Conservatives have been whining about the protests taking place in Arizona as a result of the ill-conceived SB-1070 (in essence a license to racially profile people of Latin American descent disguised as a method for combating "illegal immigration" in the state).
But, for as much as those on the right complain about the protests, some right wingers within the state of Arizona are doing more damage to hurt their state.
This is a small piece of what Republican Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer had to say as she was quoted in the Arizona Guardian.
Appearing on a local television show Sunday morning, Gov. Jan Brewer described how bad Arizona's illegal immigration problem has gotten.
"Our law enforcement agencies have found bodies in the desert either buried or just lying out there that have been beheaded," she said.
Doesn't that make you want to visit Arizona (as a note: Gov. Brewer's assertions have been strongly disputed by law enforcement officials)?
People who defend Jan Brewer generally will condemn liberals (who oppose this law) for demonizing Arizona. It seems Gov. Brewer is doing more to demonize Arizona than anyone else ever could if it was their sole objective in life.
The governor is talking about dead bodies buried or lying out and bodies that have been beheaded. With friends like this Arizona hardly needs protesters.
Today, when pressed by guest anchor Harry Smith on CBS’ Face the Nation, SB-1070 supporter Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) called the reports a “gross generalization”:
SMITH: One of the things that’s come to light over the past last couple weeks is that in some of these border towns that were thought to be susceptible to lawbreaking of illegal immigrants. Crime is actually down. Crime in Phoenix for instance is down significantly over the past couple of years.
KYL: Well, that’s a gross generalization. Property crimes are up, certain violent crimes on certain parts of the citizenry are up. Phoenix is a very large source of kidnapping. It’s called the kidnapping capital of the United States…So there’s a great deal of violence and crime associated with illegal immigrants.
Sen . Kyl seems a little overly excited to talk about crime being up and hailing Phoenix as the "kidnapping capital of the United States." Is this going to be a promotional tactic of a convention and visitor bureau in Phoenix ... Come to Phoenix and you too can be kidnapped? (Note: Sen. Kyl's assertions are strongly disputed).
Gov. Brewer and Sen. Kyl are going out of their way to make Arizona look like a frightening place with beheadings, dead bodies lying around, drugs, property crimes going up and violent crimes going up, Phoenix being the kidnapping capital of the United States, etc.
