America last

Illustration by Carl Muecke

Four months into the Trump administration, it's clear that the president's agenda is anything but his promised "America First."

A budget that slashes Medicaid funding between $800 billion and $1.4 trillion won't just hurt "those people." To be sure, it disproportionately hurts minorities in certain states. But 42 percent of Medicaid recipients are white, many of them likely Trump supporters. Many Medicaid recipients have jobs — their employers are able to socialize their healthcare costs while privatizing the profits from the labor of the low-wage workers. America first?

The Republican repeal of Obamacare will leave 23 million Americans without health insurance. It has passed the GOP-controlled House and stopping it in the Senate is by no means assured, even likely. Remember, Obamacare was a market-based plan created by conservatives — but because it was proposed by President Obama, Republicans have devoted years to destroying it. They're doing it now, even though repeal has yet to pass, because of the uncertainty caused in the insurance markets. Every other advanced nation in the world has universal healthcare. We will lose even the modest gains of Obamacare. America will be even more last in healthcare. And all to ensure a tax cut to the rich and, well, because the Republicans like hurting people.

Other advanced, urbanized nations enjoy high-speed rail and modern subway systems in their cities. Trump wants to dismantle Amtrak — a longtime Republican goal — is holding up federal funding to help electrify the commuter-train line in the Bay Area, severely cut aid for transit, and do nothing to advance high-speed rail. Subways and mass-transit systems across the country are ailing. Only a nation with as many rubes as the United States would be oblivious to how far behind we are.

Big federal pullbacks from funding science and research are coming, no matter the fate of Trump's budget. Republicans don't believe in science. They deny the mainstream scientific consensus on climate change. America has moved from first to last in addressing this existential threat to our planet.

Too many Americans can't remember when we were world leaders in science. How federal spending led to breakthrough after breakthrough, landing men on the moon, creating the internet. Now we're supposed to be impressed by the likes of Elon Musk getting rockets into low-earth orbit and the possibility of wealthy "space tourists" paying to go where John Glenn went in 1962. If humans are going to Mars, they will be Chinese. For someone of my generation, this is an unthinkable abrogation of American leadership and the greatness that we can achieve together as a nation. But not this nation, not anymore.

Trump's budget may be "dead on arrival," but this is the age of zombies for good reason. Destructive ideas live on. Every monstrous proposal in that document represents an aspiration of the Republican Party. And more: Paul Ryan, the "thoughtful, serious Republican," longs to privatize Social Security and Medicare. In other words, destroy them. "Entitlements" (read earned benefits) are too expensive when your party's primary goal is to deliver tax cuts to the very wealthy. Every advanced nation is distinguished by its social safety net. Not America. It's last.

Put in office by a stolen election, 78,000 votes in three states, Trump claimed a mandate. A mandate to enrich himself and his family. Were this Hillary Clinton, impeachment and removal from office would already have happened. Now it's the new normality — or so all to many in the "move along, nothing to see here" media would have you believe. He gave away classified information to his Russian handlers in the Oval Office. What does the Republican-controlled Congress do? Nothing. Every day, he makes America an international laughingstock, American leadership slips away a little at a time.

Whatever you call this, it's not America First. God help us if there's a major terrorist attack. That would solidify authoritarianism here. Even without that, even if the Democrats can overcome the progressive civil war and voter suppression, it will take us years to reverse the damage.

 

Comments

[Cal Lash]

Thanks Jon for suggesting I can post the following OFF Topic.

Yesterday, I received this from my ole pal, Bill Richardson, and felt a need to comment.
http://mynewsmesa.com/breaking-mesa-1st-city-arizona-privatize-jail-operations/

NO SURPRISE HERE

Republican bastion Mesa “First Arizona City to privatize prisons,” is no surprise. All you have to know is who lives there and is in charge of the politics. Of course Mesa’s move will be assisted greatly by the boys at the state Legislature and all their buddies that are shareholders in CoreCivic. Formerly, Corrections Corporation of America.

As a cop and a retired police officer I have had the pleasure of knowing Retired Master Police Officer Bill Richardson for nigh onto 40 years. He and I generally agree on most aspects of law enforcement policies and procedures. Particularly about a large sharing network of information between all law enforcement agencies. But in Arizona that’s been next to impossible with cities and counties having difficulty in getting together. Particularly the Department of Public Safety, DPS or as I like to say The Arizona Highway Patrol. State legislators and the governor have complete control over DPS and have kept it from being a first class Law Enforcement and the leading agency in Arizona. You may wonder why but there is little doubt in my mind.

