I've been trying to comprehend a few things. I have been trying to understand the singular obsession the Minuteman Movement has about running all the "illegals? out of town. I am not convinced, as I have written in many of my columns, that they distinguish between "illegal or legal? immigrants. Some of the rhetoric rampaging through the Internet in 2004 made no distinction between the two groups. Though these anti-Mexican cowboys have not been harping so much about all Mexicans lately, they haven't recanted their former diatribes either.

Here is what is irritating about these guys and gals. Why exactly are they all so fired up over the presence of a bunch of Mexicans in America who are working themselves to the bone trying to keep their extended families alive? Are they in America illegally? Most indeed are. Are they sending most of the money back to their families in Mexico? Most are. But what really galls me is how Foxnews has stood by these yahoos without so much mentioning a few pertinent facts. These hunters of Mexican flesh have been deified as patriots. They are those we all should emulate. They are true Americans, like our founding fathers, and are people we should respect and shout a hearty Amen in response to their actions!

Really?

Now, excuse me if I am beginning to sound singularly obsessed about this issue, but I simply cannot abide a news network, the conservative mouthpiece?and please, let's be honest and admit that?that will not report the whole truth! Where is Foxnews' Fair and Balanced and We report, You Decided network mantra when it comes to Chris Simcox and his boys? And to think I used to identify myself with what those people represent: Conservatism.

The co-founder of The Minuteman Movement, Chris Simcox, has said some pretty horrible things. To date, I have yet to hear him recant, take what he said back, ask for forgiveness, admit anything close to a change in his original ideology. And, do not miss this salient fact:

The man is the primary impetus behind what is going on, even as I write these words, in the current, newsworthy immigration debate. I give him that credit. He may be a lot of things, and indeed he is, but he is not a stupid person. He has played his cards brilliantly. He is the fox that has gotten into the hen house with impunity.

I wrote a book that a couple of agents are looking at. Its working title is, Essays and Thoughts on the Current Mexican Immigration Debate. In this unpublished manuscript, I make some points that no one, and I mean no one, in the conservative media seems to care about. The points are statements that Chris Simcox has made about Mexicans.

"Simcox seems to be of the ilk, like Glenn Spencer and his gang, who believe,

"that migrant workers are not coming to America to find a better life for themselves and their families, but rather to reclaim the Southwest for Mexico.?[1]

Chris Simcox does not believe that the illegals are coming into America to work. In fact, he believes something much more sinister,

""I've lived in Manhattan and I have lived in Chicago and I have lived in Los Angeles. These people don't come here to work. They come here to rob and deal drugs," Simcox said of Mexican immigrants. Oh, Jesus, it is unbelievable. I mean, we need the National Guard to clean out all our cities and round them up. They are hard-core criminals. They have no problem slitting your throat and taking your money or selling drugs to your kids or raping your daughters and they are evil people," Simcox replied?.[2]

Evil people is how he describes illegals.

Simcox defines a vigilante as someone who "is judge, jury, and executioner?,[3] and denies that he and his group are anything similar to vigilantes. However, though he rightly defines vigilantism, and then goes on to insist that he and his group are not a bunch of vigilantes, here is what he says next,

"To repel this supposed invasion, Simcox called for drastic measures: a "committee of vigilantes" that would prowl the borderlands. The beauty of vigilantism, Simcox wrote, is simple: "We actually have more freedom to tackle the problem than the Government and law enforcement agencies that are bogged down in the quagmire of laws and restrictions."[4]

Simcox says he is not a vigilante, yet what is needed for this invasion is a "committee of vigilantes" that would prowl the borderlands.

Remember how he defined vigilantism: "as someone who is is judge, jury, and executioner?

Other than this man being massively convoluted, is this not the scariest rhetoric?

Well, Simcox, according to recent news events, is prowling the borderlands and is not just "observing and reporting? but is detaining illegals crossing the border. He's gone from just "observing and reporting? to "detaining?.

What's next, Chris?

[1] Essays and Thoughts on Mexican Immigration; Doug Bower; 2006
[2] Ibid
[3] Ibid
[4] Ibid