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August 6th, 2008

Among the luminaries who "attended" the 2008 National Council of La Raza (NCLR) Annual Conference in San Diego was our old friend, Jeff Schwilk, head of the San Diego Minutemen. For a very detailed chronicling of the misadventures of Schwilk and his hate group-designated band of followers over the last several years, go to the Southern Poverty Law Center's website at http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2008/04/23/new-embarrassments-face-san-diego-minutemen or http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=780.

Schwilk sent out an email touting the massive outpouring of his group's members at a protest in front of the San Diego Convention Center, the site of NCLR's event. An excerpt follows:

From: Jeff Schwilk
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;
Sent: 7/16/2008 12:00:19 PM
Subject: Wrap Up on San Diego La Raza Fest '08 - Major Victory!

Congrats Americans!! We gave La Raza something special for their 40th birthday - something they've never received before! Huge protest, heat, and controversy greeted them in San Diego, U.S.A.

Well, here's blogger Kyle de Beausset from Citizen Orange's take on the festivities in this video posted on his site (full disclosure: de Beausset was invited by NCLR to attend the Conference):

Photographer Rob Howard also shared this shot with us:

Hmm...like the battle over our name, apparently our dictionary also has a completely different definition of "huge" from that of the anti-immigrant folks. Further evidence of these delusions of grandeur is provided by columnist Scott Mooneyham in his latest piece for the Rocky Mount Telegram on the anti-immigrant group, Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee (ALIPAC). Here are some excerpts:

A group called Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee is checking its list and checking it twice.

If you haven't heard of the group, you're not alone. Earlier this summer, it held a rally outside the Legislative Building. About two dozen people showed up. The speechifying seemed to draw more gawking reporters than people cheering.

Of course, Americans for Legal Immigration isn't exactly for immigration. It was created by a fellow named Bill Gheen to oppose illegal immigration. A more apt name for the group would be "Round Up the Illegals and Ship 'Em All Back to Mexico."

...The group recently sent out a missive saying that it will begin endorsing candidates in U.S. Senate and congressional races based on their support of "border security, fines for employers, removal of taxpayer benefits for illegals, and the empowerment of local police to enforce immigration laws."

Among other things, it will penalize candidates whose campaigns advertise in Spanish. No doubt, all those state legislators who voted a few years ago to print election ballots in Spanish will get a zero.

In the release, Americans for Legal Immigration also refers to itself as "one of America's largest grassroots organizations." Interesting description for a political action committee that, in two election cycles, has taken in a few hundred contributions. Using the same criteria of political activity, surely the N.C. Academy of Trial Lawyers (or whatever it calls itself now) and the N.C. Association of Realtors must be among America's most "supermongous grassroots organizations."

For the full piece, go to http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/news/content/news/opinion/stories/2008/07/30/mooneyham.html.

In all fairness, we should note that William Gheen wrote a blazing retort to several of Mooneyham's "lies" on ALIPAC's website. Some highlights:

First, it was not "two dozen people who showed up" to ALIPAC's rally outside the legislative building earlier this summer. Gheen corrects, "We had over three dozen people show up."

Second, Gheen, obviously offended by Mooneyham's comment that "if you haven't heard of the group, you're not alone," responds with the following: "Correction: I appear in articles and news casts, as well as on talk radio shows in NC on a regular basis. I do public speaking engagements across the nation and the state, including several in Rocky Mt... I Goggle at over 30,000 search matches, while Scott Mooneyham Googles at less than 5,000."

Third, Mooneyham says that ALIPAC gave "$500 to California Republican Ted Hayes in a Don Quixotesque campaign against Democrat Maxine Waters." Gheen responds, "We have not contributed to the Congressional campaign of Ted Hayes. We gave Ted a donation last year to support his activism efforts in Los Angeles."

Wow, Gheen really showed him! For the full reply, go here:
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=125780.