Chuck Todd, guest hosting on Monday’s Hardball, made a very interesting point with guest Ernest Istook. And when we say “very interesting”, what we really mean is stupid.
Istook: The Supreme Court precedent on this, which was in 1898, was the case of Wong Kim Ark. And in that case, he was the child of parents who were here legally, and lawfully. The Supreme Court has not ruled on the case of children of parents who are here illegally.
Todd: But here’s the issue you have. Let me read you–and it’s a very familiar phrase to a lot of folks–that greets people when they came to Liberty Island and Ellis Island. It says: “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your teeming shores. Send these the homeless tempest [tossed] to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” There was no mention of whether these folks had to be legal citizens…
Istook: “…my grandparents came through Ellis Island. My father’s parents were immigrants from Hungary. So I know the Emma Lazarus poem that you were quoting. But that’s not the same as quoting the provisions of the Constitution.”
It’s a poem, Chuck, just a poem. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddle masses” isn’t part of the Constitution any more than “There once was a girl from Nantucket” is part of the Declaration of Independence.
H/T: NewsBusters.org
This post was last modified on January 26, 2021
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I like to read all of the idiotic comments you idiots write in these comment spaces.
Like any of you know anything about anything. I am speaking to you republican pukes as well as liberals. You still believe and think your so called forefathers founded this country. My forefathers might take issue with that. I believe this land was already founded when your forefathers arrived. Your forefathers came and squatted on property that did not belong to them and in the end more natives of this land were slaughtered than the Nazi did to the Jewish people in the holocaust.
( I might add more after the Constitution was in place.)
Maybe you are right, if you count all the natives who died from sickness or were killed by European settlers from Alaska, through Canada, all the way to Tierra del Fuego. Without facts and figures you cannot prove your point so why did you try to make one?
Maybe it is time to drop the "founded" part when we describe how this country came to be. America was "found" by tribal peoples who only controlled as much land, for hunting and farming purposes, as they could, depending on how many fighting men they had to defend "their" property. Boundaries drifted back and forth due to wars and illnesses which caused a decline in the number of men able to fight from one decade to the next.
When the Europeans "found' this land, Spaniard, English, Irish, Iberian, Scandinavian, it makes no difference since all are European contries, they found a land that was wide open and could be used much more efficently. Coming from a far more structured, more advanced society, they understood that owning your property outright was a much better system than depending on the number of warriors in each tribe deciding how much land they controlled.
It is a simple case of the more advanced, higher educated, better armed, society moving in and taking over. Just as in nature, the strong survive while the weaker die away. All Native Americans were given the chance to join in, adapt to the European way and prosper. Instead, they were too stubborn and insisted they live in the "old way" and that led to their downfall as a force in our country.
Go to any reservation in the country and see what over 150 years of government welfare has done to the native people. Being unwilling to join in and be a part of a greater society has done them a lot of good hasn't it. Bingo parlors and reservation gambling hasn't really done much good either. You think Darwin may have had some good ideas after all?
The trail of tears was called the trail of tears for a reason. I am sure you are smart enough to know the rest of the stories. Broken treaties, removed to a wasted land and as soon as something valuable is discovered, removed again to a place still worse. Crooked so called Indian agents and the list goes on.
Removed to wasted lands? Are you really that blind? Tell that crap to the tribes that were moved to the Oklahoma Territory and for years have been getting rich from the huge amounts of oil under their "wasted lands". Come to New Mexico and check out the Navajos and the vast amounts of coal, oil and natural gas that they are making hundreds of millions per year from. And when you do look at who has the money and who does not have the money.
Tribal governments are no better than our local, state or federal governments. The elected elite and their cronys, the tribal George Soros types, keep all the gravy and the riff-raff down below get the scraps. Get real, get a clue, or go away. If you cannot come up with a rational arguement then why are you posting here? We may not all agree here but we try to back up our thoughts with facts and figures instead of spouting nonsense over and over again.
You are right again Mr Whiskey, guess where they may have gotten their business ethics from. My guess would be from wheeling and dealing with the white man. Trying to assimilate. As you suggested earlier.
Only in foggy-brained liberal land can you have it both ways, JC. Now, make up your mind. Either the uppercrust wheelerdealers in the Native American community are scumbags, ripping off their people, or all Native Americans are wonderful, trustworthy, peaceful people, like the rest of the Tribe.
I am neither Republican nor Democrat only Indian, so whats your point. And again we can agree on something. There are scumbags enough to go around in all of our cultures. Idiots are neither stupid nor uneducated, but I think they get to much of their information from TV networks like FOX,CNN,MSNBC, and a several radio programs. It shows all too well from some of their comments. As for facts, if you believe what you hear on the above you wont believe facts, as these people all distort them so as to rowel up the masses and improve their ratings. We have such a divide in this country now from all the fire and venom spewed from these people I truly doubt either of your parties will ever agree on anything. They are creating a dangerous climate in this country. and remember Democrats and Indians served too. I wont bug you people anymore. Thanks----J C
George Soros was Hungarian friend. Get your facts straight.
I may add that the Europeans brought the illnesses with them that did destroy a good part of the population. You are right, they did not want to Europeans ways. Why should they? Europeans treated the Native's like they were animals and killed them as such. I take my history lessons from my people not from your white man white wash. What are you going to do when the Chinese come to collect their debt? Our good republican friends thought it was perfectly OK to ship all of the factories to China for the .10 cent an hour child labor and also thought it was OK not to collect tariffs on the products brought back into the USA. so will have effectively killed our industrial base and massive unemployment here. All for child labor. You don't really believe this country can remain a superpower with out an industrial base do you?
