Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed SB 1062, a discriminatory anti-gay legislation, on Feb. 26 after a drawn-out number of days that excited the entire nation (and threatened to have next year's Super Bowl snatched away), many fearing that the signing of the bill would have been a certain jagged jab at equal rights everywhere.

Arizona's business community banded together to publicly oppose the bill, and communicated the economic repercussions of SB 1062 being signed into law, as it would have effectively marginalize an entire community that already faces routine discrimination.

Arizona Republican State Representative John Kavanagh, one of the foremost defenders of Senate Bill 1062, spoke at a roast for Phoenix's controversial Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Rep. Kavanagh two weekends ago, where he delivered a series of remarks that set off a firestorm in the Latino community. His remarks coincided with a general ambivalence regarding Latinos, an attitude that seems to have gained normalcy among Republicans:

"I'm not the federal monitor. How many Hispanics did you pull over on the way over here Arpaio?"

"Sheriff Joe is the kind of guy that you gotta love as long as you have papers."

"Going out with Sheriff Joe is always an adventure. Usually when we walk into a restaurant most of the wait staff and cooks dive out the back window. And when they don't, I never know what the hell is in my food. There's a great one. Get em! sic em!"

The potentially loaded "jokes" roused Latinos and many others. CNN's Anderson Cooper invited Kavanagh on his show to speak about the offensive remarks. Kavanagh initially accepted the invite, backed out, and then released a statement to Anderson Cooper 360.

"The jokes I made at the Sheriff Joe Arpaio Roast, at his invitation, were satirical comedy. The jokes were not directed at minority group members but at the target of the roast -- Sheriff Arpaio. The jokes were jabs against the sheriff based upon allegations of his department's engaging in racial profiling," Arizona Republican State Representative John Kavanagh said in a statement sent to AC360. "The Southern Poverty Law Center edited out selected portions of a much longer roast on many topics not related to racial profiling. The humor was typical of roasts and had I made the same jokes against Sheriff Arpaio at their annual dinner, I suspect that they would have been laughing as much as this audience laughed. Likewise, had these jokes been made on a TV comedy or variety show, there would also be no controversy."

The state rep went on to say that he's never hesitated about appearing on AC360 or any other show because it was part of his job, and that his jokes were not a policy issue -- and the politically motivated personal attacks on him are due to his support of SB 1070.