Lady Gaga, NY Mets, and me (and Arizona and all of you...)

by: Jeremy Burton

Mon Aug 02, 2010 at 13:55:54 PM EDT

With Arizona's SB 1070 officially taking effect this past week, and with a Federal court officially blocking most of its' contested provisions, one approach might be to enter into a holding pattern; allowing our deep anger to simmer and wait for a court decision.

Another, better route, would be to keep the pressure on.  

Whether that means you boycott Arizona, or as Lady Gaga did, go and speak out once you get there, telling people to "get active and protest prejudice and injustice and the whole s--t."  My favorite moment this weekend were the protests at CitiField in NY against the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks, though

I'm not sure they should be carrying a Mexican flag.  This is not about Mexico, it's about the United States.  Its about our values and about how we treat the stranger (or even rather, who exactly is the stranger in Arizona).

So, with the NFL reporting to training camp this past weekend, with 8 more weeks of Baseball, and with MLB shamefully refusing to move next year's All Star game out of Phoenix...  I propose that, if you are in one of these cities where the Diamondbacks or Cardinals will be visiting this fall (follow the links to their schedules), take the time to go out and protest with an American flag at the games (of course we can't endorse running on the field which is after all breaking the law).

Keep the pressure on Arizona to fix this wrong, and keep pressure of the Obama administration and Congress to lead with a comprehensive Federal solution that is more than increasing border guards.