Is Staten Island's Borough President a race-baiter?

Staten Island needs leadership, and it's not coming from Borough President James Molinaro's office.

Think Progress recently did a piece on the disproportionate amount of bias crimes emanating out of our pristine borough -- culminating in the incident last week of a 'patriot' arrested for threatening Al Sharpton.

As Think Progress points out, the Republicans running for SI's Congressional seat have been eerily silent on these issues, although "they have chosen to fan the flames of the related immigration debate."

Here's one example:

"We cannot allow people to be a drain on our resources, our schools, our hospitals, and our tax dollars." - Mike Allegretti.

Is Allegretti aware that the same people 'draining our resources' are being violently attacked on a regular basis; or does he not care because they can't vote?

But this is small potatoes compared to our borough president, who lashed out at Mexican President Felipe Calderone as a "despotic idiot."

Molinaro was apparently upset over Calderone's opposition to Arizona's new immigration law. Although Arizona has absolutely nothing to do with SI, Molinaro decided to stick his big belly into the debate.

Here's the doomsday scenario painted by the Molinaro on the NYDailyNews.com after Calderone made a visit to Capital Hill:

"The man (Calderone) should've been given a one-way ticket out of the country back to the banana republic where he came from."

"To see those idiots applauding him for attacking us, to me... I don't know if this country can be saved anymore."

Seriously, Molinaro, What the fuck?

Are you aware that you are 'president' of the hate crime capital of New York City?

What exactly do you think this Mexico bashing does for your constituency except egg on the bigots and create an atmosphere where bashing Muslims, beating Mexicans, and threatening blacks is not only prevalent but accepted as kind of a badge of honor for 'saving our country.'

Shame on the BP for, in the least, being extremely tone deaf on the hate crime issue exploding right in his backyard. At worst, he is aiding and abetting the virulent racists of Staten Island.