by Jerome du Bois
Two Hispanics on pluggedin have weighed in on the Sgt Patrick Haab alien detention. The first is George Diaz, Jr., a public affairs consultant --aka, lobbyist. He spins himself silly. The second, Salvador Reza, is a Reconquista. He wants to erase the borders and establish "La Republica del Norte" --that's right, he's one of those guys who, like an aged drag queen proudly displaying a ratty, nearly-featherless feather boa, still pathetically flourishes the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo-- and thus promote the death of the rule of law and the United States itself. (Just like Ward Churchill and John Jota Leaños. Reza doesn't mention this seditious political position in his little diatribe; that particular information is here, for example.) I'll be fisking both of these dishonest men after the jump. But first:
Neither one mentions that all seven men in the Haab showdown were criminals every moment they were on United States soil. (Mr. Diaz actually claims that the felony, if there was one, took place hundreds of miles from Haab. That's nuts. The men carry the crime with them. Trespass isn't a snapshot at the border; that's where trespass begins.) I'll go further: these six males were cowards from the moment they turned heel, deserted their country, their heritage, their families, and their history, and started North. Picture it:
On one side, seven men who have surrendered their huevos, their money and their uncertain futures to an untrustworthy compatriot to run from their native country instead of fighting for it against the oligarchies and corrupt politicians and the drug crime families. "Men" who don't deserve the honorific --who will run, hide, crouch, scuttle, scurry, skitter, crawl, wriggle, eat dirt, trespass, steal, and draw blood to get safely to somewhere in America --the further to hide, run, and trespass. Whose spines bend easily, the better to kiss their masters' asses for the almighty dollar. Pendejos, every one, and every person who supports them. (Harsh? Name one here who fights for a free Mexico. Hmmm? I thought so.)
Standing before them, a completely alert, professionally-trained American soldier, the strong, straight exemplar of a 200-year tradition of armed freedom, who knows every single rule of engagement and every degree of use of his sidearm. (And what kind of lethality might have been stashed in the aliens' SUV.) A sergeant trained in civil affairs who has served in both Kosovo and Iraq, Patrick Haab had intercultural communication (my own college major) down. He had no problem communicating with these clowns in their own language, and they didn't have a chance against his confident authority. They knew, by the tone of his voice, that his word was his bond.
This disparity of confidence, I submit, is at the psychological basis of the whining and sniping you'll find in Mr. Diaz's piece, and the hysterical harrumphing in Mr. Reza's. ("Amateur Hour," Reza titles his piece.) They looked at Haab and saw a couple of things they might be missing when they look down at themselves. In Mr. Diaz's case --I'll get to Reza later-- let me support my assertion by this quote from an article by Robert Anglen in Friday's Arizona Republic, which begins on the front page, below the fold, then jumps to A17:
"Dropping charges is going to justify more ignorant actions like that of Patrick Haab," said George Diaz, a Phoenix activist.
Ignorant. Hey, George, I don't know if you have any military background, but Sgt Haab's actions were anything but ignorant. He controlled the situation. You, sir, along with Sheriff Joe Arpaio --who also didn't think of the threat of weapons in the SUV-- are the ignorant ones. You cannot stand next to his example. He shames you both. It's as simple as that.
[As for Arpaio's role in this: It ought to be obvious that Sgt Haab was merely the first pawn in the power game between that corrupt old dragon and the new kid in town. Arpaio put Sgt Haab in jail for four days, the bastard. He belongs in one of his own cells.]
Now, readers, picture Haab unarmed. Oh, wait, you don't have to, because we have Matthew Sharrar's example.
Another Iraqi veteran. Another rush out of the dark by illegal Mexican aliens. Only this time they were armed, they shot into an occupied trailer at a campground, they robbed Matthew Sharrar at gunpoint and stole his vehicle. They drove it back to Mexico and it ended up totaled. Mr. Sharrar and his father, who boasts the wonderful name Flash, have now formed a new MMP-type group, The Yuma Patriots. That's the American way. We encourage their efforts.
Do I have to note that neither Mr. Diaz nor Mr. Reza mention this armed robbery of an American citizen? Of course not. Why should they care about him? He wasn't a violent criminal from a half-lawless country; he was a stand-up American guy who walked the walk for his stand-up country.
And by the way, highway robbery and worse with illegals mixed up right in the middle is not new here in Arizona.
Now let's examine how these two political operators try to turn the dials on us.
