More signs of panic on the right as they contemplate what Stephen Colbert feared more than global war or environmental disaster tonight, the Democrats controlling the House:
Don Goldwater, nephew of the late Sen. Barry Goldwater, caused an international stir this week when EFE, a national news agency of Spain, quoted him as saying he wanted to hold undocumented immigrants in camps to use them “as labor in the construction of a wall and to clean the areas of the Arizona desert that they’re polluting.”
Weird, but apparently true.
How do you arrive at the conclusion that the problems America has created for itself are the responsibility of people who are, in this society at least, weak, poor, and not always legal? How silly do you have to be to attribute agency to those without power? All power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely; so said John Emerich Edward Dahlberg, Lord Acton, in a letter to a friend. The logical conclusion is that social problems are caused by those with the capacity to cause problems.
True, Goldwater is claiming he was quoted out of context, that he was talking about work programs for convicted felons. But he’s apparently expressed such sentiments more than once.
“Build us that wall — now!” Goldwater said, referring to a proposal to add 700 miles of fences along the U.S.-Mexico border. He promised then that if elected, he would put illegal immigrants in a tent city on the border and use their labor to build the wall.
Arizona Republicans Sen. McCain and Rep. Kolbe called Goldwater’s remarks “deeply offensive” and asked Arizona Republicans to pick someone else for Governor. Yes, Goldwater’s running for Governor of Arizona.
How does this talk of the US melting pot being polluted by immigrants differ from the ideas of the Nazis? (Aware of the superabundance of Nazi references these days, I use the term only to indicate the principles and actions of the German National Socialist Party in the nineteen-thirties and -forties.) “[T]o clean the areas of the Arizona desert that they’re polluting” has more than an tinge of that racial-purity thing the Aryan Nazis were high on. Or am I mistaken?
Finally, in case you missed the news, the St. Petersburg Times reported today (for a short time) that Karl Rove is plotting tactics for the November election with his friend and partner, Satan. Could be a tough team to beat.
Actually, the signs of panic are coming from those who support illegal immigration. Goldwater says he was quoted out of context and, if you had actually bothered to look at the original report you would have seen that that's probably likely.
Note specifically that the "concentration camps" bit is coming from the EFE, not Goldwater. And, note the paucity of Goldwater quotes in the article.
Posted by: TLB on June 24, 2006 2:07 AMI noted that Goldwater claims he was quoted out of context, and I noted the context. In fact, I assumed it was true.
I don't see that as mitigating the issue in any way.
Note also that I did not use the phrase "concentration camps" in the post. You appear to be debating the argument you feel you can win, rather than the one I actually made.
And note, finally, that I gave an example of the signs of panic I notice. Can you do the same?
Posted by: Chuck Dupree (Belisarius) on June 24, 2006 9:44 AMThe problems we have around here (e.g., Gort42.blogspot, Friday) could be easily fixed if ICE would act when tipped off and fine the employers bigtime. Hardly any real people care who's just arrived and their immigration status--except when lowball bidders with illegals win contracts, and local businesses and local citizens go without work, which is happening a lot lately, even on state-assisted projects in high-unemployment areas.
And, of course, all this fence-wall blather assumes all undocumented immigrants come from Mexico, which for all I know is true in Arizona, but it isn't elsewhere. The Wal-Mart cleaning crew in the next county that made national news was from Mongolia. In one week Philly had two homicides and charged one illegal from Ireland and one illegal from Jamaica. When Empire Poultry--in the countryside near nowhere--was raided, the workers came from 19 (IIRC) countries and every continent but Australia. As one who grew up in a small town where everybody had a couple of generations of roots, I think all the immigration is kind of neat, new ingredients in melting pot of bland stew--as long as the long-term people with roots aren't driven into poverty.
Young Goldwater, I think, is just waving the bloody shirt. If a giant barricade is built (and inside the Beltway they eventually have to discover we have no money), it'll be because the Halliburton crowd wants some pork chops.
Posted by: Joyful Alternative on June 24, 2006 9:54 AMIf Goldwater had had the idea about a wall a little earlier, we might have sold him the Berlin wall. Israel could also have used it for their own wall-project.
And to think we just tore it down ... what a waste!
Weird but false. EFE apologized to Goldwater today and admitted that it never interviewed him. The story was a combination of lazy reporting and dirty tricks. He never said any of what he was quoted as saying.
Posted by: Covcov on June 28, 2006 2:10 PMAP reports that EFE's executive VP issued an apology to Mr. Goldwater.
In a letter to Goldwater, Emillio Sanchez says the plan to house illegal prisoners in a tent city "is consistent with accepted practices for nonviolent American prisoners in your area."Posted by: Chuck Dupree (Belisarius) on June 28, 2006 2:39 PM