COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Friday, September 21, 2007

Are You Elite or Ordinary?


Gingrich: immigration divides “elites” and ordinary citizens
By Bob Dart | Thursday, September 20, 2007, 02:51 PM The Border Line

The immigration issue delineates “one of the most fundamental dividing lines in American life” between the “elites” and ordinary citizens, Newt Gingrich said Thursday, in a breakfast with reporters.

The average American wants the borders tightly policed and those who cross illegally sent home, explained the former House Speaker from Georgia. The elites — whom he defined as the national media, Washington politicians and the political class of consultants and commentators — are in opposition.

“The average American is not for an anti-immigrant policy in this country,” said Gingrich.

But these ordinary citizens want immigrants to enter the country legally, become Americans when they get here, and become immersed in English classes, not enrolled in bilingual education, he said.

“The elites are not for assimilation,” said Gingrich. “They’re not going to enforce the borders.”

Average Americans have a “deep belief in English as the official language,” said Gingrich. “Elites” see this as an an “anathema.”

The “elites” believe the ordinary citizens are “rubes” and dismiss their opinions on immigration, Gingrich said. He said this attitude can be found in Bush administration as well as among liberal Democrats.

64 comments:

  1. Not only do the elites dismiss the rubes' opinions on immigration but dismiss their opinions on everything.

    Except for in an election year of course.

    So I'm a rube, eh? Huh, go figure.

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  2. Never having been a Neocon, you're not unhappy about being a Rubecon, eh Sam?

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  3. The Elites; I hear them at their luncheons (CFR, National Press Club, Washington Institute, et al) and what strikes in many cases, is the lack of gravitas. Often, the speakers and questioners show less curiosity, intellect and informed knowledge than the average EB regular. The same can be said of our political masters who are so busy raising money for reelection that they have no time for learning the issues.

    Of course, those of us who do are often accused of being lazy, non-productive dilettantes. Oh well, some rubes like NASCAR, some like the Elephant Bar.

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  4. The Dream Act:
    EveryRube's Nightmare.

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  5. Bennet was talking about being the person that turned Newt on to some highly influencial book.

    Then came the punch line:
    None other than Ariana Huffington was the person that first told Bill about the book!

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  6. Justice Department Settles Voting Rights Lawsuit With the City of Walnut...
    The settlement agreement with the city of Walnut, which still must be approved ... in voters not being able to access the polls or cast an informed ballot. ...

    The settlement agreement with the city of Walnut, which still must be approved by a panel of three judges, requires the city to provide all voting materials and assistance in Chinese and Korean as well as in English, and to permit the Justice Department to monitor future elections.
    ---
    Since 2002, the Division has brought twice as many lawsuits to enforce the language minority provisions of the Act as it brought in the preceding 23 years combined.

    Under this Administration, the Division also has filed the first cases in its history on behalf of Filipino, Haitian, and Vietnamese American voters.
    ---
    Further cementing Bush and gang's first place standing for being the worst Presidency of my lifetime.

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  7. Talk about selective enforcement!
    While justice was enforcing mandatory Multiculturalism, GWB was busily making a mockery of our immigration laws, the better to make us more like Mexico, faster.

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  8. Deuce:
    Guys in my unit in Korea were always using the term "STRAC" to describe something done right to the book, and beyond.
    I always wondered why that was:
    Kaplan says the got the reputation for being that way, cause they were!
    ...something about it being important when you're flying around with enough nukes to wipe out Germany, not to engage in a lot of fun and games, navy cowboy pilot style!

    Had some real interesting things to say about the AF, B-2's Warthogs, and ALL the services, really.
    Hewitt probly has some of the 3 hours available online by now.

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  9. desert rat said...
    Had a KATUSA roommate for a while. Nice enough guy, well kept, studied like a machine, always another exam.

    In any case, he was sure that Korea was going to come to dominate the United States, economicly. The size of the differental between our countries made no difference to the fellow, Koreans were so much better, he knew, it'd make up the difference.

    A well educated man, young man I guess, but an sterling example of how perceptive realities shape how people think.
    ---
    Doug said...
    What year was that, 'Rat?
    I shared a Barracks w/quite a few KATUSA's.

