Mike Pickett & His (Extremist) Political Views

I've been sitting on these screen shots for a while because frankly District 6 challenger Mike Pickett's political views concern me quite a bit.

First let me say I believe in the 2nd Amendment and that we as private citizens have the right to keep and bear arms. I enjoy shooting very much. Haven't been in a while, but its always fun. That doesn't mean I'm a gun nut about it though.

But what worries me is the militia movement. There is a small, but very extremist movement in this country that wants to engage in actual violence against the government. Like I said, I have no problem protecting myself, but I'm surprised a post like this one from a city council candidate even exists.

In fairness to Mr. Pickett, this post was from before he filed as a candidate. Nonetheless it comes across as a little creepy.

Call to arms?

What call to arms? I'd like him to clarify what he means by a call to arms. Does he mean the government or just the president.

Either way, talk about an extremist position.

Not to mention the fact that Mr. Pickett is actually running for a position in city government. So does that mean he wants a call to arms with city government too?

I don't know where is going with it but its really hard for anyone to take a candidate seriously that espouses beliefs like the "call to arms".

Sadly there are even more disturbing posts. As I've said before, I live in the valley and am a constituent in District 6. I saw this piece of political literature from Mr. Pickett the other day. I didn't get one yet, but a friend of mine did.

Its obviously campaign material from Mr. Pickett. What I found noteworthy was the fact that he was campaigning in the valley portion of the district and that the material was actually bilingual. Given the fact that he referred to El Paso as a suburb of Juarez I thought that it was interesting that he was using bilingual literature.

But here is something more interesting (disturbing to me). This is another post and as a Chicano, a liberal, and a resident of the district I found it insulting, distasteful, and embarrassing.

One's political views can change over time. But this post was from earlier this year. Mr. Pickett shared this image that equates illegals, terrorists, and liberals. That might be some of the most inflammatory stuff I've seen in recent memory. The undocumented aren't terrorists. Neither are liberals. 

Given the other post and the language of this one, I certainly hope that the "call to arms" isn't about the undocumented and liberals. 

I certainly hope he is held accountable by the voters for these beliefs. Perhaps he should be "transparent" with the voters about his beliefs. 

I should also point out the obvious here. Mr. Pickett is also apparently tone-deaf to the people who live in District 6. He hasn't lived in El Paso long so he might not know this but you'd think by know his supporters like former City Rep Eddie Holguin and Jaime O. Perez would have made him hip to the fact that below the freeway are the most Democratic precincts in El Paso. 

Apparently not. 

These extremists and apparently anti-immigrant views aren't going to go over very well in the valley...

Sadly...there's more to come.