I have to admit that I’m taken aback by the vitriol spewed at Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik for his commentary stating, “Arizona has become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry.”
Stepping back, I pondered who might this statement offend? Who does the truth hurt and why? Who is most likely to overreact to a statement like this? If you feel angry reading this, it just might be you.
Racism isn’t logical; it’s learned behavior from those who modeled these behaviors for us. The term is operand conditioning. It’s typical fear-based stuff.
We all have the ability to change that which is not working for us, to evolve. The Tucson massacre, as saddening as it may be, is an opportunity. An opportunity to learn and to grow.
D.J. Diebold, Scottsdale/Mesa
Dale Whiting posted at 2:29 pm on Thu, Jan 13, 2011.
D. J.
I may have been the first to critisize Sheriff Dupnik, trying to set the tone for more appropriate critisize. But it did not work.
First, the good sheriff implied that Arizona was the worst state in the union when it came to tolerance and political hate speech. And judging from far too many of the comments on the Trib's web site, Mr. Dupnik may have been correct. But he was in no position to state that we are the very worst. He overstated his case, so I slapped his hand once.
But in making the comparision between Arizona and other states, this good sheriff grossly and inappropriately used the word Mecca, stating to the effect that Arizona was the Mecca for those with vitriollic speech. Comparing the most sacrid city in Islam, Mecca, to a state like Arizona [which after Loughner and McVeigh, may have a problem raising its youth] was totally inappropriate and truly insensitive. So I slapped Sheriff Dupnik's hand a second time.
Otherwise I praise this good sheriff for his inartfully expressed and perhaps exagerated opinions. He may have some rhetorical problems of his own.
EmperorSmith posted at 2:53 pm on Thu, Jan 13, 2011.
Bigotry! from a 20 year native of this state offends me. I believe we all stand equal!
Gruff one posted at 3:09 pm on Thu, Jan 13, 2011.
mecca is also a place that many people visit. You might want to read "definition two" or go back to school. You seem to have heard one word and become angry (predjudice) without thinking. Which is another term for bigot.
OldLehiLady posted at 3:29 pm on Thu, Jan 13, 2011.
Spewing vitriolic rhetoric to decry the actions of a madman as being fueled by vitriolic rhetoric could be seen as offensive by some but is more reasonably seen as utterly stupid. Given his assertion that threats had been made in the past but not against Gabby one might wonder if such irrational ranting wasn't the result of guilt about not having handled those earlier threats appropriately.
Poorman posted at 6:17 pm on Thu, Jan 13, 2011.
Hopefully no one pays any attention to this guy,he might have been ok at onetime, but he now needs to retire. The sad thing some folks probably do listen to him,and sadly he gets re-elected. Dumnick opps!,i meant to say Dupnik.
Dale Whiting posted at 6:22 pm on Thu, Jan 13, 2011.
Emperor Smith,
Kindly point me to the bigotry! I guess I missed it. Just how did you get offended and who offended you?
Gruff one,
Is your handle descriptive of an attitude, one not suited to being gathered together as the President seems to have issued a call?
And yes I have used Mecca in that meaning, too. But not when comparing bad things with good pilgrims making their once in a life time pilgramage. It is more than insulting, it is degrading of a great religion. But taking all things into consideration, I am sure the Sheriff did not use it to intentionally degrade.
Those who followed me in critisizing this good sheriff went over board and crucified him.
Old Lehi Lady,
I must have missed something. You heard " vitriolic rhetoric" spewing forth? What was vitriolic? And who spewed it? Please do not be general. Give me some quotes and some names. I did not hear any of what seems to have upset so many like you so much. Just know this, I was among the first on this web site to decouple any alleged hate languate from the events of last Saturday. Where were you all of this time?
For an example, I heard no one conclude that anything Sarah Palin said or did motivated Jared to shoot Gabby Giffords. I did hear people say that hate speech has consequences, Gabby herself to name one. The only consequence I saw this time was Sarah Palin trying to defend herself from some language she thougth was critical of her. But "me thinks Sarah doth protest too much" likely from a guilty conscience.
P.S. Does the Trib get to Lehi? That's a ways north!
ElPeneDeCaballo posted at 6:43 pm on Thu, Jan 13, 2011.
The Doofus Sheriff's comments offend people who like to hear the Truth ya da mn fool, He has no proof to back up what he is saying and he is diverting attention from the victims with his reckless, needless comments.
EmperorSmith posted at 7:12 pm on Thu, Jan 13, 2011.
By saying it
OldLehiLady posted at 10:49 pm on Thu, Jan 13, 2011.
As long as the EVT is on the Internet I can get it way down here in SE AZ (grew up in Lehi) where there's not so much traffic.
Every time Dupnik spoke on TV--every news station many appearances-- he escalated his rhetoric about right wing talk radio, bigots, etc., etc., later naming names with no indication of any connection. The only person I ever heard challenge him was Megyn Kelly who asked him what were the facts on which he was basing his rants. He had no facts. Period. He finally had to admit it was just his opinion.
I didn't keep notes of quotes but have seen some of those specific rabid remarks completely omitted from at least one article. There's a clip of the Megyn Kelly interview on the America Live page of Fox News. Dupnik was the only person I was talking about earlier.
Rich posted at 8:26 am on Fri, Jan 14, 2011.
"Racism isn’t logical; it’s learned behavior from those who modeled these behaviors for us."
No, it's not exactly. It is a measurable emotional reaction. The closer something or someone is to what you are the more you identify with them and vice versa. Without societal restrictions racism exists. Supposedly society exists to temper our natural reactions to things, such as killing a rival to win a mate. In this case to accept people who are not like us, not from our valley, shorter, blonder, or darker complected,