Guilty Until Proven Innocent

Above: Demonstrating against a new law that makes American citizens carry paperwork on them at all times to prove they are not illegal aliens.

The racist, Mexican-hating rightwing nutjobs in Arizona, starting with their governor Jan Brewer (R-what else?), want to turn their state into a police state. A new law, signed just today, allows police to assume anyone they see on the street is an illegal alien, unless they can produce identification, proof of citizenship or a passport on the spot. You don't carry all that around with you? Can't prove you're not an illegal? Too bad. It's off to jail for you.

A kid summed it up best. "It's going to change our lives," said Emilio Almodovar, a 13-year-old American citizen from Phoenix. "We can't walk to school any more. We can't be in the streets anymore without the pigs thinking we're illegal immigrants."

This typically shameful, racist policy was written by the Regressive Arizona legislature and signed by the Regressive Arizona Governor. President Obama is having the Justice Department investigate to see if this type of law is even legal. He said the federal government must enact immigration reform at the national level – or leave the door open to "irresponsibility by others." President Obama went on to say, "that includes, for example, the recent efforts in Arizona, which threaten to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and their communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe."

All the far rightwing nutjobs who claim they want less government intrusion into their lives are in favor of this new police state attitude. Let the lawsuits begin.