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The MAIN reason I went to the San Juan Capistrano Tea Party on Saturday July 3 was because I heard the RINO King of Pork, Ken Calvert, would be speaking there. This seemed like it might be an interesting story – how would the Tea Partiers react? It seems that if Calvert is not precisely the sort of wasteful, corrupt, 20-year incumbent the Tea Party was formed to oppose, then maybe the Tea Party is nothing but a Republican Party picnic with Revolutionary War kitsch.
But I saw and heard so much at this event that was darkly fascinating that I’ve had to divide this article in two parts – Calvert will be part two.
*
By far the best speaker – definitely the most energetic – was OJ friend and new Supervisor Shawn Nelson. I hadn’t realized that he is popularly known as the “grandfather of the Orange County Tea Party,” due to some Fullerton event he organized way back in November ’08. His main gripes are high taxes, inflated public pensions, and hard-working businessmen being “blamed” for all society’s ills. He didn’t seem to be on the same page as the majority of the other speakers, completely forgetting to fixate on the plague of illegal immigration.
For the first time I was able to hear assembly candidate Don Wagner speak. His heavily Glenn Beck-influenced history lesson, centered on tough-guy Jefferson quotes and standard calls-to-arms-against-tyranny, was most notable for his innovative use of the word “encrosion” – apparently a Jabberwocky-style conflation of “encroachment” and “erosion” – as in “their encrosion of our borders.”
Or was it just, to use Gus Ayer’s term, “Teabonics?”
One theme sounded in Don’s speech, and nearly every other one, was the eerie similarity between the circumstances which drove our Founding Fathers to rebellion against the British, and what we patriots are facing now under President Obama and Speaker Pelosi.
As I observed to my traveling companion, “That is so true! Remember all that access to healthcare King George tried to foist on the reluctant colonists?”
Snarked he in response, “Yeah, they must have felt like right fools, having elected him after he campaigned on that issue!”
“It’s a dying thing, what a terrible thing to lose…”
I guess I expected more anger, craziness, or just plain energy, at my first Tea Party. But what impressed me instead was an unmistakable sense of nostalgia; just sad, wistful nostalgia. These were old folks getting together to mourn some half-imagined America of their youth. An America where things were simpler, life was more secure, and there were less people around who didn’t look and talk like them. The philosophers and statesmen they hang up on the stage and purport to revere – Adams, Jefferson, Paine – are just symbols to them of a simpler, more innocent past. They sure haven’t read them – their minds would be blown.
Last week Senator Lindsey Graham, a long-time bete-noir of these folks for his occasional moderation on some issues, told the Times that he believes the Tea Party is “just unsustainable because they can never come up with a coherent vision for governing the country. It will die out.“ At Saturdays’ tea party there were some jabs back at Lindsey and his tanking numbers in South Carolina, but also the feeling that they knew he was right.
At the height of the afternoon the crowd reached a little over a hundred, plus maybe forty vendors hawking all manner of tea-party tchotch
kes and memorabilia. I don’t know if that’s considered good attendance or not. They came from as far as LA, San Diego and the Inland Empire, this apparently being the only Tea Party around on this sunny afternoon.
The average age there was certainly over 60. There were maybe a dozen shit-kicking redneck types in their 40′s, and a few fidgety young eccentrics babbling conspiracy theories, but they were like specks in the sea of white hair. “Sea,” no, that’s not right. The kidney-shaped swimming pool of white hair.
And the crowd, with the exception of my little dark-skinned contingent, was 100% white.
“Hey wait, I was there too, and I saw FOUR BLACK PEOPLE!”
You’re right, and they were all in the speakers’ tent, which might make a more cynical man than I suspect them to be professional itinerant black people hired to lend some much-needed melanin to the teabag cause.
In actuality, one was a hefty woman named Cheryl Burns who was introduced as a “community organizer” from SJC. (I listened closely but heard none of the derisive laughter that phrase drew at the 2008 Republican Convention; perhaps the calling has gained acceptance since then.) Cheryl was powerful worried about SJC becoming a de facto “sanctuary city.” Since her main thing was immigrant-bashing, we’ll save her comments for that section of this essay. [UPDATE - I've just received word that Ms. Burns likes to pretend she's from SJC, but she's really from Laguna Niguel, and is a long-time member of the Minutemen.]
