Is Arizona ok?

Attempting to unpack the insanity of the political road signs in my hometown.

I was in AZ for about a week and I was actually surprised by how unhinged the political road signs were(specifically in Scottsdale where I grew up). I wondered if people living in other states where political road and lawn signs are a big thing are having the same experience? I’ll post some of the ones I was able to get pics of- let’s unpack this garbage together and PLEASE feel free to add your own, if you have any that are currently baffling/insane:

I’m starting slow- this sign makes no sense to me. any idea what Andrew is trying to say here? I asked my good friends in AZ who are very politically active and they have been equally befuddled by this message. NO TRESSPASSING ZONE- VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED? Is this about immigration? Is it a whistle call of racism? Feels like it but I HONESTLY DONT KNOW BECAUSE IT’S JUST DUMB TO ME. ANDREW- do better!

WELL. Tom is leaving nothing on the table with this one. Just another bigot letting you know where he stands. Which I guess is good in a way? Horne- you do NOT have my vote. Sit the fuck down.

ok. now this is the one that really had me googling WTF. Like I did a deep dive. Elijah Norton is a Republican challenging Republican Rep. David Schweikert. Schwikert is clearly the WORST- not just because of this insane homophobic attack. But OF COURSE there are connections between him and Jan 6 AND also he had a lengthy battle with the House Ethics Committee that ended with the committee finding he broke 11 rules and fining him 50K for misusing official funds. But back to this garbage sign I saw all over Scottsdale and Phoenix, paid for by a super PAC backing Schwikert. Homophobic and just fucking WEIRD- some of the signs also use this pic and say “Norton’s Not Being Straight With You” but I didn’t get a pic. I hate all of this. Unsurprisingly this is NOT THE FIRST TIME Schwikert has tried to “take down” an opponent by implying he’s gay. His last challenger was Ben Quayle (son of Dan, obvi) and Schwikert sent out a mailer saying “HE GOES BOTH WAYS”. Fuck this guy. Mostly, I really really really REALLY hate the idea of queer kids in AZ seeing this bullshit around town. It’s disgraceful- but I guess our guy Schwikert doesn’t really have any grace left to lose so?? There are also these:

They’re huge and I googled the shit out of it and can’t find any record that Elijah Norton was arrested but whatever! I guess it doesn’t matter. BTW, this is in no way an endorsement of Elijah Norton- I have no fucking idea what his deal is except that he’s a Repub therefore, I’m not into it. Just saying these attack signs are lame and homophobic and hateful and I would be really bummed if I lived there and was subjected to these longer than the week I was visiting.

MOVING ON!

First let’s Discuss Kari Lake.

Is she a person who:

or is she:

I have to tell you, as someone who DIDN’T KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON, I saw a bunch of the “Donated to Obama” signs first- there seemed to be more of them? And I was like, “Right on, Kari Lake. She must be a Dem running for Governor.” But then I saw this confounding corner of signs and clearly she’s a Trumper and my aforementioned politically active friends let me know SHE’S THE WORST. I do appreciate the defamation of the sign with a baby bottle being drawn near Trump’s mouth. I decided it was a bottle and not a penis but lmk in the comments what shape you see! So there’s that. But also….

Paola? I appreciate that you mean “business” but like….WHAT BUSINESS? And aside from Paola looking like a Governor from the Hunger Games, I don’t know if her full name is Paola Tulliani Zen or if this sign is trying to let us know that Paola Tulliani IS a ZEN person who MEANS BUSINESS. Lots to unpack. Sadly, I spent my energy googling the Norton/Schwiekert bullshit so I’m sorry Paola but I DON’T HAVE THE TIME.

Finally, I wanted put this sign here because it’s bothered me for the past few years. I’m curious what you all think. For me, the reason I hate it is it feels like it’s the city of Scottsdale sanctioning ignoring people in need. Like, “Hey, listen Bud, THOSE sad dirty people aren’t your responsibility- you’re a great person driving your gas guzzling giant 200K truck to your new construction home in the desert! BABY, it’s OK to TURN AWAY from the pain of those SADS. Look away and donate to an agency and they’ll make them disappear!” But then Birdie was saying that fundamentally, they don’t disagree with the sentiment because of something they learned in social studies last year about effective ways to help those in need and maybe that’s a good point but still. I hate it. Thoughts?

I’m leaving this as the last picture because I do love the sky in Arizona especially before a monsoon and it’s a reminder to me in some way that we can do better.

Let me know what’s happening where you live because I’m genuinely curious. Is your state/city/town ok? Or have things gone off the rails with the political signs and ads? Also curious if any of you live in red or purple states and are Dems but are registered as Independent in order to vote in the primaries and pick the candidates that are the most progressive(for Republicans) It’s a strategy I hadn’t really thought about because I’ve lived in blue states for so long but it makes sense and I have several friends in AZ who do it. OK! Happy Saturday!