Posted on 11/30/2006 8:30:21 AM PST by Dane
Tancredo fires back at Fla. guv Colo. congressman accuses Jeb Bush of 'happy talk'
By Tillie Fong, Rocky Mountain News November 30, 2006 U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo on Wednesday accused Florida Gov. Jeb Bush of spouting "politically correct happy talk" in a war of words touched off by the congressman's swipe at the city of Miami as resembling a "Third World country."
In a letter responding to a blast from Bush, Tancredo said the governor did not recognize illegal immigration as a problem in Miami.
"I certainly understand and appreciate your need and desire to create the illusion of Miami as a multiethnic 'All American' city," Tancredo said. "I can also appreciate that Miami's schools graduate many outstanding students and that the cultural and ethnic diversity of the city offers many advantages to its residents.
"However, it is neither naive nor insulting to call attention to a real problem that cannot be easily dismissed through politically correct happy talk."
The letter was in response to one sent by Bush on Tuesday, after the governor learned of Tancredo's comments during a weekend summit of conservative activists in Palm Beach.
Tancredo reportedly said that unchecked immigration, both legal and illegal, was behind many of Miami's problems, including its high crime rate and poverty.
Bush described Tancredo's comments as "disappointing" and "naive" and defended Miami's diversity, citing the contributions made by people of all ethnicities. He also noted declining crime rates and improving test scores posted by minority students.
But Tancredo said it was Bush who is being naive.
"The tolerance of cultural diversity in a city or a nation is admirable up to a point, but when diversity is worshipped to the detriment of assimilation, it becomes a serious problem that undermines the civic culture that forms the basis for our democratic institutions and the rule of law," he wrote.
Besides the president's brother, civic boosters also have come to Miami's defense.
Frank Nero, president and CEO of The Beacon Council, Miami-Dade County's economic development partnership, called Tancredo's statements "insulting, divisive and intellectually reprehensible."
"Perhaps (Tancredo's) next junket should be to read the inscription on the Statue of Liberty, along with a stop at Ellis Island," he said
I thought Bush was just sticking up for Florida.
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Well, from a politician's perspective, that IS THE VOTING PUBLIC...his public.
"Tancredo was responding to Jeb Bush's criticism...of fellow Republican Tancredo"
Yes well, the difference being that Tancredo has criticized the President. Even if necesary to use arguments that are completely senseless, defending GWB IS the reason for their attacks. Miami has absolutely nothing to do with it.
Funniest post of the day. Tank = Betamax.
I don't know if she was a communist but she was a member of the Socialist Party USA
POLL TIME!
http://www.nbc6.net/news/10424626/detail.html
Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colorado, is pointing to Miami as an example of what he calls uncontrolled immigration. World Net Daily quotes Tancredo as saying, "Look at what has happened to Miami. It has become a third world country. You just pick it up and take it and move it someplace, you would never know you're in the United States of America." What do you think about the comments?
Choice Votes Percentage of 1659 Votes
I agree with him. 1215 73%
Tancredo is such a jerk. And a grandstanding jerk, at that. I say this as a Florida resident.
Exactly why I said "if I be not mistaken". Her sentiments, however, should be removed forthwith from the statue.
Thankfully, you're opinion is in the minority.
Done. Agree 1233 73%
there you go. nice comment.
You could have used said the same things in NYC or Boston in 1900; you country survived the fact that no IRISH was as common as no WAPs 100 years ago.
Yeah, we don't want any of those "huddled masses" to start "yearning to be free," do we? [/sarcasm]
I agree with him. 1215 73%
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So do I...this country has a MAJOR CATASTROPHIC problem relating to immigration, mainly illegal. Those who deny that, are either vote-seeking pols or just ostriches with their head in the sand.
Political Attitudes
As noted earlier, two thirds of the Hispanics in the United States are of Mexican origin. For historical and geographic reasons, this is a potential cause for concern. Mexico is the only nation in the world that, at least in the popular mind, has a historical claim on portions of the United States. Mexicans are still bitter over the loss of territory that followed the Mexican-American War, and many believe the United States does not have the moral right to control its own borders.
No fewer than 58 percent of Mexicans agree with the statement, the territory of the United States Southwest rightfully belongs to Mexico. Only 28 percent disagree. Likewise, 57 percent agree that Mexicans should have the right to enter the U.S. without U.S. permission, while 35 percent disagree.(84)
Perhaps historic resentment helps explain why only 36 percent of Mexicans say they hold a positive view of Americans whereas 84 percent of Americans say they hold a positive view of Mexicans. Seventy-three percent of Mexicans say Americans are racist, and only 16 percent say Americans are honest.(85)
After they come to the United States, Mexicans retain longer and stronger attachments to their country of origin than do immigrants who have come greater distances. Only 34 percent of Mexicans eligible for US citizenship actually become Americans, the lowest figure for any national group.(86)
When they become citizens, Hispanics remain emotionally attached to their countries of origin. In a poll taken by the Pew Hispanic Center, only 33 percent of American citizens of Hispanic origin considered themselves first or only American. Forty-four percent still described themselves as their original, pre-immigration nationality (Mexican, Salvadoran, etc.), and another 22 percent considered themselves first or only Latino or Hispanic. Surrounded by compatriots, and with their country of origin just across the border, it is likely that U.S. citizens of Mexican origin identify even less strongly than other Hispanics with the United States. When citizens and non-citizens of Mexican origin are taken together, 55 percent consider themselves Mexican, 25 percent Latino or Hispanic, and only 18 percent American.(87)
It is legitimate to wonder whether it is wise for the United States to welcome large numbers of a potentially irredentist population within its borders, especially when that population is concentrated in those parts of the United States to which Mexicans have an emotional claim. An organization known as MEChA (the Spanish acronym for Chicano Student Movement of Aztlan) actively promotes the view that the southern border of the United States is illegitimate, and even flirts with the idea of expelling non-Hispanics from the territories lost by Mexico and establishing an all-Hispanic nation to be known as Aztlan. It has an estimated 400 chapters in universities and high schools, mainly in the American West.(88)
Good Americans?
Many Hispanics are loyal, productive Americans, and there is a definite trend towards assimilation and economic success as Hispanics put down roots. At the same time, it is disturbing to note that assimilation flattens out so that even after three generations, Hispanics are still at a considerable disadvantage compared to the majority population. This is in sharp contrast to Asian immigrants, many of whom surpass white achievement levels after several generations.
At the same time, most Americans believe a citizens first identification should be as an American, not as a Honduran or a Latino. It is not reassuring for non-Hispanics to learn that only one third of Hispanic citizens think of themselves as Americans first. Mexico changed its laws in 1998 to permit dual nationality, which encourages Mexicans to take American citizenship while maintaining Mexican loyalty.(90)
Even staunch advocates for Hispanics recognize that large-scale immigration brings potentially serious problems. Roberto Suro of the Pew Hispanic Center has written that Latino immigration could become a powerful demographic engine of social fragmentation, discord, and even violence, (91)
http://www.amren.com/Reports/Hispanics/HispanicsReport.htm
"Weeellllll, Tom Tancredo......"
Perhaps Mr. Nero ought to spend less time fantasizing about Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty and more time worrying about enforcing US Laws and the continuing gutting and destruction of America by illegal aliens and multiculturalism crapola?
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