For those of you who follow baseball, Ozzie Guillen is not shy about expressing his feeling or calling out his players performance and using colorful language to do it. He'll even tell you what he feels about other team's players so I was hopeful that he'd have something to say on SB 1070.

KO tweeted this earlier today:

KeithOlbermann

I am advised by my dear friend @JoeLaPointe of NYT that Mgr Ozzie Guillen of Chi White Sox, just went OFF at Yankee game on new AZ law.

This is great news people. It's awesome how quickly we've been able to get our message across to the grassroots, the MLBPA and now to MLB directly on this xenophobic law that Arizona seems so proud to have sponsored.

Heck, Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.)calls the law Gestapo-like.

"This law of 'frontier justice' – where law enforcement officials are required to stop anyone based on “reasonable suspicion” that they may be in the country illegally – is reminiscent of a time during World War II when the Gestapo in Germany stopped people on the street and asked for their papers without probable cause," said Mack in a statement. "It shouldn’t be against the law to not have proof of citizenship on you."

UPDATE: Here's what Ozzie had to say:

"We're going to keep moving around," said Guillen, who possesses dual citizenship in the United States and his native Venezuela. "We're not leaving because we didn't do wrong here. We just work. We just come here to work. ... We got to support baseball, and that's what it is. I know there are people upset about it. I'm upset about it and wish I could do more about it than what I'm doing."

Guillen admitted "this is a very tough situation for myself because I'm an immigrant. I was an American citizen a couple years ago. One thing about it, people have to be careful what they're doing, the way they talk and say and what they agree." But Guillen pointed to the number of immigrants who help support the country with their work ethic.

"Nobody sees those guys getting up at 4 a.m. to go to work on the farm, picking all kinds of stuff and leaving at 6 o'clock in the afternoon," Guillen said. "Nobody complains about that. Leave those guys alone. Help them. Put a law like a working visa and try to do something different to maintain those guys here. As soon as you do that, there are less immigrants, less illegal people here because they help each other."

"They cannot live without us (immigrants). Put it that way. They're workaholics. And this country can't survive without them."

Guillen added later: "There's a lot of people from this country who are lazy. We're not. Prove me wrong. A lot of people in this country want to be on the computer and send e-mails to people. We do the hard work. We're the ones who go out and work in the sun to make this country better."

It also appears now in NJ.com: White Sox manager disappointed at anti-immigrant Arizona law

The campaign to dehumanize immigrants -- both those without documents as well all legal immigrants, especially Hispanics -- in America is on in full force. Microchipping them was just the start.

When I saw the grasshopper graphic I chuckled for a moment because it's so surreal, it's so not of this earth. It couldn't possibly come from a member of Congress, could it?

Speaking on the House floor last night, Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX), who has been a vocal voice in the bipartisan movement to increase border security, had a peculiar and offensive way of framing the issue.

Poe: "Now it seems to me that if we are so advanced with technology and manpower and competence that we can capture illegal grasshoppers from Brazil, in the holds of ships that are in a little small place in Port Arthur, Texas on the Sabine River. Sabin River, madam speaker, is the river that separates Texas from Louisiana. If we're able to do that as a country, how come we can't capture the thousands of people that cross the border everyday on the southern border of the United States? You know they're a little bigger than grasshoppers and they should be able to be captured easier.

Here's how Poe really feels about non-whites in America.

I was wondering if it came from a David Lynch movie. You know how he likes insects. Blue Velvet, maybe. The GOP, teabaggers and conservatives remind me of Frank Booth. (Not for children video clip.)

It sure looks like Republicans have been huffing the good stuff over this issue. As always, it brings out the eliminationist impulse, doesn't it?

Here's the first look at video that was shot at the Wrigley Field immigration protest.

Protesters are upset over Arizona's new immigration law that makes it a crime to be in the U.S. illegally. The law is slated to take effect this summer.

Activists nationwide have called for a boycott of Arizona tourism and of state businesses, including its athletic teams.

Boycott Baseball Arizona Diamondbacks Style. And here's a key phrase that should be said at every rally we help orchestrate:

"Reform not racism."

