Part 1 // Extremist Hijack Immigration Debate
“Political extremism involves two prime ingredients: an excessively simple diagnosis of the world’s ills, and a conviction that there are identifiable villains back of it all.” — John W. Gardner
Right or Left... they both would rather see america burn then the other be right about anything
There has been much discussion and sign making in recent days on the issue of illegal immigration in our country. One side sporting a wardrobe clad with American flags, cowboy hats and an unusually high amount of handlebar mustaches, and the other side full of disingenuous Hispanic hipster activist like Carlos Alvarez of Answerla.org[*] whose posse drove up to little Santa Clarita from Los Angeles for the photo op, then left the second the video cameras stopped rolling. I am not sure which group annoys me more. Neither side has demonstrated the willingness to deal with these immigration problems on all levels the problem occurs. They both just seem content to shout emotional nonsense and do their best to fit the Southpark stereotypes of their far leaning point of views. Can I get a high pitched, “They took our job,” anybody?
Let’s face it. The Minutemen are a scattered, unreasonable group of misfits who believe “might makes right” and the country’s problems are going to be solved with more handlebar mustaches and automatic rifles. Santa Clarita’s Minutemen are lucky enough to be led by the spunky Roger Gitlin, a teacher who defends blatant plagiarism, claims anyone who questions his methods or madness must be a “leftwing radical” and then gets a little confused when citing facts about the number of illegal immigrants when speaking to the good folks at The Signal, even though it is a topic of great interest to him. Gitlin, however, sits in second class on the crazy train when Frank Jorge comes on board. Jorge put on the infamous Jan. 16 anti-immigration rally. He was also the focus of Morgan Spurlock’s mini-documentary show 30 days immigration episode where he volunteered to live with an illegal immigrant family for 30 days and can be seen with his wife at the beginning of the show arming himself Rambo style with multiple guns, including an automatic rifle with 500 rounds of ammunition and a walkie talkie to chitchat with the boarder patrol. Jorge, a Cuban legal immigrant who came to America in 1957, is a frequent inspirational speaker for anti-immigration rallies all over the country, but he sounds more like Cuban revolutionary leader Ernesto “Che” Guevar when he said in September 2007 while giving a speech in Pennsylvania, “Maybe one of those who have had one of theirs (family member) killed by an illegal alien will utilize their second amendment right to take out the killer and in addition take out a politician that made it possible for it to occur.” Is Mr. Jorge really advocating vigilantism and political assassination as a solution?
Published in the Signal - February 6th // Fewer signs, more thoughts are needed
What I don’t understand is why Gitlin and Jorge would let passion, emotion and extremism highjack this extremely important issue. They show their unwillingness to even find a middle ground when they lean on the crutch of calling people who don’t agree with their methods and philosophy as “leftwing radicals.” Is Jorge W. Bush a leftwing radical for calling the Minutemen vigilantes and stating he is for reasonable enforcement of the law? I am sure there are many Americans on all sides of the political spectrum who feel very passionate about solving this issue and agree with much of what Gitlin and Jorge say but are repelled soon as the good ol’ boy vigilante extremism talk begins. I have yet to hear any group present a solution that fights the illegal immigration problem on all levels that it occurs.
I remember my Biblical Ethics professor asking the class, “Is it ever moral to break the law?” The students looked back at him perplexed. Why would he ask a question that was so obvious to any future fire and brimstone Baptist preacher worth his salt? One student sprung the trap and said, “No it is never moral to break the law.” The professor then asked, “So you think it was immoral for people in the southern states to help slaves escape to the north to gain their freedom?” He went on to explain that legality and morality don’t always go hand and hand, and just because something was illegal didn’t always mean it was immoral and vice versa.
The point? Yes we have illegal immigrants in our country and their presence is a fact of life. I can understand as Jorge did in the 30 days episode, why they came to this great country but I also agree that America should not suffer so they can be here. We need to find common ground, stop the “us vs. them” mentality and come up with real solutions that both allow us to stay true to our American principles and make America a stronger and greater country.
SCVtalk Forum thread about this column
February 8 Daily brief on SCVtalk
southpark is great! the best cartoon that i have ever watched’.’
south park is quite violent sometimes but still it is a great cartoon:-;
when you want sarcasm, then Southpark is perfect for you ;;
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