Infinite MonkeysThat is the opening line from this awful and intellectually lazy column by a woman who should know better, Linda Chavez.
An excerpt:
Unfortunately, among this group is a fair number of Republican members of Congress, almost all influential conservative talk radio hosts, some cable news anchors -- most prominently, Lou Dobbs -- and a handful of public policy "experts" at organizations such as the Center for Immigration Studies, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, NumbersUSA, in addition to fringe groups like the Minuteman Project.
As John Derbyshire points out in The Corner, Chavez's charge against Lou Dobbs is particularly strange. Yes, Dobbs started pounding the anti-illegal immigration drums when pounding them wasn't cool. But his wife is of Mexican descent. And if they are still married....well, that's good enough for me. Besides, Dobbs makes an economic argument against illegal immigration. It has nothing to do with race. Indeed, Dobbs has complained for years about outsourcing to China and India. Does that mean he hates Chinese and Indian people, too?
The above graph from Chavez -- indeed, her whole column -- is dripping with contempt and dishonesty about the principled rule of law/secure the borders position. Is it really racist to chafe at the sight of immigrants mocking the rule of law by entering illegally, refusing to assimilate, and demanding "rights" and benefits that only legal citizens of the United States have a proper claim to?
If so, tell that to Al Rodriquez, who formed You Don't Speak For Me in the wake of last year's illegal immigrant protests/goodie demands. His rhetoric against illegal immigration is up there with the best (or worst) that Chavez says is a disgrace. So, I guess Rodriquez is a self-hating Hispanic.
UPDATE
Bush jumped into the debate today, though he stopped (just) short of accusing opponents of this terrible immigration bill of being racists.
Those determined to find fault with this bill will always be able to look at a narrow slice of it and find something they don't like," the president said. "If you want to kill the bill, if you don't want to do what's right for America, you can pick one little aspect out of it.
"You can use it to frighten people," Bush said. "Or you can show leadership and solve this problem once and for all."
But can government solve this problem? When the government's solution to the flood of illegal immigrants is to put up signs warning drivers of the crossings?
Bush, nonetheless, has faith:
"A lot of Americans are skeptical about immigration reform, primarily because they don't think the government can fix the problems," Bush said.
Oh, how far we've come from Reagan's dictum: "Governments tend not to solve problems, only to rearrange them."
Posted by Dr. Zaius at May 29, 2007 10:23 AM