This is the City. Los Anarchy, California
March 24, 2012
Rick Oltman
SF Immigration Examiner
With the announcement that the L.A.P.D will not impound cars driven by unlicensed drivers (illegal aliens) Los Angeles has moved into a new era, the Era of Anarchy. Many would argue that anarchy has reigned in L.A. for a long time, this legitimizes it.
And Chief of Police Charlie Beck is not the problem, he’s a symptom. The whole system is now corrupt. And it will have a predictable and inevitable outcome of more lawlessness and more violence.
L.A. was once a fine city memorized many, many times by its most well know industry as in; Chinatown, LA Confidential, Dragnet, or even The Dude’s Big Lebowski, to name only a few.
The area became a part of Mexico 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence. At the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848 Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and became a territory of the United States. It incorporated as a municipality on April 4, 1850, five months before California entered the Union.
Well, many believe that L.A. has become a Mexican city, again. Regardless, let's give it a new name; LosAnarquía, Los Anarchy.
Its nickname was once the City of Angels. Well, not any more. There are more illegal alien gang members in L.A. than Marines in the United States Marine Corps.
And this is not the first time California has seen a double standard in law enforcement regarding illegal aliens.
In the early 1990s when patriotic citizens, who at that time believed in the U.S. government, were trying to get the immigration laws enforced, we would point out that one of the problems of illegal aliens driving was that they had no driver license and were uninsured. 20 years ago it was believed that 1 in 4 cars on the L.A. freeways were uninsured, leading to higher costs for those who were insured as the inevitable cost shifting raised rates. That ratio is probably reversed, today.
I remember a conversation I had with my Assemblyman Bill Filante in Sacramento when the state allowed the proof of insurance law to sunset in 1992. It’s probably one of the few times any law had a sunset provision.
“Why did you let the law sunset?” I asked Filante during a break in a committee hearing in the California Room in the state capitol.
“It was determined to be a racist law,” he responded.
“Why was it racist?” I dubiously asked.
“Because most of those who were stopped and didn’t have insurance were either Blacks or Hispanic,” he responded.
“Why was it racist?” I dubiously asked.
“Because most of those who were stopped and didn’t have insurance were either Blacks or Hispanic,” he responded.
“Why is that racist?” I asked. “Why aren’t you asking why our Hispanic and Black brothers aren’t doing their part as responsible citizens and insuring their cars like the rest of us?” Without responding he turned on his heel and walked away. And, as we found out later, it wasn’t just him turning his back on law abiding citizens.
I attended that hearing with Alan C. Nelson, former Commissioner of the I.N.S. for President Ronald Reagan. Al Nelson was a tireless worker in Sacramento and California for immigration enforcement. In 1994 he was one of the godfathers of the highly popular Proposition 187, a tax initiative that simply sought to cut off taxpayer dollars and services to illegal aliens. Widely respected throughout the country, Al Nelson was also a gentleman.
After my encounter with Assemblyman Filante, the Commissioner of the California Highway Patrol spotted Al sitting next to me and came over to talk to him. As they discussed the effort to make proof of insurance mandatory again the Commissioner said to Al, “The Patrol doesn’t want to tow those cars.” (The cars that would be impounded if not insured.) He said it twice, “We’re not going to tow those cars.”
I looked up at him and said sharply, ‘Well Chief, then you can find another job and we will get a new Commissioner who will follow the law. Because in America the police don’t tell the people what they’re going to do. The people,” I said nodding towards the committee, “tell the police what to do.”
At that point I realized that Al had his hand on my leg and was squeezing it to get me to shut up. Ever the gentleman, he many times cooled me down when I lost my temper. And, he was always right.
I admit that over the last twenty years there have been times when I was, let’s say, less than polite when discussing this issue. But frankly, I have had it with incompetence and corruption and Washington Wonks, elected officials and appointed bureaucrats on the public dole who won’t even enforce the laws on the books. But, I digress.
Be assured of one thing, this policy in L.A. isn’t the end, it is just the beginning.
We’ve heard many times about the proverbial “slippery slope.” Well, this is it. We’re on it. Expect more cities in California and in Obama’s America to follow Los Anarchy’s lead. And then watch for the next law that is not enforced on illegal aliens and the next one, and the next one...
Can you hear Jack Webb’s voice? “This is the city. Los Angeles, California. I work here. I carry a badge. My name's Friday. The story you are about to see is true; the names have been changed to protect the innocent.”
Sorry, Jack. Nobody is protecting the innocent. And it isn’t Los Angeles, California anymore. It's Los Anarquía. I’m just glad you’re not here to see it.
One Old Vet
This is the City. Los Anarchy, California - San Francisco Immigration | Examiner.com
