April 7, 2006
Tom Knott, Crazy Bastard
As we write, a bill to address immigration policy in this country is floundering in the Senate, sinking hopes that a compromise crafted in the upper house might win the day and salvage some Congressional humanity from the wreckage that is the cruel House of Representatives bill.
Still, considering the potential explosiveness of the issue, the debate in the United States over immigration has been fairly subdued, if not always wisely conducted. Massive protests have taken place (and will continue to do so) without significant violence, and the American people seem strikingly laid back about the subject (which makes us wonder why so many people want a "guest-worker" program, the likes of which have done so much to rend European societies).
Not everyone has been so restrained, however. Charles Krauthammer writes in his usual cold-blooded way today that we should build a fence on our southern border, pointing to the Korean DMZ as an effective example of such a barrier. That counts as progressive compared to some ideas bandied about in the right-wing press. But no one does the immigration debate quite like our own Washington Times. With their fingers on their scare-quote buttons they demagogue the issue better than anyone. And the best of the bunch has to be Tom Knott, who weaves his cartoon visions like an amateur holophonist. His column this week is vintage stuff.
His point appears to be that local student protestors are making the debate over the issue more difficult, but his arguments are presented in vintage Knott-speak, so it's pretty hard to tell. Some choice excerpts:
Supporters of illegal aliens are promising to add to the mess, with a national call to boycott work, school and shopping places May 1.It's not clear whether he believes that immigrants cannot or do not feel pain, or whether we ought to not recognize that they do. Whatever the case, it's pretty easy to imagine this guy grumbling about those damn protestors and boycotters, trying to obtain "civil rights" for blacks.This promises to be something of an Illegal Alien Pride Day, and we can all rejoice in it, if not join hands and belt out, "We are the World." A small number of high school students from Herndon, Park View and Dominion high schools acted ahead of the curve, perhaps because spring is in the air and the school system was unable to use its requisite number of snow days this winter. It was a good day to leave school grounds and show your capacity to feel the pain of illegal aliens.
The students undoubtedly were sorry that they had but one school day to give to illegal aliens. But who knows? There are lots of school days left before May 1. The least the students could do is sponsor an Illegal Alien Awareness Week. Or a Be Kind to Your Gardener, Painter and Maid Week.Sensitive, no? But he seems to grow frustrated at his inability to express his anger, so he retreats into absolute nonsense.
Some of our best laborers are illegal aliens, which is condescending, if you consider the phrase's origins.Read the whole thing and marvel at the moonie empire that gives this man column inches.Americans are mostly too smart to work on construction sites and in restaurants, which really does not say much for all the house husbands pushing baby strollers in parts of the city. Not that there is anything wrong with being a kept husband.
Picture taken by andertho. Full disclosure: the writer's family is not originally from the United States.
|
So rare to see a far-left contributor to DCist like this. I hope to see more of his like in the months to come . . . it really is a refreshing change of tone. And so informative about the Europeans, too. Rare and rich. Very rich.
excellent futurama reference, btw.
That's not "far-left." It's dead-center and reasonable. Because I say so. Despite the ever-so-eloquent commentary to the contrary. Those who live by the empty, sardonic jab are, um, destined to, ahhh... something, I can't quite recall.
I like Dennis Miller's solution to the problem.
Invite some cheap Mexican workers over to build the fence and when they're almost done, give them a hip check and fill in the last piece. They're in their country and we're in ours - everybody's happy.
It's funny. This is going to be a rough issue for people on all sides, mainly because of the way people feel about basic fairness. Certainly, there is a "law of induction" at work, bringing people over the border to labor in America. And certainly, I don't doubt that many illegal immigrants, like the legal ones, want to work hard and have a hand at making a good life. But while there is virtue there, I can also empathize with people who see a nation with limited resources and already struggling citizens. It's more than fair to take their concerns into account.
This is one of those occasions where I hope innovativeness prevails, and we can figure out a way to harness the force of one body in motion to to affect another body at rest, economically speaking. But it's going to take a lot of people willing to see their good ideas sacrificed in order to craft the best idea. I give Krauthammer the credit he's due--his somewhat shockingly extreme wall idea is coupled in the same article with the shockingly generous proposal to grant amnesty to everyone on this side of the wall. Well, it's shocking that it comes from Krauthammer, anyway. Though I recall he was willing to take all codified immigration law and put it to the torch for the sake of Elian Gonzalez. Maybe he's learned something about special interest groups or something.
