Snake Bite: Michael Lacey Bares Fangs at Janet Napolitano

As Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano awaits confirmation on her appointment to the Obama Cabinet, as Secretary of Homeland Security, some folks back home harbour some reservations. Well, one folk in particular.

The maverick co-founder and publisher of the Phoenix New Times, the flag-ship paper of New Times Media, taps his tongs on his caustic keyboard and rips the Governor cum Cabinet Secretary a new one. The journalistic equivalent of a rattlesnake bite, Michael Lacey's lengthy op-ed, full of venom and vitriol, squarely attacks Napolitano's immigration and border security posturing as Governor.

Warning: A lot of what transpires here is somewhat Arizona politics "inside baseball" stuff. But viewers of Lou Dobbs should be up to speed.

Here is a sampling of how it's done, from Michael Lacey's op-ed, "Janet Napolitano’s Sorry Service in Arizona Makes Her a Terrible Choice for Homeland Security Secretary" The Phoenix New Times (November 24, 2008) --

Consorting with anti-immigrant enforcers, indulging rank opportunism, and adhering to failed policies seem an unlikely recipe for change we can believe in. And yet this very cocktail of mediocrity — stirred by an early endorsement of Barack Obama — has thrust Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano into the heady midst of Washington's inaugural speculation.

[...]

But it is her role in securing Arizona's frontiers that bears scrutiny.

Confronted with a border state's unavoidable immigration challenges, Napolitano defended the citizenry with a devil's pitchfork. Her multi-pronged strategy: embrace the nation's most regressive legislation; empower a notorious sheriff using cynical political calculations; employ boots on the ground.

And yet she remains beloved by Democratic apologists. Those who cling to Napolitano point out that the alternative to her tepid, and occasionally disgraceful, leadership would be a Republican. That sends her partisan supporters to the fainting couch.

Ouch!!! That's gonna leave a mark.

Please don't hold back. Tell us how you really feel, Mr. Lacey.

Read the whole piece -- you know you want to -- at this link here.

Photo Credit: Chris Whetzel