Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Meet the GOP's Border Control Cross-Dressers
Townhall.com ^ | December 12, 2007 | Michelle Malkin

Posted on 12/12/2007 4:20:07 AM PST by Kaslin

Every Democrat running for president thinks anti-illegal immigration activists are all racists and xenophobes. Do we really need a Republican nominee for president who thinks the same way?

Breakout GOP candidate Mike Huckabee, the soft-on-border control former governor of Arkansas, scored a jaw-dropping endorsement Tuesday from Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project. Despite a long gubernatorial record opposing employer sanctions and pushing tax-subsidized illegal alien education benefits, Huckabee won Gilchrist's support by unveiling a last-minute, tough-sounding homeland security plan.

Trouble is, Huckabee has downright and longstanding contempt for his new bedfellows of convenience.

Just two years ago, Huckabee appeared before the open-borders Hispanic group, The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), preaching an open-door policy. According to the Arkansas News Bureau, Huckabee also criticized state legislation requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote and enhanced reporting of illegal aliens as un-Christian, un-American, irresponsible and anti-life -- not to mention "inflammatory," "race-baiting" and "demagoguery."

Just last year, Huckabee lambasted opponents of the bipartisan shamnesty bill providing a mass pardon to illegal aliens as "driven by racism or nativism." He called strict immigration enforcement -- the kind he now supports -- "sheer folly" in his campaign-timed book released earlier this year. He actively invited the Mexican government to establish a consulate in Arkansas -- giving its office a $1 per year special office space rate -- so that its foreign officials could start dispensing security-undermining matricula consular ID cards to illegal aliens for banking and employment purposes. And he's not only for government in-state illegal alien discounts, he's for expanding them far beyond what the federal DREAM Act proposed.

But now that he needs to establish his border control bona fides, Huckabee is all honey. "Frankly, Jim," he said to the Minuteman Project founder at a press conference in Iowa on Tuesday, "I've got to tell you there were times in the early days of the Minutemen I thought, 'What are these guys doing, what are they about?' I confess I owe you an apology."

It's Gilchrist and those who allow themselves to be snowed by Huckabee's cynical conversion who'll be sorry and deep in apology debt, I guarantee you. Huckabee showed his true colors at the Univision Spanish-language debate over the weekend when he pandered to the crowd by lamenting "racial profiling" of immigrants -- while remaining silent about catch-and-release policies that fail to detain criminal aliens who go on to commit more heinous crimes because politically correct politicians and police chiefs are more concerned with being accused of "racial profiling" than protecting the public.

Huckabee isn't the only shameless border control cross-dresser in the GOP field, of course. Rudy "I supported sanctuary policies before I was against them, but my sanctuary policy wasn't really a sanctuary policy, anyway" Giuliani now quotes "the advice of a great man, Father Hesburgh, who said, 'We must close the back door of illegal immigration in order to preserve the front door of legal immigration.'" In an interview with Washington Examiner reporter and author Bill Sammon, Giuliani now says he really, truly would have deported 400,000 illegal aliens in New York if he could have. Never mind that small matter of the lawsuit he brought against the feds to block them from enforcing immigration laws. Never mind that he was openly inviting illegal aliens into his open-borders safe harbors.

Reports Sammon: "Some of the hardest-working and most productive people in this city are undocumented aliens," the mayor said at a 1994 press conference. "If you come here and you work hard and you happen to be in an undocumented status, you're one of the people who we want in this city. You're somebody that we want to protect, and we want you to get out from under what is often a life of being like a fugitive, which is really unfair."

Bringing up the false convert rear is Sen. John McCain. Earlier this year, he was the most vocal critic of grass-roots conservatives who mobilized against the amnesty bill. He now says he has learned his lesson and supports securing the border. He has learned nothing. During the shamnesty debacle, he called Rush Limbaugh a "nativist"; over the weekend, he repeated such contemptuous "straight talk" at the Univision debate by assailing what he called anti-Hispanic rhetoric. In an interview with the New Yorker, he irritatedly dismissed immigration concerns in Iowa as marginal and irrational -- just a bunch of "senior citizens" in Iowa caught up in the "emotion" of a cultural assault.

