We are all supposed to be related within six degrees of separation. I saw part of a movie by that title but I really did not understand the movie nor the concept.

I do know one thing. The repubs not only represent the party that keeps on giving (at least to men in pajamas who write political satire)  but I think that it has shrunk to the point that 'inbreeding' has taken place.

I shall start with old Tom Tancredo. You might recall him as one of the gang of ten or twenty gentlemen that were seeking the repub nomination for President.  He was one of those geniuses that was sure that evolution is a mistaken theory.

Tom has recently been doing the cable circuit since he gave up his House Seat in Colorado, attempting to prove that Sonia Sotomayor is a racist of the first order. We have had many posts on this at the Café. But for my purposes here, the current nominee for Justice of the United States Supreme Court proffered a hundred years ago or so that an Hispanic Woman might well bring a perspective to the analysis of case law that might add something to the normal analyses of white men. As Tom puts it:

TANCREDO: I'm telling you she appears to be a racist. She said things that are racist in any other context. That's exactly how we would portray it and there's no one who would get on the Supreme Court saying a thing like that except for a Hispanic woman and you're going to say it doesn't matter!

Tancredo also called Sotomayor "a radical" -- though he admitted he doesn't "know anything about the cases...she's reviews." He complained that since "she is a Hispanic woman," "therefore we can't say things like this." Think Progress May 27,2009  Ali Frick.

Well old Tom is sure that the nominee is a racist of the first order and should not be confirmed because of this 'flaw' in her character. So I thought I would take a quick look at Tom's view of our Hispanic brothers and sisters.

'To give you an example of what I'm talking about, Tancredo told an audience recently that illegal aliens , 'are coming here to kill me, and kill you, and kill our families.' That just strikes me as an amazing statement. This is from a U.S. Congressman who is describing literally hundreds of thousands of people, as crossing this border in order to kill us." http://www.scoop.co.nz/...

 Illegals coming to kill us all?!! Immigration Reform Caucus?!! Could this possibly make a racist like Tancredo an incredible source when calling out the racist activities of a Latina-American like Sonia Sotomayor? Me thinks it might be so. Caseyaaronsmith, Daily Kos, May 30, 2009

But in Tom Tancredo (If you translate his name I think it means: I believe in animal skins) we have someone who is constantly worried about hypocrisy.  He said this when a RI College was contemplating a ban on his scheduled speaking event:

"The hypocrisy is overwhelming.  I think the school is more concerned with the God of Political Correctness than the Church's teaching I respect Providence's status as a private religious institution, but I hoped they would be more tolerant of conservative views on immigration than the radical left wing protesters at UNC." Team America PAC,

Every time politically correct thought police try to shut down Tancredo they end up drawing more publicity to Tancredo which has only increased his level of support and ability to spread his message. Since beginning his speaking tour Tancredo has been interviewed in papers across the country and on national news. Tancredo will not be silenced and his message is needed now more than ever. Viva Tancredo! April 28, 2009. You will notice that he has his own blog entitled Viva Tancredo! The gonads of this guy!!! Geeeez.

So what about degrees of separation? Well when you run for President of the United States, it might do you well to find a speech writer. Someone who knows how to use the English Language in such a manner as to greatly enhance your chances for victory. And old Tom was able to find that in Marcus Epstein. (Talking about Latino, how about Lingua Latina here. I mean Tancredo and Marcus--oh its probably a stretch but I felt I needed some fill on this post!)

Well, as reported at our own TPM Marcus pled guilty to committing a hate crime:

From the U.S. Attorney's factual proffer:

On July 7, 2007, at approximately 7:15 p.m. at Jefferson and M Street, Northwest, in Washington, D.C., defendant was walking down the street making offensive remarks when he encountered the complainant, Ms. [REDACTED], who is African-American. The defendant uttered, "Nigger," as he delivered a karate chop to Ms. [REDACTED]'s head.

Epstein has pled guilty and will be sentenced on July 8, although he changed his plea to water down an admission of guilt into the belief that "the government could prove me guilty." A spokesman for Team America PAC confirmed that Epstein is still at work until he leaves for law school in the fall, and an official statement is forthcoming. David Weigel, Wash Independent June 1, 2009

There is more than one thing to analyze here. First, it appears that at times, Marcus had some problems with expressing himself in English. I mean, using the 'n' word in public. Any of our ruling repubs knows damn well you only use that term at the local golf course's poker room.

Second, Marcus is a law student. Of course, maybe he is a student at one of those Pat Robertson or Oral Roberts university law schools that might not have BOTHERED TO COVER HATE CRIMES in their curriculum.

Third, in the tradition of many repubs, Marcus has problems 'owning up to' past errors in judgment, because this youngster evidently entered an Alford Plea to the charges rendered against him:

In the law of the United States, an Alford plea is a plea in criminal court in which the defendant does not admit the act and asserts innocence, but admits that sufficient evidence exists with which the prosecution could likely convince a judge or jury to find the defendant guilty. Upon receiving an Alford plea from a defendant, the court may immediately pronounce the defendant guilty and impose sentence as if the defendant had otherwise been convicted of the crime. WIKI.

THIS SONOFABITCH would not even own up to hitting an African American Woman and calling her the 'n' word. Oh it looks like they have enough evidence to convict me so I might as well just plead guilty.

Fourth, old Tom ran for President in 2008. So Tancredo purposefully hired a speechwriter GUILTY OF A HATE CRIME. I suppose Tancredo would defend himself by saying that he could not say anything at the time because the matter WAS STILL UNDER INVESTIGATION.

So David Weigel, of the Washington Independent (June 1, 2009) tells us:

For years, conservative writer and activist Marcus Epstein has worked with the mainstream of the immigration restrictionist movement. He wrote speeches for former Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) during his presidential bid, and he's still working as the executive director of Tancredo's Team America PAC, alongside Bay Buchanan. Epstein has been targeted for years by civil rights groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center and the One People's Project, who have obtained Epstein's guilty plea to a hate crime he committed two years ago.

Now part of this is repetitive but there is our old friend Bay Buchanan.  Pat's sister. Remember Pat Buchanan, the guy who has written many articles and books about how Hitler was a brave champion of Germany and a genius and a great speaker; who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time?

So there you have it. Everybody is related to everybody. And it sure the hell does not take any six degrees to tie these racist bastards together, does it?

Our own Brian Beutler reports today ( June 1, 2009, 2:14PMTPM):

I just got off the phone with Bay Buchanan who confirms that Marcus Epstein is still executive director of The American Cause, and will be until June 20th. She says his departure has nothing to do with the karate chopping incident, but with his departure for law school.

"The whole incident was inexcusable," Buchanan said. "The language in particular was offensive to anyone by any standard." But, "Marcus Epstein has shown tremendous courage in addressing some serious personal problems and he has turned his life around."

So there you have it. On the one hand we are to believe that Judge Sotomayor is a complete and total racist who can never be reformed and should not be on the bench.

But a man convicted of a hate crime involving the worst of racial slurs as well as physical assault has demonstrated tremendous courage in addressing some serious personal problems.

WHAT MORE CAN I SAY?