Posted on 11/13/2006 3:17:45 PM PST by MindBender26
Please pardon the Vanity, but Mel Martinez is a friend and I thought FReepers might like some insight in him.
Mel Martinez and his wife Kitty are outstanding people. Mel was born in Cuba. At 10 and 11 years old, with Castro in power, he wouldn’t take off his Catholic scapula. Other boys would hit him during basketball games because he wouldn’t disown his religion, as Castro demanded.
Mel came to this country under Kennedy’s Pedro Pan program. Imagine arriving in Miami with nothing, absolutely nothing!
I’ll cut to the chase; 25 years later, a very successful and honest lawyer, he has the happiest day of his life when he and his beautiful wife, and their kids, welcome his mother on her escape from Cuba, into the house they bought for her.
In 2000, he was recruited to run for he House seat being vacated by Bill McCollum, but said no, because he didn't want to be away from his family 3 nights a week.
When the RNC needed someone to debate Charlie Rangel, Fidel Castro's favorite congressman, on Larry King Live on CNN, we recruited Mel with just a few hours warning. Mel was the Orange County [Orlando area] mayor at the time and Rangel made the fatal mistake of underestimating him. After 60 minutes of debate, not even Larry King's "assistance" could help Rangel score even one point against Mel. In plain English, on the issue of the Elian Gonzalez, Mel Martinez had Charlie Rangel for lunch on live TV!
The Bush family saw him on Larry King and the rest is history. The president chose Mel to be HUD Secretary in his new administration, and in what is probably one of the toughest jobs in Washington, was the most successful HUD secretary was seen in 30 years.
Mel then returned to Florida and ran an uphill battle to be our senator. He beat a reasonably strong opponent, and even more importantly than that, never once veered away from his long-held principles. He is an adamant opponent of abortion, understands that the most important thing in America today is to defeat terrorism and return a sense of personal responsibility to each and every American.
I had the pleasure of flying with Mel back to Washington the day after the election. Trust me on this one, he sharp, conservative, understands the issues better than 99% of the people in Washington... and most importantly, has seen the vicious or press the nature of communism and other leftist governments up close. If there is one man in the United States that Hugo Chavez fears more than anyone else, it's Mel Martinez.... and it would be a smart if the Islamic terrorists and their fellow travelers feared him too!
There are many more wonderful things Mel has done during his career in public life, and before but I won't go into them here.
With the Hispanic vote critically important for any success in any future national election, (and growing faster than the Black vote) , the selection of Mel Martinez as a new RNC chair is a brilliant move.
Excuse me, I meant all people who had real opponents.
None of the ones you mentioned did.
However, O'Donnell, Hayworth, Graf, Allen, Ryun, and a whole hoast of others did, and they all lost.
You know what you speak of.
You pretty much patented that technique, and should sue for infringement.
Why do rattlesnakes rattle? Why do scorpions sting? etc.
They aren't called 'the stupid party' without cause.
For that reason alone I will do what ever I can to stop him.
Is this a position that we have a choice in or does the President get to chose who he wants? I am seriously not sure.
Mel M. can't. Karl Rove is going to be doing it. Mel is window dressing.
What nonsense. It's what I was talking about. Keep trying to change the subject but you are still deluded.
Why don't you quote all that I said and answer the question, rather than trying to put something back on me by only partially quoting me.
Because I was correcting you. Your entire premise for your question was wrong. What's the point in answering a question that had nothing to do with the topic?
Why haven't we been attacked by terrorists in the last 5 years if our borders are so "wide open"? Do you understand the question now? Do I need to make it more clear what the question is?
I consider the thousands of rapes, robberies, murders by drunken illegals on our roads, marching in the streets under a foreign flag and the theft our our social services as terrorist acts.
Next?
I probably should stay off these threads for a while.
I'm not clear in my thoughts since last Tuesday and I need to refrain from knee jerk posting :)
Thanks for the bio! What a wonderful American life.
There was another thread that was very critical and deteriorated into an immigration rant that was not very helpful in sizing up this man. I appreciate your constructive input.
The only other action to which we overreact in terms of law enforcement is the recreational use of cannibis. I would like to see amnesty for those who have been jailed for possession. The other crimes you list ought to be prosecuted not only in the USA but throughout the world. It is not as if natural law begins and ends at our borders.
Just more of that great GOTV effort that worked so well leading up to last Tuesday. Give the RNC Elitist Hacks some credit as they hone their skills for an '08 thumping. Blackbird.
True enough.
But we also should not be afraid to select a person of Spanish/Cuban ancenstry if that person could presumably do a good job.
What did Mehlman get for the GOP? NOT MUCH, I submit.
Martinez has earned a 96 rating from the ACU - American Conservative Union.
The only thing that has ticked off conservatives is his support of some type of "amnesty" for illegals.
So what. He is a lone voice, and I am confident he will not, in his capacity as RNC chairman, go around pushing that position.
Bottom line: Martinez probably CAN make more headway in LEGAL Hispanic communities, due to his ability to understand Spanish.
I certainly dont mean he should speak in Spanish, but how valuable would it be to hear a new legal immigrant speaking Spanish, and be able to understand them.
Lastly, many people on FR were very supportive of Michael Steele being named RNC Chairman.
Wouldn't THAT have also been putting someone in that position due to their ancestral heritage?
Thanks for the reply, MB.
Fregards,
Dave
I was working on a congressional campaign to elect a pro HR4437 Republican to the House. Despite my full time job, I put in thousands of hours trying to get a conservative Republican elected. My profile page explains why I took a break from the mostly pointless arguing that goes on here between the conservative FReepers and the liberals that infest this forum.
I agree...I was just posting a link to his voting record on immigration.
And here I thought "OBL types" meant "OsamaBinLaden" types... aka terrorism=#1 issue. :)
I am for a guest worker's program.
You have so much more patience than I do....
I actually read back over the thread this morning- I HIGHLY recommend it for a great laugh to start the morning.....
just a tad of humility would serve some folks a world of good, eh?
YOU ROCK!
;-)
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