Left In Lowell

The Republican Ploy We All Fell For

by Lynne at 10:40 am.

There are moments in your political life when you hit yourself in the forehead and say, “d’oh! We’ve all been punked.” It took my husband to point it out to me, which is why I married him - he’s an incredibly smart man and independent thinker.

Last night I drove in to take the T to Boston to meet Chris after work. We had a lovely date night. On the red line home, the conversation (as it nearly always does) turns political. The topic? What everyone is talking about, of course. The current immigration debate.

The car was relatively full and even though we were talking privately, a man across the aisle overheard us and butted in. His rant was as loud and clear as only a hot-button issue could provoke. Something about how white people can’t immigrate into Mexico and get a job so why should they come here or some junk. I really tuned him out quick - not because he disagreed with me, but because he sort of scared me with his belligerence.

For a few days now, Chris has been increasingly annoyed with the immigration debate. He calls it the latest Republican ploy we Democrats have all fallen for, even on liberal talk radio and the blogs (including mine). He listens to Ed Schultz and thinks, stop doing their dirty work. Because he came to realize what we all should have seen immediately: with their hopes of retaining Congressional power falling with Bush’s sagging poll numbers, the Republicans have come up with their cult-base-rallying-cry for 2006: ‘dem damn immigrants. Immigrants are the new gay marriage.

The man on the red line demonstrated perfectly how well this works as a divisive issue for the Republicans.

Chris asks, what, did we suddenly wake up this week and realize there was an immigration crisis? That suddenly there’s 11 million illegals and now they are the main number one problem in America? That conservatives in states across the nation including New England (the furthest away from the Mexico border) suddenly discovered that illegal immigrants were taking food from their family’s mouths? No. The Republicans, having played out many of their other bogymen, now need someone else to point the finger at so their hardline base can keep blaming people other than their own leadership for their stagnant wages, “moral decay,” and bad governance. Defense of Marriage Acts have already been passed in many states, and so therefore how are they going to get their raving voters to the polls?

For a while, I thought it was Hollywood and the culture wars that they wanted to use, with all the hubbub about fines and new regulations on TV and radio. But it’s a bad play, because just as many, or more, “values voters” enjoy Desperate Housewives. In the end, entertainment trumps moralistic preachiness after all.

So immigrants it is, then. Dominate the news with that “sudden crisis”; never mind that another DeLay aid copped a plea of guilty in the Abramoff scandal. Ignore that Abramoff himself got 6 years for his plea and it’s said he’s singing like a bird. Forget that the infamous Debt Clock in Times Square is going to be in need of another digit, it’s going up faster than anyone expected. Or that former FISA judges indicated that Bush’s wiretapping program is unconstitutional. Lots of big things happened this week, but all the talking heads talk about is immigration. Lou Dobbs must be in heaven.

The Republicans play their base like a master concert pianist. They lead the debate, and us, by the nose, and panting, we follow. We are led right into the trap they’ve set for us.

I’ve begun reading Mark Crispin Miller’s Fooled Again: How the Right Stole the 2004 Election & Why They’ll Steal the Next One Too (Unless We Stop Them). Yes, the title seems alarmist and reactionary, but the evidence cited in just the first chapter is chilling. Maybe there isn’t some grand conspiracy of the Right to steal elections; but the use of a riled-up fanatical base is key to the many election irregularities that went on in Ohio and many other states. (The other key was lots of money.)

When people say “this is like red meat to their base,” it’s taken as a mild form of pandering by politicians to make their voters happy. When I picture this phrase now, I see drooling, growling hounds fighting and tearing into the meat like feral wolves. Then showing up at the polls with blood dripping from their mouths.

Please, please, let’s stop doing the Republicans job for them. On liberal talk radio, in Congress, on blogs. Let’s talk about the issues voters really should be angry and emotional about - not the concocted specter the Republicans are using as their most vicious tool.

[Filed under Conservatism, Immigration, Democratic Politics] [link]

13 Responses to “The Republican Ploy We All Fell For”

BOPnews Says:
April 1st, 2006 at 11:02 am
The Republican Ploy We All Fell For

[I’m back with my occasional bloviating. I’ve been really busy lately, with barely enough time for my own blog. But in the hopes of starting a larger debate with a wider audience, I am cross-posting my latest Left in Lowell…
waittilnextyr Says:
April 1st, 2006 at 11:35 am
Good point, Lynne (and Chris)! Let’s see how the battle plays out in the Senate.

