Immune to Irony, Driving Away Friends

Linda Chavez, an ex-AFT (union) exec and ex-Reagan Administration appointee, spews the following bile:

Some people just don't like Mexicans -- or anyone else from south of the border. They think Latinos are freeloaders and welfare cheats who are too lazy to learn English. They think Latinos have too many babies, and that Latino kids will dumb down our schools. They think Latinos are dirty, diseased, indolent and more prone to criminal behavior. They think Latinos are just too different from us ever to become real Americans.

No amount of hard, empirical evidence to the contrary, and no amount of reasoned argument or appeals to decency and fairness, will convince this small group of Americans -- fewer than 10 percent of the general population, at most -- otherwise. Unfortunately, among this group is a fair number of Republican members of Congress, almost all influential conservative talk radio hosts, some cable news anchors -- most prominently, Lou Dobbs -- and a handful of public policy "experts" at organizations such as the Center for Immigration Studies, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, NumbersUSA, in addition to fringe groups like the Minuteman Project.

Even if it were true, it has little to do with the instant problem: ILLEGAL immigration, cheap/under-the-table payments, tax evasion...

Ms. Chavez should be acquainted with the ins-and-outs of that, right?

In 2001, President George W. Bush nominated her for Secretary of Labor, but the nomination was withdrawn after it was revealed that she had allegedly given money to an illegal immigrant who lived in her home. Chavez contended that she had not actually employed the woman, but had merely provided her with emergency assistance.[1] The woman Chavez allegedly employed (who is now a legal citizen of the United States) also insists she was not an employee of Chavez, and credits Chavez with helping her at a time when she needed it most. A subsequent investigation of the matter by the FBI found Chavez was not guilty of any wrongdoing.

Granted--some portion of the anti-Amnesty group are racist, or xenophobes.

And some portion of the pro-Amnesty crowd are craven opportunists, whether political, union-based, or "capitalist." (See, e.g., the pimps in Minnesota.)

But Ms. Chavez' screed is another example of exactly what she protests. She ought to know better.