I'll fisk the Diaz as we read along. On his bio-blurb page he says he voted for W., and that he admires both Thomas Jefferson and Pat Tillman. Hard to believe. (I don't share his admiration for Cesar Chavez.) The title is "Get The Mexicans," and the subtitle is "You've got the green light. Now go get your gun." It was published online Friday, April 22, 2005.
The headlines at The Redneck Reporter today read, "OK To Hold Mexicans At Gunpoint." A total pardon for Patrick Haab is like setting out a welcome mat for vigilantes. Now the chaos really starts.
There is no such headline because there is no such publication. Mr. Diaz begins his piece with a fragment of completely irrelevant racist fiction. Is it supposed to be funny? Isn't saying redneck like saying wetback? Yes, it is. But the editor (Phil Boas?) okayed its use. (Later he refers to "yahoos.") That's a tell, as they say in The House of Games.
A total pardon for Patrick Haab
Whoa. "Pardon" is a precise word which implies the commission of a crime. The charges against Sgt Haab were dismissed by the time this column was published. (See above.)
is like setting out a welcome mat for vigilantes. Now the chaos really starts.
I can hear his knees knocking together already, as he imagines the whispering shuck of thousands of black-barrelled shotguns locking and loading with buckshot, the millions of metallic insect clicks of safeties gone unsafe on shining silver handguns all along the watchtower, can't you hear the thundering hooves of their foaming stallions?! Run for your cojones! But it's all fake knuckle-chewing, like a helpless heroine in a silent reel, swooning melodramatically as she points to the moustachioed villain.
Already you can probably tell I'm more than a little disappointed by County Attorney Andy Thomas' decision not to prosecute Patrick Haab, but you should be too, even if you are not or could not be confused for a Mexican. Why?
Because if you fall into any potential category that is unpopular with the majority now, could be unpopular with the majority in the future, or could be confused for either, you too could be the exception too, [sic] "equal protection under the law".
This is the clinical definition of paranoia, but he's just using it as a device. He acts as if the Nuremberg Laws have been reinstated: "They're coming for you next!" This is tripe. What "majority?" Is it a monolith? If not, what coalitions constitute this entity, and why are they unified into this majority? No explanation; the word is just a placeholder: Them. You know, as in Conspiracy Theory --They. Them.
This man is a lobbyist, which means verbal hired gun, which means that he can schmooze with the best of them, talk up one side and down the other, walk between the raindrops, smooth his silk necktie during the weekdays and eat mama's menudo con gusto on Sundays. As my wife says, you don't need a DJ to know which way the spin goes. He's turning the usual tired liberal dials.
Even the many American-born Hispanics who aggressively resent illegal immigration because of the perception that it negatively impacts their own status will only briefly celebrate Thomas' decision. Once they realize they could be mistaken for this underclass and become victims they may do something crazy - like vote.
First, there's no "perception" about it: American-born Hispanics should be on the front lines of strong immigration reform if they don't want these waves of criminals "negatively impacting" their "status." We all should be. (My stepson is half-Mexican. Two of my grandchildren are part-Hispanic.) The illegals are dragging us all down, in many ways, diverting our energies from more productive paths.
Second, does Mr. Diaz really believe that he, as a typical example of his typical example, would be "mistaken for this underclass"? Again, this is tripe. Mr. Diaz knows exactly where he stands in his highly polished shoes, and when he lays his head down to sleep at night, the last thing he considers himself is a victim, except when he whips out the scare quotes.
Of course, every citizen should be a voter.
In yesterday's press conference Thomas repeatedly described Haab as lucky. My instinct tells me anyone on the wrong side of the mob mentality would not have been so lucky.
Haab, a single person (at the start of this encounter), was no mob, so who could Diaz be referring to? Seven men rushing a lone man from the darkness at a rest stop might be defined as a mob, but again that's not who Diaz is referring to. Still, I think Haab was both lucky and prepared. And, Mr. Diaz, when we reason, we set our "instincts" aside. What your "instinct" tells you, or us, is worthless. We're trying to have a rational, adult discussion here.
Haab's act was violent but apparently within the limits of what publicly is acceptable. Makes me wonder what is not acceptable. When a vigilante draws a weapon on someone and is killed by that someone because they feared for their life, will that be acceptable?
No, Mr. Stupid Question Man, because we refuse the question. Makes me wonder what you consider acceptable. Let's see: The seven men rush out of the darkness. Sgt Haab stands there and does nothing. The seven men do . . . what? What did they want, Mr. Diaz? Why did they approach Sgt Haab? What were their intentions? Were they interested in a friendly game of dominos? Think!
