9 on Your Side took a closer look.  One of the textbooks that TUSD uses in its ethnic studies program is Chicano!, by F. Arturo Rosales.  The book teaches the history of racism and oppression in the United States directed against the Mexican, Mexican-American, and Hispanic populations.  As the name implies, a large portion of the textbook is devoted to the Chicano movement that sprang up to fight social injustice and to push for civil rights.  There are some similarities between the Chicano movement tactics that the book documents and the tactics some TUSD students have practicing recently.

big surprise there ay?

The cover of the book features graphic art of protesters with their fists in the air.  Pages 248, 249 and 253 feature photographs of Chicano movement members with raised fists.  The photograph on page 253 shows a student with a raised fist sitting in a classroom with other students; the text on that page makes the point that Chicano studies programs in the Southwest are "the most visible vestige" of the Chicano movement.   A review of KGUN9 News footage over the past week shows many TUSD students raising their fists in the same fashion as those shown in the textbook.

imagine THAT.  why on earth would the do that?

Page 185 shows a picture of students walking out of school as part of a protest.   Such student walkouts have been a major component of recent protests in Tucson against the ethnic studies restrictions and against Arizona's controversial immigration crackdown.

And then there is the brown beret issue.  Pages 193 and 199 of the textbook show pictures of demonstrators wearing brown berets.  

In general, the trend is still going for Republicans, at least according to the latest WSJ/MSNBC poll:

By PETER WALLSTEN, NAFTALI BENDAVID and JEAN SPENCER

Republicans have solidified support among voters who had drifted from the party in recent elections, putting the GOP in position for a strong comeback in November's mid-term campaign, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.

The findings suggest that public opinion has hardened in advance of the 2010 elections, making it tougher for Democrats to translate their legislative successes, or a tentatively improving U.S. economy, into gains among voters.

Republicans have reassembled their coalition by reconnecting with independents, seniors, blue-collar voters, suburban women and small town and rural voters--all of whom had moved away from the party in the 2006 elections, in which Republicans lost control of the House. Those voter groups now favor GOP control of Congress.

They also use the "64% support the Arizona law / 70%if Hispanics oppose it" but they also had this interesting tidbit:

Some 64% said they strongly or somewhat supported the law, compared with 34% who strongly or somewhat opposed it.

Divisions were even sharper between whites and Hispanics. Among Hispanic respondents, 70% opposed the law, while 69% of whites in the survey supported it.

The survey oversampled Hispanics to increase accuracy.

Hispanics also held a different view of immigration generally than did white respondents.

In the survey, 58% of Hispanics said that immigration helped the U.S. more than it hurt, while 56% of white respondents said that immigration hurt more than it helped.

The survey found that, at the moment, Hispanics greatly favored Democrats over Republicans, particularly among Hispanics under age 40.

That stands as a danger sign for the GOP given the rapid growth of that voter bloc.

But Hispanics were far less interested in this year's elections than key Republican-leaning groups, meaning that the benefits of this trend might not accrue to the Democrats until at least the 2012 elections.

Let's see. Reaching conclusions based on a "glance"? Check. Relying on hearsay and rumor about a people instead of using independent thought? Check. Putting law-enforcement resources into attacking something based solely on appearances? Check. By golly, I think Andy McCarthy may be on to something here: