K
Kickin' Ass and Takin' Names
Guest
Immigration Battle Divides Ariz. GOP
Many Activists Despise McCain
By Joel Achenbach
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, February 2, 2008; A01
PHOENIX -- The protesters gather every morning before dawn, monitoring
the entrance to a fenced compound called the Macehualli Work Center.
They are trying to shut the place down. They wave placards and take
photos of anyone driving in to pick up the day laborers who congregate
there. They want nothing less than to save America from what they call
"the invasion."
"Most of us don't feel safe on the Phoenix streets without being
armed," says Wes Pecsok, a contractor who keeps his pistol in an inner
vest pocket. "We're not going to be intimidated by these thugs. "
The protesters are members of the Minutemen, Riders USA, United for a
Sovereign America. They find a common bond in their rage, their fury
at the government, their loathing of Hispanics who have come to the
United States illegally. They say that many immigrants carry disease,
and kill cops, and rape children.
"We're the Wild West," protester Craig Tillman says with a smile.
The Wild West is actually a rather ordinary-looking, heavily
commercialized artery called Bell Road. Mexico is a three-hour drive
south of here, but Bell Road and places like it are where the worlds
collide, one culture grinding against the other. And in the home state
of Sen. John McCain, the front-runner for the Republican presidential
nomination, that clash has driven a wedge straight through the Arizona
GOP.
The party is controlled at the district level by activists who detest
McCain for his sponsorship, with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), of
a comprehensive immigration bill that among other things would have
provided illegal immigrants with a pathway to citizenship. They think
McCain is a traitor to conservative causes and an advocate for amnesty
for illegal immigrants.
"We do not consider him a conservative at all," says Rob Haney, a
Republican Party chairman in McCain's home district. The candidate's
bus, the Straight Talk Express, should be renamed, Haney says: "We
call it the Forked Tongue Express around here. He'll lie about
anything."
Said John Acer, a lawyer who, like Haney, showed up last weekend at a
meeting of the Republican state committee in Glendale: "He's
despicable. Dishonest. Duplicitous." And so it goes, on and on, all
these Republicans who wince at the mention of McCain's name, and who
can think of few things worse than having the state's senior
Republican senator ascend to the White House.
McCain is likely to win the state's Republican primary on Tuesday. He
wins elections here in Arizona easily. Party activists don't control
the Republicans in voting booths any more than they control the senior
senator. But McCain's in-state problems reflect his national quandary
as he tries to convince American conservatives that he's one of them.
Once home to Barry Goldwater, Arizona has a credible claim as the
birthplace of modern American conservatism. But even Goldwater, late
in life, found himself at odds with many conservatives in the state
who laced the ideology with social issues that had nothing to do with
low taxes and small government.
"I feel badly that, with a lot of these people, Barry Goldwater would
be unwelcome," says Grant Woods, a moderate Republican and former
Arizona attorney general. "I would hope for Arizona's future in the
Republican Party is that it would continue to produce leaders of the
caliber of Goldwater, of Sandra Day O'Connor, of John McCain; yet if
this posture continues, from the state party, you won't see those
leaders come from within the party anymore. Because no one in their
right mind would deal with these people."
At the GOP meeting, a few volunteers staffed a McCain table, passing
out fliers listing misconceptions about McCain -- playing defense in
hostile territory.
Haney, probably the most vociferous of McCain's critics, patrolled the
hallway wearing a little button on his lapel that read "McCain 2008"
and had a slash through it. He agreed that Goldwater today wouldn't
get his vote: "He's pro-abortion, pro-homosexual agenda," Haney said.
And he says he sees little difference between McCain and Democrat
Hillary Rodham Clinton on the immigration issue. "He's for open
borders. He's for amnesty. Hillary's for amnesty."
Nearby sat a man wearing a McCain button -- no slash. Horst Kraus, 77,
said he immigrated from Germany in 1960. He owns a nudist camp in
Arizona (and says the conservative Republicans outnumber everyone else
by 2 to 1). The immigration rhetoric scares him.