Or how about this scenario: it's night at Sunset Point, nearly deserted, and you, George Diaz, Jr., emerge from using the facilities and step over to the railing to gaze out over the valley and enjoy the quiet darkness. Then car doors slam and a crowd of six or seven guys come silently toward you down the dimly-lit walk. Nobody else around. Are they a mob? How do you feel? (I know: whip out the Samsung!)
A lack of justice will drive militancy. Militancy will escalate violence. It should have all stopped yesterday.
A double standard for prosecuting violent crimes has evolved. All that is missing now are the internment camps.
Well, that didn't take long. How far we've come, and how fast. (Too many viewings of The Seige, maybe.) From a single incident --or maybe he means the MMP, too-- to internment camps in a single step. Again, this is sloppy, stupid talk. Get an English dictionary. The first three sentences in this clip have no real human subjects or actors. Things are driven and escalated and should have stopped, but by whom? What is "militancy?" Armed anger? So? I'm armed and I'm angry, but nobody needs to fear me unless they come up on me or mine with harmful intent. It's called self-control. As for the sentence, "It should have all stopped yesterday," that's pure kumbayada-yada-yada.
One of Mr. Diaz's problems is his contempt for his fellow human beings. He seems to believe most folks (or is it just those who belong to the hegemony of the American Empire?) are barely-controlled pit bulls, just waiting for a chance to tear someone a new one. Well, look around: we're not. Stop the histrionics. Stop presuming that people are as paranoid as you pose, Mr. Diaz. (I know it's a pose.)
Thomas justifies Haab's actions by citing 13-3884, 13-410 and 13-3881. Here they are for your review with my comments.
13-3884. Arrest by private person
A private person may make an arrest:
1. When the person to be arrested has in his presence committed a misdemeanor amounting to a breach of the peace, or a felony.
2. When a felony has been in fact committed and he has reasonable ground to believe that the person to be arrested has committed it.
The "felonies" (which are really federal misdemeanors) the seven aliens committed occurred a few hundred miles south of the rest stop when they crossed the border. Well outside of Haab's "presence". Haab had no prior knowledge, nor the expertise, nor the probable cause to determine if any crime had been committed. If running through the desert is a felony then all those hikers around Squaw Peak better think twice before they lace up.
Isn't that last sentence wonderfully absurd --and empty? The big difference between the seven aliens and the hikers is that the hikers who are citizens belong here. For once Diaz uses precise language: aliens. Their feet do not belong on the same land as the hikers' feet. It's our country, not theirs.
Also, Diaz apparently believes Sgt Haab has instant-retrieval capacity of the Arizona Revised Statutes in situations of stress. And yet Sgt Haab refused to follow the statutory authority, and instead relied on intelligence, reason, and professional training.
Sgt Haab does have instant-retrieval capacity for the options available in many stressful situations, unlike most civilians. It was part of his training, and has been embedded in his experience in two very foreign environments. He has recycled these experiences, reported them, written them down, justified them. He has pondered mortal stakes. Sgt Haab is not the trigger-happy cowboy that Mr. Diaz and Mr. Reza and the predictable dicks of the left would make him out to be. But I hope the reader sees the need of these neurotics to trash the good and the strong.
Additionally, did Haab really suspect there was a human smuggler among the seven? It's hard to tell, his story changed so many times.
Well, is it hard to tell, or impossible to tell? And how did his story change? From what to what to what? Diaz is calling Sgt Haab a liar. That's a serious charge. But it's just more fog. He doesn't feel he needs to support his assertions. And if he doesn't have the word space to furnish the details, he should not make the claim at all.
And if the other six were truly being smuggled, then where did they conspire? In Mexico outside of the county attorney's jurisdiction? According to attorneys experienced in this area, this is the first case of those being smuggled being even suspected of conspiring with their smuggler.
This guy has some strange idea about the spatiotemporal location of the commission of a crime. The conspiracy, just like the trespassing, was in place, in effect, and under way at the moment those men intersected Sgt Haab's life. And what attorneys does Mr. Diaz refer to, who have the same strange ideas he does?
this is the first case of those being smuggled being even suspected of conspiring with their smuggler.
Again, this is nuts. "I'll give you $5000 to get me to the US. Whaddaya say?" "Okay, let's go." This isn't conspiracy?