One area Master Police Officer Bill Richardson and I have agreed on in the past, is if you are going to “privatize” things that have for years been primarily functions of government, you must have in place strong rules and regulations followed up with vigorous inspection by a neutral outside investigating group. Penalties and the right to discontinue contracts should be in the contracts.

Bill’s comment; “The jail system is controlled by the Mexican Mafia (MM) prison gang, that’s also not a secret” is an unnecessary scare comment. The Mexican Mafia is big everywhere as is the Aryan Brotherhood and the other 1.4 million people in the 33,000 gangs in the United States. The Mexicans just have a numbers advantage.

Bill and I agree the Maricopa County jail system is a quagmire of brutality and inefficiency. For many years I have advocated a separation of County Sheriffs and County jails.
(http://www.roguecolumnist.com/rogue_columnist/2008/10/gunslingers-sheriffs-and-the-militarization-of-law-enforcement.html#more)

This system has provided Sheriffs with a means to commingle funds pretty much at their discretion. Maricopa County has seen how well this hasn’t worked over the years.

Back in 2008, these are some recommendations I had about the Maricopa County Sheriff’s office and jail. (Note: Sheriff Penzone has done the second one)
• The county jail needs to become a separate entity from the Sheriff’s Office.
• The County Attorney’s office should represent the Sheriff’s Office and eliminate the Sheriff’s Office separate legal counsel.
• The Board of County supervisors must require the Sheriff’s office to co-operate with all other law enforcement jurisdictions or face an impeachment process for failure to carry out prescribed duties.

I can understand Richardson’s approval (and Mesa’s budget issues). And as Bill says, “Mesa has no choice but to look at an alternative to the expensive and dangerous county jail system for people who commit low-grade misdemeanors and are confined for short periods of punishment. Every dollar Mesa saves in jail costs can be reinvested in policing, parks and court programs to prevent and stop crime.”

The thing not mentioned here is travel and down-time of Mesa Police officers to book prisoners into Maricopa County Jail.

But I am not in agreement that Mesa should look at a long term agreement with private prisons. The city of Phoenix once had its own jail at 17 South 2nd Avenue which I thought ran along alright but the politicians decided to let the County take over that job.

So in the short run maybe privatization is the way to go. However I am a firm believer in finding ways not to spend my dollars on incarceration. So I recommend a lot more research to find better ways than to just lock up people.

As Mesa continues to move forward to complete privatization the next step; Mesa Fire Paramedics. Got to get our brothers and sisters back into the profitable ambulance business and get rid of these socialistic programs. The big fight will come when an attempt is made to privatize fire and police departments. But what the heck why not subcontract law enforcement to Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday. But that will not work as the posse comitatus boys just hate rules. Maybe we can get back to Sheriff John the tax collector, as along as he makes sure 10 percent goes to correct collection plate.

Cal Lash
Retired Cop 1658

PS after I wrote this yesterday in response to the Mesa News article, I noted in today’s Republic two editorials on the subject. Both articles are well written and cover the thrust of the issues. Both articles mentioned transportation by CoreCivic but failed to mention the handling of transportation of ongoing cases. Will CoreCivic transport prisoners back and forth for court hearings? I am sure CoreCare can find empty seats on their bus transports for Mesa prisoners going to Florence. Hopefully the city didn’t agree to a guaranteed number of filled seats will as is common in these privatization matters to insure the stock holders get a good return.

[Cal Lash]

"America Last" good piece. Jon said "God help us if there's a major terrorist attack. That would solidify authoritarianism here".
I think that Trump and Bannon planned and hoped for violence in the nation. And they new their actions would cause protests and marches. Its exactly what they wanted.

Many democrats believe that the Montana GOP candidate will lose votes for body slamming a reporter. But I am inclined to think it will benefit him as them boys in Montana like it when their cowboy slams a liberal trouble making reporter.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/greg-gianforte-assault_us_59261430e4b061d8f81f1253?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

[soleri]

There's one part of me that thinks Trump is a virtually inexplicable political event, that the nation will return to normal once the rubes understand giving away state secrets and their health care is probably not going to make America great again. The other part of me thinks it's much too late. We had a pretty good run but the centripetal forces of race and identity finally knocked our national gyroscope on its side. In this view, Trump is less an accident than the second coming Yeats prophesied.

