So what do we make of J.T. Ready, the white supremacist who murdered four people before turning his gun on himself?
What do we make of an avowed neo-Nazi in our midst, a deviant who at one time seemed to be an up-and-comer in East Valley Republican politics?
Beyond the obvious — that he was an enormously disturbed individual — is there any larger significance to him?
I’d say so. But not in the way some are using him.
He is no more representative of all conservatives in the illegal immigration controversy than an anarchist is in the midst of a liberal rally.
But he is symptomatic of the political cowardice of both parties, particularly the Republicans.
That party has for a variety of reasons decided that illegal immigration is an enticing political weapon to use.
And one result of that is not just J.T. Ready but other racists scrambling to Arizona to participate in the farcical border patrols conducted by such groups as the Minutemen.
These folks get to play dress-up and indulge in their fantasies. We kind of laugh them off, but as we’ve seen with Ready, they’re anything but laughable.
We shouldn’t be surprised that the J.T. Readys are in our state, given the vacuum created by the federal government.
That vacuum comes from the aforementioned cowardice displayed by both parties. Remember the brave John McCain, the one who argued for comprehensive immigration reform? He’s gone and forgotten, replaced by the “Build the Dang Fence” McCain, the craven politician desperate to be reelected, one who allowed a buffoon like J.D. Hayworth to define the immigration issue in their race. McCain and other politicians have let what used to be the fringe element take over their party.
Or Barack Obama, who as a candidate promised immigration reform. But as president, has only focused on one half of that reform — the enforcement one.
So he dramatically increased the number of immigrants deported, increased the number of Border Patrol agents, deployed unmanned drones on the Texas and Arizona borders.
And even then, he’s decried by the demagogues in our state as the “Open Borders President.”
Which, of course, is fodder for the sociopaths like Ready.
Yet the president has, in his first term, done little to address what to do with the millions of illegal immigrants who live in our country.
If our politicians behaved like grownups rather than kids perpetually running for Student Council, we might’ve had much of the illegal immigration controversy quieted by now.
That they didn’t leaves the vacuum into which the Readys come.
A black mark for our politicians, our state and our country.
Mike McClellan is a Gilbert resident and former English teacher at Dobson High School in Mesa.
Leon Ceniceros posted at 12:33 pm on Wed, May 9, 2012.
"A black mark for our politicians, our state and our country" = and this from an "English" teacher. In the first place "state" should have been capitalized = "State". Secondly, "country" should have been capitalized = "Country". Thirdly, we already have a "mea culpa, mea culpa, maxima culpa".....APOLOGISTA....in Barack Hussein Obama. Bowing in half to the Emperor of Japan (the same Japan who bombed Pearl Harbor killing thousans of unsuspecting Americans and then massacring hundreds of US Soliders in the Bataan Death March and starving, beating and beheading thousands of American Prisoners of War (that's "captured" American Military men and women to the readers who never served in the America's Military Services for one reason or another).
Oh, don't forget Barack Hussein Obama bowing to the "Protector of Mecca", HRH, the King of Saudi Arabia too.
As for "lumping" a crazy guy like Ready to Republicans and SB 1070 supporters...if we are going to do an.........."equals test" then here are some examples that I have;
Democrat Presidents Bill Clinton, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt were all ........."adulterers". Therefore "all" Democrat Presidents are ..."adulterers".
Arizona Public High School coaches and teachers have been arrested for being "under-age sexual abusers, predators and pedophiles". That begs the question then ..."are all Arizona Public High School coaches and teachers under-age sexual abusers, predators and pedophiles". We all know that that isn't the case. Just like Mr. Ready isn't the "poster boy" for Arizona citizens who want our State's border protected and that aliens pass through legal, authorized Border Security checkpoints.....not jumping the fence in the desert below Ajo.
Mr. Ready, like Bill Clinton, JFK, LBJ and FDR were ....."aberrations"...nothing less and nothing more.
JAGinAZ posted at 12:56 pm on Wed, May 9, 2012.
Mr. Ceniceros - you are a fool. You make the author's point for him.
Oh by the way, feel free to correct the grammar in my reply, I'm sure there are "thousans " of errors.
asuaguila posted at 1:15 pm on Wed, May 9, 2012.
Cisneros strikes again. Your grammar is as bad as..well as your posts, while Mike's was correct. Most presidents were adulterers. And if you do not like our president, the President of the United States of America than feel free to leave.
Leon Ceniceros posted at 5:24 pm on Wed, May 9, 2012.
I was quoting the Letter Writer's use of the phrase "black mark"...if there was any racism then some of the commenters might try looking in a mirror........
[wink]
Accuracy posted at 5:29 pm on Wed, May 9, 2012.
J.T. Ready – ”seemed to be an up-and-comer in East Valley Republican politics?”
---------------------------------------------
Gilbert massacre shooter J.T. Ready claimed to be a liberal “multicultural” for both Democrats and Republicans from Polk County, Florida.
Ready Converted to Mormonism – When he was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in July 2004.
Ready was a former member of the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement (NSM) – An organization that specializes in theatrical and provocative protests.
Ready, who claimed to be into bashing immigrants, turned Democrat to run for sheriff of Pinal County.
Dale Whiting posted at 6:04 pm on Wed, May 9, 2012.
The real scary thing is that there are more Readys out there! Let's condition gun ownership on passing a periodic pyschological physical! While guns do not kill people, people kill people, without a doubt taking guns away from the likes of Ready will save people, innocent people!
Rich posted at 6:28 pm on Wed, May 9, 2012.
"If our politicians behaved like grownups rather than kids perpetually running for Student Council, we might’ve had much of the illegal immigration controversy quieted by now."
A lot of other things would get handled as well, a lot cheaper and a lot better. You are not naive enough to expect it to happen, are you? They are Republicans and Democrats, dumb and dumber, and so long as every item in the newspaper gets related to one or the other, the person who does it, qualifies as dumbest. Leon and Mike are now holding the mountain, can anyone else knock them off it?
Rich posted at 8:51 pm on Wed, May 9, 2012.
If you don't mind Dale I'd like to let you know that what you said was a bit, well, nuts. Some people can and do kill with a steak knife. Psychology is a infant science, more wrong more often than not. If you train children to handle and be safe around guns the Readys of the world can kill only one. If you make guns objects of fear and mystery you turn your world over to the Readys in every steakhouse. You make it a requirement to graduate from high school, then a lot of the problems with guns, including the Readys of the world aren't quite as much of a problem. Fear and control of guns by others, pushing things into corners only insure that they will turn and bite. If you want real control of guns, teach as many people as possible to handle and understand them. Any other type of control will only bite you.
Dale Whiting posted at 8:53 pm on Wed, May 9, 2012.
Rich,
I share most of your thoughts. I don't view Mike as holding the mountain. When one throws rocks at politicians in AZ most hit Republicans. So naturally Mike looks like he is not a conservative Republican. I don't throw rocks at conservatives. I throw rocks at Neoconservatives, those who think they know what conservatism is but haven't a real clue.
When Mitch McConnell, can dedicate himself and his fellow Republican Senators not to legislation to help solve current problems but to getting the President out of office, that sentiment pretty much sums up today's politicians. Self serving b _ _ _ _ _ ds!
concernedcitizen posted at 10:49 pm on Wed, May 9, 2012.
"If our politicians behaved like grownups rather than kids perpetually running for Student Council, we might’ve had much of the illegal immigration controversy quieted by now."
Thanks for the great analogy, this can be applied to almost anything political!
It's sad that politicians merely get into it for power and greed, rather than actually representing their constituents (oh yeah, their job...). Interesting the article I read recently about most laws passed this legislative session being morally and ideologically based. Not much of anything to actually help with our state economy! Almost as bad as last year when we instituted like a dozen new license plates and other frivolous laws that had NOTHING to do with the economy...yes I'm still bitter...
Accuracy posted at 11:04 am on Thu, May 10, 2012.
Rich posted: “If you want real control of guns, teach as many people as possible to handle and understand them.”
And not the gun-walking program which allowed guns to enter Mexico and fall into the hands of drug cartel members. So far, no one has been punished or fired ( from the Department of Justice) for the“Fast and Furious”gun-walking.
VofReason posted at 1:01 pm on Thu, May 10, 2012.
I as a Republican didn't like Ready for being a Racist- had no idea he was. If I knew I would have shunned him. Foolhardy to think that all people who are concerned about border security are racists though or that Repuublicans who shared his concern for protecting the border (on face) were racists. Pretty foolish to try to tie that together.
Bingo6 posted at 4:00 am on Fri, May 11, 2012.
Maybe not all Republicans are racists, but it's becoming more than obvious that most if not all racists are Republican.
sockratties posted at 12:36 pm on Fri, May 11, 2012.
Good letter, Mike...
Guns, like steak knives and hammers, are tools. When used by bullies like J.T. Ready they become props. The Neo-nazi culture is a perfect fit for wacko racist pretenders like Ready. They can snipe at society from a safe distance, hide behind laws protected by the police, play Border Patrol dress up, live in a fantasy world and choose which is the weakest target du jour. Unfortunately the point at which fantasy and reality clash can be disastrous.
There will always be another J.T. Ready. He may be wearing a lot of metal with a shaved head and swastika tattoos, dressed in a suit in our state congress or be dressed in a sheriff uniform. If he's a bully and targets the weakest among us, that's him. Sometimes it's blacks, sometimes it's Jews and sometimes its Hispanics. If he's grandstanding while he does it, that's even more revealing. In Arizona's political environment there's no wonder that such rabble is attracted and nourished.
leon – you couldn't find any real criticism of Mike's letter could you? Too bad you had to go that far off topic to bash some Democrats. That's really scrapping.
samkat posted at 8:58 pm on Sat, May 12, 2012.
bingo: The democrats, strike that, the far left fringe lunatics have just as many racists.
