Bainbridge wrong - this time

I was dissapointed to see Professor Bainbridge claim Arnold Schwarzenegger was trying to appeal to the nativist/racist wing of the state party when Schwarzenegger spoke up in support of the Minute Men project.

One can but assume that Arnie's worries about winning the GOP gubernatorial primary in 2006 have prompted him to appeal to the nativist/racist wing of the state party.

While I respect Bainbridge, his use of such terms to describe those who are trying to ensure our borders are secure is irresponsible. Regardless of what one thinks of the President's plans, and yes the devil is in the details, it is quite obvious that more needs to be done to secure our borders. Sinking to the level of smear tactics and charges of racism will not move the debate forward. I would have thought such actions were beneath him. Hopefully this is just a momentary lapse in judgement.

Michelle Malkin details in her post how she actually corresponded with Bainbridge. Apparently Professor Bainbridge is acting in a less than properly informed manner as he smears the Minute Men.

I wrote Bainbridge and asked whether he had met or interviewed any of the Minutemen volunteers, who have just completed a successful campaign to monitor and reduce illegal immigration on the southern border despite the most determined efforts by the ACLU and the open-borders lobby to sabotage and intimidate them.

"I've seen them interviewed," the professor wrote back.

I inquired further: How many? Which ones? Just the lead organizers or some of the rank-and-file volunteers as well? What exactly did they say that led you to the conclusion that they were "nuts?"

No response yet.

Unlike Bainbridge, I have corresponded with, interviewed, and met personally with dozens of Minutemen volunteers over the past month--most recently at the Hold Their Feet to the Fire dinner in Washington, D.C., organized by former San Diego mayor and veteran talk show host Roger Hedgecock. The grass-roots lobbying campaign involved 18 talk show hosts and over 400 citizen volunteers who paid their own way, including the Minuteman Project leaders and scores of their members.

Among those I met were retired law enforcement officers, retired and active-duty military personnel, teachers, small businessmen, Republican activists, and many legal immigrants. Also among the Minuteman Project's outspoken supporters in D.C. last week: Muriel Watson, the feisty widow of a Border Patrol agent who organized the "Light up the Border" campaign in 1990. Calif. Rep. Duncan Hunter and Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo greeted the crowd and applauded their efforts.

In the Detroit area recently, I met with mainstream Republican activists inspired by the Minutemen to help organize a similar effort on the northern border. Among them were naturalized Americans from Poland and South America and many children of legal immigrants. Not a single racist in the crowd.

[...]

Professor Bainbridge's response is to shrug his shoulders, obsess over the Hispanic vote in California, and attack anyone who disagrees with his open-borders pandering strategy as a supporter of "the party of apartheid."

Apartheid?!?!

Now, tell me, who's nuts?

She has more so make sure you read her entire post, especially click on "read more".

I really hope the good Professor is not beginning a long slide into lunacy. I would hate for him to some day sound like typical left wing nut job.

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