Bad enough that the Democrat candidates are still stuck in a 9/10 mentality on the nexus between immigration and national security. The question for conservatives is: Would a Republican immigration drag queen be any better -- or worse?


TOPICS: Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 110th; aliens; dreamact; gilchrist; huck; huckabee; hunter; immigration; malkin; mikehuckabee; minutemen
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-54 next last

1 posted on 12/12/2007 4:20:08 AM PST by Kaslin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
EXCELLENT word play! LOL! That one will stick in people's minds!

CROSS DRESSERS

Lets continue to get the word out and expose these JOHNNY, MIKE, MITT, RUDY (and some would say FRED) COME LATELY'S.

Especially the most aggregious violator, Huckabee. Chameleons.

2 posted on 12/12/2007 4:24:15 AM PST by AmericanInTokyo (DUNCAN HUNTER: SOLID! On; Illegals, N. Korea, Iran. Iraq, Economy, WOT, China, Business)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

It’s not too late!

B4DH


3 posted on 12/12/2007 4:34:45 AM PST by wolfcreek (The Status Quo Sucks!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
Well, if Mitt & Rudy can "evolve" or "morph" into a more appealing Conservative candidate, then what is the problem with Mike doing the same with regard to the invasion issue.

Though I am not happy to learn of Mike's opposition to border control, I respect the Minutemen and believe they, like me, see Huckabee as the best Christian Conservative candidate in cast of Conservative Wannabees.

4 posted on 12/12/2007 4:36:26 AM PST by TexasCajun
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: AmericanInTokyo

“Lets continue to get the word out and expose these JOHNNY, MIKE, MITT, RUDY (and some would say FRED) COME LATELY’S.”

I have to question how we got to this point? How did the Republican party manage to sink to this level with so many RINOs? WTH did all the Conservatives go?

KOOLAIDE ANYONE?


5 posted on 12/12/2007 4:37:30 AM PST by wolfcreek (The Status Quo Sucks!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
Huckabee, Giuliani, Romney, McCain...

All of them are flipflopping all over the illegals issue.

Makes it difficult to trust voting for any of them. We saw GW switch loyalties away from his base after he sealed his 2nd term and made an all-out effort 3 times to push for amnesty. Which one of these guys IS going to do the same, if elected?

Add in the wannabes who have assaulted the First and/or Second Amendments, and the selection gets more murky. With these Pubblies, which liar do you trust????

Sadly, at least with the Dems, you sort of know what you are going to get.

2008 is shaping up to be a BYO KY; it looks like we are going to need it.

6 posted on 12/12/2007 4:37:31 AM PST by TomGuy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: wolfcreek
One word....COMPROMISE....and now after years of it, it's taken its toll and we're the losers.
7 posted on 12/12/2007 4:39:57 AM PST by Guenevere (Duncan Hunter...President '08)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Huckabee is an open-borders, big-government Republican. I think we’ve already learned our lesson against nominating such a candidate for President.


8 posted on 12/12/2007 4:40:01 AM PST by advance_copy (Stand for life or nothing at all)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Thanks for posting. Very good article by Michelle.


9 posted on 12/12/2007 4:41:22 AM PST by PGalt
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TomGuy

Has anyone checked how much money Tyson foods has contributed to the HUCKSTER??

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1932974/posts

In October 2006, a federal judge granted class-action status to a lawsuit brought by Tyson employees who allege that Tyson’s practice of hiring illegal immigrants depresses wages 10-30%. The suit further contends that the company violated federal racketeering laws by conspiring with National Council of La Raza and League of United Latin American Countries not to question the employment applications of anyone with a Hispanic surname.