For another issue, big donors carry the clout:

By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff | April 1, 2006

William I. Koch, the yachting enthusiast, donated $500,000. Paul Fireman, the former chief of Reebok, gave $250,000. Michael Egan, the son of the founder of EMC Corp., kicked in $150,000.

Far from the humble world of $10 bills handed to door-knocking environmentalists, these wealthy benefactors have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, the group trying to block construction of 130 wind turbines in the pristine waters off Cape Cod.

An internal fund-raising guide never intended for publication offers a revealing glimpse into how the organization has swelled its coffers with flattery, house parties, and repeated visits with some of the wealthiest residents in the country, many of whom are homeowners and summer residents on the Cape and Islands.

In this crowd, donations of $5,000 are frowned upon as ‘’token gifts” and fund-raisers are expected to net pledges of at least $250,000.
…
waittilnextyr Says:
April 2nd, 2006 at 9:17 am
Maybe the ploy will not work.

WASHINGTON - A slim majority of Americans are open to allowing undocumented workers to obtain some sort of temporary legal status to remain in the United States, with stronger support for the idea among Democrats, younger adults and more educated Americans, a new poll finds.
Overall, 56 percent of Americans favor offering illegal immigrants a shot at some kind of legal status; roughly two-thirds of those ages 18-34 like the idea and an equal share of those with a college education agree, the AP-Ipsos survey found.

While Democrats were more likely to support temporary worker status, with 62 percent favoring the idea, even among Republicans there was majority support, by a narrower 52 percent, according to the poll.
Ziggist Says:
April 3rd, 2006 at 12:19 am
I’m one of those raving voters who hates Bush, hasn’t voted Republican in many years, has often spent my votes on unelectable
candidates just because of my pro-choice stance, and I’m going to be forced to vote Republican this year because of this issue.

I’m onboard to impeach Bush for many many many things but why are the Dems siding with him on this? The only group
that seems to be on my side are the members of the house.
Ryan Adams Says:
April 3rd, 2006 at 3:14 am
2 things:

1. It’s impossible to not talk about this issue. It may be bait to Republicans, but what are we supposed to do? Ignore it? That just doesn’t work - just look at the Swiftboaters.

2. Immigration isn’t a good issue for Republicans: it completely splits them apart. Most of the big money interests favor as little regulation here as possible, most of the republican base would stop at nothing to get the Mexicans off our land (never mind the fact that we stole the land from them in the first place).

So what do the dems do? There’s not much we can do other than staying on message:

It’s impossible to round up all the illegal immigrants and send them back home. There’s about 11 million of them; even if we wanted to round them all up, it would be a human rights and constitutional disaster to actually do it. I don’t think people in the US would favor a US KGB over worker permits.

Therefore, we need to do something that makes sense. A) Do our best to keep the influx of future illegal immigrants to a bare minimum. B) Work on ways to change immigration so less people want to come here illegally (ie get waiting lists down) and more importantly, anyone who comes here earns their citizenship.. I think that message can resonate among a vast majority of people.
Victoria Says:
April 3rd, 2006 at 9:20 am
Having read your comments several times, I’m still not sure what the ploy is. Are you suggesting that immigration is only important because Republicans have made it a distraction from the issues that are truly important? I hope not, as millions and millions of people around the nation think otherwise. Immigration is a hot topic now because those of us who are advocates on this issue have finally found some momentum in the legislature for reform after a twenty year period of living under laws that split millions of families apart, sometimes more than ten years of waiting in line! Current laws only allow 5000 unskilled visas per year, when the Pew Hispanic Center estimates the need at 450,000. People talk about immigrants as though they are “aliens” invading from another planet, instead of people who simply want to work.

Many progressives, who otherwise would care about globalization and the impact that treaties such as NAFTA and CAFTA have on the global economy, do not seem to care much about immigration and haven’t yet understood how it is impacted by a global economy. When we passed NAFTA, we guaranteed rights to employers and investors, but not to workers. The result has been that wages in Mexico, Canada, and the US have fallen. US food exports, sold at low prices due to US government subsidies, have displaced millions of poor Mexican peasants and driven them from their communities. At the same time, many small businesses in Mexico have had to close when large-scale U.S. corporations arrived; the local small businesses could not compete with large-scale U.S. industries. Immigrants don’t take “our” jobs, since we don’t own any jobs. Owners “own” the jobs and they have “rights” to take those jobs to any country in the world. There are no two contiguous countries in the world with a greater income gap than that between the US and Mexico.

