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.

"Oh my gosh, I mean, all the way from Ruby Ridge to Waco to Oklahoma City," sputtered Johnson like a black helicopter in flight. "There's such a string of things, Alex. I'm one of your biggest fans because it's so wonderful to find people on the Internet, and that do wonderful DVDs like you have, that speak out and help inform people."

Wonderful DVDs? One of Jones' DVDs, Dark Secrets: Inside Bohemian Grove, contends that the world's leaders assemble in the redwoods of California each year to participate in creepy occult rituals. Or there's Jones' DVD Endgame, which insists attendees of the Bilderberg conferences are plotting to "exterminate 80 percent of the world's population, while enabling the elites to live forever with the aid of advanced technology."

Jones is a veritable hothouse flower of conspiratorial insanity. I documented some of his more outrageous contentions in my cover story last year on 9/11 lie-buster Pat Curley of the ScrewLooseChange blogspot, an article entitled, The Yoda of 9/11. These included Jones' claims that: the GOP is a gay sex cult; Bill Clinton was recruited by the CIA back in the late '60s; 9/11 was a pretext for an Orwellian police state; 90 percent of the firefighters in New York support the 9/11 conspiracy nuts; Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho was a "mind-controlled assassin;" the Ku Klux Klan sprang from the Masons; the Masons worship Satan; and illegal aliens will soon rise up and kill whitey.

So Karen Johnson's tied her wagon to this night train of madness? Maybe the strain of pushing out 11 kids has rotted her brain. Or maybe her cerebellum was Swiss cheese from the get-go. In other words, I shouldn't be surprised. This is the woman who wants to open campuses up to gun-toters, was the co-chair of Kool Aid-peddler Ron Paul's presidential campaign in Arizona, and was a receptionist to wacko Sand Land Governor Ev Mecham back in the day. Also, she claims to have backed legislation in 2000 that would have allowed Arizona to secede from the Union if martial law was declared. Guess she reckoned it was around the corner. You know, kinda like the NAU.

As for her 9/11 nuttiness, I'll follow up later and go through some of the many mistruths in Johnson's two op-eds from this past weekend. But in the meantime, here's one to ponder. In her Arizona Republic article, Johnson asserted that, "A Zogby poll reported that 51 percent of Americans want Congress to investigate [9/11] further," thereby bolstering the credibility of her bizarro-world accusations.

Johnson was referencing a 2007 poll commissioned by the troofers themselves. What she doesn't tell you is that nearly 64 percent of respondents believed the official story of what happened on 9/11. You know, that "19 Arab fundamentalists executed a surprise attack which caught US intelligence and military forces off guard." A mere 4.6 percent swallowed the whopper that the government, in the parlance of the conspiracy puddin'heads, "Made It Happen;" i.e., that "certain US government elements actively planned or assisted some aspects of the attacks."

Now that Johnson's gone whole hog with this troofer tripe, I have to say it's too bad she's stepping aside to allow anti-brown clown state Rep. Russell Pearce to run for her seat. Otherwise, we would get to find out if more than 4.6 percent of Johnson's right-wing district would be willing to countenance her spewing this deranged, un-American hooey. Of course, they wouldn't. Which is why Johnson now feels free to spout such psychotic nonsense in public.

Read Pat Curley's snarky snippets on Johnson as a troofer, in his posts, "Recycling the Martial Law Conspiracy Theory," and, "Still Moron Karen Johnson."

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."

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.

Sinema then explained how the House Dems fucked it up.

"We vote on anywhere from 10 to 50 bills in a day," she told me. "So when a vote goes up on the board, someone will vote no in your caucus, and that’s a sign you should look at it and see if anything’s wrong. Well, all the votes were green [meaning `yes'], so we all just kind of engaged in groupthink, a little bit, and voted yes. I was under the impression it was a different bill. When we found out later what the bill did -- I called the Senate Democrats, asked them to vote no, and then contacted the Governor’s office and asked her to veto the bill."

Sinema gets a couple of points for admitting the screw-up, and I'm sure there are a lot of bills legislators have to keep track of, but where were the Dems' House Minority Leader Phil Lopes and House Minority Whip Steve Gallardo? (Gallardo did not return my call to him last week for comment, and I did not run into him at the convention.) A little organization could have prevented this fiasco, if they'd wanted to prevent it. Indeed, the Hispanic Caucus should have been all over this like a cheap suit, before the fact. I mean, the Caucus recently wrote a letter to the feds seconding Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon's call for an investigation of Arpaio for racial profiling, and here they are voting for a measure, which sends a different message to Arizona law enforcement.

"This is not a harmless bill," said Lydia Guzman of the civil rights group Respect/Respeto. "This bill could mean one thing to someone like Police Chief George Gascon in Mesa, and something else to someone like Joe Arpaio."

Activist Sal Reza led the charge at the Wyndham on Saturday.

Salvador Reza was even more emphatic in his denunciation of the measure.

"What this bill would say to everyone – not only here but throughout the nation is that Arizona’s the first police state," he declared. "Arizona would be the first 287g state."

The 287g agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement has allowed Arpaio to have 160 officers trained to enforce immigration law. It is that federal authority that allows Arpaio to conduct his unconstitutional anti-immigrant sweeps focused on brown folk in the Valley. Many see HB 2807 as a green flag to other law enforcement entities to follow in Joe's footsteps.

Ponytailed Pima County Democrat Tom Prezelski helped modify the first version of the bill into what he calls "merely a clarification of existing law." He said he wants the Governor to sign the bill as a way of outmaneuvering the possibility of a more severe proposition making its way onto the ballot. But he conceded that, "the timing is bad," for such a bill.

"When you have an insane sheriff and a fascist county attorney, I can perfectly understand why you’d look at something like this with a different set of eyes," Prezelski told me after being berated by activists for his support of the legislation. "But what they are doing is still illegal and will continue to be under this bill."

Anti-HB 2807 demonstrators, after confronting Governor Napolitano.

Arpaio's abuse of the 287g agreement demonstrates how an ill-intentioned law enforcement official can terrorize people with a mandate to enforce federal immigration law. So the timing really is wrong on this one, but who's to blame? The Dems have apparently screwed themselves, and now they want Napolitano to come to the rescue. But why would Napolitano veto a bill that most of the legislature -- including those in her own party -- voted for?

Napolitano's never been a profile in courage, and she could just let the bill become law without her signature. However, if she wants to at last show that she gives a rat's ass about Arpaio's blatant abuses or the civil rights of Arizona's residents, this would be the perfect opportunity.

I'm skeptical she'll take advantage of it, but stand ready to be surprised. In any case, we'll know Monday, one way or the other.

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.

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."