CPAC Day 1: Is it unpatriotic that I want a Corona?
| By Conventionette - Feb 9th, 2006 at 5:04 pm EST |
| Also listed in: Campus Progress Blog | Undercover at CPAC 2006 |
With my bow-tie count at a disappointingly low four sightings, I've resorted to listening to actual content to find some substance for this blog.
After what felt like an eternity of panels discussing the conservative response to immigration, I'm starting to think that maybe Stephen Colbert was recruited by conservatives to talk about his dome plan on The Colbert Report, because that's pretty much exactly what a lot of these panelists want to do: build a big wall around the country. Literally. This morning, Colin Hanna, president of Let Freedom Ring, Inc. (submit that one to the CP euphemistic policy naming contest…), advocated the construction of a state-of-the-art, technologically-driven wall around all US borders. Frankly, his website--www.WeNeedAFence.com--pretty much says it all. Congressman J.D. Hayworth (R-TX), whose ridiculous radio voice made it hard to concentrate on his actual message, tried to scare the shit out of the audience by telling us that "there's no way to sugarcoat it--it's an invasion." Um, right. Especially on the Canadian side, eh?
Chris Simcox, president of the infamous gun-toting Minutemen, tried to convince us that all he really cares about is helping immigrants--his organization's armed vigilante defense of the Mexican border is really an effort to help Mexican families, etc. Fortunately, I've not been here long enough to buy that, nor have I been brainwashed enough yet to believe his claim that "there are WMDs coming across [American] borders every night." Keep trying, Chris! Maybe sometime soon this "Conservative Pride" sticker will start seeping into my skin and I'll suddenly recognize the need to deport the 2 million some immigrants working in the US.
Phyllis Schlafly, beacon of craziness, hijacked her panel discussion, pontificating on the evils of immigrant labor for about three times longer than her scheduled time slot. Sweet. Here's one gem from her lengthy diatribe: "America wants immigrants who wants to be 100% American and speak our language and want to assimilate--those are the only kind of people we want to admit into the country." So much for diversity. I also learned that there are no immigrants in St. Louis. I'm not exactly sure how Ms. Schlafly came to that conclusion, but she seemed pretty happy about it since "the dishes get washed in the restaurants, the sheets get washed in the hotels, the produce gets picked…"
Two delectable immigration morsels from Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies:
"Guest immigration is the Nigerian email scam of immigration laws."
"Immigrants are people too."
More later on the much-anticipated panel entitled "The Moral Issue of Racism," how Labor Secretary Elaine Chao is boring, and my final swag-count for Day 1.
After what felt like an eternity of panels discussing the conservative response to immigration, I'm starting to think that maybe Stephen Colbert was recruited by conservatives to talk about his dome plan on The Colbert Report, because that's pretty much exactly what a lot of these panelists want to do: build a big wall around the country. Literally. This morning, Colin Hanna, president of Let Freedom Ring, Inc. (submit that one to the CP euphemistic policy naming contest…), advocated the construction of a state-of-the-art, technologically-driven wall around all US borders. Frankly, his website--www.WeNeedAFence.com--pretty much says it all. Congressman J.D. Hayworth (R-TX), whose ridiculous radio voice made it hard to concentrate on his actual message, tried to scare the shit out of the audience by telling us that "there's no way to sugarcoat it--it's an invasion." Um, right. Especially on the Canadian side, eh?
Chris Simcox, president of the infamous gun-toting Minutemen, tried to convince us that all he really cares about is helping immigrants--his organization's armed vigilante defense of the Mexican border is really an effort to help Mexican families, etc. Fortunately, I've not been here long enough to buy that, nor have I been brainwashed enough yet to believe his claim that "there are WMDs coming across [American] borders every night." Keep trying, Chris! Maybe sometime soon this "Conservative Pride" sticker will start seeping into my skin and I'll suddenly recognize the need to deport the 2 million some immigrants working in the US.
Phyllis Schlafly, beacon of craziness, hijacked her panel discussion, pontificating on the evils of immigrant labor for about three times longer than her scheduled time slot. Sweet. Here's one gem from her lengthy diatribe: "America wants immigrants who wants to be 100% American and speak our language and want to assimilate--those are the only kind of people we want to admit into the country." So much for diversity. I also learned that there are no immigrants in St. Louis. I'm not exactly sure how Ms. Schlafly came to that conclusion, but she seemed pretty happy about it since "the dishes get washed in the restaurants, the sheets get washed in the hotels, the produce gets picked…"
Two delectable immigration morsels from Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies:
"Guest immigration is the Nigerian email scam of immigration laws."
"Immigrants are people too."
More later on the much-anticipated panel entitled "The Moral Issue of Racism," how Labor Secretary Elaine Chao is boring, and my final swag-count for Day 1.
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Great job though Mz. Conventionette! Try not to get too visibly angry (it will be tough) and take your time to talk to the craziest of the tablers... they drop some great quotes and sport some of the most imaginative bumper stickers, t-shirts and buttons...
IT is unpatriotic to support this administration which hurts national security by authorizing leaking of CIA agents, taking money from a felon, telling the public confidential information about a foiled terrorist attack, getting caught in lies, not going trough FISA to wiretap which has resulted in all the attention to it, showing the weaknesses in the response to Katrina, depending on mideast oil, putting our country in massive debt, stretching the military too thin on an unnecessary war, cutting funding for education and healthcare, lagging in math and science. Supporting the erosion of the Constitution.