So Cardinal Mahoney of Los Angeles, not known for his progressive views on many issues (abortion, gay marriage comes to mind), is rallying around the issue of immigration, one of the main reasons for the large turnout that occurred last week in Los Angeles. It certainly wasn’t because of progressives. Some probably thought that Civil Rights legislation, that occurred in the shadow of the Vietnam War, took people’s eyes off of what was really important. I would say that many extremely important issues can co-exist.

One of the biggest disappointments I’ve had in the last few months was listening to democratic representatives in our state legislature talk about students who need the in-state tuition bill as “disease ridden illegals who came over the border.” They were filled with misinformation and refused to see that these kids were here, through no fault of their own, and just needed a chance. They passed the bill in Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, etc. – those famous hotbeds of revolutionary reform. But not here, in the birthplace of Liberty. Did you know that one of the students in Boston, who actively worked with organizers, had a raid on her home shortly after the vote? Do you know that immigrants in our state “disappear” for days or longer, being held in detention without being able to make calls? Do you know how many battered immigrant women never go for help because they are afraid? We “progressives” would condemn this if it were occurring somewhere else.

When I marched in Boston last Monday, the approximately 4000 people present were mostly Latinos and Irish immigrants. Very few “progressives” joined in, much to my disappointment. I hope, when I march again on April 10th, that others will join us. But if not, we’ll march on our own. We don’t think the Republicans are leading this debate. The Republicans AND Democrats are responding to the inroads we have made in many states across the US and now are in the process of making at the national level. The only “ploy” I see progressives falling for is to adopt the simplistic analysis of the right (“Illegal aliens are lawbreakers. They have no respect for our county, etc) without being concerned with a deeper analysis that includes the exploitation of workers around the world.
Lynne Says:
April 3rd, 2006 at 9:38 am
Victoria: that’s exactly what I would have the Dems talk about in the debate.

I would like to see them stress two things:

1. Why are you Republicans bringing this up NOW? Seems this isn’t a sudden crisis - it’s been around a long time. So, it appears to be a cynical use of this issue to cause a ruckus, exactly the WRONG time to come up with a good policy (see stupid, impractical, immoral hang-’em-all Republican House immigration bill). When you get people all riled up, and you rush to solution, it’s the wrong way to govern.

2. Living wages and globalization are causing this issue. Let’s stop blaming the poor who are coming into this country for an opportunity and start blaming the corporate culture that is exploiting people and their desperation.

I do like the solution the Senate Dems came up with - if non-documented immigrants work hard, pay some fines, and over time, they can earn citizenship. It’s not proposed to be an easy process, but honest illegals will come forward if they know they can stop fearing deportation. They will get in the system. This is highly important. It was the right solution (sorry Ziggist, the Republicans are wrong about this) and did cause a better debate. However, I would rather see this whole thing tabled until we have more sane people in charge of the Congress, not people who cynically use hot-button issues to get their fanatical members to show up to help them cheat to win at the polls (what do you think happened in ‘04?) and to misdirect the media and the nation away from their criminal behavior which is coming back to haunt them. (Not that we couldn’t expect them to do something like this.)

My point is that the blogs, the media, and especially liberal talk radio has been raving about this (for AND against the liberal point of view), therefore helping the Republicans do just that.
sharpchick Says:
April 3rd, 2006 at 10:23 am
We’ve gotta stop calling them “illegals.” That is exactly why the Republicans are winning this war. Why don’t we call murderers, rapists, or other felons “illegal”? Can human being be illegal?

Every time you call a person who is in this country without proper documents “illegal,” they win.
Mr Lynne Says:
April 3rd, 2006 at 12:25 pm
The Republicans control the agenda in the Congress. So when the news starts spending a lot of time on an issue that Congress is debating you have to ask yourself ‘how does this help the Republicans’. In this case I just asked myself ‘what isn’t being talked about in the MSM as a result of all this immigration debate. The answer in this case was the criminal activity by Republicans.

