The nativists at the Arizona legislature have ceased to surprise me. Every 24-hour period brings another pile of bigotry, another batch of stupid, another bundle of cruelty. The anti-immigrant, anti-education, anti-healthcare, and anti-economic development bills they are ramming through committees will soon find their way to Governor Jan Brewer's desk. Brewer's been around a long time, and while no one's ever accused her of being a shoe-in for Mensa, she was usually a moderate legislator who wouldn't be caught dead breathing the same air as race-merchants like Senate President Russell Pearce.
That all changed last year, when Pearce and his hate-mongering Tea Baggers shoved Brewer far to the right, and she knew she had to sign and support SB 1070 to save her sad political life. Had she not done so, she would not have come close to capturing the Republican primary, and she never would've waltzed into the Governor's office. So, Jan hasn't exactly shown a spine when it comes to standing up to King Russell, and I don't doubt this new crop of craziness, which one columnist called "SB 1070 on steroids," will see her signature affixed to it.
So, to help the Governor and the legislature really understand what's happening along the border, today we learned that a Senate Committee has called an "expert" witness to speak on the matter. He just happens to be a white supremacist and raving anti-Semite.
I get it: If you're a human rights activist like Sal Reza, your name gets put on Pearce's Capitol blacklist and you're horse-collared and arrested if you try to enter the building. On the other hand, if you're a nationally known racist, please have a seat before the Senate Committee.
Stephen Lemons at New Times reported today that Russell Pearce's Senate has called Glenn Spencer to testify before the Border Security Committee, which is chaired by Senator Sylvia Allen. If her name sounds familiar, it's because the Senator earned her 15 minutes of YouTube fame last year when she said during a Committee hearing that the earth is 6,000 years old. She's also on the Senate Education Committee. Welcome to Arizona.
If you follow politics here, Glenn Spencer is another familiar name. Asking him to testify before a Committee on border security is like asking Ted Nugent to lead PETA's membership drive. You see, Spencer is head of the American Border Patrol, a nutjob vigilante group that monitors the border with aerial cameras. It's up to them to save us from the hordes of brown people, Spencer says, because the real guys are little more than the "U.S Bullsh*t Patrol." ABP is a well-known lunatic hate group here that, Lemons writes, most office holders would prefer to keep at arm's length:
You would think that an old, Mexican-bashing coot like Glenn Spencer, the head of the nativist "organization" American Border Patrol, would be radioactive to any politician with a lick of sense, after all of the dumb, bigoted statements he's made over the years.
You would think so, wouldn't you? Unless you're Russell Pearce, who's been known to pal around with white supremacists and brownshirts. So why not invite one of your cracker colleagues for his unbiased "expert" testimony? I guess men like Sheriff Tony Estrada were not available. Oh, wait, the County Sheriff, whose jurisdiction includes Nogales, doesn't support Pearce's SB 1070 or his other guilty-of-standing-while-brown bills. What could he possibly say to help the Committee arrive at the conclusion they've already reached?
So, instead of an experienced sheriff, why not invite a guy who has a long association with American Renaissance, a White Nationalist magazine? Why not invite a man who speaks at conferences that advocate ethnic cleansing? Why not invite someone who predicts a Mexican invasion ("la reconquista"), and so he openly courts Stormfront, National Alliance, the KKK and other swell groups to prepare? Why not invite a man who teams up with Voices of Citizens Together to host meetings for neo-Nazis? Why not invite a goon whose organization is labeled a racist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center and a hate group by the Anti-Defamation League?
But Spencer can't be an anti-Semite, you say, because "some of his best friends" are Jews:
"I have many Jewish friends [says Glenn] and they have been extremely instrumental in fighting illegal immigration. I fear, however, that this small handful of patriotic Americans are far outnumbered by liberal Jews who now have total control over our media."
Yeah, I'm certain you "have many Jewish friends," Glenn. Maybe you can host them on your radio program. Oh, sorry, I see your air time is filled with White Nationalists like Jared Taylor and Kevin MacDonald. Google them, if you want; I'm not providing links to these goobers or their websites.
Here is a link though to the legislative agenda for Thursday's hearing, where you'll see that our expert witness will speak on "Arizona/Mexico Border -- An Assessment." I look forward to the PowerPoint too. Maybe Glenn can entertain the Committee with stories about his friendship with Shawna Forde, the MinuteWoman who kills little girls.
Next up: Senator Sylvia Allen calls a Flat Earther to testify before her Education Committee.