Former GOP Congressman Tom Tancredo: If you belong to an organization called La Raza, in this case, which is, from my point of view anyway, nothing more than a Latino -- it's a counterpart -- a Latino KKK without the hoods or the nooses. If you belong to something like that in a way that's going to convince me and a lot of other people that it's got nothing to do with race. Even though the logo of La Raza is "All for the race. Nothing for the rest." What does that tell you?
Well it tells me that Tancredo's a lying sack of shit for one thing. That's not the "logo" for La Raza. The motto of the group is actually ""Strengthening America by promoting the advancement of Latino families."
It also tells me Tancredo's a hypocrite, since he was notably silent when La Raza (actually, the nation's largest civil rights organization for Latinos) endorsed George Dubbya Bush's pick for Attorney General, namely Alberto Gonzales.
But Tancredo's attitude is a shining example of the new and improved right wing racism, which holds that it's okay, sort of, to be black or Latino, so long as you don't ever act black or Latino, or ever mention being black or Latino, or ever admit that being black or Latino has an effect on your life and your world view. And for God's sake don't ever belong to any Black or Latino church or organization. Oh, and I almost forgot: don't ever have the effrontery to ask that your name be pronounced correctly. Then it's YOU who's the "real racist."
As it turns out, however, someone's actually run some numbers on Judge Sonia Sotomayor's opinions, and, as usual, the facts have a well-known liberal bias:Other than Ricci, Judge Sotomayor has decided 96 race-related cases while on the court of appeals.
Of the 96 cases, Judge Sotomayor and the panel rejected the claim of discrimination roughly 78 times and agreed with the claim of discrimination 10 times; the remaining 8 involved other kinds of claims or dispositions. Of the 10 cases favoring claims of discrimination, 9 were unanimous. (Many, by the way, were procedural victories rather than judgments that discrimination had ccurred.) Of those 9, in 7, the unanimous panel included at least one Republican-appointed judge. In the one divided panel opinion, the dissent’s point dealt only with the technical question of whether the criminal defendant in that case had forfeited his challenge to the jury selection in his case. So Judge Sotomayor rejected discrimination-related claims by a margin of roughly 8 to 1.
I'll put those numbers up against one offhand, out of context quote any day.
But, you know, don't let the facts get in the way. You've got a base to placate here, even if it drives a bigger wedge between the Republican party and Latinos, not to mention women. I mean, when you automatically assume a Latino woman is an "affirmative action" pick on the day she's nominated, I don't see how you're going to gain much ground calling anyone else racist.
Enjoy that minority status, boys. Looks like you're fixin' to hang onto it a while.
Monday, June 01, 2009
The New Theme Of Right WIng Racism
Tancredo Claims Sotomayor In "Latino KKK"
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3 comments:
Something you might not have noticed yet: this nomination puts John Cornyn in a serious no-win situation. The Republicans are leaning on him to oppose her vigorously, and if he doesn't, then he loses party support... but if he does, he loses the entire Latino vote, including the Rio Grande Valley, and this is probably enough to lose him the election. He's hosed, and it couldn't happen to a better man.
Hmmmm...I hadn't thought of that. Thanks for the Texas perspective. Would they really cut the legs out from under Cornyn for that?
What am I saying? Of course they would. These people are nuts.
" ... so long as you don't ever act black or Latino ..."
Careful, JD, that is one loaded term ("act black or latino"). I know you don't mean anything untoward (seriously), but in an age of political correctness gone haywire, one could get grilled for it.
Tancredo is a putz who has to make waves for the sake of party loyalty (much the same way Dems did against Republican appointees).
Sotomayor is a great choice.
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