If you go off the reservation, the Democrats will try to destroy you

**Posted by Phineas

We’ve seen it happen time and again: a public figure from an ethic minority considered “ours” by the liberal left gains prominence as a conservative, they do everything in their power to ruin him or her politically for fear that others might follow. Long ago, it was Clarence Thomas and the “high tech lynching.” More recently, minority conservatives such as Miguel Estrada, Condoleezza Rice, and Marco Rubio were all subjected to vicious, mendacious, even racist attacks questioning their truthfulness, morality, and “authenticity” (1).

Now it’s Susana Martinez’s turn. The Governor of New Mexico has committed a great sin: she is from a minority (2) , Mexican-American, a conservative and a Republican, and she has the temerity to govern as one.

She is thus a threat and must be destroyed, in this case by lying about her family:

Here we have a popular and successful Latina politician with a bold, conservative agenda in an important swing state. As far as the mainstream media is concerned, there has to be a catch.

β€œMs. Martinez, who grew up along the border, is also Mexican-American, with news reports since her election revealing that her paternal grandfather came to the United States as an illegal immigrant,” wrote Marc Lacey in a New York Times profile three months ago.

β€œβ€¦The New Mexican’s Sandra Baltazar MartΓ­nez reported recently, at least two of the governor’s grandparents also were [undocumented immigrants],” wrote the Santa Fe New Mexican in a recent editorial.

Lest you be under any illusions about the nature and motives of these news items, bear in mind that Gov. Martinez wants to roll back certain of her predecessor’s policies regarding illegal immigration in New Mexico, most notably, a policy that allows illegal immigrants to secure drivers licenses. β€œThe governor’s opponents have pointed to her immigrant grandparents as an example of why New Mexico should welcome illegal immigrants and continue to allow them to get a driver’s license,” reports the Associated Press.

Obviously, the stage is set for the media and her political rivals to paint Gov. Martinez as a hypocrite and a traitor to her people.

There’s only one problem: The story about Martinez’s grandparents is junk. The Governor’s grandparents were not U.S. citizens, but they were most certainly not illegal immigrants.

Read the rest to see why this charge is bogus.

It’s an old rhetorical trick, one beloved of demagogues everywhere: plant a leading question seemingly loaded with damning implications with the audience, then trust that their cynicism and distrust of politicians will prevent them from thinking critically and asking rational questions such as, “What was the state of the law at the time her grandparents arrived in the US?”

It’s a cheap, sleazy tactic, but it’s one that’s used so regularly because it often works.

Thankfully, in the cases of Marco Rubio and candidate for US Senate Ted Cruz (R-TX), it didn’t work. But now the “smear guns” have been turned on Governor Martinez, who’s increasingly seen as another threat to the Democrats’ death-grip on minority groups.

We mustn’t let them succeed.

Footnotes:
(1) Because, after all, what “authentic” minority could ever consider being a Republican. Must be a traitor.
(2) Twice-over. A Mexican-American and a woman. The horror…

(Crossposted at Public Secrets)

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