September 15, 2010 06:58 PM UTC

"Thinly Veiled Racism" and Hasan's "Tea Party" Complaint

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• by: Colorado Pols

The always-interesting Hasan family adds even more intrigue to this year’s election, if that’s even possible–as the Pueblo Chieftain’s Patrick Malone reports:

Dr. Malik Hasan has filed a campaign-finance complaint with the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office against the Southern Colorado Tea Party based in Pueblo.

The complaint accuses the Tea Party of failing to register with the secretary of state as a political committee, accepting anonymous donations and failing to report its contributions to candidates and causes…

Among the candidates the party has made donations of $200 or more to are Republican gubernatorial nominee Dan Maes and Republican treasurer candidate J.J. Ament.

Although the contributions appear on the candidates’ campaign-finance reports to the secretary of state, the Southern Colorado Tea Party has not reported those donations to the secretary of state, according to the complaint…

Hasan’s son, Ali Hasan, was a Republican candidate for state treasurer, but lacked the support at the state assembly in May to reach the ballot. At the assembly, held in Loveland, Hasan said members of the Southern Colorado Tea Party campaigned against his son by employing thinly veiled racism.

To be fair, the Chieftain goes on to quote Malik Hasan that the complaint is not the result of the Southern Colorado Tea Party whisper-campaigning against Ali Hasan at the assembly. And on the surface, the violations this group is accused of here seem pretty clear cut: the Hasans certainly aren’t the first to note the laissez-faire way that the “Tea Party” gets behind chosen candidates, seemingly without the slightest concern for applicable law.

But come on, folks. The Hasans aren’t neophytes. They would be funneling money through these groups right beside everybody else, just as they have done for the famously unaccountable “Dr. Evil initiatives,” or as they delivered Scott McInnis’ checks for his water essays to whatever account he wanted no-questions-asked, were it not for one overarching problem.

That would be the “thinly veiled racism.”

But Hasan is absolutely right about one thing:

“The irony of it all is that if these guys are so concerned about the Constitution – enforcing it and following it – then they should start with themselves. You can’t go around yelling and screaming that you want the Constitution respected when you don’t respect it yourself.”