Howard Dean today: "As a Democrat, I believe that we should welcome the stranger"

[madfloridian]

Well said, Governor Dean.

From Salon today on the National Hispanic Prayer breakfast:

God and the immigration bill

From Howard Dean's speech:

As a Democrat, I believe that we should welcome the stranger; that no child should go to bed hungry; that housing and a path to home ownership should be accessible to all; that everyone in America deserves universal health care; that the war should be the last resource only after diplomacy has been exhausted; that we should properly equip our troops before we send them to war; that we should take care of our veterans when they come home; that everyone, every single American, deserves equal rights under the law; that we should be good stewards of the Earth; that hardworking people should earn a living wage and be able to take care of their families with what they earn; that we ought not to pass debt along to our children; that faith should not be used to divide people, but rather to bring us together; and that you and I have more in common than we have differences.

From 2005 he was already speaking then:

Dividing the country on wedge issues

"In his speeches this week around the country, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean has been saying Republicans will make immigration their next major wedge issue. From Idaho - where he spoke Friday before several hundred people in near-100 temperatures - to Colorado and Wisconsin, Dean has been blasting GOP leaders for using the immigration debate as a new way to divide Americans. Expect more this weekend when Dean is among the featured speakers at the National Council of La Raza conference in Philadelphia.

Speaking Thursday in Denver, Dean was critical of Republican congressmen Bob Beauprez and Tom Tancredo, whom he said used fear to divide constituents along racial lines. And trading barbs with Republican chairman Ken Mehlman at the NAACP convention in Milwaukee, where both spoke Thursday, Dean said, “We’re not going to divide Americans to win elections. The Republican Party’s ‘Southern Strategy’ used in the 1960s and 1970s lives today. In 2000, they used the racially charged word “quota” to divide African Americans. In 2004, they used gay marriage. And just you wait; in 2006 its going to be immigrants.”

The Salon writer then points to this passage from the book of Matthew:

Welcome the stranger. I believe the full passage goes a little something like this:

Matthew 25:35-50

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat,
I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,
I was a stranger and you invited me in,
I needed clothes and you clothed me,
I was sick and you looked after me,
I was in prison and you came to visit me.

This is what he means when he says there is more that unites us with the religious community than wedge issues.

This is the kind of statement I hear from State of Belief on AAR from Reverand Welton Gaddy. I relate to that.

Just found more from his speech today.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20070615/pl_usnw/excerpts_of_dnc_chairman_howard_dean_s_remarks_at_hispanic_prayer_breakfast

[PATRICK]

1. Absolutely, but

the immigration issue minus that atavistic anger IS a two nation dysfunction. It has to be decided between Mexico and the USA by other means than reducing their citizens and laborers to economic pawns while the game has to be decided by the desires and whims of wealthy employers. I am more than ready to extend Christian charity and compassion to that scum after helping our brother workers and families if they(not the Mexican poor fleeing an oil rich nation) change their ways and perhaps accept some sacrifice- or prison terms.

You have to tackle both issues. People will not behave when angry and threatened economically, where there is exploitation and injustice. Something needs to be directed in the proper direction, not preached against to the benefit of the upper level people responsible for the whole situation. Then the sermon can be broadened out in our mutual fight for understanding and economic justice to understand why we are at each other throats and how this makes us al great big suckers, easily and tastily licked by big business.

[liberaldemocrat7]

43. I just created a mug and other tiems with the entire text of the Welcome to a stranger.

Look in my buyblue.biz store for the various items with this good saying. Look for the "As a Democrat" items.

[Spiffarino]

55. I wish I could recommend your reply

I couldn't agree more if I'd written it.

There is nothing wrong with extending the loving hand of friendship to those in need whoever they are and whatever language they speak. That is entirely different from using a wretched situation to profit from driving down the whole country's standard of living. The hammer must fall on the governments who export their "problems" to other countries so they don't have to fix what's wrong with their own, and also on employers who hire undocumented workers with a wink and a nod and use their desperation as leverage against them.

[LBJDemocrat]

2. So tell me, please

Why are Bush, McCain, and Lieberman supporting it?

