Maybe they could blame their strange behavior on the very high heat rolling across their state, if only the rightwingers there didn’t regularly deny it to result from global warming.

But some residents of Arizona, in their latest of fascist fear responses, are objecting to local media’s use of the term “haboob” in recent weather reports.

Haboob, a term for a specific type of sandstorm, is derived from Arabic.  

Its origin is not just pertinent to a regional language, however, according to some folks in the state. “Haboob” is … Middle Eastern, according to a resident from Gilbert, who told of his objection to the term in a letter to the editor.

“While other countries in the world may call them that, this is the United States,” wrote Don Yonts, who stressed “this is Arizona, not some Middle Eastern nation.”

A few days earlier, another from the Grand Canyon State complained to the Arizona Star that use of the word “robbed” local residents “of our culture.”

Haboob storms, which recently struck the central part of the state, aren’t new to the region. This particular class of sandstorm, which is typified by reversal of wind direction upon storm collapse, is common in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, sometimes strikes Colorado and Kansas, and has struck as far north as Canada on occasion.  

Use of the word isn’t new in the area, either. According to a climatologist from Arizona State, “Meteorologists in the Southwest have used the term for decades.”

And you wanna know another interesting fact on this topic? “Haboob” isn’t the only word of Arabic origin frequently used in the United States, either.

Just fish the almanac out of your alcove to verify the historic occurrence of those haboobs striking the adobe style homes in Arizona.  Those terms are Arabic, after all.

If you’re a closet meteorologist attempting to use algebra and algorithms to determine when another storm might strike, you’re using Arabic then, too.

You’ll have to skip the sugar from your coffee and the syrup from any candy, if Arabic words bother you so much, and refrain from eating any artichoke, apricot, lemon, lime or orange, too.  Those are all Arabic (… I mean, “Middle Eastern!”) words.

Protest near the gazelles and giraffes at your local zoo; cancel all your magazine subscriptions; throw the saffron and tarragon from your spice cabinet; scrape those sesame seeds from the bun of your Big Mac; yank your children from chemistry class; put the cork back in your carafe of wine; remove the sequins from your wife’s satin dresses; and burn all of your own clothing made of cotton.

If this Arabic word usage in the country, not to mention its long and lengthy contributions to the English language, still bothers you so much, then maybe you’d like to step down from your patriotic rank of Admiral, only to become an assassin after robbing the arsenal to load up your .22 caliber rifle.  Yeah, those are Arabic terms, too, pal.

This is only the latest xenophobic attack from rightwingers in Arizona, albeit a new format (linguaxenophobia?).  It’s also the home of SB1070, the bill passed into law earlier this year that allows police to detain folks simply for not looking Caucasian enough, on the phobic proposition those persons may be illegal aliens.

Arizona Republicans want to remove the 14th Amendment, too, due to its granting of citizenship to persons who are born in the U.S.

This state also has large presence of privatized prisons detaining illegal immigrants, and which delay their deportation as long as possible – only to score as much money as possible from the government.

Before long, these rightwing Arizonans need to come to terms with fact: they have thousands and thousands of non-Caucasian neighbors whose families have lived in Arizona longer than their own families – and who’s families have held U.S. citizenship longer than a wide majority of white American families, too  

And those Arabic words you now protest? They’ve been used in our English language for centuries  – and for longer than most white American families have used English.

So give it up, already.

(Read more about Arizona rightwingers here and here.)

It’s apparent that Sarah Palin wants no association of any kind with the recent mass-shooting in Arizona, and certainly not the blame. And she doesn’t want that tragic occurrence to have any type of general reflection on national politics, either.

She even said so herself. “Our children will not have peace if politicos just capitalize on this to succeed in portraying anyone as inciting terror and violence,” she offered in a written statement. The incident was “inexcusable” and “incomprehensible,” she said on video.

Palin’s videotaped commentary also expanded to the subject of division in government. Political opponents are supposed to “shake hands and get back to work,” especially since “both sides find common ground” when in true Democratic operation of government. 

But her supporters, most recently one at a “Conservatives 4 Palin” website, are defeating the former governor’s goals, it seems.  Instead, they’re using the memorial service from Tucson to build a dividing fence on that common ground Palin urges all to share.

According to Ian Lazaran, a regular contributor to the site, Pres. Obama delivered a “terrible speech” and “dreadful performance” at last night’s memorial.

