Posted on 06/01/2005 3:07:51 PM PDT by CherylBower
Recently, we elected a new mayor here in Los Angeles. James Hahn – a boring incumbent whose first term in office was tainted with a few charges of corruption – was routed by his challenger, Antonio Villaraigosa, a youthful-looking 52.
Mr. Villaraigosa was portrayed as a wonderful role model because he'd been a high-school dropout who'd cleaned up his act and gone to college. But inasmuch as he had the distinction of failing the bar exam four times before taking the easy way out and becoming a politician, I'm not sure I'd want him role modeling my kid.
As is often the case, I wound up voting for the losing candidate, the one we have all come to refer to as the lesser of two evils. But, I'm a regular Pollyanna, always on the lookout for silver linings. The best thing, then, about Mr. Villarigosa's victory is that it might serve as a wake-up call for all the gutless politicians of both parties, up to and including President Bush, who refuse to deal seriously with the problem of illegal immigration. Instead of squaring off with Vicente Fox, instead of cutting off all aid and assistance to illegal aliens, Democrats and Republicans alike pussyfoot around the issue, as they shamelessly go trolling for Hispanic votes.
The message that Villaraigosa's resounding victory should send to these guttersnipes is that they're nuts if they think they are ensuring their political futures by pandering so shamelessly. Just the opposite. Leaving the border ajar for scofflaws only means that down the road, and sooner rather than later, they'll find themselves running against a Villaraigosa or a Gomez or a Gonzalez of their very own, and then they can take their rightful place with Mr. Hahn at the unemployment office.
While on the subject of immigration, I recently erred when I wrote that children born in the United States were automatically American citizens even if the parents were here illegally. A few readers set me straight by pointing out that the 14th Amendment of the Constitution says no such thing. What it does say is, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside." In short, it is not their mere physical presence that determines their status.
Like an infielder who first muffs a slow roller and then compounds matters by throwing the ball wildly to first base, I made two errors on the same play. My first was not to have read the Constitution before disseminating misinformation. My bigger mistake was in accepting leftwing propaganda as if it were gospel. For many years I'd heard liberals claim that any baby born in our country was a citizen and that it would therefore be cruel, even illegal, to deport its parents, and I had foolishly come to believe it.
Logic, alone, should have shown me the error of my ways. After all, scores of nations have thousands of diplomats and representatives in this country. Did I really believe that if, say, the French ambassador and his wife had a child born in Manhattan or Washington, D.C., the kid would be an American? Of course not! Because the parents are French citizens, America, in the words of the Constitution, would have no jurisdiction over the child. In similar fashion, no matter what liberals would have us believe, America has no jurisdiction over Mexican citizens who are in the U.S. illegally.
Mark Twain once observed that when he was 14, his father was an ignoramus. However, when he was 21, he couldn't help noticing how much smarter his old man had become in just seven short years. I think it's the same deal with this nation's forefathers, because the older I become, the smarter they seem to get.
I suppose I should be terribly embarrassed to have been caught presuming to claim what the Constitution said without first reading the document. And, frankly, I was at first. But then I decided if people like Supreme Court justices Anthony Kennedy and Ruth Bader Ginsburg aren't the least bit embarrassed, why the heck should I be?
I believe the problem that most people are ignoring is this. No matter what the Constitution says, it's only as valid as the interpretation that is put into action. The government recognizes any person born on U.S. soil to have American citizenship. What the Constitution says exactly is irrelevent.
Look, I don't agree with this, but it's the real world. It's the situation we live in, like it or not.
I know I don't agree with it either. These people play both sides of the fence, hold dual citizenship and use us as much as they can. If we don't like it we are racist.
I'm waiting to see just ONE non-hispanic L.A. pol or celebrity make a negative statement about Villaraigosa's near immediate statements against the Governor's policy.
And, I'm waiting to see how long it takes Senor V to announce his willingness to be elected the next governor.
I don't live in L.A. but am close enough to pay the price for it's policies.
Looks like taxation without representation to me!
Agreed! Good post, D1.
Excellent take on the situation.
Yep, that's about it. Thanks for the comments.
Thank you.
Eggzackly what happened to boring B-1 Bob Dornan. when he had the seat, he ignored I I. When Loretta Sanchez kicked him out of his seat with flagrant vote fraud, he woke up fast. Too late. but fast.
But Karl Rove, (aka "The Brilliant") is convinced, and has convinced GW, that Mexicans are the 'Republicans of the Future.'
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