Raising Arizona

by digby

Here’s an interesting post from sometime Arizona resident Doug Kahn, who explains one of the reasons why people are so willing to support fascist legislation: they’re literally afraid of the government:

I’ve avoided getting involved in the kind of activist politics I’m used to, and it’s because I’m afraid of drawing local attention (Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the rest of them) to my kids. I’ve never had this feeling before; the authorities here are absolutely lawless. Look up “Arpaio” in archive articles at Phoenix’s New Times and you’ll see what I mean.

The MCSO (Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office) uses physical intimidation against anyone they see as a critic. They’ve parked unmarked cars across the street from the home of the State Attorney General (Terry Goddard). Maricopa County residents have paid tens of millions in lawsuit settlements because of use of force in Arpaio’s lockup (a tent city, inmates forced to wear pink underwear– not kidding).

Item: Last year Arpaio and County Attorney Andy Thomas filed a civil RICO lawsuit against all the Maricopa County Supervisors, four of the state Judges for the Maricopa County jurisdiction, plus various county employees, supposedly over corruption in building a new courthouse office building in Phoenix. (Dropped 2 weeks ago, Thomas resigned and is running for state AG.) Not one shred of evidence was ever offered. Item: County Supervisor Don Stapley was arrested in the county parking structure in Phoenix and booked, because they filed charges against him related to non-disclosure of financial transactions on disclosure forms.

Read the whole post. It’s chilling.

Wait until a few nice white Republicans get stopped by the police who are eager to prove they aren’t racial profiling. They’d better not make the mistake of complaining. Once you empower the police state, nobody is safe.

I guess this is another of those things that people have to learn all over again once the last generation of victims have died off. What a waste.