CONLAMIC Watch: Pimping for Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist & John Roberts

I recently wrote about a statement released by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in which Howard Dean lamented an address by Republican National Committee (RCN) Chair Ken Mehlman at a gathering organized in DC by the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders (CONLAMIC).

Dean, criticizing Mehlman and the Bush government for trumpeting false pro-immigration policies at the CONLAMIC gathering, nevertheless praised the Coalition and said that he wished to set "the record straight" by telling CONLAMIC "the truth" about the Bush administration's record on immigration.

The DNC statement went out on September 22, 2005.

Hm... Maybe the DNC should have been at the press conference organized on that same date by CONLAMIC with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist in support of Judge John Roberts' bid to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States?

Unless the Democrats lose their fear of confronting fundamentalist religious pimping, be it Latino or not, they look just as cynical as they say Ken Mehlman's statements are.

As for Roberts, minutes ago he was confirmed as the 17th Supreme Court Chief Justice, to CONLAMIC's delight, and the DNC's dismay (they had opposed the nomination as well).

In some ways, while CONLAMIC stuck to their principles and won, the DNC and the Democratic party continue to split strategies and lose even when the current government has the lowest approval numbers of any administration in recent memory.

Howard Dean and the DNC miss the mark on CONLAMIC

Photo: CONLAMIC director Miguel Rivera outside the Bronx Court House on March 3, 2004, announcing a pro-Bush and anti-same-sex marriage rally, and some community activists rejecting CONLAMIC's hateful message.

Interesting news from DC: Today the Democratic National Committee (DNC) released a statement crediting the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders (CONLAMIC) for "the work they’ve done to promote immigration reform and fair treatment for undocumented immigrants" but also wishing to set them straight, as it were, or - in DNC parlance - telling them "the truth."

Apparently CONLAMIC hosted the Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Ken Mehlman today at a gathering in DC where he spoke about all the wonderful things that President Bush had done for Latinos in general including Latino immigrants (huh?).

To tell "the truth" though the DNC would do well to do some research, 'cause they ain't necessarily going to teach CONLAMIC anything they don't know:

• In 2003 CONLAMIC honored the oh-so-"immigrant friendly" Traditional Values Coalition leader Louis P. Sheldon (which, credit be given, was representative of a split in the conservative right's attitude towards immigration).
  
• In 2004, CONLAMIC bused in hundreds of people from Connecticut, Maine, New jersey, DC and Maryland to a pro-Bush, ant-gay marriage rally in the Bronx.
• The Reverend Ruben Diaz, Sr., a long-time anti-gay advocate and a New York State Senator, opened the doors wide for CONLAMIC and their hateful message to reach Latinos in New York City throught that same 2004 anti-gay marriage, pro-Bush rally.
  

If the DNC wanted to tell 'the truth' it would have called it out as it truly is: CONLAMIC is as complicit in shelling out for a morally bankrupt government as anyone and no amount of 'truth-telling' will convince CONLAMIC to drop the benefits they might get for being the calling-card for the most conservative of politicians who seek to hold their nose - while pretending they care about minorities.