Madfloridian's Journal - Using immigration to divide the country.....a prediction from 2005.

I think it is time to remember that some understood the use of wedge issues before others even talked about it. I wrote a lot of this in 2006.

In 2005 Dean predicted the GOP would use immigration to divide us.

2005: Dean: GOP to Scapegoat Immigrants in Next Election

From 2005. Dean predicted many times that the Republicans were going to use immigration to divide us. It is terrible what they are urging...the criminalization of good Samaritans who help those in need. I have seen many posts here saying it is a losing issue for Democrats. No, standing up for those who are the least among us is never a losing issue. Never.

Dean: Immigration is next wedge

July 15, 2005
USA: Dean: Immigration is next wedge

"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.”

And in Texas in 2005 to much applause he had more to say.

Dean: GOP to Scapegoat Immigrants in Next Election

EDINBURG, Texas — Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean argued on Friday that Republicans will try to make immigrants the "scapegoats" in the next election. At a rally, Dean garnered the loudest applause when he said Republicans would make immigration a pivotal issue during upcoming elections, as they did gay marriage and affirmative action in previous elections.

"Do you know who the scapegoats are going to be? Immigrants," he said. "In Colorado, the chairman of the Republican Party endorsed Tom Tancredo for re-election. That is morally reprehensible. The governor of California, a supposed moderate Republican, invited the Minutemen to visit California. We do not need vigilante justice."

Dean also criticized President Bush, contending that the president rebuffed Mexican President Vicente Fox because of divisions over the Iraq war.

"A strong Mexico means a strong America, and our ties must not be based on the petulance of the president of the United States," Dean said.

And there was more in 2005....not so much about it now that it has come to pass.

Dean Hammers Bush On War, Immigration

Dean Hammers Bush On War, Immigration
DNC Chief Gives Preview of '06 Race

Dean speaking in Phoenix.

"PHOENIX, Dec. 3 -- Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean offered a preview of the 2006 elections here Saturday with a blistering critique of President Bush's policies on Iraq and immigration and the Republicans' ethics scandals. But he warned Democrats they cannot expect to win next year without offering an agenda of their own. Speaking at the fall meeting of the Democratic National Committee, Dean pledged that Democrats would offer tax policies aimed at middle-class voters, a plan to provide health insurance to all Americans, immigration proposals that offer a path to legalization for illegal immigrants, and defense policies that would protect the nation and expose the "hollow promises" of the Bush administration."

Saying Bush had used race and gay rights to divide the electorate, Dean said, "In 2006, it's going to be immigration; that's who he's going to scapegoat next." He said Democrats must favor tougher enforcement of existing immigration laws and provide tighter border security, but said a balanced immigration policy would provide a way to give many of the 11 million illegal immigrants a path to legal status."

He doesn't talk about it anymore. The TV pundits have used it just as he said they would. I have seen a sea change in our area. People who were common sense about such amd realized the only way to stop illegal immigration is to fine the employers who hire them and secure the borders better.....now are talking about the Lou Dobbs show and not realizing what he is doing.

They DID turn immigrants into scapegoats, and it was so easy for them. No one speaks out much very loudly anymore, and the media has their instructions.

We have camps for them which are not talked about much. There are mothers there separated from nursing babies. There are young children in jump suits that are orange, like they were criminals. We don't know who else is in those private detention camps. We had them in WWII for the Japanese, but we don't talk much about that either.

It is wrong to round up millions of people who have been here for years and put them in camps. And it scares the bejesus out of me that so many think it is ok.

My Republican family has called me a "bleeding heart liberal" for years, so words don't touch me much now. But even they are concerned now about the creeping fear and hatred being spread on this subject.

The media has done their job well. They went on immediate attack against those who spoke out about the issue, posting their pictures and statements and inviting people to bombard them with mail for standing up for what it is right.