Leon Ceniceros posted at 12:55 pm on Sun, May 13, 2012.
Barack Hussein Obama was friends with the Black Racist groups and organizations...........DOES THAT MAKE ...BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA.......A ..."RACIST" ???
Rich posted at 4:19 pm on Sun, May 13, 2012.
"Barack Hussein Obama was friends with the Black Racist groups and organizations...........DOES THAT MAKE ...BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA.......A ..."RACIST" ???"
Probably
hillstreet posted at 2:40 pm on Mon, May 14, 2012.
"He is no more representative of all conservatives in the illegal immigration controversy than an anarchist is in the midst of a liberal rally.
But he is symptomatic of the political cowardice of both parties, particularly the Republicans."
Great, mr. teacher. In the same breath you tell us it could have happened anywhere you blame the Republicans. Hope you taught your classes better critical thinking skills than those demonstrated here.
Mike McClellan posted at 3:53 pm on Mon, May 14, 2012.
hillstreet (by the way, really good TV show), no, I don't believe Mr. Ready "could happen anywhere." Nor did I come close to suggesting that.
But the two statements you pair together are not mutually exclusive, as you imply.
On the one hand, the lefties who like to smear all conservatives with the "racist" brush would use Ready as evidence; in fact, Ready's clearly not representative of those who are adamantly against any kind of comprehensive immigration.
At the same time, plenty of Republicans have played political footsie by not condemning the Ready-types early and often. In a way -- a way -- it's like the Democrats paling around with guys like Al Sharpton, a race baiter extraordinaire.
In those cases, a pox on both their houses.
k33j88 posted at 6:43 am on Tue, May 15, 2012.
"symptomatic of political cowardice by both parties, particularly the republicans", now theres a perfect example of liberal thought being projected to impressionable minds in the classroom. How many minds have you destroyed with your progressive mantra? Do you recognize any OWSers that have embraced you socialist/statist ideals? So much for "objectivity" and a "level playing field". Is a third party opinion a relatively new concept for you or to just entertain the idea repulsive to you. With your lack of multi-dimensional thinking capacity, you must be easy to beat at chess.
Mike McClellan posted at 9:02 am on Tue, May 15, 2012.
Thanks, Dad.
VofReason posted at 1:19 pm on Tue, May 15, 2012.
For Dale, you really think that Ready would not have found a way to get a gun or a differnt method to kill people if he were so inclined? Foolish to think that everyone who wants to own a gun wants muder their girlfriend. Or is Dale under the guise that if someone breaks into his house at night that a police officer will magically appear to save him and his family. Here is a thought for the Liberal Demos, racism is treating different races different from other races. So wouldn't affirmative action entail the assumption that other races are not as capable as the majority and needing of special treatment to succeed? We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Oops not that old thing......
hillstreet posted at 4:04 pm on Tue, May 15, 2012.
Mike, you know and I know and I know that you know this was a feeble attempt to blame the actions of one nut on the Republican Party (BTW, I am a registered Republican, the moderate, rational type not the Russell Pearce-mental illness-loon type). Anyone can pick a nut from the left or the right and try to hang it around the neck of either party. Your column does not advance the rational discussion.
This man was a loser from birth and a pathetic excuse for a human being. This tragedy had nothing to do with politics...
Masterrogue666 posted at 4:28 pm on Thu, May 24, 2012.
Bingo6 stated: "Maybe not all Republicans are racists, but it's becoming more than obvious that most if not all racists are Republican."
You are off your rocker! Racism has nothing to do with political party membership! Trying to tie ANY racist to any other particular group is foolhardy, and only shows you have no concept that a racist can come from any "walk of life". Racists are racists, stop trying to compare apples and oranges!
Masterrogue666 posted at 4:30 pm on Thu, May 24, 2012.
"Dale", I have to agree with Rich. Education is the key to winning that battle, as it is with racism. There are people that make bombs because they think a gun won't be able to kill enough people fast enough.
Masterrogue666 posted at 4:35 pm on Thu, May 24, 2012.
@Mike M: Interesting how you glossed over our President's SEVERAL ATTEMPTS at granting amnesty to a bunch of criminals (Note: race isn't mentioned folks!). The majority of citizens don't want another round of amnesty, because it was given once, and very little was done (by EITHER PARTY) to fix the problem.
However, it's a major problem that does affect every citizen of the USA.
Masterrogue666 posted at 9:56 pm on Thu, May 24, 2012.
I almost forgot to mention that when I read or hear about how a US citizen protects his home and property by detaining INVADING FOREIGN CRIMINALS for the Feds, and the law states he's at fault, but not the CRIMINALS that invaded our country, I can understand why some people may lose themselves. Allowing criminals to profit, and chastising law abiding citizens in lunacy in practice....