    Back in 67, they had not yet acquired the Niponese 'Tude.

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  10. Says the Muzzie Islands of the Southern Philippines have been a great series of successes, little reported on.

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  11. Spitzer Policy Will Let Illegal Immigrants Get Driver's Licenses -

    Illegal immigrants in New York will be allowed to obtain New York State driver's licenses under a new policy that the Spitzer administration is expected to announce shortly, a source said.

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  12. Opponents of the proposed changes said restrictions on giving licenses to illegal immigrants help to prevent identity theft and thwart terrorist attacks. They note that the September 11, 2001 plane hijackers had at least 35 licenses, which helped them to rent cars and open bank accounts.

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  13. Early 80's, doug. '83 or'84, I guess. Quite a cultural modification program, more for them than for US, but indightful for me.

    Tried to explain to him that the land between the lanes of the US interstate hiway system, was larger than all of SouK, and lay fallow, all the time.

    Though we had men and equipment, to cut the weeds, regularly.

    Not duplicated in Iraq, no one with MacArthur's ability to see reality in a position of Authority, anymore.

    He understood stage management

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  14. I’m curious,

    In earlier days, what would happen when an "undocumented" mexican "accidentally" stepped into a cattle ranch in Texas? Would not our rancher shoot that "undocumented" mexican point blank in the head and leave that undocumented carcass for vultures to feed on? That was good environmental policy. What am I missing here?

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  15. Generational Change, my goy boy:
    Now Larsen would offer him one of his Dotters!

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  16. Well, Doug, thank god we have el al bob keeping the border safe with Canada.

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  17. Yeah, talk about exclusionists!
    But how about Sun Valley?

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  18. Try whistling that tune in Whistler.

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  19. I met a Canuck here in a wheelchair from some sports-related injury.
    Had a place in Whistler and a Condo here.
    Son did Helicopter-drops to get to his preferred slopes.

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  20. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  21. Did my skiing down the Grand Canyon. I’m keeping to the art galleries in Sedona, thanks.

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  22. I don’t ski. That's for the common folks.

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  23. Sedona:

    http://www.visitsedona.com

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  24. Yeah, but where did Sedona come from?
    Your trip w/your mum?

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  25. Sedona is about a 2 hr drive from the Grand Canyon.

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  26. Yeah, but ain't you a Canuck, at least for a while?

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  27. I wouldn’t fight in the Canadian Army. So, no.

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  28. Mətušélaḥ said...

    I’m curious,

    In earlier days, what would happen when an "undocumented" mexican "accidentally" stepped into a cattle ranch in Texas?

    They put him to work, cheap.

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  29. You're almost worse than Trish w/your ambiguous answers!
    ...almost.

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  30. Matt Lauer:
    Don't use the word "Password" for your Password!

    Don't leave your list of passwords taped on your monitor.

    Don't pee into the wind.

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  31. wee use pee when we get a Coral Rash.
    or
    Jellyfish bite!
    Now I can't remember which!

    Maybe that Snakebit guy shoulda peed into his mouth?

    Under the circumstances, given the difficulty of that manuvoure (trying to spell like Peter UK, rip)
    I guess he should ask a mate to pee into his mouth.

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  32. "Sure, Dude,
    Always glad to help!
    Say Ahhh..."

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  33. Sorry,
    Forgot you're a Dentist.

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  34. Hey!
    Why don't we do a Transgender thread?

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  35. ...keep up with the schoolkiddies under the helpful tutelage of the NEA.

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  36. Doug,

    It's just a matter of time, but Tes always join in on the pee fest.

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  37. Looks to me like a girl that knows how to strum them strings.

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  38. I do love that face.
    ...and then the other parts.
    Hope it's not your wife, but a guys gotta do...

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  39. Knowledge gleaned from last night's Coast to Coast Show on serial killers--if you got a bed wetting, animal abusing, fire bug for a kid, and you beat the crap out of him, you'll have problems later. Get professional help immediately, for the both of you.

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  40. I've always thought of myself as an extra-ordinary rube, an eor.

