Pearce take up a collection for his Congressional exploratory committee, then roll it over for his state Senate run once he opted out of the Congressional race? One FEC flack told me the feds would have no problem with this.

In any case, Opensecrets.org states that Flake's cash on hand is nearly a cool million: $974,536 to be precise, $890,974 of it raised for this election cycle. There's no way the poltroonish Pearce could've come close to Flake's take. The two men aren't even in the same league. No wonder Pearce punked out. Well, that, and essentially the state GOP told Pearce that Flake was their man.

As you might expect, Pearce's contributor list boasts its share of anti-brown clowns. Top of the list: Rusty "Crusty" Childress, head bigot over at United for a Sovereign America. Ever the cheapskate car-dealer, he gave a pitiful $182.31. Don"Goofy" Goldwater, nephew to Barry, and proof that the fruit sometimes falls faaar from the tree, ponied up $100. Minuteman honcho Chris Simcox, known by his detractors in that movement as "the Little Prince," lists himself as a "consultant" and lays $200 cash on Pearce, as well as $82.31 in goods and services. Looks like he, Rusty and a few others went Dutch on some campaign expense, hence the repeat of that $82.31 figure.

Al Rodriguez, of the F.A.I.R. (Federation for American Immigration Reform) offshoot You Don't Speak for Me donated $100. Rodriguez is one a very few anti-Hispanic Hispanics who offer their tokendom up for the nativist cause. He's appeared before state legislative committees, adding his StepinFetchit assent to anti-American bills such as SB 1108, meant to outlaw dissenting views in the classroom. Al, you're a credit to, um, la raza. Not.

No moolah from Mesa neo-Nazi J.T. Ready, one of Pearce's staunchest supporters. But then Ready doesn't look like the kind of cat who'd have an extra c-note or two handy. Them swastikas cost money, yo.

Take it as a sign of Pearce's weakness that he will have a primary this time 'round, and it sounds like it'll be no walk in the park. Jeff Flake's brother-in-law Kevin Gibbons will be taking on Pearce for the Republican nomination. The fact that Gibbons is, like Pearce, an LDS member, will help him against Russ in the heavily Mormon enclave of Mesa. The Republican primary will likely decide the contest. Let's hope the best Mormon wins.

Warren Jeffs, in his infamous mugshot.

The Queen Bitch of Broadcasting, and winner of the who's creepier contest, hands down!
(photo by Vidiot)

Watching CNN's continuing coverage of the custody war underway in Texas over the kids rescued from the FLDS' Yearning for Zion ranch, it's a jump ball in my mind as to who's creepier: jailed FLDS "prophet" Warren Jeffs and his Little House on the Prarie-like womenfolk, or Nancy Grace. At least with the slate-faced, sometimes unibrowed FLDS femmes, their unease before cameras seems genuine, even if their tales of "heaven on earth" within the confines of the polygamist sect does not.

Dragon-lady Nancy, on the other hand, presents for the Television lens a heavily mascaraed mask of outrage and vengefulness that remains consistent whether the perp du jour is a suspect hubby, an abusive mom, or an entire cult. Grace revels in a sadistic Schadenfreude that takes great delight in the pain and embarrassment of suspects, long before they've been convicted by courts of law.

See, former prosecutor Grace has no judge to rule her out of order. She's jurist, jury and media executioner. However, she goes to great lengths in an attempt to humanize herself -- taking on-air calls that inquire about the health of her six-month-old twins, showing off pics of her spawn, and keeping a "baby blog" on her Web site. The only TV personality I know of with less of a likeability quotient is one of the lawyers Grace has on regularly, Susan Moss. If you've seen Grace's show before, you'll know Moss from the heavy-frames of her glasses, and the permanent, troll-like scowl on her face. I think Grace has her on because this female font of negativity makes Grace seem like Oprah by comparison.

