Biker said:
I don't see what the problem is with their gear. I don't know where the photo was taken, but open carry may be their only legal option. I see nothing objectionable about any of the photos. Why do they bother you?
Methinks you're being disengenuous.
Biker
I agree.
As another San Diegan, I have failed to see the "trouble" they've caused. I'd venture so far as to say that the assertion is a load of crap. Groups who support illegal immigration have caused a lot more, and have committed violent acts. It's on film.
The Minutemen have carried openly in an area frequented by smugglers and cross-border drug gangs. It's within their rights, as well as yours and mine, where they are. I know people who live in some of the small towns out there, and they all carry when they go for a walk. I think LE just looks the other way when they carry concealed, as long as there's no trouble. But the Minutemen can't take that chance, and San Diego doesn't issue CCW's to those who aren't "connected."
Crying "racist" when one has no substantive argument is pathetic and I, for one, am tired of this kind of mindless intimidation used by people who can't win a debate on the merits. In fact, this grade-school tactic makes me tune out.
The notion that San Diego and Tijuana are a unified region and that the border is artificial is a canard. Artists and academics like to spew this, but there's not much to support the assertion. That doesn't mean there's no interaction between the two places, or that we aren't friendly to each other; but there's a lot of interaction between Seattle and Japan, too. That doesn't make Washington and Japan a single place.
Come visit and try to tell me that the two cities are really just one place. No one from out of town or another country has EVER gotten that impression. The reaction is generally, "Wow! We went from one of the US' most expensive cities straight to the third world in less than a half hour! What a trip!"
All that said, I like a lot of Mexicans, and I think that the threat supposedly posed by illegals is overblown. Still, I want to see a legal, above-board, honest program of cross-border labor. What we now have is not good for California, and it's not good for the honest hard-working illegals, either. The currenst situation only benefits corrupt employers and cross-border criminals, and breeds further disrespect for the law.
And yes, most tagging here, and there's a shocking amount, is gang-related and in Spanish. Things are not all rosy. Not everyone comes here to work hard and support a poor family, not by a long shot.
I suggest a rapid escape. 
