McCAIN CELEBRATES CINCO DE MAYO... UNCOMFORTABLY

Hola! Please vote for me, por favor

I don't know if Rahm Emanuel is taking Tom Tancredo (R-CO) and his boy Heath Shuler (D-NC) out for margaritas at Tortilla Coast after work today to celebrate the $23 billion anti-immigration bill they wrote. But if he does, we can be pretty certain they won't run into arch-bigot Rush Limbaugh, who just compared L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to a “shoe shine guy” or a “Secret Service agent." (Do Secret Service agents and shoe shine guys all look the same to Republican fat cats?)

Antonio is an old friend of mine. In 2000 when the ACLU honored me with their annual Bill of Rights Award, I asked Antonio to introduce me to the audience before my speech. He wasn't the mayor (or in any office) at the time. I asked him because he is brilliant and focused and committed to the same progressive ideals and values that motivate me. I knew his speech would inspire me-- and it did. If I had to guess between someone with Limbaugh's mind and someone with Antonio's mind which would wind up with a menial job, I'd bet on Limbaugh. As far as a Secret Service agent... frankly I don't know what Limbaugh was going on about there. The ones I've met have been what I'd call model citizens-- my old friend Brian, and two agents who helped me-- one when tenants of mine were paying their rent with counterfeit hundred dollars bills and one when a police horse stepped on me in front of Dubrow's on Kings Highway when I was a child and my mom took me to meet JFK.

Meanwhile, desperately trying to escape from the vicious racism and elitism of his country club party, McCain launched a campaign website in Spanish and put out a new ad en espanol today, Cinco de Mayo. And instead of spending the day with Frenchmen, McCain has announced he will be addressing the annual convention of the National Council of La Raza in San Diego on July 14 (Bastille Day). McCain: "On this day in 1862, a small group of Mexican troops overcame overwhelming force to win the Battle of Puebla. Today, we join together to remember the sacrifice that these Mexican patriots endured, as well as the struggles of all those around the world striving for freedom. We recognize as well the important friendship that exists between our country and Mexico, and celebrate the many contributions Mexican-Americans have made to our society, culture, security and economy.”

Obama had a message too: "[W]hile Mexico’s cultural traditions are an important part of who we are as Americans, the American dream is still out of reach for too many Latinos... [O]ur broken immigration system works for neither the immigrant families who are being torn apart nor the workers who are concerned about unfair competition, which is why we need to pass comprehensive immigration reform once and for all. So while I hope that all Americans are enjoying this Cinco de Mayo, I also hope that when the celebrations come to an end, we’ll take up the cause of coming together as Americans to solve our common challenges and put the American dream within reach for every family in this country."

McCain no longer backs his own immigration reform bill. Buckling under to xenophobes and extremists in his own party, he has backed away from the legislation he wrote in 2006, legislation meant "to reform immigration laws and allow illegals to apply for legal residency retroactive to their arrival. Conservatives around the nation criticized McCain for the bill, which they said was too lenient against lawbreakers. McCain has said since then that he learned the lesson that focusing on border security is primary." Today he petulantly groused that "the focus on illegal immigration during the Republican primary season has harmed his party’s image among Hispanics."

But then John W. McCain defines political opportunism and has always been a serial flip-flopper. I wonder if he and Cindy will deny Arianna Huffington's post today about how neither of them voted for Bush in 2000: "At a dinner party in Los Angeles not long after the 2000 election, I was talking to a man and his wife, both prominent Republicans. The conversation soon turned to the new president. 'I didn't vote for George Bush' the man confessed. 'I didn't either,' his wife added. Their names: John and Cindy McCain."

The fact that this man was so angry at what George Bush had done to him, and at what Bush represented for their party, that he did not even vote for him in 2000 shows just how far he has fallen since then in his hunger for the presidency. By abandoning his core principles and embracing Bush-- both literally and metaphorically-- he has morphed into an older and crankier version of the man he couldn't stomach voting for in 2000.

UPDATE: McCAIN CAUGHT LYING HIS ASS OFF AGAIN

I was horrified to read in the Washington Post this morning that John McCain, a despicable political hack who has had a long record of twisting the truth to squeeze it into his career trajectory, has called Arianna Huffington-- through an official spokesperson-- a liar. I know Arianna and there is one thing that is certain-- whether you agree with her opinions or not-- she is a highly honorable person and would never, under any circumstances, make a story like this up. McCain makes me want to vomit. There is only one question left that any media person should ask him from now until November-- will he agree to take a lie detector test about whether or not he told Arianna that he didn't vote for Bush.

McCain, in their smear of Arianna, called on voters to "consider the source." Arianna asks them to consider both sources.

My sentiments exactly -- because John McCain has a long history of issuing heartfelt denials of things that were actually true.

He denied ever talking with John Kerry about his leaving the GOP to be Kerry's '04 running mate -- then later admitted he had, insisting: "Everybody knows that I had a conversation."

He denied admitting that he didn't know much about economics, even though he'd said exactly that to the Wall Street Journal. And the Boston Globe. And the Baltimore Sun.

He denied ever having asked for a budget earmark for Arizona, even though he had. On the record.

He denied that he'd ever had a meeting with comely lobbyist Vicki Iseman and her client Lowell Paxon, even though he had. And had admitted it in a legal deposition.

And those are just the outright denials. He's also repeatedly tried to spin away statements he regretted making (see: 100-year war, Iraq was a war for oil, etc.).

So, yes, by all means, "consider the source."