You know, we progressives like to rely on rational appeals a lot. And we're often frustrated when we discover that they're not working -- while Republican crooks and liars prosper with their often irrational appeals to people's emotions.

Thus, in the immigration debate, we can recite the whole litany of facts debunking the people -- like those in Arizona who passed and are now promoting its police-state immigration law, SB1070 -- who are trying to convince Americans that Latino immigrants are bringing with them a wave of crime. And you know what? The lizard-brain appeal often wins out.

We can point out till we're blue in the face that:

-- Despite the defenders of SB1070's claims that the law will brook no racial profiling, all Latino travelers from out of state -- including American citizens -- will be at risk should they choose to travel to Arizona if the law takes effect.

-- The law gives federal enforcement powers to local authorities -- something previously unseen in law enforcement.

-- Arizonans have been inverting reality when it comes to the levels and nature of immigrant-related border crime, conflating without evidence a handful of cases involving white victims while completely ignoring even more startling incidents involving white vigilantes and Latino victims.

-- The bill and its ensuing controversy has proven a major nexus for the mainstreaming of the racist right's white-supremacist agenda.

SB1070's defenders like to point to its popularity -- and yes, we can just as easily point out that, historically speaking, depriving the rights of others in this country has always been a popular proposition. But that's the rational argument.

We need to realize that we can make appeals that are both rational and emotional. Which is where this new video by the Black Eyed Peas' Taboo comes in.

Because really, the issues around SB1070 are very simple: right and wrong, just and unjust. And sometimes there's no better way to make that point than with a simple, great, heartfelt song.

And this is exactly that. The video features some guest vocals by Dolores Huerta, Eva Longoria, Oscar De La Hoya, Shakira & Juanes. It builds off the familiar riff of "One People" and becomes its own song.

Indeed, lots of musicians are joining this cause, and it can only help. Recall that Los Lobos has already made a statement of its own.

So while we're waiting for Judge Benson to rule on the Justice Department's suit to block the enactment of SB1070, here's something to remind us that sometimes the appeals from the heart can be the most powerful.

FWIW, Taboo was interviewed on MSNBC today about the video:

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It's no surprise that MLB owners and Bud Selig would support -- or at least stick their heads in the sand when it comes to publicly responding -- the controversial and hateful Arizona immigration law, SB1070. It's also refreshing when a player or manager speak out about an issue too, no matter which side of the fence they come down on. Many people have said, "I don't like mixing politics with sports," and believe me I feel that way for the most part. But when a xenophobic law based on racial profiling -- profiling that will affect, among other people, hundreds of professional baseball players -- is passed with the help of a notorious Republican vote cager like Kris Kobach, then all bets are off.

Tony La Russa, who manages several Latino players on his team including the great Albert Pujols, is supportive of SB1070 and said so.

ESPN:

St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa says he supports Arizona legislation calling for tougher enforcement against illegal immigrants. Opponents of the law have called for Major League Baseball to move the 2011 All-Star Game out of the state.

La Russa says Arizona has a problem that the national government has failed to remedy. The manager, who lives in northern California, spoke this week before a game in St. Louis between the Cardinals and Arizona Diamondbacks.

"I'm actually a supporter of what Arizona is doing," La Russa said. "If the national government doesn't fix your problem, you've got a problem. You've got to fix it yourself. That's just part of the American way." Gov. Jan Brewer signed a state law in April requiring police officers to question a person's immigration status if there's reasonable doubt he or she might be in the country illegally.

Dozens of St. Louis Tea Party members were at Busch Stadium to show their support of the Arizona immigration law, prompting La Russa to touch on the subject.

La Russa told reporters he encouraged the presence of different points of view, and said he believed the Tea Party's stances were "correct" on "a lot of things."

I wonder how Albert feels about that? But what was interesting to me almost as much is that La Russa then thinks the Tea Party's are correct on a lot of things. What things are they?

* Does La Russa believe just like the 'Birthers' do that President Obama is not an American citizen?

*Does La Russa believe that President Obama is a socialist-Marxist-Nazi-Facsist?

*Does La Russa believe that President Obama looks like The Joker?

*Does La Russa believe that there are FEMA camps imprisoning US citizens?

*Does La Russa believe that Obama is trying to make us part of a New World Order?

*Does La Russa believe that Social Security should be privatized?

*Does La Russa believe that Medicare and Medicaid should be privatized?

