McCain Validating “The Race”

Michelle Malkin has been out in front of this story for quite some time:

Finally, as part of his commitment to talking with all Americans during this presidential campaign, the McCain presidential campaign announced that John McCain will attend the La Raza Annual Convention in San Diego on July 14, 2008.

Sigh….

I guess we all knew what we were getting in McCain but the reality always bites a bit. The same can be said for Bush. While he is simply outstanding on protecting this country and foreign policy, his immigration policies remain much less then desired.

But validating La Raza….or The Race….is just simply ignorant on McCain’s part.

You want straight talk? McCain’s tongue says he’s “listened and learned.” But his heart is with La Raza, the militantly ethnocentric, anti-immigration enforcement Hispanic lobbying group that honored him in 1999 and whose annual conference he keynoted in 2004…

…Crooked talk: He says he’ll build the fence.

Straight talk: He resents what he calls the “goddamned fence.”

John McCain and La Raza-The Race share a deep-seated contempt for grass-roots conservatives who worked successfully to defeat the disastrous amnesty bill. And they share a common impulse to marginalize their political opponents as “haters.”

Thus, La Raza-The Race has launched a new “We Can Stop the Hate” campaign–smack dab in the middle of the campaign season–to redefine tough policy criticism from the Right as “hate.” They protest that it is “racist” and out-of-bounds to talk about reconquista–even as the McCain campaign boasts a “Mexico First/”Just A Region”/”Free Flow of People” outreach director who’s practicing it out in the open for the leading GOP presidential front-runner.

Yes, an ethnic separatist group that calls itself “The Race”–a group that has embraced John McCain and vice versa–has the gall to crusade against “hate.” Chris Kelly notes that La Raza-The Race head Janet Murguia is calling for networks to keep immigration enforcement proponents off the airwaves and that both La Raza-The Race and another open-borders group are pushing for Fairness Doctrine policies to shut up their foes.

You can make the argument that McCain’s association with La Raza is at least half as bad as Obama’s association with Wright. Both are racists. Both associations bring nothing to the discussion of coming together and viewing us all as Americans rather as one race or another. And both should be avoided. Check out this video from Penn & Teller on Reparations which tells it like it is. “Circumstances of birth are nothing more then random and should never be a source for pride or shame”

But don’t tell that to The Race. A group that supports driver’s licenses for illegal aliens, tuition breaks for illegal’s going to school here and even helped sponsor militant aztlan type schools along with supporting some of the more reprehensible militant hispanic groups throughout the country:

La Raza gives mainstream cover to a poisonous subset of ideological satellites, led by Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan, or Chicano Student Movement of Aztlan (MEChA), which the late GOP Rep. Charlie Norwood rightly characterized as “a radical racist group…[and] one of the most anti-American groups in the country, which has permeated U.S. campuses since the 1960s, and continues its push to carve a racist nation out of the American West.”

Does any of this groups activities and beliefs deserve recognition from the Republican nominee for President? I think not. VDH agrees:

I agree that John McCain should not attend any conference of a group called “National Council of the Race.” In a multiracial society, Rev. Wright’s “rich white folks,” Obama’s “typical white person”, and clingers comments, and the idea of “The Race” will eventually doom us all. And it’s time no one gets a pass any more.

I have argued time and time again that I will support McCain for two reasons. He is not Obama or Hillary.

He won’t put liberals on the bench and he will ensure that we don’t cut and run from Iraq and the larger War on Terror.

But on this issue, I disagree with him vehemently.

Please John…..stay away from racebaiting organizations like La Raza.

UPDATE

Paul at Powerline has an analysis of McCain’s judicial record with some good news:

However, McCain’s actions over the years have mostly been consistent with these words. For example, he was a solid supporter of Roberts, Alito, and nearly all of the court of appeals nominees that Democrats attempted to block. His decision to join the Gang of 14 seems to have been a tactical one — he thought it would maximize success in confirming worthy nominees. One can disagree with that judgment, as I do, without seeing it as inconsistent with a sound judicial philosophy.

~~~

For my part, I don’t expect that McCain will be perfect on these issues; indeed, even Reagan at times came up short. But I certainly agree that McCain understands most of the basics and that, in all likelihood, his approach to the judiciary will generally be sound.

I agree with his take. McCain is far from a perfect conservative candidate but on judges and the WoT he will be sound. Thats why he will get my vote.

Curt

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