When I set out to blog, I certainly didn't expect to be challenged. This whole interactivity thing really blows.
Paul Mirengoff has called my last posting on the immigration bill "unpersuasive." He also indicated I used the word "dumb" too many times when in fact I only used the word "dumbocracy" (a fairly nifty pun) once. Rest assured Paul and I will have words at this year's Newsbloggers July 4th picnic in Wilkes-Barre.
Most stingingly he writes that I believe the American people are too stupid to understand the bill. That's nonsense.My point is that the Bush administration has simplified debate on a whole host of issues. (The only other issue I can think of where the President admitted complexity was stem-cell research, early in his first term.) So it's ironic that the administration would complain that a "complicated" issue wasn't being recognized as such and that people were rushing to conclusions.
The vast majority of people may have rejected the bill on the merits.
But let's be realistic: in many quarters the bill was over-simplified as a mass amnesty and nothing more. Trent Lott, with some authority, charged conservative talk radio hosts with doing this. But my hunch is that fewer people would have written the bill off at the behest of talk radio hosts if they were used to hearing policy initiatives laid out in a way that respects people's intelligence.
Mo Rocca has appeared on a bunch of shows, including 'The Daily Show,' 'I Love the 80s,'...
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Hasta La Vista, Immigration Bill
Posted Jun 29th 2007 9:15AM by Mo Rocca
Filed under: Illegal Immigration
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Mo Rocca appears on a bunch of shows, including CBS News Sunday Morning (with the indescribably wonderful Charles Osgood), The Tonight Show on NBC, and NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! He's a sometime judge on Iron Chef and was featured on Telemundo's Amore Descarado. Last year he starred on Broadway in the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. His expose "All the President's Pets" was published by Crown in 2004.
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 2)
1. On the contrary, the American people saw the real specifics of the bill, thanks to the bloggers, he internet and talk radio. The tax-paying citizens of this country would be footing the bill for generations for lawbreakers who would be given preference over US citizens for special treatment involving taxes, compliance, health and social services, law enforcement, etc. It was pushed by both parties so that the republicans would have cheap labor to satisy their corporate sponsors, whom they are beholden to, and to give the Democrats a new voting base of "victims" who needed in their view, increased government protection and another "preferred" class who would vote for them.
The wishes of the majority of the American citizens were goiong to be ignored. Race had very little to do with the outrage from the average American. Principle had everything to do with it.
John Naylor at 10:37AM on Jun 29th 2007
2. At the base of this American outrage over the amnesty is the fact that most Americans no longer TRUST THIER SENATORS.
They are NOT representing us and they should be
canned in the next election. I am a compu-boob but
someone with savvy should list the traitorous senators willing to sell our childrens' futures
down the river and we should ALL boot them down
the Hill in 2008.
cherie at 10:46AM on Jun 29th 2007
3. Well Mo, you nearly started a third world war in the blog below. As I stated before, people aren't stupid, they just like to argue and complain. This bill fell into the giant hole of fabricated amnesty, the secret power that can defeat Lou Dobbs. Ah well, let's focus on something else now that nobody can agree on.
Well, I'm out to Grand Central today to visit a friend at Fordham University. Perhaps I'll see you wandering around the streets Mo.
Your friend Blayze "Shaggy" O'Brien
bobrien at 10:50AM on Jun 29th 2007
4. Absolutely! I couldn't have stated it better, John.
D.D. at 11:00AM on Jun 29th 2007
5. IF YOU ARE IN THIS COUNTRY ILLEGALLY, YOU SHOULD BE DEPORTED. MY PARENTS WERE BOTH IMMIGRANTS CAME TO THIS COUNTRY AND LEGALLY APPLIED TO BE CITIZENS.
IF YOU ARE NOT AM AMERICAN CITIZEN AND YOU DO NOT HOLD A SS# THEN YOU SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO SUE ANYONE FOR MONELTARY GAIN IN AN AUTO ACCIDENT WHICH IS BEING DONE EXCESSIVLY ESPECIALLY IN THE SPANISH POPULATION. THERE IS NO SS# REQUIRED THE RETAINER IS A PERCENT OF THE SETTLEMENT AND IT IS TAX FREE. WHAT A GIMMICK. SOME HONEST POLITICIAN SHOULD GET A NATIONWIDE SURVEY ON THE AMOUNT OF LAW SUITS IN PERSONAL INJURY BY THE SPANISH COMMUNITY. THIS WOULD BE ONE OF THE REASONS OUR RATES ARE SO HIGH. THEY HAVE FIGURED OUT THAT IT IS THE BEST WAY TO ATTAIN A LARGE SUM OF MONEY WHICH IS SENT OUT OF OUR COUNTRY TO THERE COUNTRY.