The other three blacks were Star Parker, who is running against LA Congresswoman Laura Richardson, and her two aides. Ms. Parker, who is a somewhat well known rightwing columnist, claims she has a 50-50 chance against the somewhat corrupt Ms. Richardson, in this 90% Dem district. She announced right up front that she “used to be influenced by the hard left into a life of sex and drugs.”
I figure she must have had quite a colorful past, if she feels compelled to announce this in her campaign speeches. I do look forward, though, to a fuller explanation of how liberal ideology caused her to have so much sex and do so much dope.
Touchy, touchy…
Another thing we kept hearing is just how mean the Mainstream Media and we liberals are to the Tea Party. How they are just constantly under attack from us. We glance at each other quizzically – did we miss something? Has the Tea Party been sued, denied permits, raided by law enforcement? Are there incidents of roving gangs of liberals tossing Molotov cocktails into their gatherings – incidents covered up by a conspiratorial press? Green activists strutting around the perimeter clutching semi-automatics, muttering veiled threats?
No, it turns out their feelings are hurt every time they are called “crazy” or “racist.” It’s charming that charges of racism, as fair or unfair as they may be, make them uncomfortable, and I think it’s actually a sign of progress.
At one point, one of the more strident women who had just gone on about the illegals for twenty minutes bitched, “And people call me a racist, an immigrant-basher, a lunatic, a Mexican hater, well I’ve had it, you can call me whatever you want and I DON’T CARE!” And the whole crowd erupted in one of their largest bursts of applause, as though in a great catharsis. Catharsis over the feeling of briefly not caring if the world thought they were racists.
And YET… this Tea Party was brought to you by SJC Americans.
Help me out here: Is the Tea Party in general becoming more and more obsessed with immigration, or was this particular rally unusual that way, organized as it was by the SJC Americans, the proud little group whose mission is to make the 
lives of the Latino half of San Juan Capistrano miserable? (I won’t link to their site, but you can read an article about them here.)
Remember Cheryl, the hefty black community organizer who is so concerned that SJC is becoming a de facto sanctuary city – which she knows because at the last Swallows’ Day Parade there were some Mexican flags waving higher than American ones?
Well, does she have some horror stories for you, about what’s in store for SJC if it continues in that direction! It could be the next MAYWOOD. Apparently Maywood, somewhere in LA County, is about 95% Latino (according to her) and is officially a sanctuary city. And boy does she know how rough it is there, having gone up there to protest the city’s policies several times! Every time the locals are rude to her, every time the police are unhelpful, and every time they raise the Mexican flag up the pole ABOVE the American one!
Well. Um…
What the hell is this busybody from SJC doing going up to Maywood to protest their policies anyway? I’d be rude to her too! Hell, I’m a patriotic American, but I would raise up a Mexican flag just to mess with this lady! Wouldn’t you? [and see update above on Cheryl...]
Toward the end, there was a REALLY angry white woman, who talked about how hard she worked having bake sales just to get some SHADE for her poor white kids at their public school, and then she looked over and saw a beautiful, luxurious, brick “Title 1 School” for non-English speakers. And from there her life’s mission was charted out – put an end to all the favoritism that our pampered illegals receive!
In the interests of space, I’ll skip most of her raving, but at one point she ticked off all the arguments made by defenders of immigrants, leading up to “They’ll say we need them to pick our crops – well, guess what, we don’t need crops!“ Unfortunately at this point, our comrade, the one with a little Tourette’s, started chanting “FUCK CROPS!” and we had to pretend we didn’t know him. But it was funny.
(Oh, before you get the idea that they limit their xenophobia to Mexicans, Al Rally from ACT For America was there, to expose the radicalism of the UCI Muslim Student Union, the insidious threat of favorable mentions of Islam in our children’s textbooks, and the general STEALTH JIHAD subverting America as we speak!)
Novel Interpretations of the Constitution
Apparently these events always feature several “Constitutional experts,” some of whom have some sort of degree or other, but most of whom are auto-didacts like their hero Glenn. This particular event must have had close to a dozen “Constitutional experts” speaking. Constitutional expertise is evidently a highly prized commodity in the Teabag world, since Teabaggers’ love-hate relationship with the founding document – which seems to stand in the way of a lot of what they want to do – puts them in constant need of new interpretations of it.
Some Irvine harridan named Lynne Shite (there being no program to consult, I am using the Irish spelling) was on hand as an expert in “birthright citizenship,” a real thorn in anti-immigrants’ side – that nasty little part of the 14th Amendment that grants citizenship to anyone born within our borders:
All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.
Well, Ms. Shite has figured out a way that that passage doesn’t mean what it says, in two steps: First, the “anchor baby’s” mommy and daddy are NOT under our jurisdiction when they’re here, but under their own nation’s jurisdiction [see, told you, novel] AND, the “anchor baby” owes its allegiance not to its new country but to its parents. Got that? That dragon slain, Ms. Shite moved on to spew other vile nonsense.
[Ms. Shite, if you are reading this: Have I got your argument RIGHT? SHITE?]
But there was an even greater Constitutional expert on hand, some disciple of failed attorney general candidate John Eastman. And he has determined that the Federal Government has very little authority, very little authority indeed, to meddle in our state’s affairs.
- For one thing they have absolutely no right to interfere with our inhumane, overcrowded prison system, and just need to be told to butt out by some attorney general or Governor with brass balls;
- The commerce clause has been interpreted WAY too broadly by Court after Court; and in particular the Endangered Species Act cannot be used to protect the Delta Smelt or any other miserable little species;
- Most wonderful of all, the Feds had no right to declare Proposition 187 – California’s last racist belch of the 90′s denying medical care and schooling to undocumented children – unconstitutional, so guess what? It’s still in effect! YES! Proposition 187 is still in effect! And it’s up to YOU, brave patriots, to INSIST that your local and state governments and law enforcement carry it out!
G-OPtation complete
That’s pronounced “Gee-optation,” and refers to the process by which the Republican Party gradually co-opts what was originally a proud, independent and rebellious movement partially meant to reform it. If Mr. Wagner can invent 
“encrosion” then I can invent “G-OPtation,” and hope it becomes an accepted term in the “Teabonics” lexicon.
Stealthing through the crowd in my Constitution teeshirt I overheard lots of chatter, and frequently caught grumbling about how the Republicans were almost as bad as the Democrats, and how back when the GOP was in charge, remember, they didn’t do this and they didn’t do that. But still, at least half the speeches ended with appeals to “Take back the Congress from the Democrats!” And that always met with applause.
The Teabaggers preferred Little Poisoner, but they’re going to hold their noses and vote for Queen Meg over Jerry Brown.
They preferred Chuck DeVore, but they’re going to hold their noses and vote for Failorina over Boxer.
They preferred John Eastman for Attorney General, but they’re going to hold their noses and vote for Steve Cooley over Kamala.
They preferred True Teabagger Chris Riggs (who did very well in the district with 34% in both OC and Riverside) but they’re going to hold their noses and vote for Creepy, Corrupt Ken Calvert over Bill Hedrick.
If they’re still having Tea Parties in the Fall, some smart entrepeneur should start a Clothespin Concession.
Read chapter two:
“Calvert In Extremis: The King of Pork goes a-Teabagging“
I hardly consider myself a member of the “hard left,” but I do like sex and drugs a lot. I don’t think my personal political beliefs had much of an influence on my proclivities towards them. I think a lot of these uber-conservative types who claim to be for limited government are way too hung up on the fallacious concept of “original sin.” So they end up being like that goofy guidance counselor on “South Park” by telling us that drugs and sex are bad and tossing the proverbial scarlet letter at those of us who actually get some enjoyment out of one or both of these recreational activities. I would dare say that I do have a decent, if not greater, moral compass than some of these bandwagon Tea Party types who spout the latest Glenn Beck/Sean Hannity/Bill O’Reilly soundbites of the week. Sure, indulging in too much sex or drugs can be bad for you, but so is chain smoking Marlboro Reds, guzzling Wild Turkey like bottled water or worse…attempting to control and repress the personal behaviors of other people that may go against your own preconceived notions of decency and morality. I would dare say practicing the latter is probably more immoral than me engaging in intimate relations with another consenting adult or taking a dose of “medication” via “the Vapor Genie.” But that’s what social conservatives who bastardize the Scriptures and our Constitution do well. Someday, I’ll tell you about the flame war I got into with a born again about marriage being a creation of the State, not something that was created by God.
