National Review contributor John Derbyshire has been a favorite whipping boy of snarky left-wing bloggers for a while, but perhaps most noticeably after some controversial postings he made on the heels of the Virginia Tech shooting.

But now a blogger at Wonkette is portraying Derb as a crotchety bigot on the basis of a blog post whereby Derbyshire notes Gov. Bill Richardson (D-N.M.) both insists on voters judging him on the basis of his leadership and agenda, not race, but then goes back to pandering to a crowd on the merits of his Hispanic heritage:

Outraged over Big Bill’s public admission of Mexican-ness during a time when Americans are supposed to be united against the Mexican Menace, Derbyshire bravely decides to use that very Mexican-ness against Richardson:

Excuse me, Bill, but do you want your Hispanicity noticed, or not? If you want your listeners to vote for you “not because I am Hispanic,” then what the heck is “I am one of you” doing in the same sentence? (N.B. Though to give the guy some creit [sic] for restraint, Bill is actually understating his Hispanitude. Not only were both his mother’s parents Mexican, but one of his father’s was too.)

In other words, “Bill Richardson is a Quadroon!” Join us tomorrow when Derbyshire reveals that Barry Hussein Obama is a Halfrican, John McCain is Mulatto and Bill Clinton is “the first black president.”

Of course, Wonkette failed to excerpt from the Reuters article ("Call me Lopez, presidential hopeful says") Derb was reacting to in his post wherein Richardson proudly panders to a crowd and defends it to the news wire:

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - In the heartland of America he is just Gov. Bill Richardson. But in big Hispanic states like California the Democratic U.S. presidential hopeful tells voters he is also a Lopez.

"California has a lot of Hispanic voters and they don't know I'm Hispanic," said Richardson, governor of New Mexico and son of a Mexican woman named Lopez.

His decision to officially launch his bid for the White House on Monday in the state with the largest Hispanic population was more than symbolic. It was strategic.

In the heartland of America he is just Gov. Bill Richardson. But in big Hispanic states like California the Democratic U.S. presidential hopeful tells voters he is also a Lopez. 'California has a lot of Hispanic voters and they don't know I'm Hispanic,' said Richardson, governor of New Mexico and son of a Mexican woman named Lopez.

His decision to officially launch his bid for the White House on Monday in the state with the largest Hispanic population was more than symbolic. It was strategic. 'I am saying "It's Bill Richardson Lopez and I am one of you and I would like you to consider me, not because I am Hispanic but because I have the best program for the country",' he told Reuters in an interview late on Monday.

—Ken Shepherd is Managing Editor of NewsBusters