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Tom Tancredo Ready for His Spotlight

By Jeralyn, Section Other Politics
Posted on Tue Feb 01, 2005 at 12:54:59 PM EST
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Colorado Congressman and chief immigration foe Tom Tancredo is ready to assume his role as "most colorful" Colorado politician now that Ben Nighthorse Campbell has departed. Denver's alternative weekly, Westword, interviewed the Congressman recently, here's the exchange:

Q: With Ben Nighthorse Campbell gone, any truth to the rumor that you're going to declare yourself Native American?

A: I've got the Harley to prove it. I'm calling myself Tom Tom Tancredo. And I came up with that all by myself.

[link via Walter in Denver with a hat tip to Colorado Politics and Makes Me Ralph.]

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    Tom Tancredo Ready for His Spotlight | 27 comments (27 topical)
    Re: Tom Tancredo Ready for His Spotlight (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Feb 01, 2005 at 01:27:31 PM EST
    It's a shame you chose the most idiotic statement in the short exchange to post openly, but thank you for the link to the rest of it. This guy is not wrong when he says immigration reform needs to be a serious issue in future elections. And hey, if he's annoying Karl Rove, he can't be all bad, right?

    Re: Tom Tancredo Ready for His Spotlight (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Feb 01, 2005 at 01:32:02 PM EST
    that was the only point of interest. Otherwise, it wasn't even worth a mention.

    Re: Tom Tancredo Ready for His Spotlight (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Feb 01, 2005 at 02:04:25 PM EST
    Why not make jokes and stupid puns of the most underpriveleged people at the fringes of US society? These are people who have in fact suffered genocide and attacks on their culture and children as recently as the 1950s (and probably since). These are people without hospitals or ambulances, without phones in may cases, with the lowest longevity of any racial category, with lousy diets, little in the way of sanitation, and who have LOST something like $9 Billion due to BLM/BIA mismanagement. What a perfect target!! Why not make fun of the poor? After all, they aren't rich. They aren't white. They aren't politically powerful. But they do happen to fight for the US in large numbers. So why not attack our soldiers? Tom Tom Tancredo beat the drum for the Iraq invasion -- how come he makes fun of so many soldiers doing the fighting and dying? And from there go on to justpaul's attack on poor, hardworking immigrants, and you just have to ask why all this concern among $R to attack the poor, the non-white, the foreign, and the indigenous? Bigots, one and all. That's the obvious answer, and it rings true again and again. And justpaul, where do you live? Do you even have anything to do with immigration, or are you just the purveyor of rumor, like the rumor of Social Security's impending death (from government stealing of the program's funding)? If you couldn't run deficits, if you couldn't claim bankruptcies, if you couldn't hire corrupt lawyers and governments, and vote-fraud companies to install them, if the corporations had to pay their taxes and not foist their real costs on the public, how rich and special would you be? You would just be white. Bush without his machine would just be stupid and white. Tom Tom Tancredo would still, har-har-har, just be a bigot in a suit. Had he been named Norman, and joked that he was N*gger Norman, the reaction would have been quite a bit different. Colorado has quite a few native americans, and they are probably his constituents whether he likes it or not.

    Re: Tom Tancredo Ready for His Spotlight (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Feb 01, 2005 at 02:21:59 PM EST
    Wouldn't the correct term be aboriginals? I consider myself a native American as I was born here.

    Re: Tom Tancredo Ready for His Spotlight (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Feb 01, 2005 at 02:22:52 PM EST
    Paul, Please identify my "attack on poor, hardworking immigrants". It doesn't exist.

    Re: Tom Tancredo Ready for His Spotlight (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Feb 01, 2005 at 02:36:29 PM EST
    Is it just me or did Paul in LA just out himself as a racist diphead? He reads something into my post that isn't there, adds on every pet peeve he has, then assumes, based on his presumption that I share every one of these evils he has listed, that I am white. Nice going Paul. You are a credit to your community. They must be so proud to have anothe ultraliberal racist among them. Gte a grip and get back on your meds.

    Re: Tom Tancredo Ready for His Spotlight (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Feb 01, 2005 at 02:44:17 PM EST
    Paulfight!

    Re: Tom Tancredo Ready for His Spotlight (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Feb 01, 2005 at 02:50:14 PM EST
    There is no correct term for 'indians,' and this problem has been perennial. Aboriginal, a term associated with genocide in Australia forevermore, is not acceptable, but perhaps no worse than several other terms. Answer the question, justpaul. Do you live in an immigration intensive area, or are you an onlooker? I've lived among immigrants my entire life, and I find them generally a joy and a great aid to the wellbeing of my city. If you want to reform immigration laws, how about requiring the INS to serve the people and not force them to wait in three block-long lines for weeks at a time, like I often see in Los Angeles? How about getting papers to legitimate immigrants in less than the ten years or so that is (I suspect) median? How about not rubberstamping every rich immigrant with powerful friends, but rather treating people as equal in their rights, if not their pocketbooks?

    Re: Tom Tancredo Ready for His Spotlight (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Feb 01, 2005 at 03:05:01 PM EST
    With apologies to TalkLeft. I am not interested in a "paulfight", or a fight with anyone on this site for that matter. Paul in LA, Still waiting for your citing of my "attack on poor, hardworking immigrants". But I won't hold my breath since you won't find it (it doesn't exist). Like so much of what you say, it was dreamed up in your own fevered racist mind that seeks to blame everyone else for your own shortcomings. As for where I live: I live in the DC-Metro area, Prince George's County, MD, to be exact. Hardly a lilly white community. I know plenty of immigrants and count many of them as good friends. My neighborhood includes blacks from africa and the carribean, latinos from all over central and south america, indians, chinese, japanese, and many eastern europeans. It's what's called a multiethnic community, and that is one of the reasons we moved here, to enjoy the lifestyle such a varied community affords. You don't know me Paul. You can't assume my skin color based on my posts, as my complexion has nothing to do with my political, social, or religious beliefs. All you have done by doing so is show how shallow and racist your own beliefs are. Please go crawl back under your rock and continue to believe that anyone who thinks there are problems with the way immigration into this country is handled is just another "whitey" out to keep everyone else down. I'm finished with you.

    Re: Tom Tancredo Ready for His Spotlight (none / 0) (#10)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Feb 01, 2005 at 03:29:46 PM EST
    et al - Tancredo is one of those rare politicians who doesn't take himself seriously, but who does believe that we have a serious problem, and need immigration reform. I voted for him everyime he ran when I was in Colorado. BTW - The funniest line was: "Q: Your name has been mentioned lately in connection with Hillary Clinton and her new emphasis on immigration reform. What's between you two? A: So far, a lot of space. People ask if I'm going to be her vice-presidential candidate. The question they should be asking is, would I ask her to be my vice-presidential candidate? And the answer is no."

    Re: Tom Tancredo Ready for His Spotlight (none / 0) (#12)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Feb 01, 2005 at 04:15:57 PM EST
    "Tom Tom Toncredo" Thats pretty funny. Sounds like a guy you could sit down and have a beer with.

    Re: Tom Tancredo Ready for His Spotlight (none / 0) (#13)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Feb 01, 2005 at 04:25:14 PM EST
    Paul in LA: You better tell Canada that the term Aboriginal is associated with genocide in Austrailia. That is what they are called there. I don't think Native American is proper either.

    Re: Tom Tancredo Ready for His Spotlight (none / 0) (#11)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Feb 01, 2005 at 04:39:33 PM EST
    It'd be interesting if Tancredo and other pro-American legislators could lead a third party that would challenge the Dems and the Repubs. Even Rush is starting to worry about such a third party.

    Re: Tom Tancredo Ready for His Spotlight (none / 0) (#14)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Feb 01, 2005 at 04:46:55 PM EST
    Actually the most common term in use here is 'first nations peoples', reflecting the fact that they were here before the arrival of europeans.

    Re: Tom Tancredo Ready for His Spotlight (none / 0) (#15)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Feb 01, 2005 at 05:46:20 PM EST
    cg - Is that the people who came across the ice bridge or the Sioux? I mean, was anybody keep score? You should read the "The Contested Plains."

    Re: Tom Tancredo Ready for His Spotlight (none / 0) (#16)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Feb 01, 2005 at 06:06:56 PM EST
    American Indian?

    Re: Tom Tancredo Ready for His Spotlight (none / 0) (#17)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Feb 02, 2005 at 12:33:05 AM EST
    "I know plenty of immigrants and count many of them as good friends." Great, so what's the beef with immigration, and why would you side with a bigot like Tancredo, who clearly doesn't see what's wrong with 'Tom Tom'? "...my complexion has nothing to do with my political, social, or religious beliefs." Yeah, well that wasn't the point, and you know it. 'White'...hell, Colin Powell is as white as Ivory Snow, and everybody knows that too. "...just another "whitey" out to keep everyone else down." Sure, sure, and Bush & clan aren't as close to white supremacists as their CCC friends. That's why Bush has carried out a racist war against the people of a country that didn't attack us. And that's why he broke up the MLK Jr. celebration last year, forcing the black celebrants behind a row of city buses (back of the bus), and why Dick Warcriminal Cheney went to Auschwitz with a hat that said "STAFF." What part of the 'Kill them All' talk that was all over the place during the Bush LYING about Iraq have you been holding up? "I'm finished with you." Another absurd statement. Take your ball and run home. You are the one who brought up Tancredo's immigration concerns, and your support of them, without amplification, in spite of the obvious racist tone of his joke. What is someone to assume from that? "Posted by Wile E. Coyote: "You better tell Canada that the term Aboriginal is associated with genocide in Austrailia." Or you could learn to read. I said there is no good solution to this problem, but more important than what skins are called is HOW THEY ARE TREATED. As in treaties, as in something that white supremacist US government forgets about whenever its own interests are blocked. No, Jim, that's the people who were promised something like 170 treaties NONE of which were ever honored. But that's keeping one's word, something that is in short supply among the proven liars you worship.

    Re: Tom Tancredo Ready for His Spotlight (none / 0) (#18)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Feb 02, 2005 at 12:43:13 AM EST
    Jim: "et al - Tancredo is one of those rare politicians who doesn't take himself seriously," Sure, he doesn't take himself seriously when he is making fun of ethnic groups he has no regard for. Bush, the guy you can have a beer with, is a mass murderer, a proven liar, and as corrupt a politician as the nation has seen in high office since Polk, who decided taking treaty rights and invading a neighbor to steal land THEY WERE WILLING TO SELL, was OK, because it was cheaper that way. Good thing America is better than them both.

    Re: Tom Tancredo Ready for His Spotlight (none / 0) (#19)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Feb 02, 2005 at 07:19:10 AM EST
    Just Paul starts the thread with:
    It's a shame you chose the most idiotic statement in the short exchange to post openly... This guy is not wrong when he says immigration reform needs to be a serious issue in future elections.
    and...
    Please identify my "attack on poor, hardworking immigrants". It doesn't exist.
    and tells Paul in LA
    All you have done by doing so is show how shallow and racist your own beliefs are.
    Anonymous writes: "Sounds like a guy you could sit down and have a beer with". (and now the fun part...) JustPaul, following "Tom Tom"'s statement that immigration reform needs to be a serious issue is his proposed solution, as follows:
    I intend to do anything I can do to make immigration an issue in the next presidential election -- especially if it has not been dealt with up until that time. And if that means going around the country, firing up the troops, I absolutely will do that
    [my emphasis] JustPaul, simply the fact that you would think that the Tom-Tom comment was not the most idiotic statement and not the above (which, I imagine, conjures up images of WWII interrment camps and one-way tix to Gitmo in any immigrant reading it- or maybe we would rout (sp?) them out like the Fallujan insurgents?) demonstrates your racism, intolerance and general lack of understanding of other people's lives. I wonder how many of your multi-cultural neighbors would agree with "Tom-Tom" and you, or how many would even talk to you if they knew of your support for bringing the troops in to deal with illegal immigrants. As an aside, I prefer the term indiginous to refer to peoples whose ancestors occupied lands later colonized by more advanced civilizations, especially but not limited to European domination and subjugation of native peoples based on the premise of a "natural order" dictated by God where non-whites were considered not completely human.

    Re: Tom Tancredo Ready for His Spotlight (none / 0) (#20)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Feb 02, 2005 at 07:48:00 AM EST
    Lonewacko, get started with your pro-America Party. I've been waiting for an issue to split the Republicans. You could call the party the "America First Party," the "National Front," or just throw caution to the wind and go with the "National Socialists."

    Re: Tom Tancredo Ready for His Spotlight (none / 0) (#21)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Feb 02, 2005 at 08:01:53 AM EST
    And if that means going around the country, firing up the troops, I absolutely will do that
    I think he meant rallying people of similar views. "Conjures up images of WW2 camps"? Please. Why does talk of Immigration reform bring about this sort of rhetoric? This is the same problem we have here. The fact that someone says Immigration reform doesn't make them racist.

    Re: Tom Tancredo Ready for His Spotlight (none / 0) (#22)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Feb 02, 2005 at 10:28:46 AM EST
    London man - I would be very curious about the translation device you use to interpret "firing up the troops" to "rallying people of similar views". I'm going to call his office right now and ask if he meant "people with similar views" instead of "troops". Speaking for myself (and I suppose representing the "us") The word reform can be used as a doublespeak tool to mean a number of things. For example, the recent Gonzales/Rumsfeld policy on interrogating and classifying prisoners could be called "Geneva Convention Reform." I'm all for immigration "reform" but advocate plans for guest worker status for those desiring to make money and economic development in Central and South America. I don't confuse the idea of reforming immigration to improve national security with the idea of prosocuting illegals for the crime of trying to better themselves.

    Re: Tom Tancredo Ready for His Spotlight (none / 0) (#23)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Feb 02, 2005 at 11:06:33 AM EST
    mfox, Agreeing with Tancredo that immigration reform needs to be an issue in the next election is not necessarily agreeing with Tancredo on how immigration needs to be reformed. I used to think you were smart enough to understand such things, but I now realize that you are in fact the knee-jerk, all-or-nothing, "I love what any liberal politician says on anything" person that you so often seem to be. Even if you believe that the current immigration laws are overly harsh and should be relaxed, you agree with Tom Tancredo that this issue is important and should be addressed. I'm sorry if that escapes you, but your grasp of logic has always been rather flawed judging from your frequent attack posts, so there you are. And we do need to take a serious look at reforming immigration. We need to worry less about honest mexicans seeking a better life and worry more about terrorists sneaking across the border with trunkloads of cemtex. But that doesn't mean we should just ignore the problem of illegals-of-good-intent crossing our borders, because doing so is opening up an avenue for those with less than good intent. We should revise our laws to make it easier for honest people to enter the country legally and harder for the dishonest to enter it illegally. If you disagree with this, so be it, but I'd love to hear your alternative, if you've even bothered to formulate one. et al. Why is it that so many people who are supposedly in favor of all sorts of diversity spend so much time and effort demanding intellectual uniformity on every political issue?

    Re: Tom Tancredo Ready for His Spotlight (none / 0) (#24)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Feb 02, 2005 at 02:59:24 PM EST
    JustPaul - Apologies for the following common sense: First you say "I used to think you were smart enough to understand such things" and then you say "your grasp of logic has always been rather flawed judging from your many attack posts" Sorry for the "attack" with my flawed logic but aren't these statements contradictory? Not to mention self-descriptive? (This is a little too easy, JP lol - bump me up to "Level 2" anytime). Rather than "attacking" you, I was merely responding to your challenge to
    Please identify my "attack on poor, hardworking immigrants". It doesn't exist
    . True, you didn't advocate "firing up the troops" but you took the partial statement of someone who does, starting with the statment "there needs to be immigration reform" and state that "This guy is not wrong when he says immigration reform needs to be a serious issue in future elections". You fail to disqualify his recommendations and send a message of support to Tom Tom and the backers of his plan. Given his statement of firing up the troops, which you didn't find idiotic, do you think he's a racist. What frame of reference did you use to read his firing up comment as reasonable if not a racist one? Re: attack postings, I don't have the time in a week to search, copy and paste into this comment all of the nasty things you've said to people on this post. A possibly relevant observation: Not all immigration reformers are racists, but all racists are for immigration reform (Tom-Tom style). A sticky wicket, eh? -

    Re: Tom Tancredo Ready for His Spotlight (none / 0) (#25)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Feb 02, 2005 at 04:04:51 PM EST
    mfox - Tell me. What part of not wanting illegal aliens in the counytry is "racist?" And if you like a play on words: All moslems aren't terrorists, but all recent terrorists have been moslem. Stupid is,as stupid does, eh? juspaul - Why? Because they will defend you to your death for your right to agree with them. mfox - The one thing we don't need is more unskilled workers. Let's reduce the workforce and squeeze management for more money. You claim to a worker bee. Wouldn't having a job where there aren't 40 people willing to work for less standing behind you be terrific? Paul In LA - You know nothing about Tancredo. Here's a big rassberry for you. FTZZZZZ!

    Re: Tom Tancredo Ready for His Spotlight (none / 0) (#26)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Feb 02, 2005 at 04:17:17 PM EST
    mfox, I'll remember your standard that holds that anytime someone mentiones someone without first disqualifying every statement that person has ever made with which one disagrees for future reference. As for your logic: No, I used to think you were an intelligent person, until I started reading your posts closely enough to realize that all you ever do is parrot the latest BS pouring out of Barbara Boxer, Ted Kennedy, or Nancy Pelosi. I wouldn't know about the feelings of all racists, and I doubt very much that you do (have you taken a poll of every racist in the country on their views on immigration? I didn't think so). But even if we assume that all racists do feel this way, so what? Does this legitamize the position in your view? What are you trying to say?

    Re: Tom Tancredo Ready for His Spotlight (none / 0) (#27)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Feb 02, 2005 at 05:46:04 PM EST
    The immigration comment, linked to the insensitive joke, led perhaps to misunderstandings. But if TL will allow, here is an abbreviated portion of an interview with Tancredo, in which he shows his truth standards, which are about ZERO. It's shortened, so read the whole exchange if you're unclear about Tancredo attacking the UN for saying that Bush was LYING about WMD, as has now been proven. "BEGALA: ...surely you're not saying that because you don't like the U.N., it's OK for the government of the United States, the good guys, to be spreading things that are false...falsehoods like this argument he gave us that the International Atomic Energy said Saddam Hussein is six months away from a nuclear weapon... TANCREDO: OK. Let me tell you. It is -- that's a relatively insignificant issue. I don't know -- I don't think we did that -- I wouldn't say... BEGALA: Insignificant falsehoods about nuclear weapons are OK, but you voted to impeach President Clinton about lying about a girlfriend. Just so we can get your record there, Congressman." FULL TEXT

    Tom Tancredo Ready for His Spotlight | 27 comments (27 topical)