Besides, saying you are a Republican for limited government is like saying you like f-cking for virginity. Don’t worry Vern….I know you are the furthest thing from that.
Teabonics! LOL! What a bunch of haters…
haha GF, I think I am starting to like you! I table at these Tea parties a lot, and I did today. In fact, they even gave me a little microphone time today to announce my candidacy. I think that if you look a little deeper, you will find some interesting characteristics in that crowd. The fact is, many of those people are united only by their conservative monetary policy, and once that is considered, they have absolutely nothing in common with each other.
I got several people today to sign the pledge to vote yes on 19, and yes, they knew it was for legalization. They like the tea parties because they get at least one aspect of limited government that they want, but only about 30% of those attending think that the government has any business in our bedrooms or telling us what to do with our bodies (my opponents Don Wagner and Melissa Fox fall into that 30%).
You’re right, there is the occasional bag of mixed nuts at every event, but the worst one I ran into wasn’t even at a Tea party. It was at a fair a couple of years ago. He said he was going to kill some very specific people. Obviously nuts for announcing this to a stranger, and had I been in on the conversation, or gotten a better look at him, I might have called a doctor for him! (as obviously he forgot his meds) But alas, his girlfriend came and shooed him out before the paddy wagon could arrive. Talk about a hair trigger. It’s nuts to want war. I say get off your ass and try doing something productive first. Lot’s of people spouting war haven’t even voted in the past 10 years, or participated in a recount, election investigation, nothing. Stop polishing your gun (which you have every right to) and go participate in the democratic process first dammit!
The truth is, there is a lot of nostalgia, not just for the great 80s when Regan was king (literally, that bastard. my dad was an air traffic controller during the strike. ask me why I hate Regan someday) But there is also nostalgia for our pre drug war days when the air we breathed was seemingly free and life really was a bit simpler (you were either communist, or you weren’t). I hope that you will go to more Tea Parties, Vern, because you can’t spend all your time preaching to the converted, and so many people there are looking for folks just like you. Or just like me too. We need to mix it up a bit. After all, I hang with a Greenie or two
You forget to mention the neo-Nazi American TP members there—why didn’t SJC Americans boot them out?
Yeah well I didn’t see them, but the Register got that part.
On the other hand the Register said there were 350 people there – utterly crazy! What do they do, ask an organizer for an estimate?
Don’t forget Vern that a Register reporter who shilled for Harry Sidhu was recently hired by Nick Berardino, of the OCEA. The Register is a joke!
Gustavo,
Why would they? The Nazis are their paisas!
See anyone there you knew from jail, Vern? I’ll bet not.
I would have been there myself, but Saturday is Wanking Day at the Golightly household. And I mean all day long. Wank, wank, wank, morning noon and night.
The neo-nazi movement sees the tea party as a principle point of entry for its affront white supremacy to go mainstream. as long as the teabaggers tolerate their presence, they deserve all the political criticisms that comes with it…
Vern — that’s interesting. I take it the OC Reggie inflated the numbers just a touch! I’ve been at left protests in OC that the paper has way undercut the size of. Talk about crowd control!
Yeah, the thing went for three hours – toward the middle is when the crowd was biggest, and me and Aria both counted, and we independently came up with what I wrote – a little over 100, maybe 120 attendees, not counting about 40 vendors and the speakers. 350 is just crazy. You can see the photo, which I stole (gratefully) from the Reg .. and it’s a small park.
That park is across the street from the El Adobo Steakhouse, isn’t it? How good is the food there or am I better off going to some hole in the wall in the barrio?
Since I was at the SJC Tea Party too (I go to these events out of sheer curiousity), I’m going to take a stab at the “guess how many Tea Partiers were in SJC” game and say 237 (including speakers and vendors). Having won several “guess how many jelly beans are in this jar” contests in the past, you always want to use an odd prime number and never multiples of five.
