Blunting the Arizona Boycotts

by on May 21st, 2010

Those of us who believe the state of Arizona has a right to protect its borders should do our part to blunt the effects of liberal-organized boycotts against that state. We are in the majority here. Most polls show that Americans favor Arizona’s new immigration law by nearly two to one. There is power in numbers, and they are on our side this time.

The boycotts are starting to mount up, from school boards meddling in politics and depriving their student athletes of the chance to participate in sporting events in Arizona to the Los Angeles city council’s recent vote to suspend business activities with that state. Arizona will soon begin to feel their negative effects.

Let’s replace the lost business and revenue by providing them with some of our own. Make Arizona your primary vacation destination this year. Buy as many products as you can that are made in Arizona. Look for produce that comes from Arizona. Encourage your friends and family members to do the same. Get the word out.

And there’s something else we can do. Encourage your state legislators to pass a similar bill in your state to show solidarity with Arizona as well as protect its own borders from illegals. This would also make things more difficult for the boycotters. They can’t boycott but so many states at one time. The good news is that it looks like Oklahoma may soon be about to come on board.

I’ve seen this movie before. Time and again, liberals have ganged up and boycotted people, businesses, nations, states, or localities that were doing something that they didn’t agree with. They’ve accused them with some of the most favored words and phrases from their arsenal, such as bigots, haters, racists, homophobes, meanies, baddies, agents of intolerance, etc. In almost every case, the object of the boycott has capitulated and the liberals have won.

Now they’re at it again. This time, they are making reactionary pontifications about a law they know little about. Even people who should know better, such as Attorney General Eric Holder, are making public judgments and pronouncement about Arizona’s new law without even having read it. It was a delicious development to hear Holder have to admit before Congress and the nation that he had not read it, days after having questioned it on NBC’s Meet the Press. Shame on General Holder!

This is not a bigoted law that promotes racial profiling, as some would have us believe. Americans are good people in general. The majority of them would not support a law that they believed to be mean-spirited. And most of them are smarter than the media and academic elite give them credit for. Of course, these elitists are a condescending sort that think they know so much more than the rest of us. They just know the Arizona immigration law is evil because, well, it’s inconsistent with their world view.

However, most of those who oppose it do so innocently out of ignorance. They have heard so much false propaganda about it, including many dire predictions, that they have become unjustifiably frightened. Most of us know that ignorance often leads to fear. That seems to be the case here. As Sarah Palin has suggested, perhaps a little education about this law will allay some peoples’ fear about it. Therefore, she has joined forces with Arizona Governor Jan Brewer to try to accomplish this end.

At any rate, let’s make sure history doesn’t repeat itself. We need to stand up to the instigators and tell them they’re not getting their way this time. I’m getting so tired of the minority pushing the majority around in this country. We should at least be willing to put our collective foot down and say enough is enough every once in a while. This is the perfect time for us to begin to exert this power. In fact, we must do so. It’s not just a matter of practicality; it’s a matter of survival.

PS: Kudos to Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig for refusing to cave and remove baseball’s All-Star Game from Arizona next year. The same goes for Los Angeles Lakers’ coach Phil Jackson for declining to involve his team in any kind of political statements against Arizona. We need more men like them – men with backbone.

Terry Mitchell