Michael Gerson, the conservative former George W. Bush speech writer has some words of wisdom for conservatives and all of us really ahead of tomorrow’s Minuteman rally. First, he explains the appeal of the Minuteman movement:
The Tea Party movement, on the whole, seems to be an intensification of conservative activism, not the triumph of the paranoid style of politics.
But the birthers and Birchers, militias and nativists, racists and conspiracy theorists do exist. Some, having waited decades in deserved obscurity, hope to ride a populist movement like remoras. But there are others, new to political engagement, who have found paranoia and anger intoxicating.
That sounds about right. There’s a reason that the out-of-town crew of discontents who stormed Santa Clarita in January hadn’t appeared on the scene locally before. Such extremists were obscure, shunned and ignored and didn’t have an audience for their hateful message. Then when the economy goes south, unemployment rises, real estate implodes, they suddenly appear, ready to point their fingers at those who are unlike us.
And Roger Gitlin is their leader.
Testify Gerson!
At any time of social disorientation, conspiracy theories have an appeal. They provide a narrative for an apparently random world. They promise that one key can unlock every door.
And these theories contribute to social division. Opponents are not just wrong; they are secretive, ruthless and demonic. They want to overturn the Constitution, establish a police state, cede American sovereignty to a new world order, fight wars for the sake of Israel, carve out a nation of Aztlan in the American Southwest.
Right on the money Mr. Gerson. We had a pastor -a man of the cloth- in this town tell us illegals were not just lawbreakers but evil the last time this crew met.
Shortly after that, a man stepped up onto the stage and said that Bush/Obama wanted to destroy America and create a North American Union superstate. His solution to this mythical problem? Not dialog. Not discussion. Not compromise. “Buy guns, buy ammo,” he said.
While all this was going on, the protesters were harassing a Latino motorist, yelling at him to drive south until he got back to Mexico. At the microphone, they were calling him undocumented with no proof at all but the color of his skin.
This was the real context of our Councilman’s infamous cry. This was the time and place he chose to say what he said.
Someone should tell that to Bill Kennedy, who is either unaware of what really went on at that rally or is willfully ignoring it.
Weeks later, the out-of-town posse, upset that they were receiving anything but sycophantic coverage in The Signal, called for “SOB” journalist Jonathan Randles to be fired for his honest reporting on the matter.
These are the words and activities of patriots?
Here’s Gerson explaining what the real Republican and American position on immigration is:
Immigrants are not a bacillus; they are a source of values and vitality. And if they are not a source of future Republican votes, conservatives will be voted into obscurity.
In the weeks following the event, we saw much support for Kellar. But we also saw some courageous local Republicans like TimBen Boydston and Frank Ferry (yes I mentioned them in the same sentence) defy these vigilantes only to get hammered for it.
Look how hard local conservatives pushed back against Frank Ferry when Ferry acknowledged the simple truth that God doesn’t distinguish between American and Mexican, that true Republicans embrace immigrants, different cultures and smart federal policy. Ferry recognizes the dead-end road that is the Minuteman movement; why don’t Bob Kellar, David Gauny and George Runner?
Why do they genuflect to Roger Gitlin and his out of town mob?
Gerson continues on the topic of vilification of political rivals:
Our political system is designed for vigorous disagreement. It is not designed for irreconcilable contempt. Such contempt loosens the ties of citizenship and undermines the idea of patriotism. “How can we love our country,” asked Ronald Reagan, “and not love our countrymen?”
Never thought I’d quote the Gipper on this blog, but there you have it. Reagan wouldn’t have been caught at one of these rallies. Reagan wouldn’t have associated with people who openly debate whether the Klan are misunderstood kindred spirits or bad for the Minuteman movement.
Indeed, Reagan did the only sensible thing he could do when presented with the same problem we face today: he provided a path to citizenship for 1.7 million undocumented but hard working immigrants.
Will the rhetoric at tomorrow’s rally be different than the one in January? I’m not sure, but if anything the underlying anxiety about the economy and security masked as anti-illegal immigration have only intensified in Santa Clarita since the last rally.
Thankfully, it looks like the weather is set to dump on us all day.
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Great Post!
“Right on the money Mr. Gerson. We had a pastor -a man of the cloth- in this town tell us illegals were not just lawbreakers but evil the last time this crew met.”
That guy was actually from Quartz Hill… same denomination as R Rex Parris.
Illegal is illegal. If you want this illegal thing to go away then champion reform. But pointing out that people like me are racists because we value law and order in our country is insulting.
KDK if you want this Illegal thing to go away champion reform to people that can make reform happen…
If you’re not bitching for more enforcement of the existing laws, then what are you bitching about?
Good piece Jeff!
Kevin, racists are racists and a lot of racists get disproportionately worked up about illegal immigration. Non-racists like Bob Kellar will be there tomorrow, but so will plenty of actual racists, just like the last rally.
Gerson calls out “birthers and Birchers, militias and nativists, racists and conspiracy theorists” Folks on the fringe have different paths in getting there.
““Indeed, Reagan did the only sensible thing he could do when presented with the same problem we face today: he provided a path to citizenship for 1.7 million undocumented but hard working immigrants.”
Yes, but that was only HALF of the bill. The OTHER half was supposed to be enforcement of the existing laws and include employer penalties. The combo was intended to “solve” the problem once and for all.
