How do Tucson residents view the Sheriff Dupnik's remarks? (Congress: schools, community college)

[citylove101]

i wndered what the locals thought about sheiff D's comments. i can say from afar that they sound right when put n the context of what seeps out about arizona here out east. yes, its looking more and more like this one guy was just nuts. even his his college math teacher said so.

that being said arizona has a nasty-looking histroy that supports his statement
"The bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous," he said. "And unfortunately, Arizona, I think, has become sort of the capital. We have become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry."

fighting dr. king's birthday as a holdiay
the white vigilanates aresting immimgrants in cohcise county a ways back
the recent banning of chicano classes (but not those of other ethnic groups) in high schools
the infamous SB70
the absolutely nuts sheriff joe arpaio

that's just the short list I can think of. arizona may not be ground zero in this country for bigotry, but i dont think you can explain all that away as just coincidence or isolated incidents. something's really rotten in the state of arizona. how can anyone deny it?

[LexusNexus]

I have relatives in Tucson including my mother and sister and they wholeheartedly agree with the Sheriff. He is spot on and I'm glad to see that Tucson has such an enligthened individual telling it like it is.

Kudos to Sheriff Dupnik! He should be honored in this country!

[ExNooYawk]

My daughter has lived in Tucson for the last three years. We are originally from CT. She tells me all the time that people from Tucson are 'crazy'. She and her fiance are making plans to leave as soon as they can find work elsewhere. It would be easy for Tucson denizens to say the predictable, "Don't let the door hit you on the way out" but these are two young people that anybody would want in their town. They work hard, have reasonable jobs and are in their early/mid-twenties.

If they and people like them can't wait to get out of there, who will be left? Retirees who vacate the state in the summer and.... I dunno, Bat Masterson? Black Bart? Billy the Kid?

[Grannysroost]

Originally Posted by citylove101

i wndered what the locals thought about sheiff D's comments. i can say from afar that they sound right when put n the context of what seeps out about arizona here out east. yes, its looking more and more like this one guy was just nuts. even his his college math teacher said so.

that being said arizona has a nasty-looking histroy that supports his statement
"The bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous," he said. "And unfortunately, Arizona, I think, has become sort of the capital. We have become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry."

fighting dr. king's birthday as a holdiay
the white vigilanates aresting immimgrants in cohcise county a ways back
the recent banning of chicano classes (but not those of other ethnic groups) in high schools
the infamous SB70
the absolutely nuts sheriff joe arpaio

that's just the short list I can think of. arizona may not be ground zero in this country for bigotry, but i dont think you can explain all that away as just coincidence or isolated incidents. something's really rotten in the state of arizona. how can anyone deny it?

[mod cut-off topic].Now the feds are taking over after violence erupted on federal officials, as they should , what does this have to do with the here and now? That paragraph has to do with state...

[AZTyphoon]

I have lived in Tucson my whole life (27 years) and Sheriff Dupnik deserves the respect of the people of Tucson and speaks for the majority of Tucson. None of "his people" are ashamed of his comments. People were applauding him outside UMC following the press conference. I found myself cheering while watching it on TV. He's 100% correct about the violent mood in our country's politics and it needs to stop. Anybody in the public eye is responsible for what they convey and anyone who thinks there's no way this was a politically motivated attack is in denial. Our states violent mood has affect on everyone, especially the mentally unstable & children.

The angry, violent, rhetoric only comes from one side in this town and it's clearly got out of hand. Tucson is a moderate, centrist city. Not right wing, not left wing, but close to the middle. That's why Giffords got re-elected in the first place! Unfortunately a small majority of extremists continue to paint a negative picture of Tucson. In this case yes, 'the empty can rattles the most'....

Also, just heard Dupnik's latest comments. I love this guy even more now. He called our current gun laws "insanity" and stood by his previous comments. He's right, the nut jobs need to shut their traps, you are not the majority!

