Exterminating the Crazies

I think I've had enough.

In 2004, I watched with horror as Joe Sweeney won the Republican primary election for Arizona CD7 to face off with Raul Grijalva. I wasn't appalled because I thought Sweeney had a chance of mounting a credible challenge to Raul, but rather that the numbers were such an overwhelming endorsement of Joe Sweeney's racist views. Mind you, the guy is a perennial candidate, but 70% was beyond ridiculous, imo.

The GOP establishment tried running away from him, but the primary voters sent them a message that the 'David Duke of the Desert' spoke for them!

Sweeney said he believes Republican leaders are bashing him because they don't want to admit they've fumbled the issue of immigration, both legal and illegal, which has been almost the exclusive focus of his campaign this year.

During campaign speeches and interviews, he has regularly blamed a litany of problems - crime, health care, unemployment, voter fraud - on illegal immigration, and called for reforms and reductions in legal immigration.

In his campaign two years ago he referred to illegal immigrants coming across the border "like hyenas." Sweeney said he won the nomination because "I'm trying to represent citizen taxpayers. I'm not for illegal immigration. I'm not for the gays and all this perverted liberalism."

Even aliens who enter the country legally too frequently abuse the American welcome mat, he said, trying to change their status from visitor to permanent resident alien, "sucking up our services."

Parker, the party's former executive director, has heard enough.

"You can compare it to David Duke. That's how I feel about Joe Sweeney. He's Arizona's David Duke," Parker said. Duke is a former Grand Wizard of the KKK who ran a highly publicized, and unsuccessful, campaigns for governor and both houses of Congress in Louisiana.

Parker said Sweeney campaigning as a Republican will be "very bad for the party. He's not the standard bearer for the Arizona Republican Party I know."

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Fast-forward two years and not only is Joe Sweeney on the ballot AGAIN for CD7, the virus has spread and is now infecting all the Republican candidates for neighboring CD8.

Take Mike Hellon, who I wrote about in June, regarding his idiotic commercials. Not only is he one of the Build the Great Wall™ fanatics, he's also an unabashed supporter of rescinding the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution.

Here's the link to his policy paper, it's a .pdf file, and an excerpt I transcribed:


tags: immigration, Arizona Republicans, AZ-8 , AZ-7, Randy Graf, Joe Sweeney, Mike Hellon, Tom Tancredo, Minutemen

The 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which was ratified in 1868, begins with these words: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States...are citizens of the United States..." Sometimes euphemistically referred to as the "anchor baby" provision, this language was drafted to address the status of former slaves of the Confederacy, whose freedoms had been granted by President Lincoln and permanently ensured by the 13th and 15th amendments.

There is, however, no contemporaneous record to suggest that when the 14th amendment was being proposed, debated and ratified, it was ever anticipated that it would provide a means for foreign nationals to secure United States citizenship for their children.

I would hate to see the type of country Mike Hellon envisions at the bottom of his ridiculous slippery slope. Wait! I have an idea. Howz about we make the entire proposal retroactive so that the only legitimate citizens of this hypothetical situation - Native Americans (which includes a big chunk of people with Mexican lineage) get to be the deciders for once.

Then there's Mr. Immigration Hardass himself, Randy Graf.

Where to begin...there's so much to say about this guy, let alone his top-level campaign staff, that I guess it's important to note that he is throwing off the white pointy sheet to officially declare himself a Minuteman for Congress.

Randy Graf is a Minuteman. He enthusiastically answered the call when the Minuteman roject was formed in April 2005. He was there on the first day in Tombstone, Arizona where he lent a hand to the Project’s organizers in ensuring that registration and orientation went off successfully. He was a part of the month-long event on the border. And he was there as a featured speaker at the celebratory closing event of the Project.

The vigilante and militia-movements in this country are increasingly becoming the face of the Republican Party in the Southwest. Rather than being shamed by the extremist views of their candidates, as they were just two years ago, the GOP establishment is embracing these radicals. They've been enboldened by the Bush Administration's moves to militarize the U.S./Mexico border and are looking for their cut of the power-sharing. Extremists like Graf are also receiving support and endorsements from high-level Republicans already infesting the Hill.

One of the most vocal Republican opponents of President Bush's immigration policy is planning a trip to Tucson later this month to stump for congressional candidate Randy Graf.

Rep. Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican, will appear with Graf at an event intended to highlight the work of the Minuteman Project, said Graf's campaign manager, R.T. Gregg.

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David Neiwert over at Ornicus has presented a comprehensive profile on the unholy union between the GOP and the Minutemen Project. Here are the links to the series, I highly recommend reading them to educate yourself on the disgusting underbelly of these vigilante operations.

The March of the Minutemen
Intro: Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

This is important because there is a real danger that these radical cockroaches will decide that it's safe to play in the sunshine. Make sure you educate yourself and those around you about their extremism that runs deep with hatred. It's the only way to stop the infestation and exterminate the crazies once and for all.

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