13-410. Justification; use of deadly physical force in law enforcement
A. The threatened use of deadly physical force by a person against another is justified pursuant to section 13-409 only if a reasonable person effecting the arrest or preventing the escape would believe the suspect or escapee is:
1. Actually resisting the discharge of a legal duty with deadly physical force or with the apparent capacity to use deadly physical force; or
2. A felon who has escaped from lawful confinement; or
3. A felon who is fleeing from justice or resisting arrest with physical force.
(other sub-sections apply only to peace officers)
I think this speaks for itself, but just in case... First off, this section is really meant to be used by law enforcement officers, but the subsection A does not specify that so lets give Haab the benefit of the doubt and say civilians are capable of using this subsection. The seven aliens were not using deadly force, nor were they armed, escaping from lawful confinement or fleeing justice. You could argue that because there were seven of them they were capable of deadly force because of they could overwhelm him. But I guess then any little league team could also be subject to being held at gunpoint.
Once again the wonderfully idiotic comparison, which exposes the weakness of Mr. Diaz's position. But let's back up:
The seven aliens were not using deadly force, nor were they armed, escaping from lawful confinement or fleeing justice.
Sequence is important here. When they returned to their SUV they may have been going to retrieve weapons cached therein. After all, they had just been drawn on.
And they were fleeing justice; they were criminal trespassers from another country.
13-3881. Arrest; how made; force and restraint
A. An arrest is made by an actual restraint of the person to be arrested, or by his submission to the custody of the person making the arrest.
B. No unnecessary or unreasonable force shall be used in making an arrest, and the person arrested shall not be subjected to any greater restraint than necessary for his detention.
The key words here are, "no unnecessary or unreasonable force" and "continuum of force." Haab should have used his cell phone to call the Border Patrol because those seven aliens were cooperating. Drawing a weapon was, unnecessary and unreasonable. Professional law enforcement officers know that there is no sense in risking harm to someone who is cooperating. But if you display the wrong body language or resist arrest you are going to taste pepper spray or [sic] tased. A gun only is supposed to come out of the holster as a last resort.
Again Diaz spins the sequence and the facts. The seven aliens were cooperating after Haab produced his sidearm. Haab did use his cell phone to call the Border Patrol. But Diaz, in his desire to try to create a false sense of alarm, danger, and bullying, leaves out the other motorist. Here's what happened, according to the AP's Arthur H. Rothstein:
At the rest stop, a man with a backpack walked passed him to a vehicle parked two spaces from his own, and six men with backpacks "rushed me," Haab said. "Training took over, the dog got in between us, even though she is not trained at all, she acted on instinct, stopped the men, which gave me time to draw my weapon."
Haab and his dog chased the six to the vehicle the other man had climbed into, and at gunpoint Haab told the driver to turn off the engine, grabbed their keys from the ignition, then called 911 and yelled to another parked motorist for help.
Haab gave the second motorist a gun to hold while questioning the seven in Spanish, at which time they said "they did not have papers, they were illegal immigrants."
He then had the seven men climb out of the vehicle one-by-one and lie on the sidewalk.
Haab said either the Border Patrol or sheriff's deputies told him by phone to let the men back in the vehicle, which he did, as the second motorist returned the gun and left.
What is unreasonable or unnecessary here? And there were no mad minutes in this encounter, either. And remember that none of this would have happened if those seven men had simply not been where they didn't belong.
If the county attorney did not want to prosecute Haab for aggravated assault, as the Sheriff's Department submitted, he could have chosen to split the difference and charge Haab with endangerment or assault (see below). The charge could have then been pled down to a misdemeanor. The sentence could have been time served and the message to yahoos would be, "don't do this or you'll be punished."
But now that the charges have been dismissed, all bets are off: it's cry havoc and let slip the yahoos of war --buck-toothed, camo-covered, eye-rolling Aryans all seething to leave bloody black hair all over the manzanita.
Get over yourself, Mr. Diaz. And admit it: you just want to see Sgt Haab suffer more than four days in Joe Arpaio's hideous jail. Well, you won't get your way, and I'm glad, glad, glad!
Mr. Diaz's screed ends this way:
13-1201. Endangerment; classification
A. A person commits endangerment by recklessly endangering another person with a substantial risk of imminent death or physical injury.
B. Endangerment involving a substantial risk of imminent death is a class 6 felony. In all other cases, it is a class 1 misdemeanor.
13-1203. Assault; classification
A. A person commits assault by:
1. Intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causing any physical injury to another person; or
2. Intentionally placing another person in reasonable apprehension of imminent physical injury; or
3. Knowingly touching another person with the intent to injure, insult or provoke such person.
B. Assault committed intentionally or knowingly pursuant to subsection A, paragraph 1 is a class 1 misdemeanor. Assault committed recklessly pursuant to subsection A, paragraph 1 or assault pursuant to subsection A, paragraph 2 is a class 2 misdemeanor. Assault committed pursuant to subsection A, paragraph 3 is a class 3 misdemeanor.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the author's employer, family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, or pets.
