If It’s the Right Trick It’s Okay to Be a One Trick Pony

Cross posted from The Peoples Patriot

Tom Tancredo, who is the strongest anti illegal immigration candidate in the Presidential field, formally announced his candidacy in Iowa yesterday. There was no MSM coverage of the event, surprise, surprise.

The comments I observed shortly after the announcement were typical and predictable. They covered the gambit of “he’s too out there to be Presidential material”, perhaps for the reasons he himself touted, “I’m too short, too fat and too bald”. Then you have he’s too radical and outspoken as evidenced by his “Miami is a third world country” comment. It doesn’t matter to some that the description is as accurate as saying the sky is blue on a cloudless day. The one predominant comment I came across however, was “he is a one trick pony, all hat no cattle”.

There is nothing wrong with being a “one trick pony” so long as the “trick” is the right one. Tancredo’s one trick, as they put it, is the right one. Tancredo’s platform is illegal immigration. It is front and center with him, which is something the vast majority of candidates won’t make the issue.

There is no domestic issue that can be effectively addressed without first eliminating illegal immigration. Education issues cannot honestly be debated without factoring in millions of illegal alien children over crowding and dumbing down our education system.

The same goes for health care. When millions abuse the system for free health care under EMTALA, how can any candidate promise to fix the system without first addressing illegal alien abuse of it?

Similarly, labor issues cannot be improved upon without first addressing the illegal importation of an entire serf like class of low wage aliens. No matter what domestic issue of significant importance, it cannot be made better without first dealing with illegal immigration in a sound and effective manner.

Even issues like energy independence cannot be dealt with until illegal immigration is stopped. Bush in his State of the Union Address, stated he wanted to reduce our overseas energy dependence by 20%. In the next breath he touts immigration policies that will increase our population by at least 20%. See the disconnect? So we’re are going to reduce our overseas energy dependence by 20% while increasing our population by the same amount. Logic dictates that would be impossible. In fact, had our population stabilized since the 1970’s, our dependence on foreign oil would have declined.

How about the issue of homeland security? There’s an issue all of the candidates give lip service to. None of the candidates, from either party, can improve our homeland security without securing our borders and ending visa overstays. Without fixing illegal immigration, all talk about homeland security is just that, talk. I might add it is dishonest talk at that.

If the candidates decide to focus on community and family issues, there again without correcting the illegal immigration situation, all this talk is disingenuous and to be taken with a grain of salt.

Do you want to talk about cleaning up Washington DC and election reform? What could be more important than to prevent the disenfranchisement of American citizens brought about by fraudulent illegal alien voting and any proposed amnesty legislation. Amnesty will dilute American citizens votes by at least 20 million voters either in the immediate or near future.

One could argue that the reason we have an illegal immigration problem today is due to politicians being bought on the issue for the last fifty years. Cleaning up illegal immigration will go along way to cleaning up Washington.

The only issue that illegal immigration doesn’t affect is the war in Iraq. You can’t shoot down Tancredo simply based on war issues when you have approximately 600 politicians that cannot effectively address the issue. When it comes to Iraq, none of the candidates offer the panacea.

Tom Tancredo may in fact be a “one trick pony”. However it is the right trick as it touches every domestic issue of importance. I draw a parallel to Tancredo’s one trick and being granted just one wish from a magical genie. Rather than just throw the wish away on a one time shot, he astutely wishes for more wishes to come true; thereby being able to make progress on much more than just one obvious issue. Properly handling illegal immigration will allow for much progress on all of the domestic issues faced by this country, not just illegal immigration itself. Perhaps they should call Tancredo the “one wish pony”.

Every so often in history, a confluence of crises emerge to create a vacuum of fate. The result of which ordinary men and women step up to meet the challenge caused by the void. If these men and women are successful in filling the void, they transform from the ordinary to the extraordinary. Tancredo is filling this void and right now he is an “ordinary” guy. As for the crisis, it is here. It is illegal immigration and if not handled properly, the result will be the end of the United States as we know it. Is fate knocking on Tancredo’s door? I believe so. Is Tancredo undergoing the transformation from ordinary to extraordinary? I can only hope as there is no one else on the horizon better positioned to do so.

Unlike all of the other candidates, Republican or Democrat, Tancredo’s support is from the bottom up. He has the grassroots support of the people. That is where his donations come from. The people encouraged him to run. The special interests and large lobbyist aren’t knocking on Tancredo’s door. He is a real alternative to the status quo which hasn’t worked for twenty or more years.

My only gripe with Tancredo is that he isn’t assertive and or confident enough. He self deprecates too often for my liking. If I am right about the confluence of crises and fate, he better change this quickly for the sake of our country. The following words from Walter D. Wintle are most appropriate in the context of Tancredo’s current frame of mind.

The Man Who Thinks He Can

If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don’t.
If you like to win, but you think you can’t
It is almost certain, you won’t.

If you think you’ll lose, you’ve lost.
For out in the world we find,
Success begins with a fellow’s will–
It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are.
You’ve got to think high to rise;
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.

Life’s battles don’t always go to the
Stronger or faster man;
But soon or late the man who wins is the
Man who thinks he can!

This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email stiknstein-at-gmail-dot-com and let us know at what level you would like to participate.