(Hurley, Watt, D. Boon, sullied by association with the gentleman below)

Minutemen Project
founder Jim Gilchrist defends his organization against the “bogus name-calling” of CNN’s Ruben Navarette Jr.

Navarrette is a clever wordsmith. Under the penumbra of supporting free speech, he creates a wholly fictitious connection between The Minuteman Project and the Nazis who wanted to march in Skokie, Illinois, in the late 1970s, leading his uncritical readers to false assumptions and conclusions. Navarrette calls The Minuteman Project viewpoint “offensive speech” and says the project promotes inaccuracy, intolerance and idiocy.

Navarrette insults Minuteman Project volunteers by calling them a posse who “prowl the U.S.-Mexico border chasing Mexicans — admittedly not an easy thing to do when you’re carrying a lawn-chair and a cooler of beer.” He claims minutemen and women are “hooligans,” “yahoos” and “wannabes who play cop.”

In fact, Minuteman volunteers only observe and report; they do not chase or confront and they do not drink on duty. There has never been a violent incident initiated by volunteers. By contrast, in the past 18 months, nonviolent Minuteman volunteers nationwide have been victims of more than 50 acts of violence against their property and persons by deviants opposed to freedom of speech. Much of this violence is encouraged by propagandist journalists like Navarrette, whose words inflame readers and foster hostility.

Navarrette implies racism, but never says exactly which of The Minuteman Project volunteers is racist. Could it be the African-American members? Or the Asians or Hispanics? Perhaps he refers to the Native American Indian members? Maybe Navarrette means the Jewish members of The Minuteman Project?

Of course, there are European-Caucasian members. Ah-hah! In the twisted perception of the propagandist journalist, any organization with at least one white person must be, ipso facto, a racist organization.

Well, yeah. I’m cool with that. And any organization of beer-cooler toting, wannabe border police might be repeatedly labelled as such until they serve up some evidence of all the white people they’ve kept out of America.