San Diego to Arizona: “Look, just because we called you racist bigots…”

Ain’t a ‘misunderstanding,’ by the way.  Arizonans got the message loud and clear. Louder and clearer than desired, in fact.

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers.

“…doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t visit:”

San Diego tourism leaders and hoteliers fear they could lose a sizable chunk of business this summer from valued “Zonies” who are so angered by elected leaders’ recent censure of Arizona for its illegal-immigration law that they’re mounting an informal boycott of their own.

The San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau and several hotels report receiving e-mails and letters from Arizona visitors saying they intend to change their plans to travel here in light of local outcry over their home state’s anti-illegal-immigration stance.

Tourism officials are striking back. In an open letter, they urge Arizona residents to overlook local politics and come to San Diego just as they always have for its mild climate, beaches and attractions.

Read the whole thing, especially the parts where the Democratic legislators involved are stammering over the alarming revelation that their act of political … ah, ‘auto-eroticism’… actually had adverse consequences in Big-Person Land.  I encourage the San Diego hospitality industry to contemplate the implications of this; and to further contemplate that the solution to their problems with an insulted customer base lies with dealing with the insulters, not the insultees

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

66 thoughts on “San Diego to Arizona: “Look, just because we called you racist bigots…””

  1. Hey California.
    As soon as you straighten out your problems, please feel free to take on ours (Arizona).

    By the by, during the boycott of things made in Arizona, does this include the electric used to run your air conditioners? (just askin………….)

  2. I’ve been expecting something like this. The morons doing their political posturing really do need to learn that pissing off people who *were* going to spend money in your city, or do business with companies based in your city, is a good way to end your political career, especially given the current economy.

    Actions have consequences. Some of our moronic elected officials need to be repeatedly whomped upside the head with a cluebat on this issue.

  3. San Diego has been a summer refuge for Tucson and Phoenix residents for many years. Many of them have condos there and keep boats in San Diego marinas. A real boycott by Arizona residents this summer would hit like a ton of bricks on San Diego.

  4. And as usual, an informal, back-of-the-mind boycott by the working class deluges and overwhelms a venomous noise-making campaign by hippies.

    Hell, I’ve probably offset the entire boycott just by my Iced Tea purchases in the last month.

  5. Arizona citizens should return the favor and cease electrical power transmissions to the blighted State of California. Not only would this recognize California’s demand to suspend all relations with the repugnant Arizona people, but it would have immense environmental and cultural benefits as well.

  6. This is not going to end well for San Diego or California in general. Some 70% of this country is in support of Arizona and this bill. California is quickly becoming the hate zone of America.

  7. There is another type of reverse-boycott….One my Duchess and I are seriously contemplating. In a month we depart for 3-4 months in our motorhome. Planned itinerary…Illinois (grands), then to NE (VT,NH,Maine)….

    Revision….1st a trip to AZ to help drop some $ to help make up for the idiotarians in CA & WA, and OR….. Spend and see the beauty of AZ….

    Then on with the rest. Makes no diff to me where I spend my $…except now I am motivated. I am not alone!

  8. Dear Arizonans,

    Please visit New Orleans this summer. The July/August climate sucks, but you’ll be busy eating and drinking in air conditioned establishments run by people who don’t think you’re a bunch of bigots.

    Don’t listen to those San Diego tourism reps. They’re just trying to save their own skins. They are, after all, the same people who elected the boycotters. Tell them where they can stick it.

  9. PLEASE people
    Do you really think for an instant that all these brave CA. cities so eager to stand on principle would for a second consider doing without Arizona’s water or electricity? Or survive without it?
    AZ. should just shut off the power for 30 seconds (the FIRST time) and say
    “WHO RUNS BARTERTOWN???”

    FYI: The ultra-leftist L.A. Times ran a poll and found that 97% of respondents AGREE with Arizona.

    *OOPS!!!*

  10. Bravo to Arizonians with a spine. I am a Southern California resident of a non-boycotting city. I will buycott Arizona and did so last weekenddwith a three day stay that was originally intneded for San Diego.
    The pandering of San Diego, the Bay area cities and nearby bankrupt Los Angeles signaled to me I will not be patronizing businesses in those cities for anything or any reason.
    The most efective way to kill the beast of big government and its libtard backers is to starve it. The left-wing noise machines seem to not realize hippy leftists have no money to spend on travel once they purchase their pot and patchouli. Payback for libtard panderer politicians, bureauweenies, and their localities can become a real b—-.
    The warm waters of the Texas Coast and Puerto Penasco beckon Arizonians and frankly I hope all Arizonians boycott California living here to help us kill the vile communist critters in Sacramento that are destroying California.