"Our good republican friends thought it was perfectly OK to ship all of the factories to China for the .10 cent an hour child labor and also thought it was OK not to collect tariffs on the products brought back into the USA."
food for thought -- though I don't think the Republicans alone should be blamed for blind free trade.. bipartisan collusion, methinks
I am sure it is republicans that will not put tariffs ( AKA taxes) on goods exported back here. I am sure that non of the Bush tax cuts produced any serious amount of employment. I believe that when we can get wages of the working man down to a level that will be competitive with the .10 cent an hour plus shipping cost factory's will start coming back. And we can begin to play catch up.
JC, you keep stating that you are sure of things. That doesn't fly here. Show us the stats, or shut the hell up. And repeating things doesn't make them so.
Mr RockingHorseGuy, that is the Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glen Beck. Republican way is it not. Keep repeating it long enough with engineered stats and you have the for right kooks believing anything you want. Look at Bachman, Palin, Ann Coulter for example. Need I say anymore? Facts are all around you, wake up.
I love how the libs are always accusing us of doing what they do on a daily basis. I would laugh, but it's too sad.
I am neither Republican nor Democrat, so whats your point. I do not get my news, if that is what you call it from the propaganda network (fox). Try reading a book:
Through Indian Eyes; The Untold Story of Native American People. The other sides story. also you may want to go to:: http://www.danielnpaul.com/TheRealThanksgiving
I only commented on your page because of all the right wing Fox news crap I read here. A lot of it almost verbatim to what I hear from them. Right wingers are giving Republicans a bad name . I had a conversation a while back with some intellectual and scholar types like some of you and the[y were convinced that Leif Erickson was here before the Native people. By the way, a lot of people do not believe in the Ice bridge migration theory as to where the Native people came from. Perhaps the Asians were the first squatters and finally assimilated. I don't know, but it is possible.
I am sure it was mostly republicans. I am sure it is republicans that will not put tariffs ( AKA taxes) on goods exported back here. I am sure that non of the Bush tax cuts produced any serious amount of employment. I believe that when we can get wages of the working man down to a level that will be competitive with the .10 cent an hour plus shipping cost factory's will start coming back. And we can begin to play catch up.
I might've believed this 20 years, but the 90's strained credibility.. with Clinton fighting for NAFTA and renewing China's MFN status, the continuing transfer of technology and investment capital to China.. Everyone got entranced by a wild global market. Dems are inconsistent at best
NAFTA was a creation of George Bush senior and his cohorts. Clinton was in no position to veto the bill. I did not agree with him for signing it.
It does not matter when the idea started, all that matters is who signed the bill into law. Slick Willie was President, what Bush I thought made no diffference by then, and he signed the bill into law instead of vetoing it. Saying $Bill was in no position to veto the bill just shows how biased you are instead of how smart you think you are.
Maybe you should on the Koch brothers oil industries friend!
Key board error, Maybe you should read up on the KOCH brothers oil industries. Now I need to go down to the sweat lodge and refresh my memory. Get rid of all the evil spirits.
Its origins may be earlier. but Bill pushed for it pretty hard.. I felt like i was starting to buy it too, but I knew a little about GATT and the WTO, and Perot's "giant sucking sound" gave many people pause. I have lost any faith i might've had in the Dems to protect our national economic interests in the globalizing network of trade.
I am really not sure where to look for that anymore (no i don't think its the Republicans either)
Allen are right, it probably started with Ronald Regan!
JC. Thanks for stopping by and brightening our day. See you tomorrow.
Another satisfied customer.
Chuck's argument is ridiculous. First, what does the poem have to do with the rule of law. It sounds like he feels that is trumped by the rule of emotion (read liberal). Second, did I miss where the poem was added as an amendment to the constitution. Third and most important, those immigrants he refers to came in legally through the immigration service of the US, not over the fence. Some were rejected and turned back (disease one of the big reasons). Chuck, next time think about what you're going to say! It really helps with a reasoned argument
Just goes to show - too much Obama kool-aid does cause degenerative brain syndrome.
Given the source, are we really surprised.
Move along people, nothing new here. Next article, please. ;-)
It figures that these socialist jounolisters would quote from the Statue of Liberty, it was a gift from, um, France... Useful idiots...
These liberal clowns have not the slightest clue the purpose nor the content of the Constitution. Pathetic.
Correct Thallus... The libtard rabble and a good percentage of their leadership have no clue what the U.S. Constitution is, or says... they merely parrot back what their propaganda organs tell them to think and say. Whats really frightening is the handful of libtards that do understand the Constitution, but hate it and attempt to undermine it at every turn because it stands in their way of absolute power over "We the People" of this nation.
Hmmm, lemme see, Constitution. Yes, we have a copy of that right here. We've made some changes, though. Because, you understand, in the liberal world, a contract is a living, breathing document, able to change with the times, in any way we, the Democrats, see fit. See? I know all about that Constitution thing.
Todd's a poet and he just doesn't know it because his intellect doesn't show it: it's a Shortfellow!
But surely if these 'huddled masses' came to America through Liberty or Ellis island they were registered and therefore here legally, no?
Yes!
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free" is referring to all the people in the world that have been living in oppression and the tyranny of too much government and are trying to get away from the clutches of the corrupt ruling class in whatever country they came from.
It does not mean "give me your welfare cases, so they can get 'free' education, foodstamps, retirement and health benefits at taxpayer's expense and vote democrat in every election to keep the guv'mint cheese coming in."
Bingo!
what's this 'Constitution' you speak of?