How bad was it? I wouldn’t say it was the scourge of humanity but I also wouldn’t say it was a trip to Disneyland. The Campaign for Liberty and the UCI Students for Liberty were a pretty garrulous and amiable bunch and had an interesting talk about organic farming with some C4Lers. They were the most pleasant booth there. The chest pounding “war is good” sentiment that some of the speakers were spewing was I could have done without. And the group of ” 9/11 truthers” (I take it the rest of us that don’t fall into that line of thinking must be “9/11 Liars?”) I ran into who were supporting Chelene Nightingale buttons were a trip. I tried to endure some of Don Wagner’s speech and had thoughts of running across the street to ask the employees at El Adobo if they had an extra doggie bag that I could hurl into. But at any event with numerous people, be it this Tea Party, an LGBT rally, a Democratic or Republican convention or an Angel game you’re going to find your assorted nut cases and boorish folks. I find rude people at Disneyland all of the time but that doesn’t mean because someone was a total ass while waiting in line for Space Mountain means that all people inside the Magic Kingdom are like that ass. I did ask a lot of questions about repealing the Patriot Act and some 912ers and anti-illegal immigration types assumed that I was an Al-Qaeda sympathizer. At least I know how far some of these “limited government” types will go.
Will I go back to one of these events? Only if the woman who was doing face painting and balloon animals is there. She was really nice and very talented at her craft. When I told her that I have a child who likes cats (as a rule, I don’t bring my child to these events..even to causes that I support), she made a real nice pink balloon cat. I believe that was the only donation I made to anyone at the SJC Tea Party. My only regret is that I didn’t get her card because I think she’d be a hit at other parties beside Tea Parties.
I KNEW there would be this confusion. There were TWO Tea Parties this weekend in SJC. You obviously went to the one yesterday – July 4. (Evidently the Reg reports that as 375.)
I was at a slightly smaller one Saturday, put on by the anti-immigrant group. There were a little over 100, and the Reg said 350.
(Oh PS 237 is not a prime number. Just so’ you don’t use it for jelly beans.
)
Yes, you are correct. I went on Sunday. I take it balloon and facepaint lady wasn’t there on Saturday. Political beliefs aside, she was awesome. If I was that good with facepaint and balloons, I’d be charging a hell of a lot for my services. I didn’t want to engage in a political conversation with her because she was too pleasant for my tastes and I didn’t want to be rude. Besides, there were kids around her. Like I said, she’d be the only reason I would go to another Tea Party in the OC. I do regret that I missed Ken Calvert’s speech. Would have made for great comedy.
I wonder if she would be willing to ply her craft at OC Pride next month?
Regardless if it is a prime number or not, I’m sticking with 237 on Sunday…..just a guess
Vern,
Thank you for covering this event. The interesting use a portmanteau or the blending of two words in the word “encrosion” was interesting. One wonders if Mr. Wagner was being clever or just mispronouncing another word?
On the 4th of July there was a reading of the Declaration of Independence in the Garden Grove Amphitheater. There were over two hundred in attendance. In years past the patio seated the over a hundred comfortably. This year the amphitheater was filled with attentive listeners of this important declarative document stating our specific reasons for separation from British rule. http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document
I would highly recommend everyone attend this enlightening event next year. It is free to the public and is a brief half an hour to reflect on the truths that “we are created equal…with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” quote from the declaration. http://www.ocregister.com/news/declaration-256354independence-resident.html
Thanks GG Voter.
I don’t think Mr. Wagner was “trying to be clever.” He either stumbled because he couldn’t decide at the last second which word he was gonna use (we’ve all done that) or else he really thinks it’s a word. We’ll know if we hear him use it again!
SINCE you bring up the Pledge, I just want to exhort all Teabaggers in the future to please remove your hats during the Pledge AND the National Anthem. I was the only one who did, and MOST of these old geezers were wearing hats (in the sun.)
Brother Vern.
Missed you last night at Mission Viejo’s TEA Party. You would be proud of how I dealt with an agitator and the local OCSD representatives but that’s another story.
You do not measure TEA Party success by the number of attendees at these type of open space events.