Mike Huckabee: In the words of those conservatives who know him best
Here are some recent statements on the character and background of recent conservative favorite Mike Huckabee:

Phyllis Schlafly, president of Eagle Forum:

“He destroyed the conservative movement in Arkansas, and left the Republican Party a shambles ... Yet some of the same evangelicals who sold us on George W. Bush as a ‘compassionate conservative’ are now trying to sell us on Mike Huckabee.”

Betsy Hagan, Arkansas director of the Eagle Forum and a key backer of his early runs for office:

“He was pro-life and pro-gun, but otherwise a liberal ... Just like Bill Clinton he will charm you, but don’t be surprised if he takes a completely different turn in office.”

Blant Hurt, former columnist for Arkansas Business magazine:

“He has zero intellectual underpinnings in the conservative movement ... He’s hostile to free trade, hiked sales and grocery taxes, backed sales taxes on Internet purchases, and presided over state spending going up more than twice the inflation rate.”

Paul Pressler, former Texas judge and conservative member of the Southern Baptist Convention (of which Huckabee is a minister and former head):

“I know of no conservative he appointed while he headed the Arkansas Baptist Convention.”

Conservative Wall Street Journal columnist John Fund:

“Mr. Huckabee was the only GOP candidate to refuse to endorse President Bush’s veto of the Democrats’ bill to vastly expand the Schip health-care program. Only he and John McCain have endorsed the discredited cap-and-trade system to limit global-warming emissions that has proved a fiasco in Europe.”


10 posted on 12/12/2007 4:46:03 AM PST by chicagolady (Mexican Elite say: EXPORT Poverty Let the American Taxpayer foot the bill !)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: wolfcreek
I know, it really sucks.

It is just BEGGING for a Third Party Conservative/Independent Mobilization right after the RINO gets his coronation--if not sooner.

We need that leader to start getting read now and step forward and help get us out of this mess.

11 posted on 12/12/2007 4:48:50 AM PST by AmericanInTokyo (DUNCAN HUNTER: SOLID! On; Illegals, N. Korea, Iran. Iraq, Economy, WOT, China, Business)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: chicagolady
FOLLOW THE MONEY. That, at the end of the day, means a lot more than what their 20-something snot nosed PR advisors are ginning up in terms of positions papers, using cut and paste functions in a state of insincere panic.

Let us show them we are really researching, really digging, and they cannot pull this crap on us. Not in this day and age of online research and instant intel collection.

Let us smoke these RINOS out one by one and expose their money flows to counteract their slick wordsmithing.

12 posted on 12/12/2007 4:51:35 AM PST by AmericanInTokyo (DUNCAN HUNTER: SOLID! On; Illegals, N. Korea, Iran. Iraq, Economy, WOT, China, Business)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

CNN reports:

While presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee is surging in new polls of GOP candidates, a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Tuesday shows he would lose to all three leading Democratic candidates by double digits in hypothetical contests.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has doubled his support nationally among GOP voters, a poll says.

In head-to-head matchups — the first to include Huckabee — the former Arkansas governor loses to Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York by 10 percentage points (54 percent to 44 percent), to Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois by 15 points (55 percent to 40 percent) and to former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina by 25 points (60 percent to 35 percent).


13 posted on 12/12/2007 4:51:53 AM PST by chicagolady (Mexican Elite say: EXPORT Poverty Let the American Taxpayer foot the bill !)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: chicagolady
Another of Huckabee's legacies in Arkansas.

[This article references Benton County (home of Walmart); it is probably also true of the adjoining Washington County (home of Tyson Foods)]

BENTON COUNTY : Hispanic moms often unmarried (More illegals to feed in Arkansas)
  Posted by pulaskibush
On News/Activism 11/25/2007 11:17:30 PM CST · 41 replies


Northwest Arkansas Times ^ | 11/25/07 | MARK MINTON
ROGERS — Nearly half of the babies delivered by Hispanic mothers in Benton County last year were born out of wedlock. That was double the rate for white, non-Hispanic mothers in the county. The statistics mirror national trends that have the attention of advocates of all persuasions. Immigration critics warn of looming consequences, from persistent poverty to welfare dependency. The Bush administration also makes the connection: Preventing out-of wedlock pregnancies is a key to its $ 100 million “healthy marriage” strategy for curbing welfare. But in Benton County, the state’s No. 1 home for Hispanic immigrants, health and welfare officials...

