Oregon GOP resolution called racist, ignorant

[Judi Lynn]

Oregon GOP resolution called racist, ignorant
By JOSEPH B. FRAZIER | Associated Press
August 12, 2006

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Labor and pro-immigrant groups on Friday denounced a resolution by the Oregon Republican Party to deny citizenship to American-born children of noncitizen immigrants, calling it a symptom of ignorance and racism and representative of a broader pattern of anti-immigrant sentiment.

While some speakers said they doubt it will become law, they said it could be used as a wedge to divide the state and could lead to other problems.

"This resolution exposes the Oregon Republican Party as a hateful, misinformed party that is too extreme for Oregon," said Chris Ferlazzo of Jobs for Justice, a coalition of more than 80 labor and immigrant rights groups that supports immigrant causes.

Amy Langdon, the party's executive director, called the resolution "more of a statement to let people know where we stand."
(snip/...)

http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/47790.html

[MercutioATC]

1. It's in violation of the Conststition, anyway.

It has NO chance of surviving an appeal.

[depakid]

15. Republicans don't care about the Constitution

any more than they care about science or economics.

We're not talking about rational people here-

[MercutioATC]

21. I'm saying that it has a zero percent of surviving an appeal

even if they pass it.

Citizenship requirements can't be altered at the state level, it's a federal issue.

[struggle4progress]

33. Uh, the GOP wants a constitutional amendment. Here's the quote

from the PLatform currently on the Oregon GOP's website:

9.23 ... we support amending the Constitution to grant Congress the authority to define how, or if, citizenship is acquired by those born in the United States of parents who are not citizens ...

Perhaps the real intent of the resolution is to provide cover for a constitutional amendment affecting birthright citizenship: the actual proposed amendment text not being published, we should perhaps attempt to infer its likely effect by examining the blueprint provided by PATRIOT II, which seeks executive authority to strip citizenship at will:

March 8, 2003
Patriot Act II's Attack on Citizenship
Denationalization as Punishment
By JOANNE MARINER

Our leadership may distrust or despise certain people, but it cannot strip them of their citizenship involuntarily ... Yet with the Domestic Security Enhancement Act, informally known as Patriot II, this basic rule is under attack. The draft legislation, a proposed sequel to the 2001 USA Patriot Act drafted by the Justice Department, was recently made public after being leaked to the Center for Public Integrity ... Among Patriot II's most worrying provisions are those affecting citizenship. Section 501 of the bill, deceptively titled "Expatriation of Terrorists," would allow the presumptive denationalization of American citizens who support the activities of organizations that the executive branch has deemed "terrorist" ... http://www.counterpunch.org/mariner03082003.html

Patriot II:
The Sequel Why It's Even Scarier than the First Patriot Act
By ANITA RAMASASTRY
Monday, Feb. 17, 2003

... Suppose you, as a citizen, attended a legal protest for which one of the hosts, unbeknownst to you, is an organization the government has listed as terrorist. Under Patriot II, you may be deported and deemed no longer an American citizen. Under Patriot II, if you are simply suspected of terrorist activity, this can occur. More specifically, a U.S. citizen may be expatriated "if, with the intent to relinquish his nationality, he becomes a member of, or provides material support to, a group that the United Stated has designated as a 'terrorist organization'." How can you tell if the citizen wanted to relinquish citizenship? Under Patriot II, the intent can be inferred from conduct. So any association with even the legal activities of a designated group, plus any act that can be interpreted as disloyal to the United States, can mean you are deported, and no longer considered a citizen ... http://writ.news.findlaw.com/ramasastry/20030217.html

Ashcroft Out of Control
Ominous Sequel to USA Patriot Act
by Nat Hentoff
February 28th, 2003 3:00 PM

... under Section 501 of the blandly titled Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003, an American citizen can be stripped of citizenship if he or she "becomes a member of, or provides material support to, a group that the United States has designated as a 'terrorist organization,' if that group is engaged in hostilities against the United States." Until now, in our law, an American could only lose his or her citizenship by declaring a clear intent to abandon it. But —- and read this carefully from the new bill -— "the intent to relinquish nationality need not be manifested in words, but can be inferred from conduct." (Emphasis added). Who will do the "inferring"? A member of the Justice Department ... What this section of the bill actually means is that if you provide "material support" to an organization by sending a check for its legal activities—not knowing that it has been designated a "terrorist" group for other things it does—you can be stripped of your citizenship and be detained indefinitely as an alien. While South Africa was ruled by an apartheid government, certain activities of the African National Congress were categorized as "terrorist," but many Americans provided support to the legal anti-apartheid work of that organization ... http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0310,hentoff,42268,6.html

