Waving that flag

Right-wingers are all up in arms over the Mexican flags that have been prominently displayed during the recent immigration demonstrations.

Michelle Malkin especially has worked herself up to a fine froth, while UberWanker Mickey Kaus has been doing the same. We've heard similar refrains from Jed Babbin, hosting Hugh Hewitt's show.

Some of the more, ahem, creative responses have included Michael Savage's ("Burn the Mexican flag!") and those mental wizards at Wizbang, who suggest we "shoot it off the pole."

Then I noticed this in an L.A. Times piece on Bush and the immigration issue:

During the 2000 election, Bush previewed a campaign video from ad-maker Lionel Sosa that used emotion-laden themes to woo Latinos.

As he watched, Sosa recalled, Bush's face lighted up. "How much do you need for this?" Bush asked as the two men sat with Rove in the governor's mansion in Texas, Sosa said.

Sosa replied that it would take $3 million. According to the ad-maker, Bush then turned to Rove, saying: "Give him five."

Four years later, Sosa produced a variation of that video for the 2004 campaign that was mailed to Latino voters across the country.

The video includes images that would probably rile those who today are calling for the most restrictive immigration laws. At one point, Bush is shown waving a Mexican flag. The footage was shot, Sosa said, during a Mexican Independence Day parade in San Antonio in 1998, when Bush was running for reelection as governor.

Funny that none of these people were offended by Bush's earlier gesture. Guess it all depends on who's doing the waving, right?