Powell: Illegal migrants essential

[Teacher Mark 53]

IN my case, he lost respect by endorsing Obama.

How would someone who claims to be a Republican turn around and Vote for the most liberal of candidates...... and he even had to step over MR. Moderate (John McCain) to do it.

Oh thats right, Obama is Black and Powell is Black. (guess he has his priorities straight)

So what?

[JohnSmith2007 353]

It's funny because Reagan said pretty much the same thing and yet I doubt any of you yahoos have "lost respect" for the Old Gipper over it.

What Would Reagan Do on Immigration?

Former Reagan speechwriter Peter Robinson tries to answer that very good question in an op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal. It’s a question my conservative Republican friends should ask themselves as the party tries, once again, to turn public opposition to illegal immigration into political success at the polls.

Robinson correctly observes that Reagan would have had nothing to do with the anger and inflamed rhetoric that so often marks the immigration debate today. “Ronald Reagan was no kind of nativist,” he concludes, noting that Reagan was always reaching out to voters beyond the traditional Republican base, including the fast-growing Hispanic population.

It’s worth remembering that Reagan signed the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), which opened the door to citizenship for nearly 3 million people who had been living in the country illegally. Robinson is confident Reagan would have supported the kind of comprehensive immigration reform championed by President George W. Bush and approved by the Senate in 2006.

For the record, I made similar observations and included a few of the same Reagan quotes in an op-ed I wrote soon after Reagan’s passing in June 2004

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/what-would-reagan-do-on-immigration/

You still don't get it do you? Point out to me where Reagan said he observed illegals working in his house and was OK with that. It is one thing to have an opinion on what to do with the illegals and another thing to hire them contrary to the law.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

You still don't get it do you? Point out to me where Reagan said he observed illegals working in his house and was OK with that. It is one thing to have an opinion on what to do with the illegals and another thing to hire them contrary to the law.

You really get caught up on semantics. Powell wasn't endorsing illegal activity, he was differentiating what is right and just, from the letter of the law. Have you read the Gospel lately?

The past few days when I've been at that window upstairs, I've thought a bit of the "shining city upon a hill." The phrase comes from John Winthrop, who wrote it to describe the America he imagined. What he imagined was important because he was an early Pilgrim, an early freedom man. He journeyed here on what today we'd call a little wooden boat; and like the other Pilgrims, he was looking for a home that would be free. I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still.

~ Reagan's Farewell Address

[JohnSmith2007 353]

You really get caught up on semantics. Powell wasn't endorsing illegal activity, he was differentiating what is right and just, from the letter of the law. Have you read the Gospel lately?

You can deflect all you want but the fact remains that Powell said he had illegals working in his home. That is a crime and he should be arrested and jailed for it. Attempting to deflect by quoting Reagan will do you no good at all. It just shows you really don't understand what he means to us. If you think pointing out the differences between what Reagan did and what our opinions are on illegal immigration somehow negates our opinions you are delusional. There are many things Reagan stood for that I don't agree with. There is no politician that is 100% on the same page with 100% of conservatives. It just isn't a reasonable thing to look for. Your disengenous attempts to drive wedges is a massive fail. You are without any conception of what he really stood. Your apples and oranges argument has gotten you nothing.

[Teacher Mark 53]

You can deflect all you want but the fact remains that Powell said he had illegals working in his home. That is a crime and he should be arrested and jailed for it. Attempting to deflect by quoting Reagan will do you no good at all. It just shows you really don't understand what he means to us. If you think pointing out the differences between what Reagan did and what our opinions are on illegal immigration somehow negates our opinions you are delusional. There are many things Reagan stood for that I don't agree with. There is no politician that is 100% on the same page with 100% of conservatives. It just isn't a reasonable thing to look for. Your disengenous attempts to drive wedges is a massive fail. You are without any conception of what he really stood. Your apples and oranges argument has gotten you nothing.

In a statement, Powell said, "I don't hire illegal immigrants."

"I was referring to the many service contractors who work in my neighborhood, using mostly immigrant workers, who do good work," Powell said. "Some may well be 'illegal.' There are 11 million illegal immigrants in this country and most are working somewhere in our economy."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20017133-503544.html

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

You can deflect all you want but the fact remains that Powell said he had illegals working in his home. That is a crime and he should be arrested and jailed for it. Attempting to deflect by quoting Reagan will do you no good at all. It just shows you really don't understand what he means to us. If you think pointing out the differences between what Reagan did and what our opinions are on illegal immigration somehow negates our opinions you are delusional. There are many things Reagan stood for that I don't agree with. There is no politician that is 100% on the same page with 100% of conservatives. It just isn't a reasonable thing to look for. Your disengenous attempts to drive wedges is a massive fail. You are without any conception of what he really stood. Your apples and oranges argument has gotten you nothing.

or they just 'look' illegal

[JohnSmith2007 353]

In a statement, Powell said, "I don't hire illegal immigrants."

"I was referring to the many service contractors who work in my neighborhood, using mostly immigrant workers, who do good work," Powell said. "Some may well be 'illegal.' There are 11 million illegal immigrants in this country and most are working somewhere in our economy."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20017133-503544.html

His retraction is just a attempt to get out of hot water.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell says illegal immigrants do essential work in the U.S. and he has firsthand knowledge of that because they fix his house.

....

"They're all over my house, doing things whenever I call for repairs, and I'm sure you've seen them at your house," he said. "We've got to find a way to bring these people out of the darkness and give them some kind of status."

So which is it? He is lying at least once here.

[twowls 217]

How would someone who claims to be a Republican turn around and Vote for the most liberal of candidates...... and he even had to step over MR. Moderate (John McCain) to do it.

Oh thats right, Obama is Black and Powell is Black. (guess he has his priorities straight)

You don't have to wonder how. He articulated his reasoning quite eloquently. It's almost as if he has complex thoughts that are his own, and that these thoughts are readily available on the world wide web.

[^_^ 5,021]

What the hell is a complex thought? A thought is a thought just like a math is a math. You libruls and your silly word games.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

You don't have to wonder how. He articulated his reasoning quite eloquently. It's almost as if he has complex thoughts that are his own, and that these thoughts are readily available on the world wide web.

You seemed to have missed the point of Danno's sarky/rhetorical question, twowls.

[twowls 217]

You seemed to have missed the point of Danno's sarky/rhetorical question, twowls.

Something's missing, alright.

[evli1966 88]

How was it that he lost respect?

Anyone who flipflops his political view deserves no respect politically.

He has done this in the past

Many Democrats admired his moderate stance on military matters, while many Republicans saw him as a great asset associated with the successes of past Republican administrations. Put forth as a potential Democratic Vice Presidential nominee in the 1992 U.S. Presidential Election^[20] or even potentially replacing Vice President Dan Quayle as the Republican Vice Presidential nominee,^[21] Powell eventually declared himself a Republican and began to campaign for Republican candidates in 1995.^{[citation needed]} He was touted as a possible opponent of Bill Clinton in the 1996 U.S. Presidential Election, possibly capitalizing on a split conservative vote in Iowa^[22] and even leading New Hampshire polls for the GOP nomination,^[23] but Powell declined, citing a lack of passion for politics.^[24

Powell was the subject of controversy in 2004 when, in a conversation with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, he reportedly referred to neoconservatives within the Bush administration as "###### crazies."^[52] In addition to being reported in the press (though generally, the expletive was censored in the U.S. press), the quote was used by James Naughtie in his book, The Accidental American: Tony Blair and the Presidency, and by Chris Patten in his book, Cousins and Strangers: America, Britain, and Europe in a New Century.

But he has no passion for Politics

Powell donated the maximum amount to John McCain's campaign in the summer of 2007^[57] and in early 2008, his name was listed as a possible running mate for Republican nominee McCain's bid during the 2008 U.S. presidential election.^[58] However, on October 19, 2008, Powell announced his endorsement of Barack Obama during a Meet the Press interview, citing "his ability to inspire, because of the inclusive nature of his campaign, because he is reaching out all across America, because of who he is and his rhetorical abilities," in addition to his "style and substance." He additionally referred to Obama as a "transformational figure".^[59][60

Could it be that he was not selected as a running mate that helped change his mind on who to support?

Drum roll please....................

In a July 2009 CNN interview with John King, Powell expressed concern over President Obama growing the size of the federal government and the size of the federal budget deficit.^[63]

You really get caught up on semantics. Powell wasn't endorsing illegal activity, he was differentiating what is right and just, from the letter of the law. Have you read the Gospel lately?

~ Reagan's Farewell Address

Actually

The past few days when I've been at that window upstairs, I've thought a bit of the "shining city upon a hill." The phrase comes from John Winthrop, who wrote it to describe the America he imagined. What he imagined was important because he was an early Pilgrim, an early freedom man. He journeyed here on what today we'd call a little wooden boat; and like the other Pilgrims, he was looking for a home that would be free. I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still.

No where does he endorse in his dream Illegal immigration or Open Borders for Illegals to live among us.

It is very clear if you have the will and heart to come here and be a citizen then it would be so.

To do so you must follow the law to get here and to become a citizen.

[ready4ONE 5,400]

Sure, I have no problem with that. Your strawman argument is old and worn out.

It was more sarcasm than argument. :-)