Sunday, August 24, 2008

Reaping what the Right-Wing Hate Mongers Have Sown, Part III

Arizona Shock Jock's Dangerous Call for 'Bloodshed' in Polling Places | Media and Technology | AlterNet
Although Garcia has been threatened many times in the past, and admits that she is now "facing extreme pressure on my life," she says she doesn't see herself as "being brave." Instead, she says, "I'm privileged - I'm a citizen, well-educated, an attorney…The situation of many migrants is actually far more dangerous than the one I'm now facing."

The larger threat, Garcia maintains, is the "chilling effect" that the attacks against her may have on others. "They are trying to silence any voice that speaks out on behalf of immigrants," she explained.

Garcia's colleague Kat Rodriguez is less sanguine about the danger to Garcia. "Isabel is under direct attack," Rodriguez says. "They say that she was using children to incite violence against law enforcement (we’ve never had violence at our events, and always coordinate with the police) and that she is a Mexican agent and all of the other Reconquista crap that many have heard before (that we are here to reconquer the Southwest for Aztlan, as Mexican agents). The problem is, a fair number of people are buying into this spin, and it is obviously an orchestrated attempt by the right-wing to chill any resistance to racism and xenophobia that is going on here."

Rodriguez says she "would usually shrug this off as idiotic, but it has actually gained traction. This right-wing jerk, whose show is a constant stream of anti-immigrant, racist, and homophobic rhetoric, is leading the charge, even commenting the other day that we need 'bloodshed in the polling places.'
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