Crafton Calls English Only Opponents "Elites" with Vision of "Shadow Government"

Perhaps I've been deceiving myself. I've been opposing Eric Crafton's English Only since 2006 and I had no idea that all this time I have been advocating a conspiracy for Nashville's "liberal elites" to enact their vision of "a shadow government and a shadow community" to keep immigrants from having a voice. That is how Eric Crafton described his opponents of this month's English Only referendum to Lou Dobbs and a national audience yesterday. He claims guys like me are not among the regular folks who are more likely to support him.

I've documented how Eric Crafton's justifications for English Only have changed over and over again to suit the tactical goals he has at any particular time. His latest reasoning is a twisted embrace of democracy as an advocate to help immigrants protect themselves against a tiered system where people are kept from having tools of their own uplift. He's fashioned himself lately into some sort of weird caricature of a progressive. He argued in the past that English Only is not about illegal immigration, but he did not object one bit when Lou Dobbs tied the two issues together even as he posed as a champion of democracy.

After watching Eric Crafton manuever English Only around Metro Council in 2006-07, abandoning some promises (language education programs) and adding others (exceptions for emergent conditions), I do not believe that he is honest in claiming to be interested in immigrant uplift. It appeared to me that his shift from "English Only" to "English First" (he has used both labels to describe his interests) was motivated purely by his self-interest in getting enough votes to pass legislation to crack down on immigrants (and he did motivate 23 other council members to follow him). Very little about that vote suggested democracy to me.

There is no anti-democratic conspiracy to kill English Only from my perspective; there is suspicion of Eric Crafton's true motives. An appearance in Lou Dobb's national vacuum will not change my mind about that.

The Latest Racism Spawned in Williamson County

What exactly are they putting in the water in Williamson County, Tennessee that spawns the kind of belligerent prejudice we have seen recently? There was the Williamson County Republicans blaming Nashville's entire Kurdish community for the crimes of two gang members. There was vandalism of a car owned by an African American family in Franklin, Tennessee with racist graffiti telling them to "go back to Africa."

And now comes news via the AP, that Mark Whitlock and Bob DeMoss from Franklin, Tennessee traveled to what conservatives are ironically calling a "Value Voters Summit" and "briskly" sold boxes of waffle mix with Barack Obama caricatured in a racially and culturally insensitive fashion:

[The waffle box drawing] plays off the old image of the pancake-mix icon Aunt Jemima, which has been widely criticized as a demeaning stereotype. Obama is portrayed with popping eyes and big, thick lips as he stares at a plate of waffles and smiles broadly.

Placing Obama in Arab-like headdress recalls the false rumor that he is a follower of Islam, though he is actually a Christian. On the back of the box, Obama is depicted in stereotypical Mexican dress, including a sombrero."

Are these Williamson County's best and brightest citizens? Are they typical of what make Williamson County "America's Greatest County"? Are these the kind of values that conservatives at the "Family" Research Council mean when they apply the label, "Value Voters"? Doesn't calling people who deal in racist stereotypes "value voters" amount to Orwellian doublethink ("up is down," "right is left," etc.)? How can they be said to have values properly called human?


UPDATE: Franklin, Tennessee's good ol' boys rationalize their prejudice and the false innuendo they advertise on their mix. It's even more despicable than the AP report let on:

UPDATE: No surprise here but both mix makers have strong conservative evangelical ties. Bob Demoss has collaborated with religious extremist and theocrat, Tim LaHaye. According to his blog, Mark Whitlock has worked with Focus on the Family, which is run by Christian rightwinger James Dobson, who prayed for the weather to impede this year's Democratic National Convention.

DeMoss was unapologetic at the Christianity Today blog:

Does [Obama] have Muslim roots or not? That's a legitimate question. That might offend somebody, but you know what, that's part of the political satire.

Sounds like a page out of the TNGOP playbook to me.


UPDATE: A post celebrating Lou Dobbs' promotion of Obama Waffles has been scrubbed at the obama waffles blog. Not only did the CNN show host buy a box, but he exclaimed that his wife would love it. The story has gone national, hitting newspapers around the country, which is probably more racist-alleging publicity than Lou wanted.

Obama's Wall Street Economic Team May Give the Campaign a Media-Friendly Crisis Mentality about Social Security, "Free" Trade

As much as he would like to see Barack Obama set a progressive economic agenda, economist Dean Baker acknowledges the political realities partly dictated by the mainstream media. He sees more Wall Street than Main Street in Obama's team. And that mentality plays into the dominant media bias and half-truths.

Social Security is a case in point:

They have trumpeted the Social Security "crisis" for more than a quarter century, convincing the bulk of the public that the program is on the edge of bankruptcy. While proponents of the crisis view are all over the news, editorial pages, and pundit shows, the basic facts about the program's finances are almost never mentioned.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office projects that the program can pay all scheduled benefits for nearly 40 years with no changes whatsoever. And even if nothing is ever changed, Social Security will always be able to pay future retirees a higher benefit (adjusted for inflation) than current retirees receive. Where's the crisis?

And the media does its best to avoid talking about the failings of the Wall Street agenda. Did you see that great piece about how awful retirees would have fared if we had put their Social Security money in the stock market in the late 90s as the privatizers advocated? I missed that one too.

Baker also cites the false dichotomies of "free trade" vs. protectionism in the Wall Street/media mentality, which also ignores the inequities in the market that already generate selective protectionism under the guise of a "free market."

You cannot have a serious debate with the Wall Street mentality, because the sky is falling, and if you dare question market inequities, then you get labeled as a xenophobic, Lou Dobbs clone. It's all hysteria and adhominems and unquestioned dogma.

Further evidence that Eric Crafton demands equal billing with Mayors

CM Eric Crafton will appear opposite Mayor Karl Dean (non-debate style) on Lou Dobbs' radio show today after wimping out of a debate with local English Only opponent David Briley (who would have kicked some Crafton butt) on local public TV.

Sticky Immigration Wicket for Both Dems Who Now Face a Rio Grande Reality Check

Melissa Del Bosque reports that voting for that border fence may not endear Clinton or Obama to Tejanos:

Both senators voted for the Secure Fence Act in 2006, which mandated 700 miles of fence along the Texas border. Landowners are currently fighting the Department of Homeland Security to save their land from being condemned for the construction of the wall. This topic is very much on people’s minds in South Texas, though it may not be on anyone’s radar north of San Antonio, unfortunately ....

After several months of meetings, County Judge JD Salinas was able to negotiate a compromise plan last week with DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff. The plan prevents the DHS from literally building the fence on top of Hidalgo County residents’ homes.

Kelly Fero a longtime political consultant said the candidates were probably approaching the issue of the border wall from a New Hampshire or Iowa point of view. The common thinking of folks not living along the border — thanks to the likes of the O’Reilly Factor and Lou Dobbs — has the southern border swarming with terrorists and drug traffickers.

Sounds like the campaigns might be facing some pissed off property owners and concerned South Texas community leaders. I hope that they generate some controversy and make the Dems sweat on this one.