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Gov. Arnold Invites Minutemen to California

By Jeralyn, Section Civil Liberties
Posted on Sat Apr 30, 2005 at 09:11:48 AM EST
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One step forward, two steps back. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger made progress with his prison reform plan stressing rehabilitation over punishment, only to step in it bigtime by inviting the Minutemen to patrol California's borders.

No wonder his approval rating has dropped from 60% to 47% in the past three months. The ACLU weighs in here. The Mexican Government here.

Perhaps the Governor already sees the error of his ways. He is now tempering his support for the Minutemen.

Asked if he planned to visit the Minuteman monitors, who have been denounced by President Bush as vigilantes, Schwarzenegger said, "I have no plan. I think the most important thing to note is I am a champion of immigrants. I promote immigration. I am an immigrant myself. I think it's extremely important that we do it in a legal way."

Or, is he?

When asked it he was encouraging the group to continue the controversial patrols, the governor said, "What I'm encouraging is to simply ... ask the federal government to do their job. Their job is to secure the borders, and they have not done their job. When the government ... doesn't do its job, then the private citizens go out. It is like a neighborhood patrol."

Gov. Arnold need to make up his mind. We need to know where he stands on the Minutemen. Right now, he's just speaking out of both sides of his mouth.

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    Gov. Arnold Invites Minutemen to California | 18 comments (18 topical)
    Re: Gov. Arnold Invites Minutemen to California (none / 0) (#14)
    by krazycory on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:54:09 PM EST
    i would gladly pay good stone masons $25.00 per hour as long as they speak enough english to comunicate with me and the general contractors i do work for

    Re: Gov. Arnold Invites Minutemen to California (none / 0) (#1)
    by krazycory on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:35 PM EST
    good for arnie!! you all think its great to be overrun with illegals but theyre called illegals for a reason!! if someone wants to come to OUR country thats ok with me, BUT DO IT LEGALLY!! i work in the construction business i'm a masonry contractor yes it's my company and it's getting to be if you don't speak spanish you can't conduct business!! COME OVER LEGALLY AND LEARN THE LANGUAGE OF THIS COUNTRY

    Re: Gov. Arnold Invites Minutemen to California (none / 0) (#2)
    by pigwiggle on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:35 PM EST
    kc- For the sake of your business why don’t you learn Spanish? Make sure your answer doesn’t come down to your own convenience; business is often difficult and frustrating, if you can’t take it you could get out.

    Re: Gov. Arnold Invites Minutemen to California (none / 0) (#3)
    by Dadler on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:35 PM EST
    arnie is proving himself to the the mental midget i had a hunch he was. he's a hulk, that is the ONLY thing he has going. fame from muscle, money from muscle, no brains from muscle. he also just appointed our former, and completely unqualified, superintendent of san diego city schools to that (mostly powerless, granted) statewide job in sacramento. alan bersin, a guy who alienated and divided the community like no "educator" (tho he has NO experience in it) ever has. you elect a movie star as governor, you're gonna get the same screen-thick depth in office. ain't nothin' under there except a celebrity's ego and inability to accept their own limitations.

    Re: Gov. Arnold Invites Minutemen to California (none / 0) (#4)
    by chupetin on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:35 PM EST
    I have a Vietnamese or Korean businessman around the corner from me that speaks passable Spanish. Since most of his customers are Latinos that use his service to send money to Mexico or whatever, I think it was a smart move on his part to learn their language. I live in California by the way. If you have a certain type of business here (construction,landscaping, restaurant,etc.), you're better off if you can communicate with your employees effectively.

    Re: Gov. Arnold Invites Minutemen to California (none / 0) (#5)
    by krazycory on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:35 PM EST
    i do speak a little spanish but what i'm saying is come here legally and put forth an effort to learn the language. if i went to a foreign land i wouldn't expect them to start speaking english on my behalf.

    Re: Gov. Arnold Invites Minutemen to California (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:36 PM EST
    They already do though, don't they? Isn't it a little arrogant to travel and expect people to speak their language? Whenever Blaghdaddy travels, he invariably encounters Americans who are bellowing at the top of their lungs, "ENGLISH! ENGLISH! I NEED SOMEONE WHO SPEAKS ENGLISH! WHAT'S WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?" The funniest joke of all? These same people screaming about illegals in California's biggest nightmare is "What would we do if they stopped coming?"

    Re: Gov. Arnold Invites Minutemen to California (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:36 PM EST
    This from a guy who may have violated his own immigration status.

    Re: Gov. Arnold Invites Minutemen to California (none / 0) (#8)
    by Che's Lounge on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:36 PM EST
    Dadler, All from steroid use. Enabling vigilantism. What an idiot.

