The Minutemen Will Make A Fool Of President Bush

GDO Online ^ | 4/8/05

[BurbankKarl]

President Bush has called the Minutemen, who are now patrolling the U.S.-Mexican border:"vigilantes." I suppose that Bush believes anyone who wishes to help enforce our laws and maintain U.S. sovereignty is a vigilante. If our president had not abdicated his responsibility in this matter, the Minuteman Project would not exist. However, he did and they are doing a great job!

Despite the erroneous propaganda perpetuated by the liberal media, the ACLU, the Mexican government, and even our president, the Minutemen are not a group of wild-eyed racists--with bloodlust in their hearts. They are retired police officers, former military men, laborers, businessmen, moms, and dads, in short--they are a cross section of America. The only difference between these Americans and most of us, is the fact that they are willing to sacrifice their time and are even willing to put themselves in harm's way. They like most of us, are fed up with our government's lack of interest in enforcing our borders.

Much has been made of the fact that many of the Minutemen volunteers carry firearms.They do not chase down illegals with guns drawn. They are carrying weapons for self-defense purposes only. They do not apprehend suspects. They are simply operating as the eyes and ears of the incredibly under-staffed U.S. Border Patrol. The area along the Arizona border with Mexico (where the Minutemen are stationed) has become a very violent sector, filled with Latin American drug smugglers. Perhaps, we should remind the left that we as U.S. citizens, still have the right to bear arms.

The Minutemen have taken on the responsibility of spotting and reporting anyone seen, illegally crossing the border. Period.

The Project's duties were well described by Minuteman spokesman Mike McGarry this weekend, he said : "You observe them, report them, and get out of the way."

This past weekend saw the first patrols of the Minutemen, which yielded several arrests of illegal aliens. On Saturday, volunteers spotted and reported sightings of illegal crossings. Their actions resulted in 18 arrests.

As of Tuesday (three days after patrols began), the Minutemen were responsible for aiding in the arrest of 176 illegal aliens. These numbers will continue to rise and by the end of April, this dedicated group of men and women will have done their country a great service. With every illegal alien who is apprehended, President Bush looks a bit more foolish and impotent.

[SIDENET]

Throwing away your vote on 3rd party will assure the Beastess a free ride back to the WH. Sorry but that is just the way it is and don't think the demos aren't counting on 3rd party supporters to try spliting the GOP.

I agree wholeheartedly with this statement. That's why I am concerned that conservative politicians will alienate their base and bring about the possibility of a third party candidate or low GOP turnout. This one is totally up to our elected officials and how they choose to act in office.

[Rytwyng]

My impression, as with so many of my conservative friends, has been that they are just nice folks that want to work her in the USA.

Yeah, I've heard that before from folks outside the border zones. One poster at FR, said that he used to believe much as you do, and dismissed people complaining about the border as a bunch of racist, unChristian paranoiacs -- until he moved to Arizona and saw for himself how the state was being destroyed. Then he realized that all the "extremists" howling about the border, were right -- and that there was almost no way to get the rest of the country to realize it until it's too late.

Sorry, but you just have no idea of the total devastationthese folks have wrought here in the southwest. California was a paradise when I was a kid and the illegal alien influx has just about destroyed it.

Come see for yourself, that's the only way you'll ever understand. By the time your wages are depressed, your crime skyrockets, graffitti and litter are everywhere, your schools and hospitals are going bankrupt, and anti-white racists gangs drive your family out of your Iowa neighborhood, it will be too late to save the country.

[Bald Eagle777]

I'm a Republican anyways but "Defeating terrorism and getting our economy back on shape after being jolted by 9/11 and cutting taxes while doing it" .. are damn good reasons to vote Republican.

I bet some of the more Conservative Democrats see this track record and will vote Republican.

( However, terrorism isn't "defeated" yet, a small technical point, but, I ask, can it EVER be defeated 100%? )

GW does understand that the military should be allowed to do its job, and in that sense, we are winning. No Left Wing Kerry to put us through the "global test" ... The kid gloves are off !

"Ding, ding!! round two terrorists!! Ding, ding, round two!!"

[rudy45]

Thanks, I understand and am aware of the criminal activity. However, suppose they respond, "But what about the honest ones, who just want to work and provide for their families." I KNOW they're breaking the law just by skirting the checkpoints, but it's harder to condemn the "noncriminal" illegal alien (now there's an oxymoron).

I use this same reasoning myself, when I say to ClintonBeGone, "But suppose the Minutemen obey all the laws, stay only where they're allowed to and don't confront or abuse illegal aliens. What's the issue?"

I have to be prepared for the same sort of response. Thanks.

[Rytwyng]

"But what about the honest ones, who just want to work and provide for their families."

The honest ones, by definition, apply to enter legally. The very fact that they cross the border illegally is proof of a spirit of lawlessness. Another aspect of the spirit of lawlessness is crime and the trashing of neighborhoods, and still another is the whole "this is our land anyway, the gringos are the illegals" attitude (which they hold despite the fact that Magin Catala, the mystic monk of the Santa Clara mission, prophesied that God was going to take the land away from them and give it to a new nation.)

[rudy45]

Yes...you're right.

By analogy: even if I'm starving, as is my family, it doesn't make stealing right.

[spodefly]

I get what you are saying, biblewonk. It is a tough position because there are many parts of the country where it is not yet an obvious, in your face type problem.

Here in Georgia, I attend a church down in south Georgia (when I am visiting) and at dinner, when the topic comes up, I see that many people still hold on to the 'idealized' view of illegal aliens -- that they are poor peasants just trying make a living, and who would blame them for coming here for $10 and hour when they may only make $5 a day in Mexico, and they deserve our sympathies and support and prayers. I still hold on to that idealized view in many ways, because I know that it is true in a large percentage of the cases.

