Immigration a dividing line in Virginia politics

Immigration a dividing line in Virginia politics

That was the headline in the Virginian Pilot. And Dale Eisman, the Pilot’s (front page editorial) writer began the story by taking a below-the-belt jab at one of the politicians who is trying to stop illegal immigration:

“The polls had been closed and his re-election secured for hours late Tuesday, but Corey Stewart, the chairman of the county Board of Supervisors, was still in fighting form.

"We are never going to stop defending our communities from the effects of illegal immigration. Ever!" Stewart yelled into a microphone at the local Republican Party's post-election reception. "This community strongly supported this crackdown on illegal immigration and tonight laid to rest any other idea."

Imagine that, a politician who is addressing the people who helped get him re-elected actually reaffirms the position he took before the election! And he does it by “yelling!” Apparently Dale Eisman never heard of a politician yelling into a microphone before an excited crowd of his supporters before. The VIRGINIAN PILOT needs to send Dale out some more, because the poor child has never been exposed to the campaign trail.

If course, this is designed by Eisman to set the mood. Your opponent “yells,” while your supporter expresses himself “forcefully.”

And note the snark about the polls being closed and Stewart having been re-elected. Perhaps, implies Eisman, it’s high time for Stewart to stab his constituency in the back and tell them he was only feeding “red meat” to his rabid constituents. The Clinton team used to call it “boob bait for the Bubbas” and Eisman seems incredulous that Stewart would actually mean what he said about illegal immigration.

But what about the “good guys” in this little VIRGINIAN PILOT drama: the Democrats? Of course the Democrats did not “yell,” they “celebrated.”

Democrats this week celebrated a resurgence in the Virginia General Assembly and claimed victories for moderation in the emotionally charged debate over illegal immigration.

But… but amid this genteel celebration, there may be a snake in this Democrat’s Garden of Eden.

But here, in a changing suburb where 1 in 5 residents has Hispanic roots, there are ample signs that the issue remains an emerging force in Virginia politics.

Carlos Labiosa, a retired soldier who is vice chairman of Prince William's Human Rights Commission, said he had hoped that after a wrenching summer and fall of nationally publicized struggles over the county's planned ordinance to crack down on illegal immigrants, voters "would have said, 'OK, enough is enough.' "

Instead, Stewart and six other supervisors who voted for the law were resoundingly re-elected. The board's only open seat was claimed by a Democrat who expressed reservations about the initiative but also told one interviewer that "people want something done about illegal immigration, and rightly so when it impacts their neighborhoods or their safety."

Oh, no! Even among the celebrants, it appears that the “good guys” were not repudiating the dark night of fascism descending on Virginia. The Democrats who were winning had actually spoken to people who did not work for the VIRGINIAN PILOT and concluded that to get elected they had to appear to care about illegal immigration.

Of course appearing to care is enough for Democrats. It’s what they do best. Solving the problem; not so much.

There were numerous examples of Eisman stacking the deck in this story.

But whatever their status, their presence has swelled already vibrant Hispanic communities in inner suburbs such as Fairfax County and Falls Church.

“Vibrant Hispanic communities…” get it?

"All the help you want, you find someone here," native Honduran David Albaro said one recent morning as he joined about 20 or so Latino men at the Herndon site.

"Who's going to cut grass at your house, Who's going to clean the bathroom?" he said. "You don't see gringo guys, Indian guys, Korean guys. Only the Latin people."

Who cut the grass and cleaned the houses before the influx of illegal immigrants? I don’t know about you, but the people I hire are not illegal immigrants. In fact, they are not Latino at all. But the illegals are competing for these jobs and you can be sure that they are keeping the wages of the legal domestic workers down. But Eisman never questions this racist diatribe because by now we know the mantra: “illegals are only doing the jobs that others don’t want to do.” To which I reply: BS!

And Larry Sabato is allowed to have the last word on this issue. Sabato was exposed as a partisan during the last election when he was busy bashing George Allen as a racist.

Among many voters, "Republicans are already seen as too far to the right and too harsh on matters of race.... They always seem to be the ones that are pointing fingers, whether it's on social issues or race," Sabato said. "Those issues tend to work temporarily and then they backfire.

It appears that so far the “many voters” are agreeing with Republicans and Sabato is simply stating his partisan preference.

But let’s get back to headline: Immigration a dividing line in Virginia politics. It’s true. There is a dividing line. The divide is between the Liberals who write for the VIRGINIAN PILOT and people of Virginia. It’s a dividing line between Liberal elitists and the people.

It's a line that the drive-by-media seems totally oblivious to.