Diablo Joe, pre-baton: The horns suit him.
Well, Monday was a thrilling Cinco de Mayo here in the Valley, with hundreds of anti-immigration nutbars baying at the moon and frothing at the mouth, all over three pinatas filled with candy. The pinatas -- two bearing the visage of our corrupt top constable and one of a Sheriff's truck -- were beaten to a paper mache pulp Monday evening as part of the kickoff celebration for the PUEBLO Center for Legal and Human Rights, a new pro-immigrant organization focused on youth activism.
PUEBLO's Ray Ybarra gives Diablo Joe the A-Rod treatment.
Knuckledraggers Phoenix-wide gnashed what few teeth they have left in common over radio reports that their Hispanic-tormentin' hero was to be bashed in effigy until that effigy's split innards bled candy. The rants of racist blowhards filled the airways and online forums. But the affair was actually a festive one, intent on fundraising for the new organization and its facility on the northeast corner of 13th Street and Van Buren. Folks bought raffle tickets for the chance to take a whack at a midget Devil Joe, or a bigger, black-clad Nickel Bag Joe. The MCSO truck was cool, too, but it didn't seem to inspire quite as much vigor on the part of participants for some reason.
The end result...
Asked about all the nativist hubbub on sites like those for KTAR 92.3 FM, home to bigoted morning lip-flapper Darrell Ankarlo, PUEBLO organizer Ray Ybarra was unapologetic.
"It amazes me that people are outraged if you put a picture on a pinata," said the Stanford Law School-educated 29-year-old. "But when somebody's separated from their family, when someone's going to the store, and they get pulled over, and the next thing you know is their children come home to an empty house, no one is outraged about that."
Outraged? In this benighted patch of the globe, my friend, they practically dance a jig and piss their pants in the process.
Pinata number two, ready for punishment.
Still, it gives me untold pleasure to read the retard ramblings on KTAR's Web site, from low-I.Q. idgits who don't get the whole pinata shtick, or the lampooning of public figures and political enemies. It's like they've never seen a political cartoon before. Or an ad parody. So this pinata-with-a pol's-face-on-it-thing pisses them off, supposedly. Actually, it's mostly fake outrage. If it were somebody they didn't like, such as Mayor Phil Gordon or Governor Napolitano done up in crinkled tissue and held high for bopping, they'd be all for it.
These guys are just havin' too much fun...
"It's a cultural thing," explained Ybarra of political pinatas, which are no big deal in Mexico (or here in the U.S., to be honest). "It's definitely something that isn't understood by Sheriff Arpaio and others in the anti-immigrant community."
It isn't very foreign, really -- unless you're some Sand Land shitkicker who's as dumb as the dirt on his britches. There's even an El Paso, Texas, company that sells pinatas in the likeness of Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Dick Cheney, and so on. Perhaps pinatas.com should add an Arpaio to their catalogue.
Pinata Joe numero dos, minus those sweet innards.
On the TV news, Joe tried to sound all butt-hurt, saying, "I eat in Mexican restaurants all the time," that Hispanic patrons there ask for his autograph. Thing is, Joe, when they do that, and show you their backsides, it's not exactly a compliment.
PUEBLO's stated mission is to combat the nativists, the Minutemen, the militarization of the border, and to aid immigrants in need. Looks like it's off to a smashing start. With its first night in existence, it got all the racists riled, made the TV news shows, and had some good fun smacking pinata Joe in the process. Right now, I'm eager for PUEBLO's encore.
(P.S.: Can't figure out how to make the squiggly line over the "n" in pinata. So just imagine it's there, folks.)
