|
June 15, 2007
A sudden emergency to legalize millions
Today's Inquirer has a great op ed from Victor Davis Hanson in defense of the critics of the immigration bill: Washington pundits and Beltway politicians are furious at critics of the bill, from radio talk-show hosts and writers for conservative magazines, to frontline congressional representatives and Republican presidential candidates such as Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney and likely aspirant Fred Thompson.The public shouldn't believe it, and frankly, I question the timing -- especially the timing of the urging of this dire sense of urgency. What's the hurry? These people have been illegally crossing the border for years, and nothing was done to stop them. Now, it's urgent that they be legalized? Why? I'm not enough of a hardliner to advocate rounding them all up and deporting them, but as I said before, this situation is a classic illustration of the principle that sometimes doing nothing is better than doing the wrong thing. IMO, legalizing the millions of illegal border crossers would be doing the wrong thing. As to the timing, I suspect the whole thing is an attempt to swell the voter rolls in time for the 2008 election, and I am therefore deeply suspicious. Calling people "racist" for not wanting millions of unassimilated illegal border crossers legalized is just the cheapest of cheap shots, and reveals desperation, and, as Hanson points out, elitism: Most cynical of all, however, are the moralistic pundits, academics and journalists who deplore the "nativism" of Americans they consider to be less-educated yokels.But such elites will doubtless love having a president whose campaign is co-chaired by the former head of La Raza. Anyway, I think Hanson is right, and his piece contains much food for thought. Considering the previous post, it's probably worth a reminder that uncontrolled immigration has been considered a contributory factor in the fall of Rome. posted by Eric on 06.15.07 at 10:06 AM
Comments
The current immigration 'reform' is so thoroughly tainted with dishonesty that the entire effort should be scrapped. A new reform effort should be started immediately - from scratch. Out of principle and because the are so far out of touch with the American people, anyone involved in the the drafting of the current legislation should be disqualified from any future participation beyond submitting amendments to new bills that decouple border security from processing illegals already here. Because that's what this bill is - a fraud. I won't even get into the demonization and insulting of the bill's legitimate critics. Roy E · June 16, 2007 07:04 AM I consider this to be a matter of the Nation State, and how Nations act and how citizens are to act in accordance with that setup. Yes, a very Nationalist approach, but then Nations are *allowed* to have Sovereign direction from the inside and not be hindred by others. As to companies enticing such illegals here: I did not elect them to set immigration policy for the Nation. End all subsidies to companies, and then shutter those that behave outside the Constitution and auction them off piecemeal, never to rise again. Companies are not given to make illegal contracts, which is what they are doing in breaking the Laws of the Land and the Laws of Nations. If they cannot exist without federal monies or without cheap labor then they can very well go the way of the Dodo. That is 'capitalism' at work. And a 'free market' requires adherance to the laws within Nations and between them. The US did NOT take in everyone that came its way during the so-called 'open immigration' period before 1920, and did a much, much harder task than what we have now: they sent 3-4% BACK after checking health and records. That required checking every immigrant and having quarantine. Millions of them. Before 1920. So that we could *discriminate* and send those not meeting the standards of the Nation BACK. What a pitiful excuse of a Nation we are if we can not operate as well NOW as we did THEN. Before 1920. Before computers. Before modern databases. Before all sorts of biometric scanning. Before international watch lists for criminals and terrorists. Finding the 3-4% undesireables is a much, much harder task than one can imagine given the influx of people and scanty resources of the Nation in that era. And this Congress can go to hell if they cannot use the Powers we grant it to secure this Nation. ajacksonian · June 16, 2007 04:14 PM Victor Davis Hanson traded late night posts with me on Free Republic 8 or 9 years ago. I understand the man thoroughly. He is not a racist or nativist by any stretch.
Frank · June 17, 2007 02:41 AM Post a comment
You may use basic HTML for formatting.
|
|
June 2007
WORLD-WIDE CALENDAR
Search the Site
E-mail
Classics To Go
Archives
June 2007
May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 May 2002 AB 1634 See more archives here Old (Blogspot) archives
Recent Entries
hot times in Kuwait
Eunuchly American literary figure(s) Thinking globally, acting locally. A sign of the times A sudden emergency to legalize millions Where have all the eunuchs gone? Lung Cancer Stopper dangerous thoughts on "neutrification" Mr. Bloomberg, Tear down the Brooklyn Bridge! Vital issue of national importance
Links
Site Credits
|
|
Honestly, I don't see what offering amnesty would even accomplish. Illegal aliens working in the US are the cornerstone of South-West harvesting, food-processing, etc. The reason that they are paid to go out and pick strawberries is because no "honorable" American citizen would humiliate himself with such a career choice. So what happens when they become legal and quit those dead-end jobs? More will have to come in to replace them. They're too tightly enmeshed in our economic infrastructure now. The only long-term hope that I can see is the forcible breakup of Mexican and other Latin American monopolistic companies. Latin Americans are stuck in poverty not because their countries are weak and exploited by the US. Heck there are 37 Latin American billionares on this list: http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/10/07billionaires_The-Worlds-Billionaires-Latin-America_6Rank.html
Carlos Slim, the third richest man in the world, made $19 BILLION THIS YEAR and is slated to knock off Bill Gatea and Warren Buffet in maybe 2 years. His company contributes HALF of the Mexican stock exchange's value and 7% of Mexico's GDP!!!
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1610610,00.html
It's time for America to leverage Mexico into some anti-trust action to open up Latin America for some real economic diversity and competition that, you guessed it, will create jobs...
Besides, if you can get decent jobs in your own country, would you sneak across the border to pick strawberries?