If you want to legislate, you have to get elected, beyond your ever shrinking puddle of safe districts. You can’t succeed if you continue to slap and hurl with rage and contempt at a decisive and growing constituency. That is not how How to Win Friends & Influence People. I strongly recommend that all Republicans and or those conservatives who’ve left the GOP out of disgust, who blame the voters for the disastrous defeat in last Tuesday’s elections, please read this great book by the late and very influential Dale Carnegie.
If you continue to follow the ear of the “immigration experts” who have secured your allegiance, you concede to their arguments that Latinos are hopelessly wedded to big government with all of it’s welfare giveaways and token programs that rescue a fraction of the majority of low income minorities.
If you really do believe in the possibility of individuals, and that truth, integrity and honor are not mutually exclusive to people who come from or are the children of immigrants who come from south of the U.S. Border, then we’ve got a shot at redeeming ourselves as a movement, and moving forward.
Wow, concise title, Martha.
You should have edited that title Vern!
Thanks Vern. It’s nice to know you care.
Yeah, but I like her spelling: “desciding”
And the omnipresent “it’s” for “its.” Our language is dying, professor.
Yeah, I’m just another dumb Mexican. Don’t you feel superior.
I have read this thing two or three times and can’t make heads or tails of the point other than it is racist nonsense. Martha, please define “latino” for me in a useable way that is not racist.
Geoff, I’m not sure how this woman got onto our blog team. I guess she used to have some radio show, and Art agreed to let her publicize it here??
Also, I’ve never seen her respond to any comments on her stories. She just throws out little bombs and walks away. I wouldn’t call her a blogger.
Although actually now that I read her story, she’s right this time.
Up yours, Vern.
Martha not at all taking into consideration the growing threat on the southern border from the Mexican drug gangs — a treat so onerous that Mexico is ranked along with Pakistan and a nation in danger of complete collapse: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/world/story.html?id=1181621 (Google it, Vern before you complain it’s a 2009 story). She needs to wake up and consider the entire picture before dredging up the easy (but incorrect) explanation for last week’s election results. Didn’t we just read that Oklahoma is considering an Arizona-style law? And if Jan Brewer was wrong, why was she re-elected??
We owe it to ourselves and our children to defend against this (there are already incursions into Arizona — that’s one state over, Vern — and you can Google that too).
And while you and Martha are at it, check out the results of the latest Pew Hispanic poll on how much legal Hispanics appreciate the incursion of their illegal “brethren” into the US.
It’s always been about American sovereignty and not about racism as all you liberals always complain. Or do you want to be run out by the gangs? How about your children? Do they matter?
You people need to get your heads out of your asses and see the real reasons for defending ourselves and upholding our rule of law.
“Martha (is) not at all taking into consideration the growing threat on the southern border from the Mexican drug gangs — a treat so onerous that Mexico is ranked along with Pakistan and a nation in danger of complete collapse”
The power and threat of the Mexican drug gangs on our southern border that you speak of would not have anything to do with making the drugs that they are selling illegal, would they? Considering that the US spends roughly $40 billion a year (taxpayer funds courtesy of you and me) fighting this unwinnable and failed drug war, what dent have they made in the last 40 years of this “War on Drugs” in curtailing this threat? Yet, these self proclaimed “limited government” and “rule of law” advocates talk about increasing the scope of government in order to keep our borders secure. And while the “rule of law” folks are rattling their sabres to continue to fight this failed war, we see ourselves evolving into a police state and getting mired deeper into this quagmire.
You want to stop the violence and put these cartels out of business and keep our kids safe and give them some respect for law enforcement? How about making a resolution to stop the violence by bringing this black market drug trade above ground? It’s not drug use that is causing the violence, it is the specter of black market drug money that is causing this war to drone on and on. Instead of moralizing about these problems and blaming the immigrants, drug users, et al, how about trying to manage this problem and look for a sensible solution that will actually save us some real dollars rather than wasting our tax dollars on failed policies such as our endeavor in fighting Mexico’s drug war.
Or is resolution that too “liberal” for you? Maybe we should spout the old tired Allan Mansoor like cliches so we can sound tough. Look where that has gotten us.
Wow. What snotty critics you guys are, criticizing my spelling.
