The censure of Representative Paul Gosar (R-White Nationalist) by Congress this past week gave America a peek into Arizona politics. Yes, beginning with Barry Goldwater, the Copper State has been dealing with dudes like him for at least 60 years. You can learn a lot about Arizona from knowing a little bit more about Gosar and the culture that gives him life.
For many decades Arizona voters have catered to a cabal of crazies that fit well in a state of get-off-my-lawn newcomers, “Arizona Native” cowboys (White guys who ran off the true Natives), and robber baron carpetbagging rich guys (who become governor). They’re a nasty bunch whose contemporary crimes against humanity include Joe Arpaio’s immigrant roundups, the “show me your papers” law, and ignoring the MLK holiday until it cost the state millions in lost tourism and a few Super Bowls. Oh yeah, almost forgot the 21,000+ pandemic deaths, but who’s counting? Not to mention the last in the nation public school system, rape of the environment, banning books, banning masks, ignoring Climate Change, and… you get the picture.
Arizona’s Racist Political Through Line
There’s a through-line in Arizona politics that the nation doesn’t see until events like Gosar’s reckoning get Beltway attention. It dresses in the modern version of KKK robes, waves Nazi flags along with the Stars and Stripes, kits out in heavy weapons, harasses racial justice protestors, and elects to Congress folks like Paul Gosar (five times) and Andy Biggs (three times), keeps Joe Arpaio as Maricopa County Sheriff (six times), and sends white nationalist Russell Pearce to the Arizona State Senate (three times before he was recalled). Pearce, by the way, made it all the way to Senate President and so did Andy Biggs. These four politicians, notably all Republicans, are as overt in their racism as any 1950’s segregationist. The coalesce around immigration and fear of the other. They get their power and audacity, some might call it delusion, from everyday Arizonans.
Yes, let me repeat, they’re powered by everyday Arizonans. Gosar is a champion of the gun-toting conspiracy theorists, tied directly to the January 6th attack on the Capitol, a charge he denies while referring to the murderous mob as “protesting patriots.” He’s also a highly visible and frequent supporter of White Supremacist groups like America First. You can find him in the crowd anytime these gangsters are waving the Stars and Bars at the Arizona Capitol or threatening local election administrators. A sane person might ask….
“Who would send that guy to D.C.?
Well, the good people of Prescott, Arizona, of course. Prescott, once the territorial capital, is now headquarters for armed militia, hundreds who turned out one hot September day in 2020 when a few Black Lives Matters protestors dared to appear in the town’s historic courthouse square. Black liberals on the square, better get your guns and come quick.
Yes, Arizona voters like these give oxygen to extremely dangerous individuals, and our political class not only tolerates this thinking but encourages it, gives it cover. They fete the Gosar gang as the equivalent of the Sons of Liberty, instead of the racist Night Riders they are. When I read about Gosar’s AOC-threatening Tweet, his Arizona defenders, and the national outrage it launched, I barely paid attention. Didn’t think anything would come of it. So predictable. So Arizona.
Glad I got it wrong. And, as I think about it, this is an opportunity for all of us to send a message of censure to Arizona voters and their white nationalist ways. Here’s how.
Hit Arizona Where It Hurts
It’s about that time of year in most of the U.S., cold and a little dreary outside, snowy winter on the way. That’s when Arizona tourism commercials pop up on your TV screens.
The tanned sculpted bodies at the Scottsdale resorts, the super-green golf courses (in a desert, in a water emergency BTW, but that’s another story for another time), amazing shopping, five star eateries and clubs, the sun drenched Spring Training games, all the “Valley of the Sun” propaganda that makes you want to vacation or even live here.
Before you load up the moving van, consider Representative Paul Gosar and all he represents. He and his white nationalist buddies are not only here, they’re in charge. The commercials leave that part out, but it’s happening here… for sure.
Arizona history shows that only one thing neutralizes this state’s racist antics: losing tourism money. After we refused to recognize MLK Day, the NFL pulled its Super Bowls. Millions of dollars lost. Hands slapped for their stupidity, voters got a do over, approved the holiday and football came back. After passing the “show me your papers” immigration law, convention cancellations rolled in, more millions were lost. The law was neutralized enough by the U.S. Supreme Court that local government enforcement disappeared, and the conventions came back.
Want to censure the Paul Gosar’s of this state? Don’t spend your money here. If you own a business, don’t open up a branch office or move it here. Let the world know why. That will get Arizona voters’ attention, and maybe send Gosar and Biggs and the others back under their rocks.
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