Enough with the wage suppression. Elitist (e.g. Wall Street Journal) arguments about diversity are a distraction and a carrot I won't bite into.

[LostInAnomie]

6. Exactly

The only time the WSJ is for diversity is when it means fucking over the middle and lower classes.

I'm not buying in.

[pampango]

10. Why are Kennedy and Dean supporting it?

Are they not some of the most liberal Democratic leaders that we have?

[LBJDemocrat]

11. Because they're misled

And because a significant faction of the Democratic Party consists of people who don't really give a shit about the worker (e.g. complexed college students who have no idea that illegal immigration hurts American workers and perpetuates the indentured servitude of the immigrants).

[pampango]

50. Kennedy and Dean have been duped by nefarious forces.

I guess I will never look at them as liberal champions again. ;) I agree that there is a faction such as you described. I just didn't know that Kennedy and Dean belonged to it.

[Spiffarino]

56. I'll still support them

I don't agree with everything anybody says or does.

Unfortunately, in this case I think it's about pulling in a big share of the Latino vote. After all, Dean is head of the DNC. That's what he's supposed to do. Even though I disagree with him, how can I possibly fault him for honestly doing his job?

[LBJDemocrat]

13. And I'd like to add

If the bill really did feasibly allow for the naturalization of the immigrants and if I sincerely believed they'd stem the flow of labor northwards as of now, I'd be for it.

The thing is: The bill's a ruse to create a class of "Guest Workers" with no chance of political representation, so the flaws of immigration are there (wage suppression) with none of the benefits (expansion of the electoral representation to the downtrodden).

[madfloridian]

14. I know Dean does not approve of the "guest worker" bill.

He thinks is a bad idea.

[ellisonz]

29. Don't let the facts get in the way...

the corporate masters need us to rip each other apart limb from limb and this bill does that :sarcasm:

Dear Joe Biden: It's called a tunnel.

[madfloridian]

45. You are right.

Facts don't matter. :think:

[Rageneau]

3. IMHO, Gov. Dean has just crafted the Democrat Credo

As a Democrat, I believe that we should welcome the stranger; that no child should go to bed hungry; that housing and a path to home ownership should be accessible to all; that everyone in America deserves universal health care; that the war should be the last resource only after diplomacy has been exhausted; that we should properly equip our troops before we send them to war; that we should take care of our veterans when they come home; that everyone, every single American, deserves equal rights under the law; that we should be good stewards of the Earth; that hardworking people should earn a living wage and be able to take care of their families with what they earn; that we ought not to pass debt along to our children; that faith should not be used to divide people, but rather to bring us together; and that you and I have more in common than we have differences.

This is EXACTLY why I, too, am a Democrat. It's why ALL of us are Democrats. We should recite this credo at every Democratic gathering, BEFORE (or in place of) the Pledge of Alliegiance.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. Bravo for Dean. A nice reminder why I supported him for president.

[JNelson6563]

5. Amen Brother Dean

Julie--true believer

[demoleft]

7. That's music to me...

"that faith should not be used to divide people, but rather to bring us together; and that you and I have more in common than we have differences."

That's the stuff our dream is made of, isn't it?

ciao
:hi:

[madfloridian]

8. ciao to you, demoleft....

His words are inspiring, but the Republicans with their Rovian tactics have succeeded so well pushing anger and distrust toward immigrants that people don't even realize they did it. :-(

In my community people who never even thought of the issue have listened to Lou Dobbs and other pundits until they are terrified someone is going to take their jobs. Trouble is no one has tried to take their jobs from them here. It is the businesses who are sending the jobs overseas, not the immigrants.

The Republicans did their job very well...so well that many Democrats have fallen for it as well.

[madfloridian]

17. My friend from Italy....read the comments to my post.

And you will have no doubt of how well they have succeeded in spreading lack of caring and understanding.

Would you believe the majority approve of amnesty of some sort? They do.

It is just that it has been turned into an issue of hate and fear.

