Posted on 03/25/2006 4:34:12 PM PST by calcowgirl
Joining what some are calling the nation's largest mobilization of immigrants ever, hundreds of thousands of people boisterously marched in downtown Los Angeles Saturday to protest federal legislation that would crack down on undocumented immigrants, penalize those who help them and build a security wall on the U.S. southern border. Spirited crowds representing labor, religious groups, civil-rights advocates and ordinary immigrants stretched over 26 blocks of downtown Los Angeles from Adams Blvd. along Spring Street and Broadway to City Hall, tooting kazoos, waving American flags and chanting "Si se puede!" (Yes we can!). The crowd, estimated by police at more than 500.000, represented one of the largest protest marches in Los Angeles history, surpassing Vietnam War demonstrations and the 70,000 who rallied downtown against Proposition 187, a 1994 state initiative that denied public benefits to undocumented migrants.
(snip)
Many of the marchers were immigrants themselves — both legal and illegal -- from Mexico and Central America. Some had just crossed the border, while others had been here for decades. There were construction workers and business owners; families with young children and people in wheelchairs. Throughout the afternoon, protesters heard speakers demand a path toward legalization and denounce HR 4437, which would tighten border enforcement and crack down on employers who hire undocumented workers.
The rally was organized by numerous unions, religious organizations and immigrant rights groups and publicized through Spanish-language media, which encouraged participants to wear white to symbolize peace and bring American flags. The mostly peaceful march stretched over 26 blocks, shutting down streets and tying up traffic around downtown for hours. Police estimated the crowd at 500,000... Participants said the massive mobilization shows that immigrants' voices must be heard and that they are contributing to the country's economy.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
There is much in your post I agree with and I certainly understand where you are coming from. I can well imagine how the people in southern California feel. Anyone who can't understand it, particularly after viewing the picture of that rally, simply has no empathic abilities.
And also we've got problems in my neck of the woods.
However, if you don't vote Republican, who will you vote for?
BTW, George Bush has been a complete and utter failure on this issue.
Once again you simply have diarrhea of the mouth with no back up quotes from Pat Buchanan to substantiate your position. Like I said before, I won't be holding my breath for you to back up your anti-Buchanan BS.
It hardly matters.
What does matter is that the "Grand" Old Party get it through its thick countryclub skull that "the base" will NOT vote "R" -- even if it means not voting, period, rather than throw away our votes for RINO pols.
It's called "holding their feet to the fire", and that's how it's done. They must learn that if they want our votes, they'll have to earn our votes.
They don't own us -- and they don't own our votes.
So it's high time they stopped acting like they own us and our votes.
It's high time they stop beliving it.
But as long as we grimace, hold our noses, and vote "R" even knowing that the SOBs will betray us, NO amount of "talk" from "the grassroots" will amount to squat. They'll hear us out, politely bobblehead their noggins in our general direction, smile, hand out for some more contributions, and as soon as our backs are turned, they'll once again laugh at us fools -- and if pressed, they'll shoot back with, "well, who are they gonna vote for?"
The answer, ultimately, is NO ONE, if that's what it comes to.
It's time for my knees to heal. Those decades of broken glass have taken their toll.
Another BTTT
Personally, I advocate not voting Republican in select instances, but not as a whole. Despite your passion and the passion exhibited by others of like mind, I simply refuse to commit suicide and return power to the Democrats. My conscience will not permit me to do it.
Bump to that! You're on a roll today!
The democrats are nuts and kooks.
Have the Democrats been the majority in DC for years now?
A lesson I simply did not need to learn from ANYONE, ANYWHERE. Furthermore, there is a difference between passionate and forceful.
I like your post and your tagline.
That's good to hear. : )
True, but they show up at the rally, and we don't.
Well, even if you do decide to go that route, it's really important to "keep your own counsel", because otherwise -- if they know that when push comes to shove, you will buckle and pull the "R" lever, they've got you -- they will put you down in the "OWNED" column and move on to the next voter.
It's like "tough love". You have got to make them know that you mean business. Otherwise, it's just a matter of letting you blow off some steam, get it out of your system, and then right back to "gimme the car-keys, dad -- I'll be back at whatever hour I feel like getting back."
If they know that you will vote for them no matter how badly they treat you, their behavior will NOT change.
It's like the "abused wife syndrome."
They have GOT to know that you mean business -- even if you don't!
Otherwise, they will simply treat you like dirt and keep a-whoring after the "other" interests. Why pander to "the base", when they can "own" our votes, and go after the "illegal alien constituency"?
