Knucklehead "Bruce" posted on 7/21 that he "thinks" there were a total of 120 people protesting the Diamondbacks. I tell you, it doesn't matter! there could have been 10 people! AB 1070 is racist. The amount of poeple actively protesting will always be in the minority but their voices are backed by millions.

Keep up the good fight Dave............there is no such thing as keeping "politics" out of the game!. As Howard Zinn often reminded us, "you can't be neutral in a moving train"..........

You seem like a really pitiful, lonely, and petty guy.

Great Article Mr. Zirin and GO LOS METS!

Please read the bill to gain a little insight. We are all entitled to our opinions, and disagreement is ok. But no hate, just love from me. Always enjoy your articles Dave even if I don't agree with them....

There were several admonitions above to read the bill, so I did. I think one of the main things people are objecting to, I think understandably, is the phrase "WHERE REASONABLE SUSPICION EXISTS."

It doesn't take a whole lot of imagination or knowledge of the history of "race" relations to see the problematic nature of this phrase.

And if you think its just about "upholding the law" or something like this then all that is needed is a little inquiry to discover just how often both historically, and in the present, some laws are enforced and some just aren't. You ask your self about the criteria which determines this.

If all laws, US laws, were "enforced" then ALL post WWII US presidents would be, or would have been, in jail or executed, by the conservative criteria of the laws themselves. To paraphrase Thucydides, "the powerful do as they will, while the powerless suffer what they must."

And in reply to some, there was a very long period of time when anti-slavery was an extreme minority opinion. This didn't make slavery right.

The title is very informal, but it has excellent information with links citing sources. The website is http://www.timwise.org/ The essay's title is listed below

title: Black Power's Gonna Get You Sucka: Right-Wing Paranoia and the Rhetoric of Modern Racism

I would be very willing and interested to hear back from you after you look at some of this information.

I would be more than willing to reconsider my position on the issue if you could present me with information that demonstrates that racism is no longer an issue in the United States.

Its not really that difficult, I think, to see that the point was not actually about slavery, per se. The point was that various opinions may have majority or plurality opinion at various points in history and later in history are deemed unconscionable. You could call it "progress."

Could have used women's right to vote, child labor, for the religious could even reference the Pope declaring Native Americans actually have a "soul." I even could have talked about the emancipation of the serfs but I thought that in the US this would lack context.

I used slavery because I thought it would be extreme, and therefore obviously used to just illustrate the point. Very surprised that even abolition would be such a sensitive analogy to some people.

Don't ever block Bruce's (or Tornado or whatever) comments. The troll stuff is fun as long as you know to ignore it.

Looking at the US from outside, it's bizarre to watch how quickly some states can deteriorate.

It's so much easier to yell and scream about anti-immigrant racism, than it is to offer constructive alternatives to Arizona's wrong headed reaction to the decline in the fortunes of the working class in the U.S.

So much easier than campaigning to force Obama to push hard for card check and overturning NAFTA, while helping Mexico provide meaningful employment for what I like to call its "NAFTA Diaspora" in the U.S. Or to campaign against Right to Starve ("Right to Work") laws at the state level, Arizona being a Right to Starve state.

Clinton stuffed NAFTA down the throats of organized labor 17 years ago, and the response of labor was to overwhelmingly endorse and vote Clinton back into office. Not to mention choking the creation of a real Labor Party in the cradle. The Green Party/Nader challenge in the 2000 election, where NAFTA was a major issue being raised in that campaign, was quickly crushed. So one might say that the left is reaping what it sowed on this issue.

Ultimately, the reason why immigrants are allowed into this country is very simple. They're desperately poor and have no living wage employment in their home land, like Mexican farmers who were driven off the land and into the cities by NAFTA. Plus, rich people in the U.S. don't want to pay American workers a living wage with benefits. They don't want to pay into a universal social insurance system (Medicare and Social Security). They want a powerless work force that is easily exploitable and expendable. Immigrant labor has been used by the rich as a means to this end. Unfortunately, it has worked.

Excellent points and couldn't agree more. Thanks for the post. Not sure what you mean by "the left" however. Probably just semantics, but most of those I know who I consider on "the left" are no fans of Obama and agree with all that you wrote. Those against NAFTA, corporatism and top-down class war are on the same side despite the labels. Thanks again for the thoughts.

The Governor of California is a Republican, Arnold Schwazanegger, who by his own admission is very conservative in his beliefs. Also last I checked the State of Texas was facing a ten billion dollar budget short fall, and I don't believe that Rick Perry is a Liberal. And finally the state with the highest unemployment rate is the state of Nevada, which also has a Republican Governor. Nice try but off on the facts like you usually are.

Check your facts you Hannity loving Tea bagger, the unemployment rate in Nevada is 14.2%, your candiate Sharon Angle has repeated it over and over again its been a key part of her campaign. You obviously get all your information from talk radio and probably went to a religious high school where you only read one book.

The Diamondbacks should be boycotted. They left Tucson in the dust as the last spring training team to leave for Glendale. But don't hate all of Arizona. It is the Tohono O'Odham word for "large spring". Here is Tucson, the Pima County sheriff is refusing to comply with SB 1070 "it's racist and stupid". Several police officers are suing the state over the law.. Tucson is the home of Mexican artist and musician Salvador Duran who performs free every Thursday. Raul Grijalva is a consistent progressive leader in congress. Consider the Tucson group Calexico's call to perform here but educate the public about immigration rights rather than just punish a part of the state that's working on the solution rather than the problem. http://vivaarizona.org/ We are not Maricopa County.