*Does La Russa believe in a woman's right to choose,
FinnReg, Glass Steagall act, extending unemployment benefits?

You see where I'm going here. I hope a reporter will ask Tony La Russa to clarify his position so that we know what he believes the Tea Party people are correct about. He could have just made his case supporting Gov. Brewer alone, but bringing the Tea Partiers into this opens up a whole other can of worms.

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The ACLU raised all kinds of hackles the other day from defenders of Arizona's police-state immigration law, SB1070, when it issued a travel warning giving all out-of-state Latinos a heads up about the potential problems they face if they travel there:

The nation's top civil liberties group on Wednesday issued travel alerts for Arizona, saying the state's new law cracking down on illegal immigrants could lead to racial profiling and warrantless arrests.

American Civil Liberties Union affiliates in Arizona, New Mexico and 26 other states put out the warnings in advance of the Fourth of July weekend. The Arizona chapter has received reports that law enforcement officers are already targeting some people even though the law doesn't take effect until July 29, its executive director said.

The alerts are designed to teach people about their rights if police stop and question them.

The Arizona law requires police, while enforcing other laws, to question a person's immigration status if officers have a reasonable suspicion that the person is in the country illegally. It also makes it a state crime for legal immigrants to not carry their immigration documents and bans day laborers and people who seek their services from blocking traffic on streets.

Attorneys defending the law against constitutional challenges filed by the ACLU and others argue that the Legislature amended it to strengthen restrictions against using race as the basis for questioning by police. Five lawsuits are pending in federal court, and the U.S. Justice Department is believed to be preparing a legal challenge.

Despite the legislative action, the ACLU still believes that officers will inappropriately target minorities.

"We have a long history of racial profiling in this state, and this is basically going to really exacerbate that problem," said Alessandra Soler Meetze, executive director of the ACLU of Arizona.

The story has since been a hot topic at Fox News, where they've been searching up anybody who will say unkind things about the ACLU. Stuart Varney, filling in for Neil Cavuto on Your World on Fox yesterday, decided to ask Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick of Arizona's 1st District about the advisory. And though Kirkpatrick opposes SB1070, she thinks the travel advisory is a "bad idea" -- just like the various boycotts of the state that erupted after the law was passed.

But Kirkpatrick doesn't explain why it's a bad idea, except to suggest that it will hurt innocent Arizonans (her same rationale for opposing the boycotts). What both she and Varney -- and for that matter, the Associated Press story -- neglected to explain to their audiences was that, if and when SB1070 is enacted, Latino American citizens who travel to Arizona will need to produce more than just their drivers licenses to prove their citizenship.

Radio host Mark Levine made this point clearly and succinctly to Laura Ingraham the other night when she was filling in on The O'Reilly Factor:

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Levine: Certainly, a month from now, if this law goes into effect, all kinds of Latino American citizens may be in danger and I think what they're doing is they're telling people --

Ingraham: In danger?

Levine: Absolutely. Look, Laura, do you have --

Ingraham: How are they in danger? If they're legally in the United States, how are they in danger?

Levine: I'll explain. SB1070, the Arizona law, says if you're not carrying an Arizona drivers license, you can be stopped, and you can be arrested.

Ingraham: No profiling.

Levine: Let's say you're from New Mexico, or Utah, or Nevada, or any of the other fifteen states that don't require you to be a citizen in order to have a drivers license. I don't have an Arizona drivers license! Luckily for me, I don't look Latino, but if I go to Arizona without a drivers license, they can stop me.

You'll notice that Ingraham has no reply except to say that the law is popular anyway. (Yeah, we noticed that. So what?)

We explored this point in some depth previously:

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Everyone is speaking out against Arizona's SB 1070, but Baseball Commissioner Selig and MLB have been mum, like decaying carcasses stuffed away in the Tomb of Bud.

Janet Murguia is the President and CEO of the National Council of La Raza and she wrote an op-ed which appeared on ESPN. She's calling out Bud Selig to take a meaningful stand against racial profiling in Arizona.

When a host of individuals and organizations called for Major League Baseball's 2011 All-Star Game to be moved from Phoenix in protest of Arizona's new racial profiling law, MLB commissioner Bud Selig flubbed his response.

