May 02 2006
Lou Dobbs gets it right: Who is really behind the immigration protests?
I am not a huge fan of his, but regardless of how I may or may not agree with him on other issues, on this one he makes sense.
Read it for yourself. I have very little to add.
Dobbs: Radical groups taking control of immigrant movement
We all awoke to headlines in our nation’s most important newspapers reminding us that this is "A Day Without Immigrants." Not illegal immigrants, mind you, but immigrants.
USA Today headlined today’s demonstrations and boycott "On Immigration’s Front Lines." The New York Times headlines its story "With Calls for Boycott by Immigrants, Employers Gird for Unknown." The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times are both calling their coverage "The Immigration Debate."
These major newspapers obviously don’t want to disturb their readers with the information that today’s demonstrations and boycott are about illegal immigration and amnesty for illegal aliens.
CNN and Fox News are both using a banner calling their coverage "A Day Without Immigrants," while MSNBC is titling its coverage "Immigrant Anger."
Most of the mainstream media has been absolutely co-opted by the open borders and illegal immigration advocates. I’m not opposed to demonstrations and protests of any kind, even by those who are not citizens of this country, because one way or another, demonstrations and protests enrich and invigorate the national debate and raise the public consciousness of truth.
But only one newspaper, to its credit, reported that illegal aliens and their supporters’ boycott of the national economy on the First of May is clear evidence that radical elements have seized control of the movement. The Washington Post, alone among national papers, reported that ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) has become an active promoter of the national boycott.
Some illegal immigration and open borders activists in the Hispanic community are deeply concerned about the involvement of the left-wing radical group. But others, like Juan Jose Gutierrez, whom I’ve interviewed a number of times over the past several months, manages to be both director of Latino Movement USA and a representative of ANSWER.
As Gutierrez told us on my show, "The time has come…where we need to stand up and make a statement. We need to do what the American people did when they pulled away from the British crown. And I am sure that back in those days many people were concerned that was radical action."
Just how significant is the impact of leftists within the illegal immigration movement? It is no accident that they chose May 1 as their day of demonstration and boycott. It is the worldwide day of commemorative demonstrations by various socialist, communist, and even anarchic organizations.
Supporters of the boycott have made no secret of their determination to try to shut down schools, businesses and entire cities. Much of Los Angeles’ Seventh Street produce market, which supplies thousands of local restaurants and markets, is closed today. Many meat-packing companies like Cargill and Tyson are also closing many of their plants.
"The meat packers are confirming what we know," says University of Maryland economics professor Peter Morici, "and that is that this large group of illegal aliens in the United States is lowering the wage rate of semiskilled workers, people who are high school dropouts or high school graduates with minimal training."
In fact, a meat-packing job paid $19 an hour in 1980, but today that same job pays closer to $9 an hour, according to the Labor Department. That’s entirely consistent with what we’ve been reporting — that illegal aliens depress wages for U.S. workers by as much as $200 billion a year in addition to placing a tremendous burden on hospitals, schools and other social services.
Radicalism is not confined to Gutierrez and Latino Movement USA. Ernesto Nevarez of the L.A. Port Collective is promising to shut down the Port of Los Angeles today: "[Transportation and commerce] will come to a grinding halt. …They are going to put a wall along the border with Mexico. We’re going to put a wall between us and the ocean. And those containers ain’t going to move."
No matter which flag demonstrators and protesters carry today, their leadership is showing its true colors to all who will see.
Michelle Malkin has a great set of photos, as well as links to others with pictures from the May Day walkout. Look at the pictures and you tell me what the issue is…
Others discussion Lou Dobbs and immigration: QandO, Riehl World View, A Blog For All, Gay Patriot, Hyscience, reverse_vampyr, Donkey Stomp, The Liberal Avenger
My previous posts on immigration:
4 Responses to “Lou Dobbs gets it right: Who is really behind the immigration protests?”
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On Dobbs, who I wouldn’t have read otherwise:
An interesting scapegoat… Blame the left… Slap the media… Drag out all the strawponies…
And conveniently forget to mention a lot of LEGAL immigrants walked, too… Along with people whose American pedigrees stretched back to the Revolution.
What about the "American" [traitors] who knowingly employ these immigrants, regardless of their status?
Dobbs is right about one thing, or so I would suggest by liberally interpreting his comments on the general subject of he value of demonstrations. This event has forced all players to ante their hands. Dobbs socialist strawman aside - I personally don’t care if the organizers are socialist - what is really revealed are the economic motives:
"In fact, a meat-packing job paid $19 an hour in 1980, but today that same job pays closer to $9 an hour, according to the Labor Department." Then Dobbs goes on to attempt to blame the immigrants, as if their mere presence FORCES the meat packers to cut wages.
An aside: Where are the unions, the usual "socialist" strawpony in a situation like this? Broken, I’d guess. Those wages didn’t get cut without breaking any labor organizations first.
And if these plants are in fact employing illegal workers, where in INS? Paid off by the packers, perhaps? If illegal aliens have taken over an entire industry - more than one - where was our government while it was happening? And what is the citizen’s answer to such misfeasance and malfeasance ?
The enemy of capitalism is capitalists… Capitalist traitors who willingly employ people who are so wretchedly poor they are willing to accept any debasement for a chance. Traitors who throw away everything "we" have built for a lower price and a bigger market share. Traitors.
Yes, the cards are showing now, and I for one am changing my mind… I can do that, from the middle ofthe road. I’d still like to see a larger political structure for North America, a structure crafted to raise the Mexicans and their fellow desperate poor to our level while minimizing our losses. But not until we get our own house in order, which has nothing to do with dirt poor people who are willing to risk their lives to come here and be treated like slaves. It has everything to do with capitalist bastards who use them and thereby create the problem. Border runners run the borders for opportunity. The opportunity providers are the real criminals. Stop the jobs, stop the problem.
We need unions. We need tariffs. We need to tell the globalists to go to hell.
We have met the enemy now, and they do lurk among us. But they will be found in our best neighborhoods, not our worst, and I bet a majority of them vote Republican. And we may need to shoot a few globalist / capitalist pigs as they race to the bottom. Shoot a few capitalist abusers of capitalism. The alternative is to see them sell us out completely in their blind greed. If they succeed, it won’t matter if the labor markets are choked with Mexican semislaves, legal or otherwise. It won’t matter because 95% of us will be "Mexicans," working for the 5% who take all the profits.
"The percentage you’re paying is too high a price
While you’re living beyond all your means
And the man in the suit has just bought a new car
With the profit he made on your beans
But I heard it just said thatthe man was shot dead
By a gun that didn’t make any noise…
We need some of those today.
Bonus points if you’re old enough to remember the lyric…
Apologies for the typos…"general subject of he value of demonstrations" should be general subject of the value of demonstrations; "where in INS?" should be where is INS; "from the middle ofthe road" and "said thatthe man was" should be from the middle of the road and said that the man was respectively.
No apologies for any of the rest. To paraphrase a battlecry from another battle… it’s time to roll…
Playin’ Possum, head back to the Union Hall or Solidarity House; that rant put you squarely in the moonbat brigade for life. "…I bet a majority of them vote Republican" –you narrow minded jerk.
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Just thought I’d mention it.