They did a really great job in Chicago. We're telling Arizona that their new draconian law is unforgivable.

Twitter it, Facebook it, email it, talk about it and scream about it.

The White House is engaging and has issued a statement about the immigration problem:

What has become increasingly clear is that we can no longer wait to fix our broken immigration system, which Democrats and Republicans alike agree doesn’t work. It’s unacceptable to have 11 million people in the United States who are living here illegally and outside of the system...read on

Aspects of the Senate bill are not perfect by any means, but it's a start.

Rep. Grijalva released a statement about the Arizona problem also via press release:

For myself, I know I am going to keep the pressure up on the White House, on the Leadership in my Party, and on the Members across the aisle. We need to get a bill passed this year. If we lose hope or lose momentum or lose sight of our goal, disasters like the Arizona bill are the result. We cannot afford to let the American people down and we cannot afford to allow the continued assault on immigrant families that we are seeing from coast to coast.

Ironically, the actions of Republicans in Arizona have lit a fire in immigrant and Latino neighborhoods and have galvanized national support for a serious immigration overhaul. We have been flirting with immigration reform for years, but I think if we keep the pressure up in this political year, we can enact reform that respects working people, reunites families, secures the border, and ends illegal immigration.

Keep the pressure up. Check Arizona's schedule and stay involved. Please help get a protest off the ground so it will spread from city to city.

And remember my Hispanic friends. "Not One More Dime" should be spent in Arizona on the Diamondbacks. We're starting slowly and this will expand with your help.

Attaboy Chicago. That's what I'm talking about:

About 40 immigrant rights activists chanting "Boycott Arizona" have gathered outside Wrigley Field in Chicago as the Cubs open a four-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Protesters are upset over Arizona's new immigration law that makes it a crime to be in the U.S. illegally. The law is slated to take effect this summer.

Activists nationwide have called for a boycott of Arizona tourism and of state businesses, including its athletic teams.

Activist George Lieu (LOO) said Thursday that they've sent a letter to Cubs management asking them to stop holding spring training in Arizona. A small plane toting a banner criticizing the law also circled Wrigley Field.

A Cubs spokesman declined to comment. Arizona manager A.J. Hinch says the team is there to play baseball.

Keep the pressure up. Check Arizona's schedule and stay involved. Help get a protest off the ground in your own city.

And remember all Latinos in Arizona. "Not One More Dime," should be spent on Diamondbacks home games.

Money talks. It helped buy SB 1070. There's good info here on the situation.

And watch our for your Shoes!

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[H/t Heather]

You know, you gotta figure that if every Republican and all the Villagers are in agreement that taking up immigration reform is a bad idea for Democrats, then -- reverse barometers being the valuable tools they are -- there's high likelihood that it's a good idea.

We'll find out soon enough, because Democrats are proceeding apace anyway -- and doing so in the face of the near-certainty of uniform opposition from the GOP:

One Democratic aide close to the issue noted that in the wake of Graham’s abandoning negotiations, Schumer is continuing to meet with a handful of Senate Republican lawmakers — Scott Brown (Mass.), George LeMieux (Fla.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Judd Gregg (N.H.) and Dick Lugar (Ind.) — and that the summary is part of a dual-track alternative for moving forward.

According to this aide, under the new alternative, if Republicans continue to reject bipartisan overtures, Reid, Schumer and Menendez would look to have a handful of other top Democrats co-sponsor the legislation, including Durbin and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the second ranking member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security.

Menendez said his preference would be to have Republican support, but that it was more important to have a framework that can be publicly distributed so that Senators “can begin the debate and move the process forward.” Menendez said he was still optimistic that the chamber could pass a bill this year, even though no Republicans have indicated they might support a bill.

“If we put our effort to it, and we have presidential leadership and we have Republicans who truly want to see immigration reform versus just talk about it, I think it’s possible,” Menendez said.

Senate Democrats’ decision to move forward on their own drew applause from Hispanic lawmakers in the House, who have seized on Arizona’s tough new state immigration law to ramp up the pressure for the Senate to act on a comprehensive bill this year.

Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairwoman Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.) described the proposal Senate Democrats floated Wednesday as a “responsible bill that basically reflects the principles that were discussed with Lindsey Graham.”

