After Action Report: Tom Tancredo Returns to Cochise County

My own warped mind | 19 January 2004 | JackelopeBreeder

[JackelopeBreeder]

Buenos nachos, muchachos.

Will whoever borrowed our famous Arizona dry heat kindly return it? I just got back in from the border, my toes are blue, and typing is not fun when you can’t feel your fingers. The Huachuca mountains have a nice layer of snow on top and that’s where the wind is coming from. I oughta sue the Chamber of Commerce for false advertising.

Okay, rant off. The rum glass is full so at least part of my anatomy is starting to feel warm.

I was hoping Spiff would post this as he was one of the prime movers in setting up this little charivari. I’m beginning to think nothing happens in this county unless Spiff “lays hands” on it and gives it the blessing. Now if I can just tempt him over to the Dark Side and turn him into a jack Mormon who will help me drink…

There were 300 people there last night and I think the congressman from Colorado akready knew half of these crazy Arizonans by name. He claims only half of his message traffic is from his bonafide constituents. The rest comes from Cochise County, Arizona.

Anyway, the local press apparently decided not to show up, but we did have a crew from Univision, another doing an independent documentary, and – of all things – a TV crew from KBS, the biggest network in South Korea.

The Koreans are thinking about their northern border once Kim Jong Il joins his father in some unpleasant corner of Hell. I was in Uijongbu when the Berlin wall came down and Koreans were very carefully watching the political and economic effects of sudden national reunification. (Twenty years as a Korean linguist with the Army came in very handy last night. It also resulted in a hangover. Don’t ask.)

Anyway, Tom showed up without fanfare. Just walked into the room and got mobbed by friends. That set the tone for the rest of the evening. The after dinner speech was more of an informal discussion among friends than an exercise in rhetoric.

Most of the speech dealt with current immigration issues and where they stood in DC. Bottom line, Tom is not supporting any sort of amnesty and will continue fighting for controling the borders and enforcing laws against those who hire illegal aliens. Most of what he discussed has been seen here and on other websites.

There was one new story, though.

It seems Tom, Darrell Issa from California, and some other representative whose name escapes me had a meeting with a Mexican official named Juan Fernandez recently. Señor Fernandez stated that it is Mexican government policy to encourage more illegal migration, particularly among the 18 to 25 year old male population – quite simply because this is the group most likely to cause domestic unrest at home. You know, revolutionaries and such who might raise hell for reforms. Further, Señor Fernandez admitted that the Mexican government really didn’t consider their own border states or ours as separate nationalities, just a geographical region. It seems the loons from MeCha and La Raza aren’t the only ones who believe in mythical Aztlan.

Tom Tancredo admits to being conflicted by the current state of affairs. He never dreamed that he would be butting heads with a Republican President over any sort of amnesty. He is himself staunchly Republican, much more so than I am, but he can not and will not back down on immigration issues.

One funny note: our own congressman, the openly gay RINO Jim Kolbe, came to visit on Thursday night. The natives were extremely restless and hostile and he may never come back for another visit. Most of Dubya’s current proposal was lifted from the bill this chucklehead co-authored with John McCain and Jeff Flake. However, Kolbe’s local rep was in attendance and she spent the evening looking very sour and displeased over the fine reception Tom Tancredo received.

In closing, last night must have been a good one for sneaking across the border. Just about every one of us “vigilante hooligans” were listening to Tom Tancredo. If you have a very recent arrival doing your yard work next week, it’s all my fault.

[Old Sarge]

Heck of a thing to happen, out where I used to be.

Fort Huachuca was (and still is) a great place to be stationed.

[JackelopeBreeder]

Best kept secret in the Army.

I have the Huachuca Mountains out the front windows. The Whetstones, Mustangs, Chiricauhas and Dragoons wrap around the rest of the house. God's country without a doubt.

[TomasUSMC]

Tom Tancredo has got it right. Immigration is a moot issue if you don't have borders. Where you gonna immigrate to? The entire Border Patrol should be fired. True its not their fault but it is just useless to apprehend someone and feed them then send them back to Mexico and have them come across the next dang day!