  11. perhaps a vote by the San Diego city council to boycott LA would make amends. Enemy of my enemy, and all that.

  12. My lone voice from California says stay strong Arizona. This fashionable boycott will pass out of vogue soon enough, much like the Prop 8 boycott of California that everyone seems to have forgotten about.

  13. Sounds like they still mean it. From the city council’s website:
    The City of San Diego’s Human Relations Commission urged City Council to send a strong message and join other cities and elected officials who have called for a boycott of Arizona. City Commissioners Bruce M. Abrams and Nicole Murray Ramirez spoke before City Council and issued the following statement: The San Diego Human Relations Commission would like to thank the City Council for considering Council President Ben Hueso’s resolution condemning Arizona Senate Bill 1070 and urging its repeal. The Human Relations Commission feels that the legislation raises such major civil rights, humanitarian and Constitutional issues that we must ask the City Council to approve this item today indicating our strong opposition to any policy that promotes racial profiling or discrimination based on race, ethnicity or national origin. We further call upon the City Council to immediately create a task force with the objective of producing a stronger resolution calling for a boycott of Arizona. The task force should analyze the impact of potential boycott measures and develop specific and effective recommendations which the City can implement.

  14. Since San Diego is so keen on protecting the rights of illegal aliens, perhaps they will be happy to know there are hundreds of thousands of them heading west as we speak – ready to take full advantage of San Diego’s fine schools, roads, hospitals and prisons.

  15. If I was in AZ I wouldn’t visit San Diego (or Los Ang’los either). Even if SD isn’t boycotting them, why would anyone want to visit a place where the elected gummint thinks you’re racist by geographical association?

    The main reason AZ’s having their terrible illegal immigrant crime problem is because the California border has been sealed — so once again, as with oil and gas and electrical power and cement and wood products that Californians are importing so as to keep our Golden state pristine — Californians are exporting their problems at our neighbor’s expense. No border crossing, no drilling, no generating, no digging and no cutting — we NIMBY/BANANA Californians are too good for that nasty business within our boarders.

    Second generation Californian.

  16. I’m from California but I’m entirely on Arizona’s side in this one. Hope they decide to skip San Francisco as well, that place thrives on tourism.

  17. Duke makes a great point that you will never hear the media discuss. What about the people that will now go to Arizona to show their support?

  18. It’s obvious the City Officials of San Diego prefer Illegal Aliens to American tourists. The whole darn state of California is a hellhole of Illegals and the poverty, crime and disease they bring with them. STAY AWAY FROM CALIFORNIA. I was taking my family on vacation to the Coronado Hotel, but we’re not going now, We’re going to Sedona, Arizona instead. I hope California suffers a lot for their arrogance and hatred of America.

  19. ‘“I understand the City Council was being passionate about their politics, but I don’t think they thought it through,” Holladay said.’

    That’s the understatement of the year! BWAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!

    ‘School board President Shelia Jackson said that while she was disappointed to hear of people opting to stay away from San Diego, she doesn’t regret her vote.’

    I’m not surprised. Her job is safe (she thinks). Nothing like someone else bearing the consequences of your convictions.

    Stupid, arrogant, self-righteous twits.

  20. Just another reason not to go back to California after living there for 40 years and finally getting smart 3 year ago.

    From the land of Coyote killers in Central Texas.

    RiverRat

  21. Unfortunately, you’ve likely not offset the boycott in tea purchases as Arizona Iced Tea is actually from New York.

  22. I live in NE Arizona. I visited the grocery store today. When I bought tomatoes I opted for the more expensive local variety rather that the cheaper California imports.

    I also was planning on visiting relatives in San Diego and the Los Angeles areas. That trip is now off. If my relatives want to see us they can come to Arizona.

  23. “Immigration is a complex and sensitive issue…” WTF? What is “complex and sensitive” about Illegal Immigration??

  24. What they should’ve done is make it illegal for Arizonans to vacation in San Diego, then everybody’s happy. Arizonans still get to go to San Diego, and San Diego welcomes them with open arms. (Assuming it’s enforced the same way as our immigration laws are.)

  25. You are soooooo not out of luck with MANY sane Californians. Remember that because of the gerrymandering it doesn’t reflect how MANY MANY Californians are totally on your side, Arizona. Pelosi, Feinstein and Boxer are NOT are sistren!

  26. You are soooooo not out of luck with MANY sane Californians. Remember that because of the gerrymandering it doesn’t reflect how MANY MANY Californians are totally on your side, Arizona. Pelosi, Feinstein and Boxer are NOT our sistren!