“He stumbled like a community organizer would at an ACORN meeting,” Lazaran opines. “The type of speech that Obama gave is one of the easiest ones to deliver and he still missed the lay-up. I guess he’s ‘aging.’”

Lazaran’s criticism isn’t limited to the president alone; even the event’s attendees were “a complete embarrassment,” he offers.

Wait a sec … what was that? The folks there last night were “a complete embarrassment”?

Psst! Say! Lazaran! Yo! Those thousands of people went to pay honor and respect to their family members and neighbors who were brutally shot! Six of whom were killed! Are you so stupid and insensitive that you’ll call them an “embarrassment”? How thoughtless, not to mention un-American, can you be? And not only did you fire a few more rounds at the victims, but you just shot Sarah in the foot, too.

Not only is Lazaran continuing the exact type of discourse that Palin said she wanted to stop, but he’s doing it with false information. He titled this article “Liberals blame crowd for Obama’s terrible speech,” but, aside from repeating it once, offers no evidence or mention of source for that made-up claim.

He lists the Wall Street Journal as source for his “terrible speech” offering, but that article actually defeats Lazaran’s intended premise.

In fact, the article credits the president’s speech for overcoming the ever-widening divide to which this tragedy continues to contribute, noting that Obama urged an end to the finger-pointing.

“(H)e urged the nation to rise above ugly political debates,” the article notes, and directly quotes Obama’s assertion that “the truth is that none of us can know exactly what triggered this vicious attack.”

So, let’s recap: Palin went on television asking not be given any blame for the shooting, and pled for public unity to meet common goals.

The president then asked a large crowd at a televised memorial not to blame politics in general or Palin in particular for the shooting, pleading for public unity to meet common goals.

Palin-supporter Lazaran then went online and did the exact opposite of what Palin and Obama requested.  He continued to associate Palin with the tragedy; he continued to use this tragedy as grounds for piss-poor political punditry; he continued to wade in the blood of victims for personal diatribe; he put up a separating fence in the common grounds Palin asked all to share; he continued to expand the wide divide.

And it seems he's engaged in such behavior many times through many websites, all in support of Palin, and has developed reputation of “this dishonest Lazaran fellow(.)"

If Palin truly wants to set grounds for peaceful discourse amongst everyone of all political persuasions, then she needs to put socks in the mouths of fools like Lazaran.  Her own supporters are defeating her stated goals and needs.

Lazaran’s foolish and insensitive comments may have been issued as fodder to feed some flock of Palin fans, but they only give the public even more reason to knock her further down the totem pole after the Tucson shooting.

Insinuations of Tea Party-provoked unrest and violence have been continuously reported to play a role in the attempted assassination of an Arizona congresswoman.

Such rumors received new weight today, and directly from the GOP in that same area.

According to The Arizona Republic, four local district officials resigned due to threats from Tea Party members of their same Republican Party.

Legislative District 20 Chairman Anthony Miller stated fear for his and his wife’s safety as the basis of his resignation.

Miller was recently elected district chairman after a heated contest with another candidate, a member of that region’s Ahwatukee Tea Party.   On one occasion during the campaign, a Tea Party member made handgun-like gestures towards him, Miller recalls. He was also the subject of verbal and blog-issued assaults following the election, too, he states.

First vice chair Roger Dickinson, secretary Sophia Johnson and former spokesman Jeff Kolb also announced their resignations from the District 20 Republican Party, citing the same circumstances as basis.

With active participation and promotion from noted Republicans, such as former Gov. Sarah Palin (a national promoter) and former Rep. Dick Armey (who helped create and promote the movement at its inception), this Tea Party-created unrest in the Republican Party could be self-defeating to the GOP, as this Arizona incident indicates.

Approximately 79 percent of Tea Party supporters are Republican, according to a Gallup poll.

Over the last two years and shortly after its creation, Tea Party demonstrations were reported to include veiled threats and violent themes. Some activists promoted vandalism, and one Tea Party sect could be responsible for attempted against an elected official.

For example, signage displayed at a Tea Party demonstration against the healthcare act included the message “Warning: If Brown [a congressman] can’t stop it, a Browning [handgun brand] can.”

A Tea Party enthusiast in Alabama posted blog messages asking others to vandalize local Democrat Party facilities. This same site also posted residential addresses of congressional representatives who voted for the national healthcare act, advising readers to “drop by” their homes. A gas line at one of those addresses was severed after the posting.

If the Tea Party was created and supported by the Republican Party as a method to gain votes, these recent incidents only indicate that the efforts have backfired on the GOP.