Dear America (It’s really neat to be able to write a real letter to America on Independence weekend—thanks for that),
I can see why you called your open letter to Donald Trump “Thank You, Donald Trump!” The Donald did indeed do the supporters of illegal immigration a big favor by attaching his obnoxious face, words and character to the proposition that the United States has an obligation to control who comes into the country, like every other responsible nation. It is easy to pretend that any assertion by a big, loud-mouthed jerk is wrong, even when it is right, because most people can’t distinguish a message from its messenger. Similarly, a dishonest and dangerous message communicated by an attractive, Hispanic American celebrity and actress is typically accorded more legitimacy than it deserves, especially since the historical and political acumen of professional actors tends to be limited.
Well played. But that’s not the same as being right.
Your letter begins with a multi-layered lie. “You’ve said some pretty offensive things about Latino immigrants recently,” you say. In fact, Trump said nothing about immigrants. Did you read a transcript of his remarks, or just the portion clipped out of it by news organizations because this is Donald Trump, rich Republican buffoon, and fairness and ethical journalism don’t matter. My guess is that you didn’t read the transcript, which makes your open letter incompetent and irresponsible. Or, if you did, it is intentionally misleading, and an attempt to increase the ignorance of people who take policy screeds from actresses seriously.
Aside: Kim Kardashian just told the prestigious Commonwealth Club in San Francisco :
“I see so much from social media, that there’s this generation of people—girls—that are beautiful, but I don’t see a strong work ethic.And I think people sometimes think that with looks, things will come easy, with modeling jobs here and there. I really just encourage people to put in the work.”
And she wasn’t jeered and laughed off the stage, this coming from a woman whose entire career is based on having a big, round derriere and a tape of her having sex. So yes, you are on solid ground, America. People will think you know what you are talking about.
Here is the entire section that Trump is being attacked over, by you and many others:
When do we beat Mexico at the border? They’re laughing at us, at our stupidity. And now they are beating us economically. They are not our friend, believe me. But they’re killing us economically.
The U.S. has become a dumping ground for everybody else’s problems. It’s true, and these are the best and the finest. When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.
But I speak to border guards and they tell us what we’re getting. And it only makes common sense. It only makes common sense. They’re sending us not the right people. It’s coming from more than Mexico. It’s coming from all over South and Latin America, and it’s coming probably — probably — from the Middle East. But we don’t know. Because we have no protection and we have no competence, we don’t know what’s happening. And it’s got to stop and it’s got to stop fast.
Now, America, no one could read that entire statement objectively and not know that Trump is talking only about illegal immigrants, not all immigrants. Nor is he talking about Mexico only. Did you not understand that? If not, then you owe Donald an apology, as in Emily Littella’s “Never mind!” If you did read the entire statement and are still accusing him of saying offensive things about “Latino immigrants,” then you are intentionally misleading your readers. Choose one, mistake or dishonesty: there is no third choice.
There is no defense for the proposition that foreign citizens should be allowed and encouraged—those are the same things, you know—to defy our borders and break our immigration laws. I have never heard one, an honest one, that wasn’t based on lies or rationalizations. The Democratic Party’s despicable plan is to keep allowing illegal immigrants to enter the country in droves until their relatives and citizens of the same national origin reach a critical mass where they will vote into office Democratic officials who are willing to forfeit their duty to the national well-being and the rule of law by allowing this disastrous policy to continue. The fact that allowing non-citizens to break our laws without consequence, and, if they have children, to reap tangible benefits for doing so is wrong in every way doesn’t matter to these cynical Machiavellian, just as it doesn’t matter to you. I believe that, given time to absorb the vibrant culture of this nation (should it survive in any recognizable form) American citizens of Hispanic descent will oppose rewarding lawlessness as much as their responsible fellow citizens do. For that to happen, however, they need to occasionally be exposed to the truth. That’s where the liars need people like you.
Truth: There is nothing racist about declaring that illegal immigrants don’t belong here. That is undeniable.
Truth: There is nothing racist, or even anti-immigrant, about correctly stating that illegal immigrants bring problems from Mexico that it is not the duty of the U.S. to solve.
Truth: there is nothing racist about saying that illegal immigrants are not Mexico’s best. They are overwhemingly poor, uneducated, and have a significant criminal component. If the Mexicans coming into the U.S. were Mexico’s best, you can be sure Mexico wouldn’t be pushing so hard for them to keep coming. Mexico has a border too, you know.
The lengths to which the Left and the shameless news media will go to deny this is illustrated by Phillip Bump’s deceitful article for the Washington Post. To “prove” that Trump is wrong, he combined statistics on legal and illegal immigrants (Trump was not talking about the legal ones), used incarceration rates as a substitute for crime rates (might criminal individuals who are avoiding public records and contact with authorities be more difficult to apprehend?), and most of all, accused Trump of saying what he did not. Trump said some of the illegals bring crime, some rape, and some are nice people. There is no other way to read the statement; it literally cannot be interpreted to mean all are rapists, all are criminals, but only some are nice people, or that all are criminals, rapists and nice people. Got that? Well, you know what, America? If a single rape, murder, robbery or crime is committed by someone who crossed into the United States illegally, that’s still too many.
