You would think that an old, Mexican-bashing coot like Glenn Spencer, the head of the nativist "organization" American Border Patrol, would be radioactive to any politician with a lick of sense, after all of the dumb, bigoted statements he's made over the years.
Not to mention that he was once more-than-an-acquaintance of convicted kid-killer Shawna Forde, allowed Forde to stay on his property, and even let Forde use her laptop at his home the day she was collared. In fact, the FBI nabbed Forde not far from Spencer's ranch near the Arizona-Mexico line.
But we are talking about a state Senate run by Russell Pearce, here. So, suffice it to say I was hardly surprised that Spencer, a serious nutbar who has attended white supremacist events in the past and who likes to peddle the phony, racist "reconquista" conspiracy theory, is scheduled to give a presentation before the Senate Border Security Committee, which is chaired by Senator Sylvia Allen.
The presentation is entitled, "Arizona/Mexico Border -- An Assessment."
Most of you know Allen as the woman who believes the Earth is only 6,000 years old. But really, her looniness and anti-immigrant mania is such that it's unfair to slander other Biblical literalists by pointing out she's in the same camp.
I've phoned and e-mailed Allen for a comment, but have yet to hear back from her.
It's unlikely that Spencer's statements about Mexicans -- that theirs is a culture "based on deceit," that a bloodbath is inevitable from the Mexican "invasion" of the U.S., and so forth -- will trouble Allen much. After all her boss is President Pearce. Can you imagine the racist one-liners that guy tells in his spare time?
But Spencer's anti-Semitic statements and his dealings with anti-Semitic folk should give Allen and Senate Republicans additional pause.
Indeed, they need only check out Spencer's anti-Semitic rant on his own Web site. In a passage titled, "Speaking the Unspeakable: Is Jew-Controlled Hollywood Brainwashing Americans?," Spencer writes,
"I have many Jewish friends and they have been extremely instrumental in fighting illegal immigration. I fear, however, that this small handful of patriotic Americans are far outnumbered by liberal Jews who now have total control over our media. With my memories of the Hollywood elite, I think it is now time that Americans be forewarned that they are probably subject to clever pro-illegal alien propaganda every time they watch something produced in Hollywood.Though the Hollywood blacklist is long past, the philosophy that permeated Hollywood probably did not die with McCarthy."
Moreover, the Southern Poverty Law Center notes in its bio of Spencer that,
"Spencer was one of the first well-known anti-immigration activists to more or less openly court white supremacists and anti-Semites. He has attended conferences of American Renaissance magazine, which specializes in racist theories about blacks and others, and interviewed the magazine's editor, Jared Taylor, on his syndicated radio show. Another Spencer radio guest was California State University, Long Beach, Professor Kevin MacDonald, who is the architect of an elaborate anti-Semitic theory dressed up as evolutionary biology. Spencer also promoted on his website a booklet published by Taylor called The Color of Crime that claims to be a "relentlessly factual" study alleging -- on the basis of Taylor's mixing up of all interracial crimes and race-motivated hate crimes -- that blacks and Latinos are far more likely than whites to be hate criminals."
I called Bill Straus, Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League of Arizona. He'd already heard that Spencer would be giving a presentation to the Senate committee.
"I was appalled when I found out," he told me.
He agreed that Spencer's statements about Jews were anti-Semitic. And he lamented Spencer's bigoted statements toward the Mexican people. The ADL has a whole report on anti-Mexican extremists like Spencer, here.
Spencer is a known quantity. All you have to do is Google his name and you'll find plenty on his affiliations with racist groups, his connection to Shawna Forde, his bigoted ramblings, and his run-ins with authorities.
Gee, what's next, Senator Allen? Inviting a representative of the Ku Klux Klan to opine on racism? Maybe you can invite a National Socialist Movement member to comment on the odiousness of federal law enforcement. Or perhaps David Duke could make a trek to Phoenix to talk about white pride.
I suppose I should be glad that Republitards like Allen, Pearce and that whole gang exist. Otherwise, whatever would I blog about?
(Something else, the state Legislature likes to pretend they're all about helping out the U.S. Border Patrol, and are concerned when the Border Patrol's officers get shot. But Spencer has referred to the entity as the "U.S. Bullsh*t Patrol" in a piece on his Web site. Classy, eh? As well as highly ironic.)