The RATs do the same thing to their "base" -- they treat Black people like "property", meanwhile, they are trying to pander after US and OUR votes! Sir Hillary is quoting scripture (poorly), various DNC types make pro-Second Amendment noises...
That's the nature of "big politics". And they only cure is "tough love" -- they have GOT to realize that they do NOT "own" us or our votes! If they really do perceive it as a matter of will -- that when push comes to shove, we WILL vote for them no matter HOW much they betray us and the platform we elected them on, then they will NEVER behave!
To a politician, "winning" is what it's all about. And the way to win, they think, is to square away as many "owned" votes as possible, and then go pandering to the other party's constituencies.
It hardly matters to them if, in the process, the "conservative" Republican party moves farther to the left than the "liberal" Democrats were just a few years ago. What matters is winning, and PRINCIPLE has no part of that process.
That is, it WILL have no part of that process, so long as they are confident that they DO "own" the votes of "the base."
I realize this is hard stuff to hear. Hell, I got kicked off for a while for even suggesting that we hold their feet to the fire back during the last election cycle. And when I was "let back in", I had such a sour taste in my mouth that I stayed away for a while.
But some things are more important than "winning" at "any cost" -- because if, in the process of "winning" an election against "the other side", we become "the other side", what's the whole point of it all?
Is it a game? I am not into "sport-politics". I do NOT see "politics" as a "team sport". I see it as the life OR death of the country -- and I also see that, if given free reign, "our" party WILL reduce it to that level -- the level at which "victory" means "winning". Not "winning" a principle -- a dream -- a HOPE for what SHOULD be done -- but winning a "contest", and nothing more.
The stakes are too high to allow THAT kind of "victory" to happen, IMO.
The only hope for the Republican Party is to get it through the "leadership's" skulls that principles DO matter -- that it's NOT just a question of "winning" -- and, that, if they DO want to "win", it will have to be done AS the party that they are supposed to be, rather than as a cheap knock-off of the Democrats!
Thanks for the kind words!
Well for your three: tax cuts without spending cuts are worse than no tax cuts as you will be taxed in the future to pay for the spending, and pay interest. The War on Terror might be a good idea but it hasn't been well fought. We don't know what Gore would have done, or Kerry. But what Bush did hasn't worked. We have not created an Islamic Germany, in fact the Moslem world is not much better than it was. Vis: the aposty guy in Afghanistan. And it's only a matter of time till that happens in Iraq too. Yeah, the SC guys are a net plus. But they can't hold back what is coming...
Not true. Tax cuts may be paid for with future spending cuts. Further, your analysis is static. You assume tax cuts result in lower revenue. That has not been the case. The tax cuts have produced more revenue, it is just there has been even more spending.
UPDATES FROM LA - March 25th, 2006:
11:30am - The streets of downtown Los Angeles are full. Tens of thousands of people are wearing white shirts, people marching through the garment district, down Broadway and Main. There are tons of Mexican flags, some anarchist, american and other flags as well. The march is mostly latin@, mostly chican@. The metro's are overcrowded, people are everywhere, and the noise is overwhelming. Young punks, old chicano activists, workers, families and all are out againt HR4437. Two helicopters spotted. Some ambulances with medic teams. The South Central Farmers are doing street theatre, publicizing their fight for their farm.lotu5, repost from la indymedia and others | 24.03.2006 23:1712:30pm - There seems to be two marches now. One down Main st. and one down Broadway. Estimates are at half a million people. There was a report of some Minutemen signs, which people quickly grabbed and tore up. The area surrounding City Hall is flooded. There are babies in strollers, families, and flags from el salvador, puerto rico, mexico and the USA. Some signs say "No HR4437", "HR 4437 is Unconstitutional", "No One Is Illegal."
If you've been reading LA Indymedia or listening to KPFK, you've heard about the March for Immigrants' Rights that will be taking place tomorrow, starting on Olympic and Broadway. But if you're limited to English, you probably haven't heard the non-stop promotion by virtually every popular local and nationally-syndicated Spanish-language DJ in Los Angeles. Low-ball estimates from media insiders are that 200,000 people will turn up. March organizers are scrambling to accommodate three times that many and busloads of people from across the state, from Reno and Las Vegas, from Phoenix, from Texas, from New Mexico, from Denver, from Tennessee, and from Chicago. As I write this, high school students in East Los Angeles have walked out and reportedly are pummeling the police with fruit against proposed immigration "reform." Corporate media reports estimate the size of today's student walkouts in LA at over 3000 students. Tomorrow promises to be the biggest march in Los Angeles history.
I am going to borrow that - I am using tough love with the GOP!
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