AZ State House Speaker Andy Tobin, locked in an apparently tight 3 way race for the GOP nomination to face Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick in Arizona's 1st Congressional District recently tried to distinguish himself from his opponents by raising the possibility that the refugee kids from Central America might cause an Ebola outbreak in the U.S..
Tobin says he's hearing about worries from constituents that the recent wave of undocumented youth from Central America could cause an Ebola outbreak in the United States.
"Anything's now possible," Tobin said last week. "So if you were to say the Ebola virus has now entered (the country), I don't think anyone would be surprised." - Tucson Weekly
So naturally, instead of reassuring these alleged constituents concerns that is highly unlikely, if not impossible, Tobin plays up to their fears by telling them "anything's now possible".
Ebola has occurred in a very small area in west central Africa, thousands of miles away from central America, with no direct flights or sea travel between the two areas, and Ebola can be transmitted only by direct contact with blood or bodily fluids of an infected person or animal. Symptoms start two days to three weeks after contracting the virus, meaning that, despite the near impossibility of those kids having Ebola, any symptoms would be revealed in those temporary detention facilities that right wingers hateful bigots so vehemently opposed.
I think Mr. Tobin has a new campaign slogan: "I'm not a doctor in real life, but I play one on the campaign trail".
Yeah, sounds about right. Maybe Mitt wants to advise him on how to get those nifty Cayman Island accounts?
Mr. Tobin's opponents for the AZ-CD01 GOP nomination include first term state legislator Adam Kwasman, who is portraying himself as the "most conservative candidate". He recently exhibited his "most conservative" credentials by mistaking a busload of American kids on their way to a YMCA summer camp for a busload of Central American refugee kids. He tweeted that he could see "the fear on their faces" before hastily deleting the tweet when it was pointed out that it was a YMCA bus, and it wasn't fear on their faces, it was laughter.
Also in the race is rancher Gary Kiehne, who has a more "compassionate" view on undocumented immigrants - they're cheap labor:
"If you liked $3.50 a gallon gas and you want all the illegals kicked out, you're gonna love $7 a gallon gas, because I can guarantee you that if you go to a drilling rig anywhere in the oil fields and you'll be lucky to find a guy who speaks Engish," Kiehne said. "You go to the roustabout crews. You go to the cotton fields, the fruit and vegetable field. Find a guy who can speak English. We gotta have that. There's a necessity for that labor force."
Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick is no Elizabeth Warren, but CD01 is a very swingy district, and huge - it sprawls from Tucson's northwest suburbs to the NE Four Corners to the Grand Canyon. Kirkpatrick's moderate positions are a good fit for the district.
Baja Arizona Kossacks will be live blogging the Arizona primary results next Tuesday, Aug. 26, polls close at 7PM Pacific Daylight Time/Mountain Standard Time (no daylight savings time in AZ, we want the sun to set so it ain't so dang hot!) Races to watch are the GOP Governor & AG and CD01 races, and the CD07 Democratic race between DKos endorsed Ruben Gallego vs. Mary Rose Wilcox.
11:45 AM PT: Oh brother! Iowa GOPer: Child Immigrants Could Be Arriving 'Highly Trained As Warriors'
TPM:
Republican National Committeewoman and Iowa conservative activist Tamara Scott shared her concerns on her weekly web show Thursday that child immigrants may be "highly trained as warriors" who could pose a threat to the U.S.
"Many of these kids, depending on where they're coming from, they could be coming from other countries and be highly trained as warriors who will meet up with their group here and actually rise up against us as Americans. We have no idea what's coming through our borders but I would say biblically it's not a Christian nation when you entice people to do wrong."
Oh well, nice to know Arizona doesn't have an exclusive on right wing bigot nut jobs.