“It is the kind of bill that could be supported by any Republican who truly believes that the broken system should be fixed,” Velázquez said. “So it is time to stop playing politics with this issue and do the work the American people sent us to do here.”

We're hearing that a press conference announcing the bill is scheduled for 5:45 p.m. EDT in D.C. today. We'll keep it covered.

The NYT's Helene Cooper reports that President Obama is pointing out that passing a bill is going to be difficult in the current environment. No doubt that's true -- and one hopes he is merely observing a truism rather than backing off his earlier powerful remarks pushing for immigration reform. As we observed then:

The Arizona craziness is a good example of why we can't let comprehensive immigration reform wait.

We know that lots of Democrats, especially the Blue Dogs, want to put immigration reform on the back burner till after the 2010 election. After all, it's the kind of issue that defines them: Blue Dogs always pander to conservatives on key issues, because they think that wins them more votes in the end than standing up for core principles.

In this case, as we saw from the 2008 election results, it's also nonsensical:

It's also apparent, from these results and from polling, that the nativists' "deport them all" immigration policy is wildly unpopular -- and that, moreover, Americans in fact take a pragmatic view of immigration: They're not interested in shipping out illegal immigrants, they're interested in seeing them become legal citizens.

The evidence is that voters get behind progressives who talk straight common sense on immigration -- as opposed to the fearmongering and scapegoating inherent in the Arizona Republican approach, which inevitably leads to the institution of a police state and the destruction of families.

It's also looking like Harry Reid will be pushing immigration reform as well. And there are many more reasons than fearful Blue Dogs why it's a politically smart move, too. Just ask those 200,000 people who gathered in D.C. last month.

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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?

The hits keep coming in for Arizona's Tancredo/Buchanan bill. The Mayor of Phoenix is no fan of this legislation and said this on Friday:

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon says seniors, kids and out-of-staters should be wary of the Arizona immigration bill signed into law this past week -- warning that it puts them at risk of being arrested.

The law makes illegal immigration a state crime. It gives police the authority to question people about their immigration status and arrest those who cannot show documentation to establish their legal residency.

Gordon, a staunch opponent of the state law, said that means anyone who doesn't carry an Arizona license -- children under 16, seniors who don't drive and people from out of state -- could be "at risk of being arrested and turned over to (Immigration and Customs Enforcement)."

"It tramples civil rights," Gordon told Fox News on Sunday. "Now everyone has to show and prove that they're a legal resident or citizen." The mayor of Arizona's largest city is at odds with Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, who signed the bill Friday and described the legislation as her state's answer to "decades of inaction and misguided policy" in Washington.

If I thought like Sarah Palin I might say that Arizona was more interested in 'Arresting Grandma' than solving the real immigration problem. Gordon makes good points on FOX because he's talking about demographics in our society that will be out at risk. The elderly are always caught up on the down side of an issue when there are massive changes to laws like this.

Bill Hemmer does his FOX News best by quoting the odious Sheriff Arpaio, who says more people will come to Arizona because the state has become safer. Gordon smacked him around by saying that Arpaio is only making up his own statistics and noted that he's actually under criminal investigation for civil rights violations. Sheriff Arpaio is one of those trusted FOX News sources. I should also include that most of the MSM uses Boss Tweed all the time. And there are plenty of reports in the news now saying that Arizona businesses are very afraid that this law will drive business away.

"Our members are concerned," said Debbie Johnson, president and CEO of the Arizona Hotel & Lodging Association, which represents hundreds of hotels, bed and breakfasts and resorts in the state.

"They're hearing from a lot of folks who visit and they're obviously concerned with where this is playing out."

On April 28th he told CNN that he's going to sue Arizona's bill:

Mayor Phil Gordon's planned lawsuit contends Arizona's recently passed immigration law is too vague and unenforceable.

The police will enforce it just fine. I bet taser sales go through the roof and I bet that's one convention that won't be cancelled.

A heads-up to Republicans: You guys need some serious therapy. Remember now, this is the anti-abortion, love-the-children, wave-the-flag and raise-'em-Republican party. Duncan Hunter, one of our lovely Congressman from down south where the politics get distinctly weird, actually stood in front of a group of people and said that American citizens should be deported, too.