So do tell, how well did that work out?
Looks like the Minutemen are going to be protesting something that’s already been fixed. Perhaps their time will be better spent protesting the fact that Bob Kellar has yet to be penalized (or even noodle-whipped) for blatantly violating the city’s code of ethics. Shame on the rest of the City Council and City attorney for not enforcing their own rules!
Repost:
Illegal Immigrant Numbers Plunge
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/11/local/la-me-immig11-2010feb11
A new report that the nation’s illegal immigrant population has declined by nearly 1 million has sharpened the debate over whether to legalize those remaining or allow their numbers to shrink through attrition.
The number of illegal immigrants living in the United States dropped to 10.8 million in 2009 from 11.6 million in 2008, marking the second consecutive year of decline and the sharpest decrease in at least three decades, according to a report this week by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
California’s illegal immigrant population, still the largest in the nation, declined by 250,000 to 2.6 million. The state now accounts for just one-quarter of the nation’s total illegal migrant population, compared with 30% in 2000.
“This represents a sharp break from the past, when pretty much the illegal population has continually grown,” said Steven Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington, D.C., research group that favors immigration restrictions. “It shows illegal immigration is not inexorable.”
Homeland Security department spokesman Matthew Chandler attributed the decline both to the weak economy and what he called the deployment of “unprecedented resources” in stopping illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border and throughout the country.
Immigration control advocates pounced on the report as evidence that illegal immigration can be reduced by restricting job opportunities and that legalization is not necessary to solve the problem. Giving a pathway to citizenship to qualified illegal immigrants has long been the most controversial element in congressional proposals for comprehensive immigration reform.
“Whether jobs dry up because the government is doing enforcement or because of the recession, illegal aliens react in a rational manner: They either will not come or they’ll go home,” said Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform. “It certainly shows that illegal immigration is a controllable phenomenon.”
Immigrant advocates, however, argue that millions of illegal migrants have been here for years, with settled lives they will not easily disrupt to return home.
“Millions of people here are good citizens and workers who pay taxes and own homes,” said Father Richard Estrada of Our Lady Queen of Angels Church in Los Angeles, a self-declared sanctuary for illegal immigrants. “The reality is that they are not going back.”
The report estimated the size of the illegal immigrant population by comparing the total foreign-born population in the United States to the legal resident population and subtracting the difference. The report cautioned that changes made to the census survey could have affected the results.
Researchers believe the drop was caused by a combination of fewer illegal immigrants entering the country and more leaving. Mexican government census data, for instance, showed that 226,000 fewer people left that country in the year ending August 2008 than the previous year.
Meanwhile, the U.S. government has stepped up removal of illegal immigrants, to 387,790 in fiscal 2009 from 291,060 in 2007.
But Estrada said that undocumented immigrants still arrive daily at his church, seeking help.
Last week, he said, a couple came with candles, a baby Jesus doll — and visibly swollen feet after walking days through the desert as they furtively crossed the southern border of the U.S. The woman asked for a priestly blessing after she tearfully described leaving her children behind in Mexico to find work here, Estrada said.
“She knew about the recession here, but there are no jobs over there, so they thought they would try here,” Estrada said. “There are a lot of false hopes out there.”
The Chinese illegal immigrant population showed the steepest decline, plummeting by nearly half to 120,000 in 2009 from 220,000 the previous year, the report showed. Mexicans, who account for 62% of the undocumented population, declined by 380,000 to 6.65 million. Illegal immigrants from South Korea, the Philippines and El Salvador declined while those from Guatemala, Honduras and India increased.
Among states, illegal immigrants increased in Georgia but declined in other major areas. Several states experienced a double-digit decline, led by Arizona’s 17.8%, followed by Florida, New York and New Jersey.
“Indeed, Reagan did the only sensible thing he could do when presented with the same problem we face today: he provided a path to citizenship for 1.7 million undocumented but hard working immigrants.”
Actually while Reagan doing the amnesty thing was the right thing to do, it was a failure in the sense that we failed to close off the border after that. It’s one of the few areas that Reagan didn’t handle well.
Come on folks, because these types of rallies attract some nutjob racists. It looks like this one is going to attract a lot more nuts on the Aztlan side of the equation. The vast majority of the folks are looking for a sensible solution to the illegal immigration problem. If anyone doesn’t think illegal immigration is a serious problem for this state then they are clearly out of touch.
What would you do diferently?
Enforce the existing laws maybe? Do you think we need even more laws?
Do you know what the immigration laws say? How many do?
Yet they will be out screaming and hollering, clueless to what they really want, besides screaming and hollering that is!
They should be forced to protest by Vallarta Market where they can get a first hand look at the reality of immigration.
Brian:
I have a very good knowledge of the reality of illegal immigration. I have a unique job that takes me into homes at all economic levels throughout Southern California. I’ve been in the homes of countless illegals and see the conditions they live in. For the most part these are good and decent people striving to make a living just like you and I.
I would even be for a complete amnesty for those currently here IF:
- We could finally secure the border to stop the bleeding.
- There is not a clause in the amnesty that grandfathers in relatives South of the border for those granted amnesty.
Even though this is a complex multifaceted issue we need to start solving ILLEGAL immigration.
Jim,
I think you should inject your wisdom into the protesters.
I agree with your thoughtful response.
Jim,
Great post!