"I see 1938 all over again," Kraus said. "Back then it was 'Jews,
raus' " -- Jews, out.
"Now it's 'Mexicans, out,' " he said. "I am very disturbed by it."
On Bell Road, that fear is shared by the many Hispanics who work or
shop at the car lots, pawnshops, liquor stores, furniture stores and
check-cashing operations that line the highway, one of the main drags
in North Phoenix.
"It's scary," says Mary Torres, 39, who works at a thrift shop.
"There's a hatred for rising Hispanic communities in Arizona. They
don't want little L.A.'s in Arizona," says co-worker Barbara
Gutierrez, 40.
"A lot of people are going to other states. Even Canada," Torres said.
"Less controversy. Less pressure," Gutierrez said.
Max Romero, 41, proprietor of John's Olde Barber Shop -- a Hispanic-
oriented business with "peluqueria" stenciled on the front window --
says that most of his customers are more focused on the Super Bowl
than on Super Tuesday. But he makes a prediction about Sen. Barack
Obama (D-Ill.):
"I think that light-skinned brother's going to win. Because Oprah
backs him up. The senator for us, McCain, he just seems so senile. He
don't make no sense. Homeboy's young."
In the parking lot, men congregated around the back of a pickup truck,
apparently hoping to get hired. More men gathered on a distant street
corner. The day laborer center where the protests are held was vacant.
The demonstrations have effectively shut the place down, scattering
the workers.
A state law that took effect Jan. 1 heightens penalties on business
owners who hire illegal immigrants. The consequences have yet to play
out, but some proprietors on Bell Road say business is down as
Hispanics either save their money or flee the state, to points
unknown. Some people worry that crime will spike. And people are
frightened.
The manager of a liquor store, a Palestinian man who gave his name
only as John, said the crackdown on employers is going to have
terrible consequences among the Hispanics who live in the area.
They'll do "crazy stuff," he predicted.
"They're not going to go back to Mexico! There's no jobs there!"
Down the road on a side street next to the McDonald's where the
protesters have gathered, Tillman said he'd never vote for McCain, or
for any of the Democrats.
Rusty Childress, founder of United for a Sovereign America, said he
hopes a television personality will come to the rescue: "Our hope
would be that you'd get Lou Dobbs jumping in at the last minute."
Barb Heller said she fears what amounts to an annexation of parts of
Arizona by the Mexican government: "The president of Mexico is saying
that wherever there is a Mexican, that's Mexico."
She showed up for Saturday's protest with a surgical mask around her
neck. "No TB please" was written on it.
A Hispanic man approached on the far side of the street. She put the
mask on. She said she does it whenever someone might be carrying
tuberculosis. Illegal immigrants don't have to pass health tests
before getting jobs, she says. They might be working right there at
McDonald's, she said.
"Do you know what it takes to spread TB? Would you like a little TB
with your Happy Meal?"
She knows what people say about the protesters.
"They say, 'Why are you racist?' That's all they can come up with,"
she said.
Noon approached, and the demonstrators began to pack up their
placards. They'd be back in the morning.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/01/AR2008020103260.html?hpid=topnews
--------------------------
What a gaggle of doofusses. Let's ask a few questions:
-- These "protesters" claim that aliens do not have to have a food-
handler's health certificate to work. Really? When did Arizona
repeal that law?
-- These "protesters" claim that aliens spread TB. Really? Has there
been a dramatic increase in the number of TB cases in Arizona? Or
anywhere else for that matter?
-- Because McCain's immigration proposal contains a "pathway to
citizenship," it's attacked as "amnesty." But, wait -- there already
is a pathway to citizenship -- apply, take the test, meet residency
requirement, become a citizen. So it sounds as though we've had an
"amnesty" program for years.
Of course, if you're a true believer -- especially if you're a
rightwing true believer -- facts and logic don't apply.
Then, there's the clown who ". . . said he hopes a television
personality will come to the rescue: 'Our hope would be that you'd get
Lou Dobbs jumping in at the last minute.' " Lou Dobbs? How about
Oprah?? Now there's a TV personality for you.