Grace's take on the YFZ circus is that the women are as much to blame as the men, and that YFZ is little more than a criminal enterprise. This is the problem with seeing the world through a prosecutor's eyes: the whole world is evil until proven otherwise. I tend more toward historian Benjamin Bistline's opinion that there are more than enough victims to go around. Those women are little more than chattel within the FLDS culture. That's not to say people don't have a choice. The residents of a different compound -- the one at Jonestown, Guyana -- had a choice back in 1978. A lot of them took their children with them into the darkness. This cult mentality is partly a result of coercion by nefarious individuals, and partly a mental disease.

My hope is that Texas' intervention into the YFZ compound, and its attempt to sort out the paternity of the 437 minors seized there, will result in the breakup of YFZ. Sure, some parts of it may re-form in places like Mexico or Canada. And some portion of those who've returned to YFZ may remain there of their own volition. But if Texas CPS keeps tabs on the latter, they may at least be prevented from resuming their child-marrying ways.

Despite the FLDS' best efforts, there's not been a tsunami of sympathy for the crying, pastel-clothed moms. Take a look at this FLDS Web site someone sent me, captivefldschildren.org. It purports to be a creation of "the FLDS people," and solicits donations "to help with the massive litigation costs" from the custody battles. There are photos and videos of weeping mothers, crying children, and beefy Texas lawmen, as well as kiddies running and playing in happier times. Unlike the media, the FLDS does not pixelate the faces of the kids. On the whole, the site is a pretty unconvincing ploy. Especially when you know that some of those little girls were, before being taken into protective custody, destined for marriages to much, much older men.

More macabre even than an episode of Grace's show is the line of long-faced prophets on FLDSTruth.org, which is linked to from the FLDS captive kid site. It starts with Joseph Smith and ends with Warren Jeffs, and features a timeline extending into the year 3000 and beyond. Reckon the FLDS plans to be around for a while. Let's hope the state of Texas puts a wrench in the cult's prognostications.

J.T. Ready and Russell Pearce joined at the proverbial hip at an anti-immigrant rally in June of ‘07.

J.T. Ready, the Ernst Rohm of the East Valley, second from right, at a neo-Nazi rally in Omaha, September of ‘07.

You've gotta love a guy who's as big of a hypocritical ass as Mesa muttonhead state Rep. Russell Pearce. The bullet-headed bigot who boasts a slab of sheetrock for a brain, likes to wrap himself in the American flag every chance he gets, like when he's defending his final solution to illegal immigration in Arizona -- the employer sanctions law, or demanding the denial of birth certificates to so-called "anchor babies," otherwise known as American citizens to you and me.

Pinhead Pearce's latest legislative abomination is an anti-American, anti-freedom, anti-First Amendment amendment to Senate Bill 1108, which,

States that the primary purpose of public education is the inculcation of the values of American citizenship.

[And] prevents public schools in Arizona from including any courses, classes, or school sponsored activities within the program of instruction that feature or promote as truth any political, religious, ideological, or cultural values that denigrate or overtly encourage dissent from the values of American democracy and Western civilization, including democracy, capitalism, pluralism, and religious toleration.

If this loyalty-oath-type McCarthyism is good enough for the academic goose, then why can't the same rules apply to state legislators? After all, if they "promote as truth any political, religious, ideological, or cultural values that denigrate or overtly encourage dissent from the values of American democracy and Western civilization," then we should have laws that run them out of office on a red-hot rail, right? Why should any of our tax dollars go to pay for the salary of some legislative extremist who could care less about the freedoms fought for by the Greatest Generation during WWII, say?

So I propose allowing the same rules meant to ideologically rein in publicly-funded schools, curb such racist, anti-Mexican lawmakers as, well, Russell Pearce. After all, Pearce has hung out in the past with Mesa neo-Nazi J.T. Ready, the two-ton Ernst Rohm of the East Valley. Why, just take a look-see at these here pics -- one of Pearce and turd-reicher J.T. near-about to French kiss each other at an anti-illegal demo back in June of last year. Shucks, Pearce's even promoted white supremacist values in the past by forwarding a neo-Nazi National Alliance e-mail to supporters back in 2006.

