Carlos Galindo-Elvira, director of the Anti-Defamation League in Arizona, called on State Senator Dalessandro to apologize calling republicans lawmakers “Nazis.” Dalessandro, not known for having a way with words, initially blamed her reckless and hurtful comment on her “psyche as a Polish American,” when she took to Facebook to “confess,” that she had made the comments.
On Friday the Yellow Sheet reported:
The Anti-Defamation League called on Dalessandro to apologize. Carlos Galindo-Elvira, director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Arizona region, told our reporter that the organization firmly believes there can never be a comparison to Nazis, “whose plan to exterminate the Jewish people resulted in the brutal, systematic murder of millions of Jews and others during the Holocaust. It is profoundly insensitive to make the comparison,” he said in an email. “The Nazis’ level of atrocious actions is not interchangeable to the legislative process. In doing so, use of the term trivializes the Holocaust and [is] deeply offensive to Holocaust survivors and an insult to the memory of those who perished at the hands of the Nazis.”
While thoughtlessly comparing her colleagues to genocidal maniacs, Dalessandro called on voters to turn the Senate into “a thoughtful collaborative body.”
“I continue to be the lucky legislator,” wrote Dalessandro on Facebook. “Tomorrow, I would like to share a few very nice things that happened in the last month but first I have to CONFESS. In yesterday’s Arizona Daily Star Editorial candidate meeting I said that the GOP Legislative Leadership is like Nazis. Now it may be just that it is September and September 1, when the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939 is etched deep in my psyche as a Polish American. Or it might be that I saw commercials for the PBS show that airs tonight Defying the Nazis: The Sharps’ Wars. Or it could be that I have been to regional conferences where I learn from other legislators in GOP controlled legislatures that Democratic bills routinely get heard. I learned that some GOP controlled states don’t want charter schools because they fear it might lead to segregation and inequality. I learned that another GOP controlled legislature increased HURF tax to improve roads for the residents in their state. Moderate and conservative GOP members get their arms twisted to vote the way leadership wants and if they stray there is always a price to pay. I also said that control is NOT leadership. Bottom line is that this year we, you and me, have the opportunity of turning around the Arizona Senate into a thoughtful collaborative body. Please work hard to get Democrats up and down the ballot elected.”
As the Yellow Sheet noted, Dalassandro sycophant, Dan Shearer, editor of the Green Valley News, “wrote a column that mentioned her Nazi comment, though Shearer was quick to rationalize it for the senator.” Shearer wrote, “That’s a rough word, but chalk it up to that frustration I mentioned.” The Arizona Daily Star ignored the Anti-Defamation League’s admonishment, and
endorsed Dalassandro.
Dalessandro’s challenger, Shelly Kais stated, “There are many important issues that need to be addressed in Southern Arizona which will require leadership and a strong voice in Phoenix. I am that voice and look forward to working with all members of the 53rd session of the Arizona Senate. My opponent’s and the Arizona Daily Star’s silence on this issue speaks volumes.”