[verybadgnome]

Originally Posted by citylove101

i wndered what the locals thought about sheiff D's comments. i can say from afar that they sound right when put n the context of what seeps out about arizona here out east. yes, its looking more and more like this one guy was just nuts. even his his college math teacher said so.

that being said arizona has a nasty-looking histroy that supports his statement
"The bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous," he said. "And unfortunately, Arizona, I think, has become sort of the capital. We have become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry."

fighting dr. king's birthday as a holdiay
the white vigilanates aresting immimgrants in cohcise county a ways back
the recent banning of chicano classes (but not those of other ethnic groups) in high schools
the infamous SB70
the absolutely nuts sheriff joe arpaio

that's just the short list I can think of. arizona may not be ground zero in this country for bigotry, but i dont think you can explain all that away as just coincidence or isolated incidents. something's really rotten in the state of arizona. how can anyone deny it?

There is something different about the politics and culture of Arizona that sets it apart from every other state. Even when compared to the hubris of Texas politicians I do not see any good rationalization for some of the decisions made including MLK day. I mean New Mexico hardly ever makes a wave and they obviously have many of the same issues being a neighboring state. It almost as if AZ is trying to prove something.......

[Marcy1210]

I do agree with Sheriff Dupnik on a couple of things. Unbalanced people are easily manipulated to commit crimes normal people wouldn't, and that Arizona's reputation is horrible throughout the country. It would appear that Loughner's actions were politically motivated, so it is up to our representatives (political and civic, elected and appointed) to do something to change the perception Americans have that unbalanced Arizonan's solve their problems by carrying guns that are readily available, killing people, and making our streets unsafe for the average citizen. They already think we have gangs running loose beheading citizens and leaving them in the desert; rampant bigotry, intolerance for anyone of color or who speaks a foreign language, terrible schools and illiterate citizens. Most people lump all of Arizona in these categories, but truth be told, it's really Tucson and southern Arizona they're afraid of.

We need tourism and industry here in southern Arizona, and our economy can't take the beating that it's getting. If other parts of America continue to think our state is a horrible, bigoted, unsafe place to be, they will stay away, and that's not good for our economy.

For that reason, having Sheriff Dupnik say what he did will go a long way to appease many Americans and maybe convince them to visit our state. When they hear him, they think there's hope for Arizona. Divisiveness is not good for us, so I think anything that can turn the tide of America vs. Arizona will be a good thing, and if it's Sheriff Dupnik, and America likes his message, that can be good for Arizona in the long run.

[jimj]

So the one question I have after listening to his remarks is "why did he not have any deputies at the event to preserve the peace?".
It's interesting that before he had any facts he spouted off and tried to tie it to politics.
This nut job was obsessed with the Senator since 2007 which is way before any of the "so called" offensive rhetoric which comes from BOTH sides of the isle.

I do wish people would get that the shooter is a NUTJOB plain and simple and wait for all of the facts (if we ever get them) before linking this to any specific events instead of imposing their political views on this horrible event.
I also think the sheriff needs to go back to what he was elected to do which is uphold the law, not political postulating.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by jimj

So the one question I have after listening to his remarks is "why did he not have any deputies at the event to preserve the peace?".

First, I'm not sure he had primary jurisdiction if the location is in the city limits. Second, those events had never had police protection before, Giffords' office didn't ask for it. It's easy to talk about what should have been in hindsight. I don't think security presence would have prevented Ms. Giffords getting shot or perhaps some of the other carnage as well. The shooter wasn't particularly concerned about getting shot himself. It looks like he expected to be, from his writings.

[Kimballette]

Originally Posted by Marcy1210

It would appear that Loughner's actions were politically motivated...

I could not disagree more with this statement. For the life of me, I simply do NOT understand how anyone can read/watch news coverage of this nut job and seriously believe he was politically motivated.

He's CRAZY. He was banned from the local community college for being disruptive, ordered not to return without psychiatric clearance. He'd been stalking Rep. Giffords since 2007 when he asked her an incoherent crazy person question (something along the lines of "If words don't mean anything, how do you govern?"), and he didn't like her answer. That's neither left nor right. That's just schizophrenic. His thinking is disorganized and pathological. Nothing political whatsoever about this whack job. He had a creepy altar on the patio that included a fake human skull. He had copies of both Mein Kampf and the Communist Manifesto in his room. Nazis and communism - opposite ends of the political spectrum.