Are pro-neo-Nazi values American values? Why of course they aren't. So that means ol Russ is just plain un-American for encouraging such varmints. He should be stripped of his salary and legislative position tout de suite and returned to the wilderness of Mesa to dwell the rest of his days. Perhaps some waggish Democratic legislator could propose a law to ban Pearce and his ilk from the state capitol forever.

Contrary to the rants of many a wing-nut talk show host, racial profiling is alive and well in the U.S., and in Arizona specifically. The practice has been spotlighted of late by the heavy-handed tactics of Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his racially motivated anti-illegal immigrant sweeps in the Valley. But Joe certainly didn't invent racial profiling, as is demonstrated by a report issued today by the Arizona ACLU entitled Driving while Black or Brown, which analyzes data collected by the State of Arizona's Department of Public Safety.

DPS's data-collection on its traffic stops is required as the result of a class-action lawsuit filed in 2001 by the ACLU, Arnold v. Arizona Department of Public Safety. The suit was settled in 2006. As part of the settlement, DPS has to keep stats on its stops, and obtain written permission from drivers on all so-called "consent searches." That's when Johnny Law pulls you over for making a wrong turn and then asks if he can rummage around in your vehicle, looking for that pot pipe under your seat or that old Mary Jane seed in your car ashtray.

In any case, the report covers DPS highway stops and vehicle searches that took place between July 1, 2006 and June 30, 2007. According to Arizona ACLU director Alessandra Soler Meetze, the report demonstrates that,

"Searches being conducted by the majority of DPS officers continue to target minorities, despite the fact that people of color are less likely than whites to be transporting drugs, weapons or other illegal contraband."

Meetze points out that, "The report also shows that minorities are detained for longer periods of time after being stopped by DPS officers."

Essentially, the study demonstrates that DPS officers treated people of different ethnic and racial groups unequally. African Americans, Native Americans and Hispanics stopped by DPS were more likely to be searched than Whites, even though Whites had higher rates of transporting contraband, according to the report's findings. Minorities were also likely to be stopped for longer periods of time by DPS.

In its executive findings, the report observes,"This unequal treatment was not justified by higher contraband seizure rates from minority motorists."

This conclusion belies the shibboleth promulgated by right-wingers that racial profiling is necessary because certain races are more likely to be engaged in criminal activity. The hard data collected by DPS does not bolster this assumption. It definitely does not pay to be any shade darker than white when the po-po are checking you out.

Or as comedian D.L. Hughley has put it so succintly in the past: "Everybody wants to be black until the cops roll up."

Yearning for Zion? Yearning for the light of day is more like it...

With shades of Roman Grant's nefarious Juniper Creek Compound on HBO's Big Love and echoes of Arizona Governor Howard Pyle's disastrous 1953 raid on Short Creek, Arizona -- the community that became polygamist haven Colorado City -- chaotic hearings continue today in the seizure of more than 400 kids from the FLDS' Yearning for Zion compound in Texas. Like everyone, I've been fascinated by the morbid Twilight Zone-like tours of YFZ by sometimes unibrowed FLDS moms. And I've been torn by the competing rights of mothers seeking to be reunited with their children and children who may need protection from the FLDS' perverse religious dictums.

Plural marriages and child brides were subjects former New Times staffer John Dougherty continually addressed in a series of articles about the FLDS for our paper. (You can read Dougherty's whole series on polygamy in Arizona, here.) Currently, Dougherty is reporting on the Texas situation for the New York Times, but in 2005 he was already warning the world about the massive white stone edifice being built on a 1,700-acre compound just outside Eldorado, Texas.

The compound was to be the new home for FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs' polygamist sect. The cult was relocating to escape the scrutiny it had come under in Colorado City. Behind guarded gates, they hoped to practice their religion in secret. The raid on that compound by Texas Rangers and other law enforcement has ripped the scab off the FLDS sore. Now we're all spellbound by the aftermath of the raid and the bizarre living arrangements of the cult itself.