Our national hell has ruptured old friendships and split families apart. We all know how strange it is talking to people on the other side. Yet, what is this cold civil war about tangibly? Religious sectarianism? No. Regional disputes? Not really. Language? Hardly. Race? We're getting warmer.

The Republican Party weaponized the fundamental cultural shocks of the 1960s and haven't looked back. Even worse, their media eventually became so successful in scaring old people that the party's position in sanity shifted to something closer to nihilism. When every issue becomes a cosmic battle between Good and Evil, there's no room left for policy unless it involves poltergeists and exorcisms.

It's strange to be fighting about things that are mostly just bad moods. Yes, I can understand why you might not like black people so much, even to the point of justifying their deaths at the hands of our paramilitary polices forces. But will voting for the economic interests of the 1% somehow assuage your discontent? Has it worked well in some place we should know about?

Trump is a lifelong huckster. It's in fact the only thing he does well. His business career is mostly just an aspect of his instincts for bullying and bullshitting. He became a Republican when he got a sense of how powerful his celebrity was. He knew a party that wasn't about anything except making the rich richer would be a natural vehicle for someone with his talents. Trump exploded the quaint idea that there was such a thing as Republican principles in a party where induced hysteria its it primary emotional characteristic.

Trump won the presidency exposing the foundational lie of Reaganism, which is that government is always the problem. But having won, he realized he needed actual political talent to translate his positions into reality. But this man-child has never really created anything new, let alone fundamentally altered the political culture of this nation. So, here we are, with a barely literate thug as president governing with the same old Republican policy "ideas". The good news is that he's as incompetent here as he was as a casino owner. The bad news is that this nation is essentially stranded in the middle of nowhere unable to rouse itself to meaningful action or maybe even survival.

[Tom Brown]

This phrase, along with Hillary's single word, "deplorables" says it all -- "...The nation will return to normal once the rubes understand giving away state secrets and their health care is probably not going to make America great again." Democrat politicians once stood shoulder to shoulder with the less educated working class. They have abandoned them in favor of a fake alliance with identity groups, i.e. paying lip service each election time to blacks, Hispanics, feminists, immigrants and gays. Trump, though not brilliant, was shrewd enough to recognize the discontent and economic fear that built up during the Great Recession and never dissipated in the phony Great Recovery. Democrats need to re-examine what their party stands for, get rid of their elitism and global ambitions, and reshape their party along the lines of Sanders progressivism. Otherwise, Trump will coast to re-election in 2020.

[ChrisInDenver]

Jon Talton never disappoints me whenever he pens a new column in the Seattle Times and/or Rogue Columnist. In a world where journalism standards appear to be devolving, rather than evolving, Jon always delivers columns that not only convey his thoughts articulately and cover the Five Ws. It's difficult for me to choose the one that I like the most -- I am particularly fond of his takedown of the City of Mesa, AZ, after Mesa voters rejected a property tax increase years ago; my favorite line from the column: "Mesa, BE GONE!" -- but I can honestly say that this searing opinion on the Trump administration and its acts of treason may have supplanted all other columns by Jon Talton as his best ever.

[blaxabbath]

Cal-

Why do you think it is better for the jails to be a separate entity?

[Cal Lash]

Commingling of funds.

[Cal Lash]

Read my 2008 piece above.

[Cal Lash]

As I posted above. Body slamming a liberal reporter goes over big now days. Particularly in Montana.
Trump ok"ed the body slaming by shoving a European leader out of his way so he could be front and center. Then it appears he insults a woman who seems to be scolding him for shoving. That video says it all about the huge child bully that seems to believe he is the best thing that happened to the planet since god created it. I think Trump believes in God. I meant he thinks he is.
And the photo of him leaning into Merkel's face is another study in assholism.
Probably driven by the fact that hugely popular Obama took the day with huge supportive crowds of the German people.

[Cal Lash]

From the Front Pages; "Trump declines to affirm NATO rule 5".

Trump and family are paying off those Russian loans.

