Austin-American Statesman: Texas Dems Attack "Baseless"

"But You, O God, shall bring them down to the pit of destruction;
Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days;
But I will trust in You."
Psalm 55:23

[Author's note: Unfortunately, the original article is behind a paywall.  The text below is transcribed by hand from a paper copy.  Any minor errors are accidental.]

Ken Herman of the Austin-American Statesman calls B.S. on last week's Dem hysteria:

Dem gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis' team held a Tuesday conference call with journalists to chide that Repubs.  On the call was state Rep. Mary Gonzales, D-El Paso, who identifies as "pansexual," who called the GOP platform "extreme" and "dangerous" and said it "really said that people like me need to have therapy in order to be fixed, that people like may family shouldn't have the same access to education or they shouldn't ever really be here anymore."

Yes, Dems and Repubs differ on education, including how much to spend on it and whether public dollars should pay for private school tuition. Both sides claim their way would do the most good for the most kids. It's rhetoric, it's debatable and neither side's version is the panacea they'd like you to believe it is.

There's nothing, however, to debate about Gonzalez's effort to portray the GOP platform as evidence that Repubs believe "people like my family...shouldn't even really be here anymore." The comment was an out-of-bounds, knee-jerk effort born of Dems desire to portray Repubs as racists.

I can't see into Republicans' hearts (here is where Dems would insert a snarkism questioning whether there is such a thing), but I can see inside their platform. It is devoid of any call for the deportation of all Hispanics, a procedure which would cost Texas Repubs their junior U.S. Senator and the wife of the party's gubernatorial nominee.

The GOP platform supports legal immigration and opposes illegal immigration. "America is proudly a nation of immigrants," the platform says, going on to bemoan what everybody agrees is a broken immigration system.

There's a legitimate debate on the proper fix, but none calls for the deportation of legal resident, such as people in the Gonzalez family. I asked how she came to the conclusion that Repubs believe people like her family "shouldn't even really be here anymore."

"Some of their stances on immigration," she said. "I come from an immigrant family, so really their views and really taking out the Texas Solution. I was just referring to my immigrant family."

I asked if there are members of her family who are here illegally. She said there are not. I was mostly talking about the rhetoric that they were not wanted here," Gonzalez said, "I apologize for that."

Ouch.