Publius2000

"Passion has helped us; but can do so no more. It will in future be our enemy. Reason, cold, calculating, unimpassioned reason, must furnish all the materials for our future support and defence.--Let those materials be moulded into general intelligence, sound morality, and in particular, a reverence for the constitution and laws" --Abraham Lincoln, speaking on "The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions" Address Before the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois, 1838

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

WE WILL NOT BE BULLIED

The May 1st immigration protests were an utter failure in my opinion. It was a failure for a number of reasons, all of which rest on a fundamental misunderstanding of politics and the soul of the American people:

1. Most people did not experience hardship in their day "without an illegal." Freeways were clearer, classrooms were less crowded, most people were able to shop and eat without a problem. To be fair, in terms of access to food was because the vast majority of illegal aliens did not protest, so they were sill on the job, cooking, cleaning, constructing, etc. Which leads to my next point.

2. It was also a failure because most illegals did not participate. Latino activists are trying to agitate a mostly apolitical group. Those who have come here illegally did not rise up politically against the corruption of the Mexican government, nor will they be politically active here. Most of them do not want to be political, and won't be, they just want to feed their families. Sure 500 thousand marchers is impressive, but it is a very small fraction of the millions that are here. Latino activists will have to wait a generation or two to politicize this group.

3. The protests were also a failure because the Latino activists fundamentally misunderstand the American people. WE WILL NOT BE BULLIED.

The American people are at their core a fair people, a good people. You can appeal to our heart. But you cannot get in our face and challange us to back down to threats or pressure, that is not in our character.

Martin Luther King realized this. He appealed to the highest in the American public. He appealed to the Declaration, the Constitution and the basic goodness of the American public. In the end Americans had to face up to the fact that they were not living up to their own deeply held ideals. King was successful, but the "in your face" black power movement was not.

Americans will not be bullied and will not give in to blackmail or intimidation. The rascist activists from La Raza and Mecha miss this fundamental point. Those who want to open avenues for citizenship for illegals might have greater success if they seek to construct arguments that appeal to Americans higher nature and acknowledge the arguments of those opposing illegal immigration make that are based on law and fairness.

The protests are just continuing a string of protests that seek to intimidate. In doing this they will backfire and the American people will no tolerate such bravado and ingratitude.

They would be much better off if they simply had a string of immigrants at a podium who stood up and said:

Gracias America, thank you for giving me opportunity, thank you for allowing me to feed my family, thank you for constructing a society that rewards hard work and opportunity, thank you for constructing a society that values the rule of law, that punishes government corruption. Thank you creating the American dream. We wish to be part of this and we submit to whatever means you deem necessary for us to become part of this dream. Thank you America, Gracias America.

No demands, no intimidation, simply gratitude. This will have a better chance of touching the hearts of Americans.

Illegals the wagon being driven by the arrogant yet essentially ignorant latino activists from La Raza and Mecha. They should jump off that wagon before these leaders drive them over a cliff.