[soleri]

The Trump catastrophe has shaken my faith in America but I'm increasingly confident that the deep state will take care of the injury voters thoughtlessly self-inflicted last year. Trump and Russia hacked our democracy, but institutional norms appear to be a bulwark against our television-addled citizenry. Not a day passes now that Trump doesn't solidify the perception that he is both utterly incompetent and grossly unsuited for political power. I'm guessing he'll be gone within a year.

There's a nice post over Washington Monthly about democracy that I recommend: http://washingtonmonthly.com/2017/05/26/making-the-distinction-between-honest-opponents-and-toxic-enemies/

I'm repeating myself ad nauseum but I'll say again: democracy is not about being right. It's about being effective. The moment politics passes into the realm of certitude and religious zeal, we're no longer stewards of this sacred trust.

[Cal Lash]

Power of sheriffs: In 1800, In Tennessee, sheriffs cast votes for Electoral College delegates.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/09/17/party-time?mbid=nl_Sunday%20Longreads%20(28)%20remainder&CNDID=48614199&spMailingID=11020544&spUserID=MTc5Mjg4MTEyMTI0S0&spJobID=1161207644&spReportId=MTE2MTIwNzY0NAS2

[Cal Lash]

Same article as above.
The framers of the Constitution did not make allowances for the rise of parties, which they considered sinister. In his Farewell Address, in 1796, Washington had warned of “the baneful effects of the spirit of party.” And, before he came to lead the opposition, Jefferson himself had pledged, “If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all.”

[Bill Richardson]

The idea of private jails, charter schools and a corporate takeover of government services is repulsive. But when government fails the people and bleeds them dry through corruption and mismanagement and a governmental body is faced with police and programs in the community or sending misdemeanor inmates to a private detention center then its a no brainer. The Maricopa County government has failed us. It's not just ex-sheriff Arpaio's fault, the Board of Supervisors looked the other way for 24 years and were con-conspirators to the crimes committed against us. The mess is Mesa was created by the county and it's failure to provide proper oversight to the $2 billion given to the sheriff by tax payers courtesy of a "jail tax." Mesa could easily resolve its money problems with a tax increase and it almost happened until Guv Ducey and his posse took charge of a vote on a public safety tax. The meddling and adding a plan for a second ASU campus in Mesa caused the measure to fail. Mesa won't tax and spend. But Mesa, and the other cities are also at fault. Cowardly mayors and city councils have looked on as they let the citizens they represent get screwed by the BoS and Arpaio. Sometimes I wonder if this repetitive failure is by design from wealthier and smarter powers and not just because we have dumbasses getting elected to office? Private jails aren't the answer and neither are charter schools. Come to think of it the people in government are too dumb to come up with a plan to get rich.

[Cal Lash]

Privatization: Tigerswan

How Blackstone type security companies are taking over law enforcement

https://theintercept.com/2017/05/27/leaked-documents-reveal-security-firms-counterterrorism-tactics-at-standing-rock-to-defeat-pipeline-insurgencies/?link_id=5&can_id=f5f12d0f0be543239c4150dc5c38366e&source=email-exclusive-documents-show-private-security-force-treated-dapl-opponents-as-jihadist-insurgents&email_referrer=exclusive-documents-show-private-security-force-treated-dapl-opponents-as-jihadist-insurgents___220386&email_subject=exclusive-documents-show-private-security-force-treated-dapl-opponents-as-jihadist-insurgents

and

How Trump, Putin,Li Keqiang
and the House of Saudi are privatizing and owning the world.

https://theintercept.com/2017/05/27/trumps-america-first-infrastructure-plan-let-saudi-arabia-and-blackstone-take-care-of-it/?link_id=2&can_id=f5f12d0f0be543239c4150dc5c38366e&source=email-exclusive-documents-show-private-security-force-treated-dapl-opponents-as-jihadist-insurgents&email_referrer=exclusive-documents-show-private-security-force-treated-dapl-opponents-as-jihadist-insurgents___220386&email_subject=exclusive-documents-show-private-security-force-treated-dapl-opponents-as-jihadist-insurgents

[Bradley Dranka]

One of the signature features of Trump and his storm troopers is their malevolence, vindictiveness, and revelry in evil.