  27. Here’s a suggestion, and you don’t have to be in Arizona to do it:

    Go to Hotels.com, Orbitz, Marriott, Hilton, Starwood, Holiday Inn or some other online site for a hotel company and make a sizable reservation (say three rooms for 7 to 10 days) for a California hotel – preferably one in a city (SD, SF or LA for example) that has organized boycotts or otherwise condemned the Arizona law. Then reserve a rent car for that time – something big and expensive like an SUV. Be sure, obviously, that you can cancel all reservations shortly thereafter without penalty.

    Then track down the email addresses for the general manager of the hotel you reserved, along with that person’s supervisor (such as a regional director, director of marketing, director of group sales, etc.) These may be available online, but you may have to call the hotel and ask for them. Also track down the customer service email address for the rental car company. This should be on the rent car company’s website. Finally, go online and find the email addresses for contacts at the city’s convention and visitors bureau.

    A few days after you make the reservations (and again, before any cancellation penalty would apply), cancel them. Immediately after canceling, send a polite but firm message to each of the hotel and rental car contacts (with a cc to the city’s visitors bureau) and tell them that you and your family were looking forward to your week in San Diego, LA, San Francisco, Sacramento or wherever, but once you learned of the city/state’s boycott against Arizona, you decided to cancel and take your business elsewhere.

    It may not make a big difference, but it’s something.

  28. I live in LA, and due to work I can’t take ‘vacations’ as such.

    Every second month or so for the last twenty years it has been my habit to take a Saturday night mini-cation to SanDiego. The other months I tend to go north – SantaBarbara or SanFrancisco. There is a great train connection.

    I just checked. Amtrak goes to Tuscon. Guess where I’m going next? (Hint. The answer is NOT San Diego.)

  29. America is SICK AND TIRED of California and its Democrat Politiskunks telling Arizona or anyone what to do and calling Americans racists.

    California and its legion of illegal aliens can go straight to hell and without Arizona water, electricity or tourist…

  30. I don’t understand. Why don’t the 70% of Americans that support the Arizona bill organize a boycott against anybody that threatens Arizona. If you can organize a Tea Party, why can’t one organize a counter boycott movement. I’m up in Canada and think that Arizona did the correct thing.

  31. This Summer… Grand Canyon NOT Sea World.

    Sad, San Diego used to be America’s Finest City. Now they are just another Frisco LA toilet.

  32. Dear Arizona,

    Come to the awesome Rocky Mountains for some cool air and cool people who don’t think you’re a bunch of bigots.

    Love,

    Colorado

  33. Hey Arizonans – Southwest now flies to the Snowwhite beaches of the Panhandle of FL.

    84 degree emerald green waters with visibility of 80ft and Southern hospitality to infinity.

    And our restaurants are guided by the mother of all restaurant cities, New Orleans!

    Come stay in a condo for the same price of a hotel. Better than the Carribean…

    Ya’ll come down <<>>

    Oh, last summer we spent in Flagstaff, the train from Williams to Grand Canyon (awesome) and Monument Valley.

    We’ll be back!

    Love to all. G

    <<<

  34. I suspect that San Diego and California as a whole have underestimated the loss of revenue they can expect to see. It’s not just Arizonans who were insulted by the Californian political class and are self-boycotting the Golden State. I’m from Illinois and we have changed our family vacation plans from Disney World, Knott’s Berry Farm, and Napa Valley. Instead we are going to Phoenix, the Grand Canyon, and to Williams Arizona on the historic train ride to the canyon. Will stop by Las Vegas for a few days on the way back home. Oh, and of course I will not be drinking any Californian wine anymore either.

  35. I moved to Northern Nevada in 2004 despite my family having been in California for 150 years and in San Diego for 100; fed up with the idiotic leadership of the liberal political class, and the gullible people voting for them. Their own stupidity has led California to disaster and now their politicians have the gall to tell the people of Arizona how to run theirs? Its bad enough that my federal tax dollars yet go to bailing California’s folly. They will not be getting any of my tourist dollars. I plan on visiting Arizona.

  36. It may sound somewhat simplistic but why not just put any illegal aliens rounded up onto a bus bound for San Diego?
    Explaining to them, in Spanish, that if they return to AZ they’ll be hosted by Sheriff Arpaio is a given.

  37. I’m a Canadian who has been to both California and Arizona. I had planned to return to California and see more of that lovely state. Until now.

    They really have to get their act together, and start focusing on their own problems.

  38. Ahh, you reap what you sow. San Diegans elected these self-righteous, self-important know-nothings. Now they can pay for that bit of suicidal whimsy.

    Maybe the next election cycle will fix the problem in San Diego. But I won’t hold my breath.

  39. Cal ee foirn ya needs the tourist dollars more than anyone, but BHO needs Cloward-Pivens to succeed. Liberals are all to willing to become Socialists.

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