Moral equivalency.
I’ve never really linked to Instapundit. Never really read him much, despite his outsized impact in the Islets of Bloggerhans; you’ll encounter his spoor pretty much wherever you roam—though, admittedly, not so much on the sinistral side of the archipelago, these days. It’s become something of a trope, in fact, almost a cherished tradition: the blog entry from someone on the center-left that begins, “I used to link to Instapundit, but with increasing trepidation as he’s gotten more and more strident and reactionary. But today he crossed a line…”
Which is not to say Professor Reynolds hasn’t crossed something I’d consider a line many, many times before. Merely that I decided to open with this rhetorical trick, because the particular line crossed here is a doozy:
Reynolds approvingly cites an equivalency between Cruz Bustamante’s membership in a rambunctious Chicano advocacy group in college in the 1960s with everything Trent Lott ever did to support segregation, white supremacy, Strom Thurmond, and the pro-secessionist South.
As usual, when it comes to race and the Wurlitzer’s attempts to twist and distort the facts, David Neiwert has the detailed, point-by-point rebuttal. I also highly recommend this blistering smackdown from Ted Barlow at Crooked Timber. —These two posts are required reading on the subject; any attempt to continue the ridiculous meme of “MEChA is a racist organization that Bustamante must repudiate” that does not specifically reference them and address their points is intellectually dishonest, and not worth the pixels it’s printed on.
The kicker, from Barlow’s can of whupass: there’s the Voz de Aztlán, a genuinely racist organization whose stances all-too-conveniently get mixed up with MEChA’s; they are, in fact, the very thing principled conservatives who haven’t bothered to do their homework—or who think cough syrup is an acceptable excuse for slander—think they’re condemning with this nonsense. They are anti-Semitic; they are homophobic. And they are supporting Arnold Schwarzenegger in the California recall.
No on the recall. Yes on Bustamante. And Instapundit Reynolds is hereby consigned to the killfile of history.
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I am always amused by the "Instapundit crossed a line" posts, because I decided he'd crossed it back in about November of 2001. Perils and pleasures of early adoption, I guess.
I wait with baited breath to see how Instapundit reacts to the news that the La Voz crowd seems to like Schwarzenegger. Not. Because it's not going to happen.
Some stuff Ampersand is reading today
First and foremost, go read Nathan Newman on the Minimum Wage: Why the Minimum Wage Beats EITC, the Popularity of Raising the Minimum Wage to $8 an Hour, How the Minimum Wage Increases Employment, Who Pays for the Minimum Wage?, Why Job Losses from the...
Thanks for the tip about Insta. I haven't read him much, but these things are good to know. BTW, I am no on recall, but voting Camejo, who is a very good man.
No on recall, yes on Huffington. I sink de aksent is charming, yes?
Who cares about those nutbars in California ? I want Kip to run for mayor !!
No on Kip, yes on Sam Adams. Kip would make a great police chief.