For some perspective, I turned to Colorado City historian Benjamin Bistline, author of The Polygamists: A History of Colorado City, Arizona. Bistline, who is in his 70s, grew up in that community, experienced the Short Creek raid, and still lives just outside of Colorado City proper. Oft-quoted by those researching or writing about the FLDS, Bistline has been closely following the Texas situation and spoke to me late last week.

What’s your general impression of what’s happened in Texas? Do you think it’s an overreaction by the Texas authorities?

Bistline: It’s not overreaction. The ’53 raid at Short Creek -- there was no justification for it. I was 18 years old. I was part of that raid, when the state of Arizona raided it. That was a whole, entirely different situation. The town was open and free. We could come and go. We lived in our own houses. We weren’t living behind a big, long wall or anything.

In Texas, they’ve got a compound that’s surrounded by a fence. And those kids cannot go in or out. And I don’t think most of the women even are free to travel in or out. I know there are underage marriages going on there.

How do you know that?

Bistline: I just know those people. I’m related to pretty near every one of them. I knew them growing up, I know what they’re taught, and I know how they live. Have you listened to some of the answers those girls they’ve questioned give when they ask them if they know of any underage pregnancies? It don’t take no psychological genius to know those girls are lying. You can tell they’re lying by their answers.

So it’s definitely going on, and it needed to be stopped. And I don’t know how else they could’ve done it. They went in there with guns drawn and all that because they didn’t know what to expect. They’d lived through the Waco thing. I don’t blame them for that. What they do now, though is crucial. Those kids need to get back with their mothers…Now the ones that have been molested, that’s a different story. They need to be taken care of and put in protective custody. But you’re probably not going to find more than I guess maybe 15 out of the 400. I don’t know how many of the 400 were girls, but if they find 15 of them that are pregnant or have had children under the age of 17, I would be surprised if there are any more than that.

Not being there, not being part of it, not being able to know what all the answers are, I can’t really say for sure. But I know from our own experiences here when women and children were taken from us, they didn’t come back for nearly two years.

Do you think what’s happening in Texas will mean the end for the Yearning for Zion compound?

Bistline: It depends entirely on what they do. If they don’t return the children back there, then there’ll be some kind of a break-up. But if they return the children, the compound will go on. If they return them and they do go back, it needs to be monitored.

In some of the footage from the compound, you see Warren Jeffs' photo on the walls. To what degree is he still in charge of the FLDS?

Bistline: Oh, he’s their god, sure. They’re taking orders from him. He dictates through his henchmen. He’s allowed to make phone calls from behind bars. Write letters.

What do you think the answer to this problem is – especially the underage marriages?

Bistline: They’re not going to stop the polygamy thing. I think that they could stop the underage stuff. The first thing that needs to happen is that the children need to be placed in public schools. So they’re taught correct history, science and so on. Rather than just be totally brainwashed. Then the men that are responsible for the atrocities need to be taken out of their midst, so they don’t have the power to dictate and control them. If they could get someone who was a decent person to be the leader...See, they strictly accord to what their leader says. If he tells them not to marry underage girls, then they won’t. If he tells them to, then he will.

These people are victims. The women and kids are all victims. The young men they give these young wives to, they’re victims. There are a few people I know in their society that would make good leaders that would do what I’m saying. But they’re not going to appoint those leaders, because then [those loyal to Jeffs] would lose control. It’s going to assimilate slowly. Take Colorado City for instance. A large portion of Colorado City people no longer follow Warren Jeffs. It was just a matter of them having their freedom, when he lost the power to kick them out of their homes if they didn’t do what he said. Then they no longer paid him allegiance.

So they need to give those people their freedom. Open those gates, let them come and go. I’m talking about if they go back into the compound. Divide the dormitories into individual apartments, living quarters for individual families. Just give them their freedom, that’s what it amounts to. It would make a lot of difference. If they allow those girls to wait until they’re of age to decide if they’re going to marry that man who they’re told to marry, the biggest percentage of them won’t do it. They’ll pick someone their own age. And that’s the problem. That’s why they’d have to marry them young. Otherwise they’d not able to have the influence