Thread: John Tanton, Anti-Immigration Puppet-Master

This article was written by the enemy but the info is interesting (taken with a large grain of salt) and the comments are precious.

John Tanton, Anti-Immigration Puppet-Master
Written by SJ Reidhead
Published February 01, 2007
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In an earlier piece about Colorado Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo, I mentioned that Tancredo had received large sums of money from John Tanton, and referred to Tanton as the ‘Puppet Master.” The Southern Leadership Poverty Center deserves credit for the moniker, “The Puppetmaster.” In an Intelligence Report from 2005, the SLPC catalogued the baker’s dozen anti-immigration organizations under Tanton’s control. Twenty-four years ago Tanton founded FAIR, the Federation for Immigration Reform, and thereby laid the foundation stones of today’s the anti-immigration fervor. How did this liberal proponent of negative population growth, retired ophthalmologist, and bee-keeper create a movement that has been embraced by conservatives and denounced by liberals?

It all began when Tanton read a highly racist book, The Camp of Saints by Jean Raspial and Jeremy Leggatt not long after it was published in the early 1970s. The semi-science fiction novel details a future world where white people have been turned into starving refugees, dominated by brown-skin, foreign speaking illegal immigrants. Tanton embraced the anti-immigration and anti-immigrant theme of the book. He allowed it to transform his life. In turn, he was able to attract the support of decent, conservative minded Americans who are only interested in border security. Unfortunately, while the vast majority of these individuals who have embraced Tanton’s philosophy are completely ignorant of the nefarious and bigoted origin of the anti-immigration movement, a few, more unsavory characters are using it as a way to legitimize their base theology of racial purity.

Raised on the family farm in rural Michigan, ‘mild mannered’ bee-keeper and ophthalmologist, John Tanton lived with his wife, Mary Lou, and family in rural Petosky, Michigan. He became a passionate environmentalist in the 1960s and by the early 1970’s was a leader within the National Audubon Society and the Sierra Club. While in medical school, Tanton attended Earth Day festivities where he met and began associating with Bill Paddock, Paul Ehrlich, and Garrett Hardin, all stalwarts of zero population growth. In 1971 he became the chairman of the Sierra Club’s Population Committee. In 1975 he was on the staff of Zero Population Growth, and became a national force behind Planned Parenthood, especially in Michigan. After encountering The Camp of Saints and securing the English publication rights, Tanton founded The Social Contract Press. Over the years Tanton has used his company to publish a variety of books that are anti-Hispanic, anti-Spanish, and fan the flames of white identity and fears of illegal immigration run amok.

In the early 1980’s Tanton and a few other board members of FAIR founded a white-nationalist organization called WHITAN (witenagemont) or council of wise men. In 1986 Tanton issued one of his now infamous memos outlining the direction of his movement. The memo stated that Latin American immigrants brought a culture corruption with them to the United States.

Tanton wrote, “…In California 2030, the non-Hispanic Whites and Asians will own the property, have the good jobs and education, speak one language and be mostly Protestant and 'other.' The Blacks and Hispanics will have the poor jobs, will lack education, own little property, speak another language and will be mainly Catholic." He went on to question the ‘educability’ of Hispanics.

By the 1990s Tanton had completely thrown caution to the wind and was willing to associate with anyone, no matter how tawdry their associates were, as long as he could promote his anti-immigration, anti-Hispanic theme. Between 1985 and 1994 FAIR, under Tanton’s direction accepted more than $1.8 million from the Pioneer Fund, described by eugenics expert Barry Mehler as a “neo-Nazi organization, tied to the Nazi eugenics program in the 1930s…” Naturally, when FAIR was forced to admit Pioneer’s associations, Tanton made the usual comments about knowing nothing, but the group continued to accept funds from them for six years.

In 1994 Tanton became associated with California’s Proposition 187, which would deny social services to undocumented aliens. In 1996 he was large responsible for the passage of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act, which required asylum seekers to be held in detention until they could prove persecution. In 1998 Proposition 187 was ruled unconstitutional. Anti-immigration foes were furious. The ruling helped set the stage for the current anti-immigration struggles.

More of the article.

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/02/01/023310.php

Some comments, more at the link.

