and furthermore...

The more I think about this SB 1070 crap here in Arizona, the angrier I get.

Again, we get the reputation of being the greatest bigots in the country (remember the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day debacle?). I hate that the yahoos promulgating this assholery become the face of this state in the eyes of the rest of the country.

I was finally getting over being embarrassed to admit being American to others from around the world because of what W and his pack started back in 2003. What's that? You say we didn't start that? Well, I'd like to remind you that those weren't Iraqi fighter planes that hit the WTC on September 11th. We could have dealt with our uppity puppet ruler another time, and spent our money and young lives aiming at a more realistic target--the country(ies) that harbor(ed) Osama Bin Laden and his Taliban confreres.

Okay, so we're stuck now. Stuck good, for seven years so far. And, the guy who wants to get us out of there is catching crap for trying to juggle all the balls thrown in the air as ol' George beat feet out of the White House. POTUS has made some missteps, but I believe he's working in good faith; not to line the pockets of his cronies.

I'll get back to that...

Back at the ranch, Russell Pearce and his ilk are using the opportunity afforded by the lack of Federal border enforcement (which didn't start on Obama's watch, by the way) to get rid of anyone in the "Not Us" Club in the name of states' rights. Wasn't that argument used when fomenting the Civil War? You like the idea of being stopped and asked for proof of your legal status on the street at any time by any officer of the law? No? Oh come on...it'll help make sure the ones who don't belong will be purged. That's not too much trouble, is it? Man, this is starting to remind me of something...happened about, oh, 70 years ago? In a country in Europe?

What is it about brown people, especially ones who speak another language, that so sets some people off? The rednecks (that's Arizona mavericks to y'all) in the state legislature refer to them as "illegals", and sometimes "illegal ALIENS". Not "undocumented workers", and certainly not people. They aren't the only such warmhearted individuals in our fair state, either. Somebody had to vote for them...and Joe Arpaio, but don't get me started on that.

Look, I know they broke the law by sneaking in and getting crappy jobs so they could send money home to their families (undocumented workers, not the idiots in the State House). They live their lives in fear that they will be found out and shipped back, leaving behind whatever life they've managed to build here. I'm not talking about drug dealers with big nasty guns. Those are baaaad people, just like the home-grown variety, and I have no use for them. I also won't go into whatever laws I might have broken in my life, on the grounds that it might incriminate me. Wait...we still have the Bill of Rights, right? Just checking to make sure I can still take the fifth.

They are PEOPLE. People of undocumented status, to be sure; but PEOPLE. They are not some faceless mob who came here en masse to take over our country. There are good people and bad people, and I believe the former outnumber the latter, but that's just me. I also happen to believe that the ratio of bad people to good people holds true in just about any population.

The argument that they take jobs away from real Americans seems ludicrous to me. I don't see undocumented workers at computer terminals in my office, or installing cable TV. I see them cleaning bathrooms, and washing cars, and carrying leaf blowers around. You want those jobs, more power to ya. Work as hard as they do for as little pay as they do, and then tell me how much you want those jobs.

I know people who are in the country without green cards. They are people. They have families,  they mow their own lawns when they aren't mowing other people's lawns. They pay their bills in cash. Many have false papers so they can get a job and cash their paycheck. Taxes are withheld from their pay, if they are on the books, and they never file for a refund because they are afraid they'll get caught. They'll never collect Social Security or Medicare, even though they pay for it.

Mostly, their kids were born here. They are American kids. They don't know any other life. They don't know that their parents fear being discovered and sent back to where they came from because it means not just losing all their material possessions. It means their American children will be taken from their homes and sent with their parents to a country they've never known, or put in the care of some relative or friend while Mom and Dad go back and try to figure out another way to be with them.

I have a co-worker whom I usually consider a friend. He goes off on how "they" take advantage of the health system, clogging emergency rooms and costing the rest of us money. According to him, they are the cause of most of the increased health care costs in this country. Never mind the fat pharmaceutical companies and doctors who own a piece of the radiology lab or hospital they refer you to. Forget the false storefront Medicare fraud operations. No. It's the fault of the "illegals" who cheated by coming here and having children (AMERICAN CHILDREN!) and trying to keep those children healthy while not getting themselves kicked out of the country. UGH. He laughs as he says, "I say kill 'em all, and let God sort 'em out." I am dumbfounded. I talk to him, try to get him to imagine himself in their shoes. He'll grant me a little ground sometimes, but when it comes down to it, all he wants is for them to get out.

I tell you what; I lived across the courtyard from a woman with four children. The oldest sold drugs out the back of their (rented) condo, in the carport. The little girls entertained themselves by tearing out landscaping and pulling down Christmas lights.

This woman always had her hair and acrylic nails just so. She wore more gold necklaces at one time than I own. Her kids were on the free lunch program at school, and she had a HUD housing subsidy, food stamps, and government money. Her son the drug dealer was the only one in the house who worked at anything. You know what? She must be okay, because she was born and raised here in the US of A. I wonder what her mother did for a living.

So anyway, back to the embarrassment part...I write or talk to someone in another part of the country, and they say, "Oh. You're from Arizona? Oooooh..." I'm right back in 1992 when the previous set of yahoos didn't think it was appropriate to set aside a day to honor a man who made a tremendous change in the way this country treated its citizens and did its business. Arizonans just don't like to be told what to do by the rest of the country, by golly, right or wrong. Our legislators will stand and fight over our right to be stupid, fight tooth and claw. Until after the next election, that is; when they can't bend over fast enough to make sure the hotel and convention business doesn't dry up due to boycotts by organizations in other parts of the country.

You know what? I've had enough for tonight. I'm tired of being angry at, and ashamed of, the people who are supposed to represent me. Most of them don't. I just want you to know that. There are a few goodhearted souls fighting the good fight here. They get outvoted and beaten down a lot, but they hang in there.

Finally, I want you to know I'm not interested in a debate with anyone. This is my place to write, and I can vent if I want to. If you want to argue your opposing views, do it politely or go do it in your own back yard.  Please remember to turn off the lights when you go.