Knocking around Michelle Malkin is pretty much a staple of the liberal blogosphere. But to date I’ve always just tried to ignore Michelle and so far I’ve never partaken.
But I noticed this column of hers this evening in which she tries to wrap the hookergate mess in with the immigration hysteria into a big knock of government bureaucracy. No, I couldn’t follow it either.
But this paragraph stood out …
Ironically and amusingly enough, Democrats — those always reliable, pro-affirmative action zealots — are crying foul over Shirlington Limo’s minority preferential treatment and raising questions about the company being used as a minority-owned front in a “historically underutilized business zone.” Glad they are finally on board with those of us who have long raised questions about the government’s small-business diversity scam. These racial and ethnic bean-counting programs are among the most corrupt government vehicles in the bureaucracy — and in post-September 11 America, the most potentially dangerous to boot.
No, Michelle. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone say the problem with Shirlington was minority set-asides. (Earlier she references, TPMmuckraker, Harper’s and Pogo. So I think she’s referring to us.) The issue raised is that Shirlington is owned by a convicted felon, who was in personal bankruptcy at the time DHS awarded him his big contract, has a long history of vehicle repossessions and poor service and if all that weren’t enough didn’t even make the lowest bid.
Not everyone agrees but I think minority set-aside programs can actually play a benign role in righting historic wrongs and encouraging entrepreneurship in minority communities. But things can just sort of go wrong when corrupt political appointees turn government contracts and taxpayer dollars into pay off money for the guy the corrupt pols got to drive around their hookers.
It’s a distinction some conservatives don’t seem quite able to grasp.
