It's a Dry Fascism

Arizona’s SB1070 has been rightfully dubbed the "show me your papers" immigration law. The law, which was signed Friday by Gov. Jan Brewer, requires law enforcement to question people about their immigration status if there is "reasonable suspicion."

Which, of course, raises the question "what the hell is reasonable suspicion?" Besides seeing somebody sneaking over the border, there's not much you can observe that is illegal immigrant behavior... unless you think speaking Spanish is suspicious. Or being brown. Supporters of the law will say you have nothing to worry about, as long as you carry your birth certificate with you.

Are birth certificates some kind of wingnut fetish lately? I'm not sure I want to touch that issue right now.

But what we do know is that many Latino and black Americans see this as a civil rights issue and are mobilizing against this draconian law. That can't be good news for Republicans.

Also, you'd think the common "tough on crime" stance would win over law enforcement officials. Well, more bad news, not this time:

Mr. Ramakrishnan says police departments don’t like SB1070 for two reasons.

One, it distracts police from their energies put into other crime and law and order. Two, immigrants are subsequently less likely to report crimes or serve as witnesses if their legal status is going to be questioned.

“The biggest trend in policing in the past two decades has been community policing in which cops walk the local beat and spend much time gaining the trust of the people,” says Ramakrishnan. “This puts that trend entirely in jeopardy – it is a very big deal for them, indeed.”

And that two decade policing trend has brought a 19 percent drop in the violent crime rate in Arizona! See, the truth is that immigrants do not bring an epidemic of murder and mayhem with them. However, shifting the role of police officers may backfire and reverse this positive change.

And since people seem to enjoy the chalkboard word games of Glenn Beck, let me close with one of my own: you can't spell "Arizona" without "Nazi."

Art Attack

Here is a priceless lede: "One of Russia's most famous statues of Vladimir Lenin has been bombed, leaving the Bolshevik revolutionary with a gaping hole in his rear."

Well, he always was an asshole... and a Communist.

Remember when, just a few weeks ago, America was marching toward Communism, according to Glenn Beck? Well, the lachrymose pundit changed his mind. "I looked up the definition of fascism yesterday," declared Beck during what might be considered his greatest performance yet.

So now Barack Obama is a fascist? David Neiwert on C&L has "studied fascism in the flesh," and believes Glenn Beck might be projecting a bit: "So when we look at the reality of fascism, both historically and in the present, the only serious likelihood of any coming strain of fascism is proceeding, as we might expect, from the populist corners of the right, especially as it indulges and encourages eliminationist rhetoric directed at various "liberal" and minority targets (Latino immigrants in particular)."

Neiwert definitely knows his stuff, but personally, I'm becoming exhausted chasing down precise definitions of all these "isms" that the wingnuts dish out. What is fascism? I'll tell you -- it's a political epithet. Or, better yet, I'll let George Orwell tell you:

It will be seen that, as used, the word ‘Fascism’ is almost entirely meaningless. In conversation, of course, it is used even more wildly than in print. I have heard it applied to farmers, shopkeepers, Social Credit, corporal punishment, fox-hunting, bull-fighting, the 1922 Committee, the 1941 Committee, Kipling, Gandhi, Chiang Kai-Shek, homosexuality, Priestley's broadcasts, Youth Hostels, astrology, women, dogs and I do not know what else.

So what's next, Mr. Beck? Maybe next week we'll be headed towards Pastafarianism? I know I'm not alone when I say, "take your moral lessons and war room wankery and blow it out your rear."