Once again, with that final word, as with the hikers and the little leaguers and the rednecks and the yahoos, Mr. Diaz undermines any serious argument he might have been trying to make. Mr. Diaz may subscribe to the Humpty-Dumpty theory of meaning --"A word means just what I want it to mean, neither more nor less"-- but reasonable people don't.
******
On to Mr. Salvador Reza, who every day breathes the free air and, judging by his photo, heartily enjoys the bounty of the very land he would destroy. His piece is titled "Amateur Hour," and subtitled "More good reasons to boycott Arizona."
"I do not want the message to go out that people can start rounding up illegal immigrants whether or not they think they're here legally, whether or not they know all the facts," Andrew Thomas Maricopa County Attorney. [sic]
He forgot the obvious [sic] unless they are from Mexico and South America.
By letting Sgt. Patrick Haab walk without even a symbolic prosecution he opened the invisible doors of the Wild, Wild, West. Back to the days of the Texas Rangers rounding up Messicans and killing them by the dozens. Back to the days of vigilante justice by serviceman in the Sleepy Lagoon incident in California.
Ethnic cleansing actions who never differentiated between guilty and innocent; away from the rule of reason toward the rule of chaos and xenophobia. Great job Mr. Thomas and all those elected officials that gave him his blessing.
And still they don't understand why people throughout the United States and Mexico are talking about boycotting Arizona. One thing is to come to Hollywood's Wild, Wild, West shows, the other one is to travel back in time and be exposed to trigger happy, gun toting nuts.
County Attorney Thomas is so extreme that even Sheriff Arpaio chastised his actions.
I call on Phil Boas right now to reread this hysterical screed and ask himself why he let it go by. He ought to be ashamed to let such sophomoric ranting even cross his desk. Unless, of course, he's another self-loathing affluent American who loves to get the dung flung at him.
I'm not going to bother fisking everything here. Just two notes: First, see how Mr. Reza tries to spin the tired dials, push the dead-button words --vigilante, Wild Wild West, Messicans, ethnic cleansing, xenophobia, gun toting nuts-- with no real connective tissue of reason; just a frantic flinging of bits of distorted history and disrespect for real people.
Second, look at one sentence:
And still they don't understand why people throughout the United States and Mexico are talking about boycotting Arizona.
If only.
I mean it. If only illegal Mexicans, all other illegals, and all their sympathizers would boycott Arizona in the most radical way by keeping or gettting their sorry asses out of it. More room for the rest of us who honor and respect our country.
Mr. Reza, why don't you join them? How can you boycott Arizona while you're chowing down on food you buy here? I've been here thirty-five years and counting, and I love it here.
So get your fat ass out of my state, go back home to Chihuahua, where you left your huevos, and try to bootstrap your country into respectability. Why not?
My family came here 350 years ago. We did our hard work here to make this country the greatest on Earth. Mr. Reza, Mr. Diaz, you're fools to think pissants like you, still trying to induce racial guilt, can have any significant effect on the course of this ship of state.
UPDATE: Here's another Hispanic who pumps the paranoia about armed Americans with no self-control --this time in restaurants that serve alcohol. Skeerdy-cat Linda Mazon Guittierez writes a short piece today, April 25, on pluggedin:
So it seems law-abiding gun owners don't want to have to leave their weapons at home or in the car, where they are useless for protection, when they dine in restaurants that serve alcohol.
My, my --how inconvenient that can be.
OK, then I say to these fretting, gun-toting enthusiasts that even though we have never met before in our entire lives, somehow I am supposed to trust them implicitly to not imbibe one little drinkiepoo with an oozie by their side.
The alternative is simple. Stay home, line up the gun barrels, invite the Minutemen and have a steak fry.
"Drinkiepoo?" "Oozie?" Are you having fun now? I should think a woman of my generation, a mother of four young adults, and a big shot in the Hispanic Women's Association, might take lethal issues seriously. (She actually uses the term "Armed Knuckleheads." Profiling, anyone?)
But no, the real reason for this comment is to take a stab at the Minutemen. But they can't come to a steak fry or a restaurant. They're busy, in Washington and on the border; too busy to dither with you, Mrs. Gutierrez.
Posted by Jerome at April 25, 2005 09:20 AM | TrackBack