( Cue the theme music from "Twilight Zone" and fade out. )
Many Activists Despise McCain
By Joel Achenbach
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, February 2, 2008; A01
PHOENIX -- The protesters gather every morning before dawn, monitoring
the entrance to a fenced compound called the Macehualli Work Center.
They are trying to shut the place down. They wave placards and take
photos of anyone driving in to pick up the day laborers who congregate
there. They want nothing less than to save America from what they call
"the invasion."
"Most of us don't feel safe on the Phoenix streets without being
armed," says Wes Pecsok, a contractor who keeps his pistol in an inner
vest pocket. "We're not going to be intimidated by these thugs. "
The protesters are members of the Minutemen, Riders USA, United for a
Sovereign America. They find a common bond in their rage, their fury
at the government, their loathing of Hispanics who have come to the
United States illegally. They say that many immigrants carry disease,
and kill cops, and rape children.
"We're the Wild West," protester Craig Tillman says with a smile.
The Wild West is actually a rather ordinary-looking, heavily
commercialized artery called Bell Road. Mexico is a three-hour drive
south of here, but Bell Road and places like it are where the worlds
collide, one culture grinding against the other. And in the home state
of Sen. John McCain, the front-runner for the Republican presidential
nomination, that clash has driven a wedge straight through the Arizona
GOP.
The party is controlled at the district level by activists who detest
McCain for his sponsorship, with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), of
a comprehensive immigration bill that among other things would have
provided illegal immigrants with a pathway to citizenship. They think
McCain is a traitor to conservative causes and an advocate for amnesty
for illegal immigrants.
"We do not consider him a conservative at all," says Rob Haney, a
Republican Party chairman in McCain's home district. The candidate's
bus, the Straight Talk Express, should be renamed, Haney says: "We
call it the Forked Tongue Express around here. He'll lie about
anything."
Said John Acer, a lawyer who, like Haney, showed up last weekend at a
meeting of the Republican state committee in Glendale: "He's
despicable. Dishonest. Duplicitous." And so it goes, on and on, all
these Republicans who wince at the mention of McCain's name, and who
can think of few things worse than having the state's senior
Republican senator ascend to the White House.
McCain is likely to win the state's Republican primary on Tuesday. He
wins elections here in Arizona easily. Party activists don't control
the Republicans in voting booths any more than they control the senior
senator. But McCain's in-state problems reflect his national quandary
as he tries to convince American conservatives that he's one of them.
Once home to Barry Goldwater, Arizona has a credible claim as the
birthplace of modern American conservatism. But even Goldwater, late
in life, found himself at odds with many conservatives in the state
who laced the ideology with social issues that had nothing to do with
low taxes and small government.
"I feel badly that, with a lot of these people, Barry Goldwater would
be unwelcome," says Grant Woods, a moderate Republican and former
Arizona attorney general. "I would hope for Arizona's future in the
Republican Party is that it would continue to produce leaders of the
caliber of Goldwater, of Sandra Day O'Connor, of John McCain; yet if
this posture continues, from the state party, you won't see those
leaders come from within the party anymore. Because no one in their
right mind would deal with these people."
At the GOP meeting, a few volunteers staffed a McCain table, passing
out fliers listing misconceptions about McCain -- playing defense in
hostile territory.
Haney, probably the most vociferous of McCain's critics, patrolled the
hallway wearing a little button on his lapel that read "McCain 2008"
and had a slash through it. He agreed that Goldwater today wouldn't
get his vote: "He's pro-abortion, pro-homosexual agenda," Haney said.
And he says he sees little difference between McCain and Democrat
Hillary Rodham Clinton on the immigration issue. "He's for open
borders. He's for amnesty. Hillary's for amnesty."
Nearby sat a man wearing a McCain button -- no slash. Horst Kraus, 77,
said he immigrated from Germany in 1960. He owns a nudist camp in
Arizona (and says the conservative Republicans outnumber everyone else
by 2 to 1). The immigration rhetoric scares him.
"I see 1938 all over again," Kraus said. "Back then it was 'Jews,
raus' " -- Jews, out.