For illustration. We had thousands of attendees at MV’s 4th of July Street Faire which was held around the high traffic intersection location of the TEA Party activists. Olympiad Rad was closed off to traffic forcing every Faire attendee to walk to the event by one of two entrances. In addition hundreds of cars drove by the group on Marguerite Parkway in an effort to get close to the Faire or their homes. Therefore this mostly Republican group, holding American flags, home made signs and an MC with a microphone, was seen and heard by hundreds to thousands of families. When urged by the MC many of the drivers began honking their horns in support of the 90 minute event that was followed by our city fireworks display.
Well, I agree that success isn’t measured by the attendance; God knows I’ve organized and attended some sparsely attended functions.
It’s just that I was trying to be accurate, and I think I was, and along comes the Register and blows up the numbers nearly threefold – that’s just obnoxious!
Vern.
Having attended other events such as the Memorial dedication at Saddleback College we both know that their reporters did not take math in grammar school
Sullivan nails the Tea Party…
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/06/understanding-the-tea-party-ii.html
Anon,
The link is informative. I would add that projection is also at play. This Freudian theory provides another explanation for the inability to admit disastrous political choices have had a crippling affect on the entire country. Just blame the other party for the mess your party created over a span of a decade. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_projection
The article above sounds like it was lifted completely from the pages of the LA Slimes.. uh, I mean Times.
Jose,
Did you hear about the Register political reporter who was just hired by the OC Employee’s Union? She spent the entire primary shilling for Harry Sidhu, Tom Daly, etc.
So do you still think the Register is better than the LA Times? Really? They are both a joke!
“How they are just constantly under attack from us.”
As you said, the ‘you’re a racist’ smear campaign. Since when did a cause’s validity depend on how many black people were present?
Provacateurs are quite common as well. They usually manifest as shaggy hippies with white power signs that ignore the OTHER tea partiers who inform them that they are making everyone look bad. When they say “its my right” and keep waving the sign around, they are provacateurs.
As far as the tea party becoming more about immigration – why are you suprised?
The tea party is about government spending – for which illegal aliens are more than partially responsible.
As you said, the ‘you’re a racist’ smear campaign. Since when did a cause’s validity depend on how many black people were present?
Uh uh uh, never said that. I tried to describe the crowd as accurately as I could, size-wise, age-wise, race-wise. You wouldn’t really expect many blacks at an OC tea party, since hardly any live around here. But it was noticeable there were no Latinos – in the middle of SJC, which is practically half Latino – and it no doubt had a lot to do with the anti-immigrant bent of this particular tea party. Or maybe tea parties in general don’t reach out to Latinos or don’t appeal to them?
That sort of SEGUED into a new section about the two interesting (and goofy) black women that did speak.
Let’s see… yeah, right, provocateurs. I know they exist (not that day.) But I think it’s mainly a convenient way for you guys to discount the undeniable crazies in your midst.
The tea party is about government spending – for which illegal aliens are more than partially responsible.
I know an ex-tea partier who comments on this blog a lot, who thinks the government’s enforcement of an outdated immigration policy is the BIG waste of money; as are the Federal agricultural subsidies that keep Mexico impoverished and force its people up here. [David Zenger, are you out there? Have I got this right?] The movement sure didn’t start with immigration as a focus. I think I hit the nail on the head that, at least at the July 3 SJC event, it was mainly old white people dreaming of turning back the clock – including to a time when “there weren’t so many people around that don’t look or talk like them.” They may be against most government spending (especially spending that benefits people who don’t look like them) but they REALLY want the government to spend a lot more “SECURING THE BORDER!” You think that’s free?
We can split hairs all day about what the undocumented contribute to society vs. what they get in services, it’s really about a wash.
“Uh uh uh, never said that. I tried to describe the crowd as accurately as I could, size-wise, age-wise, race-wise.”
When did I say you did? I simply asked you a question based on what I gathered from the section entitled “Hey wait, I was there too, and I saw FOUR BLACK PEOPLE!”. I suppose capitalizing those last 3 words was just a typo, right?
“Or maybe tea parties in general don’t reach out to Latinos or don’t appeal to them?”
