Like Clockwork, Thomas Buttry Makes An Ass of Himself

Let me start off by saying that even though I do not recall ever meeting former Marquette Tribune editorial writer Thomas Buttry, I find him to be an arrogant prick. He sent me an e-mail this past Tuesday evening with his e-mail attached. He informed me that if I wished to respond to his editorial response to my article that I could send it to him easily. To be quite honest I wasn’t willing to give his article the time of day but now I plan to do so just to spite him. And, no, I do not intend to go out of my way (as small as it may be) to e-mail it to him directly. Having worked for the Tribune, I believe he is well aware of this blog and if he wishes to read and respond to it, he should come here.

“While the pace seems to have slowed a bit this year — apparently he no longer aspires to be a de facto member of the Tribune staff — he came through with what can only be described as a true gem on April 4”

That’s the trouble with this year not being an election year, unlike my freshmen year when I wrote numerous editorials, some of which were never published in the Tribune (damn that four week rule).

“Not only did he make himself out to be a true caricature of an American ideologue, he also seemed downright (dare I say it?) French”

No, if I were French then I’d be waving the white flag.

“For instance, Kastner feels that illegal immigrants "have no right to have their voices heard in this debate." Ask any Franco-Muslim — especially an immigrant — what the French feel about their rights to express themselves. I think the French would largely echo Kastner's sentiment. Fortunately, where I come from (America), we feel that all men — and, perhaps to Kastner's surprise, women — have been endowed by the Creator with certain inalienable rights”

Whoa! A sexist?! There’s a new one from the left! I’ve been called many things in the past two at Marquette University (a triumphant tribute to the value of Jesuit Catholic teachings), among them a racist and a Nazi, but a sexist?! I swear he pulled that one out of his ass. When have ever written anything insinuating such a charge? Then again, with the left on campus, they don’t need much to incite such egregious charges. That comment, first off, was way out of line and uncalled for.

Second, it saddens me, Mr. Buttry, to see that history is not of greater importance to you. At the time these words were written, women were not allowed to vote (or own property), blacks were slaves, and Catholics were persecuted (along with other minority religions like the Quakers – not burned at the stake mind you but despised by the Protestant majority). Doesn’t it seem a bit hypocritical on their part to be saying ‘all men are created equal’? Apparently they thought men weren’t created equal which, in a certain sense, is true. Is a rapist, a child molester, or a murderer on an equal playing field as a petty thief? No! Are an al Qaeda terrorist and a US Marine one in the same? No! Should an illegal immigrant be treated the same as a full-fledged US citizen? Hell no!

And third, there is a tremendous difference between inalienable rights and the rule of law. The Bill of Rights covered free speech but the line you took from the Declaration of Independence merely referenced ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’, something substantially different. With that in mind, however, these rights are not guaranteed for all of humanity simply because not all nations recognize the same set of human rights we or other nations do. While we as a nation strive to have all human beings

“Another pearl from Kastner's mind is this: "To this day I have yet to fully grasp why Hispanics who came to the United States legally are so adamant in their support, intentional or not, of illegal immigration. Stop waving the Mexican flag and start thinking sensibly for a moment."

Well, Joseph, could it be that Hispanic immigrants are supportive of immigration in general? Could it also be that the currently allowed levels of legal immigration are so astonishingly low that the United States has left Hispanics who support immigration with little other option?”

Well, Thomas, if Hispanic immigrants are as supportive of immigration in general as you say they are, why are they waving Mexican flags? Wouldn’t it make sense that if you were in support of Hispanics immigrating to the United States that you would be waving American flags? And it is not just the waving of Mexican flags that has me upset about these ‘immigration rallies’ – it is the fact that they are burning American flags, replacing American flags with Mexican flags at high schools, and carrying signs which read ‘We Didn’t Cross the Border, the Border Crossed Us’ and ‘This is Our Continent, Not Yours’. I don’t know about you but to me that doesn’t sound like they are in support of immigration at all. That sounds like they are in support of invasion which is what illegal immigration is.

And just because legal immigration quotas are so low automatically makes it okay for Hispanics to flaunt American rule of law? Tell me how that makes sense! Why have borders to begin with? Why not let anyone who wants to come to this country, for good or ill, come here, whether they be hard working Hispanics or members of al Qaeda.

Furthermore, if you had taken the time to actually read the entire article before you decided to rant about it you would have noticed that I was in support of lifting the quota restrictions and making it much easier for people who want to come to the United States legally, thus making the incentives for crossing the border illegally all the less enticing. Read the entire article before you decide to make an ass of yourself.

“Kastner truly wants to keep the Mexican flag-wavers (I wonder if he objects to Irish flags outside of many local pubs?) out of our country, perhaps he should be encouraging us to abandon the free-trade capitalist system that creates the demand so many immigrants to come into our country. I think we all know another”

I am not opposed to people who want to wave the Mexican flag. Personally, I think its idiotic and hypocritical to be waving the flag of the country you escaped from instead of the flag of the country you fled to, but that’s just me. If Mexico is bad enough that you risk illegally immigrating to the United States, why would you want to be reminded of the country you fled from? Why celebrate Mexican Independence Day in the country you escaped from? Would you celebrate the 4th of July if you moved to France or (God forbid) Mexico? No! I am not opposed to anything that celebrates the heritage of your ancestors as long as it doesn’t spit in the face of the country you live in now.

“However, he just can't help himself and the record starts to skip again with conservative boilerplate rhetoric: time to build a fence, time to build a moat, time to let the black knight from Monty Python patrol our borders”

Well clearly what we have now doesn’t work because more and more illegal aliens keep crossing the border into this country every year. It is simple economics. The costs have to outweigh the benefits. Right now, crossing the US-Mexican border illegally is much more inviting then applying for legal citizenship because there is less paper work (or in the case of illegally immigrating, none) and the worst this country does to illegal immigrants who are caught is to send them back to Mexico (only for them to cross right back over the next day). Building a huge concrete fence or a ditch with barbed wire intimidates potential illegal immigrants and prevents them from crossing the border into this country illegally. If it works, why complain? Furthermore, drop the comedy act - it's not funny, it's just stupid.

“Then comes the coup de grace: "The first person to be caught crossing the border illegally is to be arrested live on television. This will send a clear signal to other potential illegals that we mean business."

Yeah, I'm sure that will be a hit on Mexican television. I can see Univision beaming this image around Latin America and all of a sudden all potential "illegals" (it must be comforting to think that Hispanic immigrants aren't people, but things) will realize the err of their ways”

How about a thing called CNN? They don’t have CNN in Mexico? How about C-SPAN? Headline News? Hmmm, they seem to get them okay in Iraq but it much be more difficult in Mexico I suppose. And since when did ‘illegals’ become a dirty word? Oh, that’s right – the union of Hispanic journalists is demanding that bloggers no longer use that word because it is offensive. Well if the boot fits …