THE ILLEGAL PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY ALSO HAVE ACCESS TO FREE MEDICAL TO HAVE THEIR BABIES AND OTHER FREEBEES THROUGH MEDICAID. IN LATIN COUNTRIES THE MAJORITY OF THE MARRIED WOMEN KEEP THEIR MAIDEN NAMES SO THIS MAKES IT DOUBLY HARD TO PROVE OR CONFIRM IF THEY CHOOSE TO LIE IF THEY ARE MARRIED AND THESE CHILDREN HAVE FATHERS WHO SHOULD BE PAYING CHILD SUPPORT. THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE IS THE LANGUAGE OF THE UNITED STATES. YES YOU CAN SPEAK YOUR OWN LANGUAGE IF YOU CHOOSE BUT TO IMPRESS UPON THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ACTUALLY SATURATE THE MEDIA WITH THIS GARBAGE THAT SPANISH SHOULD BE CHOOSEN AS A 2ND LANGUAGE IS RIDICULOUS. WHAT ABOUT ALL THE OTHER NATIONALITIES THAT CAME TO THIS COUNTRY AND LEARNED ENGLISH AND WERE PROUD TO DO SO. IF YOU WENT TO ANY OF THESE LATIN COUNTRIES IT WOULD NOT BE TOLERATED THAT EVERYONE MUST SPEAK A LANGUAGE OTHER THEN THEIR OWN. MIDDLE INCOME AMERICA IS BEING AFFECTED BY THE BAD POLICIES AND BAD POLITICANS WHO ARE GETTING THEIR PALMS GREASED IN ALLOWING THIS PREJUDICE TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE TO HAVE THIS GO ON TO THE POINT WERE WE HAVE SPANISH SPEAKING TV STATIONS. ONE DAY OUR SONS AND DAUGHTERS WILL HAVE LESS OPPORTUNITES BECAUSE THE SPANISH SPEAKING COMMUNITY WILL WORK FOR LESS THEN HALF BECAUSE THEY CANNOT BE ON THE BOOKS TO PAY TAXES AS THEY ARE ILLEGAL. EVEN BEING ON WELFARE THEY ARE RICHER THEN IF THEY STAYED IN THEIR OWN COUNTRIES. THE PRESENCE OF THE SPANISH COMMUNITY IS DRAINING OUR RESOURSES. RESOURCES THAT HAVE BEEN BUILD ON THE BACK OF THE AVERAGE MIDDLE CLASS PEOPLE WHO HAVE TO WORK 2 JOBS IN MOST CASES TO MAKE ENDS MEET AND WHO DON'T HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE AND CANNOT AFFORD IT. THE AMERICAN DREAM IS BEING RAPED. STEVE LEVY BETTER WAKE UP BE A MAN AND FIX THIS PROBLEM ON THE COUNTY LEVEL AND GET THE HONEST WORD OUT AND THE BACK LASH OF THE ILLEGALS BEING GIVEN ANY AMNESTY. AS I SAID BEFORE YOUR ILLEGAL YOU NEED TO BE DEPORTED. IF YOU CHOOSE TO COME BACK INTO AMERICA, COME HERE LIKE EVERY OTHER IMMIGRANT THAT TOOK PRIDE IN THEMSELVES AND THE DREAM TO HAVE A BETTER WAY OF LIFE FOR THEMSELVES AND THEIR FAMILIES. THIS COMING THROUGH THE BACK DOOR SETS A VERY VERY BAD PRESIDENCE.
Et at 11:23AM on Jun 29th 2007
6. You hit it on the head, Mo. Most people of America are smarter then the government officials, talk radio's pundits and right wing bloggers give them credit for and rejected the bill on it's own merits, or more percisely, the lack there of.
People want to hear the government's plans rationaly laid out and in detail, without rhetoric, jingoism, and quotes designed to be sound bytes for the news.
J.T. at 12:47PM on Jun 29th 2007
7. "Paul Mirengoff has called my last posting on the immigration bill "unpersuasive."