[demoleft]

46. An issue of hate and fear - the same here...

Immigration is an issue - a huge one for us, too. But this is one thing politics must handle with.
Quite different is the topic of fear and hatred. This is something cultural, that should be overcome after centuries of immigration - indeed the whole west's is a story of culture mix and immigration.

Italian people are generally generous and mild. We've been immigrants for centuries - we know what it means to leave all you have - though sometimes all that immigrants have is personal affections, which they cherish above everything anyway - and to get started in a new life, stranger.
During the balkan war we received waves of poor immigrants. We've had shipwrecks and dead people from Africa.

Politics must do its job in regulating.
But people should grant strangers that bit of compassion and love that should be part of our culture.

Then - you know - many people in northern and southern Italy alike despise immigration. Apart when illegal underpaid immigrants work in little businesses or in the tomato fields - without welfare, insurance, and stuffed together in apartments or abandoned houses at the highest rent.

Do you want to know who are the owners of the houses, or of the cultivated fields? I think you know.
Good, respected, nicely-dressed Italian gentlemen. The new global slavers. And tax evaders.

Well it's not only Italy, you know... OOOPS! Sarko, look who! Have a look Madfloridian! See how sometimes useful are illegal immigrants!!! Did "he" know? Who can say...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6759063.stm

Ciao!

[madfloridian]

48. Sarkozy being investigated for hiring illegal immigrants??

Interesting article from the BBC.

"They have now been released but could face prosecution or deportation.

Mr Sarkozy, who became president in May, has a reputation for being tough on illegal migrants.

He has promised to deport thousands of people without residency papers in 2007. "

Sounds worldwide.

[EFerrari]

9. Howard Dean, statesman and human bean.

K&R

[Mr. Ected]

12. Does This Mean My German Friend Is Also Welcome to Come to America?

Without a work visa?

A 38-year old man with an advanced degree in accounting and bookkeeping with 18 years experience in the field, who speaks impeccable English, and wants and wishes to live in America, as an American, paying taxes and voting Democratic?

A man who is on an 11-year waiting list as we speak?

Will there actually be parity in the Democratic Party's message?

Or will one poor and bedraggled group of people be singled out as the beneificiary of our love?

[madfloridian]

15. Your post is sad and shows lack of understanding.

So I don't know what to say to you.

[Mr. Ected]

16. Sorry To Have Confused You With European Immigration Issues

It's a pity you can't...or won't...understand.

[madfloridian]

21. I don't think you understand that this administration...

is putting immigrants in private detention camps, with or without their children and their families. Prison camps.

That is the issue of which Dean is speaking, and our party is trying to stop this turning of immmigrants into prisoners.

I see your point, but it was not the main issue.

ICE is doing round-ups with permission of the employers who are told ahead of time....and sending those arrested to camps out of their state.

Right now it is a matter of our party working to stop these outrages while a few on the right wing keep wanting everyone jailed.

Sorry, but I am so glad to see Dean speak out with compassion.

[Mr. Ected]

23. Agreed As To the Outrage of the Detention Camps

And I applaud Dean's comments in that regard.

My dismay is in the unequal and disparate treatment of immigrants. As you may have surmised.

[madfloridian]

24. He is addressing that issue and being attacked for addressing it.

So go figure.

He is trying to present a little common sense. I post about it, I expect hits, but then I am amazed at the vitriol.

The GOP has succeeded so well in spreading fear and hatred.

[Critters2]

19. Sure! Send him over! The more the merrier!

I also think all the REALLY poor people in Africa should be welcome! Why only welcome people from a not-so-poor nation with a corrupt government like Mexico? Let's welcome everyone!!

[Mr. Ected]

20. Exactly. Why Should We Discriminate Against Every Other Foreign National?

Good for the goose, good for the gander.

[blondeatlast]

27. What does his desire to vote Dem have to do with it?

Thanks for playing--I welcome your friend as well, but he needs a good lawyer. That's how my friend did it.

Cripes.

