Oh, Arizona... Why? WHYYY?

This week, Arizona joined my shortlist of states that we could do without. Yep, that's right, Arizona has been put up on the same pedestal as Florida and Texas. Congratulations, Arizona, you've really earned it.

First up is their immigration bill. You'd have to be hiding under a rock to not have heard about it, but if you haven't, I'll give you a quick lesson.

Arizona's new anti-illegal-immigration bill law^[1] requires legal immigrants to carry papers on them at all times. That's fine, probably even reasonable - but also not the issue. The issue is much larger than that: the law gives police the authority to simply ask to see someone's ID if the officer suspects someone of being an illegal immigrant. Of course, Arizona says a panel will make guidelines for this, and so we won't have to worry racial profiling. But of course, that assumes police can follow reasonable guidelines for anything... And police often have shown that they cannot.

Now, one might think this isn't a problem. However, a simple driver's license will not necessarily suffice in the eyes of Arizona, since AZ itself has often given licenses to illegal immigrants. So, basically, if you have any heritage of the hispanic/latino kind, you'd better carry your birth certificate on you at all times in Arizona.^[2] Failure to be able to prove it on the spot can lead to arrest and a $500 fine.

The other "lulz" this week from Arizona is a gem of a bill which will require Obama to show his birth certificate to appear on the 2012 ballot in Arizona.^[3] Nevermind the fact that he's already shown it to the people that matter most - the US Justice Department - or given a copy to the media - or had folks in Hawaii said the copy he gave matches the original - no, nevermind any of that at all! All of the stuff in my list doesn't count because Arizona is a special snowflake of a state, and they expect more from their Presidential candidates (the ones with funny names and dark skin, anyway).^[4]

Arizona, I leave you with these immortal words from Jon Stewart (to Fox News): Go fuck yourselves.

1. It became a law today, actually.
2. Providing your name isn't Obama, anyway... Then that won't even do.
3. Source
4. I wonder if they'll require McCain to show his when running for Senate? Can you even read his anymore, or is it like some ancient manuscript, indecipherable except to the eye of a seasoned archaeologist?