澳彩开奖

It鈥檚 long been something of a mystery how conservative Republicans can expect to keep winning elections when so many of them spend their time dissing Latinos, a critical and rapidly growing portion of the electorate. Indeed, many Latino rights organizations argue persuasively that it was Latino voters who took Barack Obama over the top in the 2008 presidential election.

But that hasn鈥檛 stopped large numbers of conservative leaders, perhaps even the majority, from embracing anti-Latino rhetoric, activists and organizations. A case in point is how many of these politicians have gotten into bed with the and its legal arm, the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI). IRLI, its chief legal counsel Michael Hethmon and another lawyer, , have been behind the vast majority of recent, draconian anti-immigrant laws, including those in Arizona and, worst of all, Alabama.

Yesterday, one Republican seemed to break with the pack.

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, even as he defended his state鈥檚 somewhat less harsh law in court, derisively dismissed a friend-of-the-court brief filed by IRLI. Shurtleff said the 34-page brief could actually be 鈥渉armful鈥� to the state鈥檚 defense, and he told the paper that he called IRLI and left a 鈥渢erse鈥� message for Hethmon. 鈥淭he attorneys I assigned to handle the case are highly qualified experts,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e do not need the support of IRLI.鈥�

No kidding. There鈥檚 a reason the 澳彩开奖 has listed FAIR as a hate group. In fact, there are quite a lot of reasons.

FAIR鈥檚 president, Dan Stein, has said that the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 鈥� which overturned a racist 1924 act that President Lyndon Johnson correctly described as 鈥渦n-American in the highest sense鈥� 鈥� was a form of 鈥渞evengism鈥� by those who wanted to 鈥渞etaliate against Anglo-Saxon dominance.鈥� He has warned that immigrants are engaged in 鈥渃ompetitive breeding.鈥� He led the group鈥檚 efforts to land $1.2 million from the , a hate group started by Nazi sympathizers in 1937 to study race and intelligence. FAIR鈥檚 founder, , has said that if the borders aren鈥檛 closed, the United States will be overrun by people 鈥渄efecating and creating garbage and looking for jobs.鈥� He鈥檚 warned of a 鈥淟atin onslaught鈥� and complained of Latinos鈥� 鈥渓ow educability.鈥� He has said America needs 鈥渁 European-American majority, and a clear one at that.鈥� He has corresponded with Holocaust deniers, hard-line white nationalists and even a Ku Klux Klan lawyer.

And that鈥檚 only the beginning.

IRLI, for its part, has left a swath of misery everywhere it goes. In the wake of passing IRLI-drafted laws and local ordinances, communities have been torn apart racially and economically, lost round after round in court, and spent fortunes in legal fees 鈥� one town even had to raise taxes to defend its IRLI-backed ordinance.

Mark Shurtleff seemed to see the threat to his party early on. Last October, he told a Salt Lake City immigration summit that it was too late for the GOP. 鈥淭he party has lost those [Latino] voters,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e aren鈥檛 in danger [of losing them] 鈥� we鈥檝e lost them.鈥�

But Shurtleff鈥檚 latest implied criticism of xenophobes and nativists yesterday kicked up a small storm. Hethmon told the Salt Lake paper that Shurtleff鈥檚 defense of Utah鈥檚 law was 鈥渨eak.鈥� Hethmon added: 鈥淲e suspect Mr. Shurtleff would personally be glad to see the law nullified and that he views any public debate on this point as a threat to his image as a political kingmaker in state politics.鈥�

The contentious Mark Hethmon might not like Shurtleff鈥檚 attitude and be willing to attack him publicly for rejecting IRLI鈥檚 鈥渉elp.鈥� But Shurtleff is not alone in his party, and those who agree with him are not all 鈥渢reason lobby鈥� liberals.

ThinkProgress, a blog published by a liberal-leaning think tank, yesterday asked former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush 鈥� hardly a liberal 鈥� about the nativist politics now seen so frequently in the GOP. Stating the obvious, Bush said that 鈥淗ispanic voters hear these debates and see the ramifications of the Alabama law and other things like that and get turned off.鈥� Later, he added that 鈥渇rom a practical point of view, putting aside policy, it makes no sense to me that we are sending these signals.鈥�

But perhaps IRLI and FAIR aren鈥檛 trying to make sense. Perhaps, as all the evidence seems to suggest, they are driven by simple xenophobia and nothing more.