"Now it's 'Mexicans, out,' " he said. "I am very disturbed by it."
On Bell Road, that fear is shared by the many Hispanics who work or
shop at the car lots, pawnshops, liquor stores, furniture stores and
check-cashing operations that line the highway, one of the main drags
in North Phoenix.
"It's scary," says Mary Torres, 39, who works at a thrift shop.
"There's a hatred for rising Hispanic communities in Arizona. They
don't want little L.A.'s in Arizona," says co-worker Barbara
Gutierrez, 40.
"A lot of people are going to other states. Even Canada," Torres said.
"Less controversy. Less pressure," Gutierrez said.
Max Romero, 41, proprietor of John's Olde Barber Shop -- a Hispanic-
oriented business with "peluqueria" stenciled on the front window --
says that most of his customers are more focused on the Super Bowl
than on Super Tuesday. But he makes a prediction about Sen. Barack
Obama (D-Ill.):
"I think that light-skinned brother's going to win. Because Oprah
backs him up. The senator for us, McCain, he just seems so senile. He
don't make no sense. Homeboy's young."
In the parking lot, men congregated around the back of a pickup truck,
apparently hoping to get hired. More men gathered on a distant street
corner. The day laborer center where the protests are held was vacant.
The demonstrations have effectively shut the place down, scattering
the workers.
A state law that took effect Jan. 1 heightens penalties on business
owners who hire illegal immigrants. The consequences have yet to play
out, but some proprietors on Bell Road say business is down as
Hispanics either save their money or flee the state, to points
unknown. Some people worry that crime will spike. And people are
frightened.
The manager of a liquor store, a Palestinian man who gave his name
only as John, said the crackdown on employers is going to have
terrible consequences among the Hispanics who live in the area.
They'll do "crazy stuff," he predicted.
"They're not going to go back to Mexico! There's no jobs there!"
Down the road on a side street next to the McDonald's where the
protesters have gathered, Tillman said he'd never vote for McCain, or
for any of the Democrats.
Rusty Childress, founder of United for a Sovereign America, said he
hopes a television personality will come to the rescue: "Our hope
would be that you'd get Lou Dobbs jumping in at the last minute."
Barb Heller said she fears what amounts to an annexation of parts of
Arizona by the Mexican government: "The president of Mexico is saying
that wherever there is a Mexican, that's Mexico."
She showed up for Saturday's protest with a surgical mask around her
neck. "No TB please" was written on it.
A Hispanic man approached on the far side of the street. She put the
mask on. She said she does it whenever someone might be carrying
tuberculosis. Illegal immigrants don't have to pass health tests
before getting jobs, she says. They might be working right there at
McDonald's, she said.
"Do you know what it takes to spread TB? Would you like a little TB
with your Happy Meal?"
She knows what people say about the protesters.
"They say, 'Why are you racist?' That's all they can come up with,"
she said.
Noon approached, and the demonstrators began to pack up their
placards. They'd be back in the morning.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/01/AR2008020103260.html?hpid=topnews
--------------------------
What a gaggle of doofusses. Let's ask a few questions:
-- These "protesters" claim that aliens do not have to have a food-
handler's health certificate to work. Really? When did Arizona
repeal that law?
-- These "protesters" claim that aliens spread TB. Really? Has there
been a dramatic increase in the number of TB cases in Arizona? Or
anywhere else for that matter?
-- Because McCain's immigration proposal contains a "pathway to
citizenship," it's attacked as "amnesty." But, wait -- there already
is a pathway to citizenship -- apply, take the test, meet residency
requirement, become a citizen. So it sounds as though we've had an
"amnesty" program for years.
Of course, if you're a true believer -- especially if you're a
rightwing true believer -- facts and logic don't apply.
Then, there's the clown who ". . . said he hopes a television
personality will come to the rescue: 'Our hope would be that you'd get
Lou Dobbs jumping in at the last minute.' " Lou Dobbs? How about
Oprah?? Now there's a TV personality for you.
( Cue the theme music from "Twilight Zone" and fade out. )