Arizona sheriff singles out Rush Limbaugh for ‘irresponsible’ rhetoric

By Eric W. Dolan

An Arizona sheriff responsible for investigating the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) confronted conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh Tuesday for the "irresponsible" rhetoric he uses on his radio show.

"The kind of rhetoric that flows from people like Rush Limbaugh, in my judgment he is irresponsible, uses partial information, sometimes wrong information," Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik told ABC News. "[Limbaugh] attacks people, angers them against government, angers them against elected officials and that kind of behavior in my opinion is not without consequences."

The sheriff lamented the state of political discourse in the United States during a press conference Saturday, sparking a national debate over who, if anyone, should be held accountable for using violent political rhetoric.

"When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government," Dupnik said, "the anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous."

He added that "people in the radio business and some people in the TV business" needed to tone down their rhetoric, but did not mention anyone specifically at the time. It's not unusual for all public officials to get threats constantly, myself included," Dupnik continued. "That's the sad thing about what's going on in America: pretty soon we're not going to be able to find reasonable decent people willing to subject themselves to serve in public office."

On his radio show Monday, Limbaugh said that the sheriff had "made a fool of himself."

"What this was all about is shutting down any and all political opposition and eventually criminalizing it," he added. "Criminalizing policy differences, at least when they differ from the Democrat Party agenda."

Limbaugh has received a deluge of criticism for his hyperbolic remarks and constant demonization of liberals.

"Liberals in power are a threat to Western civilization," he said on his radio show. "While they are ruthless in their pursuit of power, they are weak in the face of evil, and their compassion for evildoers defies sanity. That applies to liberals here, liberals across the pond, and liberals in every corner of the world."

Sheriff Dupnik has received criticism from numerous conservative commentators.

Fox News featured critical commentary the sheriff's remarks on its website Tuesday, which stated, "The sheriff, a Democrat who has served as the county's top cop for 31 years, angered many with the remarks — including some of his friends, who felt his editorializing had no part in a news conference, typically reserved for impersonal facts and details."

M.C.L Comment: All Rush has done for the past couple of decades is protect the interest of his corporate overlords,by telling that segment of middle class and working poor whites(not all of them)it's not corporate greed that cause them their jobs it's liberals who want to give your job away to those people(codeword for niggers and wetbacks). Rush job isn't being an entertainer or whatever the crap he calls himself, his job is keep that segment of white people(mostly men) angry so they lose sight to the fact the people who take their jobs are not those people it's the guy at the top who figures he can make more money by finding a work force that he can pay less. Rush knows the truth but the people that got their hand up his ass isn't going to let him tell his audience nor does he want to because he get 400 million to misinformed people and if that means inciting them to violence who cares? It's all about protecting that small minority of wealthy people's interest.

Arizona Sheriff Says He Won’t Enforce New ‘Racist’ Anti-Immigration Law

By Amanda Terkel

Last night on Fox News, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin criticized opponents of Arizona’s draconian new anti-immigration legislation, SB-1070, for making it into a “racial issue” by “perpetuating this myth that racial profiling is a part of this law.” As usual, host Sean Hannity agreed with her, saying, “It does not encourage profiling. It specifically prohibits it.” Supporters of the law like to stress that police will be able to question people only during “lawful contact,” such as a traffic stop.

However, 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.“

Watch it:

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.” Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who was also the governor of Arizona, said it shackles law enforcement officials by not allowing them to focus on the priorities in their own communities. There are also now significant concerns that immigrants will be less likely to cooperate with police in other matters. As one officer has said, “How do you police a community that will not talk to you?”

M.C.L comment:. What shocks me is that no high level Republican advised the governor to veto the bill or at least come up with a better explanation on why she's signing it. But I guess since the Hispanic population in Arizona are trending Democratic the Repubs decide what the hell, they're not going to vote for us anyway so F 'em.