Yeah. And Paul was about as persuasive as Senator Voinovich was few days ago on Hannity's radio show.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56414
Go getum' Paul!
vegastracon at 12:06PM on Jun 29th 2007
8. YA CHERIE!!!!! You're absolutely right!!
trish at 12:26PM on Jun 29th 2007
9. Hello, I have been reading the comments and felt I would add my opinion. I am a descendant of those millions that did not immigrate by choice. My ancestors were enslaved in America. I could be bitter. It would be great to have a history without bondage and hatred, but so it is. We worked hard to help build America and so I am appalled that there are people throughout this land willing to destroy it. Illegal aliens do not have rights. If they want to come here then they can apply for residency or a work visa. In the inner city, they have taken jobs that use to be held by African Americans. In Atlanta, nearly all of the construction jobs are held by Hispanics. They do not speak English or if they do speak the language, they refuse to speak it. Many of them believe they are superior to African-Americans. A bus driver told me that two men were calling my people the N word in Spanish; little did they know that she understood. When they departed, she informed them in Spanish that she was fluent and if they ever rode with her again, she would make them walk if they dared insult anyone. All the so-called rights that they feel entitled to were bought at the price of my people's suffering! Close the borders, fine the employers, abolish all social services to illegal aliens, eliminate all Spanish language on official documents and in business; declare English as official, and amend the constitution to say that only babies born to legal residents are automatically granted citizenship. When I was in Europe two years ago, I defended America from anyone that dared criticize my country. Do our political leaders have the courage to do the same?
Glencora63
glencora63 at 12:35PM on Jun 29th 2007
10. et, If you had NO means in your country to earn Money to feed and house your family - What would YOU do?
margaret Callinan at 1:10PM on Jun 29th 2007
11. It seems Bush is officially a Lame Duck.
Omega_leaf at 1:22PM on Jun 29th 2007
12. It seems Bush is officially a Lame Duck.
ET, Internet yelling doesn't work.
Omega_leaf at 1:25PM on Jun 29th 2007
13. Here, here, Glencora. The only thing you said that I disagree with is that this country was built on the backs of all working people, black and white alike. The majority of immigrants who cam to America, came here and found hard work ahead, but if you worked hard and didn't commit crimes you could have a very fulfilling life. I wish someone would do a study on the percentage of Hispanics in our jail systems, that could be a real eye opener.
TammyDavis1957 at 1:33PM on Jun 29th 2007
14. John, you sound more like an eccentric conspiracy theorist than someone with an informed opinion. What corporations would be hiring illegals for cheap labor? The corporate trend now is to outsource to other countries. Illegals are hired to do jobs that are perceived as unwanted by Americans when in fact Americans could be hired for them if given a fair wage.
And why would you assume that illegals would vote for Democrats? Do you have a finger on the pulse of Mexican culture and beliefs? They aren't lazy welfare recipients. They aren't lookig for government to bail them out. They want to work and earn their way here. They want to earn the American dream.
I don't believe we should give them amnesty. I believe they should be force to go through do process like my great grandparents did when they came here from Italy. Why do Mexican immigrants think they have more rights than my ancestors? Is it because they still believe much of our country belongs to Mexico? It doesn't matter what their opinion is, they aren't American citizens and if they want to be heard as citizens they need to become citizens through our legal process.
Tom at 2:15PM on Jun 29th 2007
15. Mo, The American people aren't to simple to understand the immigration bill, you are.
There was never a need for an immigration reform bill unless the basic intent was to grant amnesty to illegals. Americans have immigration laws in place that have served us well. The problem is our government won't enforce them.
Sneak into the United States and you are an "illegal immigrant". Sneak into Canada, sneak into Mexico as far as immigration is concerned and you will most likely be rounded up and tossed out because you are there illegally.
You don't care to sneak into Canada or Mexico, how about Spain, Italy, Greece,.....FRANCE baby!! That's it Mo!! Me and you, we'll sneak into France, find odd jobs, fly the American flag, refuse to learn the French language, use French medical facilities and write bloggs about how to sneak into France while enjoying all the French benefits.
Hey, we can start a Ameri-Franco minority group and demand they give us French citizenship. It will be great. And here's the best part, if things get a little tough in France (they go to war or the economy tanks)...screw em, we just return to the United States. What the hell, France wasn't our country anyway.
Willet at 2:27PM on Jun 29th 2007