14 posted on 12/12/2007 4:53:11 AM PST by TomGuy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: AmericanInTokyo

bttt your post


15 posted on 12/12/2007 4:59:02 AM PST by Guenevere (Duncan Hunter...President '08)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin; lesser_satan; SUSSA

As usual, Michelle NAILS it.


16 posted on 12/12/2007 5:06:20 AM PST by Travis McGee (---www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com---)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: AmericanInTokyo
There has never been a better time to roll out a Conservative/Independent third party. After the GWB disaster and this nightmare selection of "top-tier" RINOS, when is a better time to get the ball moving than right now?

There is no way I am going to hold my nose and vote again. The GOP has become an enemy to the conservatives in the Country. It should be terminated.

17 posted on 12/12/2007 5:07:15 AM PST by Afronaut (Press 2 for English - Thanks Mr. President !)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: TexasCajun

WALLACE: ... a border fence, for cracking down on employers, for telling illegals to go home.

But last year in an interview, you said something somewhat different. You said this, “I think that the rational approach is to find a way to give people a pathway to citizenship.”

Governor, in your new plan, the only path is to go home and to get on the back of the line, which, of course, would mean years of waiting. Why the change?

HUCKABEE: Well, I don’t think there’s an inconsistency. When I said a pathway, I didn’t say what the pathway was.

I now believe that the only thing the American people are going to accept — and, frankly, the only thing that really makes sense — is a pathway that sends people back to the starting point.

But this idea of the waiting years — no, I don’t agree with that. In fact, look, if we can get a credit card application done within hours, if we can get passports done within days, if we can transact business over the Internet any place in the world within seconds, do a background check instantaneously — it’s our government that has failed and is dysfunctional.

It shouldn’t take years to get a work permit to come here and pick lettuce. So part of the plan that I have is that we seal the borders. You don’t have amnesty and sanctuary cities. You do have a pathway that gets you back home.

But that pathway to get back here legally doesn’t take years. It would take days, maybe weeks, and then people could come back in the workforce.

Let me tell you why that’s important. Two reasons. Number one, the American people say, “Do something. Do it now. We don’t want to have this country ignoring the illegal problem.” I get it.

Secondly, I want people who are in this country to hold their heads up high. You know, right now there are a lot of people who really are here because they’re trying to feed their families. I don’t begrudge them that.

I say every day I thank God I’m in a country people are trying to break into, not break out of. But let’s give them a means by which they can get here through the door legally, and when they’re here they don’t have to hide, they don’t have to keep their heads down and hope nobody catches them, they have their heads held high.

Everyone living within the borders of the United States ought to do so with dignity and with a sense of pride, not a sense of fear.


18 posted on 12/12/2007 5:11:03 AM PST by kabar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: TexasCajun; All
“Well, if Mitt & Rudy can “evolve” or “morph” into a more appealing Conservative candidate”

Evolve? Morph? Therein lies the problem. They do anything to get your vote.

The naivety of the voters has gotten us to this point.

19 posted on 12/12/2007 5:27:15 AM PST by wolfcreek (The Status Quo Sucks!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: TexasCajun
"like me, see Huckabee as the best Christian Conservative candidate in cast of Conservative Wannabees"

Your guy is the republican parties very own Jimmy Carter. He is of the ilk that would probably give Alaska back to the Russians.

He's a huckster in the fullest sense of the word. His alluding that God has propelled him to be the person is nothing short of psycho Christian arrogance meant to suck in the Christian vote of those sheeple that don't understand scripture. He hasn't been appointed over us yet as president but claims he has been already by God.

He's an eminent danger to Christians, conservatism and this country!!

20 posted on 12/12/2007 5:27:42 AM PST by Old Badger (Both houses of Congress: Clean sweep-down Fore and Aft!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-54 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson