A Nov. 24 Newsmax article by Dave Eberhart promotes criticism of Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano’s reported nomination to be homeland security secretary by Chris Simcox, president of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. But Eberhart fails to mention recent controversies surrounding Simcox.
As we’ve noted, Simcox’s Minuteman faction has split with another faction headed by Jim Gilchrist. Questions have been raised over where the money raised by the Minutemen has gone, and CNN has reported that the border fence the Minutemen are attempting to build in Arizona — promised to be 14 feet high and topped with razor wire — is instead a mere 5-foot-high barbed-wire cattle fence.The Simcox faction splintered further in 2007 when a group of state chapter officers were fired by Simcox after they demanded more financial accountability from him.
Eberhart also quotes Brett Farley, executive director of the Minuteman PAC, but similarly fails to note controversies regarding that organization as well. Right Wing Watch reports that little of the Minuteman PAC’s money makes it to candidates, with the vast majority tagged for “operating expenses,” including ties with groups linked to gadfly Alan Keyes.
Yet Eberhart treats Simcox and Farley as if they are heading legitimate organizations and uncritically passes along their opinions.