Last updated on February 8th, 2013 at 02:04 pm
Jan Brewer, the finger wagging Governor of Arizona, has worked herself up into a real frenzy over the Supreme Court’s overturning much of her egregious immigration law, declaring the Obama administration to be violating “federal law.” Last night, she went full tea bagger, telling Fox News that this was Obama telling Arizona to drop dead!
Yes, that is so exactly how Obama talks — drop dead, Arizona! Boom, taste my nightstick, biotches!
Here is the video from Fox News:
Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com
Transcript via Fox News:
BREWER: Well, I was shocked. I was outraged. I thought, you know, this is politics at its best. Here we had just received a unanimous vote from the highest court in the land upholding the heart of Senate bill 1070, and then three hours later, we got notification that they had rescinded our 287G privileges, so that law enforcement could not use the data system to verify illegal immigration, the status of people that were stopped, if you will, in the process of committing a crime.
You know, it was just unbelievable that they would distort the law, thwart the opinion of the Supreme Court. The bottom line is, is that, you know, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but you know, from the beginning, they have downplayed the border situation that Arizona faces on a daily basis in regards to security. They have certainly ignored our pleas for them to do the job. They sued Arizona for trying, for me for trying to protect the citizens of Arizona.
And then they came out last week and reversed the amnesty position with what I called back-door amnesty, giving illegal immigrants temporary working status. And now today to rescind the 287G.
I would think that the American people would think long and deep about what the federal government is doing and why aren’t they abiding by the rule of law. It’s just unconscionable. What they said to Arizona is, Drop dead, Arizona, drop dead and go away. We’re going to ignore you.
VAN SUSTEREN: Is Arizona the only state that you know of that’s had the 287G agreement stopped today?
BREWER: Yes, it is. We verified that and checked, and Arizona is the only state that it was rescinded on.
VAN SUSTEREN: Well, the president must be a little bit concerned about your state because not long after your press conference and not long after the 287G was cut off, the Department of Justice set up a telephone hotline and intake e-mail for the public to report potential civil rights concerns related to the implementation of Arizona SB-1070 provision requiring immigration status verification during certain law enforcement encounters.
So apparently, the Department of Justice — they’re taking — they’re worried you’re going to do something.
BREWER: Well, it’s like they’re baiting, I guess, people to participate in this. I have all the confidence in the world in our law enforcement. And they will be held accountable. There will be no racial discriminations. No one’s civil rights will be abused.
And for the federal government and the Department of Justice to go out in this manner and to encourage, I would say, bait people to call up and report people, that it’s just unbelievable. Is this not America? Is this not the United States? Do I not as governor have the right to protect the people of Arizona?
Notice how “they” automatically became the President in Van Sustern’s world? The President must be “worried” about Jan’s state, or else the DHS and the Justice Department wouldn’t have acted on the Supreme Court’s decision by worrying about the suppression of civil rights (what?). Thus we note that “they” really means evil, Constitution-killing Obama.
Jan and Greta seem upset that “they” can do whatever they want. Yes, “they can” — or as some people call it, “they” can follow the interpretation of the law as ruled on by the Supreme Court. The Court ruled in no uncertain terms that the federal government has the power to make immigration policy. A refresher for Jan:
The court destroyed the Republican argument that states have the right to make their own separate immigration policies, “The National Government has significant power to regulate immigration. With power comes responsibility, and the sound exercise of national power over immigration depends on the Nation’s meeting its responsibility to base its laws on a political will informed by searching, thoughtful, rational civic discourse.”
In case Jan missed yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling, the Constitution includes a “supremacy clause” that basically says that federal laws supersede state laws.
But here, perhaps, is the root of the problem. Ms Brewer does not acknowledge the “national” government as the Supreme Court does. Here is Jan Brewer defiantly declaring the US to be a “federalist” government and not a “national” government, “The United States has a federal government, not a national government.”
Ms. Brewer seems somewhat confused about the meaning of federalism. The United States does in fact operate under a national government, and legitimate arguments about states rights and federalism do not change that. The Court explained yesterday, “The federal power to determine immigration policy is well settled.”
In Ms. Brewer’s wingnuttery confusion, she seems to think that Federalism gives her the right as Governor of a state to make immigration laws funded by the federal government and supported by DHS, but overriding federal law, unchecked by the Supreme Court. Ah, to be Queen for a day…
While this might sound like more paranoid musings from the Tea Queen, it also demonstrates the utter silliness of the Tea Party self-perception as gun slingers doin’ it all alone, for Brewer admitted that without the Department of Homeland Security’s help, Arizona could not continue demanding papers please.
The Tea Party is big on “state’s rights” and like to threaten secession, but they never address how they would take financial responsibility on a state level without the help of the federal government (i.e., our taxes).
The Arizona legislature tried to pass a law in 2011 that would give them the power to determine which federal laws and regulations they would enforce and which they would not. The Arizona Republic described the law as one that would essentially allow Arizona to secede from the union. It was Jan Brewer herself who vetoed the stunningly ignorant secessionist SB 1433. Perhaps she regrets doing so today.
Jan Brewer and the Tea Party want y’all to pay for their state’s rights. Just because Brewer decided to jump off of a cliff with Papers Please, she expects the rest of the country’s taxes to fund it via the DHS. The theme of red state governors swaggering around playing phony cowboy/cowgirl to the federal government while at the same time begging for federal money for their state is indicative of the bizarre disconnect within conservative thought.
It seems like conservatism has become an ideology of adolescent Rand worshipers — much more about creating an independent self-image than actually being independent. Sort of like the teenager who wants to make the rules in the house while her parents pay for everything.
With power comes responsibility, and with power comes the ability to give a confused, finger wagging, out of her element Tea Party Queen a lesson on how the federal government works. In other words, it’s not the Obama administration telling Arizona to drop dead, but it might be their rather eloquent way of telling Jan Brewer to grow up. If she wants to play with our money, she has to play by the rules of our government.
Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.
Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
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