Petitioned by a United States senator, a member of the House of Representatives, and dozens of civil rights, labor, pro-immigrant, and Latino groups, including my organization, the National Council of La Raza, Selig sidestepped the issue and instead talked about baseball's record on diversity. Whether he was being overly defensive, tried to change the subject, didn't understand the question, or was just plain nonresponsive, Selig's refusal to answer a direct question on the issue is a deep disappointment to Latino baseball fans and the Latino community throughout the nation.

To clear things up for Mr. Selig, the call for moving the All-Star game is not an attack on Major League Baseball or some kind of threat. Proponents of the move are instead urging MLB to stand up for its players, its front office personnel and its fans who have been singled out and targeted for abuse and harassment by the state of Arizona thanks to its new law, SB 1070, which allows police to stop anyone they "reasonably suspect" of being undocumented. What is happening in Arizona is not a debate over how to best deal with a broken immigration system; it is a violation of our civil rights and our most fundamental values as Americans.

The Major League Baseball Players Association understands that. That's why it quickly issued a statement in opposition to SB 1070. Padres first baseman and perennial All-Star Adrian Gonzalez and White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen have already said they will not play in Phoenix next year.

This is neither unusual nor unprecedented. The NCAA does not allow postseason events -- such as the wildly popular Final Four -- in states that fly the Confederate flag. The NFL tangled with Arizona in the early 1990s over its refusal to recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day and pulled the 1993 Super Bowl from Tempe. Those organizations took such steps in defense of their players and all other African-Americans involved in the NCAA and NFL, showing what they stood for at their core despite the fact that there was no direct threat to their safety. SB 1070 is a direct threat, and that argues for Selig and MLB to take action both to protect their players and personnel and to preserve the integrity of the game.

Quibbles aside, Latinos in baseball are considerably better off today than when Selig took over as commissioner. But that is minor league ball compared to this decision. Make the right play, commissioner. Move the game.

Howie Klein and I have been working the phones to try and persuade acts from performing in Arizona since they have contempt for a certain segment of their population. Kris Kobach, the notorious cage f*&ker, has paved the way to damnation for Brewer's state. And no matter what you hear, they are feeling it. Some of the musicians are locked at this point so they couldn't pull out, but others are stepping up to the plate.

Mad props to Los Lobos for their principled stand against SB 1070.

This just in from Los Lobos' camp: The band is canceling its performance at the Talking Stick Resort in Arizona's Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community on June 10 as a protest against the passing of the state's controversial new immigration bill, SB1070. The band issued the following statement via its management:

“We support the boycott of Arizona. The new law will inevitably lead to unfair racial profiling and possible abuse of people who just happen to look Latino. As a result, in good conscience, we could not see ourselves performing in Arizona. We regret the inconvenience this may have caused the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, Casino Arizona, Talking Stick Resort and our fans, but we feel strongly that it is the right thing to do.”

Cypress Hill has already canceled their shows too.

And as Howie notes in his May 2nd post:

Meanwhile two industries that could suffer severely from Arizona's decision to go the police state route are tourism and sports. Frommers has already warned tourists to think twice before traveling to Arizona because of the self-righteous and violent nature of many of the inhabitants.

Conventions are pulling out of Phoenix, which has invested very heavily in that business. The Arizona Hotel and Lodging Association said six organizations had already canceled conventions. And now major league baseball is the next front in a growing war which is asking people who believe in American values to stay away from Arizona Diamondbacks games.

We're still working on Bud Selig behind the scenes, and I'll let you know when more actions are coming.

Hip-hip-hooray! Our Bud Selig demand to move the All Star game is really taking off and there are boycotts being set up whenever the Diamondbacks show up to a visiting ball park. Our efforts are having a serious impact?

Viva Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday voted 13-1 in favor of an economic boycott of Arizona, becoming the largest city yet to boycott the state over its new anti-illegal immigration law.

The list of $56 million in Arizona-related investments the city could boycott includes airline service into Arizona and the harbor's clean truck incentive program. Officials recommended that the City Council suspend travel to the state, refrain from entering new contracts and review current ones for possible termination.

Los Angeles officials joined with other cities across the country in calling for an economic boycott of Arizona after lawmakers there passed a tough immigration law that critics say will lead to racial profiling.

The Arizona law, set to take effect July 23, makes it a crime for unauthorized migrants to be in Arizona and requires police to check the immigration papers of those they suspect may be in the country illegally.

Digby has more:

And it's not alone.

