Sunday, October 04, 2009

A few thoughts from Teddy Roosevelt on immigration.

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Lately here locally, there's been a lot of fuss about Tim "The Liar" Leavitt's bogus hispanic endorsement... and the non-existent power of the few hispanics in Clark County who actually can vote.

This makes Mr. Roosevelt's words startlingly appropriate in the face of the hyphenated Americanism so embraced by "The Liar" and his supporters.

It is the height of bigotry for anyone to vote against anyone because of their color, or gender.

Correspondingly, it is equally the act of a bigot to vote FOR anyone because of those characteristics as well.

Tim "The Liar" Leavitt may be proud that he manipulated the city council into doing his bidding the same way he scammed the so-called hispanic vote.

But if he is, he shouldn't be. In fact, he shouldn't be any happier about that endorsement then he should be the bigotry of any race-based group supporting him, like, for example, white supremacists.

These words came to mind as I pondered this. It's a shame they didn't come to Leavitt's mind as well.

"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith, becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person’s becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American…

There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag…

We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language…

and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.”

Theodore Roosevelt, 1907
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