Flores Family Murders, The January Murders, The Extreme Right, and How They Relate

Christina Taylor Green

While I am glad that justice seems to be the result of the all the trials of all those charged and now found guilty of the murder of Raul "Junior" Flores and his little 9 year old daughter, Brisenia Flores, in May of 2009, I'm still tremendously saddened by the deaths and the overall situation in Arizona that led to the deaths of two little girls in Arizona.   One little girl died in May of 2009 in a vile multiple murder and another died in January of 2009 when a mentally ill man committed mass murder and attempted murder in his attempt to assassinate Representative Gabrielle Giffords. 


The article in today's Tucson paper, Arivaca man convicted in two slayings: Gaxiola behind home invasion, '09 murder of father, daughter, provides a good overview of the basics of the horrific multiple murders and attempted murder.  I am not sure that people who have not lived near the U.S. - Mexico border can really appreciate the convoluted, bizarre, and totally senseless "issues" that combine to create  life and death realities every day in the county in which I have lived for 22 years.  

I cannot but help draw comparisons between the battle that is being waged on the America people today largely by the Republican Conservative Corporatist consortium and the ideological battle that took place before WWII.  The isolationist political demands of the conservatives, except for support of Israel, while calling for ever lessening restrictions on mega-corporations and that are  global multi-national entities disguised as American Companies that enjoy constitutional person-hood status smacks of the nearly successful Republican call for America to support the spread of Fascism and Nazism by major "respected" Americans such as Prescott Bush, Charles Lindburgh, and Henry Ford.

If you will review your history you will find that the repeal of the Neutrality Act that allowed the U.S. to support the Allies was passed bit by bit, slowly, slowly, slowly over several years, and even when our ships were sunk there was still a significant call for isolationism (see the Senate Vote on Neutrality Act article on this page) that would allow persons such as Prescott Bush to continue trading with Germany, an enemy that was attacking our properties.) The divisions in our government today hearken back to the divisions then, the massive nature of wars that are raging, and the depressed economic climate all chill me to the bone due to the similarity with which the Right (Reich?) is parroting the mass marketing of Fascism, isolation, and hatred of "the other" to the American public that was done in the 20s, 30s, and very early 40s by good ol' boy Republicans. 

I'm digressing majorly here, but I'm so angry I just I cannot concentrate.

Two murders of little children in Pima County involve to varying degrees, to the best of my knowledge both do not each directly involve all of other the following issues, but the drug war, immigration, education, and mental health all factor into the murders.

I'm so heart sick right now with wondering how many other little children are being harmed at this moment due to hate and fear that feed:

•  immigration and border issues, how many little children are having their lives exposed to the danger and destabilization of living in a drug corridor that would be far less dangerous if marijuana was rescheduled away from Schedule I, or prohibition was lifted, 
• economic consideration such as if work was available above minimum wage (if you are lucky) in so-called Right to Work States such as Arizona, 
• erosion of social and medical rights such as if mental health services being unavailable at no or low cost to all those that needed it, 
• and increasing ignorance that would diminish if education was funded, valued, and encouraged rather than being undermined by corporations that don't support education through taxes in the areas where they employ parents as well as by the fundamentalist right that hopes to eradicate public schools.  

Now before anyone gets his or her panties or briefs in a knot my last point about the eradication of public schools is based upon this quote: "One day, I hope in the next ten years, I trust that we will have more Christian day schools than there are public schools. I hope I will live to see the day when, as in the early days of our country, we won't have any public schools.The churches will have taken them over again and Christians will be running them. What a happy day that will be!" and is from
America Can Be Saved!  1979.  Murfreesboro, Tennessee: Sword of the Lord Publishers. Pages: 52-53).

Oh, and he sentencing for the murders has not yet been decided.  That is all I can say so far about Albert Robert Gaxiola who has been found guilty of two murders and one attempted murder,  who was related to the mother who was shot, who recruited Forde her Nazi comrade.  The whole thing is so disgusting, senseless, and evil that I probably won't write much more about it here or on BlogHer.com where in my occasional postings I have tried to increase awareness about what goes on in Tucson when it comes to the right wing and violence in our wonderful Old Pueblo.