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Tea Party Town Hall on Immigration at Jefferson Park
08/15/2013 3:04 PM by John M
Silver Persinger has video from a Tea Party Town Hall on Immigration held this past Monday, August 12 at Jefferson Park: Richmond, Virginia
Speakers included Roy Beck, President NumbersUSA, Helen Marie Taylor, Vice President, Eagle Forum, film maker Ron Maxwell, Republican Representative from Iowa, Congressman Steve King, George Rodriguez, Tea Party Patriots – San Antonio, Texas, Corey Stewart, Chairman at Large, Prince William County Board of Supervisors, from Black American Leadership Alliance, Leah Durant, Founder, and Kevin Martin, and from The Remembrance Project, Maria Espinoza, Founder and Director and Laura Wilkerson.
Wow. The xenophobia kicks off in the first 2 minutes.
@1 – and let me guess, you didn’t watch beyond that two minutes because you immediately decided it was bad?
It’s great that we Americans take such a simple black/white good/bad approach to politics today. Go Team Red! Go Team Blue!
Sadly immigration is way too nuanced of an issue for that type of simplistic approach.
I definitely took a “less nuanced” approach. While on my regular evening dog walk through the Park, I noticed a crowd, a podium and “a pundit”. I carefully approached a random member of the crowd and inquired, “What’s this about?”
She responded, “It’s some sorta Tea Party Coaltion thing…”
Without a moments pause, I responded “It’s just too late in the evening for Politicians.”
I feel like I called it right…and it was a really beautiful evening.
Good old “open minded” Church Hill…..
Just wondering what you progressives would do if someone decided to break into your house and move into the basement.
Undocumented renters so to speak.
Barf. Barf. Barf.
p.s.–niiiiiiice crucifix earrings. very tasteful. I’m sure that Jesus would approve of your body modification.
@Dave Gorman
You are hardly irrelevant when you control the US House of Representatives.
@2. Yes. That is exactly what I did. And I don’t apologize. The Tea Party is not legit and only talks nonsense. They formed as reactionaries to a black President. Even if not everyone in the “party” espouses to racism, it is impossible to separate the two. The “tea party” claims it supports fiscal responsibility but was no where to be found when GWB was President. This is not a coincidence. Kicking off the meeting joking about how we need less people on 95 is rude and is not so subtle in pointing a finger at which people need to go. I hold degrees in history, political science, and education. Watching more of these video clips would have been a waste of my time. I’m more interested in substance, not bombastic hyperbole.
RS, your analogy does not compute. No one is trying to illegally move into your basement. I think you just don’t like the idea of brown people moving in next door to work low paying jobs that you probably aren’t even competing for.
I love when teabillies complain and lament the way progressives aren’t being openminded to teabilly close-mindedness. The irony gets so thick I’m surprised it doesn’t rip a hole in space/time.
#6:
Why be open minded about a bunch of people who are completely intolerant of other people who are black, gay, Hispanic, any other religion than Christian, etc. I could go on….
These folks are just wacko extremists!
@11 – it’s a good thing we don’t have any folks around here looking for jobs isn’t it?
It really is a pathetic commentary on the state of American politics today how not a single response has been about the actual immigration issue but rather an attack on the messenger. It seems today folks figure out who’s talking, look to their handy Fox/MSNBC scorecard to see whether they are supposed to agree or not and then start throwing out the attacks in an attempt to discredit.
We’ve become a nation of lazy thinkers. This is not unique to either party’s faithful but it’s a serious problem. It’s why we get such shitty politicians – they know if they wear a blue/red tie and keep feeding their base bullshit they can keep going to DC and doing the opposite.
Anyone who doesn’t have a dog in the fight should realize that neither of the two parties is really having much of a debate on immigration. They are just trying to figure out how many kickbacks Team Red’s big business backers will need to offset Team Blue’s expected voter gains. The Team Red powers in DC are going to go for anything that keeps wages low at the end of the day.
Quick check – how many of you can name even one issue where you disagree with your normal party’s stance and agree with the other party? (They aren’t progressive / conservative enough on A doesn’t count)
Do you really think it’s possible that we as a country have managed to elect a class of perfectly thinking individuals while simultaneously choosing another group who is wrong on everything? And you wonder why folks are “intolerant” of your views?
Folks, stop with the labels and talk about the issues. Who gives a shit what party someone is affiliated with. If your view is the right one, you should have no problem defending it without the ad hominem attacks right.
My family is living in this immigration nightmare right now. This group came to MY neighborhood to wave signs and spread lies that dehumanized my family. It literally made me sick. Thankfully church hill has a more positive event on the horizon. We will be sharing real life immigration stories and hearing from business leaders August 31 on Libby Hill. I hope to see you there!
Actually a lot of people around here have never held a legit job in their lives, but have found other means of support.
#15 I agree, and hold my party in contempt over many issues. I agree with the “other side” often on a few issues. I am, for better or worse, a free thinker. Moderately libertarian. Pro choice. Etc.
I agree that these people have a right to free speech, but that doesn’t mean I can’t laugh my ass off at them.
@15 – Whoa…comments like that are dangerous!! They go against the mainstream political thinking of the moment, and that means you are actually thinking for yourself!! How dare you! Now you do know to even discuss an issue like this goes against the majority of the local population who follow rote doctrine from “their” side??? Thinking and trying to address an issue – regardless of a political affiliation – almost sounds logical. Thinking and addressing issues sounds almost too good to be true. In fact, almost un-American! Now where did you emigrate from ?
Is nobody seeing the irony of the Tea Party having their discussion in a public park? They want less government but will utilize government facilities? Was an extra police presence needed and funded by tax dollars? Who cleaned up after an event that was hoping to draw hundreds if not thousands? Which privately funded, Tea Party group cleaned up the streets where the gatherers parked of cigarette butts, coffee cups, sodas, beer cans, ……?
Diversity – including diversity of thought – is a beautiful thing.
@20 – considering they already paid taxes towards these services, no.
There’s plenty of hypocrisy on both sides but this isn’t in my book. If their tax dollars have already gone towards something, they might as well use it right?
George Rodriguez what a joke and a disgrace to the “Mexican American” community. He cries that the illegals are taking jobs away but I don’t see him or any other “Mexican American” lining up to work in the hot scorching sun picking vegetables. You don’t see them aspiring to be dish washers or cooks at restaurants. What about all of the Mexican Americans who were born here with the highest high school drop out rates in the country, on welfare because they are too good to work the jobs that only “illegals” take, who struggle with obesity that is costing us US taxpayers billions of dollars in healthcare. So go ahead George, blame it on those that don’t have a voice. Look at your own big fat family lazy asses who are the problem in this great country of ours.
According to Forbes, San Antonio is #3 in Obesity. It takes the tea-baggers to drag a Mexican from fat city SA to speak against his own race. What a joke! Amazing the baggers logic, just because he is Mexican (American), he must be right concerning his own people! Send them all back to Mexico…he cries as he sweats like a pig due to his big fat greasy ass. Oh yea, thrown in few words in Spanish George, that makes it more authentic- like the tacos we ate last night at La Bamba on 18th Street…
Obesity’s associated costs add $93 billion to the nation’s medical bill annually. Each year, 112,000 people die from obesity-related causes, and the condition is responsible for an increased risk of chronic diseases like Type 2 diabetes, cancer and heart disease.