Dendahl Follies Continue

Republican gubernatorial candidate John Dendahl likes to portray himself as a sophisticated, true-blue muckraker and maverick gunslinger, but he's neither. Instead he comes off as a blatant race baiter and hypocrite. And he's definitely not ready for prime time, even on an Albuquerque radio station.

During a recent appearance on KKOB radio, he blamed New Mexico's DWI problems on the Legislature for not taking "adequate" action because most offenders are folks who "just happen to have Hispanic last names." It's ironic, isn't it, that his own (Anglo through and through) stepson was arrested this month for making lines of cocaine in his van and being in possession of an open liquor container, as reported in an article in the Santa Fe New Mexican:

A state police officer reported he saw Timothy McKinley, 37, making lines of cocaine on a metal clipboard inside a minivan. The officer reported he drew his weapon after McKinley threw the clipboard to the floor and tried to start the van. In addition to cocaine possession, McKinley was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and having an open container of alcohol.

If Dendahl really believes his own "get tough" rhetoric, shouldn't he be calling for the maximum sentence for his stepson so that he's "adequately punished"? I mean, he wouldn't want the authorities to go light on Mr. McKinley and sentence him to treatment or some other swishy "liberal" sentence, would he? Long jail terms represent the sentence of choice of "conservatives" like Dendahl -- at least when they themselves or relatives aren't involved.

Dendahl, of all people, should know that locking people up for years isn't always the best solution to substance abuse problems. After all, in the past he's been a strong supporter of decriminalizing drugs and offering more voluntary treatment and counseling instead of jail time. He can't have it both ways now that he's running for governor.

In another exchange on the radio show about immigration, Dendahl used the phrase, "dark-complected, brownish-looking guy" to describe job applicants who might cause employers problems complying with the law. Meanwhile Dendahl has claimed his rhetoric isn't "anti-Hispanic." Right. And those in the South so concerned about "states rights" in the civil rights era were in no way being anti-African American. Racial innuendo is racial innuendo no matter the phony labels used by baiters like Dendahl.

Maybe Dendahl should drop the phony sermonizing on radio stations and attend to his own family sins. Johnny joins the ranks of an abundant group of rightwingers and their children who've been caught in hypocrisy's crosshairs. They include druggie Rush Limbaugh, numerous fundie "preachers" caught with their pants down in motel rooms, the underage drunken children of George Bush, the holier than thou "conservatives" like Duke Cunningham and Tom DeLay, who've been caught in bribery schemes, and white-collar corporate criminals like the late, great Ken Lay.

Then there's Christian Coalition co-founder Ralph Reed's involvement with a plot to steal from Native Americans in a lobbying scam and the recent DWI arrest of one of the Coors beer scions who has, ast least in public, been a strong supporter of tightened DWI laws. You can find info on more seedy behavior by right-wing Republican criminals here. Quite a rundown.

So many of these pseudo-moralists like to talk the talk, but they and their children often can't seem to walk the walk. Maybe they should spend less time moralizing in the media and more time devoted to actually solving problems with fairness and focus. I know that's asking alot.