Okay, what he actually said was that the debate wasn't about immigration; it was a national security issue. A "real, serious national security issue." When pressed to expand and provide some specifics, especially about those children of immigrants born in the United States. Those children are, of course, United States citizens.

“Would you support deportation of natural born American citizens that are the children of illegal aliens?” a man in the audience asked.

“I would have to, yes,” Hunter said.

“You can look and say, ‘You’re a mean guy. That’s a mean thing to do. That’s not a humanitarian thing to do.’ We simply cannot afford what we’re doing right now.

Hunter then blames immigrants for California's budget crisis. I'd argue that tax-dodging rich folks have more to do with the budget crisis than immigrants.

Is there a problem and costs associated with illegal immigration? Sure, but most of them have been created by the xenophobes who hate government regulation until it is used to exclude or otherwise discriminate against immigrants.

Yes, there's a problem with immigration. But to listen to the Duncan Hunters of the world, it's all the fault of Mexico, the only bad immigrants are Mexican immigrants, and the only real US citizens are those American children born to parents who aren't brown.

As to national security, just give me a break. The 911 crew was in the US legally, not illegally. The guy who flew into the Austin IRS building? A genuine white US citizen. There's more of a national security threat from citizens who descend from Mayflower families than there is from Mexican immigrants.

(h/t Alan Colmes)

And so it continues. You can always count on Rep. Steve King to be the lowest of the low. Here's his newest acute observation on Rep. Grijalva's plight.

Unlike Grijalva, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) is a big fan of Arizona's crackdown. After praising the effort in a statement earlier this week, King blasted Grijalva's position last night. During an interview on Fox News, King absurdly suggested that Grijalva's district has been "ceded" and accused the Arizona lawmaker of "advocating for Mexico" and against the United States.

LAURA INGRAHAM: This boycott is intended to do, what? I would imagine to intimidate people from supporting this law which, as far as I can tell, is wildly popular, but to intimidate because they're using dollars. Is there anything wrong with that?

REP. STEVE KING: Well, it looks like the case is that, that he's trying to scare the businesses out of Arizona, or he's trying to get the businesses to change their position and press the legislature to reverse the law that was just signed by the governor the other day. I'm wondering if we look at the map of Congressman Grijalva's congressional district if we haven't already ceded that component of Arizona to Mexico judging by the voice that comes out of him, he's advocating for Mexico rather than the United States and against the rule of law, which is one of the central pillars of American exceptionalism.

Steve King should be the Governor of Texas at this point. The fear of brown people is upon us. If you're brown, watch out.

Of course, this is coming from the same guy with the epic humanity to want to put an electric fence along the border, because we do it with "livestock all the time" too.

Digby links to a graph that shows a bunch of other states are lining up to pass frakked up bills next.

And then she adds:

Yes, American exceptionalism is so exceptional that right wingers are allowed to carve out exceptions to any part of the constitution they don't like. Strangely, the parts they don't like most often seem to be the ones that enumerate rights for people who don't look like them.

The xenophobes are on the warpath.

Up in Iowa, Republicans are brainstorming on solutions to the immigration mess:

Third District GOP congressional hopefuls called for more R&D on illegal immigration – as in round-up and deport.

Speaking at a Tama County Republican forum Monday, six candidates for the GOP nomination to face seven –term Democratic Rep. Leonard Boswell opposed amnesty for illegal aliens and called for tougher enforcement of border security.

“I think we should catch ’em, we should document ’em, make sure we know where they are and where they are going,” said Pat Bertroche, an Urbandale physician. “I actually support micro-chipping them. I can micro-chip my dog so I can find it. Why can’t I micro-chip an illegal?

“That’s not a popular thing to say, but it’s a lot cheaper than building a fence they can tunnel under,” Bertroche said.

I see the GOP's Latino outreach efforts are continuing apace.

Ya know, for a bunch of people who continually accuse Democrats of trying to install a totalitarian police state, it sure is interesting how many right-wingers are eager to implement one.