An acquaintance of mine sent me a link to an article titled “Somos Republicans” will not be endorsing Gabriela Mercer in which Somos Republicans expressed that they would not support Gabriela Mercer in a race against Raul Grijalva. I have read about Ms. Mercer’s announcement to run in Arizona’s 7th Congressional District, but I was curious as to why “Somos Republicans” won’t endorse her candidacy. I didn’t understand why any Republican organization would immediately rule out an endorsement without even waiting to see how many candidates there are and which one best aligns with its values. I didn’t know much about “Somos Republicans” so I went to their website and started to analyze it. The more I dug in the more I believe that this group should not be called “Somos Republicans” (We are Republicans) rather “Apenas Republicans” (Barely Republicans). How did I come to this conclusion? Well…
Humane Viable Immigration Solution. Tough immigration is not a conservative “value” but rather an issue. This issue needs to be dealt with in a manner that directly affects the well-being of our community. We believe this issue has been largely ignored, and it has placed Republicans and our community in a predicament which is inconsistent with the economic realities of our Free Market Capitalism, labor demands, and humanitarian tradition. Therefore, it is imperative that we promote a viable solution to this dilemma that is in concert with our economic demands. Such humane and viable solutions ought to resonate with ideals of President Reagan, Bush, and Conservative Think Tanks–such as the Goldwater Institute, the Hoover Institution, and CATO–that, too, have argued that a solution to this predicament is long overdue.
I tried to ignore the incoherence of the statement and try to dissect what “Somos Republicans” is trying to say. But this is tough, because as far as I am aware, Immigration is solved. A person that wants to immigrate into the United States goes to their local consulate or embassy, gets in line and submits an application for entry into the United States, they wait for a visa and when they get it they are free to enter the country and proceed to apply to become a permanent resident and ultimately a US citizen. I believe what they probably wanted to address in the “principle” is “a humane and viable solution to the illegal immigration issues facing our nation.” So why don’t they say that?
“Somos Republicans” then states that “tough immigration” is not a “conservative ‘value’” but an issue; “tough immigration” isn’t an issue either, it is an adjectival phrase absent a noun to modify, but I digress. I assume they are talking about tough immigration policy or laws or legislation or proposals. Anyway, it isn’t tough immigration they are talking about; it’s really “tough anti-illegal immigration policy” that they are addressing. And again “Somos Republicans” fails to use the word illegal. Their “principle” then goes into some rambling about putting “our community” into a predicament.
The bottom line is: There is nothing inconsistent with people wanting the law to be adhered to and enforced. The fact that “Somos Republicans” addresses labor demands and economic demands in the statement proves the shortsightedness of the group; with the national unemployment rate over 9% there is no “labor demand.” I know, I know, illegal immigrants do jobs that Americans won’t do, but if that was the case before it sure isn’t now. “Somos Republicans” also talks a lot about being “humane,” and a “humanitarian tradition.” Has anyone at “Somos Republicans” done some research on the Chinese when they came over to build the railroads or the Irish or the Italians to compare the “humane” treatment they received? The only tradition that I know of is one of working. People worked and they either found some measure of success or they didn’t. And the most important part is that the great majority of immigrants prior to the 1960’s all came to the United States legally. Illegal immigration as a policy issue is a rather recent phenomena.
Finally “Somos Republicans” throws around names like Presidents Reagan and Bush, sprinkle in the Cato and Goldwater Institutes, and the Hoover Institution and Presto! “Somos Republicans” has established its bona fides as a Republican entity.
But let’s get back to why “Somos Republicans” won’t endorse Gabriela Mercer. Well they NEVER TELL YOU!! They mention Ms. Mercer twice in the article; once in the Headline and once in the first sentence when they mention that the Republican Party needs to find a better candidate. This is a bloggers version of a drive-by shooting. “Somos Republicans” leaves the reader contemplating Ms. Mercer’s candidacy while they continue on with statistics from a Pew Hispanic Center survey trying to convince the Arizona Republican Party, and anyone else unfortunate enough to be reading the article, that 80% of Hispanics are against “SB1070 type of laws”. (An assertion that is specious at best and dishonest at worst.) And, that no one should support any candidate that favors SB1070.
There is only one problem. The Pew study that “Somos Republicans” diligently cites over and over again was conducted in 2008. As a refresher, SB1070 was passed and signed by Governor Brewer in 2010. So whatever questions were asked by the Pew Hispanic Center, they were not in regards to SB1070.
In addition to this small, seemingly insignificant fact; is the fact that in the same Pew Study, only 44% of the over 2000 people that were interviewed, were US citizens and registered to vote.