Truth is we have done it all wrong since 911. Bush should have declared Martial Law, restarted the draft and given 36 hours for one of the capitals of the countries on the terrorist sponsoring list to evacuate before making the ants glow there. We would have had to kill alot of Muslims but remember one thing If the shoe was on the other foot they would not hesitate to kill U.S. all.

[JackelopeBreeder]

This thread is lookin' like an NCO reunion.

By the way the best bumper sticker I've seen lately --

USMC: Because dying a natural death is for pussies.

[getgoing]

USMC T-shirt here: "Pain...weakness leaving the body"

Does Rep.Tancredo think the "NO" votes will hold when the administration starts pushing? (Delay looks to be on the immigration bus.)

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

I can't even imagine what it might be like to have a congress critter that you don't want to strangle.

A rep or senator that didn't laugh and hang up on you would be a shock. Wish there were a couple hundred more Tancredos.

[Zipporah]

Thanks for the update.. and not surprising that the press was a no-show. I've been doing a LOT of reading of late on this topic (the history etc.) and the more I read the more I am convinced the proposal isn't pandering to get the Hispanic vote and I'm beginning to question that is pandering to big business.

[HiJinx]

Is there room for another Army NonComm in here?

[gubamyster]

ping

[Bikers4Bush]

Tancredo gets my write in for 04'

[Sabertooth]

Tom Tancredo admits to being conflicted by the current state of affairs. He never dreamed that he would be butting heads with a Republican President over any sort of amnesty. He is himself staunchly Republican, much more so than I am, but he can not and will not back down on immigration issues.

This is the impression I've gotten from Tancredo as well.

Was there any comment about all of the "write-in Tancredo" stuff we've been hearing?

I've been under the impression that Tancredo is graciously distancing himself from that, and that he feels that Congress is the place that he can be of most service.

[Spiff]

I was hoping Spiff would post this as he was one of the prime movers in setting up this little charivari. I’m beginning to think nothing happens in this county unless Spiff “lays hands” on it and gives it the blessing. Now if I can just tempt him over to the Dark Side and turn him into a jack Mormon who will help me drink…

Thanks for your confidence, but this one was set up by the Cochise County Repuclican Committee - the official Republican Party down here. I'm just the president of the South East Arizona Republican Club - the official conservative pains-in-the-ass club down here.

That doesn't mean that I won't become an officer in the party down here - I tried last time and lost by one vote. I'm going to run again next year but I've got to get all the FReepers and like-minded individuals down here to run for PC and then vote for me and others on my ticket.

Oh, and I did see the Sierra Vista Herald there and I'm sure they will have a story up today. In fact...nope, not yet. Just checked the page and they haven't put it out yet. I was able to thank Ron Levy, the photographer, for his awesome frontpage, above the fold, photo of Kolbe and his aide hurrying passed the BP agent effigy at the protest. And I was able to thank Nate Searing for his coverage of the protest. They were there, they were taking notes and photos and even got a few quotes from me.

Thanks for the report.

[Spiff]

Was there any comment about all of the "write-in Tancredo" stuff we've been hearing? I've been under the impression that Tancredo is graciously distancing himself from that, and that he feels that Congress is the place that he can be of most service.

There is a movement to write-in Tancredo as a protest vote. However, there was NO mention of that.

There were several people, during the standing ovations, yelling "Tancredo for President!"

[JackelopeBreeder]

Tom never mentioned the write-in subject himself, though several people brought it up jokingly in conversation with him.

[B4Ranch]

Thanks for the encouraging update.

[Sabertooth]

Tom never mentioned the write-in subject himself, though several people brought it up jokingly in conversation with hi

Was there any reply?

In any case, do I have it right, so far as you're aware; that Tancredo is downplaying a primary write-in challenge to Bush and focusing on reelection to Congress?

[JackelopeBreeder]

I really couldn't judge based on what little mention I heard on the subject. Most of the talk was bout the Bush amnesty proposal and its ramifications -- particularly border enforcement and its current inadequacies.

There was one thing about the meeting that really struck me. Here you had three hundred Republican activists and candidates in one room, all sorts of campaign trinkets available, but only a handful were sporting any of the stuff for Bush/Cheney 2004. There are a lot of disgruntled conservatives down here.

[SandRat]

Are you allowing the Dark-Side (Commissioned) in here as well?

[JackelopeBreeder]

Yes, but you have to buy beer for the troops.