Posted on 04/07/2005 7:03:36 AM PDT by shortstop
I think they’re heroes.
The Minutemen. The guys who’ve gone down to Arizona to watch the border.
I think they’re heroes and I think most Americans feel that way.
Moreover, I think the federal government, instead of condemning them, should be thanking them. It should be thanking them for doing its job.
And it should be apologizing for failing to protect our borders and for destroying our immigration system. If the government was doing its job, there wouldn’t be any Minutemen.
If the government was doing its job, there wouldn’t be any illegal immigrants. But there are. There are almost 12 million of them, and the number grows by several hundred thousand a year.
You’ve heard about them, no doubt. About 200 men and women from across the country have converged on a 20-mile stretch of the Mexican border. It is a sieve, an area controlled by illegal aliens and abandoned by the Border Patrol.
At least that’s what the numbers show.
It is an area where, based on the number of aliens coming across the border, the laws and law enforcers of the United States mean nothing.
So regular Americans came to do something about it. The citizens employ and empower the government to do their bidding, and when the government fails, the citizens have to do it themselves.
So it’s like Neighborhood Watch.
The Minutemen get out their folding chairs and binoculars and sit on the American side of the border. And they watch for illegals coming over from Mexico. When they see somebody, they call the Border Patrol.
They don’t intercept or interfere. They don’t challenge or accost anybody. They just call the authorities.
And for that they’re being treated like trash. George W. Bush, the American president, called them vigilantes. Vicente Fox, the American co-president, called them vigilantes.
And here’s what the “objective” Reuters “news service" called them: “A right-wing militia.”
Militia?
No one associated with the Minutemen has used that word or even hinted at it. Instead, what’s supposed to be journalism is purposeful defamation. Reuters went on to report that some of the Minutemen’s pick-up trucks have had gun racks.
And, of course, Reuters called them “vigilantes.”
But that’s ok. Because the Minutemen are playing the press like a fish.
And that’s the real beauty of what the Minutemen are doing. This is about putting an issue front and center on the public agenda. It’s about getting as many stories as possible and overthrowing the government’s desire to continue to ignore illegal immigration.
Thus far, in one week, the Minutemen have done more to stop illegal immigration across the Mexican border than has been done ever.
Not by watching out for some aliens, but by watching out for this country’s interests, and serving as a focus and expression of the American public’s nervous anxiety over illegal immigration.
There are 200 reporters in Bisbee, Arizona, which is about 200 times the usual number. And they are talking about one thing. Though they largely want to mock the Minutemen, the people watching and reading their reports are not so hostile.
I believe they are supportive.
But it’s not just reporters the Minutemen have manipulated. They’ve also put the screws to the governments of the United States and Mexico.
The American Border Patrol was dramatically reinforced just hours before the Minutemen arrived. It was a somewhat disingenuous move – the increase in agents was only a quarter of what Congress had called for – but the Administration blinked.
And so did its counterpart to the south.
After years of policies that seem to actively encourage its citizens to illegally sneak into the United States, the Mexican government has moved, just this month, to stop the flow across the border patrolled by the Minutemen.
Mexican army units have been positioned on their side of the border to shoo wannabe illegals away from Arizona. That is a first. An astounding first. The Mexican government, of course, does not want the full and normal flow of its citizens into America to be documented by either the Minutemen or the media. The Mexican government does not want the full scope of the incursions to be known.
So right now the Minutemen are in the catbird seat.
And they need to milk it for all it’s worth.
Because they’re doing it for the rest of us.
They are heroes.
And I think most Americans would agree.
Excellent post.
Those people really are doing a wonderful job.
Bless the Minutemen for showing the world that there are Americans, in spite of a border-disfunctional political government, that will work to defend their country against illegal invaders.
This clearly puts the SHAME AND BLAME right where it belongs. Right in Washington's lap. Silent, political, pandering Washington....
a wonderful write up.
the MinuteMen are my heros too. and Gilchrist is a genious... hehe. even the name "MinuteMen" was chosen for a reason... and it's working.
all my GOP donations are going to the MMP
God Bless them
They're just doing the job that government won't do.
I haven't run into anyone who thinks the Minute Men are in the wrong.
Looks like only the fringe leftist loonies and the Administration think they are the bad guys.
I wish I had the time and money to travel from NC to Arizona to help these guys out. It sometimes pains me to sit on the sidelines while these guys sacrafice their time to go defend our borders to the best of their abilities. Shame on those who arrogantly scoff at their efforts while providing no alternative to the problem, or outright dismissing this as a problem.
Long live the Minute Men. They will need reinforcements to continue this watch into the summer months and even into the fall, but Lo troublemakers will be sent in to make the Minute Men look bad and the govt may try to forcefully remove them (the Minute Men). Pray for the Minute Men.
Seems like everyone is some kind of a heroe nowadays...
I know that if Illegal immigration from Canada was a problem in my state I would be first in line to sign up as a border watcher. All the old men who hang out here in my shop would be raring to go as well.
Michigans water border seems to slow them down but I wouldn't be suprised if some of Canadas islamic illegals do cross the river in small boats at night.
I myself saw the video of the President saying "vigilantes" while standing next to the visiting Fox.
Not sure if that was a recent visit or just when it was, but I heard it.
Are the ladies that bring the minutemen beer called minutemaids?
Here you go, it's from a couple of weeks ago:
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20050324-122200-6209r.htm
"WACO, Texas — President Bush yesterday said he opposes a civilian project to monitor illegal aliens crossing the border, characterizing them as "vigilantes." "
Linking this Wash Times op-ed here:
http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20050324-075949-5943r.htm
'Vigilantes'
"We've reached a very strange moment in the immigration debate. On Wednesday President Bush condemned a group of good American citizens worried about the breaking of U.S. immigration law. He condemned the organizers of Project Minuteman as "vigilantes" even though they have broken no law and pledge not to do so. An hour or two later, Mr. Bush welcomed to his Texas ranch a man who insults the United States for its immigration policy and leads a government that routinely flouts U.S. immigration law."
(more at link)
V. Fox is really GWs illegitimate brother!!!
I know some racist groups have called themselves militias but, as we near April 19 (and the 230th anniversary of Lexington and Concord) lets celebrate the great history of American militias:
"Who are the militia? Are they not ourselves? Is it feared, then, that we shall turn our arms each man against his own bosom? Congress shall have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birth-right of an American ... The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the People." — Tench Coxe, 1788
`fraid he did.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/3/24/112450.shtml
And they aren't "vigilantes" because they don't administer punishment without authority of law.
Go Minutemen.
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