At the San Antonio tea party, they were present, but admittedly, not in proportion to their demographic. They are 60% of that city but only represented about 25% of the tea party.
As far as reaching out to them, what do you want? Piñatas, free tacos, and Mariachis? It’s an economic issue, not a racial or cultural one. Tea parties shouldn’t have to pander to groups who refuse to accept that. That’s a fools(liberal’s) errand.
“But I think it’s mainly a convenient way for you guys to discount the undeniable crazies in your midst.”
Considering that their views conflict with 99% percent of tea partiers, I wouldn’t exactly say they’re in our midst, at least not ideologically. You acknowledged their existence though so whatever.
“but they REALLY want the government to spend a lot more “SECURING THE BORDER!” You think that’s free?”
Of course not, but it’s definitely a high-yield investment.
“what the undocumented contribute to society vs. what they get in services, it’s really about a wash.”
So at the end of the day, their total tax contribution is about $0? That’s reassuring.
What is the combined cost of all prisons? 25% of that figure is spent on illegal aliens – since deporting them is as good as putting them right back on the street. Not to mention all the street gangs, drug cartels, drug dealers, and their addicted customer base.
Did you factor any of this into your ‘wash’, or did you find it more pleasant to just envision a kindly old ice cream man just trying to make ends meat?
“Hey wait, I was there too, and I saw FOUR BLACK PEOPLE!”. I suppose capitalizing those last 3 words was just a typo, right?
No, that title is in quotes and obviously an imagined voice attempting to argue with me. In fact now I realize it is David. I was imagining what someone just like you would have said to me after reading my line that the group was 100% white. You’re definitely not the dumbest immigrant basher I’ve ever argued with, but sometimes you don’t get nuance and little linguistic tricks.
You acknowledged [provocateurs'] existence though so whatever.
I’m assuming there probably are some. I read a few months ago that some liberals were making a big plan to do that. Of course it sounds like the kind of idea I would come up with myself, talk about, and then never do. I don’t know for sure of it ever actually happening, but wouldn’t rule it out.
So at the end of the day, their total tax contribution is about $0? That’s reassuring.
No, dummy. They pay all kinds of taxes; they also pay into social security with their fake numbers and never get that back; they save YOUR ass an arm and a leg with their cheap gardening and housecleaning and picking your lettuce so it’s not 10 bucks a head. And THEN throw in the expenses you name off and it’s a wash.
Of course, it looks like you think all or most street gangs are undocumented people, and it’s Mexicans’ fault that Americans love drugs. That’s crazy talk. You don’t even know how to hold up your immigrant-bashing end credibly. Let me help you. “The K-12 school, the free school lunches, the WIC for the anchor babies, the crowded emergency rooms…” THAT’s what you’re supposed to whine, not pretend that wetbacks snuck into your room at night and shot you up with dope until you were screaming for more!
Fair warning: I know that if I don’t continue to respond to you, you’ll alternate between running victory laps and crying out for attention with insults. But I reserve the right to move on as soon as this gets repetitive or otherwise boring.
“No, that title is in quotes and obviously an imagined voice attempting to argue with me.”
Perhaps, but it was still your decision to capitalize FOUR BLACK PEOPLE – as if their lacking at tea parties was somehow scandalous. In case you forgot my original question: “Since when did a cause’s validity depend on how many black people were present?”
“sometimes you don’t get nuance and little linguistic tricks.”
Only sometimes? Anyone can agree to that. I’ve come to expect linguistic trickery (word games) from the left, and pride myself on my ability to catch and decipher it. I’ll agree that linguistic trickery is clever, charming, etc, but it’s also inherently dishonest, and therefore has no place in meaningful debate. To make matters worse, you seem proud of it. This is exactly why nobody takes liberals seriously. To you, debates are nothing more than popularity contests. If throwing bricks at your opponent were acceptable to others, you’d do that too.
“Of course it sounds like the kind of idea I would come up with myself, talk about, and then never do.”
More liberal plotting and conniving… Whether you’re lazy or not is irrelevant. The point is: YOUR CAUSE IS STUPID if you feel it’s necessary to FRAME your political opposition.
