Let’s recap. The kneejerk anti-immigration movement was insane enough already when a spelling-impaired vandal spray-painting a message on the wall of an Army facility: “NO ILLEAGLES [sic] HERE.” Then there was Sean Hannity and Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) who gathered on the deck of a border patrol gun-boat for a photo-op with a ridiculously huge machine gun, locked, loaded and aimed in the direction any unaccompanied Honduran children who might stumble helplessly into Texas. The insanity grew a little more when protesters in Michigan gathered to voice their opposition to offering shelter to migrant children in their town — a message they reinforced with a handgun and an AR-15, the Sandy Hook weapon.
And the other day in Crazy Arizona, a group of around 80 protesters including a Republican state senator gathered in the town of Oracle, near Tucson, after being tipped off by its sheriff that a school bus fill with migrant children was reportedly on its way. The event didn’t necessarily lead to violence, but some decidedly obnoxious behavior led to an hilarious fail.
Sheriff Paul Babeu tipped off an activist via social media that the bus was on its way to transport the children to the Sycamore Canyon Academy, and so word spread quickly. Unlike Michigan, an estimated 50 counter-protesters turned out as well, including a mariachi band. Babeu reportedly advised the crowd to remain civil and, specifically, to not block the bus when it arrived.
Before long, a school bus arrived and in spite of the sheriff’s warning, the mariachi band was shoved out of the way and the anti-immigration protesters blocked the road, preventing the bus filled with children from passing. From inside the rally, “conservative Republican” Arizona State Senator Adam Kwasman tweeted:
“Bus coming in. This is not compassion. This is the abrogation of the rule of law.”
Later, Kwasman said to the Arizona Republic: “I was able to actually to see some of the children in the buses. And the fear on their faces.” Of course, Kwasman deleted his tweet because the bus didn’t contain migrant children at all. They were local kids on their way to the YMCA. When the reporter corrected Kwasman, the state senator replied, “They were sad, too.”… CONTINUE READING