I never said the matter of securing the border is not important. And your right, it’s important to Latinos as well as non Latinos. I read the Pew Report and poll. If you want to dismiss what I’m saying about the way Conservatives deliver their message, go ahead. I stand by what I said. You’re a shrinking puddle and you blame everyone but your intolerant strident selves. If Latinos don’t listen to you it’s because of how you frame your message. It’s a market that’s ripe for harvest, but you can’t make inroads when you stand on the sidelines and pronounce assertions that Latinos are hopelessly in the camp of the Democrats. That’s like a sales person not making calls, not being customer service oriented and listening to the customer to find out how your product meets their needs and then signing them up. Nope… You’re losers. You don’t even try to sell your “ideas” about Capitalism and limited government and school choice and property rights to this constituency. You only talk to each other. And then when you lose, because you’re number of members shrinks, because you’re bores, you blame the Mexicans. It’s your fault we’re in this mess. You’re incompetent messengers.
Marco Rubio has a positive message and it isn’t neglectful of the border’s security, and Susana Martinez says right on her website how she means to secure the border, repeal the law that allows illegal immigrants to obtain drivers licenses, and is opposed to non legal students getting free tuition scholarships funded by taxpayer dollars, but she doesn’t make statements inferring that all Latinos (I use that term interchangeably with Hispanic and most Latino illegal immigrants are Mexican–the majority) are felons or should be regarded as such. She doesn’t cast such aspersions.
And in CA, there were two GOP wins in California that prove it is possible for the GOP to win in CA in districts with heavy Latino populations. CA SD 12 has a 50.35 percent Democrat and 30.8 percent Republican registration, yet was retained as a Republican seat despite its 49 percent plus Latino population. It went for little known Republican Anthony Canella, 53 percent to 47 percent. Canella beat out Democrat Anna Caballero, a popular Democrat, former termed out mayor of Salinas and termed out sitting State Assembly member.
US CA19 was triumphantly held onto by a Republican despite the demographic shift in that district since the 2000 reapportionment. It has a higher than 30 percent Latino population, a 37.06 percent Democrat and 42.80 percent Republican Registration with 14.65 percent registered independent. It went to termed out CA State Senator Jeff Denham with a vote of 65 percent to 34.8 percent.
Both Republicans in these two GOP win races ran on sound conservative principles but both avoided antagonizing messages regarding immigration.
The CA Republican Party is delusional when it thinks it can win any statewide elections by demagoguing the immigration issue. Until the CA Republican Party develops an appeal to Hispanics, GOP victories in California will be few and far between and the GOP will be irrelevant. Given the certainty of an increasing number of voters of Hispanic heritage and those who hire them or are related to them, the outlook is grim for the GOP unless it changes its message on immigration in CA from one of demagoguing tirades calling for mass deportation and punishment of employers for lapses to one of reform for legal immigration.
Oh… damn.. another spelling error for you focus on to judge my intellect … “your” instead of “you’re” …. You can dismiss me again… like my favorite great teachers in elementary school who judged me by my cursive…Not neat enough for them.
I don’t know you from Adam but you are unintentionally really funny. You are a thin skinned “blogger” (using the term VERY loosely) that is consternated that your spelling, grammer and articulation are all off. Wow, what an unfair criticism that your use of language in a language based industry is terrible.
Geoff, it’s time for a taste of your own medicine – GRAMMAR, not GRAMMER! LOL
Ouch!!
Hey, Mr. no more middle of the road, whatever it is you mean by that, did you read the letter that I linked to, from Kirkorian, the darling of the anti-immigration deportation’ists? If you did, and you still don’t see how we have a communication problem, you’re in denial.
Here’s a link to Kirkorian’s letter which I refer to in my post, from him to his newsletter subscribers. You can also find it on the second to the last paragraph of the blog post related to this thread of comments. http://marthamontelongo.blogspot.com/p/mark-krikorians-letter-to-flock-who.html
It’s a racist assertion he makes, and it’s a pervasive notion that comes across in the way conservatives don’t even bother to try to make inroads with Latinos. And unless we turn that around, CA is lost.
BENITO I GUESS YOU WENT TO THE ART SCHOOL OF NOT KNOWING BETWEEN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT AND IMMIGRANTS .. you guys are always trying to link the two together . anti immigrant this , anti immgrant that , ITS anti ILLEGAL IMMiGRATION THAT THEY ARE AGAINST .. THE REST OF THE COUNTRY GOT IT .. CALIF DIDNT .. BECAUSE THIS IS A NANY WELFARE STATE . WITH A BUNCH OF LOW SKILLED WORKERS, UNIONS , GOV HANDOUTS ,