Should conservatives dress up like Hamas terrorists, write threatening messages on picket signs, and then march around the white house screaming allah hu akbar?
Can you please explain the *ethical* difference between these 2 scenarios? I realize that Muslims do enough of this on their own in Europe, so focus on ethics, not necessity.
“No, dummy. They pay all kinds of taxes”
Slow down…. I’m just a simple conservative, not an IRS agent. Less detail please. Statistical overload.
“they also pay into social security with their fake numbers and never get that back”
You mean stolen numbers? I wasn’t aware that I could just roll a dice 9 times and have a new SS#. Also, they do get their money back several fold through food stamps and Medicaid – just to name a few.
(Before you think you are ‘linguistically tricking’ me, I realize you probably meant pensions, but my 2 examples are costly forms of social security just the same.)
In Texas, food stamps alone payout $600 a month for a family of 3.. 3! Take a wild guess which language and ethnos dominates that office 30 to 1?
You do realize that the stigma most white Americans associate with collecting welfare is NOT shared by Hispanics who identify themselves as Mexican, right? Legal status is not exactly stamped on their foreheads, so alas, my proof lies entirely within your observation and dialect identification skills.
(Paragraph about Mexican drug dealers and which party lines I should tow, according to a liberal)
I in fact do whine about those things…but I also happen to recognize that cartels are murdering gangs of banditos who’s revenue comes primarily from druggies and potheads in the US. If not lesser Mexican pawns, who would you speculate is the middle man? Also, would you care to put any money on your wild accusation?
I’m not suggesting that other groups don’t distribute drugs on lower levels, but nearer the top, who is more trustworthy than some undocumented rogue who the cartels can relate to culturally? Additionally, it’s much easier for cartels to dispose of these ‘nobodies’ when and if they become an inconvenience.
Try addressing that instead of fantasizing about Don Juan breaking into your room at night and sticking things inside of you.
“But I reserve the right to move on as soon as this gets repetitive or otherwise boring.”
You probably shouldn’t have said this because now when you inevitably vanish, people will be looking for the stagnation that caused it. We both know all they’ll find is a question you don’t want to answer.
Oh hey look who’s back! That took you a couple days, so don’t be running around like an upset puppy if I take a couple days responding to this onslaught.
But right off, I regret saying “linguistic tricks” which I should have known you’d jump on. I didn’t mean anything DECEPTIVE, which I really try to avoid, but the little details that give one’s sentences nuance and life. That’s what you seem to miss a lot; of course I think you generally miss it on purpose.
I’ll hit you up on the rest of this soon, don’t want you to feel rejected. Or, God forbid, victorious! By the way my latest story I published this morning on one of those issues you say “Nobody cares about” already has hundreds more hits than most of these immigration stories that you think are such vital life-and-death debates.
Funny you should choose the phrase ‘life and death’, as if the idea were ridiculous. After all, you did say:
“the knowledge that white folks like me are gonna be a minority in this country within my lifetime doesn’t keep me up at night or give me nightmares.”
Realistically, why would it stop there?
Take your time with the responses.
Funny you should choose the phrase ‘life and death’, as if the idea were ridiculous. After all, you did say:
“the knowledge that white folks like me are gonna be a minority in this country within my lifetime doesn’t keep me up at night or give me nightmares.”
Realistically, why would it stop there?
I have no idea what savage ironies and contradictions you’re perceiving here; it’s like we speak different languages.
I WILL take my time. If I haven’t got back to you in a week, pester me again. Call me a dick, that will get my attention.
So, a writer from the OC Register smugly casts insults at the conservatives. How surprising. Baskin-Robbins may try to sell ice cream next! All you left-wing elitists who really believe your own BS are due for a very rude awakening this fall. And, just to make it easy for you to cast further slanderous comments, yes, I am a grey-haired old jerk who remembers an American society that was cohesive, respectful of others, respectful of the law, and respectful of religion. A simpler time? No, just a better one. A society not being torn asunder by liberal left-wing neo-communists. (Although I have to admit that the witch-hunt for anyone with leftist leanings in the early 50′s was just as bad, if not worse, than the socialist rantings of the Democrat party left today. Radicalism, whether left or right, is ugly and evil.)