One more clip: Obama refuses to criticize boycotts of Arizona

Another one via Breitbart. He didn’t endorse the boycotts either, as you’ll see, so it’s a classic case of Obama voting “present.” But under the current economic circumstances, why do that? How’s this for an answer: “Let me be clear. I sympathize with opponents of Arizona’s law and agree that it’s the wrong way to handle illegal immigration. But boycotts are counterproductive at a moment when we’re trying to put America back to work. They’re bound to backfire by inspiring counter-boycotts and harming Arizona businesses owned by people who had nothing to do with passing the law and who might, in fact, oppose it themselves. We can’t afford this form of mutually assured destruction with unemployment near 10 percent.” That would have given both sides a little something politically and would have the not insignificant virtue of siding with the 82 percent of the population that thinks boycotts here are stupid.

But if he’s uncomfortable with that answer, how about at least giving an honest answer — that he does support boycotts of Arizona, per the fact that his own web organization has been busy defending them. Remember?

Last week, the city council of Austin, Texas passed a resolution to boycott Arizona over its new immigration-enforcement law. For those who don’t know much about Texas politics, Austin is as liberal as the rest of the state is conservative. However, in an embarrassing display of just how marginalized the Austin liberals have become, the local newspaper has run 20 letters from readers regarding the council’s boycott — all of them opposed to it.

While the Austin city council has likely not read the bill — and neither has the White House — Barack Obama’s political organizing group has decided to take action to defend Austin’s boycott. Will they actually read the bill? Are they scheduling protests? Not exactly. In an e-mail from Organizing for America that went out last night (and provided to us by a reader), OfA announces an Astroturf campaign to flood the newspaper with letters supporting the boycott…

Follow the link and take a peek at the screencap if you need your memory refreshed. Meanwhile, in related news, turns out that token National Guard force that Obama’s sending to the border will only police for guns and drugs. Exit quotation: “The clarification came after the Mexican government urged Washington not to use the additional troops to go after illegal immigrants.”

• Quotes of the day
• About those “doctored” Benghazi e-mails…
• White House word of the day – Irrelevant

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