Posted on 08/21/2004 9:04:20 PM PDT by ETERNAL WARMING
(08-21) 15:55 PDT MEXICO CITY (AP) --
President Bush's nephew, campaigning for overseas votes in Mexico on Saturday, called the federal policy of arming U.S. Border Patrol agents with plastic pellet guns "reprehensible."
Speaking in a mix of English and sometimes-halting Spanish, George P. Bush said his uncle was not to blame for the gun policy, which has angered Mexicans. He instead blamed it on "some local INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) guy who's trying to be tough, act macho."
"If there has been American approval for this policy, that is reprehensible," Bush said of the guns, essentially paintball projectiles filled with chile powder. "It's kind of barbarous."
The pellet guns, which were approved at the federal level, have been used on a trial basis since 2001 in California and Arizona. The U.S. Border Patrol fired the pepper-balls in 81 instances in 2002-03 and reported no deaths or severe injuries.
President Bush's Hispanic nephew -- he's the grandson of migrant worker Jose Maria Garnica -- is in Mexico on a week-long visit to drum up support for his uncle among the estimated 1 million Americans living there.
The younger Bush, whose father is Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and mother, Columba, is originally from Mexico, acknowledged at a news conference that the war in Iraq is not popular in Mexico but defended the military action, saying "we're almost done with it."
He also acknowledged that "there are some people in our (Republican) party who don't see the benefits of immigration," but promised that President Bush was a proponent of immigration reform.
He called Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez "a dictator" and cast doubt on his victory last week in a recall referendum, saying Chavez had "a long history of fraud." Outside observers, including former President Jimmy Carter, have endorsed the Venezuelan vote counts.
Christopher Fussner, global chairman of Republicans Abroad, which funded Bush's trip, called Mexico "the most important country" for getting overseas votes.
Fussner said Republicans are advertising in overseas English-language newspapers around the world in hopes of capturing expatriate votes.
Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's campaign also has enlisted family members to woo voters in Mexico. His sister, Diana Kerry, chairwoman of Americans Overseas for Kerry, visited Mexico City in July.
Kerry supporters also held a voter-registration and ballot-request drive in Guadalajara on Thursday.
Good luck.
Excellent point. Why should any one country get preferential treatment?
Maybe Poland should get preferential treatment for standing so tall with us in the war on terror. But I think intentional diversity is like poking our own eyes out, so I may not be the best one to decide how to set the quotas.
Those of us who support President Bush are loyal Republicans; those of you continuously attacking him during the final days of a close election are in fact traitors. I don't use that word lightly.
Don't bother responding that you are a "conservative" before a Republican. No one who is trying to elect Kerry is a conmservative. Racist or xenophobe maybe, but definitely not conservative.
You can have your Republican mind-meld, but I reserve free thought to myself.
President Bush will be the best candidate on illegal immigration, fighting the gun control conspiracy, and prosecuting the war on terror.
But on all those issues, I have my own opinions about how things could be done better. Maybe there are other Americans who feel the same way. In effect, by persuading the President and his party machinery to think about my perspective this week, I may be helping America by showing them which way to shift their policies.
That could be good. Either way, I'm a participant, not a sheep.
Crips. Just keep posting this stuff bayourod. Some of us with independent thoughts, can clearly see this for what it is. Party before country, regardless of policy.
You and Buchanan and Tancredo have already been heard and rejected. Your feeble efforts to coerce President Bush to build a super gigantic wall all around America before November have failed.
Either get over it and join the efforts to reelect President Bush or stop pretending to be loyal supporters. Regardless of how you personally may feel, you are participating in a movement that is expressly designed to elect Kerry.
You got two choices, Joe. Bush or Kerry. That's it.
You disagree with me, evidently because you favor the mass incursions from the south. To you perhaps, open borders are part of an ideal world where the state doesn't interfere with migrations. However, this particular migration is more akin to an invasion. We'll have a state that has been transformed from the sorts of people who founded it to a whole different culture before this is over.
I think we could handle gradual transformation, but having it happen in the course of one or two generations is unacceptable to me. I think it's troublesome to most Americans, including many who have recently immigrated here the old fashioned legal way.
All in all, I would argue that if President Bush were stronger on this issue he might have an even greater chance of being elected. He has a real opportunity to distance himself from his opponent. As it is on this issue, it's unclear how significantly different they are.
Either way, this issue is important enough to discuss, election year or not.
Your feeble attempts to prevent it from being discussed on the basis of this being a close election are unconvincing.
It IS reprehensible. Why aren't they armed with .45 autos and, perhaps, a rifle? I haven't even begun to read the whole thread, so I'm sure that this has been abundantly addressed.
I'm not attacking Bush. I'm atacking his $hithead nephew.
As much of a shocker that it is, Bayourod suports the Assault Weapons Ban.
Why not? Bush is a lot smarter than he looks. That's how he got into Yale. In fact, he's smarter than Kerry, because he manages to relate to common people like me despite his high breeding and education. I think it's a good deal for Americans all around. The conspiracy theories about the Bush family are lame, lame, lame. Anything you can get David Icke and Michael Moore to agree on has an excellent chance of being wrong in the first place.
Probably because it would be inconsiderate of their sensitivities. Wasn't there a thread here a week or so ago about Asa Hutchison being concernted about the "sensitivities" of detained illegals? I'll have to see if I can find it.
That has to be one of the most ignorant statements ever made on this forum, and there have been some whoppers.
I would like him to stand with Senator Frist against it. I think it would earn him millions of votes, too. Just like making a strong stand on this thread's issue.
Taking out Castro would gain him all the votes he needs from the Latino community in exchange for taking a strong stand for our border sovereignty at the expense of their lawless compadres.
Yeah, like you aren't? Didn't I give you Geronimo's head to polish for the next meeting?
It had something to do with him/her being afraid of terrorists getting their hands on "assault" weapons. I'll see if I can dig up the thread. It's pretty funny.
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