If state Sen. Russell Pearce and Co. wanted to further spread Arizona’s image as an intolerant backwater, SB 1070 sure has done it.

Politico reports that Hispanic lawmakers in D.C. are asking the Obama administration to reassert federal authority over immigration law if Gov. Brewer signs the bill:

“The governor of Arizona should veto the bill and if she doesn’t the president of the United States Barack Obama should assert the federal government’s preeminent role in regulating and enforcing our nation’s immigration law,” Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), said Tuesday.

A senior White House official said the administration is studying the Arizona law.

Meanwhile, Steven Lemons reports that LA Cardinal Roger Mahony went after the law on his blog Sunday:

Arizonans now reverting to German Nazi and Russian Communist techniques whereby people are required to turn one another in to the authorities on any suspicion of documentation.

Are children supposed to call 911 because one parent does not have proper papers? Are family members and neighbors now supposed to spy on one another, create total distrust across neighborhoods and communities, and report people because of suspicions based upon appearance?

And finally, Sen. McCain is running away from another part of his maverick past. He endorsed Pearce’s bill over the weekend.

And the Huffington Post has a story today with video of the senator saying that illegal immigrants …

…. are intentionally causing accidents on the freeway.

The claim comes in the last seconds of this clip: