[Vision2020] Fw: FW: This says it all

Tue May 22 18:40:33 PDT 2007

Pat --

This letter wasn't printed because it's ahistorical nonsense from beginning
to end.

"Immigration law" as we know it didn't begin until 1875, just as the last
wave of Irish immigrants made it to the States, and -- instead of setting
quotas or requiring registration, it just simply prevented people from
countries not considered "white" enough. Indeed, the country didn't really
start differentiating between citizens and non-citizens until the early 20th
century.

Ellis Island processed millions of immigrants; that processing was largely
pro forma.

Wait, no.

I am not going to respond to another ten paragraphs of racist, right-wing
claptrap as though it were reasonable, or as though you lived in anything
vaguely resembling the real world. I simply suggest that before you clog our
inboxes with this sort of thing again, you -- oh, I don't know -- check to
see if it has any basis whatsoever in reality first?

-- ACS

On 5/22/07, Pat Kraut <pkraut at moscow.com> wrote:
>
>
>    Fwd: FW: This says it all
>
>
>
>
>
> I think this lady says it all and very well!
> *Newspapers simply won't publish letters to the editor which they either
> deem politically incorrect (read below) or which does not agree with the
> philosophy they're pushing on the public. This woman wrote a great letter to
> the editor that should have been published but with your help it will get
> published via cyberspace!
> New Immigrants
> From: "David LaBonte"
>
> My wife, Rosemary, wrote a wonderful letter to the editor of the OC
> Register which, of course, was not printed. So, I decided to "print" it
> myself by sending it out on the Internet. Pass it along if you feel so
> inclined.
> Dave LaBonte (signed)
>
>
> Written in response to a series of letters to the editor in the Orange** County
> Register:
>
> Dear Editor:
>
> So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this land is made
> up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one, suggests we should tear down the
> Statue of Liberty because the people now in question aren't being treated
> the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of entry.
> Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people like
> Mr..Lujan why today's American is not willing to accept this new kind of
> immigrant any longer. Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas of
> Europe to come to the United States, people had to get off a ship and stand
> in a long line in New York and be documented. Some would even get down on
> their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They made a pledge to uphold the
> laws and support their new country in good and bad times. They made learning
> English a primary rule in their new American households and some even
> changed their names to blend in with their new home.
> They had waved good bye to their birth place to give their children a new
> life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilate
> into one culture.
> Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labor laws to
> protect them. All they had were the skills and craftsmanship they had
> brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity. Most of their
> children came of age when World War II broke out. My father fought along
> side men whose parents had come straight over from Germany, Italy, France
> and Japan. None of these 1st generation Americans ever gave any thought
> about what country their parents had come from. They were Americans fighting
> Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan. They were defending the United
> States of America as one people. When we liberated France, no one in those
> villages were looking for the French-American or the German American or the
> Irish American. The people of France saw only Americans. And we carried one
> flag that represented one country. Not one of those immigrant sons would
> have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving it to
> represent who they were. It would ha ve been a disgrace to their parents who
> had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants truly knew what it meant
> to be an American. They stirred the melting pot into one red, white and blue
> bowl.
> And here we are in 2006 with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same
> rights and privileges. Only they want to achieve it by playing with a
> different set of rules, one that includes the entitlement card and a
> guarantee of being faithful to their mother country. I'm sorry, that's not
> what being an American is all about. I believe that the immigrants who
> landed on Ellis Island in the early 1900's deserve better than that for all
> the toil, hard work and sacrifice in raising future generations to create a
> land that has become a beacon for those legally searching for a better life.
> I think they would be appalled that they are being used as an example by
> those waving foreign country flags.
> And for that suggestion about taking down the Statue of Liberty, it
> happens to mean a lot to the citizens who are voting on the immigration
> bill. I wouldn't start talking about dismantling the United States just
> yet.
> (signed) Rosemary LaBonte
> P. S. Pass this on to everyone you know!!! KEEP THIS LETTER MOVING!!
> I hope this letter gets read by millions of people all across the nation!!
> *
>
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