Craziest Republican of the Day: Lori Klein

By Michael J.W. Stickings

From The Arizona Guardian, reporting on an incident that happened just days after the Tucson shooting earlier this year:

A state lawmaker known for championing the rights of gun-owners pointed a loaded firearm at the chest of a reporter during a recent interview at the Capitol.

Republican Sen. Lori Klein was showing off her raspberry-pink handgun when she aimed it at a journalist who was interviewing her in the lounge just outside the Senate chambers.

According to the story that was published Sunday in the Arizona Republic, Klein's .380 Ruger was loaded and did not have a safety to keep the gun from going off.

But Klein told the reporter, Richard Ruelas, that he didn't need to worry because, "I just didn't have my hand on the trigger."

Um... sure. I'm sure that made everyone feel so much safer...

It's just this sort of gun-toting madness that we've come to expect from Republicans, especially in gun-crazy states like Arizona.

And we wonder why there is such prevalent gun violence, or how this culture helped create someone like Jared Lee Loughner?

Apparently we need look no further than the Arizona statehouse.

(photo)

Alabama wants to be like Arizona, only worse

By Michael J.W. Stickings

And so Republicans keep up their assault on undocumented immigrants:

Republican Governor Robert Bentley on Thursday signed into law a crackdown on illegal immigration in Alabama that both supporters and critics consider the toughest in the nation.

The measure will require public schools to determine the citizenship status of students -- a provision not included in an Arizona law that has been at the forefront of actions by several states to curb illegal immigration.

Under the Alabama law, police must detain someone they suspect of being in the country illegally if the person cannot produce proper documentation when stopped for any reason.

It also will be a crime to knowingly transport or harbor someone who is in the country illegally.

This isn't just a racist, draconian law to crack down on a specific group of people and deny them the dignity and fair treatment they deserve.

As Little Green Football's Charles Johnson notes, it "explicitly violates the Bill of Rights's provisions against unreasonable search and seizure, by requiring police to arrest anyone they suspect of being in the country illegally if they can’t produce documentation — when stopped for any reason... That's right — in Alabama, you may now end up in jail if you're not carrying your papers, whether or not you've done anything wrong."

I know we're supposed to be civil and all, but can't we call this what it is? It's fascism. Brought to you, as usual, by the Republican Party.

SCOTUS : Business Death Penalty

     That's what critics of today's ruling are calling the decision...a death penalty for businesses, because it allows Arizona and other states to revoke the business license of a company that knowingly hires illegal immigrants.

     Then again, companies wanted personhood when it came to being able to spend money without restrictions on political campaigns, and were happy when SCOTUS gave it to them, no? Live by the court, die by the court.



[UPDATE:A Friday Morning related ruling is here.]