Comments
#1 — February 1, 2007 @ 05:27AM — ProfEssays

Illegal immigration is a serious problem. It objectively exists. Don't say that it has been invented by some "puppet masters".
#2 — February 1, 2007 @ 06:49AM — Melissa Bailey

I can tell you honestly: There is no objectivity. We have declared "war" on a minority in the U.S. Black people are caught somewhere between the rhetoric of how hispanics damage them and whites are terrified of becoming a minority. I find a few things interesting about this movement; we haven't allowed this type of open prejudice since the sixties and the U.S. govt. conveniently places hispanics in the caucasian category on the U.S. census. The reality is, white people do not consider hispanics "white." The point is, we will very soon be a minority, no matter how many we deport. This is reality. I am so sick of people directing their anger at uneducated immigrants. I thought we were better than that. We allow politicians to run for office using illegal immigration as a platform, we persecute and degenerate people on the streets. THIS is who we are? If so - we are cowards. We need to demand accountability and stop organizations like Tanton from poisoning our society. But we won't - because it isn't convenient.
#3 — February 1, 2007 @ 08:13AM — G. Chell

As a student of immigration I think it is totally wrong to classify all anti-immigration individuals and organizations as racists. In fact there are two anti-immigration factions. One is genuinely concerned about the American worker and the other is not and hence racist. Among the first group are congressmen such as Brad Ellsworth, Heath Shuler and Nancy Boyda, Robert Goodlate, Thelma Drake and Virgil Goode as well as Senators such as Claire McCaskill and Jim Webb. These folks are genuinely concerned about immigration hurting American workers, but they also take care of other worker interests such as the minimum wage and their opposition to outsourcing and in general free trade.

Now to the second group. To pass the racism test, a politician, individual or an organization had to have used the American worker as the cover to support the anti-immigration activity but do not support or remain silent about the minimum wage. Now who passed the racist test? Congressmen Tancredo, Zach Wamp, Nathan Deal, Marsha Blackburn, Marilyn Musgrave, Dana Rohrbacher, Duncan Hunter, Steve "the so-called supporter of the proletariat" King, Dan Burton, Mike Pence and the majority of the GOPers who voted against the minimum wage legislation. To this you can include organizations such as FAIR, CIS, American Patrol, the Minutemen and a number of other anti-immigrant groups. Among the racist experts the face of the white American female racist stands out...Heather MacDonald of the Manhattan Institute. Reading all her stuff I am convinced that she would have been a part of the Massive Resistance against integration in the early 1960s had she been an adult at that time. Ms. MacDonald not just uses the American worker as the cover to stop immigration, but uses the blacks....oh boo hooo!! poor black people, they are getting screwed by American immigration policy. Of course, then by the same token she turns around and opposes affirmitive action, says that blacks are unqualified and whites are more qualified and should get the slots in the UCLA law schools. Equality of opportunity she says, not equality of results. But, where is she as the racist Georgia legislators try to create a separate county for rich whites in Atlanta so that poor blacks do not have an opportunity? Nowhere to be found. Where is she regarding minimum wage and outsourcing? Nowhere to be found. At least Lou "the looser" Dobbs opposes outsourcing and at least covers his racist tracks (exposed recently as a racist as so far he has not criticized his anti-immigrant friends for voting against the minimum wage).

This article was written by the enemy but the info is interesting (taken with a large grain of salt) and the comments are precious.

...and a case of irish whiskey?




The Camp of Saints by Jean Raspial and Jeremy Leggatt is a 5 Star read at AMAZON Books!

The Southern Leadership Poverty Center deserves credit for the moniker, “The Puppetmaster.” In an Intelligence Report from 2005, the SLPC catalogued the baker’s dozen anti-immigration organizations under Tanton’s control.

The writer seems to have created this "intelligence" organization out of thin air. As near as i can determine there is no such organization. I give them credit for not existing.

...and a case of irish whiskey?

If this writer wants Irish whiskey poured over their grave, it'll have to go through me kidneys first LOL.

Articles like this are common but Americans aren't going for the same old BS any more, in fact writers like this one do us a favor by continuing to spew obvious hate and by keeping the anti America migration issue out front.

The Camp of Saints by Jean Raspial and Jeremy Leggatt is a 5 Star read at AMAZON Books!

Not to digress from the article but great book Indiana! If I had to recommend one book about the ravages of illegal and/or runaway immigration this is it. It may be fiction but I can think of no book that illustrates better the coming calamity if we don't stop it.

Just another attempt to invoke the race card because they have no other credible arguments. Yawwwn.

John Tanton is an American hero!

To pass the racism test

There is a test?

Anyone who opposes them is branded a racist. What they don't seem to understand is that NOBODY cares about their rhetoric anymore. It may give them a sense of satisfaction and momentary superiority feeling, but it carries NO WEIGHT with people. Matter of fact, we have come to expect it. It shows an extreme lack of intelligence when all you can do is call people names. Name calling only works if the people actually care, otherwise it just makes you look foolish. When you have no powder in your gun, all you can do is hide behind the bushes and yell names at the other side. It's amusing.