In the Time of Disappeared People
Patriot II means Permanent National Emergency

...Patriot II destroys the very meaning of citizenship, allowing its arbitrary revocation based on secret evidence, thereby rendering the Constitution a nullity. It is a careful design to abolish the rule of law ... It may not matter whether Patriot II becomes law or not. The document is less a draft bill than a plan and guidance for a kind of martial law - with the "law" part left out ... "Material support" is whatever "they" claim it to be. "They" don't have to tell you what support you gave, or to whom. Secret arrest means no one knows you were taken. Secret charges mean you will not know what to defend yourself against, and since you have disappeared .... The draft of Patriot II was supposed to be a secret, too, concealed from all but the politically reliable few. Yet legislation is public business, so what is the point of secrecy? ... http://www.blackcommentator.com/31/31_commentary_2.html

Potential dissidents should therefore regard any GOP proposals, to modify the Constitutional definition of citizenship, with the greatest suspicion ...

[MercutioATC]

36. A Constitutional amendment can always be attempted...

...but it WOULD take a Constitutional amendment.

Traditionally, Constitutional amendments are VERY difficult to do.

[struggle4progress]

37. Disagree in part. Amendments do not seem terribly difficult:

the Constitution was amended eleven or twelve times in the twentieth century (depending on the status of the silly stunt "amendment 27", which I will disregard) or on average once every eight or nine years; the majority of these amendments were ratified within about a year of passing Congress, and the average time between passage and ratification was around a year and a half. In addition to ratified amendments in the twentieth century, three proposed amendments (regarding child labor, sex-based discrimination, and representation for DC) passed butwere not ratified; so the ratification rate for passing proposals is about 75%.

The wingnut "immigration" argument, for tinkering with citizenship, is a soundbite and a smokescreen, intended to generate support for an amendment that would certainly have much broader effects: were such an amendment to pass Congress, historical data suggest that ratification would probably follow promptly ...

[BOSSHOG]

2. Maybe the Oregon GOP could take a trip

to Ellis Island and drown the babies in New York's Harbor. That would be a classic "conservative" roadtrip. Maybe they could have a picnic afterward and throw rocks at the New York Times Building.

[sandnsea]

3. Or perhaps the Statue of Liberty

I don't personally know any of these GOP nutballs, eastern Oregon must be infested with 'em. But geezalou they come up with some wild stuff in this state. :blush:

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

9. A lot of that is because...

of the fact that the people who were in the militia movement back in the 80's and 90's are now the base of the repukes. The repukes went after them and brought them into the party.

Read some of the literature of the militias, extreme right-wing and racist groups of that time. Not a dimes worth of difference between their rhetoric back then and repuke positions now.

[Auntie Bush]

27. And all those Timothy McV. types.

"Not a dimes worth of difference between their rhetoric back then and repuke positions now."

[gratuitous]

4. Great, give them more ideas

Actually, the Oregon GOP has its "hotbox" meeting every year. The Dorchester Conference in Seaside was begun by Bob Packwood (yes, that Bob Packwood) back in 1964, and it has become the Oregon GOP equivalent of the Southern Baptist Convention. Republicans talking to and listening to other Republicans and may the looniest idea win. It's out of this ideological incest that such brilliant ideas as defying the constitution suddenly make sense to these nuts.

[Liberal Veteran]

5. Have they actually read the 14th Amendment?

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.

[Posteritatis]

25. I imagine it sits alongside the 1st as their most despised one. (n/t)

[The Backlash Cometh]

6. I think Oregon is going to be my next favorite state.

[High Plains]

8. You like those Oregon Republicans, do you?

[The Backlash Cometh]

23. No. I love states that have people who will organize and fight back.

[BlueIris]

22. Um, if this is a serious statement...stay away from here, please.

We've got enough racists, elitists and pro-eugenics/anti-civil rights jerks around these parts, thanks. They are wrecking our once-beautiful society.

