From Ruben Navarrette, Jr:
The nation’s first Hispanic attorney general is being pressured to resign by — pick ’em — Democrats trying to make hay, an elite media that long opposed him, civil libertarians who condemn administration policy on detainees and wiretaps, conservatives who think Gonzales is too liberal, and liberals who think he’s too conservative.
[snip]
Leading this lynch mob are white liberals who resent Gonzales because they can’t claim the credit for his life’s accomplishments and because they can’t get him to curtsy.
Why should he? Gonzales doesn’t owe them a damn thing. Democratic politicians love posing with mariachis as they nibble chips and salsa on Cinco De Mayo. But it was a Republican — George W. Bush — who made history by nominating a Hispanic to serve as attorney general.
[snip]
Well, if they succeed in running him off without a fair hearing, many Hispanics won’t forget the shoddy treatment afforded this grandson of Mexican immigrants. You watch. Democrats will have to intensify their efforts to win Hispanic votes in the 2008 elections. And there’s not that much chips and salsa on the planet.
Perhaps I’m misreading this? I hope so, because Ruben Navarrette seems to be saying a number of offensive things.
Like… Hispanic voters will be grossly offended on Gonzales’ behalf, and just naturally feel he received such treatment only because his grandfather immigrated from Mexico. This will be a spontaneous, natural reaction, of course — in spite of the fact that Gonzales’ ethnicity has only come up in Navarette’s column.
Like… white male liberals should support minority political figures on the basis of their race / ethnicity / ancestry, rather than on political issues? (And is that some hitherto unexposed “guy thing”?)
Or like… Democrats only pretend to support minorities in politics. In actualilty, they’re racist panderers looking down their elite noses. On the other hand, the Republicans (via Bush) appointed Gonzales, they are ipso facto sincere. (Somewhat schizophrenically, Navarrette points out elsewhere that this same unbiased White House seems to be simultaneously hanging Gonzales out to dry, even though Bush defends him… )
Or even more dangerously… that Gonzales shouldn’t be coming under pressure at all — that because of his grandpa, he deserves a free pass. He’s unassailable because of his last name.
As it happens, Polimom thinks Alberto Gonzales is looking a bit like Scooter Libby about now… and the similarities have nothing to do with their respective grandparents. No matter how I searched and googled, though, I couldn’t find the first thing from Mr. Navarrette about Libby.
Either I didn’t look in the right places, or google buried that unbiased bit of commentary in the virtual piñata, and I needed to smack the computer a bit harder to shake it out.