Cokie and Steve Roberts: Haters (like Trump) are always wrong
Published July 18, 2015
by Cokie and Steve Roberts, published in Salisbury Post, July 17, 2015.
Donald Trump is part of a long and shameful tradition in American politics. Our history is full of cynical and vicious demagogues who exploit the fears and frustrations of voters by blaming foreigners for all of our problems.
At a rousing rally in Phoenix, he said of illegal immigrants: “They’re taking our jobs. … They’re taking our money. They’re killing us.”
This rant follows his announcement speech, where he said, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. … They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.”
This is a profoundly unfair and unfounded view, but as Trump’s cheering crowds and rising poll numbers attest, it’s a mindset shared by a significant slice of the electorate.
Trump wildly exaggerates when he claims to speak for a “silent majority” of Americans. A poll last February by the Public Religion Research Institute found 58 percent agreeing with the statement, “immigrants today strengthen our country because of their hard work and talents.”
But that leaves 31 percent to share the Trumpian view that “immigrants today are a burden on our country because they take our jobs, housing and health care.”
In truth, Americans have always been deeply ambivalent on the subject of immigration. We glorify our own foreign-born ancestors and tear up at images of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.
But a competing view lurks just below the surface, a deep-seated suspicion of any alien influx and influence. Change the Mexico in Trump’s tirade to Ireland or Italy, Japan or China, and you can hear the same xenophobic echoes since the beginning of the America is now finished and perfected, goes this argument, and the next wave of newcomers will dilute and diminish our national character.
Take just one example, which Steve quotes in his book “From Every End of This Earth”: “In 1753, Ben Franklin called the Germans flocking to Pennsylvania ‘generally the most stupid sort of their own nation’ and warned: ‘They will soon outnumber us (and we) will not, in my opinion, be able to preserve our language, and even our government will become precarious.”
Sound familiar?
It’s also true, however, that in each period of national panic, courageous voices have challenged and confronted the “haters.” Take Ralph Carr, governor of Colorado in the early 1940s. He urged state residents to welcome Japanese-Americans who had been forced from their homes on the West Coast and resettled in i
“An American citizen of Japanese descent has the same rights as any other citizen,” he told one hostile crowd. “If you harm them, you must first harm me.”
That stance cost Carr his political career, but today there is a statue of him in Denver honoring his legacy of compassion.
Some Republicans, like Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, have joined Trump’s sordid strategy of pandering to anti-immigrant instincts, but others have bravely stepped forward to denounce his insidious campaign.
“If we do not reject this way of thinking — clearly, without any ambiguity — we will have lost our way,” South Carolina Sen. Lindsay Graham, a candidate for the Republican nomination, said on CNN. “We will have lost our moral authority in my view to govern this great nation.”
He’s right about that, but Republicans stand to lose more than moral authority if they don’t isolate Trump. They stand to lose political authority as well.
Graham has talked often about the “demographic death spiral” facing the GOP if it does not reach out to Americans of color, especially the rising tide of Latino and Asian immigrants. In 1980, when Ronald Reagan won his first term, the electorate was 88 percent white. Next year, it will be down to 70 percent white, and remember, Mitt Romney won a higher percentage of the white vote than Reagan did and still lost decisively.
Trump’s tantrum might even backfire by magnifying the Hispanic turnout. “The silver lining is it wakes people up and makes them more likely to vote,” says Housing Secretary Julian Castro.
GOP pollster Whit Ayres sums up the problem facing his party: “Republicans can complain about these trends, wring their hands over them and get heartburn as a result. What they can’t do is change them.”
Nor can Republicans change the lesson of history. All those immigrant groups that were vilified in their time as un-American now contribute every day to the vitality and vibrancy of this great and diverse country.
Haters like Trump reflect an undeniable part of our history. But they have always been wrong, and they are wrong again today.
Steve and Cokie Roberts write for Universal UClick. They can be contacted by email at stevecokie@gmail.com.