Several cities across California and the country have already passed resolutions or boycotts to protest the law, including Oakland and San Diego.

"We want to stand back and say that we're against it," Hahn said. "We're hoping that Arizona will be the last state to do this instead of just the first state to do it."

Esperamos que sí.

The great travel man Arthur Frommer issued a boycott of Arizona a while ago because of all the Patriot movement freaks walking around with their AK-47's to intimidate anyone that's not John Birch.

I want to learn more about Arizona's gun laws and how they compare with those of other states. But I am shocked beyond measure by reports that earlier this week, nearly a dozen persons, including one with an assault rifle strapped about his shoulders and others with pistols in their hands or holsters, were openly congregating outside a hall at which President Obama was speaking to the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

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....read on

We are all travel guru's now.

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A Seattle freelance videographer recently captured a local cop kicking a man in the head while prone on the ground and using ethnic slurs:

Interim Seattle Police Chief John Diaz said Friday he is going to have to "repair damage" in the community after the release of a videotape showing a gang detective and a patrol officer kicking a prone man and using ethnically inflammatory language.

The Police Department disclosed Friday that it has launched an internal investigation into the incident, in which the gang detective, Shandy Cobane, can be heard on video telling a man lying on a concrete sidewalk, "I'm going to beat the [expletive] Mexican piss out of you, homey. You feel me?"

One of the most disturbing aspects of the incident, as you can see from the video, is that it turned out that the man being kicked and verbally assaulted had nothing to do with the crime being investigated. Indeed, you can see police stand him up, dust him off, and send him on his way, with no medical care.

Here's how the Seattle Times described it:

According to KIRO-TV, which said it got the video from a freelance videographer, Seattle police officers responded to the area near China Harbor restaurant after several nightclub patrons called 911 to report an armed robbery in the parking lot. The patrons apparently described the robbery suspects as Hispanic.

Around 1:15 a.m. April 17, a patron of China Harbor, located at 2040 Westlake Ave. N., went to the parking lot to say goodbye to his girlfriend, who had gotten into her car, according to a police report on the robbery.

Four Hispanic men walked up to him, and one of them demanded money and pulled out a 3-foot-long machete, according to the report. The man told his girlfriend to leave and began walking to his car, but was followed by the four men, the report says. According to the report, a second suspect told the victim, "We can kill you right now. We can do whatever we want with you."

The victim gave the men $20, but they demanded more money so he gave them another $20 before getting into his vehicle and calling 911, the report says. He told officers the man with the machete appeared to be drunk or on drugs.

The victim was able to positively identify at least one of the suspects at the scene, the police report says. Police later arrested two of the four men — one told officers he was from Mexico while the other said he was from El Salvador, according to the police report. A third man was interviewed and released at the scene, and the fourth man was not found.

It's unknown if the man released from the scene is the same man seen in the video.

The Times piece features Cobane's tearful apologies as well:

"I know my words cut deep and were very hurtful," he said. "... I am truly, truly sorry."

A 15-year veteran of the department, Cobane, 44, said he never dreamed he'd "bring such notoriety to my department. Sadly, I did."

Apologizing to colleagues, the Latino community and Seattle, he said his "offensive and unprofessional" words did not reflect who he is.

Kinda like closing the barn door after the horse has been let out, isn't it?

Well, now the FBI is opening up an inquiry:

The FBI will conduct a preliminary inquiry into the incident last month in which a Seattle police gang detective and a patrol officer kicked a prone Latino man and used ethnically inflammatory language.

...

The inquiry was requested by the U.S. Department of Justice, according to Special Agent Fred Gutt of the FBI's Seattle office. Gutt said such an inquiry is routine in cases where there may be a possible civil-rights violation and could be followed by a full-blown investigation.

As Maegan at VivrLatino observes:

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One by one, voices are calling out baseball to do the right thing and denounce Arizona's hateful law.

Sen. Robert Menendez is urging the Major League Baseball Players Association to boycott next year's All Star Game in Phoenix over the recently passed Arizona law to crack down on illegal immigrants.

The New Jersey Democrat says in a letter that 27 percent of Major League players are Latinos and they shouldn't be subjected to a law Menendez says codifies racial profiling.

Rep. Jose Serrano, a New York Democrat, has similarly asked the players to boycott the 2011 event, noting that in 1993 the National Football League rescinded its offer to host the Super Bowl in Arizona because it didn't then recognize Martin Luther King day.