[ellisonz]

30. Does your German friend live in Mexico?

I agree with Stalin, Germany should have been turned into permanent farmland <snark>

[DFW]

47. My wife is from the German farm country of the northwest

Less than an hour's drive from the Dutch border.
She isn't any great admirer of Stalin, even though she
votes either Green or SPD, but as her area was already
farmland for about 1000 years before she was born (and
still is), she wouldn't even be offended by that post.

[madfloridian]

18. Even CNN today admitted the majority of Americans approve of earned citizenship.

They said it was not really an issue for most people, but that the right wing opposition was very vocal.

[WiseButAngrySara]

22. Beautiful. This means Iraqis, Palestinians, etc. etc. Strangers

are those we have a tendency to exclude, but history has shown, all too often, the victims frequently become the victimizers. That is why Christ, and all other truly enlighted human beings, spoke about the need for forgiveness and compassion. The problem, and at the same time a potential cure, is our innate tendency to act for the betterment of our own particular nation, race, religion, etc. which under normal circumstances does us well, and which B* et all made so clear in his 'good job' with our fellow Americans during Katrina. :sarcasm:

We should help our own first and foremost and stay out of the affairs of others, especially if it comes to some trumped up need for wars of no necessity at all. How many of these are we currently supporting? Shame on this state of affairs. Madness. The human suffering that we have inflicted is incomprehensible.

[madfloridian]

25. Amazing, now people are even against going by God's word.

This is just amazing.

Deam is speaking of common sense and caring.

The hatred is palpable. Congratulations, Republicans, you have done a good job on this issue.

[madfloridian]

26. I am not sure whether to laugh or cry at the comments.

Thanks for trying, Governor Dean. There is no middle ground now though.

Even though the majority approve of most of this bill, the job is done that hatred is there.

The majority who approve are not being heard.

[RevCheesehead]

28. Gasp!

He sounds positively Christian! :wow:

[madfloridian]

31. Actually Dean is speaking for the majority of Americans...

that is what polls have been showing.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-poll13jun13,0,3328872.story

"WASHINGTON — A strong majority of Americans — including nearly two-thirds of Republicans — favor allowing illegal immigrants to become citizens if they pay fines, learn English and meet other requirements, a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll has found.

That is a striking show of support for a primary element of an immigration overhaul bill that has stalled in the Senate amid conservative opposition.

Only 23% of adults surveyed opposed allowing undocumented immigrants to gain legal status. That finding bolsters the view, shared by President Bush, that the bill's opponents represent a vocal minority whereas most people are more welcoming toward illegal immigrants.

"They are willing to take jobs that our people aren't interested in, and I think this helps the economy," Joseph Simpkins, a retired dry cleaner in New Jersey who participated in the survey, said in a follow-up interview. "As long as they pay taxes, I see nothing wrong with having them become citizens."

Here a link to the graph of one poll. I notice many like Dean do not like the idea of the guest worker program but do favor earned citizenship.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-061307-na-poll-g,0,613020.graphic

[Uncle Joe]

32. I believe Howard Dean hit the nail on the head.

Thanks for the thread madforidian

Kicked and recommended

[L0oniX]

33. yea ...let's all break the law and see what happens.

:grr:

[madfloridian]

36. Sorry, but that remark is not very intelligent about the overall picture.

You surprise me.

[L0oniX]

61. My British friend spent many years becoming a US citizen...

so he did it the legal way. Why should anyone else get to break the law to become a citizen?

You surprise me!

:wtf:

[ellisonz]

34. These types of arguments are not new...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Saint_Louis

Hans Morgenthau Jr: I'm calling up again about this St. Louis, the German boat.
Cordell Hull:Yes.
HMJr: And my friends called me from New York and they said they were having some trouble, the Cubans were demanding cash.
H:Yes, they haven't been able to work out that question.
HMJr: Uh-huh.
H: Of course, the situation, you see, is that the -- the folks in New York don't want any money to get in the hands of the Cubans and the Cubans do.
HMJr: Yeah.
H: That's the problem -- that's the problem we've got.
HMJr: Well, are the people in New York right or wrong?
H: Well, it's a question. I -- of course, we would like to have it worked out that way. I'd like to see it worked out that way; if we -- if we can't get them to do it, I don't know -- then it's a question of some kind of compromise proposition, you see.
HMJr: Put up half cash and half. . . . . .
H: Well, something that way -- yes.
HMJr: I see.

http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/history/faqs/Hull_Morgenthau_2.html

[madfloridian]

37. I think there is more hatred this time because of the right wing blogs.

There are more ways to spread the hate.

