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Gabrielle Giffords’ Arizona shooting prompts resignations
(Arizona Central) – A nasty battle between factions of Legislative District 20 Republicans and fears that it could turn violent in the wake of what happened in Tucson on Saturday prompted District Chairman Anthony Miller and several others to resign.
Miller, a 43-year-old Ahwatukee Foothills resident and former campaign worker for U.S. Sen. John McCain, was re-elected to a second one-year term last month. He said constant verbal attacks after that election and Internet blog posts by some local members with Tea Party ties made him worry about his family’s safety.
The newly-elected Dist. 20 Republican secretary, Sophia Johnson of Ahwatukee, first vice chairman Roger Dickinson of Tempe and Jeff Kolb, the former district spokesman from Ahwatukee, also quit. “This singular focus on ‘getting’ Anthony (Miller) was one of the main reasons I chose to resign.”
Miller said when he was a member of McCain’s campaign staff last year has been criticized by the more conservative party members who supported Republican opponent J.D. Hayworth. The first and only African-American to hold the party’s precinct chairmanship, Miller said he has been called “McCain’s boy,” and during the campaign saw a critic form his hand in the shape of a gun and point it at him.
“I wasn’t going to resign but decided to quit after what happened Saturday,” Miller said. “I love the Republican Party but I don’t want to take a bullet for anyone.”
But the attacks also took on a racial hue. One critic referred to him derogatorily as “McCain’s boy,” Miller said. Other language was even less ambiguous. At an event in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., Miller said someone called out, “There’s Anthony, get a rope.”
Yet Miller balks at crying racism.”To say that anyone has been racially motivated, I can’t really draw a conclusion,” he said. “But a lot of people told me ‘You’re not a conservative, you’re a RINO.’ In my mind, that’s just as bad as being called a n—–, honestly. When you call someone a n—–, it’s saying they’re less than, and RINO is the same thing.”
Members of the Ahwatukee Tea Party group did not respond to e-mails seeking comment.
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Cross-posted from fp story – Pima County Sheriff Speaks Out
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence.".
It’s difficult to make comparisons but the domestic political violence in the Unites States reminds me of sectarian political split in a nation similar to the times of the civil war in El Salvador. Democrat and Republican party membership goes far beyond political differences to be resolved by arguments, debates and finding common ground. The Tea Party movement created by a few has all the irks of a violent sect. If not by arguments, we’ll settle our difference by the gun. There have been few wise men who could make a difference in a nation in the past. Tempo of modern life doesn’t allow for contemplative thought or visionary choices that will make a difference for the next generation. We are robbing our children of American values and personal freedom. That’s why I find the statement of Sheriff Dupnik in Tucson Arizona timely and much needed. Too bad it falls on deaf ears.
A speech by New York mayor Bloomberg got the same fate. Hate destroys human kind and begins by oneself.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."