The game of blurring the lines between illegal immigrants, who are law-breakers and who steal the benefits of this country, and legal immigrants, a.k.a immigrants, is really all the defenders of the indefensible have. Of course it would be bigoted and wrong to denigrate all immigrants, so your tactic, and those of your party and allies, is to pretend that’s what those who want to enforce U.S. borders are doing. The entire illegal immigrant support movement is based on deceit and race-baiting. You don’t want “immigration reform,” you want non-enforcement of immigration laws. Calling any responsible advocate for the rule of law and enforcing borders a racist isn’t an argument, it is a strategy designed to suppress a position that cannot be rebutted by facts or logic.
The heart of your reply to Trump, America, isn’t logic, or fairness, or good policy, or anything else that could be called patriotic, admirable or ethical. It is just a statement of brazen power, a Borg-like “Resistance is futile,” a Khrushchev-style “We will bury you.” And it is every bit as sinister as those were:
You see, what you just did with your straight talk was send more Latino voters to the polls than several registration rallies combined! Thank you for that. Here we are pounding the pavement to get American Latinos to the polls, while your tactic proves most effective. Remarks like yours will serve brilliantly to energize Latino voters and increase turnout on election day against you and any other candidate who runs on a platform of hateful rhetoric.
Do you know why that’s such a big deal, Donald? Because Latinos are the largest, youngest and fastest-growing constituency in the United States of America. That’s right! You are running for President in a country where the Latino population grew by over 49 percent from 2000-2012, while the rest of the country grew by 5.8 percent. What’s more, we are the future. The median age of the average Latino is 27 years old, compared to 42 years old for white Americans. In case you need a translation, that means there are a whole lot of Americans who are Latino and have the right to vote. And, we’re not going anywhere.
Thank YOU, America. This is as honest a statement of the real motivation for Democratic officials to abandon their duty to do what’s in the best interest of the nation and its citizens, and to prompt Republicans like Jeb Bush to mouth fatuous rationalizations. (No, compassion for law breakers is not ethical, virtuous or wise.) “Tell the truth,” you say, “and we will hurt you. It doesn’t matter if you are right, you weak, venal, pathetic Anglos: we have broken the law for so long that we will soon outnumber you, and all your archaic values and principles, like obeying laws and not basing policy on color.”
That’s it, isn’t it? That’s the whole reason why Trump is being attacked, because he dares to state the obvious, so the obvious must be reframed as racism, with a clear threat of worse to follow for anyone who dares to make the same mistake. Granted, Trump makes it absurdly easy: he is inarticulate and rude, and has the charm of a barker for strip club, so he can, and does, make the truth sound uncommonly ugly. It is still the truth.
Your next point is less useful, but illustrative of the quality of thought among mindless progressives:
You, Mr. Trump, are living in an outdated fantasy of a bigoted America. Last week, America celebrated some amazing milestones — marriage equality, universal healthcare, removing of the confederate flag — making it clear in which direction the country is moving.
Hmm…let’s see, what do those things have in common? Marriage equality—basic human rights. Universal healthcare—uh, wishful thinking? Policies from a parallel universe? (Psst! America! The U.S. doesn’t have universal healthcare, and given the fact that it is already broke and unable to afford the entitlements it has, I wouldn’t bet on that happening any time soon. The decision saved an incompetent and dubious law from being destroyed by its own slovenly drafting. I bet you didn’t read the opinion either: policy certitude is so much easier when all you read is talking points.) Removing of the confederate flag—speech suppression and historical whitewashing. Sorry, America, I don’t get that clear direction, and I’m afraid your civics literacy is a bit weak. More than a bit, actually.
Does Trump live in a fantasy of an America that respects laws, unlike, say, you? I don’t think that is a fantasy. I even think that you might be surprised to find that a lot of immigrants came–legally—to this country precisely because it is a nation of laws. Lying to them is the only way to keep them in line, and eventually the truth may do what it often does. Prevail.
(I do congratulate you, an actress, for accusing someone else of living a fantasy. Pretty funny. Thanks for that, too: I needed a laugh)
Then, predictably, you end your dishonest screed by the by now hackneyed appeal to our nation’s immigrant past. Yes, my grandparents were immigrants; it took them years to get from Greece to the U.S., and they did it legally, according to the rules. Their experience, and the fact that others like them “are at the core of our ideals, and… the foundation that keeps us afloat” has absolutely nothing to do with Donald Trump’s remarks about law-breaking, illegal immigrants. Among our ideals are respect for law, honesty, responsibility, accountability, citizenship and integrity, all of which are rejected by the illegals you are falsely extolling. If we similarly reject those values under your bullying and threats, the foundation you profoundly misconstrue will crumble.
As you close your open letter to The Donald by thanking him “for helping us in our work to energize the Latino vote and to usher in our shared future,” I will thank you for nicely exposing the dishonesty, the arrogant power tactics and the civic illiteracy behind the entire anti-American “immigration reform movement.” It is all predicated on the cowardice of your adversaries and the gullibility of the public. It might even work.
But with the help of Hispanic-Americans who properly see themselves as Americans first, we might surprise you yet.
Sincerely,
Jack