[ellisonz]

41. I think you forgot the proliferation right wing hate radio!

Radio didn't used to be like that. I hope Ford is in hell for pardoning that peace of shit Nixon. Healing my ass, more like enabling...







"The horror! The horror!":mad:

[xultar]

35. I love him more and more each day. Thanks Gov Dean!

[Critters2]

38. Where does scripture mention making people return to their homeland

every two years, and having corporate sponsors?

There's nothing compassionate about a guest worker policy. Not for the guest workers, not for the native workers they'll be replacing.

The real solution would be to pressure Mexico to treat its own citizens with compassion. But that wouldn't provide cheap labor, so the US Chamber of Commerce didn't write that into the bill.

[madfloridian]

39. Dean speaks out against the "guest worker" program every chance he gets.

I don't approve of that either.

Today 50 Democrats voted with Tancredo to deprive any city of emergency funds who give sanctuary to immigrants.

Did you hear that? 50 Democrats did it.

[madfloridian]

40. The very opposite of the 50 Dems who voted with Tancredo today.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3319004

Thanks for speaking honestly and with compassion, Governor Dean, because those 50 Dems chose the wrong path.

[madfloridian]

42. More from the speech.....he deserves kudos for this.

More from Dean's speech today....thoughtful and clear. Good for him.

"You work on the frontlines all across America and are often the ones who witness the human consequences of a severely flawed immigration system. You see the faces of children separated from their parents. You hear the cries of workers who risk daily serious injury working in fields and factories. And you know the struggles of newcomers who are working hard to serve America, while seeking a basic livelihood for themselves and their families.

I commend you. And I commend those clergy and Americans of diverse faiths who have consistently and vocally lent their leadership to speaking out on immigration, and who stood up and said loudly, criminalizing families for seeking a better life, and criminalizing clergy for doing God's work, is wrong.

Fortunately, under Democratic leadership in Congress we have changed the tone, and worked to move comprehensive immigration reform forward in a compassionate and bipartisan manner.

There are also leaders in the Republican Party who agree that it's time to not just talk about immigration reform, but to DO justly in enacting our policy."

How ironic that 50 Democrats voted for the Tancredo bill.

[madfloridian]

44. A great post from one of my favorites...Ybor City Stogie...about immigrants.

This video is called Losing Janina. I tracked the video back to You Tube from Stogie's site....and the comments there sickened me. I never cease to be amazed at how successful the GOP has been in their quest to marginalize so many different groups of people.

Thanks for posting this at your blog.

http://yborcitystogie.blogspot.com/2007/06/losing-janina_15.html


Also, thanks.
http://yborcitystogie.blogspot.com/2007/06/as-democrat-i-believe-that-we-should.html

[ecstatic]

49. The legal stranger, yes

I don't have time to read the article but I'm sure Dean is on the right side of this issue.

[UTUSN]

52. Is existence legal or illegal? n/t

[mdmc]

51. we are all human

:kick:

[treestar]

53. There are some Bible verses about being kind to the stranger

Another inconsistency of the right wing. They claim the Bible is their guide.

They are also consistent on the free market issue. They want that to rule everything else, but suddenly want government intervention when it comes to hiring them furriners.

[Horse with no Name]

54. I agree Dr. Dean

with just about everything you say.

[Kurovski]

57. Kick. (nt)

[madfloridian]

58. Thanks for the kick.

This is just breaking my heart. There must be rules and laws, but they truly have used them as scapegoats.

[madfloridian]

59. Dreams across America. A moving site.

http://dreamsacrossamericaonline.org/

[AZBlue]

60. I agree but I want a US where all citizens can have these things too as well as non-citizens.

eom