Pot Meet Kettle

Hey, I have been politically silent for a while. All good things come to an end.

Everybody get a chance to hear Representative (and former Republican presidential candidate), Tom Tancredo's remarks last week regarding Obama's choice for Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor? Let's refresh, shall we?

"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?"

That's right, he called her a racist.

Now let's just ignore for the moment whether what Tancredo is saying has any substance at all. Instead let's see if he knows racism - real racism - when it looks him in the eye, writes his speeches, staffs his office and acts as Co-Executive Director of his PAC, Team America.

Marcus Epstein, Tancredo's speechwriter, staffer, and, yes, Co-Executive Director of Tancredo's Team America has pled guilty to attacking a random African-American woman on a street in Washington DC in 2007. He was witnessed walking down the street muttering offensive remarks when he suddenly jumped at the woman who was passing by, karate-chopped her in the head, and shouted the N-word. He fled the scene but was apprehended by an off-duty Secret Service agent who witnessed the attack. Mr. Epstein is to be sentenced on July the 8th.

Even better than that, Mr. Epstein is also the founder of YWC, Youth for Western Civilization, a known white supremacist group. This is all rather bizarre since Mr. Epstein is half Jewish and half Korean, and that ethnicity has usually been used by folks on the right to defend him. But his actions are rather indefensible. The Southern Poverty Law Center and the One People's Project have followed Mr. Epstein for quite some time and their feeling is that Marcus is the real deal in racism.

From an essay by Epstein:

“Diversity can be good in moderation — if what is being brought in is desirable. Most Americans don’t mind a little ethnic food, some Asian math whizzes, or a few Mariachi dancers — as long as these trends do not overwhelm the dominant culture.”

Referring to Howard Dean's comment that the GOP was becoming the "White Party", Epstein said:

Were it not for massive Third World immigration, being the “White Party” would mean being “The Winning Party”.

So there you have it. Rep Tancredo's proclaimed abhorence for anything that might appear racist does not seem to include those closest to him. Mr. Epstein remains in his postition at Team America.