But, the issues are much more complex that our idealized views can accommodate.

Allowing illegal aliens also encourages other illegality -- people smuggling, document forgery, identity theft, etc. People smuggling and drug smuggling go hand in hand because they use the same routes and same under the radar sorts of devices. The people smuggling, document forgery, and identity theft industries are now multi-billion dollar illegal industries that have piggybacked on top of the illegal alien industry, and these industries are tailor made for terrorists. This is the Achilles Heel of national security.

Further, many of the major busts that have happened recently with methamphetamines have been labs set up by illegal aliens. There are parts of Atlanta where home invasions have occurred because of Mexican gangs.

The idealized view gets polluted by the billions of dollars we are spending to support illegals once they are here, and to deal with the less than ideal circumstances that accompany the illegal alien industry.

In one sense, it is the charitable thing to do to believe that we should open our arms to the poor and provide for them, but it is not principled to task taxpayers with supporting illegality. If adjustments need to be made to handle the needs of labor in this country, then it should be done in an orderly fashion, and laws should be enforced. Further, we cannot reward those that have trespassed illegally because that only encourages more illegality. Reagan tried it in 1986 with his amnesty, and we see the results of that idealized view today.

[biblewonk]

Come see for yourself, that's the only way you'll ever understand. By the time your wages are depressed, your crime skyrockets, graffitti and litter are everywhere, your schools and hospitals are going bankrupt, and anti-white racists gangs drive your family out of your Iowa neighborhood, it will be too late to save the country.

I don't have to see for myself. All is need is a fellow conservative to explain his problem to me like an adult talking to another adult. Maybe even like a Christian talking to a Christian and I will accept it. But when a self-righteous Freetard (not you) talks down to me, or any other conservative, he may as well be shooting them.

[FBD]

"Germans who wish to use firearms should join the SS or the SA - ordinary citizens don't need guns, as their having guns doesn't serve the State." -–Heinrich Himmler

[Pa' fuera]

Hey, how long before LaRaza, or some other advocate for open borders, creates a setup to 'prove' everything that they have contended about the Minutemen? It's coming, I tell ya. Just look how that T-shirt incident was blown-up all out of proportion.

if they were smart, they would downplay any potential aggressiveness on the part of the MM. The press-induced hysteria about them being hunters and gun-crazed vigilantes is a valuable deterrent that is making people throughout Mexico think twice before heading north. There is not a report in the Mexican press which doesn't use the word "hunt" or "hunter". So be it, that only increases the impact the MM are having.

[Rytwyng]

But when a self-righteous Freetard (not you) talks down to me...

Try to forgive him. We've been screaming about this border thing for 30 years and up til now we've felt like we're having one of those nightmares where you scream and scream in a vaccuum and you can't even hear yourself, let alone be heard by anyone else. Statistically, when a lot of people are that frustrated, a few are going to lash out, often at the wrong target.

I understand your position because I encountered it when I visited relatives elsewhere who don't have these problems (yet). But some folks here lack such insight and feel betrayed when a fellow conservative from somewhere else, doesn't support them.

Bush, of course, is from a border state himself, so the perception is, he knows better and still won't do the right thing. Hence the sense of betrayal we feel regarding his unconscionable behavior is essentially *infinite*.

[Pa' fuera]

What the MSM needs is a picture of a Mexican standing on a box with a pair of woman's underpants on his head while some big fat white woman moons him!

I think gringos pay good money for that treatment in TJ.

Seriously though, I think that is where the Mexicans part company with our Muslim friends. The garden variety illegal would probably enjoy that display.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Private citizens have no business bearing arms and deciding to become law enforcement -- particularly since the illegals crossing the border are not shooting their way in.

You are so off base on with those two statements I'm amazed that you are able to stand upright at all.

[monkeywrench]

Christians don't talk like you do.

[biblewonk]

Very good post, greatly appreciated. We need a lot more people like you around here.

Obviously this concept comes up in the bible with the idea of Roman citizens vs barbarians. Thre were big prices to pay and big privileges to be had. You mentioned breakins, are you speakin gof illegals raiding houses. Imagine barbarians raiding the houses of Roman citizens.

I'm wondering to what degree the problem has changed in the last 20 years. What have the trends been? I am an adult and I don't care whose pounding what drum, I don't react with my emotions. I want more info, lots more info.

People reaction with blather and yelling and emotion tend to nail innocent people to things.

The two sides of the issue that you discuss are very very evident and it is good that you bring them both up together. I have no answers but am in data gathering mode.

Thanks again.

[Pa' fuera]

And that we would be faithless Christians not to be willing to share the wealth.

There is nothing stopping anyone from donating in order to improve conditions in Mexico or anywhere else. What I object to is that the taxpayer is forced to donate to the cause of the illegal whether he wants to or not.

[Dean Baker]

Ummm...Like always, I'll take Dubya.

And win.

[Isabelle]

I hope your right. Could it be that the President didn't do much about the border because the Republican party didn't want to be labeled racist, amoung other things, like former Ca. Gov. Pete Wilson?
My point is by standing by and having the "people" do something hopefully this should force all elected officials to do their jobs. Or be voted out of office.
Unfortunately, the treat of terrorism didn't get the border's protected.

[billybudd]

Yep. Bush is pursuing a risky strategy that probably will backfire against conservatives later. I would qualify that 40% of the Hispanic vote - the percentage increased from 34% in 2000 (also from the article). However, the assumption that new people coming into the party are adopting "our" ideas is wrong. It's more like the other way around: the ideology of the Republican party (and perhaps conservatism) is changing.

[dc27]

Party loyalty is being misued by the President, IMO.

Worked great for Bush Sr.