Posted on 09/02/2003 10:12:05 AM PDT by kattracks
California Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante refused over the weekend to expressly denounce the racist-sounding slogan of Latino-supremacist group MEChA, which preaches to its members, "For the race everything. For those outside the race, nothing."
Asked about the slogan no fewer than four times on Saturday by Fox News Channel's Tony Snow, Bustamante first responded that he loved his culture and would represent all Californians if he became governor.
"My politics ... have grown to a point where I'm a very inclusive individual, and all you have to do is look at the politics I've shared and the kind of politics that I've had," the California recall candidate tap-danced.
When pressed for a more direct answer, Bustamante said, "Racial separatism is wrong," but he declined to explicitly condemn MEChA or its message.
"You have to look at what people do, not just what they say, and I think I've demonstrated my ability," he protested.
Bustamante's defenders say his politics are actually far more moderate than MEChA's, to which he belonged during his college days at Fresno State in the 1970s.
But Los Angeles radio host Larry Edler wasn't buying it.
"What is a moderate member of a racist organization?" he asked his KABC audience last week.
"'I was a moderate member of the Klan'? I mean, imagine what would happen if a Republican were to make that statement?"
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
This should be shouted nonstop from every rooftop in LA-LA Land.
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