SB1070 Update: That should fix things

by David Safier

The Accidental Guv has stumbled onto an idea to get tourism dollars flowing back into Arizona.

The idea is . . . well, they haven't exactly come up with it yet, but they're working on it.

With the state's tourism industry under siege in the wake of a new law aimed at illegal immigrants, Gov. Jan Brewer is moving to "reposition" Arizona's brand and image.

But no one is sure yet exactly what that involves.

Brewer met behind closed doors Thursday with representatives of about three dozen tourism groups. She said she's not sure exactly what Arizona can do to counteract the effect of threatened boycotts in protest of the law.

The mind reels, overwhelmed with rebranding ideas.

• Come to Arizona, bring your guns.
• Come for the closed rest stops, stay for the underfunded education.
• Come to Arizona, where everything is for sale: the capitol, the state parks, the . . .
• Come for the sparklers, stay for the racial profiling.
• Come to Arizona, the Show Me Your Papers state.
• Don't believe everything you hear about Arizona. Really, we're not as racist as everybody says.

I'm sure with the Guv, her crack staff and Debbie Johnson of the Arizona Hotel and Lodging Association and the Arizona Tourism Alliance working as a team, they should be able to come up with even better ideas.

They should bring in some of those legislators behind SB1070 too. Talk about your creative thinkers! How about a TV ad with Russell Pearce selling Arizona to the rest of the nation — rockin' back and forth on his porch, ol' Betsy in his lap, locked and loaded, a picture of Joe Arpaio nailed to the wall behind him. It's a winner!