This is not a coincidence. This is, as Eric Alterman calls it, ‘working the refs’.
Lynne Says:
April 3rd, 2006 at 1:43 pm
Sharpchick: good point, one I’ve been guilty of (mostly due to not thinking).

I thought the same thing very recently when I heard someone (on TV maybe?) use the term “undocumented workers.” I thought, what a much better description and much more humanizing. Less knee-jerk emotional. Longer to type, but worth it.
Ziggist Says:
April 3rd, 2006 at 6:15 pm
Undocumented workers is what started nannygate. It’s synonymous with Underground economy, the one
that circumvents the IRS, pays workers in cash, and basically stiffs the rest of us.

The use of illegal describes the crime they have committed. And yes it is a crime to come into the
United States without going through channels.

Maybe we should humanize them by calling them wetbacks again?

But see the REAL runaround is that instead of talking about border control which is the issue that
George Bush has no credibility on we are instead talking about “what do we do with the ones that are already here”.
A simple oberservation exercise by the miltiamen last year convinced many Mexicans that they couldn’t just go back
and forth across the border like they have for years. I guess we should let them do that as an issue of
eminent domain.

As far as I’m concerned the issue of what to do with the ones that are here can be decided after no new ones can get in.
waittilnextyr Says:
April 3rd, 2006 at 10:02 pm
One down, many to go!

Rep. DeLay Won’t Seek Reelection

By Jonathan Weisman and Chris Cillizza
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, April 3, 2006; 10:35 PM

Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), a primary architect of the House Republican majority who became one of the most powerful and feared leaders in Washington, told House allies Monday night he will step down from the House rather than face a reelection fight that appears increasingly unwinnable.

The decision came just three days after his former deputy chief of staff, Tony C. Rudy, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and corruption charges, telling federal prosecutors of a criminal enterprise being run out of DeLay’s leadership offices. Rudy’s plea agreement did not implicate DeLay in any illegal activities, but by placing the influence-buying efforts of disgraced Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff directly in DeLay’s operation, the former aide may have made an already difficult reelection bid all but out of reach.
Victoria Says:
April 4th, 2006 at 7:11 am
Ziggest: You obviously don’t know much about the undocumented workers here in MA. First, nearly all of them have come here through proper channels, with legal visas. Their “crime” is that they failed to return to their home country when the visa expired. Second, you have obviously bought that right wing rhetoric that they don’t pay taxes. I challenge you to find an undocumented immigrant here in Lowell who doesn’t pay taxes. For everyone you find, I will find you ten who do. Don’t you ever read anything about the billions they pay in taxes that they will never receive in benefits - or do you limit your intake of information? Also, please explain to me how they succeed in not paying property taxes (either directly or indirectly through rent), taxes on gas or electricity, or the 5.3% tax on taxable goods and services? Finally, I would like to make a radical suggestion: Let’s “humanize” them because they are human! Do you think that the sum total of the worth of a human being can be summed up in whether they have a visa that has not expired???? Human beings cannot be “illegal.” Illegal is an adjective, not a noun. It is an ugly word used to dehumanize a group a people so that they can be denied justice and because it is easier to harm people when we turn them into objects. Look at history and you will see the truth in that. How else did we justify slavery? How else did the German people allow for the extermination of their Jewish brothers and sisters?

I would also like to say that the right wing has been bashing immigrants for many years, it is not a new thing as many have pointed out. What is new is the restrictionist legislation that was passed by the House on Dec. 16, 2005, that would make all undocumented people (including babies) felons, and would also make any person who provided them with aid into felons as well with a penalty of up to five years in prison and having one’s assests seized. The protests in the street are a result of this Draconian legislation. Also, to be fair, the comprehensive legislation that we would like to see passed was created by a bipartisan group of Senators and Representatives, the most noted being Ted Kennedy and John McCain. This is an issue that has split Republicans, but right here in MA it has split Democrats. In January, right before the in-state tuition bill went down in flames (thanks to Democrats), an amendment was attempted at the last minute. The amendment would require undocumented students to prove that their parents paid taxes. This amendment only lost by 2 votes. Guess how the Lowell representatives (all Democrats) voted? They all voted against the amendment. If even one of our Democrat legislators would have voted for the amendment, it would at least have tied. If two, it would have passed….

April 1, 2006

The Republican Ploy We All Fell For

13 Responses to “The Republican Ploy We All Fell For”

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