[The Backlash Cometh]

24. Read the article, please. I read more about the movement to stop

the racists, than about the racists themselves. Sorry if we focused on different things in the article. In this case, I preferred to see the good, rather than the bad. I realize that's not common for me, but there it is.

[PSPS]

7. Things sure have changed since the days of Tom McCall

[megatherium]

10. I actually had the privilege of voting for McCall, in about 1984.

I changed my registration to Republican to vote for him in the primary.

[lumpy]

11. I voted for McCall in the general election.

He was the best governor I have ever voted for. Best known for his open door policy and fair handling of anti-Vietnam protesters. Not many Republicans around of that calibre.

[northzax]

20. see, I think he's best known

for the classic "thank you for leaving Oregon" billboard.

Ever read "Fire at Eden's Gate"? a great book on those old times in the state.

[megatherium]

28. I liked McCall for his strong leadership on the environment.

Oregon is a beautiful state and a lot of the credit went to him.

[PSPS]

13. He died in 1983. Maybe you mean 1974?

[megatherium]

29. They wouldn't have let me vote in 1974, I was 14 then! It must have been

in 1982 or1983, I can't remember when that election was, but it wasn't long before he passed away. I remember that day. It was a Sunday I think, I was wandering around the mall in downtown Eugene (going to buy a paper or something) that morning, when I was caught by a TV news crew. They were looking for person-in-the-street reactions for the passing of McCall. I hadn't heard he died, and I told them I was a Democrat who changed my registration to Republican just to vote for him. I didn't watch much TV then, but friends told me they saw me on TV.

On edit -- a pointless, irrelevant story: The last time I was on TV was a couple of years ago, when the 17-year cicadas appeared, where I live now (the Ohio River valley). I went to the big city park to see these creatures, which I hadn't seen since I was 10 years old in northern Virginia. I got caught by a TV news crew, which was in the park to do a cicada story. They interviewed me a bit, I told them why I wanted to see them. Later, I saw myself on the news, introduced as a "local cicada lover." But I got less time than the guy who was collecting dead cicadas to spray paint as art!

[stevedeshazer]

31. He died in 1983.

His last run was in 1978.

Just for the record.

[megatherium]

32. Thanks, I stand corrected.

I was convinced his last election (his losing primary bid to regain the governorship) was just before his death, but you're right, it was in 1978.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

35. And don't forget Mark Hatfield

Who was only one of two Republicans to vote against Poppy's war in 1991

[Poll_Blind]

12. Dirtbags...n/t

PB

[TexasLawyer]

14. Wedge issues

I guess the gay marriage issue must be tapped out there in Oregon.

The RW crap brokers have had to move on to some other divisive non-issue.

[kineneb]

16. geez, guys, can I then get a German passport?

By that logic few of us would be citizens. Great-great-grandpa didn't go through any "citizenship" ritual. I think he sort of arrived from Germany(Hesse) in 1851, learned blacksmithing, fought for the North in the Civil War, and then farmed in Kansas. But I don't think he was ever "naturalized". He even, horrors, spoke German at home. Maybe his descendants should be able to get back their German citizenship- ya' think?

[davidinalameda]

18. ja

[Orrin_73]

19. In Germany you cant get a German passport

even if you are born there.

[Blue_Tires]

17. let's make the resolution retroactive to 1607!

[Posteritatis]

26. I can't see it in the article...

Does this resolution refer to children of illegal immigrants, or children of all immigrants, legal or otherwise, who don't hold US citizenship?

I don't exactly support aiming it at either group, but aiming it at the latter strikes me as especially vile.

[stevedeshazer]

30. As a lifelong Oregonian, I hope the Oregon GOP runs on this hard

Because if they do, Democrats will take control of the Oregon House and end all the craziness exhibited in the state legislature for the past two decades.

Trust me, they will LOSE if they run solely on this issue.

And Gordon Pea Packer Smith will be a former US Senator in January 2009.

You can take that to the bank.

[antiblazer]

34. The KKK was strongest in Oregon in the 1920's

guess where they all went to? Right. They went Republican. The Republican party is synonymous with racism.