PHOTO OF RUSSELL PEARCE VIA FLICKR BY GAGE SKIDMORE LICENSED BY CREATIVE COMMONS

In an exclusive salon.com  story,  Jeff Biggers carefully documents how the sponsor of Arizona’s famed SB 1070, Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce, “borrows” entire passages from extremist nut jobs for his Facebook page and in his writings. In at least one case, the “borrowed” material had already been thoroughly debunked as hate-filled nonsense before Pearce copied it.

Biggers reinforces in a new and fresh way what Arizona journalists have been pointing out for years.

Pearce lacks integrity.

For years, Arizona journos have been pointing out that Pearce, a former director of the Arizona Department of Motor Vehicles, had to leave that post after allegations of tampering with a driver license record of a constituent.  He was not prosecuted.

Although Pearce has long spouted off about family values, both is former and current wives told police Pearce bullied them. One wife said Pearce tried to choke her, but later retracted the statement.

Pearce’s son Joshua is a troubled soul with a substance abuse problem and an arrest record. CPS took his kids, Pearce’s grandchildren.

In December, Phoenix New Times published my investigative piece documenting Pearce’s ties with the extremist group FAIR, the powerhouse behind SB 1070 that was founded by John Tanton and is closely allied to its cousins NumbersUSA and Center for Immigration Studies, or CIS.

Now Pearce is the only legislator in Arizona history to face a recall election. It’s scheduled for early November.

Russell Pearce’s long, sorry saga has long evoked outrage in Arizona.

But should it also evoke pity?