Sunday, February 23, 2014

Arizona down


January 1987: Newly elected Arizona Governor Even Mecham performs his first official act in office: rescinding the designation of Martin Luther King Day as a holiday. The ongoing controversy over MLK Day in the state eventually cost Arizona the 1993 Super Bowl.

April 23, 2010: Governor Jan Brewer signs the sweeping "Papers Please" SB 1070 legislation into law, instigating a flurry of backlash.

Feb. 20, 2014: Arizona legislators pass SB 1062, effectively codifying discrimination against gay people.

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Dear gay people: to hell with Arizona. Come on up here to CLE for the 2014 Gay Games. We can't wait to see you. Latino people are welcome too. So are all people of color. In fact, everyone is welcome.

Love, Erin

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PS: Mecham was eventually impeached and has since croaked. SB 1070 was struck down in part by the Supreme Court. Whether or not the Brewster will veto her state's latest legislative embarrassment remains to be seen. Whatever the outcome down south, Northeast Ohio is expecting some $50 million in economic impact from this year's Gay Games and discrimination is really stupid.

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15 comments:

Anonymous said...

In their defense not all Arizonaion's(sp?) are thrilled with this behavior. One restauranteur posted a sign saying "This establishment reserves the right to refuse service to Arizona Legislators."

RJ

Anonymous said...

The irony of virulently anti-Federal Arizonans has always amused me. If it weren't for the Federal government, in the form of the Colorado River Storage Project, Arizona as it is now known would have never existed. The Phoenix Metropolitan are is home to somewhat around 4.2 million people.

They live in the middle of the fucking desert. That's an awful lot of mammals of that size in the middle of the fucking desert.

MR

Anonymous said...

Sorry. You know what? It doesn't amuse me; it pisses me off.

MR

Wow: WV: ages wereiin. "ges We're in."

Anonymous said...

Sorry, but this one never goes out of style:

Remember, folks, you can't
spell "crazy" without "R-AZ"

MR

Michael Lawless said...

Jan Brewer looks just like she is - a dried up, bitter women.

philbilly said...

Sam Kinnison on the wisdom of living in the desert:

"I'm like anyone else on this planet -- I'm very moved by world hunger. I see the same commercials, with those little kids, starving, and very depressed. I watch those kids and I go, “F***, I know the FILM crew could give this kid a sandwich!” There's a director five feet away going, “DON'T FEED HIM YET! GET THAT SANDWICH OUTTA HERE! IT DOESN'T WORK UNLESS HE LOOKS HUNGRY!!!” But I'm not trying to make fun of world hunger. Matter of fact, I think I have the answer. You want to help stop world hunger? Stop sending them food. Don't send them another bite, send them U-Hauls. Send them a guy that says, "You know, we've been coming here giving you food for about 35 years now and we were driving through the desert, and we realized there wouldn't BE world hunger if you people would live where the FOOD IS! YOU LIVE IN A DESERT!! UNDERSTAND THAT? YOU LIVE IN A F***ING DESERT!! NOTHING GROWS HERE! NOTHING'S GONNA GROW HERE! Come here, you see this? This is sand. You know what it's gonna be 100 years from now? IT'S GONNA BE SAND!! YOU LIVE IN A F***ING DESERT! We have deserts in America, we just don't live in them, a**holes!"
-Sam Kinison

I miss Sam. And Chris Farley. Cripes, couldya see Chris Farley as the mayor of Toronto?

philbilly said...

Sunuvabitch;

R.I.P. Harold Ramis, too.

Anonymous said...

@phil-

That Kinnison takedown was amazing. I think I hyperextended my medial temporal lobe from laughter.

A few years ago I saw Kinnison in an interview. When asked if he thought he could still do the evangelist bit he just stood up and he was off to the stars. He flipped a switch and he was Angely, Graham and Elmer Gantry all together in the flesh.


MR




philbilly said...

Yes, MR, Sam was the King.

Levity and politics aside, the water demands of desert reclamation are gonna make headlines. I live about 1800 feet from the southern shore of Lake Erie. Not budging, either. Only gonna vote for politicians who are against H2O pipelines and Asian carp. Build that effing wall in Chicago already, they're swimming up the Ohio, trying to figure out how to jump the Continental Divide. Little bastards.

What was the question?

Erin O'Brien said...

Welp, looks like the Brewster caved. I almost feel sorry for her, what with all those mean ol' legislators doing the bigot dance for their constituents and then making her have to act like a crazy anti-god libtard with that ol' veto.

Almost.

Bill said...

Finally! Gay couples will be able to force bigoted bakers to make the cake for their same sex wedding. All is well in Arizona and we can relax and get back to Dancing With The Stars and American Idol. Whew!

Erin O'Brien said...

And a decorated war veteran will be able to force a peacenik Catholic caterer to make the food for his Army buddy reunion at the VFW.

Bill said...

Exactly! That's another thing that had been bugging me! Why are most Catholic caterers peaceniks?

Anonymous said...

I am not real sure I want someone making food for me that has been forced to serve me because of a law.

JOG

Erin O'Brien said...

Yeah? Think about the ramp up transition when those "colored only" bathrooms and water fountains became illegal. Think about the immediate aftermath of the desegregated lunch counter. It took balls for a person of color to sit at a goddamn Woolworth soda fountain and I can promise you the kid behind the counter didn't want to serve him/her.

It's the same goddamn thing. Only difference now is the bigots are in the minority.