July 18, 2015 at 10:32 am
Richard L Bunce says:
Sadly an otherwise good column is reduced to the concentration of skin melanin in someone's skin when the issue is nationality, culture, and rule of law... speaking of always wrong.
July 18, 2015 at 10:32 am
Norm Kelly says:
Cokie can't help herself. She's been a main-stream ally of the democRAT party for way too long. She's become indoctrinated into their silliness. The one aspect of liberalism that permeates everyone who gets sucked in is that it takes zero thought process. Actually, it REQUIRES that there be NO thought process. Anyone who retains the ability to think logically, using their entire brain and not just their left hemisphere, is not sucked into liberalism at all!
There is so much wrong with her defense of liberals, demons, illegal immigrants that I don't have room or time to refute it all. Whether I support Trump or not isn't the question. It's what he has said versus what the socialist party is trying to put into his mouth.
Trump has said that illegal immigration is what's killing our country. Trump has not said that immigration is the problem. It is indeed, in fact, in actuality illegal immigration that is costing our country much, much, much more than is being contributed. And the lies from the socialists, starting with the occupier, just continue. We were told when demons passed socialized medicine that illegal aliens WOULD NOT be covered. Just like all the other lies about socialized medicine. What we now know is that illegal aliens actually ARE covered by socialized medicine. Which actually is costing our nation greatly. So, on this one point alone, Cokie is wrong. But she can't see it because she looks at the world through the socialist glasses of her allies.
There's a difference between complaining about IMMIGRATION and ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. Trump, like MOST of his supporters, are rallying against ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION!
The question that needs to be asked of libs/socialists/media allies of the socialist party is a big one. One that this group CHOOSES to ignore. Why is it that this group CHOOSES to let illegal aliens violate our national law? Why is it that the socialist party chooses to allow sanctuary cities in violation of our national law? Does this same group allow ANY right-leaning policy to exist in violation of our national laws? Really!? Then name that law we are allowed to violate.
There is only 1 reason that socialists CHOOSE to allow illegal immigration, and rally to provide EVERY benefit possible to illegal aliens. Only one. Ask yourself why it is that the socialist party wants to provide state issued picture identification to illegal aliens. The answer is obvious, unless you are wearing Cokie's liberal glasses. Libs are expecting that illegal aliens with picture id will be allowed to register to vote. Once allowed to register, the socialists are expecting illegal aliens will vote for more socialists. Giving power to the socialist party to continue to expand socialism in our once great nation!
Socialists have been rejected across the nation. There are few locations that remain liberal. Liberal policies have proven dramatic failures across the nation. New York. California. Detroit! Washington DC. To name just a few, but monumental failures! How will libs/socialists convince enough people to vote demon again? They have 2 choices. Either buy more votes through government give-away programs; convincing people that unemployment payments stimulate the economy. Or by allowing illegal aliens to register & vote for demons. This is accomplished by telling lies to American citizens and providing tax-payer supplied benefits to illegals. All the while telling lies to the funders of these programs that we aren't actually paying for the benefits of illegal aliens.
What's the difference between an 'immigrant' and an 'illegal alien'? In the vacuum of a lib skull, there is no difference. In the mind of someone who maintains the ability to think logically, the difference is that 'immigrants' enter our country legally, go through the process, and wait in line. An 'illegal immigrant' starts their adventure in our nation by breaking the law; and have no incentive to stop breaking our laws. With the help of libs like Cokie, these illegal aliens are AIDED in their continued law-breaking adventure! Including voting while still illegal aliens!
When libs start being honest with American citizens, I'll finish reading their blatherings. In the meantime, I refuse to be sucked into their lack of thought, lack of truth, dependence on deception. And I won't finish reading their posts. Continuing to support illegal activity, endorsing illegal activity, making up stories about Republicans and conservatives, warrants zero interest in their words either written or spoken on what used to be news reports. Lib news reports have simply become demon talking point memo read-alouds. Useless. Non-informative. Usually full of lies. Blatherings!
July 19, 2015 at 9:14 am
Jennifer Stamper says:
What the author fails to acknowledge is that previous immigrants came here legally. There is a difference.
