Posted on 01/13/2004 5:54:13 AM PST by JustPiper
Conservative talk-radio star, author says amnesty is betrayal of country
In the latest indication President Bush is having problems with his conservative core political constituency, Michael Savage, one of talk radio's biggest stars, tonight called for the impeachment of President Bush over his plans to legalize millions of illegal aliens.
"This is the worst betrayal of our country in my lifetime," said Savage, whose program is heard on more than 350 stations with an audience reaching some 6 million. His book, "The Savage Nation," last year was No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller's list for five weeks. His follow-up, "The Enemy Within," out just one week, is already No. 8 on the list. Both were published by WND Books.
President Bush
Tonight Savage called Bush a liberal and described him as part of the "enemy within" that is destroying the nation.
Savage created the phrase "compassionate conservative" in 1994, a term picked up by Bush during his presidential campaign – a campaign supported by Savage.
"This is much more serious than dropping your pants for an intern," said Savage. "This is a policy that represents a danger to national security."
Savage is hardly alone in his strong feelings of opposition to Bush's proposal to offer legal status to illegal immigrants. A new ABC News poll finds 52 percent of the nation opposes an amnesty program for illegal immigrants from Mexico, while 57 percent oppose one for illegal immigrants from other countries. Both results are roughly the same as when the administration floated the idea two-and-a-half years ago.
But today in Monterrey, Mexico, Bush reaffirmed his support of the proposal, despite its unpopularity at home. He said it could help illegal immigrants "leave the shadows and have an identity."
At a joint press conference with Mexican President Vicente Fox, Bush warned that his government will not allow the existence in the United States of an underclass of illegal immigrants, but claimed again his proposal is not an amnesty. Amnesty, he said, would only promote the violation of the law and perpetuate illegal immigration.
Bush said his immigration proposal would benefit both the United States and Mexico as it recognizes the contribution of thousands of honest Mexicans who work in the United States.
For his part, Fox embraced Bush's proposal.
"What else can we wish?" Fox said at the news conference with the president.
In the U.S., the latest poll on the controversy shows at least twice as many Americans "strongly" oppose the proposal as strongly support it.
Opposition peaks in Bush's own party: Fifty-eight percent of Republicans oppose his immigration proposal for Mexicans, compared with 50 percent of Democrats. For illegal immigrants other than Mexicans, 63 percent of Republicans are opposed.
Bush reportedly will disclose more details of the plan in his State of the Union address Jan. 20.
Meanwhile, the National Border Patrol Council, which represents all 9,000 of the Border Patrol's non-supervisory agents, has told its members to challenge President Bush´s proposed guest-worker program, calling it a "slap in the face to anyone who has ever tried to enforce the immigration laws of the United States," the Washington Times reported today.
The agents were told in a letter from Vice President John Frecker that the proposal offered last week during a White House press conference "implies that the country really wasn't serious about" immigration enforcement in the first place.
"Hey, you know all those illegal aliens you risked 'life and limb' to apprehend? FAH-GED-ABOWD-IT," said Frecker, a veteran Border Patrol agent. "President Bush has solved the problem. Don't be confused and call this an 'amnesty,' even though those who are here illegally will suddenly become legal and will be allowed to stay here. The president assures us that it's not an amnesty," he said.
Last week Bush proposed the sweeping immigration changes that would allow the 8 million to 12 million illegal aliens thought to be in the United States to remain in the country if they have a job and apply for a guest-worker card. The immigrants could stay for renewable three-year periods, after which they could apply for permanent legal residence.
Savage cited a new report published in the City Journal by the Manhattan Institute suggesting there is a major crime wave in the U.S. caused by illegal immigration.
"Some of the most violent criminals at large today are illegal aliens," the report charges. "Yet in cities where the crime these aliens commit is highest, the police cannot use the most obvious tool to apprehend them: their immigration status. In Los Angeles, for example, dozens of members of a ruthless Salvadoran prison gang have sneaked back into town after having been deported for such crimes as murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and drug trafficking. Police officers know who they are and know that their mere presence in the country is a felony. Yet should a cop arrest an illegal gang-banger for felonious reentry, it is he who will be treated as a criminal, for violating the LAPD’s rule against enforcing immigration law."
The situation is similar, the report says in New York, Chicago, San Diego, Austin and Houston. These "sanctuary policies" generally prohibit city employees, including the cops, from reporting immigration violations to federal authorities, says the report.
"These people are destroying America," said Savage. "That's all I have to say on the subject. But you can talk about it. Talk about it while you can – while America is still a free country, because it's not going to last."
I'm also a Christian though who realizes that we have the most outspokenly Christian President in US history and I don't usually sit around listening to non-Christians scream at people about how much other people suck and how everyone needs to be much angrier and savage.
Sorry, I don't know where in the Bible I've been given that "right". Feel free to show me though if you know a passage I'm missing.
George Washington, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, etc. were far more Christian in their statements and policies than Mr. Bush. None of these men would ever praise a gay church or equate Allah with Jesus Christ.
Exactly right. He never criticizes SCOTUS decisions that I have seen. As Rome burns and the Free Exercise Clause of the U.S. Constitution is being stomped into the dirt, Bush fiddles.
That's been my favourite approach all along. Look at the war on drugs- we've tried to stop drugs by targeting the supply, and that's worked smashingly, hasn't it? Trying to target the supply of illegals is just as ineffective.
Now, if the average employer (including white middle-class America, who hire illegal nannies and maids) knew they were going to be hit with a $10,000 fine for every illegal they employ, the economics of hiring illegals would change overnight. Cut off the demand, and the supply goes away.
You do that, you'll start to see what you're now seeing in Muslim neighborhoods in the US- a gradual attrition of the population as it becomes too much of a hassle to remain here.
He certainly had his chance in the Roy Moore case, but he said nothing. Meanwhile, Moore's colleagues all turned on him. I hope they all reap alot of political capital from their betrayal of Moore and the 1st Amendment (Prior, et al). In fact, I didn't hear the GOP say much when the courts stepped on their partial birth abortion ban. The GOP is a bunch of spineless jellyfish - no guts, no fight, no sacrifice, no loyalty to principle. Our founders pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor for their principles. Today's politicans are not cut from the same mold - that is for sure. They are fickle, weak, have no real courage or conviction.
Hope you're not referring to me with that line.
Not at all. I've had disagreements with him myself. I've never hated him though or called for him to be impeached.
My problem with Michael Savage is that he is an extremely bitter, angry, unhappy man. It's actually sad to listen to. You stated you are a Christian so I'm just wondering what there is a Christian can take from listening to Michael Savage (besides all the negatives one can gain from it).
Not a 70s kid, not a Mormon. Just a believer. Nominally Presbyterian, fwiw. A conservative, GOP one at that.
When you say you are a Christian, what do you mean by that? Just curious.
Good riddance. Don't let that door hit you on the way out.
Yes, if we just put our trust in Bush and the U.S. govt., everything will be okay. Not. People had better start trusting God -the govt. can't save them from terrorists or anything else. 9/11 proved that. Our founding fathers trusted God to win the victory in the Revolution and gave God credit for the victory as can be seen in Washington's farewell address, Franklin's call to prayer speech at the Constituitonal convention, and the National Day of Fasting and Prayer that was proclaimed the day after the Bill of Rights was ratified.
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