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  41. I certainly qualify as ordinary on Newt's immigration criterion and have always identified with the common man. Common is not in any way a perjorative in my vocabulary. Robert Zimmerman put it pretty well

    Now I'm just common and average too
    The same as him and a bit like you
    I'm everybody's brother and son
    I aint no different than anyone
    There aint no use in talking to me
    It's just like talkin to you


    It's not clear if Star Simpson is elite or ordinary. My guess is that she wants to be an elite

    BOSTON — An MIT student with a fake bomb strapped to her chest was arrested at gunpoint Friday at Logan International Airport and later claimed it was artwork, officials said.

    Star Simpson, 19, had a computer circuit board and wiring in plain view over a black hooded sweat shirt she was wearing, said State Police Maj. Scott Pare, the commanding officer at the airport.

    "She said that it was a piece of art and she wanted to stand out on career day," The device had wires connected to a battery, allowing it to light up, he said. Simpson also had Play-Doh in her hands, he said.

    She was arrested about 8 a.m. outside Terminal C, home to United Airlines, Jet Blue and other carriers.

    A Massachusetts Port Authority staffer manning an information booth in the terminal became suspicious when Simpson — wearing the device — approached to ask about an incoming flight, Pare said. Simpson then walked outside, and the information booth attendant notified a nearby trooper.

    The trooper, joined by others with submachine guns, confronted her at a traffic island in front of the terminal.


    Or maybe the entrance requirements for MIT have been dumbed down dramatically in recent years.

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  42. "She's lucky to be in a cell as opposed to the morgue."

    Ah, to die for art.

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  43. US Resumes Blackwater Convoys in Iraq
    By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer

    5 hours ago

    BAGHDAD - American convoys under the protection of Blackwater USA resumed on Friday, four days after the U.S. Embassy suspended all land travel by its diplomats and other civilian officials in response to the alleged killing of civilians by the security firm.

    A top aide to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had earlier conceded it may prove difficult for the Iraqi government to follow through on threats to expel Blackwater and other Western security contractors.

    The aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation into Sunday's incident was ongoing, said a way out of the Blackwater crisis could be the payment of compensation to victims' families and an agreement from all sides on a new set of ground rules for their operations in Iraq.

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  44. Word History: Old English fr, the ancestor of our word fear, meant "calamity, disaster," but not the emotion engendered by such an event. This is in line with the meaning of the prehistoric Common Germanic word *fraz, "danger," which is the source of words with similar senses in other Germanic languages, such as Old Saxon and Old High German fr, "ambush, danger," and Old Icelandic fr, "treachery, damage." Scholars have determined the form and meaning of Germanic *fraz by working backward from the forms and the meanings of its descendants. The most important cause of the change of meaning in the word fear was probably the existence in Old English of the related verb fran, which meant "to terrify, take by surprise." Fear is first recorded in Middle English with the sense "emotion of fear" in a work composed around 1290.

    Keep 'em out
    Fence 'em off
    Herd 'em up
    Ship 'em home
    Rawhide!

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  45. WHIT: US Resumes Blackwater Convoys in Iraq

    Thus the Bush Administration has given up even the pretense of Iraqi sovereignty.

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  46. They're going to rewrite the Rules.
    Less combative, more Peacekeeping.
    Especially for the civilians.
    Comes in the negotiations concerning the December 31 2007 expiration of the UN Occupation Authorization.

    Mr Maliki and his Parliment have to sign-on, or the house of cards could come tumbling down. Can't be having that.

    Stay the Course!
    especially now that's it has changed

    Bet on the results of the four years of work expended, have faith that the US Military did its' very best to get the Iraqi Army prepared.
    Prepped for the final transistion to Soveriegnty, with the Iraqi Army leading the way, forward!

    On Schedule, to Standard!

    Success, one step at a time, incremental though it may be.

    30,000 troops home for the 4th of July
    We can have a Parade!!

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  47. Do you think that with a name like, "Rufus," I could masquerade as "Elite?"

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  48. I can't answer that in an unbiased way, 'cause my sister had a Guinea pig named Rufus, and I can't get that cute little critter out of my mind when I hear his name!
    Too bad I killed him!

    ...let him chew up one of those plastic canes you used to get when you put your nickel into the March of Dimes Bottles.

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