“Somos Republicans” then let’s their target audience, the Arizona Republican Party, know that any Hispanic who supports SB1070 is a “token” “yes-man” and that these Hispanics don’t know how Latinos really feel. This is the tired old meme taken right out of the leftist book of tactics and is nothing more than an attempt to marginalize and silence anyone who disagrees with “Somos Republicans” view on illegal immigration: if you can convince everyone that pro-SB1070 Hispanics are “tokens” then they aren’t worth listening too because they are a super small minority. To discredit the people who disagree with you by calling them names is something worthy of a 4th grade playground; How truly juvenile.
Then… the coup de grâce!! “Somos Republicans” tells the Republican Party that it must “prove to the increasing number of Hispanic voters that all Republicans are not a bunch of bigots who want to empty a clip on “illegals.” So, the burden of proof is on Republicans to prove they are NOT a bunch of bigots. This can be accomplished by denouncing those that “Somos Republicans” says should be denounced. (For the Record: I do believe that Virgil Peck should be held to account for what he said.) And then mention Russell Pearce, J.D. Hayworth, Tom Tancredo, and Steve King, so no one gets confused about who “Somos Republicans” considers extremists. And finally…. the digestif to wash the whole thing down, “Somos Republicans” reminds everyone that they are Ronald Reagan Republicans and want to restore the Party of Abe Lincoln.
First, to the Republican Party: Be aware of what this group stands for: AMNESTY! If you are pro amnesty then you have found the right Latino group for you. If you chose to affiliate yourself with “Somos Republicans” be aware that you are taking the side of illegal aliens over law abiding immigrants and citizens (Somos is anti-SB1070 and Pro-Sanctuary City), you are taking the side of illegal students from foreign countries over US Citizens from out of state (Somos is Pro-DREAM Act), and you will be affiliated with the pro-amnesty movement. I am a Hispanic that believes in the rule of law and supports efforts such as Arizona SB1070 to control the illegal immigration crisis in the United States. I am one of the tokens of whom “Somos Republicans” speaks, but I am not alone. Ignore me at your peril.
To Gabriela Saucedo Mercer: I do not know you personally but, as they say; you can tell a lot about a person by who his/her “enemies” are. And if Somos Republicans is your “enemy” then I support you in your efforts to unseat Raul Grijalva in Arizona Congressional District 7 as should every republican in the state.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjheHD-dhpY&NR=1
ReplyDeleteWell, Ronaldo, I attempted to read about you in your BIO, but there is nothing there.
ReplyDeleteYou say in this post that you are a Hispanic. Based on what you have written, it appears you are more of a HINO.
You also say the survey mentioned was from 2008. Here is another survey, by Republicans, that says basically the same thing. You CANNOT dispute this one!
http://immigrationmexicanamerican.blogspot.com/
Additionally, there is no such thing as "Amnesty" in any legislation, not even the one in Reagan's day. Instead, the process outlined in that legislation and in current legislation requires that the applicant be crime free, working and wait about 10 years for the process to complete. My brother in law went through the process in the 1990s so I am very familiar with the process and the waiting period.
Please do some research. Please provide more details in your bio about your journey from birth to current so those of us who are actually Latinos and who do care about this great country of ours and believe in Humanity should listen to someone like you with opposing views.
Doesn't a club, organization have to go through a process of getting chartered by the State's Republican Party in order to use the word Republican within it's organization's name? I know my state does.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend that signed up to receive their emails & forwarded me one a while back. They claim to be the largest Hispanic Republican organization in their press release & asked my friend if he was. He said he wasn't & thinks they use their email list to justify how many members they have since my friend never signed an affidavit like we do to be a member of an executive committee or state party.
The email I got pertained to their "Hispanic Friendly & Unfriendly" List of candidates in 2010. It was all based on a candidates position of SB1070. Now I am ok for Republicans to criticize Republicans for their vote or statement on any issue (ie. RINOs), however a real Republican organization would never put Democrats on the same list. Even though it's stated that the list is not considered an endorsement it sure looks like it when you put Dems on the same list. What other Republican organization does that?!
I may not agree on every position or statement Republicans make & will be openly critical of them, but if my Republican candidate is facing a Democrat I will do everything to get my Republican elected. One disagreement on a Republican's position far outweighs all the leftest positions of a Democrat.
Oh, they also say they are a "watchdog" group. All the watchdog groups I know don't have Republican or Democrat in their name. Other Republican individuals who have started political organizations have refused to put Republican in their name because of the process they have to go through in order to officially have Republican in their name so they have opted to choose words that consist of Conservative, etc.
WOW! Ronaldo Regan, my hat's off to you! I am an American of Mexican origin. Yes, I came from Mexico....LEGALLY of course! Which is rare these days.
ReplyDeleteAnd you are so right about how we are offended by those who come here illegally. We don't like things done the criminal way. Those who do are for the most part criminally oriented, liers, cheaters and will do anything to get what they want.
