Since Arizona passed a law designed to combat illegal immigration, the Left has howled about how "racist" it is.
"If I put the word 'racist' in quote marks and use the word 'howl', that will make the law not racist!"
(Never mind the fact that it mirrors federal immigration law, which the Left has yet to publicly call racist, and that the language of the bill itself prohibits racial profiling.)
LOL This is the common right-wing talking point: That the laws are "nearly identical" and they "mirror" each other. Just like apples and oranges. Nearly identical fruits so why even discuss the differences?
It's that "nearly" part conservatives keep throwing in, as the idea that giving police the ability to say "papers, please" at any "lawful stop" is practically the same as checking immigration status after an arrest.
"Look, don't you get it? The Arizona law is similar to a law in many other places, except for that one minor variation or two that make it unconstitutional. Don't you commies understand that? What would we do without intrepid wingers like Glenn Beck to keep pointing that out and letting us know just how close to being hypocrites some people are but really aren't because they're not the same thing. Everyone on the same page now?"
And when the Left mobilizes, they boycott. Los Angeles and Columbus, OH, have taken steps to try to hurt Arizona for their alleged racism. And DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder have spoken out about the racism of the Arizona Law.
Of course, there's a commonality with all of the Leftist critics of the Arizona law. They haven't read it.
To help matters, Glenn Beck read all 17 pages of the Arizona law yesterday on his radio program, making special note of verbiage that refuted the notion that it was racist because it conformed to federal law regarding racial profiling.
So, according to the Left, a law that prohibits racial profiling and conforms to federal law is racist because they say so without having read the bill about which they're objecting.
They apparently were advised on the law properly, because they are right. I've read the bill and the amendments. If you right-wingers had read the bill instead of drooling over Glenn Beck's gold-hawking rhetoric, then you would know that it does allow racial profiling. The AZ law allows for officers to use race in determining who to check. It is discriminatory.
FOR ANY LAWFUL CONTACT MADE BY A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL OR AGENCY
21 OF THIS STATE OR A COUNTY, CITY, TOWN OR OTHER POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THIS
22 STATE WHERE REASONABLE SUSPICION EXISTS THAT THE PERSON IS AN ALIEN WHO IS
23 UNLAWFULLY PRESENT IN THE UNITED STATES, A REASONABLE ATTEMPT SHALL BE MADE,
24 WHEN PRACTICABLE, TO DETERMINE THE IMMIGRATION STATUS OF THE PERSON.
After any lawful stop, police can "determine the immigration status" of those they suspect of being in the country illegally.
Folks, it's the "papers, please" part that has everyone up in arms. A "lawful stop" can be manufactured at any time, by pretty much any reasonably intelligent cop who chooses to do so. We know this. The cops know this. The idea that this is, somehow, the trivial part of the law, is the canard, the reason we're laughing at and boycotting Arizona. It's the crux of the whole issue.
Yep, it's motivated by racism. But it's not about racism - it's about taking that first step towards depriving everyone, citizen, legal immigrant, and illegal immigrant alike, of the simple right to move about without interference or harassment by authorities. If you can put this into place and run with it for a while, extending it to other areas - possible drug offenders, for example - makes it practical. Soon, there will be a whole raft of potential offenses for which a cop can engineer a "lawful stop" and then perform a full background check on you.
After that, what's the point of the "lawful stop", right? I mean, the cops have had the right to do a full background check on you any time you've talked with a cop - so why have that whole "talked with a cop" limitation?
The difference being that while the other laws apply to arrests, Arizona's law also applies to stops and detentions, and a cop can fabricate a reason to stop or detain someone easily.
On top of that, it applies not just to immigrants, but to citizens as well - which means that it's possible for a citizen to be arrested for walking without a driver's license or for driving without a passport (if it's an out-of-state DL from a state which does not require proof of legal status upon issuance, like New Mexico).
It's doubtful that hardly anyone has a problem of checking the immigration status of people under arrest. People simply don't like the idea of police being able to simply ask for the papers of anyone they want after they take half a second to think of a bullshit reason.
Why right-wingers can't get this is something I just don't understand. It's not that people think the cops are going to "break the law." Because usually, cops don't. It's the fact that this gives them a whole new way to harass people without having to worry about breaking any laws.
Any stop is a lawful stop. But what does "determining the immigration status" of a person entail? People are saying, well, we'll work on that after the law goes into effect. But it IS in effect. What does it mean? Is a valid driver's license enough? Social Security card? Birth certificate? Trip to the station to check fingerprints? Employer affidavit? The law is stubbornly mute.
Is it up to the individual cop's discretion? That opens up a whole new can of worms. Or does he have to get a supervisor to sign off on it? Now it's going to take longer, increasing the inconvenience to legal citizens, and the time the cops are off the streets processing illegal immigrants. Do we want our police off the streets messing with immigration problems and ignoring street crime? There are only so many cops out there.
It goes on and on. It is a bad law. And it will stay that way no matter how many times you guys keep repeating "You haven't read it! Read it! Read it again! Keep reading it until it's not racist!"
But no, Conservatives have no problem with US citizens being arrested on American soil for the "crime" of not having their proof of citizenship upon their person. If you don't defend a person's right, you'll lose it. And Arizona citizens just lost a right. Gotta love Conservatives and their so-called hatred of government intervention.
And the Left is supposed to be smart?
Actually, yes. It keeps being proven over and over again.
But considering we don't hail people like Palin and Bush as heroes, and don't tend to believe in ghosts as much as right-wingers, nor are we anti-science, nor does ignorant rubes like the KKK tend to align with progressives... this isn't really a shocker.
