Yesterday, the militant Chicano group the Brown Berets attended an anti-Minuteman Project press conference featuring leaders of the Democratic Party in Texas' Hidalgo County and held at that party's headquarters. According to the report from KRGV-TV (video at the link; copy of the report here), they were "welcomed... with open arms".

In fact, if you watch the video, you can hear the chairman of that county's Democratic Party, Juan Maldonado, say this:

"They have communicated with me their sincere interest in organizing a confrontation... a physical confrontation against the minutemen."

Apparently after the meeting he "clarified" his position on this militant group (copy here and here):

Hidalgo County Democratic Party chairman Juan Maldonado said the party does not condone the actions of the [BBs]; however, because the group asked him for a platform, he agreed to let them speak at the press conference.

"We do not need the [BBs] armed against the Minutemen," Maldonado reiterated after Delgado spoke. He said the people of South Texas are more "evolved" and "civil" than that.

If you haven't already, watch the video to see whether you buy his "clarification". According to the second report, Maldonado also said this:

The Minutemen "are nothing more than a group of zealous over-enthusiastic racists that want to promote these types of immigrants as being terroristic," Maldonado said.

Even before the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, he said, there was an unfounded fear held by some in the United States that Mexicans were taking over the country.

"The Minutemen project that fear," he said. "For all the strides that we have made toward equality, the Minutemen are the epitome of hate, fear and ignorance. We are unified to stop this racist movement from entering our region."

So, how does Dr. Gov. Howard Dean M.D. fit into all this? He's going to be in Hidalgo County on August 5, 2005. Will he condemn Maldonado's apparent support for the BBs? Are you kidding? The only question is just how bad he'll make the Democrats look, and just how much the press will do to cover it up. If you want to do something about this, start contacting the media and the big-time bloggers now.