    Re: Gov. Arnold Invites Minutemen to California (none / 0) (#9)
    by ppjakajim on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:36 PM EST
    Blaghdaddy must travel in different circles than PPJ, becauuse I have never heard "What's wrong with these people?" shouted as Blaghdaddy describes. The issue of course is illegal immigration, which is hurting our lower and middle class citizens very much, as the illegals will work for less money, and not demand healthcare benefits from the employer. Here is a link showing costs. crazycory - The problem you refer to is of epidemic proportions. A roofing contractor who put a new roof on my home had a crew that was at least 95% Mexican, and I am a long way from the border. He said it was almost impossible to get whites or blacks. He also said his workers all had green cards. My question is, why don't we increase the wages and see if native americans will go back to the trades and agriculture. They may not, but now we don't know. In the meantime, the hidden cost, which is discussed in my link, is being paid by the middle and lower class while the upper class enjoys cheap veggies and nannies.

    Re: Gov. Arnold Invites Minutemen to California (none / 0) (#10)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:36 PM EST
    Jim, if you have concern for the lower income folks there are solutions to the problem you describe: criminal sanctions for the employers who hire undocumented workers and a raise in the minimum wage. Are you on board with those?

    Re: Gov. Arnold Invites Minutemen to California (none / 0) (#11)
    by krazycory on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:36 PM EST
    ppj i don't know about everywhere but i do know that around northern ut. where i do most of my work the mexicans in the construction trade are paid just as much as anyone else. i'm also sure that there are alot of employers that take advantage of thier situation. i agree that there should be a penalty for hiring illegals

    Re: Gov. Arnold Invites Minutemen to California (none / 0) (#12)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:36 PM EST
    Mexican construction workers may be paid as much as anyone else, but the question is whether illegal workers - largely from south of our border - drive down the wage that non-union construction workers are paid in general. I worked framing apartments in Texas to put myself through college. Worked for one meathead contractor who wanted to take on a siding and trim contract at one development. His comment to me (I had more siding and trim experience than the rest of his crew) was that we could definitely work faster than a "wetback crew" that had already started. I had worked long enough with his crew of slammers to know better than to try to lead them on siding and cornice in competition with a hispanic crew who were doing good work at a good pace. I walked away from that crew, went back to running my own business and construction crew. In those days, white crews almost never did the concrete work in apartments and housing subdivisions. We could not compete with the bids by the chicano crews. I think it bothered this particular subcontractor that a chicano crew was working outside of the concrete end of the business. I did roofing when I had to. All white guy crew except for me. I never did any concrete work on any meaningful scale.

    Re: Gov. Arnold Invites Minutemen to California (none / 0) (#13)
    by ppjakajim on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:38 PM EST
    CA - You bet. Five years first offense. No good time. To me, the question isn't quality of work. Any group can do the job, if they want to. And I understand the motivation of the illegals, and I respect their work ethic. As I have commented before, many of them demonstrate what we like to call "the American way." krazycory - The problem is, when the contractors knows they can get people for $4.00 an hour, they aren't gonna pay $9.00 an hour.

    Re: Gov. Arnold Invites Minutemen to California (none / 0) (#15)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:38 PM EST
    Ah, Jim, one of those places where we agree. Slam the door on the demand side of illegal employment as hard as some folks want to slam the door at the border. Why no minute men patroling in the high end suburbs looking for the criminals employing illegals and avoiding taxes, better wages etc?

    Re: Gov. Arnold Invites Minutemen to California (none / 0) (#16)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:38 PM EST
    Krazycory - have you run that employment ad? "Good stone masons wanted, must be able to speak english. $25 per hour." Where are you running that ad? I think you get takers at that scale. I am sure I would have plenty of english speaking wannabe employees calling in Western Washington for that job offer. Might be a little harder to fill if you insisted on spanish speaking too.

    Re: Gov. Arnold Invites Minutemen to California (none / 0) (#17)
    by ppjakajim on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:38 PM EST
    CA - God, I hate it when we agree. Suits me if the MM patrol Beverly Hills, of course who would they get to come arrest the II's? Certianly not the LAPD, or LA County Sheriff's Department.

    Re: Gov. Arnold Invites Minutemen to California (none / 0) (#18)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:38 PM EST
    "you elect a movie star as governor, you're gonna get the same screen-thick depth in office." We did NOT elect the man. DIEBOLD DID We caught the company: 1) illegally installing and removing secret software patches without notifying either the SecState or the local registrars, as required by law and contract, in SEVENTEEN COUNTIES. That invalidates the recall/election. 2) None of this software EVER had State testing, and some of it had neither State nor Federal testing (as required by law), and therefore was NOT certified, as in, that invalidates the recall/election. 3) DIEBOLD salesmen were allowed to change active vote counts LIVE, and without documenting their actions. That invalidates the recall/election. Nevermind that the companies that test and certify this secret software in the first place are all Bush-backing Republican-owned, often rabidly partisan at that. Gray Davis was NOT removed from power legally. "Gov." S. was NOT legally elected. The SecState who certified the recall/election has quit. That he was a Dem from a good SF Dem family is especially painful. But party, money, or threats made 28 SecStates allow paperless/receiptless/recountless FAKE voting run on secret software by partisan companies. We haven't had a legal major election in those states or federally for FIVE YEARS.

    Gov. Arnold Invites Minutemen to California | 18 comments (18 topical)