Arizona for Dummies

by Pa Rock
Keeper of the Welcome Mat

Today three bloggers (one national and two from local newspapers) banged out posts that, taken together, offer a fairly accurate, and somewhat frightening, portrait of this overly developed desert that is Arizona. Their comments should be bound and distributed by the local chamber of commerce as an exercise in truth in advertising. Please read on...

Arthur Frommer is a travel writer, consumer advocate, and publisher of the popular Frommer’s Travel Guides. Today on his blog, Arthur Frommer Online, he took the state of Arizona to task over the shameful exhibition of weaponry outside of President Obama’s speech to the VFW last Monday. He said in his blog that he was “shocked beyond measure” by reports of individuals showing up at the event toting guns, including one who was strapped with an automatic assault rifle.

Frommer declared:

"For myself, without yet suggesting that others follow me in an open boycott, I will not personally travel in a state where civilians carry loaded weapons onto the sidewalks and as a means of political protest. I not only believe such practices are a threat to the future of our democracy, but I am firmly convinced that they would also endanger my own personal safety there. And therefore I will cancel any plans to vacation or otherwise visit in Arizona until I learn more. And I will begin thinking about whether tourists should safeguard themselves by avoiding stays in Arizona."

The travel writer went on to suggest that this was a targeted political activity. He asked:

“If Ronald Reagan were delivering a political talk in Phoenix, Arizona, would they have felt it was proper for protesters with guns to mill about outside of the hall from which he would leave?”

Stephen Lemons, writing in our local alternative newspaper, The Phoenix New Times, pointed out that Chris B. Unknown, the man with the automatic assault weapon, had been spotted August 8th at the town hall meeting of Republican Congressman John Shadegg – and he didn’t feel the need to bring his guns to that event.

(Note: Chris B. Unknown is black – and some wags have suggested that his race may have played into the decision to use him in this demonstration so that the right wing radio station personnel who organized the protest would be inoculated against charges of racism.)

Lemons ended his tirade in the New Times with this declaration:

“So, Mr. Frommer, you have every right to be concerned about traveling in Arizona. Out state is psycho, and often racist. We’ve got more guns here than the Chinese army, and daggnabbit, we may be the next Dallas, circa 1963, if you get my drift. Here’s hoping Chris B. isn’t employed by a local book depository. At least no one can accuse him of being racist if he pulls an Oswald.”

Laurie Roberts, writing in her blog in today’s Arizona Republic, the stodgy old newspaper to which the New Times is the alternative, was dismissive of Frommer’s complaint, exercising the tired conservative saw that the truly scary people are the criminals with guns that aren’t on display. That said, she went on to post a list of things in Arizona that she does regard as scary, to wit:

“It's scary to me that we live in a state that has such inept political leaders that we still don't have a state budget nearly two months into the year. And that next year, we will likely re-elect every darn one of them. It's scary to me what our leaders are willing to give up, in the name of no new taxes. That they consider the education of our children a burden and the average Joe -- that poor schlub who isn't pulling down six figures -- as invisible.

“It's scary to me that the we live in a state that thinks so little of the little guy that our legion of unemployed are expected to live on a measly $265 a week -- a shameful pay level that ranks 49th in the nation. That's if the incompetents who run DES can manage to get these people the meager amount that is owed them and that's a HUGE if.

“It's scary to me that the prevailing view around here at the moment seems to be every man for himself and if you are one of the unlucky ones to lose your job, well then I guess you're just supposed to move on. To where or what, I don't know.

“It's scary to me that people blindly support everything that Joe Arpaio (Maricopa County sheriff) does because "he's the only one doing anything about illegal immigration" -- which isn't true but doesn't seem to matter. And thus ol' Joe can do whatever he wants. The man apparently never oversteps the boundaries that must be in place for people with badges and guns and if he does, we justify it because he is ,as we all know, "the only one doing anything about illegal immigration.

“It's scary to me that we have a governor who seems unable to govern and a Legislature that collectively seems uninterested in anything short of getting re-elected. That we have kids coming out of school with no place to go and nothing to do because our economy seems to be built on one thing and one thing only -- building houses.

“It's scary to me that too many of us think of illegal immigrants not as people but as vermin out to suck the lifeblood out of the city. Seems to me we're doing a pretty good job of that ourselves.”

Ah, yes, life in Arizona is definitely an acquired taste! My thanks to Mr. Frommer, Mr. Lemons, and Ms. Roberts for summing it up so nicely. The only significant thing that they failed to mention was the scorpions!