Obama goes reconquista
Posted by Cassy Fiano
Published: August 20, 2008 - 7:23 AM

In New Mexico, Obama had this to say about illegal immigrants:

"We are a nation of immigrants," Obama answers.

"The only people can say that they aren't immigrants are the people sitting right here," the Presidential candidate says and points to the tribal leaders.

"There are some families who have been here for 4 or 500 years. They didn't cross the border, the border crossed them."
The border crossed them. Nice, Obama. Real nice. How about siding with your own country?

So, does this mean that my relatives in South Carolina whose ancestors had land granted to them by the King of England when Europeans first started settling here don't count as natives? And in any case, I certainly don't see myself or anyone else in my immediate family as immigrants. I was born here, my parents were born here. Some of my grandparents were immigrants but are now citizens, and some of my grandparents were born here as well. But I guess because I have European origins, it means that I'm automatically an "immigrant", whereas illegal immigrant Mexicans are the real "natives". So I guess this means we should just open the floodgates and let them in, eh?

And also, what does Barack Obama hope to achieve by bringing up this issue? Going all reconquista doesn't help achieve any unity or redress any grievances. It opens old wounds; it deepens rifts. It gives Mexican reconquistas a sense of legitimacy. I mean, really, is that the goal? I'm sure it wasn't -- the goal was likely to pander to Hispanics in New Mexico -- but is it worth it? Is picking up a few extra votes worth the votes he'll lose from -- yes, I'm going to say it -- the white Europeans who will be offended over this? How can he say that we're immigrants but Mexicans are not, when my family, and many other people's families, have been living in the United States for hundreds of years? And in any case, having an ancient ancestry that you can trace back to this land before it was the United States does not automatically guarantee you citizenship. Does my Italian ancestry guarantee me Italian citizenship? Uh, no. It's the most idiotic concept I've ever heard in my entire life. Squabbling over who was here first is a futile exercise, and it's immature and moronic to boot.

And at the very least, Obama should be siding with the country he wants to run, not the country who wants to dismantle the country he wants to run so that they can reclaim it and settle a hundred year grudge. As President, shouldn't that just be a given? For Obama, I guess not.
http://wizbangblog.com/content/2008/08/ ... quista.php