Will J.T. be at the big debate Thursday? And more importantly, will he be in uniform?
The call's gone out from ex-KIA peddler Rusty Childress' United for a Sovereign America, the most militant outfit of racist knuckledraggers in the Valley: Their old buddy state Rep. Russell Pearce, aka, Mr. Ethnic Cleansing needs their help. Or so goes the line on Childress' immigrationbuzz.com, under a blog post entitled, "Your presence is requested," wherein the nativist troglodytes announce the upcoming Legislative District 18 Clean Elections primary debate to include Pearce and his state Senate primary opponent, attorney Kevin Gibbons.
They warn that the debate is being put on by "the very far left Children’s Action Alliance," and so, "Mr. Pearce would love to have your [sic] show your support for the Conservative Candidates. Please plan to attend."
"Children's Action Alliance!? Sounds like a buncha dang Commies. Why, they're prolly all for anchor babies, too!"
Or so you can imagine such U.S.A.-affiliated cave dwellers as alleged public urinator Buffalo Rick Galeener, wing-nutty Hobbit lady Anna Gaines, and aged neo-Nazi Elton Hall saying to themselves. Be looking for U.S.A. members such as these to show up, perhaps even the prejudiced playboy Childress himself. (He has loads of time on his hands since he sold the lot.) Why, if the stars align, maybe Pearce's personal political albatross, his ofay Willie Horton -- I mean, Mesa neo-Nazi and Republican precinct committeeman J.T. Ready -- will be there in the flesh. And lots of it.
I just hope there's plenty of security present in case J.T. and Elton decide to reenact Kristallnacht while in the audience. These are the sorts of people whom Pearce attracts: Childress, who is a long-time Pearce supporter; Ready, whom I watched Pearce work a crowd with at a June 2007 anti-immigrant function; Gaines, the anti-Hispanic Hispanic, and a regular speaker at committee hearings held by Pearce in the state House.
Additionally, in April, it was reported that Pearce was soliciting donations on the site of bigoted border activist Glenn Spencer. Spencer heads up a hate group in Sierra Vista called American Border Patrol, and he once famously wrote the Los Angeles Times that,
"The Mexican culture is based on deceit. Chicanos and Mexicanos lie as a means of survival. Mexicans who have truly become Americans have shed themselves of this survival mechanism."
Ooh-kay. Back away slowly from the ammo and the bag of Elmer's glue and no one gets hurt, Glenn.
And of course, who could forget the 2006 incident where Pearce forwarded a neo-Nazi National Alliance e-mail to his supporters? These are not mistakes. They are part of a pattern. A pattern that in any other state of the union would get you relegated to political oblivion.
But what do local Republicans think is worse than courting white supremacists? Getting a donation from a Dem. In fact, some Republicans got their Levi's in a twist recently when they learned that none other than Jim Pederson -- you know, that cat with the Foster Brooks smile who ran against Jon Kyl last time around -- had given moolah to Kevin Gibbons' campaign.
Thing is, Gibbons has so much money in his kitty right now (unlike Pearce), he could afford to respond to the heat from his fellow GOP-ers by giving it away.
"My involvement in such a meaningful political campaign has proved to be challenging and rewarding," Gibbons wrote in a statement to the conservative Sonoran Alliance blog. "It has become obvious that the message enjoys a broad and enthusiastic acceptance. For all of those who have opened their minds and their check books to this message, I express my heartfelt gratitude.
"Earlier this week, I was made aware that my campaign had received an unsolicited contribution from Jim Pederson, former Chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party. Because I’m rather certain Mr. Pederson wasn’t motivated by my plan to cut taxes, I cannot, in good conscience, accept his funds. Nevertheless, despite calls to return the money to Mr. Pederson, I have already donated that money to Autumn House, a local domestic violence shelter."
(The Autumn House thing's a swipe at the Dems following Democratic state Representative Mark DeSimone's arrest on domestic violence charges and his subsequent resignation.)
What do Gibbons' fellow Republicans have to say about Pearce's far right ties, his snuggling with neo-Nazis, and his soliciting of dolo from outright racists and bigots? Ah, precious little is heard but the chirping of cicadas from the party of the Great Emancipator Abraham Lincoln, and the Nazi-obliterator Dwight David Eisenhower.
And then there's the Republican silence on the irony of Pearce, who's always squawking about the evils of Big Government, turning around and taking what amounts to political welfare in the form of Clean Elections scrilla. But I digress...
Locally, Republicans need to purge themselves of this filthy, unwelcome influence of anti-brown crackpots like those in Childress' U.S.A. And with this primary, they have the opportunity to do just that. Gibbons is a Republican who speaks fluent Spanish, and who believes in a common-sense approach to immigration. Both a conservative and a Mormon, Gibbons could represent your party's pro-business ideals minus the stain of bigotry and intolerance. Ultimately, it's up to the local GOP to decide. But if you're willing to cede your party to hate-filled white trash, neo-Nazi scum and Klan-wannabes, then by all means, Pearce is your man.
Alas, I won't be at the debate Thursday night. Hopefully someone will tape it and YouTube it. If so, please send me the link.
Finally, anyone peep Pearce's new Web site, yet? You'll see it features a photo of him wearing a rug, a photo left over from that exploratory committee he had looking into a run against Congressman Jeff Flake last year. Pearce boasts a balding bullet-head in real life. So the toupee is dumb. Gibbons -- who happens to be Jeff Flake's brother-in-law -- is follicle-challenged, too, though Gibbons is younger. Maybe Russ is afraid of that, and feels he needs the extra hair to compensate
This just in: Got a copy of the Gibbons press release on the Pederson money (seems the donations came from both Pederson and from his family). It adds a little twist on the donation angle. At the end of the release, Gibbons writes that, "I have made a similar contribution to the Anti-Defamation League, so that they can continue their good fight against bigotry and anti-Semitism."
Heh. No doubt who the ADL donation is a jab at, eh?
In response to Frank below, get used to it, you racist dip. Like a dog with a pile of its own doo, I plan to keep rubbing your nose in it.
