Ahead of his time
When the histories are written of the movement conservative era of 1980-2008, the key figures will be Ronald Reagan, Newt Gingrich, George W. Bush, and a number of other extreme right wingers and fundamentalist clergy types who collectively sought to destroy liberal democracy in the United States.
But Evan Mecham--remember him?--will, I predict, be seen as a harbinger of the sort of destructive buffoon we came to know so well during the last eight years of this benighted era. Mecham, who died of Alzheimer's Disease last Thursday at the age of 83, was Republican governor of Arizona for 15 painful months in 1986, 1987, and 1988 before being impeached and removed from office by the legislature for financial misdeeds.
He got things off to a rip-roaring start by trying to cancel the Martin Luther King Day state holiday instituted by his Democratic predecessor, Gov. Bruce Babbitt. Then he defended referring to black children as "pickaninnies," saying that in his bizarro world, they liked being called that. Mecham told Jews they needed to "accept" that America is "a Christian nation"--sound familiar?--and as things were falling apart, accused the Arizona attorney general of beaming microwaves into his office. He predicted the impeachment drive would fail because it was led by a gay man.
People still had the capability to be shocked by this sort of behavior back then. Arizonans by and large were not amused, especially after a tourist boycott against their state was organized.
All this story needs is George W. Bush visiting from the future in a time machine to pronounce, "Evan, you're doing a heckuva job." In the 43rd President's version of reality, Mecham is the type of person he would appoint, for example, to head the U.S. Office of Civil Rights. Poor Evan. Ahead of his time. He could have had a spectacular career helping our worst President ruin America.