The unemployment rate in Michigan was mesured at 13.7% by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Give it up your wrong.

bruce I was wrong about the budget situation in Texas, the short fall is not ten billion dollars, it is now up to eighteen billion dollars. Seriously though keep it up your comments are a great source of entertainment.

Bruce you are very sad little boy

little brucey...Mike pawned you. Get to the back of the class little boy.

Yes, wee Brucey, we understand...
if it were up to you, Jim Crow would still be in force, and you would still be here berating us as bleeding-heart whatevers for wanting to do away with such things.
It would seem that you've read none of Dave's books, or anything about the history of race relations in this nation.
You are an odd little (very little) man. Wouldn't it be a better use/waste of your time to lead the cheer-leading at the sites of your apparent pals (Rush, Imus, etc)?
Oh yes, no need to double/triple your comments, by the way. Sort of pointless, no? Or is that the way things are done on the sites you usually frequent?
Do you also leave comments about racism on the sites were you can get at obviously "ignorant" folk, like Pujols or Tori Hunter?
They know nothing of which they speak of course, and require enlightenment from the likes of you I suppose (or, like Obama, are they also un/non-Americans? and thus beneath contempt).
We anxiously await you next (quadrupled?) comments.
Expectantly yours,
MMD

And you think there are people reading this that think this "democracy" actually functions in a democratic fashion and whatever occurs in 98 days matters all that much to what we are interested in discussing here, wee lad?
You are most definitely in the wrong place... and all I stated previously (except for Pujols... my mistake) goes double (or quadruple, if you like).

JJ when you switch back and forth with Bruce it gets confusing. Please stick to one name and continue with your trollmanship.

Cheers.

And another one appears....
I'm at a loss to understand why these trolls feel the need to crawl out from under their bridges to come here and prevent us from having intelligent discussion about serious issues.
Are we a threat to these beings?
Why they want to turn this all into some sort of simple-minded political discussion revolving around one or both of the 2 dinosaur political parties (I misspeak... one is represented by an elephant, the other by a donkey... says it all, really) that rule us in their typical ham-handed fashion, is beyond me.
As to their equally simple-minded grasp of the complexity of the politics and history of the US... well, their words say it all, really.
The one minor benefit that hopefully may be gleaned from their unwelcome participation here is that these blowhards remind the rest of us of the importance of making our voices heard (despite these trolls) and of taking part in necessary public actions, such as that which Dave describes in his article this week.

And people wonder why the voter participation rate in federal elections has not breached 60% since 1968. That over 40% of voters prefer to not vote in any election should not come as a great surprise given the low-brow antics of the political party-business dictatorship under which we must find a way to live.

So, wee boys, keep your puerile vitriol pumped up to the max... it seems to work most of the time. By which I mean, your obnoxious diatribes seem to work in helping to prevent anything like "democracy" actually occurring in this country.
In the meantime, the rest of us will be working toward something else (ergo "democracy", in parentheses to let you know it is not the misshapen beast you seem to be bleating about), something that is plainly beyond your ken.

ignore. the. trolls.

I would never support or listen to any of the people you are ranting about. You have me confused with a brain dead, one side or the other, person like yourself. I am not a liberal, a democrat, or a supporter of obama, I also do not support republicans or any of their canidates or issues. I think that both sides of the argument are ridiculous and talking of nothing. I want to have a conversation that moves beyond those things. Please don't spew hate at me. I am not involved in your little war, I have nothing, and want nothing to do with people who are. All we are asking bruce/jj is not to be smeared by people who are not listening to anything we say, and to be allowed to have a real conversation in peace..

Bruce,

I'm a lawyer. I've read SB 1070, and I know it far better than you do. In fact, your semi-literate response is so incoherent, I have doubts about your ability to read and write anything.

Here's a tutorial Bruce:

Section 11-1051 requires law enforcement who stop anyone for ANY "lawful contact" (for jaywalking, alleged speeding, a parking ticket, etc.) to somehow "determine the immmigration status" if "reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the United State."

My question again is:

(1) How does a roadside police officer have "reasonable suspicion" about someone's legal status -- other than some kind of crude racial profiling?

(2) How does anyone brown prove they are not here illegally other than carrying around their birth certificate or alien papers at all times?

What is this Poland 1975? "Comrade, produce your national citizenship papers now!"

As soon as you can answer those questions, I'll give you a gold star, moron.

http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/49leg/2r/bills/sb1070s.pdf

B. FOR ANY LAWFUL CONTACT MADE BY A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL OR AGENCY
21 OF THIS STATE OR A COUNTY, CITY, TOWN OR OTHER POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THIS
22 STATE WHERE REASONABLE SUSPICION EXISTS THAT THE PERSON IS AN ALIEN WHO IS
23 UNLAWFULLY PRESENT IN THE UNITED STATES, A REASONABLE ATTEMPT SHALL BE MADE,
24 WHEN PRACTICABLE, TO DETERMINE THE IMMIGRATION STATUS OF THE PERSON. THE
25 PERSON'S IMMIGRATION STATUS SHALL BE VERIFIED WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
26 PURSUANT TO 8 UNITED STATES CODE SECTION 1373(c).

Bruce just got served a nice glass of shut the hell up, by someone whos views are closer to his then anyone else on here. Its very ironic and funny as hell.