But while many millions of voters are increasingly comfortable with the equating of anti-black discrimination and anti-gay discrimination, they don’t necessarily slip into the same stance when it comes to immigration — specifically the idea that racial animus drives those who question amnesty or amnesty-lite policies that trivialize federal laws.

Consider the fallout from a court ruling last week of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. This is from the L.A. Times’ account:

“SAN FRANCISCO — An attorney is vowing to appeal a federal court ruling that a Northern California high school that asked students to remove American flag shirts on Cinco de Mayo acted reasonably to avoid igniting ethnic tensions.

“The ruling stemmed from a 2010 incident that provoked angry commentary across the country and a lawsuit by students claiming their constitutional rights had been violated.

“An attorney for three students who sued said he would ask a larger panel of the 9th Circuit to overturn the ruling.

“‘I am pretty astonished that in this country you can’t express your patriotic freedom without offending people of other national origins,’ said William Becker Jr., who represented the students on behalf of FreedomX, a nonprofit he heads to advocate free-speech cases for conservatives and Christians.

“If the school feared a disturbance, it should have canceled the Cinco de Mayo celebration, ‘not deprived students of their 1st Amendment rights to patriotic expression,’ he said.

“In siding with the Morgan Hill Unified School District, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said administrators at Live Oak School had reason to fear the flag attire might spark a potentially violent race-related disturbance during the school-sanctioned celebration of the Mexican holiday.”

Recipe for blowback

Since this ruling came down, I have seen lots of reaction that says the decision makes sense, given school administrators’ responsibility to keep students safe.

But I have not seen a single white Californian — in print, in emails, on Twitter, anywhere — who thinks the white students did something wrong or who is comfortable with how this mess played out then and now. One Dem I know said he would have filibustered school board meetings for the rest of his life before allowing his daughter to go to a school in a district that sent kids home for wearing U.S. flags in a proud way.

My point here is going to be muddled no matter what because of my ambivalence on this issue. If I lived in Mexico and wanted my family to have a better life, I wouldn’t think twice about breaking U.S. law to come here. I also think that America needs a big influx of people to pay for the Baby Boomers going on the dole.

But I also think there is massive intellectual dishonesty on the part of many of those who support illegal immigration or who report on the issue. If you add millions of unskilled laborers to the U.S. work force, of-bleeping-course the unskilled laborers who are already in the U.S. work force will suffer. That group includes mostly minorities. How come this is never mentioned?

Oh, well. Expecting rationalism or honesty in politics or political journalism is stupid, so I’ll just shut up now.

By Chris Reed

As a libertarian who supports gay marriage, I’m not a social conservative cultural warrior. That said, I still think there’s something extremely troubling about government power being used to punish those whose views are different than the California political mainstream. That’s just what state Sen. Ricardo Lara wants to do, AP reports:

“SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California lawmakers are considering taking some tax exemptions away from youth groups that do not accept gay, transgender or atheist members — a move intended to pressure the Boy Scouts of America to lift its ban on gay Scouts and troop leaders.

“Some cities have withdrawn free rent and other subsidies from the Boy Scouts over the years, but legislation introduced by state Sen. Ricardo Lara would make California the first state to target the Scouts for its anti-gay policy.

“The Long Beach Democrat’s bill, SB 323, is scheduled for its first committee hearing on Wednesday. …

“The legislation, also known as the Youth Equality Act, would deny tax-exempt status to nonprofit youth groups that discriminate on the basis of gender identity, race, sexual orientation, nationality, religion or religious affiliation.

“As a result, it would require those organizations to pay corporate taxes on donations, membership dues, camp fees and other sources of income, and to obtain sellers permits and pay sales taxes on food, beverages and homemade items sold at fundraisers. Because all tax returns are private in California, supporters do not know how big a tax hit the Boy Scouts would take if the proposal passes.

“Churches that sponsor Boy Scouts troops would not lose their underlying tax-exempt status, but an array of nonprofits, ranging from the Young Men’s Christian Association and Pop Warner football to the American Youth Soccer Association and 4-H clubs would have their tax returns and membership policies scrutinized by the state Franchise Tax Board, according to an analysis by the Senate Governance and Finance Committee.”

So much for tolerance of divergent views. The authoritarian impulse on the left seems to grow stronger by the day. The left knows what’s best, and you’d better agree — or else.