And most of these organisms would call themselves human, upright, upstanding Christian patriots--when, in reality, they are the furthest thing from ANY of those terms.

[Bradley Dranka]

One of the things one hears is the lament that nobody talks to anyone "across the aisle" anymore.

One of the problems with attempting to talk across the aisle is the rise of over-testoseteroned, bullying, and outright mean right-wingers. These aggressively militant verbal warmongers have no interest in compromise because they have no interest in anything but "their way."

This is the result of decades of "reaching across the aisle" and the compromises that result. These bellicose and intransigent conservatives see any compromise as anathema--and were angry over it many yesterdays ago.

When you try to reason with hardheads, they see "reasoning" as weakness--because anything less than completely "their way" is seen by them as "giving away the fort."

Democracy has no place in their worldview. That's the lens they see their "reality" through....

[Concern Troll]

"Politics is about being effective--"

Yup.

Look at the current Gov- no chance at being effective when he gave into crony management at so many agencies, and in his own office. LoL re Norton, etc- so close to him already, and all it takes is more people flipping to save their bacon. Crony and corrupt. Ineffective at it's best, combined with a bunch of PR that shows the failings. One could make a decent living as a journalist in Arizona just showing how much of this administration flushes stuff down the memory hole in hopes of appearing competent. I would suggest a tour through his full inauguration speech- the one that was first issued, not the scrubbed one on his gov page- lol!!!

No wonder he hates Douglas, she basically gutted the entire Chamber/Republican mantra of lower taxes and the boom shall return.

But hey, scammers gotta scam, and pols have to lie, and be beautiful.

Trump is ineffective, and that is probably the real crime that will get him impeached, and Prezzie Pence installed into a newly drab White House.

Meanwhile in reality, the new voucher system and stagnant education funding will ensure we remain at the very bottom of education in America, and a Kansas style state government of dysfunctional people will further enhance our recruitment of low skilled, low productivity, low wage employment.

In short, enjoy the twilight of Arizona, because it is certainly a long slide into the equivalence of Barstow writ large.

Oh yeah, no health care for anyone who can't pay, and no help what so ever for the poor or disabled. The really funny part is the poorz white trash voted to make themselves miserable in their poverty.

USA- welcome to Arizona/Kansas and please die quietly!

The really sad part is so many think that making the common man in America poorer will enrich the top 1%, when in reality, they too will eventually suffer their own asset bubble collapse due to crappy profits.

Communism is currently dead, but the rich are going to revive it with a new name, and they will once again be the primary target.

Fools, utter fools.

Back to below the event horizon- so far I have been pretty much spot on with my predictions- and the failure of Trump will enable a true champion of the bottom to emerge- but hey Ailes is dead, so now there is plenty of room at the bottom...

[Cal Lash]

HA, very gooooood.

[Ruben Perez]

Something I've wondered about.

We have an R guv and an R legislature primarily because the electorate is sleep walking through life.

Thus we get low taxes and lower services.

Since most AZ families have two working parents who rely heavily on schools to watch their kids while they work, why do the teachers of the state not walk out/ strike?

I would give the walk out one week before the parents and thus the guv and legislature hit the panic button.

The longer they hold out, I could see the teachers getting just about anything they want. And If I were them, I would demand the moon and more.

They have the power, I question why they don't use it.

The guv and the legislature are brutal towards them. To say the teachers have been disrespected is an understatement.

Time to hit back. HARD.

[Bradley Dranka]

Ruben,

But then, the intentional "dumbing down" of the electorate leads to a bunch of lemmings easily led "over the cliff" by their believing in fake news and alternate facts, doesn't it?

You do know this is quite likely a Republican strategy?

[Bradley Dranka]

Low pay+disrespect=low quality teachers which in turn=a dumbed down electorate.

[Cal Lash]

Why do U think AZ leads the nation in the number of charter schools. Soon public schools will be gone as will the teachers union.
Pero no la hace
as soon, Putin, the Iranian Ayatollah and the Chinese premier will own the US. They already bought Trump. Ironic but it seems Germany is the only chance to do much about it.

[Bradley Dranka]

As I told ducey a while back, you get what you pay for--and you're paying precious little.

But then, the Republicans only value the chimera of education when it creates profit without consequences like questioning minds with comparative judgment. When a brain has little discretionary skills, that brain is easily malleable into a servile, rote, uncritical machine easily led by the nose.

