Henry Bonilla Pulls A Rick Perry On Ciro Rodriguez

Remember the 2002 ads Rick Perry ran attempting to lay tenious ties between then-Democratic gubernatorial nominee Tony Sanchez and money-laundering drug smugglers?

Well, the Republicans are at it again, but this time it is Henry Bonilla trying to tie Ciro Rodriguez to Islamic terrorists. Here’s the ad:

Of course, the bloggers of the Right are all over this like flies on coconut cream pie, as is the MSM.

Notice that there isn’t a single “source” or “footnote” in that ad to tell us where that information comes from? It’s almost like someone just made it up for their own amusement.

It’s not quite that bad, but the connections are pretty tenuious.

Right of Texas tells us that part of the connection is that statements by a former Rodriguez staffer are being used against him.

The legislation the ads refers to is HR 2121 from the 106th Congress in 1999.

This bill, however, isn’t the Islamo-terrorist enabling device that Bonilla and the FBI agent in the ad would have you think.

The legislation, The Secret Evidence Repeal Act (not even the title sounds ominous, but rather beneficial) would simply provide that immigrants facing deportation hearings and other administrative INS hearings would be allowed to see the evidence against them. Period. Plain and simple, the bill would have extended the same rights as the U.S. Constitution extends to criminal proceedings to the hybrid, quasi-administrative/quasi-criminal proceedings of the INS.

What’s more, the legislation has nothing to do with terrorism. NOTHING. ZIP. ZILCH. ZERO. NADA. NOTHING. The “terrorism” screams are simply Bonilla’s window dressing.

And, this FBI agents in the ad? Al Ortiz is the former Assistant Special Agent In Charge of the San Antonio FBI office. Before that, he was San Antonio’s police chief. So, he’s not exactly a Bill Webster or Louis Freeh.

Back to the legislation for a moment, though.

Among the 128 co-sponsors (which included Rodriguez, who did not author the bill as the ad indicates), are Ralph Hall (R-Rockwall) and Ron Paul (R-Surfside). Although Hall was a Democrat at the time, he signed on as a co-sponsor the same year he ran print ads featuring a photo of Charlton Heston that screamed the words, “Would Charlton Heston Endorse A Liberal?”

So, evidently, Bonilla is accusing Hall and Paul of enabling terrorists as well. I wonder how his fellow Republicans feel about that?

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