I've helped put together a huge coalition against MLB and Bud Selig over their silence on SB1070. Tuesday will be an interesting day. Stay tuned.

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Think twice if you're in Arizona and decide you want to call the cops on the loud party down the street at midnight. The language in the new Arizona Gestapo racial profiling immigration law now on the books allows police to use city ordinance violations as a reason to request documents from residents while in their homes.

Via Wonkroom:

As part of the amended bill, a police officer responding to city ordinance violations would also be required to determine the immigration status of an individual they have reasonable suspicion of being an undocumented immigrant.

The email Kris Kobach sent to Russell Pearce is truly hair-raising. You can read all of it here. An excerpt:

...we need to add "or any county or municipal ordinance." This will allow police to use violations of property code (ie, cars on blocks in the yard) or rental codes (too many occupants of a rental accommodation) to initiate queries as well.

Evidently Mr. Kris Kobach thinks cars on blocks and overcrowded rental units are the exclusive province of undocumented workers. Because nothing screams "SEARCH ME" like a few cars on blocks in the front yard, right?

Here's an excerpt from Kobach's 2005 paper entitled "The Quintessential Force Multiplier" (PDF):

The assistance of state and local law enforcement agencies can also mean the difference between success and failure in enforcing the nation’s immigration laws generally. The nearly 800,000 police officers nationwide represent a massive force multiplier.9 This assistance need only be occasional, passive, voluntary, and pursued during the course of normal law enforcement activity. The net that is cast daily by local law enforcement during routine encounters with members of the public is so immense that it is inevitable illegal aliens will be identified.

Kobach makes an argument for the empowerment of local law enforcement as de facto assistants for rooting out and deporting illegal immigrants. In his examples, he cites "violent gang members", "9/11 suspects", "Muslim extremists" and more. The most striking feature of his argument is the complete absence of any argument for white-collar criminals like Jack Abramoff or Tom Delay or the shadow governors who fund smear campaigns against the left. They've done more harm to this country and our government than any illegal immigrant has.

Of course, Kobach has an interesting past, one certainly worth looking at a bit closer. He was a former aide to John Ashcroft, has ties back to the John Tanton white supremacy dynasty, is a voter suppression caging braggart, and author of a book entitled "Political Capital: The Motives, Tactics, and Goals of Politicized Businesses in South Africa". Interesting title, that.

A wide net indeed, cast by a man who aspires to be the next Kansas Secretary of State, where, if elected, he will set about suppressing any vote in Kansas not cast by someone who sunburns easily.

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This is nice to hear coming from the "police state" of Arizona.

In Arizona, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, who has been a cop for 52 years, says it will definitely lead to racial profiling. He told local TV station KGUN9 that the law is “racist,” “digusting,” and “unnecessary,” and he won’t enforce it. While the law may not explicitly mandate profiling, Dupnik said that there’s no way to enforce it without doing so; the “lawful contact” provision will become nothing but a “flimsy excuse” to target certain people:

The sheriff acknowledged that this course of action could get him hauled into court. SB 1070 allows citizens to sue any law enforcement official who doesn’t comply with the law. But Dupnik told Nunez that SB 1070 would force his deputies to adopt racial profiling as an enforcement tactic, which Dupnik says could also get him sued. “So we’re kind of in a damned if we do, damned if we don’t situation. It’s just a stupid law.”

Dupnik had harsh words for anyone who thinks SB 1070 will not lead to racial profiling. “If I tell my people to go out and look for A, B, and C, they’re going to do it. They’ll find some flimsy excuse like a tail light that’s not working as a basis for a stop, which is a bunch of baloney.

Amanda does a nice job of also including Tom Ridge's statement on SB 1070:

Another high-profile law enforcement official who has condemned what Arizona is doing is former Bush Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge, who told the AP yesterday that “he’s uncomfortable with Arizona’s new immigration law, saying it allows police to question people without probable cause.

This will freak the Russell Pearces out, but good for Sheriff Dupnik, who is a far cry more sane than Arpaio. What he basically does is lay out the scenario that we've all been saying: The police can and will come up with any bogus excuse to ask you to show your papers. That's a violation of our Constitution. We have to put up with haranguing from these Judge Scalia phony originalists and "constitutionalists" who say progressives are destroying America because we hate the Constitution. Who hates the Constitution now?