And the beat goes on....

[Bradley Dranka]

I have continually said, since trump's minority vote election, that this petulant, ignorant, aggressive, and arrogant bully will alienate many foreign leaders because he knowns next-to-nothing about diplomacy, decorum, and using respectful language.

Another part of diplomacy is viewing the person--and country they represent--as partners looking for a solution. This is especially true with our friends and allies. This neophyte in foreign relations is rapidly turning our allies friendship and goodwill into cold indifference toward America. When they find they can get their economic needs met elsewhere in the world, they will also forge alliances that will give America the cold shoulder economically, militarily, and strategically.

And you can pick between Russia and China as to who is just waiting for THAT to happen....

Are those "ugly Americans" among us willing to suffer this fool's brinkmanship that portends America's gradual political and economic slide into jockeying for a lowered strategic influence around the world? Because that will happen if this clown is allowed to continue with his juvenile insults and threats that will gradually enrage many world leaders--and their peoples.

Do you provincials really think the rest of the world will keep taking trump's active and intentional disrespect? America will be seen as a stupid bully and the rest of the world will get together to teach it a harsh and painful lesson.

Mark my words!

[Ruben Perez]

You speak with a straight tongue, Bradley.

[terry dudas]

Ah boys, regarding the AZ teacher's pay situation, it is bad and getting worse primarily because the teachers ARE NOT GETTING THE PAY RAISES they were promised if Prop 301 was passed.

Nah - the tax $$ is going into administration and God Knows Where Else. Can't get straight answers, and I've given up. The Diane Douglas debacle doesn't help the situation either.
I know this much - if I had kids to educate, I wouldn't do it in this state: and if there was no possibility in leaving, a Basis Charter would be the only alternative.

[Bradley Dranka]

terry dudas, you write: "Ah boys, regarding the AZ teacher's pay situation, it is bad and getting worse primarily because the teachers ARE NOT GETTING THE PAY RAISES they were promised if Prop 301 was passed."

And yet, the zonies keep electing these skinflint legislators...because they keep preaching "low taxes." Guess those zonies don't want to look themselves in the mirror as to why these anti-education cheapskates keep getting in.

Who's really getting fleeced here???

[terry dudas]

Bradley, old boy - Arizona voters, or 'zonies' as you call them, voted to INCREASE our taxes. Cheapskates? Hardly. Voters are looking for the easiest way to assuage their consciences. It can't be done.

[Bradley Dranka]

terri, I'm calling the legislators cheapskates, and while I was inferring the 'zonies are cheapskates (which they are in most things), it is true they voted for higher taxes with Prop. 301. But the legislators never let those funds get to the schools, which resulted in the lawsuit that ducey wanted to settle for 20 cents on the dollar.

My point is this: if higher funding for education was so important to those voters, why did the 'zonies keep voting in the cheapskates after 301? The voters were just enabling the disingenuous conduct of the anti-eduction faction by not holding their feet to the fire--and Arizona's schools went down the tube in national rankings. Kinda passive-aggressive don't 'cha think?

[Bradley Dranka]

terri, grammatical mistake--I meant implying for inferring.

[Cal Lash]

Great article by Rebecca Solnit.

[Rogue Columnist]

Apologies but I don't think I can get a new column up until tomorrow.

[Bradley Dranka]

Trump's ignorant arrogance blinds him to potential consequences from speaking his mind.

His immeasurable ego requires addictive self-promotion but will never be sated.

These traits induce a stream-of-consciousness speaking that is uncontrollable and all-consuming.

Combine the above with a sense of urgency from his undeniably advanced age.

There's no possible filter, which makes his utterances communication in its rawest form.

There is a saying, "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer."

Trump's all-consuming hyper-ego makes him put himself intimately close with all his enemies--and may explain why he is having such difficulty getting his agenda off the ground.

[Ruben Perez]

Random thoughts as we wait for the Roguester to take care of bringing in the bacon.

What would Darwin have thought about wrong way freeway drivers?

How many actual functioning branches of government do we have at the federal level? My guess: one.

This thread started out as a retired police occifers blog. Kind of fun. I follow Richardson in the east valley tribune. He's kind of like cal, but without the Hollywood good looks and the female following which spans the entire southwest.