Not all people in Mexico are dishonest,and not all who come here illegally are good people. Many have criminal records.
No, I, as a naturalized American citizen do not support criminal behavior:No matter where they
come from or what excuses they give.
Thank you for standing for what's right. You're a terrific writer. Your clear thinking shows.
Dee, it is not surprising that instead of addressing the points I pointed out in my article your first instinct is to call me a name. How very adult of you. The article pointed out some of the juvenile tactics of SOMOS and how they will rake anyone over the coals that disagrees with them. Apparently you attended the same training seminar as they did. As far as the survey goes, thanks for the information, but it still does not excuse this organization's attempt to deceive readers into thinking that the survey they cited addressed SB1070. The only thing you have done is prove my point of how easy it would have been for SOMOS to do a little research and find the same survey you found. I never made any conclusions based on the the report referenced in the article, SOMOS DID!! For your information I am of Mexican decent, my father was naturalized and my mother is a permanent resident. I grew in the south side of Phoenix and joined the Army when I was 19 years old, I served in the army for 25 years before I retired. It is sad that you are unwilling to consider my points until you are satisfied I am not a "HINO." Ridiculous!! I hope you don't believe everything you read; just because I gave you my bio doesn't prove a thing, and it doesn't change the conclusions that were reached in the article.
ReplyDeleteIvan, I don't know about the rules in Arizona, and I won't comment on SOMOS' membership since I have no information and anything I say would be pure speculation. All I know is that Gabriela Mercer agrees with all the SOMOS principles except for support of SB1070 and that was enough for SOMOS to declare that they would not endorse her. Bear in mind that Gabriela is the first Republican Candidate to announce and that there are no other candidates at this point and that a primary still has to ahppen. So this move by SOMOS was a clear message to any Republican that he/she must be anti-1070 as a litmus test to determine whether or not SOMOS will extend an endorsement. Epic Fail on SOMOS' part.
ReplyDeleteanonymous, thanks for the kind words.
ReplyDeleteI just read the rantings of ignoramus Dee. That's the typical Alinsky school for radicals.
ReplyDeleteTake the offensive first, never mind thinking
rationally. Deep down they know they're wrong
and they try to make others think they are the
ones who are wrong. In the first place they
are not too bright so they are easily brainwashed
by the radical liers. Too bad they can't think.
They only use their emotions.
Dee and the so-called "somos Republicans" are no such thing. They wish to fit in but don't. She sounds very vulgar, & mentally undeveloped. I notice that of the Mexican descendants who only hang around with their own kind. They never meet other people of other ethnics and educational backgrounds.
ReplyDeleteI recently heard a group of illegals and their supporters at the Capitol, they had a low class accent that sounded totally vulgar. Their comments were as Ronaldo said above: Very childish..that's what I mean by mentally undeveloped. They are mostly like those who call themselves chicanos. Members of La Raza and claim to be the people of Aztlan.
Actually they are pitiful! They never develop
an individual identity. They don't think they
are good enough to be just USA Americans, they have feelings of inferiority given to them by their illegal parents or grandparents who came to the USA illegally and know they are outside
the law. For that reason they only cling to
people of the same background. They communicate
as a pack, learn the same accent, have the same ignorant conversations, don't read good books,
literature of any other country. They limit their ability to the mythical rants and the lies
told by the Aztlaners. It's really sad to see
them become so violently rude, low class, vulgar, offensive to others who are not like them. I've seen them talk to strangers with such rudeness. That only shows the kind of home
they come from.
I remember the old Mexican citizens had dignity,
good manners and such aura of CLASS! No more, these people at the Capitol even seem mentally unstable by the way they behave.
I was watching a You Tube of Wednesday 3/17 it
was of AZ Attorney General Tom Horne. I could hardly believe the scene. La gente baja con tal modales de gente de la calle! Yes, people of low breeding, the group of thugs were loudly shouting "RACIST" to Horne! They were the ones who sounded racists! Besides showing their low upbringing, running like the animal packs jumping like monkeys in front of Mr Horne. I could hardly believe their bad manners. The sad thing was, a cute little girl of probably 3 years of age was being pulled by the hand. She was holding a poster and the mother was pulling her so hard to keep up with her. I can not understand why they would teach a little child such hatred for someone else! Poor little children. They grow up to be Dee-Dees.
Actually what they did is show the world who the ugly, low class, rude, under developed, demanding illegals are really like. Forget
about those who say: "These are just good people who only want a better life for their families" No such good person would do that in
a public street, in front of little children
and mature, educated adults. Makes one be ashamed of being of Mexican origin, with that kind of mal educados gritando vulgarmente tales horrores! Ellos son sus peores enemigos!