rssAre Republicans Holding Up an Obama Nominee Because He Criticized the Minutemen?
Thursday, September 17, 2009 at 10:32 am
- 7 Comments
On March 13, President Obama nominated Maryland civil rights lawyer Thomas J. Perez for the post of Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division of Department of Justice. Six months later, Perez — currently Secretary of the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation — is being held up by Republican holds. Adam Serwer has the backstory, and has passed on one of the reasons the Republican minority is holding up Perez.
In his questionnaire for the nominee, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, accused Perez of being unduly critical of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, the anti-illegal immigration group. When the Maryland branch of the Minutemen announced plans to monitor day laborer sites, Perez, then a Montgomery County councilman and candidate for state attorney general, bemoaned the “long history of xenophobes who oppose immigration.”
“It seems that you are painting with a very broad brush,” wrote Sessions, “when you call all those who stand for a lawful system of immigration and immigration enforcement ‘xenophobes.’”
Sessions succeeded in making Perez walk back his statement; Perez, the son of Dominican immigrants, claimed he was referring to “a particular individual who had been soundly defeated in his bid for high office in my community.” Indeed, he was: the article cited by Sessions had him responding to Chuck Floyd, a candidate for county executive who claimed he was talking to “thousands of people” who were angry about day laborer sites. Floyd maintains a blog where he dishes out his current thinking. In his most recent post, he reminisces about the 9/12 march on Washington, reporting how happy he was “to see so many legal American citizens rally for the survival of our nation and our democracy.” Back in the Sessions questionnaire, Perez was asked to explain why he considered the Minutemen a “radical fringe group.”
The entire questionnaire is here. The Minuteman excerpts:
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7 Comments
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Comment posted September 17, 2009 @ 7:48 pm
This is the partisan bickering that got Mr. Obama elected. The American people are watching closely, this kind of partisanship. I am an independent and I want immigration reform, with immigration registration. Most Americans want this. Are we so blind that we cannot see the dangers of anything less? We need to protect our borders, and YOUR lives depend on that!
Comment posted September 17, 2009 @ 10:10 pm
Shawna Forde ring a bell for Mr. Sessions? Idiot.
Comment posted September 18, 2009 @ 1:11 am
The Minutemen are Vigilantes. This has been proven in their heinous acts of violence. The tip of the iceberg is Shawna Forde, and Gunny Bush, two minutemen leaders who viciously murdered 9 year old Brisenia Flores in their quest to build funds for their new vigilante border camp. Though the MMs are attempting to distance themselves from Shawna, they are unable to do so. How can they? She was a partner to Jim Gilchrist. She and Gunny were trained at Simcox's border camp. Shawna was arrested leaving Glenn Spencer's ranch. She was aided and abbetted by Laine Lawless. How much more information do you need to say she was a minuteman leader closely aligned to other minutemen leaders. They are ALL vigilantes. They MUST be taken off the border.
Thomas Perez was exactly right in what he said. Anyone who disputes this should study the facts!
Comment posted September 18, 2009 @ 3:15 am
Minutemen arent xenophobes, racists or vigilantes. The MCDC Minutemen are however, thieves, liars and scam artists. Just ask Chris Simcox and Carmen Mercer-who run MCDC. Ask them where 4 years of donations to the Minuteman Fence financials are. Ask them for a copy of their By Laws. Ask Carmen Mercer why she is under investigation in AZ for mail fraud.
Comment posted September 18, 2009 @ 5:33 pm
This clown Perez was on the board of CASA de Maryland, a virulently racist outfit that advocates for open borders and importing an endless stream of third-world parasites. He's not fit to clean the crappers in a fleabag motel, let alone to be added to the gaggle of radical cretins the Marxist in Chief has been assembling in the District of Criminals.
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