Gee, that certainly panned out.

FWIW, I heard a story on NPR that had audio of organizers telling protesters to put away their Mexican flags and take the US flags provided. Even the reporter didn’t think that the sudden shift was organic.

Limbaugh was saying the same thing yesterday. Strange he would ever say the same thing as NPR. Makes the whole flag waving thing seem a little disingenuous. I wonder if the rally organizers used the words “hearts and minds” in their pre-rally pep talks.

There’s no need for war, and the illegals know it. All they need to do is win the right to vote, and then they will quickly take over the southwestern state governments.

Actually, Mecha doesn’t actually advocate a reconquista.

Like I said before, the beliefs of MEChA were pretty soundly hashed out during the California recall election, and I think that this article says it best:

http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2003/09/mecha-meme.html

In contrast [to the League of the South's "Position Paper on Race"], the MEChA documents are quite benign. Its rhetoric is, undoubtedly, inflammatory and angry, but it is only vaguely exclusionist and decidedly short on the attacks on other races and derogation of them. The strident tenor seems shrill and overstated in today’s context — but then, it is important to remember that most of these documents were written in 1969, a time when the effects of white racism were still much more apparent.

Perhaps more representative of the direction taken by the organization is “The Philosophy of MEChA”, written apparently in about the same time frame. Especially noteworthy is this passage:

As MEChA, we must accept the challenge to combat all forms of oppression, and manifestations as experienced through racism, sexism, and homophobia, both inside and outside of our Movement.

Indeed, the entirety of this document is focused on civic duty and coordinated action, all of which are time-honored principles of peaceful social change. Its orientation is unquestionably multicultural.

Moreover, a survey of campus Mechista Web sites reveals this same kind of benign advocacy. It is clear that this, and not creation of an exclusivist Aztlan and a plan to “drive out the gringos,” is what MEChA is primarily about.

This means little, anyway. It was good PR to wave Old Glory and the organizers deserve credit for learning quickly.

If you want to characterize the discussion of motivation as “fear-mongering,” go right ahead–it’s your blog. If you wish to practice ad hominem, that’s your business.

Also, there is a marked difference between “pro-immigration” and “pro-illegal-immigration.” What is the message here? I haven’t heard any sane person argue against immigration, yet that is the spin.

Last point: Who here talked of war? Who here can honestly say that large influxes of immigrants do not cause some conflict? Of course it does. That is the history of America, like it or not. To attempt to resolve the conflict peacefully without all the facts (I haven’t seen a lie here, yet) is absurd.

Say it louder … there is a centrist project in there if w could organise it …. a write in/ call in/ e-mail campaign to the elected officials?

It would be interesting if we could get the Congress to react in the same timeframe as the ports deal.

Did people bring their own flags, or did march organizers note the negative reaction to the earlier marches and hand out Old Glories the next week?

Are the media images representative of the marchers as a whole, in either case?

And I still am left wondering, how strong a component are the reconquista mentalities among the various protesting factions? How do they deal with the fact that the Spanish stole the land from the Indians, other than claiming they are all really “indigenous,” not Mexican?

Once we fix that, people will actually use the legal methods as a primary means of gaining access to the US and then you can reasonably secure the border.

Certainly a good number of Mexicans view our Southwest as wrongfully seized. And many see the former Mexican territories as part of a greater, trans-national Mexico. But to claim that there is any serious Mexican desire to ignite some kind of war (racial or state-against-state) is absurd at best.

I don’t know about you, but any time I see someone openly advocating carving a large chunk out of the U.S. homeland (especially a chunk where I have several relatives living), I take notice and take it at least somewhat seriously. Doesn’t matter who it is, or even what my assessment is of their chances of success.

That said, I do think the development described by Mr. Boas is a welcome antidote to the Aztlanista business. Not to mention that assimilation is a lot easier, and probably loads more effective, than trying to round up 11 million illegal immigrants, ship them back to Mexico and hope they stay put.