That being said, I can tell you that out in Herndon, where this issue has been hot, it's only about ILLEGAL immigrants on the surface. The fact is, in that community--and I suspect in others--if we could somehow snap our fingers and magically deport all the illegal immgrants, Ann Null and her merry band of bottom rungers would still be monkeypoop enraged at the presence of the remaining day-laborers of legal status. For out there, the issue is largely the mere presence of Hispanics. If you follow the anti-day laborer rhetoric, it's obvious that sometimes they need to be reminded that legal citizens cannot be similarly rounded up and disposed of.
Someone clearly has an obsession with Tom Knott.
This reads like the kind of cranky rant better confined to one's own personal blog. Politically-oriented Fisking on DCist should be left for Sunday Opinionist items, if it needs to be included at all.
By the way...regardless of what the Senate decides, they'd be smart to not put the law into effect until the illegal immigrants are at least done rebuilding New Orleans.
Tom Knott is a freak and I appreciate every little jab DCist takes. Good job, Ryan!
And to the guy who is freaking over this site's "lefty" writers: Um..hello? This is the bluest city of them all and its writers reflect that. If you want to start a fire-breathing conservative Virginianist.com...go for it!
I see no reason why public lampooning of paid columnists who attempt to frame this issue in terms of "pro-illegal vs. anti-illegal" is anything but necessary and proper. Kudos to DCist for putting the screws to those who attempt to unnecessarily, wrongfully, and harmfully characterize an issue this important as a simple "Us vs. Them" dispute. That sort of anti-American activity needs to be nipped in the bud in the widest possible forum. It may have been indelicate, but it was not improper in the least.
I HAVE AN OPNINION EVERYONE LISTEN TO ME.
Irony lives!
Not to defend his central argument, but I think Knott's point about students is at least worth comprehending. I believe he was trying to say that we shouldn't give too much weight to the acts of students to leave school in the middle of a beautiful spring day. Overly cynical? yup. But I do think it's a fair question to ask when discussing protests generally, i.e. can you discount the value of a protest if the act of protesting was not that difficult? For instance:
A. Rosa Parks sits in the front of the bus and risks physical harm, jailtime, and worse.
B. Student leaves pre-calc and walks down the street, risking getting detention and/or good copy for college essay.
Which is a more significant act? Of course Rosa Parks'. But then, not every protest can have the impact of her act, nor should they. The point is that the we should give differing value/attention to different protests. Knott is simply saying that the student protest should not get much value/attention.
I'm not saying I agree with him that it was an inconsequential protest, but I just think it's worth at least understanding his point, at least before you ridicule him.
Reid,
I understood his point and I still think he's an ass. We always ridicule young America for not being in tune with the political and social issues of today. And then when they attempt to show interest we're supposed to write them off as sunny day opportunists?? I prefer to give the majority of these students more credit than that.
I agree with Celena. Did the students know it was going to be sunny when planning it? Were they like, "let's protest, but you know, if it's raining or something then screw it..."?
You don't have to be a liberal to think Knott is an idiot. You just have to be semi-literate.
I LOVE Tom Knott! I'm convinced that Ed Anger guy from the Weekly World News changed his name and got a job with the Times. I keep expecting Tom to slip an Angerism in like "That gets me pig-bitin' mad!"
BTW, did he ever apologize for that screed he wrote "radical environmentalists" starting those townhouse fires in P.G. County? I mean, seeing as they had nothing to do with environmentalists? He was ready to round up Earth First and march them into the sea. You'd figured they'd set fire to the Reichstag or something.
As for Krauthammer, I wonder if his illegal immigrant housekeeper reads his column. Might not be a great idea to peeve the hired help Chuck, especially since you're in a wheelchair. Accidents happen, y'know.
I agreed with Reid. As a high school student, I know that many people protesting outside of my school didn't necessarily know exactly what was going on. After the principal made an announcement that people who went to the demonstration would receive unexcused absences, there were kids looking out windows all over the school and the crowd almost doubled.
I don't agree with all aspects of the House bill, but if I were to voice my opinion against it it would not be during school hours--it's disrespectful towards my teachers to be SEEN skipping their class. There are no reasons why the protest needs to be held on weekdays between the hours of 8 and 3.