Posted on 12/01/2006 6:26:50 AM PST by Dane
Tancredo stirs the pot again Article Last Updated:11/30/2006 07:15:30 PM MST
Congressman Tom Tancredo, who has perfected the art of stirring up political storms, is reveling in controversy again. And, like a pig rolling in mud, he's loving every minute of it.
Not that we're calling him a pig, of course. But Florida Gov. Jeb Bush had another name for the Littleton Republican: "What a nut," the president's brother told reporters. "I'm just disappointed \[that\] he's a Republican. He doesn't represent my views."
Tancredo, who has been flirting with a presidential run and possibly a Senate bid, kicked open a hornet's nest again when he recently likened Miami to a "Third World country."
"You would never know you're in the United States of America," Tancredo told the website WorldNetDaily.com when asked about the effects of immigration. "You would certainly say you're in a Third World country."
His incendiary words do little to help address the very real problem of illegal immigration in this country. Instead, they merely sparked the obligatory verbal sparring, this time between the Republican governor who felt the need to defend his adopted hometown in a letter touting the city's declining crime rates, and Tancredo, who called him "naive."
Tancredo could play an important role in Congress on immigration reform should he choose to, but instead it seems like he just continues to use these fleeting moments of notoriety merely to stir up controversy.
"The debate reached a different level when \[Gov. Bush\] chose to respond, and that's good for me," Tancredo said. "I want this debate to go on."
Debate on an important topic is critical, but talk can't be the only goal. Americans want, and deserve, solutions for this complex issue.
Oversimplified rhetoric doesn't help, either. Miami is clearly not as bad as Tancredo makes it out to be (just because pockets of the community don't speak English doesn't make it "Third World"), but everything isn't as rosy as Gov. Bush would like us to believe. All big cities have crime and challenges.
Tancredo made his comments while in Palm Beach, Fla., for "Restoration Weekend," a conservative conference. This controversy probably won't help "restore" his party's national power. In fact, Republicans with an eye on last month's voting results likely will run from Tancredo and his remarks. Previous inroads made by Republicans with Hispanic voters shrank in November, and some observers believe it was a result of harsh, anti-illegal immigrant rhetoric coming from some GOP politicians.
I have to admit they hit the nail on the head with the above.
"Congressman Tom Tancredo, who has perfected the art of stirring up political storms, is reveling in controversy again. And, like a pig rolling in mud, he's loving every minute of it."
Our national capitol needs more "pigs" of this sort.
He might even be the best statesman we have in
DC.
At least he didnt say "turd world".
Please, IMO, Ronald Reagan is shaking his head in shame at Tancredo's remarks.
I will then, "Turd world". There, that about sums it up.
Insulting the residents of another city is not very statesmanlike.
I think we need more like him throwing stink bombs at the rotten cities the dems run.
Get back to me when he throws a stink bomb at a real socialist hellhole, Detroit.
Whoops, wait a minute Detroit doesn't have that many Spanish speakers, Tancredo will be silent on that, IMO.
I see it all the time right here at FR. San Fransisco, Seattle, Detroit, New Orleans....
So do I. Doesn't make those Freepers statesmen (or women), either.
You're absolutely right in saying that it's not very Statesman like or P.C., however it is the absolute truth of the matter and that's coming from someone that left Florida just for reasons like this. Miami is just like a Turd world country and i'm one American that is just as fed up with it as Tancredo.
It's now controversial when you tell the truth.
I would reckon that you could take any number of Freepers (myself included), blindfold them, then drop them into some Miami neighborhoods and pull the blindfold off. Until someone actually _told them_ they were in Miami, they, too, might think "third world country"....
Certainly not the ol' U. S. of A. ...
- John
Where is Tancredo's criticism of Detroit?
I suppose pandering fits better. Most of congress, senate, and the white house spending their time pandering to special interest, and foreign governments.
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